#i am so tired. i have only eaten a handful of mixed nuts all day. i have had no coffee. i just.

[hourcat]

someone come snuggle with me. i am exhausted

[crystalas]

It’s only a matter of time part 2

part 2 of a Monkie Kid fanfic wherein MK and Red Son are being trained by Macaque against their will. Trapped in a mountain dojo with the skillet and Bands of Guanyin keeping them prisoner the two have to work together for any hopes of escape.

warning this contains the fan theory that demons in LMK universe eat humans, painful punishments and well angst

Chapter two: Meal times.

MK was embarrassed to find that he had fallen asleep as he nudged awake by Red Son who was staring at the cell door, Macaque’s shadow clone was standing there with two covered bowls, two jugs of water and wooden cups on a tray in his hands. He knelt down and pushed them towards the two boys who looked at it with suspicion and disgust.

“One of the things I was commissioned to do was to break a certain demon boy out of some bad habits, so I have decided that while you train under me you will be on an au natural diet.” The clone declared. MK picked up the lid and to his surprise his bowl was full of several bits of fruit, handfuls of different nuts and seeds and to his revulsion three giant crickets.

“For Monkey boy a monkey diet, don’t worry I’m not stupid enough to give you anything you can’t eat” Macaque laughed as MK stuck his tongue out at the idea of eating bugs. Red Son looked extremely hesitate to lift the lid on his bowl but the clone did it for him.

At first glance MK thought that Red Son had just been given a raw shank of meat presumably pork, but then he noticed that the joint of meat ended with a hand…

“For demon boy, a demon diet of raw human…”

MK froze and stared at Red Son who looked like he was going to puke.

“I can’t eat this!” Red Son declared pushed the bowl away.

“Aw don’t worry its fresh”

“I don’t care I can’t eat this!”

“Tough!”

MK took a fruit from his bowl and was about to hand it to Red Son but gave a loud yelp as his skillet gave him a warning throb.

“No sharing, that’s the only warning you two are getting!” Macaque’s clone scowled, “and don’t think I won’t noticed if you try. I’m not called the six-ear macaque for nothing” Red Son turned his back on his bowl with a growl of indignation and stayed there. MK felt his stomach betray him as he took the fruit, he was going to give Red Son and began to slowly chew on it. he didn’t realise until he shallowed the first mouthful how hungry he was and quickly began to eat everything else. [except the crickets…no…not hungry enough for bugs and he really hoped he never would have to be.]

“Enjoy boys and try to get a good night sleep, tomorrow the real training begins” and with that the clone vanished into the floor.

MK looked at Red Son who kept his back to him during the entire time MK had eaten his meal not a single word was spoken between them.

“Red Son…” MK began but was quickly cut off.

“Yes, demons eat people, but I don’t, okay?” Red Son snapped his hair rippling with fire, “I don’t care if that might make me the laughing stock of the demon community I. Don’t. Eat. Meat!”

“It’s ok I’m kind of glad you don’t” MK said quietly, “I’m guessing vegetarian demons are unusual?”

Red Son gave a heavy sigh and MK could see him gripping the sleeves on his robe tightly.

“More heavily frowned upon… a lot of the old school demons don’t get that for us inner city demons we can’t just go picking up the nearest human to snack on without alerting police. So, it’s easier to just not to.”

“Wait…how did Macaque know about this? How did he know about your quote unquote ‘bad habits’?”

“I don’t know, just add that to growing list of ‘things we have no idea on’…” Red sighed he scooted himself so he was leaning against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. Another hour of awkward silence filled the air as they both tried their hardest not to look at the human limb sitting in the cell with them. MK decided that maybe the best thing to do was sleep, but despite curling up and trying he just couldn’t.

“It’s just a limb nothing to be scared of…” Red Son said suddenly after ten minutes of him trying to sleep.

“I’m not scared!” MK retorted. Well not scared of the limb, I’m scared of everything else going on but not that.

“Then why are you shaking?”

“I’m cold!” MK groaned “It might surprise you that cold stone floors do not make for good sleeping arrangements!”

Red Son looked at him before giving a weary sigh and scooted closer to him, MK looked at him as he put his hands out and a fire blossomed into existence. MK closed his eyes and the warmth seeped into him.

“If we are to get out of here, we need to work together” Red Son whispered “Which means I can’t have you dying from the cold.”

MK was already drifting off to sleep.

“You know…for a bad guy…you’re pretty nice…” he mumbled as he fell asleep.

Red Son looked at him before glancing at the limb then back to MK. Don’t focus on the hunger, focus on the flame he told himself just focus on anything but that…meat.

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

“Please. Wake up!” MK woke up instantly at the voice of Macaque who was standing there holding in a snigger, MK looked to Red Son who had fallen asleep and was resting his head on MK’s shoulder. MK pushed him awake and when he realised what he was doing sprung away as he had received an electric shock.

Another bowl of fruit, nuts and bugs.

Another bowl of human meat, this time it looked to be a mix of organs. MK didn’t want to try and identify what kind but he was pretty sure he saw a heart; he didn’t dare look at it too long in case it moved! Red Son turned away again clutching his stomach.

“Eat up, you have thirty minutes to be ready and then we are starting” Macaque declared coldly before walking away. MK couldn’t help but watch Red Son as he ate wishing he could do something that didn’t result in both of them rolling around the floor screaming for mercy.

They were led by a shadow clone under the same command of “Please. Follow” Back to the training dojo floor that they had wandered through yesterday, instead of the dark gloom the room was lit up but what looked like glowing glass orbs. Macaque stood there waiting for them.

“So, let’s refresh ourselves, shall we?” he said happily despite the death glares he was receiving from the two ‘students. “You do what I say when I say and you don’t have to worry about struggling to breath or having your skull crushed, are we clear on that?”

Both boys continued to glare at him.

“I said are we clear?”

They managed another beat of determined silence before Macaque got a very quiet “Yes…”

“Good from now on you shall refer to me as Master, got that?”

Another very quiet and strained “Yes…”

“Yes what?”

“Yes…Master” MK had to swallow back the bile in his throat as he did.

“Good boys, let’s start with the basics, shall we?”

And so began the training programme which started out with running laps, then lead on to push up, pull ups and squats. MK tried to figure out how many Macaques actually wanted out of them but it seemed that he just wanted to see how many they could do before they collapsed before starting the next one.

“I need you two at your very best for what’s to come” Macaque told them after the morning was over and MK and Red Son sat there trying to not drown in their own sweat and try to move their aching bodies.

“Which is?” MK asked wearily.

Macaque just smiled at him, and throw the two bottles of water which they chugged greedily.

After an hour break, they started doing combat excerise, to MK’s annoyance it was the same stuff Macaque had tried teaching him the first time he was his “Student”. Red Son was taught more hand to hand stuff rather than the staff maneuverers which made sense seeing as anything Red Son held would not doubt combust if he used it. After what felt like endless hours they were told to go back to their cell, they both just collapsed against each other too exhausted to move or talk. They only did so when supper arrived.

Another bowl of fruit, nuts and bugs.

Another bowl of human meat.

Red Son just curled up and tried to sleep off the gnawing hunger that had now settled in his stomach, he could smell the meat now even from across the room. He gave a flinch when MK sat down next to him gave a tired smile to try and encourage him, Red Son tried his best to smile back before igniting the flame to keep him warm.

Eight more days past each one where they worked and train till, they would nearly puke from over exertion and barely walk anymore and then they would just collapse in their cell afterwards. Eight more days of Red Son not eating anything and MK could see that it was beginning to take a toll on him as the fire he was making to keep him warm kept getting smaller and smaller till he couldn’t maintain it longer than a few minutes. His hair was turning a horrible shade of dark grey that reminded MK of dying embers and Macaque noticed he was struggling to keep up, but didn’t care.

It was on the ninth day of their ‘training’ when during morning laps Red Son crumpled to the floor. MK ran over to him to help him up when he gave a startled gasp. Horns seemed to be growing out of his skull, a tail now whipped around slowly and where there had been toes where now cloven hooves like a bull… Red Son tried to get up as his body changed.

“Red Son…what’s happening to you?”

“His glamour is wearing off which means he is basically at the end of whatever strength he has…” Macaque declared walking over to him and pushing Red Son onto his back with his tail. “The fact you can barely keep that spell going means you are on the brink of death, is the great Red Son going to die from starvation of all things? How pathetic” he growled.

“F…fuck you” he managed to wheeze, Macaque was not impressed and activated the bands. Red Son could only whimper as the pain rampaged through him. MK knelt down next to him and tried to support him to sit up.

“You’re going to kill him!” MK cried “Let him eat something!”

“I am!” Macaque snapped back “Not my fault he’s too stubborn to eat what’s natural to his kind!”

“Take him back to the cell, if he’s still alive tomorrow we’ll continue our training then” Macaque growled and walked off. MK just glared at him as he left the dojo before fighting tears and dragging Red Son back. He laid Red Son down on the floor, before looking at the bowl of human meat before kicking it away angrily. He grabbed his bowl of food and got out one of the fruits he had left that morning, seeing Red Son practically starve to death had killed his own appetite.

“Come on you can have this!” MK said gently, Red Son sat up and reached out to take it, only for MK to convulse and fall to the floor clutching his head. Red Son didn’t even have the energy to reach out to him but could only listen to MK’s screams of pain. He put the fruit back down and MK fell still whimpering as he held his head. Red Son rolled over and looked at the meat, he could feel drool dripping from his mouth and he gave a shuddering sigh as he took the bowl…

MK tried his best not hear the sounds of teeth tearing into flesh, or the wet crunch as bones were consumed. And he tried really hard not to listen to Red Son gag and dry heave after he put down the empty bowl.

[5am-the-foxing-hour]

Can I suggest a prompt for the animal au. One of them has to go to the animal hospital bc of something of ur choice and had to stay the night.

Can you do a thing where when Thomas takes Deceit to the vet for a checkup or something he gets a panic attack and Deceit helps to calm him down?

-  ToothleBlamaBlat on AO3

Ah yes, the dreaded hospital (Roman’s words)So here, have a sick danger noodle, and a very worried Thomas.

Deceit hadn’t eaten anything in a while and Thomas had started to worry, the food he had given the snake was left untouched and Deceit barely moved from the heat stone, he was wheezing from time to time and Thomas wasn’t sure what to do, he had called the vet, who had cared for the others apart from Emile before to ask for help, and the veterinarian had told him to bring him in to get a proper look at the snake.

Thomas had fixed the new carrier for Deceit, the cat box was only gonna do that much. He opened the lid making Deceit give him a tired look and a wheezy hiss.

  “You okay?” Thomas asked, Deceit just turned his head away and made a wheezy huff, but he didn’t try to get away. “Okay you slimy snake, let’s take you to the vet, because you haven’t eaten in weeks and i am beyond worried.” Thomas gently scoped the snake up Deceit just let it happen, clearly not having enough energy to throw one of his normal hissy fits, he just slumped in Thomas hold growing limp as a noodle. “WHOA!” Thomas cried out taking a better hold of Deceit to keep the snake from falling back into the terrarium. “You really are not well.”

Thomas sighed as he put Deceit down in the carrier and onto the towels he had put in there before he closed it, putting the snake in complete darkness. Thomas put the lid back before he picked up the carrier. He had just gathered his things when the doorbell rang and he opened it to find Terrence standing there with a smile on his lips.

  “Hi!, i can’t thank you enough for doing this Terrence.” Thomas said as he picked up the carrier. “I will keep you updated the best i can. The food are in the cupboards and if you need anything i will be on my phone. And if they cause trouble just start a Disney movie and they should calm down-”

Terrence placed his hands on Thomas shoulders and looked him in the eye.

  “Hey, it’s cool man, I got this, now go and get your snake checkend out before you make yourself have a panic attack.” Thomas nodded.

  “R-Right. Okay. I’ll see you later..” Thomas hurried out from the house and drove away.

Terrence turned to the pets who was watching him from the living room. he sighed with a smile.

  “You so need a better hobby Thomas.” he chuckled as he walked inside, instantly greeted by a happy Patton.

Thomas entered the vet walking over to the receptionist who smiled up at him.

  “Why hello Thomas.” she said “You have an appointment with the doctor because little Deceit isn’t feeling well, am i correct?”

  “Yeah, all though he isn’t that small anymore.”

  “Don’t worry.” she smiled at him “The doctor will come and get you, he is currently checking on a cat who will have kittens soon, don’t take any of them.” a startled laugh broke from Thomas lips before he snorted

  “I will try not to, but if they come over to me and decide to live there, there is nothing i can do about it now is there.” he chuckled feeling a bit calmer as he moved over and sat down on the couches.

He opened the carrier to make sure Deceit was okay, the snake looked up at him before curling around himself.

  “Don’t worry, you’re gonna be fine.” Thomas said with a forced smile, worry returning and making it slightly hard to breathe. Thomas looked down at his phone, it hadn’t even been 5 minutes since he’d sat down and he still felt like it had been more than an hour. Thomas knew he was starting to panic when he found himself thinking on what he would do if Deceit didn’t make it. if he was sicker than Thomas thought.

A cold thing touched his hand and Thomas jolted and looked down at his hand that was still holding the open carrier to find how Deceit had placed his head on top of the humans hand and looked up at him with a tired look, but as he stuck out his tunge with a wheeze it was clear he was a bit worried as well. Thomas looked back at the snake giving him a tired smile.

  “Thank you…” Thomas said with a sigh, Deceit yawned before he tilted his head a bit, Thomas reach over with his other hand and started to pet Deceit on the head, the yellow rat snake didn’t seem too unhappy about it, but it was hard to say with him being sick.

  “Thomas Sanders?” the doctor called and Thomas gathered the carrier in his hands while Deceit lied back down in it as he walked over to greet the doctor. 

  “Roman! No!” Terrence cried out as he chased after Virgil who was holding Terrence’s phone in his mouth. Roman gave away a unhappy shout from the sofa there he lied next to Emile. Patton watched with wide eyes before he turned to Logan giving away a bark. The raven sighed before he swooped down and landed before Virgil who squeaked crashing right into him. Terrence sighed as he took back his phone from Virgil.

  “Virgil.” Logan croaked patting Virgil with his wing. “Roman.” Logan croaked as he pointed at the white cat. Terrence stared at Logan.

  “And here i thought Thomas was just being overly-dramatic about you talking…” the phone suddenly gave away a pling as a text from Thomas appeared. Terrence quickly opened it as he walked back into the living room.

  - Deceit has pneumonia… hence why he didn’t eat… they are currently trying to figure out what caused it… I will probably have to stay the night how are things going on your end?

  - Logan talks. Like TALKS! i thought you were just being dramatic, i was just scolded by a bird on your cats names!

  - I told you Logan could talk, i didn’t blow anything out of portions, also how did you mix up Roman and Virgil’s names? they’re nothing alike.

  - Ugh, hope it’s nothing serious. and nothing too bad has happened on this end… apart from Virgil stealing my phone.

  - Oh yeah! Virgil likes music, Roman too but they’re taste in it are so different. maybe you should let him listen to some? anyway gotta go. i’ll contact you again later… and if they get to rowdy you could call Joan or Talyn for help…

  - Nah, i got this… Patton is keeping watch on them.

Terrence sighed as he looked away from his phone to find Virgil very close watching him. Terrence brought up his music app and started a random song, Virgil tilted his head before he mewed happily nodding along to the beat.

  “I should just stop questioning everything and just accept that Thomas have some really smart animals…”

Thomas had been pushed out into the waiting room as the doctor and nurses got to work in checking what was the cause of Deceit’s pneumonia.

Thomas blinked his eyes and pushed himself back into reality from having zoned out when the receptionist that worked the night shift came over and handed him a cup of coffee.

  “Here.” he said “You seem like you’re about to crash any moment.”

  “Thanks…” Thomas said as he took the cup of coffee.

  “Mr. Sanders.” Thomas looked up at the nurse who had entered the waiting room with a tired smile on their lips.

  “Yes?” Thomas said more alert than before, sitting up straighter.

  “I got some news.” they said and Thomas nodded “It is nothing bad that has caused the pneumonia, but we will have to keep him here for the night just to be sure.”

  “Okay.”

When Thomas was able to return home the next day the doctor had told him how to make it easier for Deceit to breathe and how to make the mucus that might get created in the lungs out and how to do that, but also to keep an watchful eye on him and remove any grime that could appear at the snout. but also how to give the snake the antibiotics to help fight of the inflammation.

When Thomas was on his way back home, Deceit was a bit more alert and threw a small hissy fit, before he grew tired.

Once the two returned and opened the door to find Terrence worse for wear.

  “What happened to you?”

  “Your zoo happened, how can you live with all of them? I’d go nuts.”

  “You get used to it.”

  “You need a better hobby.” Terrence said as he gathered his things.

  “They’re not a hobby! They’re my family.” Thomas said with a gasp before he laughed. Terrence smiled.

  “Hope he get’s better.” Terrence said gesturing to the carrier. “Now i’m gonna go home and sleep, because those two-” he gestured at Virgil and Logan “Did not let me sleep.”

  “Oh…. right… they’re more nocturnal than the others…” 

  “Also your possum is at the back.” and with that Terrence left.

(This was my first time writing Terrence, i don’t have the best idea on how he acts, since i’ve only seen him in shorts and how he acts as Patton.)

[kellieucb]

Becoming vegetarian to save your life?

                     Picture taken by Marco Verch on June 29, 2018

I remembered seeing on TV a quotation from Louis de Funès saying:

-      “I gave up fishing the day I realized that by catching them, they were not happy and didn’t wiggle with joy.”

My curiosity suddenly aroused on this topic and this is how I started wondering if the carnivore diet was the most appropriate for Human beings.

Being vegan or vegetarian sounds fancy in Paris, and these restaurants flourish in all districts. Why people are becoming vegetarian, is it for health or ethical reasons? Are we doing a mistake by eating animals?

Havard Health Publishing reported “Approximately six to eight million adults in the United States eat no meat, fish, or poultry,(…)”, according to the poll run by Harris Interactive and commissioned by the Vegetarian Resource Group, a non-profit organization that disseminates information about vegetarianism.

In fact, many types of diets could be defined as vegetarianism, but I will only focus on the two-main types of vegetarian. First, we can mention the total vegetarians who remove any kind of animals based products from their diet including eggs and gelatin, then the partial vegetarians who only try to avoid meat but eat fish (pesco-vegetarian, pescatarian) or poultry (pollo-vegetarian). Besides, most vegetarians choose a diet in between: they don’t eat dead animals but do eat eggs on a dairy.

Since vegetarianism has become affordable, more and more people want to try this diet whereas the early bird vegetarian used to be people who couldn’t afford meat. Today, most people choose to become vegetarian because they feel concerned about animals, their health or religious conviction.

In my opinion being vegetarian might express a sense of consciousness toward the environment we are living in. As well as being healthy, you contribute to animals’ welfare on the contrary, following other diet including meat triggers off a hard exploitation of fields and water use. Some may say that being vegetarian is the solution of the coming lack of resources. Regarding health, being vegetarian reduces the development of cancer, heart diseases, diabetes and obesity. Give it a try, here you can find 30 recipes for each day if you want to know more on this topic.

However, becoming vegetarian should be done under surveillance of doctors because you might consume less than the dietary nutritional intake which could triggers deficiencies regarding protein or anaemia. From a social point of view, most of the time, vegetarians suffer from exclusion because they tend to be misunderstood while always justifying their choice of diet which can be heavy to bear. For instance, one of my vegetarian friend always struggles when we hang out at people’s house because most snacks are made with meat, for this reason she reduced the number of friends she had.

This topic had attracted my attention for so long that I decided to try to become vegetarian. Last January I have adopted the pesco-vegetarian diet since it appeared as the most appropriate for me. Eating vegetables, fruits, grains, fishes and eliminate meat and poultry helped maintain my diet throughout my experimental journey. My weight and blood pressure was also controlled for healthy matters.

As soon as I started this diet, I lost weight.  At the end of the month I had lost 9.9 lbs in 3 weeks and 11.0 in total, nevertheless my skin problems had dramatically reduced while my hair had grown.

As a result, this experiment had proven that my diet was too much oriented on meat. Unfortunately, I became sick with a flu, and apparently, my diet wasn’t sufficient for the recovery. I kept on trying different natural ways to recover but it didn’t work: I stayed sick for 3 weeks and kept losing weight.

On one hand, I was happy of my weight loss, but on the other hand I was extremely tired. I have learned later that I was suffering from a lack of protein due to my diet. Since this experiment, I have never tried to become vegetarian again but my shape, and health still have all my attention.

My main concern is to stay fit while trying out different tastes and being healthy. So, where to start? Which diet to choose?

As far as I am concerned, I try to eat as many vegetables and fruits as I can. Harvard Medical Schoolmentions it this way in an article: “The more veggies, the greater the variety – the better”.The different components of your plate should be balanced as shown in this article from Harvard Medical School here.

First, I suggest vegetables represent half of your plate, don’t be afraid to put colours in your plate by mixing beans, with tomatoes, or corn for example.

In France, the Government is concerned about obesity, consequently they advertise a rule: 5 fruits and vegetables per day! Even if I can’t follow this advice perfectly I try to eat 5 fruits OR vegetables per day. For instance: for breakfast, I like having fruits and granola bar, at lunch I sometime eat salad with rice, tomatoes and chicken and some grapes or soup for dinner time. You may wonder why I don’t have a proper dinner? In order to have a good night sleep, I’d rather eat a light meal, otherwise I feel heavy.

Then Havard Medical School recommends the grain represent a quarter of our plate.The whole grain refers to bread, rice, wheat, pasta, quinoa… French people love bread as it belongs to our culture, however we need to control the quantity eaten. One of my favorite grain to consume is quinoa. If you are not familiar with it I would suggest you taste it as soon as possible, you will love this grain.

Proteins should also represent a quarter of your meal. They can be found in fish, chicken, but also in beans and nuts. If I had to pick up one source of protein I would chose chicken for its many healthy advantages; coupled with exercise it helps shaping bodies perfectly while enjoying your meal. Regarding oils, using healthy oils such as olive oil or sunflower oil is more appropriate because they are healthy and affordable.

Before eating, don’t forget to drink a glass of water to be prepared for your meal. Water maintains your body hydrated and eliminate toxins from your body, the best way to get rid of these is to drink at least 1 litter of water all day long. You can drink different juice of your choice also, as long as it doesn’t happen every day. But, stay away from soda!

Here you can find recipes ideas adjusted to people’s characteristics (diabetics, vegetarian, vegan) for all part of meal (snack, starter, lunch, meal, desserts).

To go further, here are my main tips to stay healthy and expand your life expectancy:

-      Choose carefully the ingredients you would like to eat so you can easily control the quality;

-      Practice some sport of your choice daily.  

For example, I like waking up an hour early to do my workout, it enables me to better enjoy my morning, and connect my body with my brain. Morning exercises are the best way to wake up your muscles gently and feel completely ready to go to school or work. My main focus is working out my abs and my legs, however a lot a people love stretching instead.

All in all, I would define a healthy life style as a balanced diet mixing the right quantity of quality products while work out daily. I usually say that a healthy lifestyle is 70% diet and 30% sport. 

Have fun but don’t be frustrated and have a fast food sometimes if you want!

                Source: Picture taken by Trang Thai on December 16, 2017

References :

Becoming a vegetarian - https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/becoming-a-vegetarian - Published: October, 2009, Updated: December 4, 2017

Healthy Eating Plate and Healthy Eating Pyramid - https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-eating-plate/ - Published: 2011

[letmewritefreely]

By Your Side: Part 7

Demetri Stevens had spent the last few years of her life in the skybox for a crime she didn’t commit. One morning she woke up to a huge commotion in her cell block and before she knew it, she was on a dropship. She was sent from the Ark, a space station that had spent the last 97 years in space, down to Earth to see if it is inhabitable with 99 other prisoners. Once on Earth she reconnects with her old best friend, makes new friends, steps on some toes, and helps the 100 survive as they have returned to what was their home once before. With each test and trial; things change, people change, and feelings change. This is a new start for the 100, will Demetri allow it to be a new start for her as well? Or will ghosts of her past keep her stuck, well, in the past?

A The 100 fanfic written by letmewritefreely Bellamy Blake x OC: Demetri Stevens warnings: based off the tv series; gore, mentions or implications of sexual content, angst, fluff, violence, death, gets darker as the series continues.

A/N:

Anyways feedback, any feedback, is good feedback! Let me know your thoughts! And I’ll bet getting on a semi-regular schedule as I continue to work on the series! (Tuesdays & Sundays) <3 ((S1:E9))

Parts: Prologue Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

A few days later the camp was set up to celebrate Unity Day, a monumental Unity Day as it was to be the last one spent with people up in space. An almost annoying amount of food had been prepared and Monty had spent the last week working on a new batch of his moonshine with Jasper. Demetri stepped out of the tent she shared with Clarke to see the camp buzzing with excitement. No one was unaffected by the light feeling of security from the guns her and Bellamy had found a few days ago mixed with the excitement of the celebration. It was like the first few minutes when they had landed, everyone was happy and walking on air. The constant buzz left her feeling great and she hoped the feeling continued as she walked around to see what was going on with a little smile.

Raven had rigged the communication system to allow them to see the video feed from the Unity Day Ceremony. It felt weird to Demetri knowing that in a few months, just before the Ark was suppose to run out of air, that everyone would be on the ground. The first ship would be down in a day or two and then it would be a steady flow. Demetri was stopped by Monroe and asked to finish help cleaning up the camp a bit and she was grateful for the distraction. She helped a few others move rocks and logs around the small fires and helped stack up the wood for later as Jaha’s words could be heard throughout the camp. He had been going on with a variation of a speech many of the 100 had heard plenty of times, seeing as Unity day was a yearly celebration of when the twelve stations came together to form the Ark. He had just finished saying they’d be on the ground soon when Jasper busted out of his tent, shared with Monty, with a large canister raving about how they’d done it. Demetri, like everyone else, looked up to see a wide smile on Jasper’s face as he walked further into the center of camp.

“I call this batch, Unity Juice!”

People quickly started to gather around as he filled cups and canteens with the latest batch of moonshine. Maybe Demetri should be worried that so many of the 100 had taken up to drinking whenever there was moonshine but that worry was for another day. Demetri watched from the side as everyone cheered and toasted their cups in a joyous chaos. She even got herself a cup of Unity Juice which earned her a bright smirk from Jasper, and she moved to find a perch to people watch from. Before she had been moved to solitary in the skybox she spent most of her time people watching. She enjoyed seeing how people interacted and she felt the small things told her more about people than their words did. Like this kid Miles, he was running around cheering his cup against others and talking animatedly but he was rather quiet and dutiful. That told Demetri he had probably had a few cups of moonshine already, she also noticed that he was openly giving Clarke heart eyes. Demetri looked to the other side of camp just in time to lock eyes with Octavia as she was trying to sneak out of camp. Demetri quirked her brow at the younger Blake who only pressed a single finger to her lips and before she waved and darted out of camp. That was a problem for later as well, although Demetri hoped it wouldn’t become a problem at all. She focused back on the crowd before her as the comms cut out during the beginning of the pageant. The last thing she saw on the monitor was the kids, acting as the twelve stations, where walking around the one retelling the story. Clarke seemed to be the only one who noticed as the celebrations continued and games were played and food was eaten. Clarke and Raven shared a look before they went see if it was on their end which Demetri figured it wasn’t because Clarke went back to what she was doing rather quickly. Demetri accepted a small bowl fashioned out of bent metal from the dropship of non-hallucinogenic berries and nuts from one of the younger kids before they ran off to dance with her friends. It was a pure sight, the joy from kids who were scared and crying just a few days ago, that it made Demetri feel like she was floating.

From her vantage point on a lower level of one of the platforms along the wall Demetri watched as the camp dissolved into a general state of relaxation and serenity. There was still cheering and laughing, some squeals and playful jeering as the games and drinking continued but it was muted compared to earlier in the day. By late afternoon everyone was up and enjoying themselves, the night watch from the day before finally joining the world of the conscious. Demetri had learned in their time on Earth that when the sounds on insects could be heard, even faintly through the chatty camp, that the early evening was upon them. Once the sun had started to set and everyone was illuminated by the various torches and bonfires Demetri felt warmer than she ever had. The kids were all eating happily and drinking merrily, she herself had what would amount to two cups of Unity Juice while she nursed the remaining half a cup. She could feel the effects of the moonshine, her body was warm and she felt free as she relaxed more and leant back against the wall and kicked her legs back and forth. She laughed to herself when Jasper pulled out his third large canister, she started to wonder just how many Monty and Jasper had made, and repeated the actions from earlier. As the drunken crowd dispersed, happy their mugs were full again, her attention drifted to Clarke. She looked like she was heading towards Demetri before she made a sharp right and went straight up to Bellamy. Demetri’s grip tightened unconsciously on her cup as she watch them talk. It was loud enough with so many people talking that they were standing pretty close. Bellamy said something and Clarke laughed at it, the sight made Demetri both smile and wince at the same time. She was glad that her best friend and love interest, if she could call Bellamy that, got along well but seeing just how well made her chest tight. Demetri tore her gaze away and forced down the jealousy bubbling up in her chest. Clarke was the last person to ever do something like that to her, not after everything. And whether she liked it or not, at this point she trusted Bellamy with her life. They were almost too alike for them to be a good match, she knew that, hell Clarke had told her one night that while she adored Bellamy’s capabilities he just wasn’t her type. Demetri didn’t need to feel jealous.

Yet the moment Clarke was walking away from Bellamy, Demetri jumped down from her perch and waltzed over to him. She sat her cup on the wooden table he was leaning up against and hoisted herself up onto it just beside him. She was close enough to feel his body heat as she rested her arm on his shoulder. Bellamy turned fully to face her and his small smile from Clarke bloomed into a beautiful grin when he saw Demetri beside him. She immediately mirrored it and instantly felt incredibly dumb for even allowing herself to feel jealous. He looked at her in a completely different way than he looked at anyone else. She picked up her cup with the other hand and grasped it between both hands as she tilted her head at Bellamy.

“You should be having fun.” He took a bite from the apple in hand the other resting lightly on the head of his hatchet.

“I am.” Demetri held up her cup as proof. “Just not too much.” She gestured to the rest of the 100. “Someone will have to watch all these kids.”

“Even Clarke is taking a break and enjoying Unity Day, you should let loose too.” Bellamy gazed up at the girl beside him. He never got tired of watching her.

“Drink a lot, eat a lot, and cause havoc?” Demetri asked as she tipped her cup back. “It’s not my thing. I’ve had enough of that in lock up.”

“In lockup?” Bellamy turned to her a little more. “How can you have access to moonshine in lockup?”

“Criminals Bellamy, there was plenty of contraband in there, especially when my old cell mates knew the guards.” Demetri winked at him, watching the way his face wrinkled.

“Ya know what, I’m not gonna ask.” Bellamy shook his head. “You should still enjoy yourself, it’s the beginning of a new chapter for us.” His lips turned up at the ends as the torch light illuminated his face.

“This is cup two, which is more than enough for me to be feeling good. Besides if you think getting rid of my inhibitions with you around is gonna happen? You’re wrong.” Demetri stared at the people before her, her people. “There’s no telling what you could talk me into with a few too many drinks in me.” Demetri knew she was talking too much but she couldn’t stop, her filter had been removed for cleaning so everything was getting out.

“Oh really?” Demetri looked back down at Bellamy to be met by a smug shit-eating grin. “Have anything specific in mind already?” Her face flushed at his implications.

“Get your head out of the gutter you perv.” She grumbled back as she pulled his hand with the apple up to her lips and took a bite. “If I wanted to add my name to your bedpost I would.” Something that had bothered for her for a while slipped out before she even knew what she was saying.

“Demetri.” Bellamy’s eyes turned serious, Demetri stared at her empty mug as he continued. “I fooled around in the beginning but after I realized I felt something for you I stopped.”

“The day after the cave incident and Jasper got better I saw a girl leaving your tent. I know nothing was said but that’s when I began to realize my feelings.” Demetri removed her arm from Bellamy’s shoulder and swished her cup round, the mood had changed drastically with just a few words and she completely blamed herself for it. It was supposed to be a day of celebration and she’d let herself slip. “I know I don’t really have the right to be upset but I am.”

“I told her to leave before anything happened, I knew that day that there was something about you. I couldn’t just ignore what I felt.” Bellamy answered honestly. “Your selflessness and how you try to treat everyone around you so well was something I’d never seen before.” He scooted over while seeing if she would move away. “Then slowly you started butting your way into my life and now we’re here.” Bellamy’s arm rested on the table behind Demetri and his hand rested on her waist. “You’re worth more to me than just one night.” He said quietly focusing on Demetri beside him.

Demetri felt her face flush again and bit back a smile as she pulled her cup to her lips. She didn’t look at Bellamy right away but he felt her relax against him. He didn’t really know how to express himself to her but he was thankful that what he managed to articulate got his message across. They watched the party continue in silence, basking in the moment. Bellamy’s touch was featherlight as his thumb just moved back and forth as he ate his apple quietly. Demetri watched the bustling before them when one of the girls she’d seen leave Bellamy’s tent before started their way. This made Demetri tense up again, knowing that this girl who been with Bellamy at least once looked like she wanted to do it again. She watched the girl notice Bellamy’s arm around Demetri’s waist and she stopped dead in her tracks. She locked eyes with Demetri before the girl went in the complete opposite direction.

“I believe you.” Demetri broke their silence.

“I know.” Bellamy leant into Demetri’s side and sighed. “I wish we could stay like this. At least for a little while”

“Me too.” Demetri’s hand moved to rest on top of Bellamy’s head her fingers playing with his hair. “But we have to go back to real life tomorrow.” She tugged on a tuft of hair. “Isn’t it exciting?”

“Ow!” Bellamy laughed, rubbing where she pulled with a pout.

“Oh, did that hurt?” Demetri feigned shock, raising her cup up to cover her smirk.

“That’s how you wanna play?” Bellamy spun on Demetri and held her in place by her hips as he planted a big wet kiss on her lips.

It was short but filled with emotion. His grip tightened on her hips when she started squirming, trying to get away. She started swatting at him trying to get Bellamy off her. Her giggles sent Bellamy’s heart soaring. Even with Demetri sitting on a table Bellamy would be taller than her if he stood up straight and he took advantage of that. He straightened his spine and looked down at her as he went in for another kiss. Demetri playful pushed him back mostly because she was a little embarrassed by the PDA. She had never been a fan of it and now Bellamy was literally all over her. He had placed a quick peck on the side of her head when a feeling she had never felt before washed over her. She mindlessly wrapped her arms around Bellamy’s neck and leaned into him. The little moment would have last longer had someone not cleared their throat behind Bellamy. Demetri shoved Bellamy back enough to see who it was and flushed when she met Clarke’s eyes.

“Just who I was looking for.” Clarke’s voice was even but her eyes were anything but. “I need to talk to you, both of you.”

“Then talk.” Demetri nodded, jumping down from her spot on the table and swatting Bellamy’s grabby hand away from her as she landed.

“Finn set up a meeting with the grounders. I’m leaving to go meet them.” Clarke spoke only loud enough for Demetri and Bellamy to hear.

This sobered the pair up very quickly and a tense air settled around the trio. This wasn’t even a surprise to Demetri seeing as Finn had spent the days since Lincoln got away talking about something like this. Unbeknownst to Bellamy, Finn had helped Octavia smuggle Lincoln out while the camp was on those hallucinogenic nuts. If Bellamy knew he’d probably bite Finn’s head off.

“After what’s happened?” Demetri bit at her thumb nail, this made her anxious. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“She’s lost her damn mind.” Bellamy muttered. “Clarke, you can’t be serious?” Bellamy gaped at the blonde before him. He turned a moment later to see Demetri staring at Clarke, they seemed to have a silent conversation before him.

“I think it might be worth a shot, we have to live with these people from now on.” Clarke was right in a sense but a meeting, right now, it didn’t settle well with all three of them.

“What if they gut you and string you up as a warning?” Bellamy looked at Demetri after he realized what he said but she had hardly flinched.

“That’s why I’m here, I need you to be my backup and follow us.” Clarke looked between the pair. Demetri noticed the way Clarke’s fingers kept rubbing against her thumb.

“Does Finn know about this?” Bellamy wasn’t too keen on Finn as of late and if he was more informed it’d be even worse, but this felt wrong. A pit settled in Demetri’s stomach that made swallowing difficult.

“Finn doesn’t need to know, and Bellamy,” Clarke focused solely on Bellamy, “bring guns just in case.”

“Clarke, I don’t think this is a good idea, not right now.” Demetri tried to reason, but Clarke only gave her friend a small smile before reiterating about the guns.

Then Clarke walked away. Bellamy looked over at Demetri, thinking the same thing she was, so much for a night off. Bellamy grabbed Demetri’s hand and tugged her towards the dropship to do what Clarke asked, get guns. He grabbed four rifles, handed one to Demetri, and then headed towards the ammo tent. He threw open the tarp to see Raven was in checking bullets and Jasper chatting with her.

“Jasper, you’re coming with us. You’ve proven you can handle yourself well around grounders.” Bellamy shoved a gun into Jasper’s hands, as the younger guy stared at him slack-jawed before moving between him and Demetri.

“Think twice before you take those, I haven’t checked them yet.” Raven stopped Bellamy from going for a pile of ammo, her hand lingering on his wrist.

“Give me some you have checked then.” Bellamy pulled his arm back and waited.

“What do you need them for?” Raven glared up at him as she stood.

“Finn’s being an idiot.” Demetri answered for Bellamy. “We need them for insurance.” She looked around at what Raven had been doing, there was a pile of bullet neatly placed and a tray of what Demetri assumed were duds.

“We should go get Clarke.” Jasper spoke up, looking between everyone. Neither said a word and Demetri watched Raven’s face soften.

“Clarke’s with Finn, isn’t she?” Raven’s voice got quiet. “I’m going too.” She held out four clips. "Each one has fifteen bullets each. Don’t waste them.” She explained as she cleared her throat.

Bellamy took the loaded clips from Raven and left, motioning for Demetri to follow. She could only give the girl a concerned look as she followed Bellamy, ready to watch her best friend’s back like always. She could only handle one thing at a time at the moment and Raven’s feeling about whatever is going on with Finn and Clarke could wait. A few moments later Jasper and Raven followed the pair out of the tent. They all quickly locked their clips in place and moved along the back of camp and towards the gate.

The group marched away from camp following Bellamy and on high alert. He went in the direction Clarke had mentioned before she left with Finn and only stopped when he saw a pile of acorns out of place. They stayed low and moved silently as Bellamy lead the way, following the breadcrumbs Clarke left for them.

---

By the time they had made it to what Bellamy and Demetri figured was the meeting point, Demetri noted the sun had just started to set in this region. They were along a river and more out in the open as opposed to being hidden in a forest, this disorientated Demetri. The sky was a soft orange and the world was all silhouettes around them. They were also losing daylight as they waited for everyone else to show up. The four of them stayed low on the banks of a mostly dried river hiding along the thick vegetation at the tree line. They spotted Clarke walk out on top of the bridge beside Finn and Octavia after a few minutes. A moment passed before Clarke looked down and locked eyes with Bellamy, before locking eyes with Demetri next. Demetri could see the fear in Clarke’s eyes. She was sure nothing could have eased the tension that swallowed those on the bank of the river. She looked around her for a moment as Demetri wanted to take in her surroundings in case they needed to come back here. The old, crumbling cement bridge was the biggest landmark as the group looked up at it. The area around it was lush and green, but other than that it was completely unfamiliar to her, not that much of the surrounding area was familiar to her. She could backtrack to caves she had been with Bellamy and the hidden bunker Finn showed her and Clarke, and now she’d be able to find this bridge again if she had to. At least she hoped she’d be able to. She was busy looking for any other distinguishable something that she could use when her concentration was broken.

“What’s Octavia doing here?” Jasper whispered, Demetri knew the answer.

The group on the ground watched Lincoln jog across the bridge and greet Octavia with a hug. Bellamy tensed up beside Demetri.

“We know how he escaped now.” Raven mused as Demetri stole a glance before she focused back on the scene on the bridge.

Bellamy’s gun rose and he was looking at the grounder through the scope when Demetri pushed his arm down. Bellamy looked from the bridge to Demetri with a frown on his face but she shook her head at him.

“Look.” She pointed towards the approaching trio on horses, a woman in the center with two masked figured on each flank.

“They have weapons.” Bellamy readied his gun and watched the woman’s every movement.

Demetri mirrored his actions watching Clarke cross the bridge through her scope. Her heart was beating against her chest, the thumping filled her ears. She watched Clarke talk to the Grounder who met her in the middle of the bridge. There was a lot of small hand movements and stoic faces as they exchanged words. There was a lot of sighing and shaking heads and it looked to be at a stalemate, neither budging and nothing getting accomplished.

“Grounder Princess looks pissed.” Raven said looking through her scope after a few minutes passed and the exchange continued but it seemed no progress was made.

Demetri’s hands were cramping from the grip she had on her gun and her chested ached from how hard it was for her to breathe. One wrong move and this could take a really bad turn. All the possibilities were flashing before her eyes, none of them were even remotely handleable. She had to remind herself to stay calm even though every nerve in her body was buzzing.

“Our Princess has that effect.” Bellamy replied, the tension of the situation malleable.

Demetri ignored the twinge she felt hearing Bellamy talk about Clarke that way and focused on the situation at hand. She stood her ground between Raven and Jasper watching, waiting for something, for anything. Demetri saw Jasper move out of the corner of her eye and looked to where he was looking. It seemed impossible for his body to tense up more but it did as he struggled to focus on one point in the trees above them.

“This is bad.” Jasper whispered with his face in his scope.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Bellamy turned to Jasper the moment the words left his lips, the words came out through his teeth.

Demetri looked through her own scope in the direction Jasper had been looking to see what made him react that way. In the first few seconds all she saw was dense, full branches of trees with but then see saw it. She just barely saw what Jasper had seen before he spoke again.

“Grounders. In the trees.” Demetri swallowed down the panic.

“They’re gonna shoot Clarke.” Jasper stepped forward without any hesitation.

“I don’t see anything Jasper!” Bellamy’s voice was frantic.

Demetri saw a pair of grounders high up in trees behind the grounder leader the moment Jasper moved. Both had arrows notched and aimed lazily towards Clarke. The feeling that engulfed Demetri was unexplainable, she was hundreds of feet away and Clarke could die on that bridge. Demetri took a small step forward, eyes never leaving the two she had found. She could feel both Bellamy and Raven watching her as their eyes flitted between her and Jasper and the bridge. Demetri sucked in a sharp breath when one of the grounders she was watching pulled the string back and started to really aim.

“Clarke! RUN!” Jasper yelled as he took another step forward and started shooting towards the trees with grounders.

In the next moment an arrow flew right towards Clarke, who ducked just in time to dodge it. Demetri stepped out after watching that and shot two warning shots into the air, having more control than Jasper. A heartbeat later Bellamy shot at the Grounder leader who had pulled a knife on Clarke. When the bullet hit her in the arm she backed off. The woman’s eyes landed on the four of them on the banks and immediately frowned before she rushed back to her horse. Clarke glanced his way in a silent thank you. The grounders in the trees sent arrows flying at both those on the bridge and the ones they noticed on the ground. It was clear at the moment that there was more than just the two Jasper and Demetri had seen as a barrage of arrows rained down on them. Those on the bridge retreated back into the safety of the forest. Demetri looked up in time to see Lincoln push Octavia behind him and take an arrow in his hip. There was a moment before he pushed Octavia towards Clarke and motioned for them to run. He stayed at the edge of the bridge until the three grounders on horses were out of sight. Demetri watched until her people ran into the safety of the brush and forest. She deflated a bit and felt a little better knowing they were safer than they were before. Raven and Jasper started to back up into the forest as well as Demetri sent off a few more more warning shots, she didn’t want to kill any of them. Bellamy stopped when he noticed Demetri wasn’t beside him but still on the riverbank watching what was happening above her. His eyes landed on a grounder at the other end of the bridge with a notched arrow aimed right at Demetri. Bellamy ran over and jerked her behind him, away from the grounders and the bridge. The arrow landed just where she had been standing moments before and her attention flew to find where it originated from. She had been so distracted making sure Clarke, Octavia, Finn, and Lincoln had gotten away she hadn’t even noticed that grounder. She stumbled before righting herself and following behind Bellamy.

“Demetri let’s go!” Bellamy pulled her behind a large tree just as the sound of an arrow slamming into the tree sounded behind them.

She turned around in time to see the last grounder on the bridge step back into the forest on that side. Bellamy didn’t let go of Demetri’s hand as they rushed through the forest. They only stopped when they stumbled up on the rest of their people a few hundred yards back towards camp. Bellamy released her hand as he moved to the front of the group to lead them back. Demetri immediately fell in step with Clarke, who could only glance at her as they followed Bellamy closely.

---

They ran until they made it back to the wall and surprising no one had stopped until then or saw anything as they ran. It had to have been a few miles and the exertion showed on everyone’s faces. They were all drenched with sweat and the fear had yet to subside. By the time they stopped outside the wall they were all panting, doubled over and trying to catch their breaths. Finn glared at both Bellamy and Clarke, an unknown emotion was emitting from him. His glare bounced over to Jasper then ended with Demetri, who was already glaring up at him. He had royally pissed Demetri off this time. There was a lot she could overlook but this went too far.

“Got something you want to say?” Bellamy growled, his attention darting around to make sure everyone was okay. His gaze lingered on Demetri before flitting to Finn and staying there.

“That was our chance to save ourselves and now it’s gone.” Finn returned Bellamy’s glare as he took a step towards the older male.

“They were going to kill you.” Demetri spat, stepping forward to stand before Clarke and Bellamy. Just because she liked Finn’s character doesn’t mean she’d let this go.

“You don’t know that!” Finn exclaimed, his gestures were wide and aggravated.

“I saw them too!” Demetri’s voice rose an octave, “There were grounders in the trees with arrows trained not only on Clarke, but you and Octavia too. They came ready to kill.” She pointed to each person in turn, unaware of how her hand shook.

“Dem,” Bellamy tugged her out of Finn’s face. “Calm down.”

“No Bellamy.” Her glare never left Finn as she shook Bellamy’s hand off. “You wanted to march Clarke right up to death’s door with no plan or any backup. What were you thinking?!” She jabbed her finger into his chest.

Octavia and Raven had been watching silently, Octavia had nothing to say because she was worried about Lincoln and Raven had nothing to say because she had never seen Finn act this way. Neither were even reacting much as what happened was still processing until Finn spoke next and Octavia instantly tensed up. She hadn’t known what to think after she watched Lincoln take that arrow for her.

“It doesn’t matter anyway, it’s ruined because Jasper fired the first shot.”

Everyone’s attention flew to Jasper, who stood there shaking like a leaf. His eyes darting around everyone before they landed on Octavia. Now she could blame Jasper and it made her feel a little better.

“You ruined everything.” Octavia spat, feeding off of Finn’s misplaced rage before she ran off into camp.

“I saved your life!” Jasper spat back, “You’re welcome.” He stormed off into the camp following Octavia but darted off in the opposite direction after he crossed the threshold.

Demetri didn’t take her eyes off Finn the entire time even though the more she looked at him the angrier she got. He was one of the older kids, he had a certain level of responsibility placed on his shoulders whether he wanted it or not. The way he went about this was all wrong and Demetri was having trouble keeping her emotions in check.

“If we weren’t at war, we sure as hell are now.” Finn looked between Clarke and Bellamy, knowing they had more pull in things. “You didn’t have to trust them, you just had to trust me.” He moved to pushed past Demetri and Clarke, but Demetri shoved him back.

“You don’t get to pull the trust card Finn. You didn’t trust us. You didn’t even trust us enough to mention it to me and Bellamy. Do you think I wanted to see Lincoln getting beat up for that antidote? Do you know I stopped your girlfriend from electrocuting him to save you.” She pointed to Raven who shifted around uncomfortably for a moment. “Do you think I was jumping at the idea of bringing guns into camp? I’ll tell you straight, I wasn’t but we need them.” Demetri paused to breathe. “But tonight you crossed a line Finn. Pulling Clarke away in the middle of a celebration late into the day to attend a meeting with a leader of the grounders with no semblance of a plan because you’re too fucking impulsive to let us in on your ideas is way out of line. You’re always going off on your own and getting lost in your own world Finn. You’ve barely earned our trust yet you were hoping that Clarke would blindly put her life on the line for some half-baked scheme?” Demetri shoved Finn again, tears brimming her eyes. “If you had talked to us we could have figured something out. We could have talked to the Ark before they send the Exodus ship down, we could have put together an offer so that when it came time to make a deal and form an alliance to prevent this impending war they would have been more inclined to agree. Do you think we have anything to offer them right now besides blind hope in a people we know nothing about?” Demetri shoved Finn back one more time. “What you’re doing is playing a very dangerous game Finn Collins, and just now you used Clarke as your pawn. You also put Octavia’s life on the line and you had no right to do that.” Demetri took in a shaky breath. “If you do anything that gets Clarke or anyone of the 100 killed, you won’t have to worry about the grounders, because I’ll kill you myself.”

Raven stepped forward ready to give Demetri a piece of her mind but Demetri  turned her glare on her, freezing Raven in place. In the short time Raven had been on earth she identified Demetri as a less intimidating, more reserved version of Clarke. She didn’t find Clarke even remotely intimidating and found Demetri even less so. Raven actually found her quite likable and cute. But the rage that was rolling off Demetri’s small stature in massive waves and the look Raven received for stepping forward banished all the words she had on the tip of her tongue. She felt small in front of Demetri in that moment. Demetri was barely keeping herself in check, she was seconds away from actually losing her cool and even though she knew that, she kept going. Finn needed to hear this before he got someone killed.

“You stay out of this Reyes.” Demetri snarled.

“Okay, you need to calm down.” Bellamy picked Demetri up by the waist and pulled her thrashing figure away from Finn and firmly planted her on the ground a few feet away.

“You can push the blame around all you want, on Jasper for stepping up to protect you guys on the bridge; on Bellamy for bring guns; on me for contributing to ruining your stupid plan. But don’t think you’re not at fault here too Finn. You acted without thinking anything through, what happens here on out is on you.”

Bellamy and Clarke just stared at Demetri. For as long as Clarke had know her, Demetri had never lost her composure like that. She was always the level-headed one, she was even composed the day everything happened with her dad. She found him dead, he was charged as a criminal and floated, and she was moved in with Clarke’s family all in the span of six hours but Clarke never saw her crack; until now. Bellamy had admired Demetri’s ability to stay strong and think independently than what her emotions were telling her. It’s one of her traits that drew him to her and to see her on the verge of a breakdown right now left him feeling all kinds of messed up.

Finn didn’t say anything as his glare faltered then moved to the ground. He pushed his way past Clarke and Bellamy, shoulder checking each of them before he stopped just in front of Demetri. He gave her one last sad look before he darted off into the camp. Raven spared Demetri a glance, not sure about how she felt towards the still seething girl before her, as she ran off after Finn.

“Best Unity Day ever right?” Bellamy sighed.

“Totally.” Demetri rolled her eyes, looking between the two people beside her, she took a few deep breaths as Bellamy placed his hands on her shoulders and took deep breaths with her.

Clarke opened her mouth to thank them but a distant explosion caught their attention.

“The Exodus ship?” Bellamy suggested as they all turned towards the sky.

“Abby’s early.” Demetri mused, watching the smile form on Clarke’s face. “We’ll see her soon.”

Demetri moved up beside Clarke and grabbed her arm, feeling the excitement roll off her friend. She liked having this distraction from what just happened, her heart was still beating against her ribcage and she could have broken Finn’s nose if he had tried anything. She’d much rather share the excitement of Clarke seeing her mother again than deal with the cosmic amount of anger she felt towards Finn.

“Wait. Too fast, no parachute? Something’s wrong.” Demetri and Bellamy shared a look before the ship descending to earth seemed to jerk off course and slam into the ground. A large, bright explosion shook the ground slightly even with it being between two mountain peaks in the distance. If Demetri hadn’t been holding onto Clarke she would have fallen face first to the ground.

“Clarke?” Demetri panicked, “It’ll be okay, we’ll go check as soon as the sun’s up. Maybe it was a miss launch and no one was on it.”

“Yea, as soon as the sun’s up.” Bellamy agreed, stepping to Clarke’s other side to help hold her up. “It’s too dangerous to go right now.”

“Oh-okay.” Clarke nodded as the initial shock and fear passed through her, she felt like she was in limbo. Clarke’s body was buzzing, her mind was hazy. All she could see was the crash over and over again. All she could hear were the last hateful words she’d said to her mother a few days ago.

“Let’s get you back to the tent, at least you can lay down.” Demetri suggested, wrapping an arm around Clarke.

Clarke held onto Demetri as they walked back to their tent, Bellamy walked quietly behind them. Demetri muttered soothing words to Clarke the whole way, doing anything to keep Clarke with them mentally. It was all she could think to do because honestly she wanted to pack up and run to the crash site too, Kane was said to possibly come down on the first ship too. No matter how much she resent him at the moment, it was still someone she cared about. They got to the girls’ tent and Clarke looked up at Demetri apologetically. 

“I know I don’t really have the right but can I be alone for a bit?” Clarke didn’t look at Demetri as she asked.

“Sure, she can sleep with me tonight.” Bellamy nodded, not realizing how that sounded at first.

“Bellamy!” Demetri rushed to cover her face, it heating up instantly.

“I-I mean, she can stay in my tent to-tonight.” He stuttered out not looking at either of them.

“I know what you meant.” Clarke chuckled at the clear discomfort between the pair in front of her. “Thank you for letting her stay with you, I just need to be alone for a little while.” Clarke started to enter their tent as she waved stiffly before closing the flap behind her.

“It’s not a problem, c’mon Dem.” Bellamy guided Demetri away from their tent and towards his.

Demetri looked around camp as they walked, most of the kids had calmed down, very few were still partying. A couple sat around the fire pits, but most were passed out in various places or in their tents. Demetri started counting the people who were red from all the booze and who would have a massive hangover tomorrow. At least the majority of the camp had a good evening. It felt weird knowing that almost everyone in camp was oblivious to what happened earlier, it was like a secret she didn’t want to keep.

Demetri didn’t noticed they had made it to Bellamy’s tent until he moved the flap back. Demetri was met with the same mat and chair from the last time she had been in here. She thought she’d feel different than she did, maybe tense and uncomfortable, but she trusted Bellamy so she was relaxed. Bellamy watched her nervously as she removed her boots by the flap and took off his old jacket. He had given it to her when she lost hers while they were out a few weeks ago, he was surprised she still had it. Demetri carefully placed the jacket on his chair.

“I can sleep on the floor if you’re not comfortab--”

“Jokes aside, sharing a bed is doable Bellamy, I’m comfortable with it if you are.” Demetri cut him off.

Hearing that from Demetri calmed Bellamy’s racing heart. It didn’t last long before Demetri removed her shirt and her pants, which she folded and set down on the edge of the table in Bellamy’s tent. Bellamy’s mouth went dry as he stared at the young woman before him. It felt almost juvenile for him to feel the way he did in that moment, but Demetri had been so unattainable until recently and seeing her before him. Bellamy had known a while ago that he had felt something for Demetri and at first he wasn’t sure what it was. It seemed to be something akin to loathing because she was so defiant and she was a threat to him. She’s still a threat to him, but now it’s more of a she could shatter his entire heart and ruin his life type of threat. Weeks ago the only person who knew anything about the girl before him was Clarke and now he knew so much about her too. He felt almost unworthy to be standing in his tent alone with her, so exposed like that. For a moment he yearned to spend every night with her and wake up beside her every day, another feeling he hadn’t had before. He took in her silhouette for a moment before a quiet sigh left his tired body. She was something else entirely. Demetri turned to see Bellamy frozen in place and staring at her with the tiniest of smiles. She looked down to realize she had mindlessly stripped down to her sports bra and boy shorts. She was so accustomed to sleeping comfortably in her tent with Clarke that it never crossed her mind that she was actually in Bellamy’s tent until she locked eyes with him. Her hand flew to her folded tee on top of her clothes and she started to bunch it up as she spoke next, face flaming.

“Oh, is this too much? I’m so used to sleeping like this, I can pu-”

“If you’re okay with it, I’m okay.” Bellamy’s voice was even.

“You sure? This isn’t too much temptation?” Demetri mused. He nodded at first, which she replied with a wink as she settled in Bellamy’s bed, one of the blankets resting low on her stomach.

“Not at all.” Demetri watched in amusement as Bellamy took a deep breath.

Her giggles as she watched him move about his tent left him absolutely thoughtless. He’s had girls spend the night in his tent before, but there was some other stuff involved there and they’d be gone in the morning. He felt something deeper for Demetri and while the atmosphere was still a little tense from earlier he felt comfortable around her, even though she was severely under dressed at the moment. Bellamy sucked in another breath as he removed his own boots and he decided to play her game too.

Demetri had been looking at something off to the side when Bellamy’s sudden movement caught her attention. She looked over at him and nearly choked on an intake of air as Bellamy removed his shirt. In one swift motion he had pulled his shirt over his head by pulled it from the back, it was definitely one of the hottest things she had ever seen. Then he tossed it onto the other side of the small table in his tent. Then his pants, he took them off slowly and made sure to lock eyes with Demetri as he kicked them from his ankle. Now he was left in just his boxers. Demetri averted her eyes as Bellamy moved around the room as the dangerous game continued. He latched the flap of his tent so no one could just barge in and he turned off the light he had hanging from the ceiling of his tent. He grabbed two of the glow sticks he’d brought back from the depot and cracked them, setting one on the table and the other in the middle of the floor. The room was casted in a soft yellow glow as Bellamy settled in bed beside Demetri. At first Demetri kept her distance worried about boundaries and such.  Her mind also wondered a bit, she had not been expecting such a nice body underneath Bellamy’s clothes. Sure she’d felt his muscles when they’d hugged before and that time in the cave, and she’d seen a little peak on the second day but seeing it before her. She could see why some of the other girls were tripping over each other to get to his tent. He noticed Demetri not looking at him as she looked up at the ceiling of the tent and laid a respectable distance away from him.

“You sure this isn’t too much temptation?” Bellamy teased as he pulled Demetri flush against his chest.

“Not at all.” Demetri replied, easily relaxing against Bellamy.

She rolled around till she was laying on Bellamy and they were chest to chest, his focus on her as her fingers danced over his collar bones. Demetri was drawing shapes on his skin as she thought about what had happened that day, it had started off so well and went to shit so quickly. This was becoming a pattern and it was starting to wear her thin. Her composure had never crumbled quite like that before. Sure she could blame part of it on the alcohol, but she had lost control of herself, which was unacceptable. She watched her forefinger trace words on Bellamy’s chest; peace, freedom, prepared, worried. Her subconscious took over as she continued. 

“Dem?” Bellamy’s voice was quiet to match the mood.

“Hm.”

“Are you okay? You kind of lost it on Finn earlier.” Bellamy watched her brows furrow as she thought about his question. A moment later her head shook slowly.

“He’s so stuck on being a pacifist that he put Clarke and Octavia’s lives at risk, that’s unacceptable.” Demetri sighed. “It’s one thing for him to be reckless with his own life, but to play with theirs too? If something had happened, if we hadn’t been there and the grounders decided to kill them.” Demetri stopped, she rested her chin on top of her hand on Bellamy’s chest. “You, me, and Raven would have lost someone incredibly important to us, because he being was impulsive. I was angry.”

“I could tell.” Bellamy squished her cheeks together. “You had me worried, I thought you were going to pop a blood vessel.” Demetri rolled her eyes.

“Okay, I wasn’t that angry.” The words came out funny thanks to Bellamy squishing her face.

“That wasn’t that angry?” Bellamy gawked, “I find that hard to believe sweetheart. I thought you were going to leap at him and punch him like you did to Murphy the first day.” Demetri pushed his hands from her face.

“I had a damn good reason to punch John, if Finn keeps it up I’ll probably have a damn good reason to punch him too.” Demetri grumbled as a pout formed, earning her a chuckle from Bellamy.

“How is it that fifteen minutes ago I was afraid of you and now I’m in awe at how cute you are.”

Demetri blushed at the comment from Bellamy, unsure of how to react. Her hand idly fidgeted with the rings she wore around her neck as they laid there. Bellamy had made it a habit of his to watch her, to really watch her. To see the way she wore her emotions on her face when she wasn’t paying attention and how there was always something twinkling in her eyes. Now though, her eyes were clouded as she was deep inside her mind. He had picked up on that Demetri had the habit of chewing on her bottom lip when she was deep in thought. Before Bellamy could stop himself he reached forward and used his thumb to pull her lip from her teeth and smooth it out. Demetri zoned back into feel Bellamy’s warm palm resting against the side of her face and his thumb resting on her bottom lip.

That tiny motion added such a heat to the atmosphere. Here they were skin-to-skin, lounging in an intimate environment, and everything just felt hazy. Bellamy pulled her towards him and kissed her slowly. The kisses stayed soft and slow, no urgency, nothing needing their attention for the time being. The touches were soft and light as fingers danced over skin, limbs tangled together, and they basked in the warmth and safety they provided for each other. Eventually the caresses slowed and the kisses lessened until Demetri was tucked under Bellamy’s chin and she was wrapped around him tightly and sleep pulled them under.

[elevenhoursinfront-blog]

14th March 2017

It appears getting a full night sleep in a hostel is actually impossible. The door must’ve been opened and closed 20 times throughout the night and I wanted to scream. The door is heavy and loud. It lets in a stupid amount of light and people are incapable of being remotely quiet.

I was the most tired I had felt in what felt like forever. I’m definitely tempted to sleep through breakfast on Thursday as it’s my only day off. I need a good night’s sleep and I think the next time I’ll get that will be at home! Unless I win the lottery soon which I doubt as we don’t have the money to buy a ticket.

Steve and I had egg on toast for breakfast with a strong coffee. Coffee was required for work. I was on rooms with Daniel. Dan is from North London. He is here travelling with his girlfriend Megan (that also cleans for the hostel to get free accommodation). Megan and Dan are finding it hard travelling as a couple. They’ve both asked me how I do it… I ask myself the same question! (Joking Steve). Work went slowly but it was alright.

Still no nephew so I reckon it will be when I wake up tomorrow. My sister is still in labour right now but baby is being stubborn and not moving down. Steve said he reckons the baby is waiting for the green light at the top of the slide… This will be my 7th niece/nephew - 8th if you count Jamie, Steve’s sister’s baby.

The weather was ridiculous today. Rain rain rain. It’s actually nicer at home than here. Typical. I have to remember we are in autumn here though and the UK is in spring. Someone was shot and pistol whipped outside our hostel last night. It was drug related, of course. I’m pleased we’re on the move though… Don’t panic Dad, I’m not a fan of MDMA or late payments so I won’t be in harms way.

Steve and I were starving so we went down to make lunch. We’re trying not to buy any food and use up what we have bought already. This means our meals will be weird. More weird than normal. Today for lunch we had Ryvita, Philadelphia, ham, sausages and cucumber… Not much left for meals but tonight is Toastie Tuesday so we won’t need anything else.

We needed to put a wash on desperately. Especially before we leave. Our towels were so dirty they smelt bad. That’s one thing about travelling people don’t worn you about - dirty clothes/towels. Having a clean towel is something you have to worship. Steve and I put almost all of our clothing into the $4 washing machine. We mixed colors’ and whites because I couldn’t bare spending another $4 for a separate wash. I put it on a cold wash so it wouldn’t run. 37 minutes were up and we went down to get it. As Steve was pulling the clothes out, my heart sank. We forgot soap. We put the wash on, costing $4, without soap. I wanted to cry!!!! We had to go and get another $4 to wash our clothes again. Steve hadn’t even realised until he see the look on my face and asked what’s wrong. Another 37 minutes later, Steve went down and put the clothes into the dryer. We had such a large wash, we had to pay the $3 for it to be dried. There wasn’t enough bars on our bunk to hang them out to dry. Such a pain in the bum. Could’ve gone to the launderette for cheaper!

It was 1730 before we knew it so we went down to the kitchen for free toasties. Cheese, salami and onion for me. Same for Steve. It tastes like a mini pizza. The hostel went through 5 loaves of bread tonight. 4 is the average.

We went upstairs, collected our washing and put it all away. Some items were slightly damp but we had a lot of clothing. Steve’s white top from Zara gained some marks somehow. Yellow rusty marks. We think it’s from one of the machines. I tried to hand wash it again but I think it’s a bin job. We’ll see - it’s hanging out the hostel window to dry. We need our Ange.

I got into bed and watched Free Willy. I’m enjoying my homely-feel films. Netflix on my phone is great but today is the last day for our free month of data from Vodaphone. We have 22GB between us so I’m not sure how that’s going to work out just yet. Probably not that great.

It got to about 2100 and I was craving dairy. I wanted a strawberry yoghurt and milk. Well, I wanted strawberry yoghurt mixed with toasted muesli, banana pieces, nuts and seeds. Unfortunately that would probably cost me about $30. Yoghurt alone is $4 on offer! We went to Coles so I could pick up some bits. I got fat free yoghurt for $4, skimmed milk for $1.25 and diet lemonade for 75c. $6 food shop for me completed. However, Steve’s shops are quite the contrary… He bought rice pudding, chocolate milkshake and orange juice. That shop came to $10.

By the time we got back and eaten our snacks, it was 2300. Time goes so fast here and the days are going even faster. We’re 6 weeks through which is so strange. It felt like yesterday we were at the airport.

I am still hoping for an early night but you can’t get one in a hostel. The light is on, everyone is in and out, getting ready and drinking to go out. By the time you’ve settled and gone off to sleep, one person returns. Then the next 5 return in dribs and drabs. Sam from Basildon (who actually lives in Laindon which is weird) has booked his flights home. He can’t be bothered with hostel life and travelling any more. I can see where he’s coming from, but I wouldn’t chuck my year away. I’d just get an apartment. Probably cheaper too.

We have a few bits we need to do tomorrow. We need to go to the bank and set up our superannuation (pensions). We need our number to pass onto our future employers. We should get a percentage of the money back when we apply for our tax return at the end of the year. We need to go to Vodaphone because there’s a confusion between us paying our bill – we’re not sure if it comes out automatically. We need to go to the shop and I need to send a present off to a friend back home. Nothing exciting but a must do before I leave.

My Mum has sent me a parcel which I’m still waiting to arrive. It should be here by Thursday. I’m excited to receive something from home and for it to smell of home which might sound weird. Only takes 5-7 days for a parcel to arrive and I think Mum said it cost like £5. I thought it’d be a lot worse than that. I’m hoping it’s here by tomorrow.

I have just received a message staying that my sister is 10cm. This means little man will arrive during my sleep. Fingers crossed.

[wellnessroutines]

Iron deficiency symptoms and remedies you need to know

This is a sponsored blog post in behalf of me for the Advice for Accountable Nourishment (CRN). All opinions are my own.

In June 2016, I ran the 10K Run for Heart in memory of my dad, and also though I'm a long-distance jogger and also understood the race had not been mosting likely to be a go for me, I still felt extremely anxious. The race had so much definition to me, and also I was seriously worried I was mosting likely to stop working and allow my father down.

(Silly, I know…)

So although that I was knee-deep in the mayhem of packing, removaling, and restorations on 2 houses, I located the time to run over 90K in the 4 weeks preceeding the race.

90K!

Now, I'm not mosting likely to lie to you. That was one difficult month for me, and also there were times I seriously considered backing out of the race, but each time I felt the impulse to quit, I reminded myself why I was doing it and also found the strength to bring on.

I felt ready and pumped when I went to grab my race bib a number of days before the race, however the early morning prior to I was because of lace up my joggers and make my father proud, I woke up with a dreadful head cold and the weatherman decided to change the projection from 'attractive and sunny' to 'rain and thunderstorms' for the rest of the weekend.

I was crushed.

My partner (honor his heart) kindly suggested I miss the race, or even though I understood my papa would certainly have told me to do the precise very same point, providing up just had not been an option for me.

That's not who I am.

So while I was carb-loading the evening before race day, I started looking into the very best suggestions for running in the rain, and also after checking out a load of remarkable stories, it quickly emerged that the only suggestions I required was this:

Change your attitude.

While a great deal of the extra experienced joggers confessed rainy races could be difficult and unpleasant, nearly all of them claimed they finished up not only running FASTER in the face of stormy weather condition, but that they likewise really felt a bigger feeling of success when they crossed the finish line.

I reviewed countless tales such as this, when I got up to rainfall as well as a congested nose the adhering to early morning, I maintained advising myself to concentrate on how I would certainly really feel when the race was over.

The race started the like other - great deals of loud songs and also supporting as well as howling and also mad dashes to the port-a- potties (so gross!) - yet as I came close to the midway turnaround pen, one of the occasion organizers grabbed the turn-around indicator as well as started removaling pylons while screaming, '10K IS DOWN THERE! 10K IS DOWN THERE!"

So I ran, and ran, as well as ran some extra, and when I got to the last turnaround point, I noticed there were only a handful of runners behind me, and judging from how my body really felt, I recognized I had actually run a lot further than I was supposed to.

And I was right.

The original turnaround markers were wrong, and also while the event team were arranging out their mistake, they erroneously guided 72 people to run 14K instead of 10K.

14K!!!

I 'd never ever run that much in my life, when I recognized I was just midway via the race, I was terrified I had not been mosting likely to make it throughout the coating line. Before I might go into freak-out setting, I advised myself why I was there, ordered a mug of water, turned the music on my iPod up, as well as finished up not just beating my finest 10K outside run time, however likewise placing 12th among the 72 runners that ran the 14K with me.

Words could not express the sensation of satisfaction that cleaned over me as I looked up into the sky to claim bye-bye to my papa after going across the finish line that day, as well as while I really felt like I was running on adrenaline for the remainder of the day, I felt terrible in the days and weeks after the race.

I was tired and also irritable all the time, I couldn't concentrate, and also the simple idea of going for a leisurely jog around our neighborhood made me desire to cry.

At initially, I just believed I would certainly exaggerated it, but as time wore on as well as I continued to really feel lousy, I decided to state something to my doctor, as well as after getting blood examinations, he called to tell me I was seriously anemic, and when he described some of the most usual signs and symptoms of iron shortage, it all made perfect sense:

Fatigue and weakness

Dizziness

Pale skin

Fast or irregular heartbeat

Headaches

Shortness of breath

Cold hands and feet

Brittle nails

Cravings to consume odd points, like dust, ice, or clay

I keep in mind joking that all I required was to eat a few burgers and I 'd be great, however my physician ( very) seriously advised me that there is no such point as a 'best' diet when it comes to an iron deficiency (or any type of dietary deficiency, for that issue), and strongly urged me to spend in an excellent iron supplement to aid bring my degrees back to where they must be.

As the CRN explains, dietary supplements assist load nutrition voids as well as advertise total wellness as well as wellness for the numerous Americans who could not obtain sufficient vital nutrients from diet alone.

My first response was one of alleviation. I figured I would certainly simply take the supplements and also all would excel once more, but after talking to the gal at our neighborhood organic food shop, I understood that iron levels as reduced as mine were are very hard to treat. While dietary supplements can play an important function in excellent wellness, they are meant as supplements to, not substitutes for, various other healthy and balanced practices, as well as given that my medical professional had actually cautioned me it can take an excellent SIX MONTHS for me to really feel like myself again, I understood I needed to take this seriously.

So I started doing some study, and also I discovered out some unusual truths concerning iron deficiency that I was originally not aware of:

Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron, so you must decide for an iron supplement that includes Vitamin C, or eat it with an all-natural resource of Vitamin C (i.e. orange juice)

Eggs, dairy, spinach, whole-grain breads and also grains, and coffee and also tea can inhibit iron absorption, and also shouldn't be eaten 1-2 hrs after taking an iron supplement

Antacids and calcium supplements can also conflict with iron absorption and also should not be taken within 1-2 hours of taking iron supplements

Intense endurance training can trigger anemia

This last point really struck a cord with me. Also though I was feeling worn down all the time, I was still pressing myself to work out at the exact same rate I had actually grown familiar with, once I realized I was doing my body much more damage than great, I began to make some significant adjustments to my lifestyle.

I'm still not really feeling 100% back to my old self, and also I expect it'll be another 6 months before my energy degrees return, however in case my experiences can aid somebody experiencing something comparable, I intended to share 5 vital points that have helped me:

I start my day with a dish of steel cut oats. One serving of steel cut oats supplies as much as 10 percent of the everyday recommended quantity of iron we need to consume daily, but it's essential not to include anything that will disrupt our capacity to soak up the iron, so I sweeten it with a bit of cinnamon and raw honey, and also prevent any and also all dairy for at the very least 2 hours.

I consume red meat at the very least 3 times each week, and ensure I include various other sources of iron-rich fowl right into my meals any place feasible. Red meat, seafood, and fowl are outstanding resources of healthy protein, as well as I feel my finest when I obtain a good balance of the 3 in my once a week diet.

I eat dark eco-friendly, leafed veggies 2 times per day. I've exchanged my precious iceberg lettuce for a mix of spinach and swiss chard, and while I can not consume kale in it's raw form, I do blend it into green smoothie mixes from time to time for an added kick of iron.

I treat on dried out fruits and nuts. This assists me feel complete in between meals, and also offers me a iron boost to boot.

I workout smarter as well as not harder at the gym. I've traded my long, extreme running sessions for much shorter (and also a lot more effective) workouts that don't leave my body sensation as though it's going to collapse.

There are great deals of options when it comes to nutritional supplements, and if you or someone you enjoy struggles with an iron deficiency, I urge you to talk with a physician or various other healthcare expert concerning what dietary supplements are appropriate for you.

To find out more about the Advise for Accountable Nourishment, you can locate them on Facebook, Twitter, and also using their website.

[ellalauwa]

There is 1 sauce that never fails to deliver in terms of flavor and can be used in so many different dishes… everybody should be able to make this from scratch.

I am talking of course, about pesto.

This heavenly green Italian paste made traditionally from basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese or pecorino, garlic, and olive oil can be used in pastas, lasagnas, sandwiches, salads, as a sauce on top of vegetables or meat, or even as a dipping sauce.

Besides being extremely versatile, pesto can be made in so many (less traditional) ways; you can swap out the greens, the cheese, the nuts, basically any of its elements, which allows you to truly customise it and make it your own. Besides, never having to grow bored of the same taste. Although, who could ever grow tired of pesto, am I right?

Quite a lot of people seem to think that pesto is a lot of trouble to make but in reality it is very simple.

Let me try and prove this to you!

Today, I would like to show you how to make my version of pesto, how to make it vegan, and how to make it creamy without adding cream.

The 3 main ingredients for your base when making pesto, are greens, nuts, and something cheesy.

The greens

I like to use spinach instead of basil, this adds a very mild flavor that is much cheaper than basil and allows you to add more volume and vegetables to your pesto dish.

Another great option is to use rocket (rucola), this adds a sharp, nutty flavor to the pesto. Note: In my experience, when using rocket, the pesto is best eaten the very same day that it’s made.

The nuts

Pine nuts are awesome flavor makers but can be quite expensive.. so again, I like to swap them out either in part or entirely by other nuts.

A great substitute for pine nuts in pesto is to use cashews. Cashews are very mild in flavor but add a sort of creaminess to your pesto.

Other nuts that work really well are walnuts, especially when paired with rocket.

Feel free to use any nuts or seeds of your choice and see which ones you like best.

The cheese

The traditional cheeses used for Pesto are Parmesan and pecorino. These both are very strong cheeses that add so much heartiness to a pesto that you might think they are irreplaceable. But I beg to differ… A great vegan option to replace cheese with is nutritional yeast.

What is nutritional yeast?

Nutritional yeast is a dried yeast that, as the name suggests, is very high in nutritional value. It contains high amounts of protein and vitamin B12, among others, and has an umami, cheesy flavor, making it a great vegan substitute for cheese. It is often used in sauces to give them a cheesy flavor, or even sprinkled on top of a dish as you would with grated cheese. Find some more info here and here, and additional uses for nutritional yeast here. 

You can buy nutritional yeast at your local health store (For you Dutchies out there, I buy mine at GezondheidsWinkel)

If you are not vegan, go ahead and try making this recipe both ways and see which option you like best. You can even substitute only half the cheese with the yeast, so that you can still taste the parmesan but are diminishing your fat intake and eating less animal products overall.

Now, on to the recipe…

—

My vegan spinach pesto recipe:

This recipe makes enough for 4 plates of pasta.

Your kitchen tools for today:

a food processor (or pestle & mortar if you like to do things “the-end-of-the-world-is-near way”)

a spatula

a large bowl

a glass jar for storing (If you didn’t eat it all, that is)

The ingredients you will need are:

4 handfuls of spinach

3 heaped tablespoons of nutritional yeast   (or freshly grated parmesan cheese if you can’t live without cheese)

3/4 cup of pine nuts

1-2 cloves of garlic   (Really…unless you’re a vampire, go for 2 cloves)

2-3 tablespoons of olive oil   (2 is just enough to bring the pesto together, the 3rd spoon really takes it up a notch)

Season with salt and pepper (Salty is goood!)

Optional: A splash of (balsamic) vinegar or lemon juice   (helps to balance out the flavors)

Ingredients for Vegan Pesto

Instructions:

  Short version:

Throw all your ingredients into a blender and blend until you get either a chunky or smooth pesto… done!

Regular version:

Once you have your ingredients picked out, all you need to do is pound them together using mortar and pestle, as it was done traditionally, or mix them up in a food processor.  Make it either chunky or smooth, however you like it.

Personally, I like to blitz the nuts, cheese/yeast, and garlic up in a food processor, then transfer them to a bowl and blitz the greens up on their own before adding them to the same bowl and mixing together. This way you are in control of the texture of your pesto.

Blitz up your spinach

Mix your ingredients together in a bowl

Blitz your pine nuts, nutritional yeast, and garlic together

Next, simply mix in the olive oil, and seasoning. When everything is mixed, go ahead and have a taste. If your pesto is not exactly right yet for your taste, just add more of the ingredient that you think it could do with, such as some extra nuts or cheese/yeast, and taste again.

Go ahead and add less traditional ingredients such as a chili-pepper,  half a roasted sweet pepper,  or even replace the parmesan, if you are using it, with feta cheese. Adding a little bit of water to your pesto paste can help your pesto become a lot creamier without adding any calories. Another great addition is to add an avocado. You could even make a small variation by roasting your garlic and toasting your pine nuts. Feel free to experiment to find your own perfect mix.

  Mix ingredients into a smooth pesto; add a little more oil or water if needed.

If you are happy with the pesto then either use it immediately for an awesome pasta or Italian-style sandwich, or store it in a clean glass jar in your fridge where it will keep for a couple of days. Freezing the pesto is also an option, just make sure to add some more oil so that the whole pesto is covered and won’t dry out.

My next post will show you how to use your pesto to make an amazing low-carb “pasta” dish! Can you guess what I’m talking about? ;)

Presto, there’s your pesto!

—

Presto, there’s your pesto!

Please try it at home and let me know what you think.

Share this recipe with others if you like it!

  Hugs and Kisses,

Laura

  ps. If you like my recipes, please follow me on facebook, instagram, and twitter, where I will share my newest posts bi-weekly.

Easy Homemade Pesto Recipe (with vegan option) There is 1 sauce that never fails to deliver in terms of flavor and can be used in so many different dishes...