#gardenia photographs | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bloodyknucklesforme · 5 months

Text

First Course | Guest Check

Nina Irons lost her entire family in a car crash over a year ago. She's twenty five and struggling to find her place among the grief and anxiety. She hates her job as a server at 141, one of London's up and coming restaurants. Her only motivation is keeping up appearances for the two people who've always care for her, John Price, a family friend and owner/head chef of 141, and Kyle Garrick, her childhood best friend and occasional boyfriend.

(the official beginning of a serialized restaurant AU 💙)

“You don’t have to do this if you’re not ready,” Price assured, rubbing the back of her neck. The house seemed larger sitting at the top of the hill. It looked like she remembered it. Brown brick with a black roof, Edwardian. She didn’t know why it wouldn’t, Price had been taking care of it.

“We’ll support you no matter what.” Kyle said, reaching from the back seat to rub her arm.

“It’s been over a year. I have to do it at some point.” She sighed. A year since her family died. She should have gone back home sooner. She’d kept them waiting in that house. Ghosts or something worse.

Price pulled up into the driveway. She was the first out of the car. The gardenia bush out front was starting to bloom. Her mum always loved having flowers around the house. It made sense with her name being Poppy. Price slipped the key into hand.

“We’ll follow your lead, love.”

It was dusty but not as bad as she would have thought. Price had done a good job of taking care of everything. He always had. He and her father were good friends at one point though her mum never seemed to like him.

“It’s weird being back, isn’t it.” Kyle said, coming up behind her to rest his chin on her shoulder. Growing up they rarely played here, preferring his house or the woods. Her house was reserved for special events; Christmas Eve, New Year’s, Easter and celebratory dinners. Kyle’s dad was in the same regiment as Price and her father. Her father was their Captain and had them address him as such even when they both retired before him.

The house was always very white. White walls, white table cloths, white carpet in the bedrooms. Her father was a self proclaimed traditionalist and didn’t let anyone paint. Despite photographic evidence that the house was colourful when he was young. He had to have control over everything.

“C’mon.” She tugged Kyle’s hand and pulled him upstairs. The stairs creaked the same. A shiver ran down her spine when she stepped onto the rug in the upstairs hallway. “Oh, fuck we didn’t take off our shoes.”

She plopped down to take them off but it didn’t matter. Her father wasn’t here to yell at her or her mother to sigh at her. Her laces hung loosely in her fingers.

“Do you want help?” Kyle asked, crouching in front of her. He was the one that taught her how to tie her shoes when they were little. He always afforded her more patience than anyone else except maybe Price. Where was he?

“No, I’m fine.” She stood up, shoes still on.

She stopped by her brother’s room. All her bravery left when she touched the door knob. They didn’t get along well but he was her baby brother. Baby Sebastian. He was only sixteen when he died. He deserved better. All his football posters would still be up. His books for his A levels would still be on his desk. His bed unmade, clothes strewn over the floor. She left the door unopened.

Her room had been a time capsule longer than the rest of the house. When she left for Uni she never planned on coming back. It still looked like the bedroom of a little girl. White furniture with pink curtains and linens. The rug was floral and pastel. The closet had long been emptied, the bookshelf too. The windows were still secured with extra locks.

“Remember when you snuck me in one night and your dad came home early. Seb told us and I had to climb out the window.” Kyle chuckled.

It was back when they were dating as teens. They weren’t doing anything except laying on her bed and talking. Her mum had a “if I didn’t see it didn’t happen” policy. Seb always liked Kyle so he came rushing in. He was sweeter when he was nine.

“Piss off.” Nina threw a pillow at him.

“Dad’s home.” He said, dodging the pillow. “We have to hide Kyle.”

Her father would never hurt Kyle, just yell at him until his father arrived to pick him up. Her on the other hand. He never got over the rumours about her that floated around school. No matter how much she told him that it wasn’t true, he always looked like he was one infraction away from calling her a slut.

“Go distract him.” Kyle said. “This is now a special ops mission. You, Seb, are integral to this mission’s success. Nina will give you a signal once I’m away. Okay?”

“Understood.” Seb grinned, giving him a salute before running downstairs. It was lucky her room was on the corner. They waited till they heard the front door open before opening the window.

“Stay safe,” Kyle gave her a kiss before climbing out. It had seemingly worked until her father came upstairs to remind her that her room was above the dining room and he’d seen Kyle run across the side of the garden to grab his bike. The locks were on the window the next day. She’d just been glad Kyle hadn’t gotten in trouble with his parents. They’d always been more understanding.

“Thought you were going to break your ankle.”

“Almost did.” He chuckled. He kissed her cheek before sighing “Things you do for love.”

She only grabbed her old rabbit plush off the bed. He’d need a good wash but after that he could resume his usual position of guarding her bed. She tucked it lovingly into her bag.

She’d never really been in her parent’s bedroom while they were alive. It was always off limits unless her mum asked her to grab something.

The bed was made. The laundry all put away. It felt like it had been laid out for a magazine or an open house.

She dug around in her mum’s jewellery box. It was mostly dainty little pieces with the standouts being gaudy large gems for military balls and alike. Nina dug around in the dresser, pulling out jumpers that she wanted to keep.

There was a book in the back of the drawer. An old journal. Her mother was a religious diarist but this one wasn’t with the others by her desk. Nina flipped it open. January 1998. It would have been from before she was born. She’d never had much interest in her mum’s diaries. They all seemed uninteresting. She blamed her father for that.

Poppy could have had an interesting life. She could have been a starving artist, fluttering about Europe instead she got married too young to a too old man. Had a baby with him - a baby that he didn’t seem to want. It didn’t make sense to her to give all that up. Nina was the same age she was when she had her.

She didn’t feel ready to be married or have a baby. If she found out tomorrow Kyle knocked her up she’d probably get rid of it. He was a better man than her father but she didn’t know if she would be a better mother.

She slipped the journal in her bag as well. The air in the house was starting to feel stiff and heavy. Too much for today.

“Let’s find Price.” She said, bumping Kyle’s shoulder with her head.

He was in the conservatory. A little glass room off the back of the house. It was the one addition her father had made the entire time he owned it. A gift to her mum after Sebastian’s birth. A place for her to do watercolours. She was so excited and had Nina help her pick out the tile for the floor. All Nina could think of was that her mum didn’t get a gift when she was born.

He was sitting on the little stool in the centre of the room. All the easels were empty, all her paints and brushes put away.

“I had it all put in storage. Didn’t want them to sit in the sun.” Price said, noticing her concerned look. “We can get them whenever you want.”

She wasn’t sure what she’d do with them. Her mum was talented but had only focused on the same back garden landscape for several years. Years of skill and talent wasted in this little glass box.

“Maybe…”

She didn’t like grief. It was a weight tied to her feet in the open ocean. It filled her lungs with regret that she never told Sebastian how much she loved him, anger at how she never stood up to her father and sadness for her mother who died the way she lived - by choices made by her father.

“I think I’m ready to go now.” She sniffled. Kyle reached over and wiped her cheek before pulling her into a hug.

“You did well, love. I know this wasn’t easy.” Price patted her back.

The ride back to London felt longer than the way there. Kyle fell asleep and was snoring softly in the back.

“How do you feel?” Price asked.

“Exhausted.”

“Reasonable.”

“I never really felt like I belonged there so it's weird to go back.”

“I know you and your Dad didn’t get on but Poppy loved you. William was always just intense.”

“I wish it’d just been him. I know that’s a fucked thing to say but it honestly feels like a joke that as his last act he took my whole family from me. Driving too fast. So fucking stupid.” He reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “I just wish I could have talked to her more without his presence.”

Price nodded.

“I think I might read some of her journals. Would that be rude? She’s dead so it's not like it matters but it's still her thoughts.” Price sighed, chewing on his upper lip.

“I won’t stop you but I want you to think about what you might find. She wasn’t always a happy woman.”

“I don’t know if she was ever happy.”

He looked like he might say something but instead just squeezed her shoulder again.

Price dropped her and Kyle off at her flat. It was dark by then. Kyle still yawning as they trudged up the stairs.

“Next time Price buys you a flat, can you ask for one with a lift?”

“He didn’t buy it for me. He already owned it. I’m just… living rent free.”

“Whatever you say.” He leaned against her back as she opened the door.

They had leftover pad thai and polished off the bottle of white wine in her fridge before finding themselves in her bed. Kyle’s mouth on her neck and her legs around his waist.

He’d always been good in bed even when they were awkward teens. He was attentive and loving, eager to draw anything from a laugh, smile or orgasm out of her.

It only worsened the pit in her stomach, one that had been growing since her family died. A voice came out of it telling her she’d lose him too. He might not die but she’d lose him some other way. She’d wake up one morning and he wouldn’t love her anymore. He’d grow tired or disgusted by her. Her nails dug into his back not out of pleasure but as a way to hold on. When he’d kiss away her tears, ones she blamed on over stimulation not fear, she wanted to break into sobs.

She let him fall asleep quickly, not bothering with pillow talk. Kyle could sleep through anything, giving her permission to turn on her bedside lamp. She flipped through the journal absent mindedly. She sighed.

It felt like an intrusion to read it. Her mother could never give her permission and it felt like another violation of her life. Her father controlled so much of it why should Nina dig her fingers into something so private.

She would have been pregnant when she wrote most of this. Nina was born in February of 1999. Did her mother want her? Was she excited to be pregnant? Was she scared?

The house had lit up when she was pregnant with Sebastian. She remembered that much. Had there been any of that same joy for her?

She thumbed through the pages, letting them glide like playing cards.

John Price ♡

The name stuck out to her. The heart stuck out more. It felt like a sickly reminder how young her mother was, that she still had crushes. John had always been handsome, still was. He was closer in age to her mother too. Two years younger compared to the ten years senior her father was. She read on.

He keeps coming up to me at the pub, always a little drunk, with boyish attempts at flirting. It’s working much to my dismay. He’s kind too. Ran a whole kilometre to get my book back to me the other night when I left it in the booth.

“Always the gentleman,” She smiled. Price was the one with the crush then.

She tabbed on.

August 1998

Her smile fell, the pit in her stomach opening up more and more.

I’m pregnant. I think it might be John’s.

Tag List: @queen-ilmaree@macravishedbymactavish@gogh-with-the-flow@water-bearz

If I'm missing anyone or if you want to be tagged in the next part lmk

#guest check

23 notes · View notes

marshmallowprotection · 1 year

Photo

Hello, Hello! As you can see, I’ve spent my free-time compiling every major AU I’ve created over the years for Saeran Choi. If you want to read the stories I’ve written about them or you just want to see what they look like in these different universes, today is your lucky day! The descriptions are under the cut and I’m happy to hear what AU so far is your favorite!

[Iris: The story of SE Saeran and his former assistant as they reunite for the first time in over two years since the collapse of Mint Eye, the fall of Rika’s plan to be the first to burn the RFA to the ground, and the death of Jihyun Kim.]

[Cereus: The story of Cowboy Unknown and his twin brother, as they fight for their lives to survive in the old west against bandits, ruffians, and a mayor that wants them shot dead on arrival. But, what may save Unknown’s life is the new arrival to town who has come to take over the late Rika’s position as performer starlight in Jihyun Kim’s saloon.]

[Zantedeschia: The story of VAE Ray and Suit Saeran just a few years after the explosion they survived. Ray takes up a job at a Bed and Breakfast to get out of the bunker, and Saeran has no choice but to come along. The only job available to take was as a maid... but, what catches Ray’s eye is the gardener who always smiles at him from just beyond the windows he cleans.]

[Gardenia, et tu Polaris?: The story of Angel Saeran and Fallen Angel turned Demon Luciel as they pay the ultimate price for their actions by the order of the Father Almighty. What is an angel born with wings that’re too small to fly alone to do when the human he is to guard is in his heart? What is a demon to do when a freshly born angel who stands at his brother’s side makes him want to believe in something again?]

[Willow: The story of Borrower Ray as he wanders the walls of a household all by himself after his brother Saeyoung disappeared in the tall grass to try to find their missing guardian, V. When he encounters a sickly human who is too gentle to ever be as cruel as the stories say, does he turn and run away or does he find safety in their hands?]

[Death Valley: The story of SE Saeran as he is unceremonious ripped out of his “prison” in the bunker and transported to the Devildom where he has no choice... but to attend the R.A.D. and survive the year in Hell. What is he supposed to do when his demons become real and the ghost of V is at his heels? Or... when his heart twists strangely at the warmth Mammon provides?]

[Calluna: The story of Prince Ray (and ultimately King Suit Saeran) as they face a malicious curse that was placed on them as children. They are bound to stay... forever in the walls of their castle with no way out. But, just as Ray thinks that he may never know the world, he catches a thief trying to flee from the castle with a set of royal jewels... what happens when he turns a blind eye and spares them... in exchange for knowledge?]

[Gladiolus: The story of Photographer Ray and how his twin brother left to join an agency against every cautionary tale in the book. Adopted by Jihyun Kim, he takes on a new name, a new hair color, and as long as he’s outside of the house they live in, contacts that make him look indistinguishable from his new father. Is it okay to live freely without his brother? Can he create freedom with his camera in the small chance Saeyoung may one day see his art?]

54 notes · View notes

david6of7 · 4 months

Text

Gardenia

Photography by David Velez

#davidvelez #david6of7 #photograph #originalcontent

#flower #white #gardenia #florblanca #garden #print

#Gardenia #Photography by David Velez #davidvelez #david6of7 #photograph #originalcontent #flower #white #gardenia #florblanca #garden #print

12 notes · View notes

dawnedon · 10 months

Text

Public Knowledge:

Dawn’s status as Sinnoh’s Champion, as well as Cynthia’s involvement training/mentoring her on how to handle her duties. The length of time Dawn has held her position for is also public knowledge. Her continued mentorship under Cynthia is also known.

Her heroics against Team Galactic, including her leap into the Distortion World with Cynthia in order to chase after Cyrus after his deeds atop Spear Pillar.

That Ayako Hara, one of Sinnoh’s best, if not the best, coordinators before she retired, is Dawn’s mother. As well as the disappearance of her father - that ordeal spurred an entire search and rescue team for the researcher’s disappearance that lasted several months, along with the crew that also vanished mysteriously.

Akari Hara, heroine of Hisui, being Dawn’s ancestor is also public knowledge.

The fact that no true photographs exist of her in any shape/form. It’s become a point of contention among the media, and it’s spurred a lot of rumors.

Her long, month stay in the hospital after leaving the Distortion World with Cynthia.

Dawn’s affinity and natural knack for bonding with ghost-types, and to a lesser extent, dark and dragon-types.

Semi-Public Knowledge (things known among people she's close to):

Her decade long undefeated streak being ended by none other than May Birch.

Dawn's relationship with the aforementioned May, that the two live together in her villa, and that they're dating one another.

Her renovation/repair project with Eterna Forest's Old Chateau, an idea she spearheaded after gaining approval from not just Gardenia, but from the spirits within the mansion as well.

That she has captured both Azelf and Darkrai, on mutual terms.

The gnarly scar that cuts across from a few inches beneath her shoulder, all the way to her hip. Along with the scarring on the back of her hand that she suffered from her mother's wrath.

The deep troubles Dawn has with sleeping, dealing with long bouts of insomnia, nightmares, and crippling sleep paralysis - the Lunar Wing she keeps on hand still not being enough, somehow.

Not Public Knowledge (things people wouldn’t know unless she explicitly talks about it):

Her connection to Giratina, one of the eldritch gods of creation, goddess of distortion and chaos, and everything their bond entails.

What really happened in the Distortion World, with her death, Emperor’s near death experience, and leaving Cyrus behind. The effects of Dawn dying and coming back to life are also not known publicly.

Her debilitating and crippling fear of heights, along with the intense, random bouts of vertigo she experiences.

Dawn’s ability to see ghosts beyond ghost-type pokemon, able to see spirits of deceased people and pokemon as well as communicate with them, an ability she’s had for as long as she can remember.

The nuclear falling out Dawn and Ayako had, ending their relationship. Dawn effectively disowned herself from her mother, and wants nothing to do with her anymore, period. In the same vein, the emotional abuse Ayako subject her to is not publicly known either.

That the Distortion World reacts to Dawn personally, mirrors and still surfaces of water rippling in her presence and seemingly reaching out towards her to try and pull her in.

How much she’s truly changed after entering the Distortion World in general. It can easily be masked with a facade, but no one knows how deep the realm afflicted her.

Her real birth name being Hikari, and Dawn merely being a nickname she latched onto in part from her father. Though she legally changed her name the moment she was able to, she was not born as 'Dawn'.

#👻 headcanon.#death tw #abuse tw #ask to tag #i had one of these but i wanted to add some more things to it #thinking abt how dawn and may ended each other's undefeated streaks. it makes me so gay every time and i love them for it

8 notes · View notes