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mediumgayitalian · 8 months

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It starts really…really stupid.

The Apollo cabin is having a movie night. Will’s DVD collection is bigger than his textbook collection, which is saying something, because he is a nerd. They baited Nico with a pirate movie: then, when he was comfortable and moon-eyed and unable to keep his mouth shut for a good twenty minutes after the end credits, they started phasing in the rom-coms.

Evil. Manipulators, the lot of them; so incapable of lying that they’re masters of bending the truth. Nico would leave, except they literally barricaded the door and keep all the lights on so there are no shadows for him to duck into (something he should have questioned from the very beginning, but unfortunately as soon as the Pirates of the Caribbean theme started playing, his reasoning skills hopped on a train and fled back to the Lotus Casino in 1938. So).

“This is stupid,” Nico grumbles, not that anyone is paying him any attention. Every single one of Will’s siblings stares at the TV with their chins in their hands, completely ignoring any and all of Nico’s (very valid) criticism.

Not that it stops him. “This is less realistic than Davey Jones,” he insists, largely just so his grievances are Known and Aired Out. The leading man says something stupid and cheesy, and three seperate doofuses in his company genuinely swoon. Nico scowls as hard as he can, pulling a blanket over his head. “Idiotic and cheesy.”

Nico pointedly isn’t following the plot — not that there is one — so he has no idea what’s going on. He squints. The leading man is wearing some ugly suit, too tight, and the leading lady collapses tearfully in his arms, thanking him about something.

Will sighs dreamily. Nico scowls harder.

“When is it my turn,” Will laments.

Kayla reaches over blindly and pats him on the head. She ends up more smacking him gently and lovingly on the face, but Will doesn’t seem to mind.

“Don’t we all want to know.”

“You don’t understand,” Will says dramatically. He flops backwards, hands flailing. Nico peeks over from under his blanket. His Head Medic camp shirt has ridden up in his dramatics, showing a sliver of skin. Nico flushes and intentionally looks away, focusing on his friend’s face.

“When will a rich, attractive older man come waltzing in here and offer to put me through med school, huh? When will my dream come true?”

Nico is 90% sure that Will is joking, but without his permission, be blurts out —

“You’d run off with some guy you don’t know?”

“Without hesitation!” Will cries. He yanks himself back upright, making Nico jump, arms thrown up and forehead creased. “You know how broke I’m gonna be when I’m done school?”

Nico doesn’t answer, but Will doesn’t wait for one.

“Very! I grew up on a pullout couch, which, I love my mom, and I love our apartment, but I want — I want —”

With his long, lanky limbs and flushed face, he begins to remind Nico of a kettle. He refrains from pointing this out. His siblings, on the other hand, openly snicker at him, dividing their attention between the movie and throwing popcorn at their eldest brother’s head.

“I want an Alaskan King! And — a mahogany desk! With lots of drawers! And windows! Floor to ceiling windows! And a rooftop garden!”

He glares playfully at his siblings, who are all giggling now, pointing fingers at them all.

“Lemme tell you right now. A man walks in here offering me that and a cheque for any school I want and it’s over for you people. I’m gone. You can fend for yourselves.”

“Yeah right,” Austin snorts, disbelieving. He reaches over and pinches Will’s thigh, cackling when he squawks. “We can’t even get you to leave the infirmary at the end of your shift. You’re stuck here forever, Rapunzel.”

“Just you wait! My prince will come!”

“As if he even wants a prince,” he hears Kayla whispering to a giggling Gracie, who responds with a cheeky, “Not when he’s got a king!”

Nico doesn’t know who they’re talking about, but the fact that there’s someone — his vision goes green. He has to tamp down a genuine snarl which is — ridiculous. And out of nowhere.

He cuts another glance to Will, who is still muttering petulantly. Every few minutes, he hears something about an “open floor plan” and “high pressure showers”.

He gets a very, very stupid idea.

———

The first mistake (because that’s what it is) is easy to explain away — the Hades cabin is still under renovation.

Well. Mostly.

“Please,” Will is begging, eyes big and pleading and painfully, beautifully blue. “Please? I’ll bring movies! And Yan’s Wii! And get Cecil to lend me some of the games he — uh, acquired! Pretty please!”

Nico has to bite back the you could be toting a pack of Lastrogonian giants with you and I’d still let you in that so desperately wants to come out of his mouth.

“Bring snacks and I’ll consider it,” he says instead.

Will beams. His eyes nearly squeeze shut, when he smiles like that, and there’s nothing Nico can do about the sharp inhale that rips through his chest. He blinks the spots away from his eyes, everything suddenly a little brighter, covered in golden sunlight.

“Yes!” Will cheers, pumping his fist and jumping up and down like a lunatic. Nico is so endeared that it aches something awful in his chest, and his cheeks smart from the size of his smile. “Sleepover! After my shift, di Angelo, I won’t be late!”

Yes, you will.

“I lock my doors and set a skeleton guard to watch it at eight,” he warns with a throat suddenly dry. “I mean it, Solace. I’ll sic the harpies on you.”

Will laughs as he jogs towards the infirmary, clearly not believing him. Nico watches him go the whole way, jumping when a hand lands on his shoulder.

“You,” says Drew Tanaka, blowing a bubble with her gum, “are a humiliating case, di Angelo.”

He shoves her, scowling. His face feels sunburnt. “Shut up.”

He absolutely does not spend the day moping after the infirmary, despite whatever rumours Drew’s lying mouth might spread. He has a job, thanks. He runs three separate sword fighting classes, and the younger kids are insane, so he doesn’t have time to be distracted.

Not that he is. But. Hypothetically, if he were to be distracted, he isn’t. Yeah.

He sits with Percy and Jason at dinner, distractedly wolfing down his food. Some kind of barbecue. He is not paying attention.

“No, Jase, we can say whatever we want, he’s not listening —”

“If he decides to stab you I am going to let him —”

“What’s going on?” Nico interrupts, looking up for the first time.

Percy smiles angelically, placing his hands under his chin.

“Nothing, Nico dear.”

Jason bangs his head on the table.

“I’m gonna…leave,” Nico says, slowly. “Y’all…do whatever you’re doing.”

“You said y’all,” Percy says gleefully. “You said y’all.”

Nico flushes hotly. “I did not. Shut up before I summon Jules-Albert to run you over.”

Percy cackles. Even Jason laughs. Nico throws his plate at them as he stomps away, sprinting extra quickly past the infirmary for no reason at all.

Time seems to slow down after dinner. For all Nico knows, it actually does. It wouldn’t make a difference. By the time there’s a knock on his cabin door, the sun has well past set, and Will is smiling sheepishly.

“I didn’t hear my shift alarm,” he says, the second Nico opens the door.

Nico sighs. He bites the corner of his mouth, hard, so it doesn’t do something stupid like turn upwards or something.

“There’s ADHD, and then there’s you, Solace.”

Will leans into his personal space and presses an over-exaggerated, smacking kiss to his cheek before he can stop him. Nico goes scarlet.

“But you love me anyway!”

There are no thoughts left in Nico’s brain to refute him. The only thing shaking around up there are alarm bells and KISS! KISS! KISS! KISS! KISS! repeated over and over again like a gong.

“Hngh,” he says, intelligently. Will doesn’t seem to notice, striding confidently right into the cabin.

“I brought the Wii and movies and stuff, like I promised, and I’ve been saving this chocolate I bought last time I went into the city — woah, when did that get here!”

Will freezes in the middle of the cabin, gaping. Nico nearly walks right into him.

‘That’ is the giant, brand-new bed tucked snugly in the far right corner — an Alaskan King.

Nico clears his throat, shrugging.

“Remodelling, remember? The coffin beds had to go. And no one else but me sleeps here, so. Hazel has her own bed on the other side.”

He gestures to the other corner, where Hazel’s — smaller — bed sits, empty, coral pink comforter straightened neatly. Will barely even glances at it.

“What! But I thought you already renovated the beds —”

“Temporary.”

Will squints at him for a moment. Nico squirms, trying to hold his gaze. He’s not lying — they were temporary. Of course, he only made the decision that they were temporary a week ago, but. Well. Truth is truth.

Evidently, Will decides that he isn’t going to get a real answer out of Nico or he doesn’t care to get one, because he quickly turns away and, with a running start, jumps and sprawls himself on the gigantic bed.

“Oh, gods,” he groans, and oh, gods, indeed, is Nico ever going to get a fucking break or is his face just going to be stuck like this all the time. “Gods, Neeks, I am going to move in here. I don’t even — look! I can stretch all the way and I don’t touch the edge!”

“I see that,” Nico says weakly. His shirt has ridden up again. Nico bites back the confessing comment he wants to make about undershirts and how Will should invest in them.

“Man, I feel like I could pass right out,” Will sighs, eyelashes — they are so long and so blonde who decided that who gave him that right — fluttering shut. He grabs on of Nico’s pillows and curls around it, content. Nico stares. And stares.

After too much time has passed, Will cracks an eye open, smiling slightly. “Well, don’t just stand there, Death Breath. Bed’s more than big enough for us both, now. Get over here.”

Miraculously, Nico does, managing to unglue himself from the floor and look anywhere but the long, languid stretch of Will’s body.

(They play four straight hours of Mario Kart — or, rather, Will spends four straight hours losing. When they finally fall asleep, they’re so far apart on the giant bed they might as well be in different countries — but Nico wakes up in the middle of the night with his arms around Will’s waist, and practically throws himself on the ground for the rest of the night.)

———

The next thing he does is just…embarrassing.

“I think you look hot,” Mitchell, Piper’s brother, assures him kindly. He pats Nico’s flaming cheek. “Honest. And it’ll work wonders! Will’ll be struck.”

“Why do people keep saying that,” Nico croaks. “I don’t even like him!”

“Uh-huh. Sure.”

With Mitchell’s unwavering — if teasing — assurance, Nico finds the courage to step out of the Aphrodite cabin and into the waning sun. He’s grateful he waited until after the summer ended to do this — the fewer people around the witness, the better. His reputation is hanging on by a string as it is.

A wolf-whistle rings out the second he steps off the porch, making him scowl. Cecil, unfortunately, is far too used to being on the receiving end of it and does not even flinch.

“Looking spiffy, Ghost King!”

“Bite me,” Nico growls back, and is only aware of the trap he’s walked into when Cecil gleefully says, “I believe that’s Will’s job, actually —”

He wisely scampers away before the skeleton Nico summoned can murder him.

The second he’s out of sight, Nico slumps.

What is he doing.

“Aw, jeez, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes! Lemme tell you the gar-bage I had to endure tod — Nico?”

Nico whips up to face the voice. Will stands a few feet in front of him, unmoving, wearing his scrubs today — heavily stained, yikes — and his favourite pair of ratty cargo shorts. The expression on his face is oddly inscrutable.

“Are you…going somewhere?”

“Yeah,” Nico says, flushing and repeating himself when his voice cracks three separate times. “Yeah, I’m. Um. Ambassador of Pluto duties, you know. I’m expected in New Rome in a couple hours.”

It’s not quite the truth — he is going to be in New Rome in a couple of hours, but his reason for being there is fabricated. Literally.

“I didn’t know you were visiting today.” Will steps forward, almost trance-like. His eyes are glued to somewhere around Nico’s chest, and he reaches out — hesitantly, although he’s never been hesitant to touch Nico in all the time he has known him — to brush his fingers over Nico’s collar. “This isn’t what you usually wear.”

Nico swallows. No, it is not. Usually, his Ambassador of Pluto uniform is his black toga. (It still is. If he was actually on duty and showed up in anything else, several Romans would have his head. Good thing he’s full of it.) But right now, he’s wearing a tailored, black silk suit made by hand by some dead Byzantine seamstress whose name Nico could not pronounce if he tried. Diamonds glitter in the lobes of his ears, freshly pierced, and his rings are more polished than usual.

“Special occasion today.”

Will doesn’t say anything for a long moment. His hand still curls at Nico’s collar, millimeters away from his neck, heat boring into his skin.

“You clean up nice.” An expression Nico can’t name flits across his eyes, and Nico’s breath catches, and then he’s grinning, too-wide and teasing, reaching up to dig a hand through his hair. “But maybe ditch the hair gel, Wilbur Robinson, and just let —”

“Gah! Get off of me! You’re the worst!”

Will stumbles back as he shoves him, weak from laughter, and Nico’s stomach flips.

———

The third thing is maybe the most ridiculous out of all of them — and almost gets him killed.

“I’m starving,” Will complains, apologizing to the random New Yorker who just walked into him. (Nico rolls his eyes. Will would get eaten if Nico wasn’t here — he is too soft for the city. He’s gonna get shoved into a puddle or something; he’s so unwilling to elbow his way through a crowd that Nico has to hold his hand so as not to lose him. Definitely not a city boy, that’s for sure.) “And we don’t have to meet Argus for another two hours — can we stop for food? I want something fried. Desperately.”

“I guess so,” Nico sighs, pretending to be more put-out than he is. Will doesn’t buy it for a second, rolling his eyes hard enough to hurt.

“C’mon, Nicholas Hoult. There’s gotta be a diner around here somewhere, and I still want to go shopping after this.”

He lets Will pull him around, even though they’d probably get somewhere faster if Nico leads. Will stops every three seconds to listen to a busker, or observe particularly interesting graffiti, or attempt to pet a pigeon. It shouldn’t be cute, it should be embarrassing because Will truly never gets out, but it is — endearing. A little. Even if Nico can feel his stomach eating itself.

Will brightens when he finally stumbles across some gaudy, mint-green painted, hole-in-the-wall family restaurant, beaming back at Nico like he won a sparring match rather than stumbled upon somewhere to eat. But his eyes are squished shut, the way they are when he’s genuinely excited, and some early January snow dusts his golden hair, and his nose is red from the cold, and it’s just —

It’s a lot.

They find a booth tucked in the back corner. Will slides in next to Nico, not across from him, and it makes him — flush, for some reason, cheeks glowing as bright as Will’s massive, dorky scarf.

The waitress brings them sodas. Nico doesn’t remember ordering them, but it’s cherry coke — his favourite — so he must’ve. Will has a water, because he’s annoying and pretentious, and he tries to blow his straw wrapper at Nico but he’s too fast and catches it. Will pouts.

“You’re no fun.”

“I’ll show you fun.”

He’s balled up the wrapper as tiny as possible and flicks it at Will’s face before he can stop him, except it hits him in the — eye, and Will shouts in surprise, and Nico jumps and rushes to apologise but he’s laughing too hard for it to be sincere, and Will scowls playfully at him, and Nico bangs his knee on the rickety table trying to move it and it only makes him laugh harder, and Will cracks soon, too. And he can’t sing for shit but his laughter is musical, low and baritone and a little raspy on the edges, like the country music he loves so damn much. And all the laughter gets sucked right out of Nico’s lungs as he watches him, bright-eyed, red-nosed and freezing, still wearing his stupid parka even though it’s barely below forty degrees, and he is suddenly achingly truly and obviously the most beautiful thing Nico has ever seen in his life, and he thinks oh, no. But it doesn’t hurt.

It doesn’t hurt at all.

———

(After the diner, they go window shopping, and Nico feels like he can’t function. His chest aches with new knowledge that he doesn’t know where to put. New York air is disgusting but Will smells like eucalyptus and sunshine, always, and the look on his face when they pass a dusty antique shop is blinding. He’s rambling about old anatomy textbooks and gods knows what else and Nico nods along with a stupid, endless smile on his face that he couldn’t tamp down if he tried.)

(In the back of the shop there’s a big, ancient, beautiful mahogany desk. It has a divot for an inkwell and more drawers than Nico can count. It’s nine hundred dollars. Nico pulls out the credit card his father gave him for emergencies, buys it before Will can stop him, and shadow travels all three of them — himself, Will, and the unbelievably massive desk — back to Cabin 13, passing out immediately after to the sound of Will’s shout.)

(His father is the first thing he sees in his dreams, arms crossed, legs tapping.)

(“I believe I told you that card was for emergencies,” says the Lord of the Dead, “not crises over cute boys.”)

(“You were down so bad you kidnapped your wife instead of talking to her like a normal person,” Nico blurts, and immediately wishes he would melt into shadows.)

(He wakes up to another arms-crossed, foot-tapping figure: Will lectures him for two and a half hours. He times it.)

(But Will does all his paperwork in the Hades cabin, now, skin glowing amber under the Greek fire torches, often falling asleep on the smooth wooden surface. He hasn’t spent a night in the infirmary in months. Often, if Nico can wake him, he’ll crawl into Nico’s massive bed, curling all six-two of him into a ball around the centre and puffing tiny little snores into his pillow.)

(His cabin smells like eucalyptus and sunshine all the time, now.)

———

He tells himself that this will be his last thing.

(It isn’t.)

It takes him four separate times to muster up the courage. It’s — humiliating, is what it is, and he’s never been a coward except for maybe about this one thing.

“Dude,” says Katie Gardener, the fifth time he walks by her cabin without saying something, “this is getting embarrassing. Pull yourself together.”

“I’m — pulled,” he defends, wishing he didn’t get red so damn easy. “And — what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at college, or something?”

“College ends in April, stupid,” she says, as if Nico has more than a fourth grade education and would somehow know that. He refrains from sticking out his tongue because that is Undignified, and clearly he is the more mature one of the two of them. “What do you need, flowers for Will or something? You don’t need to bother. He likes dandelions.”

“I know what flowers he likes,” Nico snaps, and wallows in immediate despair as she snickers. He should consider having Will remove whatever part of his brain is responsible for Stupid, Emotional Outbursts. Or just get a lobotomy. Whatever’s faster, honestly.

“I need — a garden.”

“…A garden.”

“Please don’t make me say it again,” he begs.

Perhaps college has somehow made her merciful — which he doubts, anyone who sustains a relationship with Travis freaking Stoll stopped worrying about mercy long ago — or perhaps he truly is that pitiful. But she relents, rolling her eyes and muttering something about stupid teenagers and refusal to communicate, blah blah blah. Nico knows he’s a mess. He would appreciate it if everyone else politely pretended he wasn’t. She comes back minutes later with a truly massive bucket of soil, a handful of gardening tools, and several packets of seeds.

“Well, you don’t have a lot of space for it, kid, seeing as your cabin is kind of tucked —”

“I want it on the roof,” Nico interrupts. He manages to keep his face in check. “Uh, that would make the most sense, anyways. It’s flat and I can get there easy and — yeah.”

She narrows her eyes at him. Years of Hermes cabin pranks have left her with a truly magnificent BS detector, but after a moment she sighs.

“Whatever, kid. Let’s go. Nothing will grow for a couple months, anyways.”

———

The last thing is what, eventually, gives him away.

The issue is that camp is crowded in the summer. And, really, he would have gotten it done in the spring, except he needed help — he needed an architect.

And he only really knew one, and her school year was kind of packed.

“You want,” says Annabeth slowly, “to entirely restructure your cabin.”

Nico squirms. “I just want to change the windows,” he mumbles.

She stares at him, fingers steepled, for what feels like ten solid minutes. At minimum.

“Kid —” Nico scowls, she is barely three years older than he is and technically almost a century younger — “installing floor to ceiling windows in your cabin will restructure it — entirely.” She pulls out a paper and pencil out of, as far as Nico can tell, absolutely nowhere, and begins to sketch. “There are foundations here, see? So everything has to be moved and reorganized to keep the structure standing. I can’t just, like…knock out the wall. It doesn’t work that way.”

Nico slumps. “So it’s not possible?”

“I didn’t say that,” she snaps, offended. “I just said it won’t be easy. Gimme a couple hours, I’ll have blueprints.”

She barely hears him as he thanks her, nose already pressed to the paper. Nico smiles at her anyway. She’s the best and brightest of them for a reason, after all, and he appreciates her help.

The walk back to his cabin is a surprisingly pleasant one. A lot of his friends (which, woah) are finally back, and Nico is realising he’s missed them, and it’s nice to see them again. It’s also nice to see camp as busy as it is, as much as he likes the quiet chill of the winter months. All the cabin doors are wide open as people sweep out the dust, shake out sheets, air out the staleness that has been locked inside some of them for months. Chatter fills every corner, and the air smells like strawberries.

His small smile widens as he approaches his own cabin — the flowers he and Katie planted a few months back have started to bloom, and with them comes the memory of Will’s gasping excitement when he’d seen them, the smile that lit up his face. They’re regular plants, but Katie — enchanted them, somehow, protected them; even when Nico is having his worst days, they don’t wither. (And they keep growing, too. Nico has taken to picking a flower every morning and leaving it in his (Will’s) desk — to brighten up the room, on paper, but the flower always ends up whenever Will is by the end of the day. (And, more often than not, tucked behind his ear, locks of golden hair caught among brightly coloured petals; a crown of his own making.)

The cabin is empty when he walks in, unsurprisingly considering how often Will is usually locked in the infirmary for the first week of camp.

(He’ll be back tonight, to do his paperwork before heading back to his cabin. Nico’ll have to be sure he actually makes it back to his cabin — Chiron has been turning a blind eye, because Will needs more sleep and Kayla and Austin can handle themselves, but the little kids need their counsellor. Well, most days.)

Nico stands in the door and realises: things have changed.

Maybe a silly thing to think. But — a year ago, this place was unliveable. Dark, and dreary, coffin-shaped and miserable, it was no wonder it had never felt like home. But the sight of Hazel’s bed (and the sketchbook she left on it last time she was here) fills him with warmth, and the windows are always open, now, so even the air feels lighter. Dozens of Will’s textbooks are strewn around the room, Lou Ellen’s jacket hangs on the back of the desk chair, a deck of cards is sprawled on the floor. A sun lamp is plugged into the wall. Nico’s giant bed is unmade. He’s got laundry peeking out of the closet doors, and he needs to clean his bathroom. A pair of obnoxiously patterned flipflops sit by the door.

It looks lived in. It looks like somewhere that can be lived in, and most of all, his friends — Will — have been living in it with him.

He swallows the lump in the back of his throat, stepping in and shutting the door behind him.

It takes him time to tidy up. He leaves Hazel’s sketchbook where it is, along with most of Will’s stuff — although he shoves a couple textbooks in random drawers when he trips over them. He puts the rest of his friends’ stuff by the door so he doesn’t forget to return it, and makes his bed (which, frankly, he hardly does, because it’s a massive pain — he tucks in one corner of the mattress cover and has to freaking summon Jules Albert to get to the other. But it was worth it). He barely makes it to dinner, too distracted to hear the horn.

“Finally,” bursts a voice sometime around nine, throwing open the door and flopping on the bed. Nico smiles, setting down his game and running light fingers through Will’s frizzy hair. He groans, leaning into it.

“I hate the first week of camp!”

Nico snorts. “No, you don’t.”

“Yes I do! It’s miserable! It’s all —” he contorts just face, mocking — “‘Will, do this.’ ‘Will, do that.’ ‘Will, I forgot how hard the climbing wall was and incinerated myself.’ ‘Will, we need you to treat the group of kids Clarisse beat up.’ Will, Will, Will! Constant!”

“How dare they take up all your time,” Nico says, grinning.

“Right! They should be less — I dunno, disastrous! I am one person! I can only be pulled in so many directions at once!”

Despite all his complaining, the slightest of smiles pulls at Will’s mouth — as Nico would expect. He’s exhausted and perpetually overworked, sure, but there’s nothing in the world Will relishes like being needed.

“I just —” He sighs, leaning further into Nico’s touch. Nico’s throat goes dry. “Man, I’m so glad we have this place to ourselves. It’s the only privacy I get. Sometimes I just wanna close the blinds and never come out, you know?”

Nico freezes. “Uh.”

“And it’s — nice, in here. Smells like you. And it just, well —” He smiles, broad and soft, and, suddenly, Nico understands his father on a level he never thought he would. If Will looked him in the eye and asked him for all the riches under the Earth, asked him to defy Zeus, asked him to rule the dead — Nico would bend time and space to do that for him. He understands, abruptly and wholly, why loving mortals ends in tragedy, why the gods promise more than they can give. He wants to give Will everything. “I like when it’s just you and me sometimes,” he says, softly. “It can be nice to disappear.”

There’s so much love bursting out Nico’s chest he doesn’t know what to do with it. He feels like every part of him is screaming his affection, every molecule is straining to meet with Will’s. He’s dizzy.

“I,” he starts, then freezes again. He doesn’t know what — what. Every thought he’s ever had hits him at once, and he can’t pick one out, can’t think with all the clutter in his head.

Will perks up. “Yes?”

“I have to. Cancel. My plans. With Annabeth.”

Will deflates. “Oh.”

There is something here, something charged, something about to change — and Nico is losing it. He panics.

“I asked her to restructure the cabin!” he shouts, startling Will. He squeezes his eyes shut instead of looking at those wide, wide blue eyes. “To! Make. Floor to ceiling windows.” He waits a bit. “Apparently you can’t just bust down the wall. You have to. Restructure.”

It’s silent for so long Nico is half-convinced Will left, if it weren’t for the faint sound of him breathing and the heat Nico can always feel leeching off of him. He peeks his eyes back open.

“Why?” asks Will quietly when their eyes meet.

Nico swallows. It takes several tries to moisten his throat enough to speak. “Why what?”

“Why do you want to…have floor to ceiling windows?”

“Same reason I wanted this massive bed,” he admits, quiet, whispering, near silent. “Same reason I — changed my Ambassador uniform. Same reason for the desk and the —” he stumbles over his words, blushing — “the garden and the flowers and — this, right now.”

“Nico,” says Will, very very quietly.

“I just. Well. You were joking, you know? And, gods, it’s been a year, now, but I think you were telling the truth? A little bit? And anyway, I want you to have the things you like, and —”

“Nico,” Will says again, louder this time, a particular quality to his voice Nico can’t name. He falters.

“…Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

Nico doesn’t even have the chance to be offended. He doesn’t even have the chance to think. Before he can rationalize the situation and connect the dots in front of him, Will’s hands are sliding into his hair, his face is inches away, and then they’re kissing.

They’re kissing.

Will tastes like Blistex, like mint gum, and like the breath he sighs into his mouth. His eyes are closed, and for a full six seconds before Nico recovers enough to close his, he has the best view of his pale, fanning eyelashes that he’s ever seen — long enough to think: oh, this is a child of the sun. He smells familiar and — intoxicating. Nico never wants to know pure air again, never wants to move without the brand of Will’s over-heated hands on the back of his neck. Never wants to forget the rough scrape of Will’s chapped lips, the tiny little sounds and sighs he makes every time Nico moves their mouths, the slightest curl of his lips when he smiles, unable to hold it back. The rapid beat of his heart, pressed against his own chest.

“Nico,” he says again, slightly more urgent, pulling away just enough that their lips still brush every time he speaks, “Nico, I love you to death.”

“I would do anything for you,” Nico chokes out. He meets Will’s eyes and tries to — communicate it to him, tries to beam his thoughts into his head. “I would — move the moon and stars for you, do you understand that? Do you know how precious you are to me? My tesoro,” he says, feeling Will’s breath hitch. “Il mio cuore. Il mio cuore battendo, sole.”

For a second Nico frightens himself. He’s never spoken words like that to anyone in his life — not his mother, not Bianca, not Hazel, nobody.

But Will’s smile is radiant. And he still holds Nico, gently, and says over and over, “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

Something slots back into place in his chest.

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mallgothyamaguchi · 3 months

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what haikyuu characters would major in at My College™ -secondary characters edition!-

i’m having a lot of fun with this :) i’m kind of just doing main side characters and ones i have a good idea for, but if you have a request, feel free to send a reply or ask!

oikawa - …spanish major with latin american & caribbean studies minor. sue me

iwaizumi - easy easy easy mr. iwaizumi hajime (27) athletic trainer is pre-med track biology major and i stand by that

kenma - easy this kid is computer science to a t, but he also minors in business administration (influence of kuroo)

kuroo - business administration with minors in chemistry (can’t disappoint everyone’s fanon career for him as a chemist) and media & communications (he is a sports promoter after all)

fukunaga - look did i just put him in here to say that he’d be part of one of the many comedy groups on my campus? yes absolutely. theater major.

bokuto - not even furudate knows what he went to college for, so i get to go a little crazy with this one. i like to believe he’s on the education track and majoring in english & creative writing. he’d be everyone’s favorite english teacher in high school.

akaashi - similar path as bokuto major in english & creative writing, with the complementary english literatures major or minor

konoha - hehe public health and chemistry major, looking to get his graduate degree in medical leadership (my pharmaceutical boy) he will also most likely go to pharmacology school post-grad

ushijima - he’s the rare student with only one major and one major only: environmental science.

tendou - hot take, but a chemistry major with a theater minor

semi - he is a musician, so i will give him our music major, but he is also a civil servant (yall ignore that a lot), so i give him political science or political economy & public policy

aone - physical science major with either a project management or supply chain management accelerated program worked in

futakuchi - there’s definitely sustainability studies in there, but interestingly, i’d also add physics

koganegawa - i’d say physical science major as part of the dual degree engineering program, adding in the innovation and entrepreneurship minor

kita - most definitely an environmental science and sustainability studies major with a religion studies minor :) (yes i know he specifically says he doesn’t really believe in the gods, but i can’t help but associate him with religion…) i think he’d also be interested in my college’s abroad trip to japan, which focuses on ecology and religion in japan (i really want to go on this trip…)

osamu - easy. business administration.

atsumu - maybe an interesting take, but i’d say psychology. the amount of psychological warfare he tries to use i think is enough explanation.

that’s all for now! let me know if there are more characters you’d like to know about ! i’m having a lot of fun with this so please send in requests 🙏

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sgstories123 · 11 months

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Eliza's Cruise Adventure

“Can we buy you a drink, miss?”

Eliza looked up at the three men. They were wearing board shorts of loud, gaudy colours. All were topless, showing off their tanned, muscular bodies and chiseled abs. These young punks were most probably in their twenties, thought Eliza.

“Well, if you can get me a Passion Spritz, that will be nice.” Eliza smiled. She had never said no to free drinks. She let her robe slid off a little further, giving the men a good look of her pink bikini-clad body. She was aware that her mum who was lying on the reclining next to her was giving her a disapproving look. But Eliza is no longer a little girl who needed her mother’s approval.

Eliza had worked hard all her life. Ever since her father left her mother to be with his mistress in China, she had decided that she will need to study hard and earn a good living. If nothing else, to show that useless father of hers the good life that he is missing when he made the decision to leave them. She did well in school and earn several scholarships to ease the financial burden on her mother. When she was in her first year in NUS Medicine school, she met a rich and handsome classmate which eventually became her boyfriend. She thought her life had turned for the better but alas, her boyfriend cheated on her just months after she had given her virginity to him. She broke up with him immediately and swore never to depend on any men. When she completed her medical degree, she worked hard at her job in NUH, rising quickly through the ranks. With her career stabilising and a high income, she bought a condominium in the western part of Singapore to live with her mom, fulfilling her promise as a young child to give her mother a good life. True to her words, she never had a boyfriend since her university days. She spends all her free time with her mother, eating at restaurants and going on holidays. And here they are now, on a 4 night Royal Caribbean cruise to Jeju Island in Korea.

Although Eliza is now in her thirties, she had taken good care of her body. Her skin was still flawless and her strict adherence to a diet and Yogo routine helped her body stay slim and youthful. It was no wonder that many men at the swimming pool were ogling at her when she walked past in her pink bikini. Eliza may have sworn off men but she enjoyed the stares of appreciation that she was getting from men. Men are so useless. They only think with their dicks. Eliza smirked as she put on the white bathrobe from the cruise liner. It was not out of modesty but instead, it was a calculated move on her part to cover parts of her body, to make it more mysterious and seductive.

The three men soon returned with her vodka cocktail. They purposefully sat on her seat and tried to touch her. But Eliza was too smart for them. She wrapped herself tightly in her bathrobe and the men could not touch her bare skin. She soon found out that Ahmad, Beng and Chandra were classmates at NUS and had just started work. They decided to take a cruise together with their first year-end bonus as a sort of celebration. Perhaps they thought she could be a memento of their trip, Eliza smirked to herself. Young punks. She will squeeze them dry of their bonus and leave them high and dry. The men continue to talk to her and she encouraged them by revealing parts of her body but never letting them touch her. Throughout, she continued to ask them for drinks and snacks. She even got one of them to buy her a pair of Gucci shades. By the evening, she realised that she had enjoyed the attention so much that she had been a little reluctant to leave the pool for her dinner. The men wanted to follow her but she skilfully evade them.

She went to Jamie’s for dinner with her mother. Throughout, her mother was nagging at her over her spaghetti on how she was being overly flirtatious and how she will regret her actions. Eliza was bored. She did not blame her mother but her mother was really too conservative. It was all fun and nothing else. If men can flirt with women, why can’t women flirt with men?

To avoid further nagging, Eliza went down to the bar and left her mother to return to their room. She was wearing a purple long dress with a low neckline, showing off the cleavage to her ample breasts. She was pleased that her choice of dress drew appreciative stares from the men when she walked into the bar. As she sat at the counter, the three men that she saw earlier plonked themselves on the seats beside her. She was pleasantly surprised to see them again. To be honest, they were good conservationist and were good looking. Ahmad had a boyish looking face and a nice brown tan. Beng had a muscular broad chest that exuded masculinity. Chandra was the most average looking of the three men but he sported a large, angular nose. Supposedly, this was the mark of a large cock. Eliza laughed to herself. She had not seen any medical reports on this yet and wondered how this myth became popular.

“Any of you want to buy me a drink?” Eliza purred seductively. The three men rushed to be the first to buy her a drink and other refreshments. Several hours later, Eliza realised perhaps a bit belatedly that she was getting drunk. She usually knew when to stop but she must have missed that point with the engaging conversations and the never ending flow of drinks. She blamed her mother momentarily. Maybe she drank too much because she was pissed with her mother’s nagging.

“I need to go.” Eliza stood up resolutely but faltered straightaway, holding onto the bar counter for support. “Come on, let’s have another one.” Ahmad suggested.

“The night is still young.” Beng argued.

“Or do you want to come to our room for another round.” Chandra said with a twinkle in his eye.

“No. I am going up to my room.” Eliza knew that she must not drink any more.

She walked a few tentative steps but stumbled forward on her fourth step. Ahmad and Beng ran forward and each held one of her arms. “Thanks.” Eliza muttered, her world spinning crazily around her.

“Let’s go to our room.” Chandra urged.

“No. I want to go back to my room 1120.” Eliza stated as firmly as she could. She looked at the bartender, who was looking at her direction. “I want to go back to my room 1120.” She repeated loudly, making sure that the bartender heard her. These young men would not want to try anything funny now that the bartender is aware that she does not want to be in their room. Eliza smiled to herself. Still smarter than you guys who think with their dicks, assholes.

The three men brought Eliza to her room. She was still too weak to stand on her feet and was half-dragged to her room, stumbling along the way. They met several people along the corridors and Eliza made sure that they knew that she was heading back to her room. “These men are bringing me back to my room 1120.” She repeated loudly whenever she saw anyone along the corridors. It was embarrassing to be that drunk but it was important to draw attention to herself, Eliza rationalised.

Once the door to her room was opened, the three men dropped her on the bed. Eliza fell asleep immediately when she realised that she was safe in her room and her defences dropped. Chandra closed the door behind them and smiled at Ahmad and Beng knowingly. Their plan to make Eliza drunk and then fuck her had worked. Well, almost. They had planned to bring her to their room but the venue was not the most important thing, was it?

“Eliza, you back?” Eliza’s mother called out from the toilet. The three men froze, looking at each other. Shit. They forgot about the mother. Beng looked around and pulled off two pillow cases. He motioned the other two to stand with him behind the toilet door. The toilet door opened and Eliza’s mother walked out in her bathrobe.

“Eliza? Are you okay?” Eliza’s mother asked, drying her hair with a towel in her hand. Beng pushed Eliza’s mother down onto the bed and sat on top of her. He pulled her hands behind her and tied them with one of the pillow cases. Eliza’s mother screamed and Beng quickly took the towel and stuff it into her mouth, muffling her screams. Ahmad took the remaining pillow case and tied Eliza’s mother’s legs to stop her from kicking and struggling. Secured, the three men carried Eliza’s mother to the sofa.

“Well, there were a few hiccups but I guess it was almost as easy as ABC, huh? Shall we begin?” Ahmad rubbed his hands gleefully.

“This bitch is really too much. It is payback time for all the money we spent on her.” Beng laughed.

Chandra did not even bother saying anything as he simply smiled and undressed himself. The other two men followed his cue and undressed themselves too. They quickly removed Eliza’s dress, revealing the twin mounds of flesh. Despite her age, Eliza’s breasts were still perky and firm. The men took turns squeezing them and sucking on her nipples. Eliza moaned in her sleep and the men seemed to be even more excited when they heard her.

“Fuck! She trimmed herself down there. She like some fucking schoolgirl.” Ahmad exclaimed as he positioned his head between her legs. He licked her love hole as he brushed his fingers against the thin pubic hair. He slowly peeled the folds of her love hole open carefully, taking in the sweet smell emanating from her vagina. He found the small bud of pleasure and carefully licked it.

Eliza opened her mouth and moaned softly as pleasure coursed through her body. Beng took the opportunity to thrust his manhood into her mouth. He could feel his hard cock reaching the back of her throat. He pulled Eliza’s head over the edge of the bed. Eliza’s head now tilted backwards and allowed his cock to reach even deeper. “Fuck! Her mouth feels damn good.”

Chandra straddled Eliza and rubbed his hard cock between her breasts. He closed his eyes and moaned softly as his cock coursed through the smooth valley.

By this time, Ahmad decided that Eliza was sufficiently lubricated. He spat a glob of saliva onto his hard cock and guided it slowly into her. “Fuck. This bitch is so tight, like a goddamn school girl.”

Chandra laughed when he heard that. He turned around and helped spread Eliza’s legs wider.

Ahmad thrusted hard and finally got his cock totally in her. It was so tight and pleasurable that he could not stop himself from ejaculating after only several thrusts. “Shit! What a waste!”

Chandra laughed again. “Weak! My turn!” Ahmad relented and Chandra took over his position. Chandra’s cock was even larger and thicker than Ahmad’s. It will be even more difficult to get his cock into Eliza’s tight cunt but Ahmad had lubricated Eliza’s hole well with her love juice and his semen. Slowly, Chandra eased his cock into Eliza, stretching her tight hole that has not been used in years to her limit. The pain shot through Eliza and she woke up with a start. The first thing she saw were Beng’s balls swinging in front of her and her mouth being violated by his cock.

“Mmph!” She tried to push Beng away but Chandra had now pushed the last two inches of his large cock into her, going where no cock had ever gone before. Pain paralysed her, followed by blinding pleasure. Instead of pushing Beng away, her hands grabbed his ass and pulled him even deeper into her mouth. Beng groaned in pleasure as he went deeper, the pleasure from his cock finally tipping him over the abyss. He shot out white waves of little Bengs, flooding Eliza’s mouth and bathing his cock in them.

Eliza was choking on Beng’s ejaculate. She tried to push him away but was too weak. Left with no choice, she swallowed his man juice as much as she could, but there was too much and some even went into her nose.

While Beng and Chandra were fucking Eliza, Ahmad had sat himself next to Eliza’s mom. He had been stroking his cock to hardness while watching his friends enjoying themselves with Eliza when he realised that Eliza’s mom was staring hard at her daughter being fucked.

“You like what you see, huh? Are you an old horny cow, huh?” Ahmad jeered. He pulled open her bathrobe and was pleasantly surprised that the older woman had even larger breasts than her daughter. The skin was still soft and smooth. He bent forwards to suck her tits as he stroked himself. His cock hardened as his body touched the older woman’s bare skin.

Aroused, he took an irrational risk. He removed the towel from the older woman’s mouth and stood on the sofa, positioning his hard cock in front of the older woman.

“Suck it, old cow!” The older woman complied, sucking his cock hungrily.

“Look guys! The old cow is horny!” Ahmad laughed. “God! She still has the skills. Damn it. She is good!” Ahmad groaned in pleasure as he started fucking the older woman’s mouth.

Beng walked over and untied the woman’s legs. He spread it open and started licking her cunt. The older woman moaned in pleasure, Ahmad’s cock still in her mouth.

By this time, Chandra had been enjoying fucking Eliza for some time now. He gave several deep and slow strokes, before finishing with a series of quick thrusts. Eliza’s love canal was flooded a second time after more than a decade of drought. As Chandra withdrew his cock, he was pleased to see the white man juice slowly seeping out of Eliza’s cunt. That was so erotic and made him feel that he had successfully conquered that proud bitch.

Eliza was feeling confused. She was conscious now. She knew she should be frightened by what had just happened but instead she she wanted more. It had been so long since she had sex and they had made her feel so much more pleasure than her boyfriend so many years ago.

“What? What are you staring at, bitch?” Chandra saw a confused look on Eliza’s face. Eliza looked away and was drawn to Chandra’s large, black, hairy cock. Maybe there is some truth to the myth. That was a huge cock. Did it actually went in her? Unbelievable.

Chandra saw Eliza looking at his cock. His cock hardened again. He smiled to himself. “You want some more of my cock, bitch?”

“You are not strong enough. Weak bastards that think with your dicks? You can’t even last long enough to pleasure me, assholes.” Eliza retorted without thinking. The rebellious streak in her took over.

Chandra saw red and pulled Eliza towards him. Her legs were now over the edge of the bed while her back was on the bed. He turned her over, spreading her legs wide and without any warning, forced his cock into her, impaling his whole length in one deep stroker. Eliza screamed as pain tore through her. She was still not accustomed to such a big cock in her. Chandra pulled her hair and forced her body to arch against his. This only caused his cock to slide even further in, eliciting pain and pleasure all over Eliza’s body. Eliza willed herself not to blackout. Chandra tilted her head towards his. “Not strong enough? I will make you come so much that you will beg me to stop, bitch.” Chandra grunted as he pumped deeper and faster into Eliza. Minutes later, he seeded Eliza again, with semen dripping out of her cunt, a long white river along the length of her legs.

Ahmad saw what was happening and took his cock out of the older women’s mouth. He walked over to the bed where Eliza was now lying flat on her back, exhausted. He spread her legs wide, sticking his hard cock covered with Eliza’s mother’s saliva into Eliza’s cunt. This time, it went in easily. He pulled Eliza up so that she was now sitting on his cock. He sank his head into her breasts, sucking on them slowly. The first time was too quick for him. Now, he intends to savour Eliza. As Eliza bounced slowly on his cock, she started moaning in pleasure as the slow love-making generated gentle waves of pleasure.

“Look at her!. She enjoying being fucked. What a bitch!” Chandra sneered. His cock twitched and blood starting flowing into it again. He pushed both Eliza and Ahmad down onto the bed, straddled Ahmad’s legs, positioning himself behind Eliza’s ass.

“Fuck, Chandra! What you doing, huh?” Ahmad sounded a bit piss at having his pleasure disrupted.

“I want to fuck her in her asshole. Give that bitch two cocks at the same time.” Chandra spit on his fingers and inserted them into Eliza’s asshole. Eliza froze at the unfamiliar intrusion but Chandra was impatient. He quickly inserted a second finger, trying to loosen it as much as he can. Eliza winced in pain but that only encouraged Chandra’s sadistic instinct. He pushed his cock into Eliza’s ass, forcing it against the muscles in her opening. Eliza screamed, her whole body reacting to the unnatural forced entry. Ahmad groaned in pleasure as the muscles squeezed his cock even tighter. Chandra did not care and forced his cock even deeper. Eventually, Eliza had both cocks deep in her. Chandra pushed himself against Eliza, the movement causing Eliza pleasure in both her holes. She moaned louder and louder in pleasure, unable to control herself.

Beng was amused at his two friends fucking Eliza. But he had no intention of joining them. Having his cock coated in another man’s semen seemed disgusting. Anyway, now that Ahmad had done a good job lubricating the old cow, he decided to fuck the old woman instead. He lifted her legs over his shoulders and fucked her on the sofa standing up. It was not tight as to be expected, but a cunt is a cunt. It was still warm and pleasurable and the old woman seemed appreciative of having a fuck at this age. She was moaning softly, seemingly enjoying herself.

The three men continued fucking for a while and ejaculated for the final time. Dressing quickly, the three men looked at the two women, covered in semen, exhausted. They laughed and exited the room quietly. It was already morning. The ship had docked and they should quickly leave the boat before the women wake up.

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fatehbaz · 1 year

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all the time, gotta walk away, for a moment, take a break, infuriated, when reading about European implementation of forced labour in plantations (especially in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, whether it's sugarcane or rubber or tea or banana, whether it's British plantations in Assam or Malaya; Belgian plantations in Congo; French plantations in West Africa; Dutch plantations in Java; United States-controlled plantations in Haiti or Guatemala or Cuba or Colombia). and the story is always: "and then the government tried to find a way to reimpose slavery under a different name. and then the government destroyed vast regions of forest for monoculture plantations. and then the government forced thousands to become homeless and then criminalized poverty to force people into plantation work or prison labor." like the plantation industries are central (entangled with every commodity and every infrastructure project) and their directors are influencing each other despite spatial distance between London and the Caribbean and the Philippines.

and so the same few dozen administrators and companies and institutions keep making appearances everywhere, like they have outsized influence in history. like they are important nodes in a network. and they all cite each other, and write letters to each other, and send plant collection gifts to each other, and attend each other's lectures, and inspire other companies and colonial powers to adapt their policies/techniques. not to over-simplify, but sometimes it's like the same prominent people, and a few key well-placed connections and enablers in research institutions or infrastructure companies. they're prison wardens and lietuenant governors and medical doctors and engineers and military commanders and botanists and bankers, and they all co-ordinate these multi-faceted plans to dispossess the locals, build the roads, occupy the local government, co-erce the labour, tend the plants, ship the products.

so you'll be reading the story of like a decade in British Singapore and you're like "oh, i bet that one ambitious British surgeon who is into 'economics' and is obsessed with tigers and has the big nutmeg garden in his backyard is gonna show up again" and sure enough he does. but also sometimes you're reading about another situation halfway across the planet and then they surprise you (because so many of them are wealthy and influential and friends with each other) and it'll be like "oh you're reading about a British officer displacing local people to construct a new building in Nigeria? surprise cameo! he just got a letter from the dude at the university back in London or the agriculturalist in Jamaica or the urban planner from Bombay, they all went to school together and they're also all investors in the same rubber plantation in Malaya". so you'll see repeated references to the same names like "the British governor of Bengal" or "[a financial institution or bank from Paris or New York City]" or "[a specific colonial doctor/laboratory that does unethical experiments or eugenics stuff]" or "lead tropical agriculture adviser to [major corporation]" or "the United Fruit Company" and it's like "not you again"

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caribbeanms · 7 months

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#medical courses #caribbean medical schools #md program #best caribbean medical schools #top caribbean medical schools

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caribbean-medical-schools · 23 days

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Boost Your Medical Career: The Power of Mock Interviews

Explore how mock interviews can significantly enhance your medical career prospects. This blog outlines eight essential strategies for using mock interviews effectively, helping you to refine your skills, build confidence, and improve your chances of success in medical school and beyond.

#caribbean medical schools #medicine #university

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bims-medicaledu · 2 years

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Apply For Medical School In Jamaica - BIMS

BIMS offers you quality education in beautiful environment of the Caribbean where you will be taught by a highly experience faculty comprising of experts in the field of medicine. Start your new journey by filling out the application form to apply for 4 year medical degree program at Bioprist Institute of Medical Sciences.

#BIMS medical school #medical schools in jamaica #caribbean medical schools

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brf-rumortrackinganon · 2 months

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I've seen people on Tumblr complain about W&C's lack of successful tours and the lack of tours in general. I don't get that though? I don't think their Caribbean tour was not successful and I don't think the lack of tours is necessarily on them. Don't they have to be coordinated with the FCDO and the host country? And yet they'll counter with "but Charles and Camilla.. oh and Sophie too!" I just don't know with them.

Although I'm curious why they haven't taken Louis on tour because they've done that with George and Charlotte when they were younger. But then again, those are three children and that's hard enough, I can't imagine touring on top of it.

The lack of tours is beyond William and Kate's control. People are complaining for the usual reason - the absence of new content to drive clicks, blog engagement, and hits.

The Waleses toured the Caribbean in 2022 as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Before that, there was no international travel for 2 years because of COVID. After that, the BRF's publicity plan was to promote Charles as King, so everyone else took a bit of a backseat. William and Kate were meant to visit Italy this past spring, but obviously Kate had a major medical crisis so their foreign travel has been put on hold. Likely Kate hasn't been given the all-clear by her doctors for a full return to work, and that's why nothing's been announced.

As for why they haven't traveled with Louis, it's simple: by the time Louis was old enough to travel with them, George and Charlotte were in school. With Kate's research on Early Years, she understands the importance of routine and regularity for little ones, which means she's probably not a fan of pulling the kids out of school for a week-plus to travel on a foreign tour, so that means no family tours during the school year. Then why don't they go on school holidays? Well, William and Kate have made it clear (through their actions) that school holidays = family time. When the kids are off school, they're also off work. (And yes, there's a lot of griping about that in certain parts of the fandom.)

Which means that the only time they're probably going to take the kids on a foreign tour is when they aren't in school or the kids are all old enough to understand their future roles. (We know that George and Charlotte understand that, given that William and Kate have been bringing them along a smidgen more often. I'm not so sure Louis is there yet.)

#brf #waleses #foreign travel

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jerzwriter · 3 months

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A look at four Days from four vacations spread over four decades. Created for Tobias Carrick Appreciation Week, Day 1: Travel & Leisure.

Book: Open Heart Rating: Teen

St. Barts, 2008 | Tobias Carrick, Ethan Ramsey - 780 words

Stowe, Vermont, 2022 | Tobias x Casey Carrick - 665 words

Disney Road Trip, 2032 | Tobias x Casey Carrick and the Carrick Girls - 852 words

Stowe, Vermont, 2057 | Tobias x Casey Carrick - 562 words

A/N: While this was created with the appreciation week in mind, this is absolutely part of my Tobias x Casey headcanon. I loved seeing how a perfect day and a perfect vacation changed over the course of his life. Tagging @choicesjunechallenge2024 - because this definitely shows thresholds of changes in life. @tobias-carrick-appreciation-week Day 1: Travel & Leasure I hope you enjoy this!

Tobias x Casey Masterlist Open Heart Masterlist Complete Masterlist

March 2008 – St. Bart’s, The Caribbean

This had to be the perfect day. After enduring a brutal mid-Atlantic winter, the warmth of the tropical sun beating against his golden tan body felt like a gift from the gods. Dressed in no more than a pair of black swimming trunks and dark sunglasses, Tobias carried himself across the resort as if he were one of those gods. Not missing a single stare, giggle, or whisper as he strutted toward the pool... fitting those trips to the gym in with a med school workload had clearly paid off.

Ethan brought him back to earthy when he pointed to two lounge chairs under a pink and orange striped umbrella.

“What about those?”

Tobias shook his head. “Too close to the pool... splash zone if any rugrats show up.”

Ethan looked around, noting there wasn’t a child in sight.

“But there could be,” Tobias warned. He pointed to another set of chairs positioned on a raised deck nearby. “Those,” he said. “We’ll catch the rays, stay out of the family zone, and it’s the perfect vantage point to check out our prey.”

“Prey?” Ethan asked with disdain, but his friend only smirked.

“Come on, loosen up, pal. I brought you to St. Barts in hopes of improving your sense of humor... not diminishing it!”

As Ethan set up, Tobias returned from the bar with two pineapple-garnished frozen beverages in hand. After handing Ethan the blue one, he sat in his lounge chair and took a long sip of his bright yellow concoction. Ethan’s nose crinkled when the sweetness hit his tongue.

“Do you even know what’s in this thing?”

Tobias shrugged. “No idea, but that cute little redhead behind the bar recommended them, and far be it for me to question her professional expertise.”

“You’re incorrigible,” Ethan chuckled as he opened a book to Tobias’s horror.

“What! What! WHAT! Is that in your hands?”

Ethan looked at the cover to make sure he hadn’t brought something salacious by mistake.

“It’s Principles of Medical Science,” he replied. “You’re in that class; we have an exam when....”

Tobias removed the book from his hands, snapping it shut.

“HEY!”

“Hey, nothing! Ramsey, we work our asses off at school. We barely sleep and do what needs to be done, but this week... this week is about fun. Rest and relaxation, baby! There will be none of this.”

“I just thought that....”

“No!” Tobias insisted, and when he threatened to throw the book in the pool, Ethan reluctantly relented. Crossing his arms over his chest with a scowl.

“Get that look off of your face!” Tobias chided. “How are we supposed to pick up with you looking like that! You’ll scare any decent options away!”

“Is that all you think about?”

“Hell, yeah!” Tobias grinned. “We’re on the prowl...otherwise I’m stuck with you for ... companionship... this week... is that what you want?”

“I’d rather have the clap,” Ethan snickered.

“Well, I can’t provide you with that, buddy, but I suggest choosing wisely, or maybe someone else can.”

Tobias was about to close his eyes for a quick nap when something caught his eye. Sitting at attention, he hit Ethan's chest.

“OWW!”

“Shhhh!” Tobias ordered. “Look, over there!”

He pointed to a statuesque woman wearing a barely there pink hibiscus print bikini and a pair of high-heeled sandals that highlighted every contour of her curvaceous legs. She let down the hair piled atop her head, and her long, golden-brown curls spilled over her shoulders, stopping just above the place Tobias now longed to be.

“I think I’m in love,” he whispered.

“More like lust,” Ethan smirked.

“Can you blame me?”

The woman caught Tobias shamelessly staring her way when she adjusted her sunglasses. After looking to both sides to ensure she was the object of his attention, she lowered those glasses, raising her drink with an enticing smile.

“Gotta go,” Tobias grinned. “Mama’s calling!”

“Seriously?” Ethan groaned. “Can you maybe put off objectifying the woman until after you say hello?”

Tobias turned to his friend with mock irritation. “Yeah, because look at how she’s looking at me! Clearly, she’s thinking about my gentle demeanor and intellectual prowess right about now. So, you coming with me?”

“Why would I?” Ethan replied. “You’ve already staked your claim, and it’s not like she has a friend.”

As if the universe had heard his request, a gorgeous blonde in a white bandeau top and blue sarong took a seat at the original beauty’s side, and Tobias cleared his throat.

“You were saying there, big guy?”

But Ethan was already on his feet. “I was saying we better get over there, fast; I have no desire to have you as my companion this week!”

November 2022 – Stowe, Vermont

Casey was in a fit of giggles as she attempted to open the door to their luxury suite. The three-hour trip wouldn’t have been so bad if the last hour hadn’t consisted of nothing but bucolic scenery. As stunning as it was, it didn’t provide the one thing she needed most... a bathroom. She just got the door open when her new husband called out in a panic from down the hall.

“WAIT!” He hollered, running to her side with that brilliant grin that made her weak no matter how many times she saw it. “I believe I’m supposed to carry you over the threshold, Mrs. Carrick.”

Mrs. Carrick. The sound almost made her melt. What she didn’t realize was that it had him melting, too.

“Oh, are you?” She grinned. “You’ve never carried me when we’ve gone on other vacations.”

He reached over and tugged at her sweatshirt, pulling her close. His fingers delicately lifted her chin toward him.

“That’s because this is the first time you’re my wife,” he crooned, sealing the sentiment with a sweet, tender kiss. “And I want to carry my wife over the threshold, not only because my mother would break my legs if she found out I didn’t.”

“Well, we can’t have that,” she laughed. “So, Mr. Carrick, if you’re going to carry me over the threshold, let’s do it! Our baby-to-be isn’t being too kind to my bladder right now.”

“That little brat,” he sighed, and without another word, he swept her into his arms, kicking the door open to the rustic suite open wide.

Tobias meticulously planned this trip, attending to every detail with painstaking care. Everything needed to be perfect. And while the photos had shown the stunning views—elegant rustic charm with a touch of romance—nothing could have prepared them for the actual beauty of the place, bathed in the amber glow of the late afternoon.

“This place is gorgeous!” Casey gasped, but her husband’s eyes were fixed on her when he replied.

“Sure is,” he said, as a blush came to her cheeks.

Casey rushed off to the bathroom while Tobias started a fire. When she returned, she joined him in front of the beautiful stone fireplace, wrapping her arms around him from behind.

“Leave it to you to find the perfect honeymoon spot,” she whispered. “Vermont is gorgeous! I can’t believe I’ve never been here before. I can’t wait to see more of it with you.”

“It is beautiful,” he agreed. “And just what we needed.”

“We could have gone to Bora Bora like you wanted,” she needled, scooting around to sit on his lap. “My obstetrician said it would have been fine.”

“That’s nice,” Tobias replied dismissively. “But there was no way my pregnant wife was going to be 10,000 miles away from her doctors. Not a long flight, not eating foods she’s unaccustomed to, not....”

“I know, I know, I know!” Casey laughed. “I’m just teasing, but I do feel bad that we couldn’t have your perfect honeymoon spot.”

“Hey, all I need for a perfect honeymoon is you,” he assured. “We’ll go to Bora Bora next year – you’ll see.”

“With a baby in tow?” She chuckled. “Not so romantic.”

“No way! The baby will be in Boston with grandma,” he laughed. “This way, we can work on a sibling.”

“OK, big guy,” she chortled. “Can you let me get through this pregnancy before we start talking about another?”

“I suppose,” he murmured, pulling her on top of him and joining their lips in a long, sensual kiss. When he opened his eyes, he gently brushed her blonde locks from her face, letting the fire’s glow illuminate every feature he cherished. “This has been the best day of my life,” he said with a smile. “I’m the luckiest man alive.”

“Mmm,” Casey beamed, nuzzling close. “This has been the perfect day, but you know what?”

“What?”

“Being here, alone with you, this is undoubtedly my favorite part.”

A gentle rumble vibrated in his chest, and his strong arms pulled her close. “You know what, that’s the best part for me, too.”

Casey playfully untangled herself from her new husband and tossed herself onto their plush, feather-topped bed, and purred, “Should I change into lingerie, Mr. Carrick, or would just getting naked suffice?”

Tobias flew over, cradling her in his arms as he gently lay at her side. “You’re sure it’s been a long day, and....”

“Tobias!” She scolded. “You know darn well it’s all right for us to do this, and if you think I’m not consummating this marriage...”

“Oh, I’m all for consummating the marriage,” he chuckled. “As long as you’re not too tired.”

Casey grinned mischievously and traced a finger along his jawline. “Too tired? Not a chance. In fact, I’ve been looking forward to this moment all day.”

Tobias smiled and kissed her gently. “Then let’s make this night as unforgettable as the day.”

With that, they lost themselves in each other, the fire casting a warm, flickering light over their intertwined bodies, sealing their love with passion and intimacy that would be the foundation of their life together. They were right; this was a perfect day.

Family road trip to Disney World, June 2032

Tobias’s face turned red when a slice of bologna hit this side of his head with a smacking sound. He saw Brooke’s eyes go wide in the rearview mirror, and Casey did her best to contain a laugh as she removed the offending piece of lunchmeat from her husband’s face.

“I’m sowee, Daddy!” his eight-year-old said with a sweet little voice. “It was an accident.”

“Brooke, sweetie,” he said, doing his best to maintain composure. “How does one accidentally throw a slice of bologna?”

“One doesn’t,” ten-year-old Samantha chimed in. “I think she should be punished.”

“Sammy!” Casey called out, silencing her eldest at once. She turned to face Brooke seated in the second row of their van. “How did that happen?”

“I just handed a piece to Kayla,” she replied. “She’s hungry. She threw it at Dad, but she didn’t know any better. She’s only three!”

“And what happened to our no eating in the car rule?” Tobias asked.

“Mom says that’s suspended on trips over three hours long,” Sammy informed, as Tobias gave his wife the side-eye.

“Well,” she reddened, “maybe we should stop for a snack. It is getting late, after all.”

“Mmm-hmmm...” her husband hummed in sarcastic agreement.

“That’s a good idea!” Brooke stated. “Because Kayla has to pee!”

“Oh yeah," Casey laughed. "And how do you know that?”

“Because I just peed!” Kayla giggled.

Casey placed a reassuring hand on Tobias’s knee. “There's a service area three miles ahead...” she soothed.

“And not a mile too soon.” He replied, before playfully taunting his wife.

“Let’s drive to Disney, she said. It will be fun, she said. Why would we want to fly, she said.”

“Because the plane hurt Kayla’s ears last time, Daddy!” Brooke scolded.

“I know, Brookey,” Tobias smiled into the rearview mirror. “Daddy’s just teasing Mommy.”

Without removing her eyes from the book she had been engrossed in the whole trip, Samantha needed to add her two cents. “Grammy says you need to knock that off before Mommy gets sick of you.”

Casey barked out a laugh as a weary Tobias shook his head. “They need to spend less time with my mother,” he grumbled as they pulled into the service area.

Once the van was cleaned up and everyone was fed, Casey decided to put the girls into their pajamas for the rest of the trip. According to GPS, they’d be arriving at their hotel around midnight, and this way, they could usher them up to their beds, hopefully without waking them. Tobias suggested piling them all on a luggage cart as he and Casey finished their ice cream. She wasn't sure if he was joking, but she didn’t think it was a bad idea.

After fastening the girls into their seats, Tobias put on a soothing, lullaby playlist, and they were out like lights before they were five miles down the road.

“Are they all asleep?” he whispered.

Casey turned around to double-check. "Down for the count!” she smiled.

“Have I mentioned how happy I am that our suite has two bedrooms?” Tobias asked.

“Only a few dozen times,” Casey chuckled.

Tobias reached for Casey's hand and raised it to his lips, placing several tender kisses upon her knuckles. The tender moment solidifying a bond they had created long ago.

“I’m sorry if this was too much,” Casey sighed. “Maybe we should have just gone to the lake...”

“Hey, hey...” he interrupted. “Look, they're our little monsters. We know they're a handful, but I’m just teasing you. This is going to be a great trip and we're going to have these memories for a lifetime. Don’t worry about it one bit.”

“Are you sure?” she asked. “Because in the eleven years since you've met me, I certainly turned your happy bachelor life upside down.”

Tobias turned to her without an ounce of amusement on his face. “I hope that you're joking. The last eleven years of my life make the thirty-seven that preceded it seem like nothing at all. You and the girls are everything to me, baby. You are my life.”

“I know,” she grinned. “But I always imagined this life to a degree... the best parts and the chaotic parts, but you didn’t.”

Tobias pulled over to the side of the rural road, his hand on his wife’s cheek as soon as he put the van in park.

“Shut up,” he smirked, leaning over for a kiss.

Casey’s brow creased when he opened the door and stepped outside.

“Babe, what are you doing?” she whispered, but by the time she finished her question, he was already opening her door.

“Step outside, Mrs. Carrick,” he beamed.

Without letting go of her hand, he placed his phone on the hood of the van and fumbled to find a song. As the first notes played, Casey's shoulders relaxed. She would recognize their wedding song anywhere.

“All of Me?” she smiled, happy tears rising to her eyes.

“May I have this dance, beautiful?" He asked, looping his arm around her waist. "I promised you I’d sneak a little romance into each day for the rest of our lives, and I had no plans on stopping today.”

Casey nuzzled her head into his shoulder, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"God, I love you."

"I love you, too," he replied, softly kissing the top of her head.

The world stood still as the two of them swayed together under the stars. Patients, deadlines, carpools, bickering, playdates, homework... they all melted away as they were transported to a world where the only thing that existed was the two of them and their love for one another.

When the song ended, Casey pulled back and looked into her husband's eyes. "How did I ever get this lucky?"

"You?" He asked with surprise. "I’m the lucky one here, sweetheart. I get to spend the week with four beautiful ladies that I love with all my heart."

"Well," she said, tenderly caressing his cheek. "Those four ladies love you, too. So, you're sure you're not upset over all the chaos today?"

"Upset?" he shrugged. "No way. Chaos and all, today was a perfect day."

Stowe, Vermont - November 2057

They held hands as they walked through the quiet forest. Tourist season was over, and it felt like they had the mountains to themselves, just like it had so many years ago. Casey took a deep breath, her face lighting up as the scent of pine and fresh mountain air filled her lungs, and Tobias couldn’t help but smile. It was their 35th anniversary, and they had returned to Vermont, the place where their journey began long ago.

Tobias glanced at Casey; the silver streaks in her hair that she fought so hard to hide shimmered in the light. She never understood that he meant it when he said every grey hair and wrinkle only made her more beautiful to him. At that moment, his heart was filled with joy.

“Can you believe it’s been 35 years?” he asked, his voice full of awe.

“It’s hard to believe,” Casey grinned. “It seems like only yesterday we were here, newlyweds with all our lives ahead of us. Now, our babies have babies, and you and me....”

“We’re every bit as in love as we were back then,” he cooed. “We’ve had quite a life, haven’t we?”

Casey nodded as her mind drifted to the life and memories they had created. Their three little girls had grown into strong, beautiful women, and they were so proud of each one. Along the way, they faced challenges they could never have imagined and celebrated joys they would have believed were too great for this world. Throughout it all, their very best friend was always at their side, supporting each other through thick and thin.

“I wouldn’t change a thing,” she whispered. “You’ve been the cornerstone of my life, Tobias.”

He took her hand and led her to a small wooden bench, where they watched the sun begin to set in comfortable silence. The sky put on a show for free, a canvas of pink and orange that only nature could create. The years had brought changes, but their love was a constant on which they could always rely. Thirty-five years before, they couldn't imagine their love growing deeper, yet it did with each passing year.

Tobias reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, worn photo from their wedding day. “Look at us,” he beamed, showing it to Casey. “We were so young and full of dreams.”

“Well, I was young,” Casey teased, running her finger over the photo. “You already had a leg up on me, old man.” But then she became more serious. “And look at us now,” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. “We’ve lived every dream we had and created new ones along the way.”

Tobias took her face in his hands, their eyes damp as they faced one another. “Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if I had never met you, and I shudder. You showed me a life... a love... I could have never imagined before."

“And you’ve done the same for me,” she replied, her voice cracking with emotion.

“We should head back,” she said after a long embrace. “It’s beginning to get dark.”

As they stood to leave, Tobias wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and they began to walk to the Inn. “Here’s to many more years,” he said, planting a tender kiss on Casey’s forehead.

“To many more,” she smiled, turning to him with questioning eyes when he chuckled. “What is it?” she asked.

“Look at us! Still creating perfect days after all these years.”

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