#but oh well i guess ill improve over time

[be-good-to-bugs]

why can i not clean my room?

[igglemouse]

Simón had spent most of his time in Oasis Springs agonizing over Frida, after all, he was only here for her and although his mental had improved now that he was more away from the world of his past there was still the issue of her and what an issue it was.

He wanted to go to her, profess his love of her, make her understand that in the end, he couldn't be without her and show her that despite it all she, more than anyone else, had made him vulnerable.

But part of him knew it would be best to let her go. To stay away from her. After all, his life was misery and ill fortune, tying himself to her was sure to bring her down and after seeing how well she was doing for herself perhaps the only step forward was one without her.

So, Tuesday morning he talked with her father and asked what he should do. It was no surprise that the old man wanted him nowhere near his daughter. "You know how this ends for you, Simón, it ends tragically," her dad said. "And both of us have bought enough of that into her life."

Simón begrudgingly agreed but where did that leave him?

I think I've pretty much settled into Pascal's place I mean here I am once again making him breakfast but it really isn't official official, you know? I believe both of us wonder if this is all going too fast but who decides that really? Maybe, it's going at just the right pace?

Either way, I'm here cooking Oatmeal buttermilk pancakes, hoping this fits into his very strict diet.

I don't get too far into the preparation before he joins in and offers encouragement.

"You must be the perfect woman," he tells me and I can't help but to wink and smile his way. There's always a risk with him that it can turn into more. Eh, not a risk, a hope...but he does say he has a game today and so he needs to be very very focused for that.

That leaves me with plenty to do and before I could make a plan on what to do with my free time it is Irene who calls me and asks to come over. I met her at the food stand a day or so ago if you recall and I'm more than happy to get to know her better. I feel like out of all the people I've met I have the most in common with her and so I hope this is the start to a beautiful friendship.

Before she comes over I have time to make some ice cream and also mix some lemonade. Summer is coming up hard and fast here in Oasis Springs and you'd have to be stupid to find yourself outside without a cool drink or a handful of ice cream or something!

She strolls right up to the house after she hears me outside humming and making lemonade. I invite her to sit, thankful for the shade, and she's eager to jump right into a conversation about our shared hobby. Being chefs!

"I work at the Selva place, you know the one?"

I nod my head, once again thinking of Simón and the date we shared there and ummm, what happened after. Best not to think about that. "The food was really good! I plan on going back some day-"

"The boss is an ass but a loveable one," she says, joking. "Won't even hire anyone unless they have 'heritage' or whatever, which is silly but-"

"Oh? Is he hiring?" I say, pushing right past the red flag she had put before me and focusing on the opportunity. "Maybe he might be easier to deal with if you have a friend there to help you out?"

"Well, yes? Maybe? I think he might be. I could ask him for you but...like I mentioned, he's a bit of an ass! Be careful with him!"

I tell her I will and to go ahead and give him a good word for me. Who knows if I'll take the offer, who knows if I'll be offered, but I always consider an opportunity.

After that she talks a bit about my stand and how she is just a little jealous of it. "It's pretty bold," she says. "You're all on your own so if anything goes wrong, you are to blame. Takes a lot of courage."

"I guess...I felt like I had nothing to lose," I say, thinking about how she was right but when I started my stand I never thought of failure because I've lived through failure and tragedy and I've come out stronger. "You know it is fun, thinking about the recipes and all that and-"

"That's my dream you know? Having my own place..."

That is definitely a noble and respectable dream, one I think I share...

Irene has to go which of course leaves me home alone or...well, that's not technically my home but you know what I mean!

I could have sat there and watched television or something but instead decided to head to the gym. If Pascal is out playing a game with the team or whatever he's doing then I need to stay fit myself and what better way than yoga?

It was the perfect time for it too since there was no one else around.

And being at the gym meant it is likely that I run into Sara who I think was coming from her own light work out herself. She was super excited to see me and asked why I wasn't at home earlier. "Came to ask if you wanted to work out but you just arrived? What have you been up to?"

"I've been at Pascal's place," I come right out with it, watching her eyes grow big with excitement and demand.

"Oh! Wow! You HAVE to tell me about it!"

She drags me to one of the seats, sits across from me, and gives me a signal to go on. Looks like I have little option here but to indulge her need to know just a little bit although there isn't much for me to tell her. So, I just focus on the general feeling I have when it comes to him.

"He's simple, in a good way I mean. Keeps to himself, works out a lot, very focused on his career."

"See, see!" She says, referencing my conversation with her and Marjorie days ago. "Is it true? Is he trying to get transferred to Real Del Sol!?"

"Huh?" I have no idea what she's talking about.

"O-oh, just a rumor, Oasis FC you know, small team, respectable, but he's bound to outgrow them at this rate," she says nonchalantly. "Off to a bigger club to hopefully win championships and stuff. I just wondered if you'd have like the inside scoop-"

"Nooo," I'm shaking my head, regretting that I really know nothing at all about his career but I do know what that might mean for me, for us. "We don't talk much about fútbol honestly, it's not something he's mentioned."

"Hmm, I hope he doesn't go. As an OFC fan it'd suck to lose him."

"Yeah..." well, as his girlfriend it would suck too. I hope he doesn't go either but maybe it's just a rumor with nothing behind it? I'm just now getting to know him and if he were to go to another city would he ask me to come with?

Either way, right now I'll think nothing of it and enjoy the rest of my time at the gym.

Tomorrow is Summer Solstice and hopefully that means a pretty fun and eventful day. Let's hope at least!

Episode List - Next

[heyiwrotesomethings]

She’s The Housekeeper Prt9: Bond

Yor Briar/ Forger x She/ Her Reader

A/N: Prt8 Alright, here is the last part for the foreseeable future. The first chapter of this story is still my most popular post to date, and it’s so cool to see 800+ notes on something I’ve written. If you managed to stick with me for this long, thank you for your time and support💜! Word Count: ~5,800

Anya ate her breakfast with an extra vigor that morning because today would be the day Loid would take her to the pet shop to find a cute little dog to take home! She inhaled her food so fast, she nearly choked.

“Hey, careful!” (Y/n) cautioned as she pushed Anya’s glass of water closer to her for the little girl to gulp down, “I know you’re excited, but let’s try to avoid having to go to the hospital instead.”

“The dogs aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. You can take your time.” Loid reminded.

“I’m just as excited to look around as you are Miss Anya!” Yor beamed as she put down the burnt omurice she had made, “but please do be careful.”

Anya downed the water and though she was still eating rather quickly, she was pacing herself better than she had a few moments ago.

“Anya is ready to go now!” She declared, sliding off of her chair to fetch her coat.

“Anya, we’re still eating.” Loid called after her, but Anya kept moving, pulling her coat from the rack. Loid sat back in his chair, letting Anya wait by the door. “Are you joining us, (Y/n)? It shouldn’t take terribly long.”

“I wouldn’t mind tagging along.” (Y/n) decided. Maybe she could influence the decision made of what dog they got. Something that was already house trained would be ideal. One that rarely shedded would also be preferable.

“This is going to be so much fun.” Yor hummed, between bite of crispy rice and egg. She offered (Y/n) a bite, and of course (Y/n) had to take it.

“Definitely an improvement over the last one, well done my dear.” (Y/n) praised before downing her water in just a few gulps.

The food really was one of Yor’s better attempts. It was still vile, but (Y/n) didn’t feel like she was in danger of throwing up. (Y/n) wasn’t absolutely insane like Yor’s dear brother Yuri, if Yor’s food made her feel ill, she would simply excuse herself to the bathroom to take care of it, not smile and try to clear the plate faster than she could vomit. (Y/n) shuddered at the memory. The Briar siblings were not normal.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!” Anya chanted from the hallway. She simply couldn’t wait any longer, they were wasting precious daylight!

“Let us do the dishes at least, then we will go, Anya. Be patient.” Loid began gathering plates while (Y/n) and Yor went to the sink to wash and dry.

Anya felt like she could explode from the anticipation, but finally all three adults had put away the dishes and put on their coats and they were heading out the door.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!” She barked again, swinging Yor’s hand in hers. “Papa,” she asked, turning back to look at Loid, “Do doggies like peanuts?”

“You probably shouldn’t give them too many. It might not be good for them.” He replied, making Anya pout.

“That leaves more peanuts for you, Miss Anya.” (Y/n) provided helpfully, making her smile again.

“Oh, is this the shop right there?” Yor asked.

“That’s it.” Loid confirmed, going ahead of them to open the door for everyone.

Inside were the most fucked up looking dogs that (Y/n) had ever seen. Anya looked severely unsettled and (Y/n) couldn’t say she blamed her.

“Is… is that one flexing?” She asked Yor in a concerned whisper.

“What do you think, Anya?” Loid smiled, “Do you like any of these dogs?”

“No.” Anya wasted no time saying.

“R-really?” Loid’s eye twitched.

“Are you really surprised, Loid? I mean, look at them.” (Y/n) shuddered.

She did have a point… Guess they would have to go to the shelter event instead. A person caught his eye from the back room, flashing him a signal. Now really wasn’t a good time, but if Handler was calling, it must be important.

“Augh!” Loid cried out, clutching his stomach.

“Loid? What’s wrong?” (Y/n) asked, startled by the outburst.

“I, I need to use the restroom! You all can go, I’ll meet you at the shelter.”

“Are you sure you’re alright? We can wait.” Yor offered.

“Papa takes a long time when he goes to the shitter to shit, so we should probably go.” Anya bluntly explained.

“I see…” Yor blushed.

“Eugh, Miss Anya, we didn’t need to know that.” (Y/n) shivered in disgust, “Also, watch your language.”

“Yes, watch your mouth young lady.” Loid echoed before running off to deal with his… ‘problem’.

“Well, guess we should get going then.” (Y/n) decided.

“Yes!” Anya skipped to the door with (Y/n) and Yor following close behind.

Before long, the sidewalks became more congested and the unmistakable sounds of animals flooded the air.

“So this is the adoption event. Wow, it’s even bigger than I imagined!” Yor gushed.

“Yeah, it seems like Loid should’ve brought us here first.” (Y/n) observed.

Puppies, kittens and bunnies! They seemed to have every furry household pet under the sun! Anya ran haphazardly to look into every crate and enclosure she could find.

“Don’t run around Miss Anya, you’ll get lost!” Yor warned.

“Promise us you won’t leave this area with the dogs, okay?” (Y/n) asked.

“Okay…” Anya deflated a bit, but that was fine, there were so many cute doggies to look at and she would get to take one of them home!

The trio walked up to an enclosure together and Yor squeaked with excitement, grabbing (Y/n) by the arm and shaking her around.

“Look at that dachshund’s cute little legs!” She cooed, making (Y/n) smile.

Anya was overwhelmed by all the cuteness. She couldn’t possibly choose just one. They were all so sweet! Standing by the window, something large and white caught her eye, and she turned to see it more clearly, feeling a possible connection with whatever that may be.

(Y/n) and Yor were going over their top picks when one of the ladies working the event approached them offering assistance. (Y/n) and Yor took up the conversation, distracting them from Anya’s sudden disappearance.

“Are there any breeds that are easier to clean up after?” (Y/n) asked.

“Poodles rarely shed, so cleaning up after them is a breeze.” The friendly lady shared.

“You don’t say.” (Y/n) perked up, making Yor smile.

“Or there are smaller breeds, Shih Tzus are very friendly.”

While (Y/n) and Yor were engrossed with the woman’s abundant information, they failed to notice Anya slink outside to follow the shady man and the big white dog she had seen through the window. By the time they had stopped talking with the woman and thanked her for her suggestions, Anya appeared to be long gone. (Y/n) looked up to find her in the crowd, but could not see her anywhere within the dog section and her heart began to rise to her throat.

“Yor,” (Y/n) alerted, grabbing her partner’s arm, anxiety already slipping into her tone, “Do you know where Anya is?”

Yor snapped to attention, scanning all around, a familiar sense of dread pooling in her stomach. She did not like the trend that seemed to be forming every time she let Anya out of her sight or reach for but a few minutes every time they went out in public.

“I- I don’t—“ Yor swallowed thickly, her feet traveled on autopilot, “Miss Anya? Where did you go?!” She called out, a static buzzing growing steadily between her ears.

“I’ll look for her in the kitten section!” (Y/n) yelled after her before running off in a different direction, but she was not heard.

Between the two of them, they must have asked everyone in the event hall if they had seen the little girl, each growing more and more desperate with every shake of a head they received.

Upon getting her latest negative sighting, Yor felt unshed tears burning the corners of her eyes. This was the aquarium all over again, but worse! She turned, expecting to see (Y/n) there, ready to give her a hug and to let her know everything would be alright, but of course she wasn’t there.

Yor had already been so tense and her brain had been so focused on looking for Anya, she had somehow lost her dear (Y/n) along the way! Now she began to really freak out, completely overwhelmed by the crowded venue and the noise pitching around and within her.

Something in her that was already tense, snapped and she jumped up, kicked off of a nearby pillar, and expertly braced herself on the ceiling so she could search from above. Her breathing uneven, she drowned out the noise of the crowd below. She didn’t see Anya. Anya wasn’t there, not even a trace, and that terrified her.

What if she had been eaten by a dog?! No, Yor managed to stop that train of thought. That was unlikely. Someone would surely have noticed something like that. But what if she had been kidnapped again like when they had gone to the aquarium, or when they had gone grocery shopping! What if (Y/n) had been taken too!

An awful image of her beloved and her adopted daughter being carted away by despicable men to be married off to even more vile and cruel men consumed her vision, but then she found a small light, a familiar splash of color, she saw (Y/n) in one of the far corners of the venue, a strange man looming over her.

Without another second of delay, she skillfully swung from the pipes above and dove between them from the ceiling, startling the man enough to make him yelp. Yor prepared to uppercut him into the sun next, to see what kind of sound that would make, but instead (Y/n)’s hand quickly shot out to grasp her bicep and pull her back. Confused, Yor allowed her.

“Where the hell did you come from lady?” The man blinked, bug-eyed, mouth agape.

“She’s the mother. As you can see, she’s worried sick. If you see her little girl, please do not hesitate to let us know.” (Y/n) beseeched, pulling Yor back a bit more to try to knock her out of whatever murder-y thoughts were fogging up her mind.

“Yeah… of course.” The man gave them a weird look then began walking briskly away.

(Y/n) turned to hold both of Yor’s biceps, pressing her thumbs into the fabric of her coat’s sleeves to try to put pressure on the tense muscles beneath.

“Hey, try to breathe, okay? What’s the matter? Besides the obvious.” She cooed.

Yor sobbed, slamming her head hard against (Y/n)’s chest, making a deep thunk sound that rattled (Y/n)’s insides.

“Oof!” (Y/n) winced, but held Yor all the same, rubbing her back comfortingly.

“I- I can’t find Miss Anya! A-and I thought you had gotten taken too!”

“Honey,” (Y/n) murmured, giving a, ‘mind your own business’ smile to anyone who dared curiously look their way, “I told you I would look for Anya over here. You must not have heard me.”

“I guess not.” She sniffed.

“I’m okay. Now take some deep breaths. It’s clear that Anya isn’t in here, we need to go find her, but we can’t be snapping the neck of anyone whose just going about their day.”

Yor made a pitiful sound, but cut herself off halfway through, almost knocking heads with (Y/n) from how quickly she brought her head up.

“What…!” (Y/n) began to ask, but she heard it then too, that sounded like Anya outside!

And she was outside! They could see her through the window! She was barreling down the street… on top of a big, fluffy white dog.

Yor took (Y/n)’s hand and began sprinting in the direction the dog had ran off in. It was a brutal pace, one that (Y/n) couldn’t keep up with and when she tried to communicate to Yor that she would catch up. Yor was having none of it and scooped (Y/n) up into her arms, making quite the spectacle as they zoomed around the people walking by. It hardly mattered to Yor. She wasn’t going to risk losing (Y/n) for real by leaving her behind.

“Down that alley!” (Y/n) pointed.

“Right!”

(Y/n) braced herself, this was the side of her career that she was not trained for, but when they saw a strange man reaching for Anya in the alley, she still let Yor take her by the arms and spin her at a dizzying pace before finally being launched towards Anya.

(Y/n) sailed over the shocked kidnapper’s head, took hold of Anya’s hands, and catapulted her into the air. While Anya was airborne, (Y/n) sprung off of her hands when she hit the ground and flipped into an upright standing position just in time to catch Anya and see Yor smash her foot into the kidnapper’s face.

Yor fell into place beside (Y/n) so that Anya was between them, protected on either side. Anya couldn’t have looked more relieved to see them, looking between them with visible awe and joy.

“You won’t get away with this, Mr. Perverted Kidnapper,” Yor spoke in a measured tone, glaring at the remaining man who had his jaw hanging open, “It is much too early for Miss Anya to get married!”

“Married?” (Y/n) cocked her head to the side. Just what kind of scenarios was Yor imagining?

The gravity of the situation seemed to catch up to Anya then, because she began to cry, grasping onto the coats of both women she wailed,

“Mama! I was so scared!”

“Don’t worry, you’re all right now.” Yor comforted.

“We’ve got you.” (Y/n) assured, wiping Anya’s tears.

Kieth clenched his teeth. Which one was the mother? Ah, it didn’t matter. They’d all have to die if he was going to succeed in his plans.

“Dog! Rip their throats out!” He commanded.

The German Shepherd beside him began to approach, snarling, but then Yor gave one of her most terrifying expressions to date and growled right back with startling ferocity. The dog whimpered pathetically and turned tail, running out of the alley as fast as he could.

“Coward!” Kieth yelled after him.

“Bwah! Mama, I’m scared!” Anya bawled, hiding her face in (Y/n)’s coat, keeping Yor out of her sight.

“Hm? But you’re safe now?” Yor frowned, perhaps not realizing just how frightening her face had been jus a moment before.

“Don’t worry Anya, if that man thinks he can take you from us he has another thing coming!” (Y/n) promised, her mind filled with thoughts of fire and acid.

Yeah, Anya was glad to have those two on her side because they were honestly terrifying.

Voices began to be heard near the mouth of the alley and Keith cursed. All that noise had alerted people from the street, and now they were coming to investigate!

“Come on, come on you stupid mutt!” He hissed at the remaining dog, the big and fluffy white one. He tugged and tugged at the dog’s leash, but he wouldn’t budge.

“Damn worthless beast!” He kicked the dog in anger and fled the scene empty handed.

“He’s getting away!” Yor groaned, but she stood firmly at (Y/n)’s side. There was already one kidnapper she needed to properly detain and she didn’t want to leave (Y/n) and Anya for even a second.

Just how long is Loid going to stay in the bathroom? She mourned internally. His stomach was probably revolting from the breakfast she had made!

“Mr. Dog are you okay?” Anya asked, running up the the dog once (Y/n) put her down.

“Ah, careful Miss Anya! You shouldn’t run up to dogs you don’t know.” (Y/n) warned, trying to stop Anya from going any further.

“Mr. Doggie is no stranger. He saved Anya.” Anya put her hands over her heart, looking over to the dog with gratitude.

“Where did this dog come from, Miss Anya?” Yor asked.

Anya took a deep breath, that question required a very big answer.

“Terrorist bomb dogs?!” Yor blanched.

(Y/n) got on her knees and thoroughly searched the fluffy dog for bombs. Thankfully, there weren’t any. She sighed in relief and gave Yor a shaky thumbs up.

“Anya is sorry for running off without permission…” Anya mumbled, grabbing the hem of her coat between her fingers while she kept her eyes firmly on the ground.

“We’re just glad that you are safe.” (Y/n) knelt to the ground to hug Anya.

“We were so worried about you.” Yor chimed, following her partner to the ground.

“But expect a stern talking to when we get home.” (Y/n) warned.

Anya pouted, but nodded in acceptance and the three, plus the dog, walked out of the alley, tied up kidnapper dragging behind Yor.

They called the police on a nearby public phone to explain the situation, during which Anya suddenly grew restless, shaking the dog.

“Anya don’t be rough with the doggie.” Yor scolded lightly before her attention was brought back to the receptionist on the phone.

“Mama, Mama, sorry, Anya just remembered something. Papa forgot to take toilet paper with him to the potty!” The little girl yelled out of the blue.

“Huh?”

“What?”

(Y/n) and Yor stared on, frozen, as Anya leapt onto the dog’s back and urged him into a run.

“He might be in trouble so I have to go get some from home!”

“Anya, wait!” Yor called, reaching out the hand that wasn’t currently cradling the receiver.

“She’s running off again!” (Y/n) yelled in disbelief, finally sprinting after the blob of pink and white as they rounded the corner.

“W-wait! What about the police?” Yor called after her.

“We told them all we could! Just hang up and leave that guy there, he won’t wake up anytime soon! Let’s go before we lose Anya again!”

“Ah, okay!” Yor rose the receiver back to her ear, “I’m leaving the kidnapper by this phone booth! I have to go now, bye!” She hung up the phone and caught up with (Y/n) before she rounded the corner.

They searched every block, every street within half a mile. (Y/n) finally came to a stop, resting heavily on the guardrail of the bridge they had been speed-walking across.

“Darling, are you alright?” Yor’s voice was laced with worry. She could tell that (Y/n) was breathing quite hard.

“I’ll be okay, I just need a minute.” She wheezed. God, cardio sucks.

While (Y/n) tried not to keel over on the bridge, Yor paced back and forth. The only trace that she had been running at all was the light layer of sweat on her rosy face.

“What if she gets found by the terrorists again? I can’t let that happen!” Yor fretted.

“Maybe she went back to the pet shelter?” (Y/n) suggested between breaths. “At the very least, maybe Loid is finally there?”

Before Yor could speak, a loud honk of a horn and a sharp squeal of tires interrupted her. The scent of burnt rubber permeated the air. Looking down from the bridge, the women saw a car speeding recklessly down the road.

The light caught the windshield just right, allowing Yor to see an unwelcomingly familiar face. The other man who tried to kidnap Anya!

“Him again? How dare he try to take Miss Anya and run away! You won’t get away this time!” She declared, then jumped off of the bridge.

“Yor!” (Y/n) yelled. She tried to reach out for her, but she was too slow. Her hands snapped right to her eyes. Covering them from whatever was about to happen. “Pleasebeokaypleasebeokaypleasebeokay—“

An awful crashing noise reverberated within (Y/n)’s ears and she cautiously lifted her face from her hands. Below, she could see that Yor looked unscathed, thank the stars, but the car looked as if it had been t-boned before crashing into a lamppost.

(Y/n) hobbled down the hill to meet Yor on the street and flung her arms around her, a gesture that was always eagerly returned.

“Are you hurt?”

“Nope!” Yor smiled, “Kicking the car did make my leg feel a little tingly though.”

“My indestructible tank, I love you.” (Y/n) sighed, looking back at the crushed car. “We’ll have to call the police… again.”

They quickly relayed the location of the car and hung up before the responder could ask any follow-up questions. Then they were off to continue their search for Anya.

It was near sunset when they saw Loid walking down the sidewalk towards them. They opened their mouths in a rush to tell him that Anya had run off on a dog, but said girl and dog appeared from the alley between them and they instead slumped over each other in relief.

“What are you three doing here?” Loid asked, “I’m surprised to find you so far from the shelter.”

“Anya was coming to give papa toilet paper.”

“Ah.”

“She ran off on us. Twice.” (Y/n) informed, resting most of her weight against Yor. Now that Anya was with them once more, the exhaustion of running around all day was really starting to get to her.

“Did she now…” Loid looked down at Anya disapprovingly, finally truly noticing the dog beside her. “And who is the dog?

“That is actually quite the story.” Yor rubbed at her cheek with a sheepish smile and retold the events of the day. (Y/n) would occasionally chime in, but ultimately she was too tired to try to censor anything Yor was saying. Somewhere in her brain she knew they probably shouldn’t talking about taking down terrorists without much trouble, but again she was too tired to care.

“I’m sorry all that happened while I was in the bathroom.” Loid finally said, a faint blush coloring his cheeks.

“Yeah, you were gone all day. Have you considered seeing a doctor, because that is not at all normal.” (Y/n) spoke in a teasing tone, but there was a notable hint of concern in the way her eyebrows scrunched together.

“It was probably because of what I made for breakfast.” Yor bemoaned.

“It has to be something else. The rest of us survived.”

Loid, wanting to put his day long trip to the ‘bathroom’ behind him, began to address Anya and her penchant for running off.

“How many times do I have to tell you to not run off on your own. You could have been seriously hurt!” He yelled, making Anya flinch.

“Anya is sorry!” She sniffled, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

Loid immediately softened, falling to one knee before her, “I’m sorry for yelling. I was just worried. You aren’t hurt at all though, right?”

Anya shook her head, putting a hand on the fluffy dog beside her. The fur nearly swallowed up her hand.

“Mr. Dog protected me.”

Loid smiled at the dog, petting him gently, “Thank you.”

“Excuse us,”

The family turned to see a woman and a man in suits approaching them from across the street,

“We’re investigating an incident near City Center. We understand that this was one of the dogs involved in the incident.” The woman said. “Please hand him over to us. He’ll be in good hands.”

“Of course. Thank you.” Loid tipped his hat, motioning them towards the dog.

“Now we can go back to looking for a puppy!” Yor beamed excitedly.

“Is the shelter even still open?” (Y/n) almost hoped it wasn’t. She wanted to shower and then spend the next several days in bed. She was already dreading how sore she was going to be tomorrow.

“Come on, Anya. Let’s go take a look.” Loid reached for her hand, but Anya pulled away.

“No! Anya wants Mr. Dog!” She said, stepping between the officers and the dog.

Loid shook his head. “He was owned by bad guys.”

“He saved Anya!” The esper refuted.

“You said you wanted a small dog.” Loid crossed his arms, peering down at his fickle adopted daughter.

“But Anya wants Mr. Dog now, it’s okay that he is big!” Anya continued to argue, hugging the dog close.

“Anya please,” Loid pinched the bridge of his nose, “Stop being so difficult.”

“If papa doesn’t let me have Mr. Dog, Anya will go bad and stop going to school!” Anya’s lip wobbled and then she began to cry.

“Wh— what are you saying?!” Loid sputtered.

“It’s okay, Miss Anya! Please don’t cry!” Yor beseeched.

“There are a lot of nice dogs in the world! I’m sure you’ll find another who is just as sweet…” (Y/n) attempted to console, but she knew that trying to get Anya to change her mind would be impossible at this point. She did just spend the whole day with this dog after all.

“Very well.” The woman conceded, leaving Loid particularly surprised.

“What?!”

The woman chuckled, then couched in front of Anya, a bittersweet smile on her lips.

“The dog itself didn’t cause any harm. If you promise to take good care of him, he’s yours, but we will need to keep him for the night to check his health first.” She explained softly.

“Are you protecting the other doggies too?”

“They are sleeping in the softest of beds and eating warm, yummy food.” She nodded.

“Thank you very much, important lady.”

The woman’s smile tugged a little further, “You’re welcome.” She stood back to her full height, turning to Loid. “We shall make contact with you tomorrow.“

“Thank you. Sorry for the trouble.” Loid bowed his head.

“No trouble at all. Have a good night.”

And so they began their trek home. Anya and Yor were particularly pleased with themselves because of the parts they played in saving the city from terrorists. (Y/n) and Loid on the other hand were exhausted.

“Why do you look like that?” (Y/n) had asked him pointedly. “I know it isn’t easy being… ill, all day, but I’ve been running around the city for hours and I still look better than you.”

“Do you really want to know?” Loid asked with a wry smile, his eye twitching in aggravation. If only they knew what he had really been up to all day!

“No.” (Y/n) shook her head quickly, “No, I really don’t want to know. Forget I said anything.”

After a night of the deepest sleep that any of them had ever experienced, morning soon came, and with it, a large and fluffy white dog.

“So curious!” Yor giggled, watching the dog sniff around the living room.

“Anya wants to stay home to play with Mr. dog today.” Anya said hugging the dog tightly.

“I believe the deal was that you wouldn’t stop going to school if you got this dog.” Loid said after spitting his toothpaste in the sink. “Get ready for school.”

“Does Anya at least get a Stella for helping stop the bad guys?” She asked. That would help put her in a better mood about going to school.

“I’m afraid not, Anya. No one is supposed to know about what was going to happen because it would just cause fear and panic. You have to keep it to yourself or the police might need to come and take you away.”

“Shock!” Anya flinched. She couldn’t let that happen, but it certainly was a disappointment that she couldn’t tell anyone.

“Loid!” (Y/n) gasped from the other room, “Don’t phrase it like that, you’ll scare her!”

Loid rolled his eyes at his reflection in the mirror and Anya began getting ready to go to school, pouting all the while.

“Have a good day at school Miss Anya!” Yor waved. “(Y/n) and I will take good care of Mr. Doggie while you’re away.”

“I’ll do my best.” (Y/n) called from the couch. Even raising her hand to wave goodbye to Anya hurt. Her whole body felt stiff and sore from the whole ordeal yesterday while it appeared to be just another normal day for Yor.

Anya and Loid said their goodbyes and then it was just (Y/n), Yor and the curious new addition to the family.

“Yor, darling, would you make me some ice packs.” (Y/n) groaned while she moved to lay flat on the couch.

“Of course! My poor, sore heart!” Yor cooed. She cupped (Y/n)’s cheek and leaned down to kiss her forehead before heading to the kitchen.

While (Y/n) waited for Yor’s return, the dog took notice of her and began to lumber up to her.

“Hello, getting used to your new home?” (Y/n) asked him.

The dog sniffed her hand, then slowly hoisted himself up onto his hind legs by placing his front paws on the edge of the couch.

“Ah, wait. No, don’t come up here— dog! No! Down! Oof!”

(Y/n) couldn’t stop the dog from laying flat across her sore body. It was a warm, and an almost comforting weight, but in the state (Y/n) was in currently, she didn’t find it entirely enjoyable, but it was kind of cute.

“Honey, did you say something…?” Yor walked back into the room, her arms filled with industrial bags of ice that she got from who-knows-where. Her eyes fell on the dog and she pouted, “That was going to be my spot, Mr. Doggie.”

“Yor, help me get him off. He’s too heavy.”

Yor did as she was asked, dragging the dog back to the floor.

“I apologize, Mr. Doggie, but (Y/n) is sore from running around yesterday. Surely you understand.” Yor then promptly dropped the giant bags of ice onto (Y/n)’s body.

“Not quite what I had in mind, but thah, thank you.” (Y/n) shivered.

The dog was undeterred by the upheaval and soon climbed his way back onto the couch, sinking between the bags of ice.

“My, perhaps he is sore too!” Yor observed. “Poor thing.”

(Y/n) sighed. She couldn’t find it within herself to make Yor push the dog away a second time. Perhaps she should feel special because the dog seemed to like her already, but her body was not appreciative of the extra pressure at this time.

“Would it help for me to massage your calves?” Yor asked thoughtfully. “Mr. Dog isn’t covering those up.”

(Y/n) mulled it over. Typically, a massage from Yor would be nice as long as she didn’t push too hard.

“I think that sounds nice, just be gentle please.”

“I will, I promise!”

And she really was. Yor did a great job, so wonderful in fact, that the combination of the frigid melting ice, the warm, weighted blanket of a dog, and the soothing massage knocked (Y/n) right out.

She was rudely awakened hours later when the dog clumsily leapt off of her to jump into Anya’s arms when she got home from school.

“Welcome home!” Yor smiled, clasping her hands to rest them against her cheek, “Oh my, such good friends already! He must have missed you!”

“Save me! He’s eating me!” Anya gasped while the dog slobbered all over her.

“He seems to have a lot of pent up energy. We should take him for a walk.” Loid suggested. He looked over to (Y/n) laid limply across the couch and smirked, “Care to join us, (Y/n)?”

“Not today.” (Y/n) deadpanned, ever so slowly lifting herself into a sitting position. “You all go on ahead. I’ll start getting dinner ready.”

“Are you sure? I could stay an help.” Yor volunteered.

“I’ll be fine,” (Y/n) assured, “Go have fun at the dog park.”

(Y/n) shuffled through the kitchen like an old woman, slowly preparing dinner. Though she could be prideful at times, she was actually surprised that she had dinner mostly completed before the Forger’s returned home.

“I hope they haven’t ran into anymore trouble.” She murmured to herself as she finished setting the table. She walked to the armchair this time around when she finished her self imposed task. She hissed through clenched teeth as she lowered herself into the plush chair.

She then decided she would never run again, maybe never even walk. She didn’t care if it would look strange, she was going to have Yor carry her everywhere from now on and if she knew anything about her love, she would be happy to do it too.

Finally, the front door opened and the Forger’s piled inside.

Anya ran up to (Y/n) all excited, “Mama, I know what to name Mr. Dog!”

“Do you? What is it?” (Y/n) thought Mr. Dog was the name already, but she was curious to hear what else Anya had come up with.

“Wait just a minute!” Anya asked.

She bounced excitedly when Loid came back from the short trip to his room, a black ribbon of fabric in hand. He deftly tied the fabric around the dog’s neck and once he stepped away, (Y/n) saw he had looped it into a bow tie.

“Behold!” Anya flung her arms out in the direction of the dog happily thumping his tail against the floor. “Bond!”

“Oh, like Bondman.” Loid understood. “That should work just fine.”

“Boof!” Bond leapt at Anya, sending her to the floor in a flurry of licks and wiggly wags that made Anya laugh.

“He seems to like it.” (Y/n) smiled fondly.

“They’re so cute!” Yor cooed.

“Come, Bond! Let me show you around the hideout!”

“Anya, it’s dinner time. And don’t forget you need to study. afterwards.” Loid warned.

“Anya will study later, promise.”

Loid’s eye twitched, but he relented.

After dinner, Anya fed Bond. She filled his bowl to the brim and watched him begin to chow down.

“Try not to give him too much.” Loid cautioned as he walked by, a towel under his arm. “I’m going to take my bath now, but I expect you to be studying by the time I’m done.”

Anya pouted and Loid walked to the bathroom. Curious, Anya took a kibble from Bond’s bowl and nearly popped it into her mouth before (Y/n) called out her name.

“Miss Anya, please don’t eat anything meant for a dog.” (Y/n) shivered in disgust as she scrubbed the dishes nearby.

“I know it must look tempting, but take it from me, it is not as good as it looks.” Yor helpfully added.

“I don’t want to know if that is coming from a place of experience or not.” (Y/n) said, but the shy laugh Yor gave was damning.

Soon after he finished his meal, Bond began to wiggle uncomfortably and Anya took notice.

“Need to go potty? Here, I’ll show you where to go.” Anya led him to a wide tub lined with newspaper. “When nobody can take you outside, you go in here. If you go anywhere else, mama will get mad cause she like things tidy.”

After business was taken care of, Anya and Bond played all over the apartment. (Y/n) wanted to remind Anya about her studies, but she couldn’t bear to break up the fun. It was Bond’s first day home, and Anya hardly got to see him before she had to go to school. A little more playtime couldn’t hurt.

(Y/n) and Yor watched them play, losing track of time. And when Loid returned from his bath, they showed him the cute little girl and her dog curled up together and fast asleep.

The studying could wait until tomorrow, Loid supposed.

[amethyst-marshmallow]

bro we have a weird class called quest for success and its basically a required class that all 9th graders/freshman have to take and you're supposed to learn about how to adjust to high school and manage your time and "be the best version of yourself" but bro💀you're never gonna guess

So a lot of the time we watch motivational videos and stuff, yk, relating to the topic of whatever area of self-improvement we are currently learning about/trying to improve. and we are currently learning about "putting first things first," aka do the more important things before the least important things. Makes sense, right?

Well we watched this one video about a guy saying you have to want to succeed as bad as you wanna breathe????? and at first he told this story and i was like "Oh its figurative speech he doesn't literally mean that" BUT THEN HE STARTED TALKING ABOUT HOW HE WANTED TO SUCCEED SO BAD HE FORGOT TO EAT FOR MULTIPLE DAYS IN A ROW AND DIDN'T SLEEP AT NIGHT????????? Like BRO. that isn't good anyone with common sense would know you should put your basic need before you put like goal-type stuff like😭😭😭thats not wanting to succeed thats a sign of mental illness (i would know)

At one part he was like "one time i woke up and 3am and i felt tired but i figured if i was still tired i wouldn't have woken up so i put my shoes on and went for a run" like BRO its 3AM YOURE GONNA GET KIDNAPPED OR SOMETHING GO BACK TO BED WHAT

So erm anyway. Don't put your wants over your basic needs kids. Make sure you eat at least once every day and drink water and try your best to sleep at night. You can succeed in the morning.

[olreid]

Question regarding Neverafter: how much do you think Brennan is trying to do horror? The players and the format are working against him, but what do you think of the world he’s created? I honestly can’t tell how much he wants them to commit or not.

yeah i guess at this point it sort of feels like he's let the horror go lol. it seems like he's been pulling his punches a lot; the biggest example is letting pinnochio be his own warlock patron but also giving tim the power to put people in the book without confronting him with the ethics of it and even going so far as to be like. sure, they're happy in there :) there's also just a constant undercurrent of like. letting players give help actions and have advantage, or not imposing disadvantage even when the roleplay calls for it. this is EASILY incorporated into the horror -- the realization that the story prioritizes your life over that of minor characters and so contact with you is often fatal for them is terrifying -- but it's reflexive rather than intentional and so it's left unremarked upon and works against the tone of the season rather than for it. most recently when they got to the tundra and had levels of exhaustion and then he just FAST FORWARDED THROUGH IT... ill tell you right now if that was a naddpod episode someone would have died of exposure and rightfully so.

a lot of the horror seems to happen offscreen (elody: i found your body in the other world) or in character backstories that the players often don't take the time to explore; overall it seems like the horror at this point is largely confined to combat which is like. just how any normal season of d20 works. like there are always scary villains.... its not enough to have an extra scary boss if theyre just going to beat it in 3 or 4 rounds... AND he keeps putting in these like. cheat codes into the fights so that they dont even have to BEAT the bosses they just have to like. break the wolf's chains or outlast the dogfish or whatever. THE PARTY HAS ONLY DIED ONCE and even then they all died together so there was no like. player that had to face death alone OR player that was the only one left alive and had to go on living alone... there is no reason that we haven't had another death by now! acoc showed that if he wants to kill a party member he absolutely can.

i also agree with others who have said that there's just too many moving parts for things to really feel tight and well-executed. the stepmother and the fairies who were omnipresent threats at the season's start are now apparently unable to reach the party for basically no reason at all which removes a lot of the fear. you're not supposed to say the authors' names or there will be grievous consequences but nothing has happened even though they've slipped up multiple times. they destroyed a wing of the lines between and there was no effect on their dimension. they also left npcs in there e.g. little miss muffett and it was apparently just fine. we haven't heard from scheherezade or aesop or any other dimensions in weeks. i appreciate that brennan wanted to give the party options and build a fleshed-out world AND that with improv some level of discontinuity comes with the territory but it really just lowers the stakes when villains or horrors only exist if they're on the party's mind and fade to the background as soon as the party becomes interested in something else. what's horrifying about a world where you have to actively seek out the horror?

he was saying in the last adventuring party like 'oh i created all these factions and had no idea what you all would gravitate towards in the season.' so it seems like most of the 'horror' was in the design of the world and the backstories of the characters etc and then he just let players loose within that framework to do whatever they want rather than intentionally injecting horror into the rhythms of play, game mechanics, plot structure, etc. we have all said over and over again that this is largely what comes of insisting on using d&d no matter the genre or season concept, despite the fact that there are tons of indie ttrpgs out there specifically designed to facilitate horror.

i'll be really interested to see how the season wraps up because there is absolutely still room for a horrifying ending but it's feeling less and less likely and more and more like the party is going to be allowed to just fully win and fix everything. we shall see!

[phoenix-positivity]

21 june 2024

I just watched a proposal video and it made me remember, oh yeah, I proposed once. I was going to get married. How weird to remember. It's very very strange to experience a break up after the relationship has already reached that level. I guess I got lucky that I didn't have to go through a pile of divorce papers. I am pretty impressed with how well I've processed my break up. 8 years of being together is a long time to get over. And we'd been friends longer than that. I still talk with my ex about once or twice a week very briefly. It feels more like it's considered rude to completely not speak to them anymore. Our conversations are usually only 1 minute long and just checking up on each other. I guess at some point that interaction might water down too. That's weird to think about. Even though the break up went anything but smooth there's so many factors at play that I don't hold any ill will towards my ex.

I'm enjoying my life single. I don't want any partner right now. I think I would be completely ready for a partner but I am in no rush. The reason I don't want one is because I'm way too busy! I'm spending all my time doing what I want and improving my life and taking care of myself. I feel I would get annoyed at someone else joining in that I would owe my time to, haha. I like talking to my online friends when I want social interaction. If love crosses my path then I'm open to it, but they'd have to be a really amazing person to make me want to be with them. I'm doing just fine by myself. I do think about things like affection sometimes, but honestly self love goes a long way.

I honestly have only seen positive changes from me becoming single. I'm spending my time on myself now instead of pleasing someone else. And I have made new friends since then! (:

[ponponpopcorn]

DB Fanfic made on franticfanfic so it's sloppily written LOL

@superduperdragonball and i both wrote it! squiggle marks ~ where we each leave off. ill let u guys (pointing at the screen) guess who wrote what part

THE POWER OF THE IPHONE

Prompt Characters: Piccolo and Bulma

Info: Set in Super Hero time, Piccolo just wants to fix his broken iphone and it leads to an unlikely scenario....

"Why isn't this thing working...?"

Tap Tap tap, Piccolo's nail hits his phone screen rapidly like a beginner playing Pikachu in Smash Bros. Three days prior, he dropped his Iphone 500 mid-flight and he remained unaware of the limits of current technology. His screen was cracked horribly and it had ceased function, staying frozen at his google search of "Best Romance Novels 2024".

"Tch. It looks like I'll have to ask Bulma for help." Piccolo groans. He flies off from home on his way to Capsule Corp.

Bulma is excited at the sight of her green friend greets him, "Piccolo?! How rare! It's been since the SUPER HERO stuff!"

~

Piccolo landed before crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't assume this will be a more common occurance. I"m just here to fix my IPhone."

he pulled his torn to shreds IPhone out of his pocket and threw it towards the woman.

Barely catching it, Bulma balanced on her toes before settling with a sigh

"You ZFreaks never visit me just cause! It's always FIX THIS or FIND THE DRAGONBALLS with you guys! Why can't we just like- I dont know... Go BOWLING!"

...

"Bowling..?" Piccolo tilted his head

"Oh it's like... you throw a ball and hit pins." Bulma took out her pocket tool kit and started finnicking with the Phone

"Hm... Well, if it would please you I would go 'Bowling' with you. I figured it would be a fitting thank you for fixing the phone."

"Aw geez Piccolo! You know you dont owe anything. Just kidding, you do! Lets go bowling this weekend"

Bulma handed Piccolo his repaired Iphone before Trunks ran out and pointed at it and said

"Iphone"

~

piccolo mutters as he leaves, "Iphone...."

Timeskip to Saturday!!!!!!

Piccolo: Vegeta's here too...?

Vegeta: Don't get the wrong idea. Kakarott cancelled our dat- Our fight. our fight. Something about goten's band recital. I'm going to go for Day 2 of the concert tomorrow.

Bulma: Isn't this great!!!! I'll go get some pizza and you boys can hang out here.

Vegeta: .....

Piccolo: .....

Vegeta: ........ So you had that thing fixed?

Piccolo: ..? oh . oh yeah! Now I can play Suika game on my phone again (insert suika game music)

Vegeta: How stupi-......... Let me have a try.

Ten minutes later..

Bulma: Hey guys I'm back! Hope you like BBQ chicken pizza! Oh!

Vegeta: YES NEW HIGH SCORE!!!

Piccolo: Heh, not bad.

Bulma: wowww on they phonesssss let's start bowling

Bulma surprisingly does well at bowling. Okay people need to acknowledge she's not super weak like she can get around she seems a lil sporty at the very least OK!!!!

Piccolo; (panting) how does she get so many strikes

Vegeta: FUCK ANOTHER SPARE!!!!!!

The game ends with a Bulma sweep, Vegeta does better and piccolo... needs to improve, but it's only his first time. Vegeta's been a couple of times with Trunks like when he got an 80 on his last math final.

Vegeta: ...... That was a good experience.

Piccolo: Haha, yeah. How about we go again.

Bulma: what happened

[totally-not-deacon]

Wow, I actually finished a full-ass chapter, and a LONG one too!! I dunno the last time I did that, cause damn was that writer's block took ages to get over. Still gotta do some touch-ups, but either way - yay!

Hell, I'll gift y'all with an excerpt, cause poor Lucien needs some pity lmao

“So, what do you think?” Lucien held his arms out, showing off the simple set of leather armor he’d picked up. They’d met him outside the smithy, bags packed and ready to move just as the sun began peeking over the treeline. “Gonna end up with your head bashed in without a helmet.” Nebarra grumbled, definitely nursing quite the hangover, leaving him even more ill-tempered than usual. Lucien paled. Marasa was feeling a bit kinder that morning, though her own stomach was rolling from the night before. “He’s not wrong, but you can pick one up in Helgen, I guess. Just hang back, let us take the lead for now.” It was good advice. They’d hardly made it a mile before running into a small group of bandits attempting to operate a trap across the road. It seemed none of knew how to actually operate the trap, though, as try as they might none of them could could get the mechanism to release the pile of large rocks over their heads. Marasa kept her shield high against the onslaught of arrows they resorted to, darting down the center of the road and drawing their attention, giving Nebarra the opportunity to hit them hard and unhindered from the side. She took shelter behind a small ledge, drawing her own bow. Her first shot just missed but the second struck true, striking one of the bandits in the back, causing him to topple from the top of their rope bridge and land in a crumpled heap. Another took an arrow to the thigh, hobbling him until Nebarra cut him down without mercy, tossing the corpse down with the others. All in all, it was over in just a few moments. Once the dust settled, Lucien emerged wide-eyed from behind the large tree they’d left him at. “Of course they’re all broke as shit. Can’t even do banditry right.” Marasa huffed, crouched over and rooting through their pockets and packs for anything worthwhile. Just junk and a few skooma bottles she refused to touch. She looked up at Lucien’s approach. “Oh good, you didn’t die.” “Nothing like a little massacre to start the day off right.” Nebarra came marching over, mood having improved significantly after getting his blade well-bloodied. He noticed Lucien gawking at the red splattered across his armor, looking green in the face. It was obvious he was beginning to have doubts about this arrangement already. Nebarra jeered, “What, first time?” “You can’t feel sorry for these sad sacks. They’d cut you down in a second given half a chance.” She had to admit, comfort wasn’t her strong suit, but hopefully she could at least keep the man from fainting out of shock. Lugging his limp body around wasn’t in the plan. She gave up searching for valuables, groaning when her knees cracked as she stood. “Little more than animals, really.” “That was all… very intense.” He mumbled, still spooked. “I guess I didn’t realize just how violent Skyrim could be.” “That? Ohoho, that was nothing.” Nebarra sounded downright giddy now. “I should tell you of the time I gutted no less than a dozen legionaries back to back after we caught them off guard in a camp just outside Taneth. A few even tried to fight back! Now that was a good time!” Oh yeah, Lucien definitely was regretting this.

[lorre-verie]

guess who?

hi everyonee!! genuinely not sure if u guys remember me but yk, either way, I just wanted to tell you guys how my life’s been going these past 2 months. (as well as showing my appreciation)

new year of school is going well, my class doesn’t suck as bad as the last 😭🙏 ive recently started 2 planners, one focusing on academics, goals and one focusing on self improvement, and I feel like they’re helping me a lot!

as for the projects I mentioned in my last post, i’m working on them slowly but surely. starting to apply myself more at school, and i’m trying to cut back on procrastination SEVERELY. also i feel like i can actually draw well now! isnt that super exciting? im excited, for maybe no reason but im so happy im finally seeing improvement. practice really does make perfect.

my original story and my plan for a webtoon are going smoothly, im just doing research on webtoon artstyles and book chapter guidelines so i know what i can do to make good story progression!

im also being more organized (finally) and starting to be less forgetful!

oh and i might make an art focused account? just to help motivate me to keep practicing my art skills.

unfortunately, still have no interest in writing fanfiction for any fandom for the time being 😭 sobs internally

but maybe, if i feel up to it, i might do short character drabbles. for any fandom! im open to any suggestions, if any of you guys want to suggest any?

most importantly, i just want to thank everyone that has interacted with any of my posts at all. this tumblr account has seriously pivoted the direction of my life and showed me that i can accomplish something, and put smiles on people’s faces. (might be overreacting but let me be sentimental alright? 😀👍)

one day, maybe, my name will be on the cover of a bestselling book. or maybe ill have an art account with over 10k followers. the point is, i will never forget the support that everyone has showed me here. it really may seem like a small thing to you guys, just liking someones posts on a large social media platform, but it meant so much for me that people liked what i created.

i dont think i expressed my gratitude clearly enough in my goodbye post. so i hope you guys got it here 🙏

wherever my life goes, and wherever you guys go, i hope you all know that each and every one of you have impacted my life.

thank you all :)

and,

as always,

thank you for reading.

much loved,

lorre.

oh and also ill be more active on here now 🙏 i just know that wherever i go from here on out, i want you guys to be here with me, if you’ll have me.

[melancholiadaydreams]

Songs and Love (Troupe Master Grimm/reader)

Ao3

modern au, fluff.

...

A yawn escapes the [bug] as they stretch.

It had been an exhausting day at work. Between annoying coworkers, mainly a bug named Zote, and irritating customers, they just wanted to slip into bed and fall asleep with their beloved.

[f/n] presses the elevator button, bobbing their head to the song playing from their earbuds.

They couldn't help but let their mind wander to their lover, Grimm.

He was a busy man, a theater director of sorts— although he also acted in the performances he would put on.

A smile forms on the bug's face, 'he was truly a star,'

They shift awkwardly into the elevator, it was crowded today, but that was fine.

The day was long, the people irritating, but it all dissipated while they lay in his arm.

And knowing him, today was one of the days he would be home, working away on the latest script, writing notes on how to improve the acts further.

"I'm home!" [f/n] called out, stepping into the apartment and closing the door behind them.

Frowning at the darkness and lack of response, it seemed he had not yet made it home.

"Oh well," they sigh, slipping their coat off and hanging it up.

A cup of coffee would suffice until he arrived.

With a shake of their head, they hang their keys and put their bag away, making their way into the kitchen.

By habit, they grab two mugs while preparing the coffee maker.

"A hopeless romantic all my life," they sang quietly along with the music in their ears. "Surrounded by couples all the time,"

They lean against the counter, swaying their head to beat, "I guess I should take it as a sign,"

This song, much like other romantic tunes, reminded them of him. This one in particular always drew their thoughts to when they first met.

The night was quiet. The rain poured over their form as they tapped their foot to the beat.

They sang into the rain, not minding how their clothes were soaked nor how they may fall ill from the chill.

"Oh, the way he makes me feel that love isn't real—" they continued, whisked away by the idea of someone who lives only in their fantasy,

The rain stops, pulling them from their daydreams.

Their head tilted up, meeting a pair of scarlet eyes looking down at them curiously, 

"You have a wonderful voice," He spoke, his voice deep and a tad rough.

"Oh my!" They yelped, pulling their arms to their chest defensively.

He chuckles, leaning slightly, "Apologies, dear, I did not mean to frighten you,"

It was almost love at first sight for them.

If it had been in daylight, and had he not towered over their spot on the bench.

Their body was tense, their eyes staring up at him, unable to move. He appeared to bare a mask, horns that curved backward, with a black stripe above and below each eye.

He noticed, clearing his throat nervously, "I do not wish to disturb you." he looked them over, "Your voice, it is rather pleasant to the ears," 

Their body did not relax, causing his nerves to rise, "My name is Grimm," He introduced himself as if it would calm them.

[f/n] nodded, blinking at him.

Heat radiated from him, and they realized how cold the night was.

"[f/n]," they spoke their name. 

He seemed harmless. Albeit his height and appearance were a tad scary.

The beep of the coffee maker pulled them from their mind, and they grabbed the pot and poured their cup.

They froze, about to pour the second cup.

Shaking their head, they placed the bot back. He wasn't home yet— it would be cold by the time he arrived… probably.

The bug settled onto the couch, curling into the side, staring out the window.

It was raining, as it often did. The city was often referred to as the City of Tears for a reason.

Closing their eyes, they sipped the hot beverage with a sigh.

Even if he weren't home now, he would be before too long, and finally, they could rest in his embrace.

Good things come to those who wait.

Tugging the earbuds from their ears, they connect their phone to their speakers, smiling as the music flows through the apartment.

They pull the blanket folded beside them, covering their body.

The rain and music lulled them into their thoughts once more.

"I'm home, beloved," his voice called from the entrance, the door closing just as quietly as he opened it.

[f/n] 's eyes closed, lost within the lyrics.

"Darling?"

 They jumped at his voice, looking toward him, 

"I've brought dinner," He raised a plastic bag, their favorite restaurant's logo on the bag.

[f/n] perked up, pushing the blanket off of them, standing, "Oh, my Grimm, you shouldn't have," a smile on their lips as they pulled him down by his shirt's collar, kissing him gently, "I appreciate it, my dear,"

His eyes were soft, nodding, "I'm sorry I'm late. I hope I did not upset you,"

They shook their head, taking the bag from his hand, "It's alright, you are home now. That is all that matters to me,"

He pulls his cloak off, moving to hang it up, "How was your day, darling?"

They sighed, shaking their head, opening the first takeout box, "I want to commit murder,"

"That one pesky coworker again?"

"I just don't get how someone that useless can be so arrogant," they melt into his embrace as Grimm wraps his arms around them, "I do not understand how he still has a job here— I mean, Tiso was fired for snapping at a customer!"

He listened to them, watching them grab the plastic forks from the bag.

"Here," they held a fork up to him, "—I just…" they groaned, "He might be the reason I walk out. I cannot handle his bs anymore,"

"You deserve better," He agrees. And he means it. Grimm wants nothing but the best for his lover.

They nod, taking a bite of their food, "I… don't know what I want to pursue. This job pays well— rather, I get a load of tips— and I can't just leave without a plan,"

He wants to interject, to say he could pay for everything and buy them everything they want. But he doesn't; instead, he agrees, unwrapping himself from them to eat.

Grimm knows the need to have a place. To not work, it would eat away at him as well. 

"I would offer you a spot within my troupe." He trails off, taking a bite of his food.

[f/n] shrugged, "I know. I… do not feel comfortable with singing in front of that many people,"

"I understand, dearest," 

Although the pair may disagree regarding their voice, he wouldn't force them into anything they were uncomfortable with.

He loved his performances. They knew that.

Big theatrical works, his starring roles. He was made for the silver screens, so to speak.

They would support him, no matter the endeavor. 

"I'm sorry," [f/n] tilted their head, "I haven't asked you how your day was,"

He sighed, "It went well,"

"that doesn't sound like it,"

"Our show is on Friday, yet for some reason, my troupe can't focus on their acts—" Another heavy sigh leaves him, "The choreography needs adjustments, as some issues have been brought to my attention,"

Reaching out, they rub his arm, nodding, "oh dear," they pause, "If it puts your mind at ease, I'm sure everything will come together before the shows,"

"It always does," he speaks after a moment, "I don't believe that I have heard this song,"

They hummed, remembering that their music was still on, "Oh… um, it Golden Hour by… Jvke,"

He nodded, humming in response.

"I can turn it off if you would like,"

Shaking his head, he speaks, "No, it's alright. You like this song, do you not?"

"I do," they smile, leaning against him, "Do you have any work you must finish before bed?"

"Nothing that cannot wait until the morning," 

[f/n] continued eating, the pair listening to the quiet music playing.

"I don't need no light to see you," [f/n] sang along, "Shine,~" 

Grimm's free hand curled around their waist, listening to them,

"It's your golden hour,~" their voice was breathy, looking up into his scarlet eyes, 

"I love you, darling," He whispered, matching their volume, bumping his head against theirs, "You have such a stunning voice,"

Giggling, they close their eyes, "I love you too, Grimm,"

The rain outside, pouring against their apartment, the music, Grimm holding onto them as they ate their favorite food from their favorite restaurant— the hectic day they had long melted away as they enjoyed their lover's presence. 

…

[f/n] threw the bag of wrappers and plastic utensils into the trash, listening to Grimm pour them both a glass of wine, humming along.

"I think I'll take my leftovers for lunch tomorrow," They  say to him, placing the box into the fridge,

He nods, holding their glass out, "Some wine to calm your nerves?"

"As if I would deny," they wink at him, "Oh, my favorite song is coming up,"

Their hands join together, moving back to the living room once more,

"Perhaps it is time to mix more music in this playlist," Grimm teases them, "Especially if you know when what song is coming up,"

"Please," they roll their eyes, "You listen to the same songs on repeat for months at a time,"

He huffs in mock irritation, a smile on his face, and sipped his wine,

In slow sips, the pair remain standing in the middle of the room, waiting for the next song.

Once the one playing drew to its end, [f/n] took their glasses, placed them on the coffee table,

"How about a performance for just our eyes,"

"You know I could never deny a request like that," His hand returned to their waist.

[f/n] placed their hand against his cheek, a small smile dancing on their face, "My feet are aching," they sang quietly, "And your back is pretty tired,"

His gaze was soft, staring into their eyes, "Your voice is lovely, my dear,"

They giggled, "Thank you, love,"

They closed their eyes, tilting their head to his, "The papers say it's doomsday,"

"The button has been pressed," Grimm joined them, keeping his singing to a whisper, content on listening to them, "We're gonna nuke each other up, boys,"

They gasped lightly as he pulled them closer to them, his claws firmly against the small of their back, 

"Grimm," they gave an airy laugh, their hand trailing down his back, "I can't sing when you look at me like that,"

"I cannot help it. You are simply extraordinary,"

Whining, [f/n] turned their head away from him, their face red, "Please,"

He chuckled, his grip on their back tightened, "Oh dear," his voice was low and teasing, "Don't you know better than to look away from me,"

They rolled their eyes, their smile still present on their face, "Don't look at me like that—"

Grimm leaned down, burying his face into their shoulder, causing them to squeak,

"Grimm!" 

"Love," he whispers back, an echo of their whiny tone, "You are so dramatic,~"

They wiggle in his hold, laughing, "Grimm, if anyone is dramatic— it's you,"

He sighs, shaking his head against them, "You wound me so beloved,"

They hummed, their fingers tapping against his back in rhythm to the song on their speaker.

"I love you regardless of your drama, my king,"

"And I love you," 

They closed their eyes, rubbing their head against his horn, "And here it is, our final night alive," they continued, not mentioning the clear purring from their beloved, "And as the Earth burns to the ground,"

"Oh, boy, it's you that I lie with," his voice muffled from their shirt, joining them once more in the song, swaying them to the music.

"As the atom bomb locks in,"

"Oh, boy, it's you I watch TV with,"

A night with their lover, even if spent singing about the end of the world, was a dream come true to them,

"As the world, as the world caves in,"

If they had the choice, they would gladly live like this each and every day until they perished.

[fioras-resolve]

I beat Virtue's Last Reward, thoughts under the cut

-Huh?

-Okay, not huh as in "I don't understand," I get it fully, I mean "Why was this the ending?" I guess I'll have to play Zero Time Dilemma to find out huh.

-This is definitely the kinda thing I'm gonna have to spend several days processing, similar to 999

-I'm thinking a bit about how the ending of a thing can overshadow so much else in a story, like even though I've experienced the rest of the story, I'm struck by just the ending right now.

-I think all-in-all the main thing I'll say is that this game got me to feel things, it got me to love, to loathe, to betray and be betrayed. I don't think a game has done that this well for me in a good while. It's inspiring tbh. Did I mention I'm a game developer? This will definitely influence my work moving forward.

-I cannot fucking IMAGINE playing this game in 2012 and having to wait 4 years for Zero Time Dilemma to come out. Y'all were hanging on that cliff so long, and it was very possible you'd never get up. As an Ace Attorney fan living on hiatus brain, I know the feeling, but also GOD, at least Ace Attorney had a consistent flow of games when I was most into it.

-I am... mixed, on how this game handles returning characters from 999. The big thing right now is This Is Not My Akane. She's basically unrecognizable, even in her past state where she looks the same. I was thinking during that whole ending, "Okay, but why did it have to be AKANE? She's been through this so many times and probably has six layers of PTSD from the thing, so why would she ever agree to this?" And it feels like the answer is a kind of puzzle-box solution that I find really strange all things considered. Like, yes, 999's ending was a mindfuck, but it also genuinely pulled at the heartstrings because like. Yeah, you were saving Akane, and this is someone that we'd built a connection to both as a character and as a player.

-I guess the thing there is that like, that kind of heartstrings ending is a single route of 999, but it's all over VLR. The ending feels like an answer to the mystery, but not to the themes, or the question of "why does this game exist?"

-It feels like Uchikoshi wanted to follow up on the cult success of 999 by making something Bigger, an even more complex mystery with even more paths and even more moving parts. And he got so invested in making this puzzle box cohere that the game ends up sidelining emotional resonance even when it's trying not to.

-I've been talking to a friend of mine who played it a while ago and felt physically ill after the ending, and like. First of all, yeah, different people just have different tolerable levels of bullshit. But also, I feel like plural systems like myself innately have more of a resistance to it because our minds are already fucky enough. Legit, during the reveal of the swap I was thinking "Oh so he dissociated for 45 years."

-Sidenote, Zero Escape feels intensely gnostic, from what little I know of gnosticism. It feels like these games are trying to use science as a conduit/justification for a philosophy I'm not sure if I vibe with. But I can vibe with it for the purpose of storytelling.

-I think I like VLR more than 999? Like, VLR is definitely playing with bigger ideas and following up on 999 in ways I really appreciate. And in general th--

-Midway through typing the previous thing I realized, holy shit, I have a similar relationship to this game that I do to Final Fantasy XIII-2. They're both sequels that follow up on their previous games with blanket improvements to both story and gameplay, but both have endings that leave me confused as to what these games are actually doing besides filling in plot before the next game. And yes, both VLR and XIII-2 are doing amazing things in the beginning and the middle, but the answer to "what is this leading to" for both seems to be "play the next game, fucker."

-I think the thing I'm pissed about is the justification given for the AB game. Like, the mechanic inherently carries interesting themes about trust, self-interest, game theory, etc. The reveals of what everyone else voted are some of the most gripping moments I've experienced in video games. I was ready for this to be going somewhere with these ideas! And then the reveal is that the reason the game was constructed like this was to give you more moments of choice to time travel through. And like, okay, fine, this game's got its higher level stuff about choice and agency and all that, that all works! But for the Ambidex Game to be primarily about making the player make the exact right choices to lead to the perfect ending, it's... Ugh! I thought the point was to explore all these other possibilities, that's why all the different endings!

-I need more time to process this game, but right now my take is this: Virtue's Last Reward is an amazing game until you realize what it is. It's a game that can raise your emotions high and get you truly fucked up. But as you play more of it, it reveals its true focus is this almost mechanical construction of plot. This construction is beautiful in its own way, but it's not what I come to a game like this for. Despite being a game designer who talks a lot about game mechanics and systems, I care so much about story. I want to get attached to characters, I want to see a narrative unfold, I want to have my heartstrings pulled. And the game seems too sure of itself to remember to pull it off.

-Or maybe this is the wrong way of looking at it? Maybe I'm criticizing what it isn't, rather than appreciating what it is. This game isn't trying to be 999 and failing, it's trying to be Virtue's Last Reward and succeeding. And I'm still along for this ride.

[gettinshiggywithit]

izueli-deactivated20221211 asked:

Jay!!! Can you do a izuku version of the one you did with kiri with a artistic reader? 😭

Izuku x artist!reader? Okay lets try this!

!Izuku x Artist!Reader!

Scenario:- izuku with an s/o who is artistic!

Pairing:- izuku midoriya x gn!reader

Type:- headcannons

Hmm i think he’d really observe you a lot

Like while ur drawing hed sit and watch you silently

Not in like a creepy way ofc

But he wants to improve his own art skills so he’s falling back onto his ‘observe and learn’ tactic(like how he did with learning about pros!)

I feel like hed slowly be taking notes too

But if you ever say its distracting hed sorta just get flustered,apologize and then leave

I mean we all know how he can ramble when he gets lost in thought and while that isss adorable it can be kinda annoying,especially when you’re trying to concentrate 😅

He’d watch tutorial videos and attempt to make his own art style just so he doesnt have to bother you for help

Bby doesnt wanna be a burden(he isnt and bestie youd better tell him he isn’t ☺️🔪)

He definitely tells you that you should make a tutorial based you tube channel

Hypes you up and tells you that you’d DEFINITELY get millions of views because you’re just that amazing 😌(and yes,yes you are!)

Art afternoons are your go-to dates where you just spend time together bein silly and making stuff!

All the pieces that came of these sessions are all over ur apartment too🥰

It really makes ur place feel like,well, your place

If anyone ever even tries to say ur job isn’t really a job hed hit those karens with a detroit smash’s worth of facts (did that pun land?😭)on how hard bein an artist really is

I mean bestie is just spittin statistics and complete facts and even like ur personal stats

Like how many hours a day you create and shit

Like honestly even i dont know how he remembers or even WHY he counted but i guess he’s just good with numbers 😅🤷🏻‍♀️

Needless to say all the haters get the point and most of em tip veryyy generously when they do commission you for a piece

He definitely brags about you to his other pro hero collegues too!

Like goin on and on abt ur creative genius and how cool your stuff is

Even on like press tours this man is hyping you up!

(Slayy bestie slayyy)

And needless to say the next day ur inbox and dms are full of commission requests and official offers to design logos and merch and honestly to create ANYTHING for a whole bunch of upcoming pros too!

But if you ever feel burned out or like creating is just getting too tedious and chore-like;and when you just really need a break

Hed be the FIRST person to tell you to take a step back and recouperate(i just KNOW I misspelled that😩)

And if you ever chastise yourself for “not creating enough” or “not pushing yourself further” he’d get mad serious and tell you that overwhelming yourself isnt the answer and that you taking a (much needed) break is more than okay

He knows all too well what overwhelming yourself and having too many expectations and goals can do so he doesnt want you to push yourself past the point of no return

Oh and if You ever need fresh ideas

Hes your go-to guy

He always manages to inspire you and you honestly love that about him 🥰

WE STAN THIS BOI AND HIS PERFECTNESS ISTGGG

You go bestie!!! Slayy!!!!

Tagging:- @izueli

please dont repost my work here as your own on any platform all rights belong to me except that of the mha characters used,their right belong to their respective owners.but this story? mine.

feedback,likes,reblogs and comments are so very appreciated tbh :’)i hope you enjoyed and ill catch ya next time!

Comments & Reblogs w/ tags >>>>>>>>>>>likes please

[ethereousdelirious]

God okay so I've been trying to write a sort of 'personal reflections of Sicktember' type post because i do sort of view writing as my primary chosen craft and I would like to keep improving at it but I keep not having time but I think I have time now

(Nobody has to read this lmao it's not necessarily "for" something)

So I've tried to participate in a few month-long community writing challenges over the years (Sicktember, Whumptober, Emetovember) and for the most part. Okay I'm trying to avoid the word "failed" because that implies there's a right and wrong way to participate, but uh. I guess quit? I failed to meet my own expectations.

Okay, wait.

I'm a completionist. That is the manner of participation in these events that is fun for me. So if I make another reference to "failing," I mean I failed to complete the challenge in my preferred way.

So yeah anyway I repeatedly failed these challenges. And Sicktember 2023 is the first year I was able to identify why I failed, remedy it, and succeed. (Though it is worth noting that I did complete Whumptober 2019, which was my first attempt at a challenge. We'll get to that.)

Let me chalk it up to 3 interconnected factors: Burnout, Skill Issues, Adverse Events

Burnout

On the surface, it seems simple. Read the prompt, get an idea, write a fill.

Yeah, it's not that simple.

For the longest time, I would just pursue the first idea that popped into my head, regardless of whether I would actually enjoy writing the fill. I would write for fandoms I wasn't really feeling at the moment because I thought they fit the best, forcing my ADHD brain through boring torture for no reward because "oh, but I used to like this thing and it just fits so well."

So when I finished, I would get no dopamine reward. Plus, my challenge fills have historically garnered very little attention (which is fine; I'm not entitled to that), which means that I also received no external reward.

The result is a string of short, dry, passionless fills that no one rightly should want to read. Why would anyone want to read something that I didn't want to write?

And that, my friends, is a recipe for burnout. So obviously I would get discouraged and quit.

That's why my Sicktember 2023 fills are so often repetitive. I forced myself to stick with the thing I really wanted to write even if i felt like I "should" have been writing something else.

Although I have to say, I did start running into problems at the end end where I started getting bored with my own self-indulgence, so I'll have to find a way to counter that next year.

Of course, being unable to write something to your own satisfaction is also a......

Skill Issue

I recently learned that the nebulous concept of "creativity" is a trainable skill. In fact, over Sicktember 2023, I honed my ability to come up with a tiny plot, creating a formula to help me come up with fills. These ideas can come in any order, but the idea is to identify a character, a want, and an illness/obstacle. All the fills I like use this formula and most of the fills I hate do not.

Incidentally, I think that coming up with a different obstacle or changing the way a character's illness impedes them is the key to writing the legendary "slowburn sickfic with plot," but that's a pursuit for another day.

Anyway, yeah, part of the reason I had to be so dependent on the first idea that popped into my head was because I didn't have the skills needed to develop a story.

If the prompt was "stitches" and the first thing that popped into my head was for a fic where Thor has to do field medicine on Loki, that's what I would write. Never mind the fact that I haven't cared about the MCU since 2012. Even though I'm really feeling Ace Attorney right now, past!me lacked the ability (or honestly, the confidence in my abilities) to develop a plot I would have actually cared about.

Also, because I was nervous about my ability to meet the challenge deadlines, I would focus on writing as quickly as possible, leading me to trip up in the face of...

Adverse Events

I don't know if this is confirmation bias or what, but something heinous always happens to me when I'm prepping for a writing challenge. It's been a variety of things over the years, each one legitimately upsetting and sometimes actually clinically traumatic.

Not to mention all the mundane stuff like trips, hangouts, parties, etc. I'm hyperactive and ambiverted, I have a bustling social life and a full schedule.

Regardless, if I missed a few days of writing, I would spiral. That was it, I was too far behind, I was never gonna make it, I should just give up.

Combine that with burnout as well and I really had no good reason to push through. Why should I grind on a project that wasn't even fun in the first place?

Something world-shatteringly horrible happened to me this Sicktember (being vague because it's still really hard to think about), and I did take a few days off because I was a traumatized mess-- crying, flashbacks, dissociation, the whole shebang.

And then, the craziest thing happened. After letting myself off the hook and taking care of myself, I regained some stability and wanted to come back.

So I did, and I just kept chugging away at the prompts. And I finished despite the setback!

Conclusion

I dealt with all the above shit and, for the first time ever, managed to complete a challenge to my satisfaction!

There are fills I'm less fond of based on prompts I don't really care for, but that's the nature of a challenge. I'm not ashamed of anything I wrote (unlike my past Whumptober fills *shudders* Those were all aggressively mediocre at best).

I'm happy! I enjoyed this challenge and I'm excited to take a crack at Whumptober.

[kyanitesaphire]

Lightning In A Bottle chapter 11

When Spencer awoke in the morning, he was alone in Éclair’s bed, the sheets slightly cool where she once lay. He sat up, climbed out of bed, and checked down the hall. The bathroom door was open, indicating it was vacant. He peered into Lurch’s room and saw it was empty too. He descended the stairs and checked the kitchen and living room for her. When he checked out the back window he saw her sitting on the back steps while the dogs ran amuck in the backyard. With the assurance that all was well, Spencer got to work brewing a pot of coffee and making some toast. Once he was armed with caffeine and carbs, Spencer joined Éclair on the back porch.

“Morning Hibou.” Éclair sang as she welcomed him to take a seat next to her. “ Sleep well?”

“Yes actually.” He said sounding surprised. “I haven’t slept that well in a very long time.”

“Well then I guess you’ll be catching up on a lot of sleep this weekend” she gave a playful wink before planting a kiss on his lips.

“I’m sure if you had your way I’d never sleep a wink around you if last night was any indication.” He said with a slight wince as his shirt rubbed against the still tender scratches covering his back.

“Don’t be silly. I would never deprive you of your much needed rest. You’re too cute when you sleep.” She cooed, running her fingertips along his jaw and across his lower lip. “Besides, if I did that, how would I get a repeat performance of last night? You’d be too tired to keep up!”

“I’d like to think I could improve on it.” Spencer boasted before taking a large gulp of his coffee.

“Quite the ambitious claim!”

“Ambition is one of my finest traits. I wouldn’t have earned three PhDs and three BAs without it.”

“So can I expect to see you reading books about tantric sex and the karma sutra?” Éclair joked half expecting Spencer to spit out his coffee in shock, but instead he gave her a very matter of fact response.

“I’ve already read many books on various sexual practices including the karma sutra. Unfortunately that knowledge only seems to get used when solving crimes involving kink communities. And you know what they say about theory versus practice.”

“So I take it you’d like to get a bit more practice in then?”

“Perhaps. Later tonight maybe.” He replied brushing her blonde and blue locks out of her face. “I figured today you might want to pay Lurch a visit. We can bring some fresh clothes for him and Yen along with the cookies Garcia made.”

“Alright, fine. We can go…..to see Yen.” She feigned reluctance and Spencer laughed at her subtle jab. “You finish your breakfast while I pack a bag for them. After that we can worry about showering.”

“Oh good, you can clean up the mess you made of my back.” Spencer said rolling his shoulders.

“Ill get started on packing. Come on boys! Time to go inside!” she hopped up and skipped merrily back into the house with the dogs in toe.

When Spencer finished his coffee and toast, Éclair was still trying to figure out what to pack for Yen and Lurch. She had several outfits splayed out on the bed, non of which seemed appropriate for the hospital. Some looked like formal attire, others looked like clubbing outfits.

“No.” Was all Spencer said as he scanned over the garments.

“No to what?” Éclair asked holding up two very different cocktail dresses.

“All of it. As someone who has been in hospitals both as a patient and as a supportive loved one numerous times, I can say with absolute certainty that nothing here is what they’ll want to wear.”

“OK….what do you suggest?” She asked casually disregarding the dresses she was holding. Spencer filed through what he assumed was Lurch’s dresser.

“Few pairs of underwear, Flannel pj pants, and loose fit tee. Until he’s discharged he’ll have to stay in those awful gowns but we can at least make sure he has fresh underwear and something to go home in.” He explained setting a small pile of clothes  on the bed.

“What about Yen?” she gestured to Yen’s dresser.

“Yoga pants or track pants, casual tees or tank tops and a sweater. Basically think ‘could they comfortably wear it to bed but still hit the corner store in it?’”

“If you say so.” Éclair shrugged, pulled out more suitable wardrobe choices and put everything else away. “I just figured some nice looking clothes might lift her spirits. When I’m down, dressing up nicely usually makes me feel better.”

“That’s where the cookies come in. Hospital food is disgusting. The only thing good to eat is the jello.” Spencer explained as he packed the clothes into a bag. “I’m sure you didn’t need me to remind you of that though.”

“I don’t really remember the food from my stay. It’s all a bit of a blur. I remember bits and pieces here and there, but there’s a lot of gaps and it’s out of order. DD said that’s normal though. Not everything would be converted to long-term memory during the earliest part of my recovery. ” Éclair meandered out of Lurch and Yen’s room and down the hall to her own room. “I’m going to figure out what I want to wear. Meet you in the bathroom .”

Spencer stripped out of his pajamas, noting the fine red speckled lines littering the inside of his shirt from the scratches. Fortunately the bleeding was very minimal and didn’t seep through. When Éclair opened the bathroom door, she was confronted with the sight of Spencer’s clawed up back as well as the deep purple marks on his neck and shoulders in the mirrors reflection. She did her best to refrain from laughing at his expense but was less than successful.

“ I’m sorry. I guess I did go a little overboard last night.” She apologized through her smirk. “I’ll have to remember to reign it in next time.”

“It’s said that being marked in such a manner is a sign of a good lover, and the more plentiful and pronounced the marks, the more proficient the recipient is. So I guess I must have been doing something right to receive such praise.” Spencer boasted as he gestured over the various marks on his neck. With a devilish grin, Éclair gently ran her fingers over the scratches making him flinch. “ But maybe could do something about those nails.”

“Ohh! You gonna take me to get a nice manicure?” Éclair joked as she turned on the shower and began to strip down.

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” He chuckled as he finished undressing himself.

As Spencer stepped into the shower and the hot water hit the tender scratches, he whined. It took him a moment to adjust to the stinging sensation, and just as he was used to the water beating down on them, he felt Éclairs hands gently washing the spaces between the wounds. He braced himself against the wall as she continued to delicately clean his sensitive skin. Eventually the pain subsided enough that all he was left with was her warm touch and the throbbing memory of the previous night replaying over and over as her fingers brushed along the broken skin. His eyes fluttered shut for a moment  as his breathing became more labored. This didn’t go unnoticed by Éclair.

“Are you ok? Is it too much?” She asked moving her hands to his shoulders and trying to look him in the eye. He attempted to steady his breathing before quickly responding.

“No, I’m fine. It’s OK.” He shifted his stance to hide his predicament from her. She rested her hand on his lower abdomen and felt a familiar, tell tale flexing beneath her palm.

“I see…. So you don’t want me to give you… a hand?” she asked slowly letting her hand slide further down. As much 8as  he enjoyed the thought of the release she was more than willing to provide him, the staggering statistics regarding shower-sex related injuries were impossible for him to ignore. He gently pulled her hand away from his swollen groin and carefully coaxed her in front of him so she stood beneath the water.

“I think the tub floor is a bit too slippery for that.” Spencer said as he relished the sight of the water gently rolling down her soft curves. “Besides, it sounds like the dogs are getting lonely already. We should hurry up.”

“I suppose…” Éclair sighed, leaning against his chest and draping her arms around his neck. Spencer pressed his forehead to hers and rested his hands on her hips. “In that case, do you mind being so kind as to get my back for me?”

Zeus and Raijin waited impatiently outside the bathroom for the amorous couple to re-emerge. Their tails anxiously slapping the floor and walls as they paced restlessly. Éclair shooed them away from the bathroom as she opened the door, Spencer following closely behind her.

“Okay, okay! We’re out! Settle down!” she called out as she herded them down the stairs. “I can’t leave you boys alone for five minutes without you losing your minds!”

Spencer started to chuckle at her remark until he realized how true the sentiment was. This posed a problem.

“Uh oh…” he muttered mostly to himself but loud enough to be clearly audible. Éclair looked back to him hoping he would clarify his concerns. “ Even I had my car here for us to take, they wouldn’t fit in it…” he added to which she nodded in agreement. ��� we can’t take them on the bus and Bethesda is too far to walk…” Éclair continued to nod clearly not fully grasping what Spencer was trying to say. “what are we going to do about them when we head to the hospital?” he asked. Éclair hummed and hawed, pondering the quandary before her. She picked up her phone and absent mindedly fanned it between her thumb and fingers. She looked down at the device and the gears in her head began to turn faster. An epiphany. She opened up her contacts and pulled up the number of a certain eager ginger, tapping the call now button.

“ Hey! I have an odd request for you if you’re free….do you like dogs?......big ones. ….. yeah, well you see Lurch got hurt and hes in the hospital. We were going to go see him but I can’t leave the boys home by themselves. …….. Hibou. ….”

Spencer could only hear one side of the call for the most part. That was until she uttered her pet name for him. Suddenly he could hear a high pitched squeal from the overly excited person on the other end, although he wasn’t able to make any sense of what they were squealing about.

“yes yes yes, that’s all good. …..No, that won’t be necessary. I think you can handle it on your own…. Ok maybe one other, but that it. …OK…I’ll see you in a few. Bye.”  With that Éclair disconnected the call. “ There. Not a problem anymore.”

“And who exactly did you call?”

“I guess you could call her one of my sisters?” she replied with uncertainty. “ Do you remember when I told you about the friends I made that said they knew me form before?” Spencer nodded as he listened to her explanation. “She’s one of them. They’re all anxious to meet you….well all the girls are at least. Dauphin is kina hard to read at times, but I get the feeling he’s unsure about you.”

“I see. Well hopefully I can live up to the hype.” Spencer said preparing another cup of coffee for himself. Dauphin…that’s a highly unusual name… do all of you ‘sisters’ have unusual or uncommon names as well?” Éclair shrugged.

“Are Etoile, Luna, Ciel, and Blanche unusual names?”

“ They’re not exactly the most common names, but definitely not unheard-of….they’re all French.” Spencer noted. “Their names translate to Star, Moon, Sky, White… and Prince.”

“You know French?” Éclair asked in bewilderment.

“I know a lot of languages. Admittedly, I can read them more proficiently than I can speak them.” Spencer checked the time on the microwave and inspected the box of pill packets. “Here, you’re due for your meds.” He said passing her the next pack in the strip. Instinctively, Éclair put her hands up to catch the pills, but unlike Lurch, Spencer didn’t toss them at her. He simply held them out to her in his hand, waiting for her to take them. She accepted them and poured herself a glass of water to take them with.

While they waited for their dog sitter to arrive, Éclair poured two large dishes of food and water out for Zeus and Raijin, and Spencer programed alarms on his phone for her medication times.

 It wasn’t long before there was a rapid knock at the door sending the dogs into a frenzy. Éclair rushed to the door and let their guests in.

“Hibou! They’re here!” Éclair called out as she helped her sisters put their shoes away while the boys eagerly welcomed the new visitors. Spencer made his way to the door, nervously smoothing out his hair and clothes before appearing around the corner.

 It was only dawning on him now that he was about to meet his girlfriends family.

“Oh my God! He’s even cuter in person!” Spencer had barely processed seeing Ciel before she launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around him in a crushing and constricting embrace. Éclair could see the discomfort written all over his face.

“ Sorry, I probably should have warned both of you. Ciel here doesn’t really do boundaries.” Éclair explained as she gently peeled Ciel away. “ And this is Etoile. She doesn’t really speak much…or… well… at all.” When Spencer’s arms were finally liberated, he gave his signature wave and straight line smile and Etoile reciprocated the gesture.

“ You must be Éclair’s…uh… sisters?” Spencer wasn’t sure if that’s how he should refer to them given the complexity of their relationship, but both Ciel and Etoile nodded in agreement. “She speaks fondly of you. It’s nice to meet you.” Etoile began gesturing what Spencer assumed to be some sort of sing language but he didn’t recognize any of her motions. Seeing the confused expression on his face, she knew immediately he didn’t understand her and gave Ciel’s arm a gentle smack.

“Oh! She says ‘were very excited to finally meet you too.’” Ciel translated.

“Sorry, I noticed you were trying to sign, but I didn’t recognize your particular dialect. I’ve never seen it before.” Spencer explained , primarily addressing Etoile. Ciel and Etoile looked to each other and then to Éclair.

“It’s OK guys. Anything you would tell me, you can tell him. You can trust him.” Éclair assured her sisters.

“I take it you know what was done to Éclair? At least partially?” Ciel began. Spencer nodded. “ The same was done to us with varying degrees of success and side effects. One of which cost Etoile her hearing. Since it was just us, we didn’t have anyone to teach us any common sign language and no way to learn. We had to make our own. Our well being  wasn’t exactly their top priority. We may be free for the most part now, but since we don’t know everyone who played a part in what happened, we have to be careful who we put our trust in.”

 Spencer had suspected all along that Éclair hadn’t been the first or only one to endure such surgical atrocities, but he hadn’t imagined meeting any of the others. Primarily because he figured they would have most likely died.

“ Given what you’ve lived through, I can see why it’s so hard to open up and trust anyone.” He said, putting a comforting and protective arm around Éclair. “But I promise, your trust in me isn’t misplaced.” A weighted silence filled the room as a mutual understanding settled between them.

The silence only lasted a moment but even that was too long and awkward for Etoile to stomach. She gave Ciel another smack and began gesturing with a cheeky smirk on her face.

“ETOILE!! No! I’m not telling them that!” Ciel shrieked, trying to mask her laughter.

“ What did she say?” Éclair asked eager to be in on the joke.

“Nothing that needs repeating.” Ciel replied trying to wave off Etoile’s motions “Maybe we can talk about it over a girls night, but in the meantime you two have somewhere to be don’t you?”

“She’s right, I’ll grab everything while you get your things on and let them know of any specific care instructions for the dogs.” Spencer said excusing himself from the room.

“Once it’s just us girls though, you owe us details.” Ciel decreed pointing to her neck. Etoile smacked Ciel harder and began gesturing as though she was suffering some grand injustice . “ I really don’t think he'd be too comfortable with the show part of show and tell. So you’ll just have to settle for the tell portion.”

Etoile gave an exaggerated pout in response to that comment.

Éclair quickly donned her boots and set out Spencer’s shoes. When he returned, she took the bags from him so he could get his footwear on while she gave the dogs their kisses. Zeus didn’t wait for Spencer to finish what he was doing before thrusting his muzzle into his face affectionately.

“Alright, let’s hit the road before Zeus insists I need to kiss your sisters before leaving.” Spencer said giving the dogs a quick scratch and opening the door.

“We wouldn’t say no!” Ciel joked as Etoile puckered her lips. Spencer wasn’t sure how to respond to the jest meanwhile Éclair just laughed it off as she walked out the door.

[kbtbb-soryu]

Queen of Ice [Ryota x OC] Chapter 7

I took a shower and sat myself down for our daily tutoring session. He’d done so much for me over the last few weeks. The least I could do was to pass that test and prove that our hard work meant something.

“We’re dealing with probability today,” he said.

“I bombed my probability test last year…” I got thirty for that test.

“You don’t just naturally come to like the things you hate.”

“Lecture-time, I see,” I retorted.

“I’m a teacher; lectures are my profession.”

I heaved an exaggerated sigh and waved a hand. “Fire away.”

“We must find tools in order to love that which we hate. For example, foods you dislike… You develop tricks to eat them, right?”

“I guess…”

“It’s the same principle.”

“Go on.” I nodded.

“For example, you’re dealing with probability… So associate something you like with it. Here we go: if you can get the problem right within the time limit, you can have yourself a chocolate puff. Treat yourself; that always works.”

I grimaced. “That sounds more like a punishment than a reward.” I made a show of shivering.

“Then treat yourself to whatever you like.”

“Is that what you used to do?” I asked as I took a sip of my second coffee for the night.

“If I could get all the problems right, I’d buy as much candy as I could at the store. That worked like a charm.”

“Sooo… what, after doing math you’d stuff yourself full of sugar and vomit all over your homework?” That would sure as hell happen to me if I did that.

Mr Mochizuki laughed. “Gross. Sure, I felt sick, but was I ever motivated. Is that a tempting offer?”

“Oh, sure,” I dragged the word out, “Cause I’d love to be sick to my stomach stuffed on sugar.” So this was how Mr Mochizuki studied. “I kind of assumed you were a natural born studier.”

“No way. It’s rare to find a student who actually enjoys studying.”

I leaned back on my palms. “To think of you as a normal student once upon a time…”

“What’d you think I was? I wasn’t so obsessed with math that I couldn’t get enough of it. But here I am, a math teacher. It’s all about your method.”

“Well, I’m willing to do anything to get over my hatred for math.”

“What’ll be your treat to yourself, Haruka?” he asked. I didn’t believe in an external locus of control. But since he asked, I might as well take advantage of the situation.

“There’s a firework show coming up. I’d like to see it with you.”

“Fireworks, huh?” That sounded like the beginning of a rejection. “Alright. You’ve got a deal.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“On one condition. We watch them from my place. You can see them pretty well from here, actually. If you get into that medical course, then we’ll watch them together. What d’you say?”

“Deal. I’m going to get into that course. Watch me.” I smiled confidently.

I was tired; dead tired. Between school, work, tutoring and everything else that had been going on, I didn’t get much sleep. One Saturday, it was past eleven and Mr Mochizuki was still not up. I knocked on Mr Mochizuki’s door, but no answer came. I knocked again, louder this time. Was he ill or something. I knocked again. Deciding not to waste any more time, I went inside. My eyebrow twitched at the mess in front of me.

I was met with piles of books and DVDs littering the floor. This was what his room looked like? It was a dump and enough to give my dad an aneurism if he ever saw this place. The last time I was in his room was the first morning I spent here and I didn’t take a look around. Mainly because I was focused and him being muscled and shirtless. I shook the image from my head. 

“The final lap…” I saw him staring at his TV, game controller in hand. He had that crazy bedhead of his, but his look was new and improved with glasses. I looked at the TV. From the looks of it, he’d been occupied with playing a racing game. “Oh you son of a… Damn this guy’s tough. First place again. But if I can drift around this last corner, I’ll be able to shave off two seconds.” His eyes twitched back and forth between the race and the on-screen timer.

“Mr Mochizuki!” I shouted, causing him to startle, but he finally looked my way.

“What’re you doing in my room?” he asked.

“I’ve been pounding on your door for almost half an hour. I thought you were dead.” I crossed my arms.

“You did? Didn’t notice at all,” he said.

“Just how tuned out were you?” I asked.

“You’ve, um, seen my room, then?” he asked.

“Uh-huh.”

He took a shameful look around his room and released an uncharacteristic sigh. “You’re getting a firsthand look at all my faults.” I didn’t reply. “Don’t tell any of your friends, got it? Class’d fall into anarchy if they knew I was slob at home.” He tossed the controller onto the seat next to him, shoulders slumped.

“It’s not the end of the world,” I said.

“A student seeing their teacher be unprofessional? Trust me. It’s the end of the world.”

I sighed exasperatedly. “You’re blowing this completely out of proportion. It’s weirder if you acted like a teacher in your own home.”

“Huh?” he blurted out, apparently thrown by my comment.

“Everyone has their ‘off’ time. Conversely, we all have our ‘on’ time. This is your home. You should be able to let your hair down here. I won’t tell anyone about what I see here, so just, you know, be yourself.”

“You…” It almost looked like he was about to say something, but his mouth suddenly closed tight.

“You should probably clean your room, though.” The stacks of DVDs and books I first saw were merely the tip of this trash iceberg. Heaps of all sorts of junk were scattered across the room. “I mean, it’s your room, whatever… But these stacks look like they’re about to fall over. Some rearranging here and there would probably keep you from being buried alive.”

“No, they’re not gonna fall anytime soon – I’ve balanced my stacks just perfectly.” I raised an eyebrow. “But you may have a point. This place could do with some TLC. Let’s do this, then. Whoever loses a race gets to clean my room.”

“That sounds like it’s in your favour more than mine.”

“But if you win, I’ll make you anything you want for dinner tonight.”

“Alright.” I sat down next to him and took the controller he held out to me. “The graphics are really good.”

“Makes you feel like you’re right there, in the middle of it all, huh? Let’s start.” We gripped our controllers tightly and the battle began. It was over pretty fast.

“You beat me by a whole lap!” My head snapped to him. “You weren’t pulling your punches at all.”

“Oh trust me, I was.”

I wasn’t convinced, especially not after seeing him belly laugh like he did. “I don’t buy it. You were out to destroy me from the get-go.”

“Trust me, if I’d been going all out, you would’ve known.” I raised an eyebrow. “Does it matter? I won, you lost. Now clean my room. Make it sparkle.”

“You could barely handle the idea of me making you lunch. Now you want me to clean your room?”

He scratched ruefully at his neck. “You’ve already seen some of my worst sides, so there’s no point in trying to act cool anymore, right? Besides, I know you can keep a secret with the best of them.”

I smiled wryly. “I seem to be keeping a lot of your secrets.”

“Look, I can cook, but I can’t clean worth a damn. It’s just plain smart to ask others to help do what you can’t.”

I looked up at him, my face serious. “There’s no logic in that.”

“Look at you, comedy queen.”

“It’s hard to tell when you’re being sarcastic or not.” I’d never seen him without his ‘teacher’ guard up. It was kind of fun seeing him like this.

Without even fixing his messy hair, he made for the kitchen and made us breakfast. 

 “Okay, chop chop. Get to cleaning.”

After breakfast, we were back in his room and he was ordering me around.

“You’re going to lie in bed reading while I clean? You’re some kind of sick freak.”

“Hey. Remember this ‘sick freak’ made you lunch, lest we forget?”

“I didn’t realise you hated cleaning this much.”

“Hate is a strong word. It’s more like… I’m the type of person who can’t quit until the job’s absolutely perfect.”

“Then clean your room until it’s ‘absolutely perfect’.”

“Hm? What was that? Couldn’t hear you.” I rolled my eyes and got to work. Some perfectionist. Perfectionists didn’t leave their rooms looking like a children’s playroom.

I divided things into categories. The amount of games he had was staggering. He had more of them lying around than movies. I picked up a case, examining it to see in which pile it should go.

“Bouncy Bikini Boob Time?” I read the label and looked at him. “Seriously?”

His hand plucked it out of mine. “A friend left that here.”

“Better hurry and give it back to your ‘friend’ then.” I gave him a smirk that said I didn’t believe a word he was saying.

“I know, I know… But it’s such a pain to go down to the post office and sent it…”

“I would pay actual money to see you walk into the post office with this in hand.” I crossed my arms.

“Alright, that’s enough commentary from the peanut gallery. Back to cleaning!”

“How about a little help instead of bossing me around? This is your room, you know.”

“Fine.” Afraid of me finding any more ‘dirty’ secrets, he shuffled over.

“I’m putting the books on the bookshelf,” I said as I gathered several books lying on the floor.

“Go ahead.” As I put them back onto the shelf, I noticed one of them standing out. Mr Mochizuki’s middle school graduation essay. I opened it and found the page Mr Mochizuki wrote. I turned to him.

“I didn’t know you wanted to be a soccer player.”

“Huh? What the heck are you doing, looking at that!”

“This is the price you pay for a clean room. So? You didn’t want to be a teacher when you were in high school?”

“Yeah, well… It was a weird time in my life. I gave up on that dream,” he murmured, his eyes taking on a faraway look. I watched him for a moment until he noticed and smiled wryly. “Now I’ve got a new dream: to help all my students achieve their dreams. So you getting what you want will, by extension, give me what I want. Hear that? I’m counting on you to make my dreams come true.” His voice sounded determined, but I was pretty sure he was dodging the topic of his original dream. 

After cleaning his room, I left for my afternoon shift at the cafe. 

 I sat on the sofa later that night. “Hey, so… Why did you give up on your dream of playing soccer?” My question received a chilly silence. Life drained from his eyes. He blinked, gaze frosting over.

“I forgot,” he said. I cocked my head to the side. “Students shouldn’t pry into their teachers’ private lives.” An iciness I’d almost forgotten settled over me. My blood ran cold. I forgot myself. I chuckled self-deprecatingly.

“You’re right.” I stood up and walked into my room. I closed the door behind me. We spoke a good deal when we were cleaning his room. I didn’t understand what was with his attitude just now, but he was right. I’d be better off keeping my distance from now on. 

Previous Chapter                                                                               Next Chapter

[tarot-junkie]

Dang I missed the free reading? It’s 9:30pm est 2/10 if that helps, hope I don’t miss the window.

I’m going through a lot in all aspects and just need some hope other than the standard ….it’ll all work out. Kind of hard to believe that when things went completely wrong…..two decades ago and have yet to get better. I’m learning to be content but my future feel hopeless like no matter how hard I try or how much work I put in nothing will ever be as great had nothing happened.

I’ve battled medical issues that the doctors have no clue about but I’m still here. Nothing is worse than suffering and not having anything to validate the suffering, it makes you feel like you’re to blame for your own mental illness. I even took care of my parents through my suffering and I didn’t quit life so yay me.

It’s like I feel completely hopeless at times and other times I’m like oh my future is so bright and I’m going to be a superstar regardless of the hell I’ve gone through. I’m in therapy and on meds so I’m fighting and apparently according to my therapist I’ve suffered severe trauma but i guess trauma never feels like trauma when it’s something that just happens to you. I want to start over in life and live my passion and make good money. I hate my job and living situation but it could be worse so I’m grateful.

Enough of my rambling. I want to venture out and start over and I want a pet this year so that my goal and oh restoring my confidence, getting in the best shape ever and improving my intellect and articulation. (Does anyone have any books to recommend reading to improve cognitive abilities?) my brain is not up to par per medical scan, well it’s not functioning as optimal as it should due to whatever. Being sick and not having the cause while you’re constantly suffering is the worse torture. I relate to those who have long Covid, it’s hard getting through each day and doing typical things many take for granted. But I’m trying and pushing. Oh positive thing is I’m taking an improv speech class later this month but I’m thinking of canceling as I’m just not ready, not because I’m scared, I just legit am exhausted and it’s after work, my brain can’t act right and ugh I should just wait.

Sorry for the rant just venting but thank you if you have anything for me reading wise, if not it’s okay.

Best of luck on the house and your life and many blessings to you and your family!

ANON! are you still around?

I pulled a 5 of pentacles, knight of wands, 3 of pentacles. The first two cards read like your ask- which is to say you’re (and you were) going THRU it, but still trying to remain vigilant. Fighting the winter of downtrodden feelings with the fire of your deeper emotions.

3 of pentacles is something that tells me collaboration for you is VERY important. It’s also peppered through your ask. You need it. That is what helps you.

How are you now that much time has passed?