#i had to split the page into 2 images for easier reading but i hope it reads like a single page anyway

[tawnysoup]

Starting to regret teaching him that self-confidence, huh?

[imagine-it-to-be-true]

Fix You - Caius Volturi x FemOC Three Shot: Part 1

Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading. Hope you like the one shot. I do take requests! Please have a look at my list of characters, and the rules. Feel free to reach out.

Notes about the One Shot:

Summary: As Caius walked around the streets of Volterra, he came across a girl being assaulted and badly injured. He couldn't explain the pull he had towards her, but all he knew was that he needed to save her. Caius Volturi x Fem!OC. Mentions of blood, injury and death. Nothing too gruesome though. Also posted on my Fanfiction page.

Word count: 2679

Firstly, I don’t own Twilight, the Volturi, or the image used.

I sincerely apologize for my Italian and Greek phrases; I don’t speak a word of the languages and was at the mercy of Google Translate. 

Caius’ wife Athenodora does not exist. 

Also, imagine him how you want but I much preferred his appearance in New Moon, so that’s how I described him.

~ Enjoy :)

Cloud cover in Volterra was a rare sight. Most days the sun shone brightly, making the town not particularly an ideal place for vampires. Yet here they were, the powerful three, the ancient kings who were tasked with up-keeping and enforcing secrecy of the vampire world, in a town where they remained inside the walls of the Volturi Castle. Caius often wondered why the coven chose to remain there, and not move to a less sunny place. A lack of opportunities for outings meant that he was falling intellectually behind. One need not look further than his clothes, not to mention his mentality to see he was not one for modernity. Not that he cared. Humans and their achievements were so minuscule in his eyes. Nevertheless, he enjoyed the opportunity to venture out into the town, feel the cool breeze on cloudy days like today and observe the lesser kind. It was remarkable for him how the world changed since his childhood in Ancient Greece, yet the scape of Volterra harked back to it with its old buildings.

Caius was lonely. He was angry and cruel; many would even say sadistic. But no, the last part was not true. After over 3000 years of living alone, never aging, never moving forward, being forced to hide himself, and never seizing to hunger, it’s no surprise that one would become angry. But he was not a sadist. He did not enjoy the pain of others. He fed only when he could no longer contain his thirst, not over-indulging himself. But he understood the need for justice, and was not tolerant when punishment was due. This was often mistaken for sadism.

Volterra was extra busy lately due to an overwhelming influx in tourism. One could no longer walk in peace. The pushing and shoving of the crowded streets became too much for Caius. He looked around him, and noticed a less busy street to his right. The more he followed, the less people were there. He kept going until he was left alone, in peace, and stopped, and leaned his back against the wall, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, exhaling through his mouth. He took a moment to collect his thoughts. And that is when he heard it. 

From his right, came a feminine scream. It snapped Caius out of his thoughts. It sounded desperate, and then quieted down before he heard the female’s voice again, yelling in English with an American accent, “PLEASE! Somebody help me!” In one swift motion, Caius pushed himself from the wall and walked towards the pleas. He rounded a corner and between two buildings, there was a thin, dark alleyway. It was there that he found the source of the commotion.

A tall, heavy-built balding man had a significantly smaller female pinned up against the wall with his body. His left hand grasped her around the neck, while the other clutched a gun to her head. Caius spoke Italian - one of the many languages he’s mastered - so he understood plainly the filth coming out of the lowlife’s mouth as he barked at the poor girl. She, however, was clueless and sobbing, begging him to leave her. 

In the split moment that he observed the scene, Caius’ eyes landed on the female. She was small, about 5”2, looked to be in her early twenties and very slim. Her hair was golden blonde, long and fell in thick, luscious curls down her back. She did not appear to be wearing much makeup, yet her eyebrows were naturally prominent and neat, and her lips were full, petal pink in colour. But it was her eyes which Caius noticed immediately. They were large and the most captivating colour: a mix of emerald and sapphire. It was as if staring into the waters of a deep, stormy ocean. However, when they met his eyes, they were full of terror. She quieted her struggle and looked at him, as if calmed by his presence, mentally begging him to save her.

Typically, Caius did not give two thoughts about humans. Yet this time was different. The girl before him stirred something inside of his frozen ancient heart. His eyes shifted from the girl and landed on the lowlife.

“Togli le mani da lei, feccia.” (Get your hands off her, Scum.) he snarled.

The man jumped in surprise and turned towards Caius. When he saw him, the lowlife sneered. Compared to him, Caius did not look all that threatening. He was tall and well-built, but thinner than the scum. His fashion choices didn’t help either. His near-white blonde hair combed to perfection and pushed behind his ears. He wore a blood-red dress shirt, paired with a black blazer and black dress pants, topped off with a silky red scarf. He looked like an escaped runway model, not a man that could do damage.

The man Caius addressed continued sneering and chuckling. 

“Cosa hai intenzione di fare al riguardo, bel ragazzo?” (What are you going to do about it, pretty boy?)

Caius took a large step forward and retorted, “Strapparti la testa e bere il tuo sangue è divertente?” (Does ripping your head off and drinking your blood sound like fun?)

The man raised his eyebrows in surprise at the viciousness, but still obviously not taking the situation seriously. He laughed and turned back to the girl.

“Vedi, bella ragazza? Sta cercando di mettersi in mostra per te. Ma è solo un ragazzo. Lascia che ti mostri cosa fanno gli uomini.” (You see, pretty girl? He's trying to show off for you. But he's just a boy. Let me show you what men do.)

Before Caius had a chance to comprehend or react, within a fraction of a second, the gun pressed against the girl’s temple was lowered. The scum aimed it at her stomach and shot twice. She screamed in pain, and dropped to the ground, gasping.

Caius took a second longer than normal to realize what had just unfolded. The man had the gun pointed at him now. He aimed at his chest and fired. When Caius was hit, he did nothing but stand there. Then came the second shot and to the scum’s surprise, he did not drop. A smirk began to form on the vampire’s face, before he simply said, “Avresti dovuto scappare quando ne avevi la possibilità.” (You should have ran when you had the chance.)

As the man continued pointlessly shooting at Caius, the vampire closed the distance between them in less than a second. He grasped the man’s neck with his right hand and pressed him up against the wall, lifting him up with one arm. The man squirmed and groaned, futilely attempting to free himself. Caius didn’t enjoy hurting people. But this time was different. He snapped the man’s neck and threw him down, like discarded trash. He took a breath and turned to the girl on the ground.

She was no longer making sounds nor moving, but lay there motionless, face down on the ground. Caius could see a large red spot in her stomach area, with blood seeping through the thin fabric of her white summer dress, her blonde curls hanging like closed curtains over her face. Caius leaned down, extending a hand to gently move them aside. He pushed the curls behind her ear, running his knuckles down her soft cheek. Those beautiful storm eyes were closed.

“Can you hear me?” He whispered to her, but she did not stir. 

Caius felt a deep pain in the pit of his stomach, and a pressure rising up to his throat. He felt anger, rage, but most prominently sorrow. He had this feeling like he never wanted anything more in his life than for her to look at him and say she was alright. The situation was not made easier by the fact that her deliciously smelling blood was pooling more and more. 

Quickly, he reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out his iPhone. Alec had gifted it to him the year before, and this was the first time he’d use it. He couldn’t figure out the damned thing; books and scripts were more useful anyway. With some effort, he found the number he was looking for in his contacts and dialled it. The ringing seemed to go on for ages, until finally…

“Dr. Carlisle Cullen speaking.”

“Cullen. You are speaking to Caius.” He barked into the phone. A silence followed before Carlisle hesitantly responded, a hint of fear in his voice at what the Volturi king might want.

“Lord Caius. I was not expecting you. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I am with a human. She was shot with a gun in her stomach twice. There is a significant amount of blood. She is not responding to me. Her eyes are closed and she is not moving. What shall I do?” He spoke in a hard, fact-based tone.

“Well Caius, it sounds like she might be dead…” before Carlisle could finish his thought, Caius cut him off.

“You are foolish to think that I would waste my precious time calling you to hear something so unacceptable. Tell me how to fix her!”

“Okay, I’m not sure if she can be. But let’s try. I need you to put the phone on speaker.”

“What is that?! Talk quickly Cullen, her bleeding has not seized!”

“Okay, Caius, you see the small picture of a loudspeaker on your phone? Push it.”

Caius did as he was told. “Now what?”

“Put the phone down on the ground. I need you to turn her on her back. GENTLY! Don’t forget you’re a lot stronger than her.”

Caius gently pushed the girl’s shoulders and was able to turn her on her back, grabbing her head so it did not hit the concrete. It was then that the significance of the wound became apparent, as did the scent of her blood. It became nearly too much for the vampire. He was close to damning it all and indulging in her sweet taste. But then he looked at her perfect face. How he longed to see those beautiful eyes again.

In a struggling voice, he spoke, “Alright, it is done.”

“Now, take your index and middle finger and push both to her neck, under her chin, on the side of her throat. You should feel her heartbeat if she’s alive.”

Caius did as he was told, but initially could feel nothing. After a few failed attempts, he hung his head. Just as he was about to remove his fingers, he felt it. So faint and tiny, but it was there.

“I feel it! It is very faint! But I feel it.”

Carlisle waited a moment before speaking. “Can you describe the wounds to me? Where are they specifically?”

“They are both in the same place. One is at the base of her ribs to the left, and the second is just under it.”

Carlisle sighed and softly spoke, “Caius. She’s not going to make it. She’s on her last few breaths now, and we can prolong her suffering, but we can’t-“.

“No!” Caius cut him off, “She will not die. There must be something to be done!”

“Well… you could always change her.”

Caius let out a breath. He would not wish his own endless existence on anyone. Not to mention the unbelievably excruciating pain of the process. After 3000 years, there was one thing he remembered with vivid accuracy: his own change. But at the same time, he was in a panic. He was not sure what it was, but the thought of her dying was destroying him inside.

He swallowed and spoke in a gentler voice to Carlisle, “Is there any way to manage her pain during the change?”

“Morphine. It needs to be injected before the venom. Give it 5 minutes to take effect and then change her.”

“Thank you,” Caius whispered before hanging up.

He immediately gathered the woman into his arms, lifting her up with ease, and began running back to the castle. He made it in a matter of minutes, storming through the doors of the great gathering hall, where Aro and Marcus were speaking to Jane. Immediately, all eyes were on Caius and the little bundle in his arms.

“Brother,” greeted Aro with his child-like smile, “you came home with takeout, I see,” he cackled. 

“No! Do not approach me now brother. I wish to change her, and so it will be. No one comes near her!” Caius exclaimed. His two fellow kings looked at each other, befuddled. “Jane,” Caius turned to her, “find me a shot of morphine immediately and bring it to my chambers.” With this, he stormed out of the hall. 

Aro, with a confused look on his face, took a step to follow, only to be held back by Marcus. “He cannot just bring some random off the street and claim her as his own!” He exclaimed, but Marcus shook his head and smiled.

“I felt their bond. He has bound himself to her. Neither might realize this yet, but they are mated. She is his now.”

———

Caius rushed her to his room. He gently placed her on his bed, which he hadn’t used in years for obvious reasons. As he laid her down, the girl began to gain consciousness. She began feeling the pain of her injuries. Tears started fall down her cheeks and she softly, weakly moaned in pain.

Caius sat down next to her, brushing her tears away with his thumb, gently pushing her hair back away from her face.

“Shh, it’s alright. Breathe.” She seemed to respond to this by attempting to open her eyes, yet not having enough energy to do so. Caius was dying inside, seeing her suffer. He couldn’t explain why. This was the first time in 3000 that he cared so deeply about the well-being of anyone, let alone a weak human.

“Breathe for me. That’s it. You’re alright.” He whispered. She tried, but couldn’t. She attempted to say something along the lines of “I don’t want to die,” but was only emitting squeaks.

“Shhh, don’t talk. He’s gone, I’ve got you. There is not a place in the world safer than here with me.”

Just then, Jane burst through Caius’ doors with a large syringe filled with clear liquid. She quickly handed it to Caius and stepped back, lingering. Caius turned to her and harshly barked, “Leave!” She bowed and turned on her heels, heading out the door.

The girl had opened her eyes briefly and saw the large syringe. This frightened her, and she attempted to cower away. Caius returned his attention to her.

“Shhhh. Don’t be afraid. This will help you stop hurting. I will fix this. I will fix you,” As he spoke those words, a tear formed in his own eyes and rolled down his cheek. He was about to change her. Was it really fixing her, or was he selfishly wishing she would fix him? Give him companionship he so longed for? He didn’t care. He took the syringe and injected the morphine into her quickly, being as gentle as he could. Then, he waited. He needed her to stop crying. This would indicate the pain was gone and the morphine had taken effect. He held her hand, whispering sweet nothings to her. When she began quieting, he gently asked her.

“What is your name, omorfiá mou?” (My beauty), the last part in his native Greek.

She gasped and whispered, “Andromeda.”

Caius smiled and thought about how fitting the name was. The pain was gone now. He turned to her and brushed her hair out of her face. 

“Close your eyes, my beauty.” He gently brushed her hair back away from her neck. Leaning down, he brushed his lips on her ear, whispering “do not be afraid. You will live forever. You are mine now, and I will never let anything hurt you again.” 

With that, he sunk his teeth into her soft skin, and the journey to her transformation began.

[the-necessary-unnecessary]

What website/software do you use to create your gifs? They're always such good quality.

hello! I’m so sorry for only getting round to answering this now, it’s been sitting in my inbox for months and since you sent it I’ve completely changed the platform I make my gifs on. I’m now using photoshop cc 2018 but the gifs you must have been referring to were made using completely different, free and accessible software/websites. There’s a lot of photoshop tutorials out there but less so for other options so I’ve decided to just go through my previous process in the hopes that someone will find it useful! 

To be honest, the differences between my gifs BP (before photoshop) and AP (after photoshop) aren’t that huge as long as the video quality is good. It’s easier to add subtitles, to colour and to play around with the gif size/quality, but there’s no need to give your soul away to adobe to create good gifs there’s obviously always the possibility of downloading ps less legally which i of course would never in a million years do. So, to create gifs as I did BP you will need three different things:

a screen recorder (I use QuickTime Player which is preinstalled on a mac but there are many others out there, and then VLC player if I had already downloaded the video which didn’t happen often as I mostly gif matches so I’d just screen record parts of the match if I couldn’t download it)

a video editor (I used iMovie which again is preinstalled on macs but there are other options out there if you have a poke around - if necessary this step can also be skipped but it’s useful and will improve gif quality)

the lord and saviour ezgif.com (a free website at everyone’s fingertips which provides many of the features you can get with ps)

1A. Screen recording: have the part of the video you want to record on your screen, open up QuickTime Player, right click on the image of the app in your dock, then click on “new screen recording”. You can then click on the arrow pointing down to change your sound settings, I usually have mine like this

click on the circle with smaller red circle (play button) after which these instructions will appear across your screen: “click to record the full screen. Drag to record part of the screen. End recording by clicking the stop button in the bar menu”. So you can chose to record your full screen or just a part of it depending on whether you click or drag. If you drag you are then given the opportunity to adjust the area you want to record and then you press “start recording. Once you have finished recording the part you want to gif, click on the circle with a black square inside (stop button) in the menu bar at the top of your screen. Go to file > save and then save the video in whatever file and under whatever name you want. After this you will have finished step one!

1B. The alternative, if rather than screen recording a video you haven’t downloaded you want to record a certain part of an already downloaded video then you can use software such as VLC (you can also just upload the video directly to iMovie and crop it there but if it’s very long/you don’t want to go through the middle step then you may want to consider this as an option). Go to Finder for the video you’ve downloaded, right click on it then Open with > VLC. Find the part you wish to use for your gif, go to Playback > Record like so.

It will immediately start recording what’s playing, stopping when you click on Record again once the part you want to gif is over. Then step one method two is done!

2. iMovie: as ezgif isn’t the best for colouring, and anything that it does do is pretty slow and arduous, then I used iMovie to shorten, slow down and colour my videos before turning them into gifs. Here I go Create New > Movie > File > Import Media. I find the video(s) I want to use to make gifs, click import and then drag and drop them into the timeline. 

Usually I try to make my gifs about 3 second long, so first thing I would do is change the speed from normal to about 70/80% (this is a completely individual choice though!) so these would be my current settings

Then I find the exact bits I want to gif and divide them into individual clips, as I said they’re usually 3 second long but it can vary. This is done by right clicking on the part of the video you want your gif to start and clicking on “Split Clip”, and again at the point you want your gif to end. Repeat for however many gifs you want. Simply delete the parts of the video(s) you don’t want to keep after this is done.

Now I attempt to add some colouring. First I go to “Colour Correction” which is in the same bar “Speed” is - it’s the little artist’s palette. I play around with the different toggles a little bit until I find something which I believe works. This honestly varies so much from gif to gif but usually I up the saturation just a lil bit, leave the temperature as it is and darken the video so that it ends up a bit like this but honestly it fluctuated a lot and it’s all about personal preference.

If I’m feeling funky I’ll also mess about with the “Colour Balance” which is under the first icon on the left which is a half white circle. I use the eye dropper to change the skin tone balance and sometimes the “White Balance” eye dropper which is a simplified version of ‘curves’ in photoshop. 

Once you’re happy with how your video looks then save it by going to File > Share > File. Name it and, if possible save it in as high a quality as possible. My settings usually look something like this

click Next > Save and step two is finished!!

3. Actually making the gif using ezgif.com/video-to-gif. Go to “Choose Files” and select the video you want to gif, then click “Upload Video!”. Chose the time frame you want for your gif, the size (the x540 one which says for Tumblr is the one to use if you’re uploading them onto here), the frame rate (the more per second the better the quality but also the bigger the gif size). All of this is also very well explained by ezgif at the bottom of the page so I’d definitely recommend having a read through all that. Then click “Convert To GIF!”. 

From here you can either ‘crop’ to make the gif a particular size or use other tools such as ‘effects’, ‘speed’ or ‘optimise’ if you didn’t use iMovie or want to make some further changes. I usually only use the ‘crop’ as iMovie won’t let you change the dimensions of the gif whilst here you can do that. However I mostly stay away from the other tools as I find them a bit clunky and annoying to use. Once you’re happy with the final product click “Save” and hey presto your gif has been downloaded and is ready to be used!!

I hope some/all of this helped and feel free to hmu with any questions you might have if anything isn't explained that well. It took me ages to write this because I'm never sure whether these explanations make sense outside of the realms of my brain :)))

[blind-band-geek]

Remember witch maitlands? Well now you do

So I’m going off to band camp and god for BID I don’t throw out like 3 more fics before I leave

@blossem12 gave me this idea and I just RAN

—

Another day, another magic lesson with Barbara. Not that he didn’t mind, in fact he loved going to her house to see what kind of spells he had for him that day. After Adam learned his first spell Barbara took him under his wing in witchcraft and he was so happy to learn.

The treck to her place was a bit long, but always worth it in the end. The main path was just in the woods by an old hardware store. There behind it was a clearing where the trees parted for a sweet little dirt rode. Along it was lined with flowers and ferns, and in the woods more wildlife than you could imagine. Almost every time he walked through he would wave at a deer deep in the woods as it passed by. Farther down the path it split in two, one lead to Barbara’s house, the other a beautiful fairy garden him and Barbara would have picnics in whenever she had offerings for the fairy’s.

None the less he traveled up the dirt rode till he was up the slope and on the hill that over saw the town. She had maybe the best view of the town known to man, and an even better view of the sun set. Adam looked around walking closer to the house, there was no sign of the witch. “Barbara?” He called out and sure enough around the back of the house came an excited voice, “Adam!” From around the corner Adam saw Barbara walk out. She wore one of her big hats full of flowers and crystals. And in her hand she held a watering can. She smiled as she saw the boy and immediately set down the watering can and pulled him into a tight hug, rocking him slightly.

“Oh Adam I missed you!” Adam laughed a bit and hugged her back, “I was only gone for a day or so!” Adam felt her snuggle her face into his chest, the brim of her hat folding upwards as she did. “I know...” Barbara groaned a bit before letting go, however still holding his hands. “So are you ready for you're next lesson?” Adam simply smiled and nodded. Barbara excitedly pulled Adam along the field till they were a way away from the house. The sky gave off an orange glow onto the couple as the spring sun began to set behind the hills.

When there were far enough from the house Barbara let go of Adams hands and stood in front of him. “Now! Today I’m going to teach you how to manipulate your body!” Adam stumbled a bit as his eyes went wide, “manipulate- my... what!” Barbara laughed and took one of his hands, “it’s not as hard or scary as it seems. Here let me show you... pick one or two?” Adam hesitated as Barbara dropped his hand, “two?” Barb nodded and smiled. Closing her eyes she was in deep thought for a moment and as of like magic her long blonde hair faded into a red wood like color. Her soft rounded fingers turned into claws. Her hat slipped off her head to reveal 2 large deer like horns.

Opening her eyes they were now green instead of her usual brown, and as she gave him a smile her canines were more pointy than before. “Tadah!” Adams eyes went wide as he took a step back a bit, “Wow-“ Barbara smiled, “pretty neet huh? Now you try!” Barbara breathed deeply and with a small exhale all of the features seemed to fade away and there again stood Barbara, her normal blonde, no clawed or antlered self. Adam looked at his hands and hesitated, “Barb I.... I can’t do anything like that yet.” Barbara laughed, “not with that attitude you can’t. Here let’s break it down. What do you want to alter?” Adam thought for a minute, “fangs? That might be easier to do.”

Barbara nodded, “fangs. We can absolutely do that tonight. Now do as I say.” Adam nodded, ready to take on whatever Barbara had for him. “Now close you’re eyes and take a deep breath.” Adam did as she said, feeling all the worry almost leave his body and into the earth below him. “Ok great! Now picture yourself, normally. What do you look like.” Adam nodded and thought about it, creating almost a mental image of himself in his mind. “So I’m assuming you’re all good, now just picture what you’d look like with fangs, and just let you’re hands do the rest.” Adam nodded and felt as his hands began to tingle a bit, his mouth feeling a bit weird.

Opening his eyes he looked down, small sparks of extra magic bounced off his hands and onto the ground, fizzing out. Adam looked up at Barbara puzzled. “Did it work-“ he was almost cut off by Barbara’s squeals of excitement. “You did it adamo! Oh! You can’t see it come with me.” Taking his hand Barbara dragged him across the hill and into the house. The house at this time was only lit by small lights hidden in the long vines that went across her ceiling. Though when they got to the kitchen Barbara stood him in front of it.

Adam took a deep breath and smiled a sure enough, he had fangs. With a gasp he turned and hugged Barbara tightly, “Barbara I did it! I did it! Do you see them! Oh my god!” Barbara wheezed out a laugh as Adam let her go, “I saw adam! Their amazing! You’re learning so fast and I’m so proud! But I don’t know about you, but I’m beat. Why don’t we say we call it a night. There’s still some light out so I assume you can get home Alright-“ Adam fumbled with his hands a bit as he looked around the house. “I uh... was maybe hoping you’d let me spend the night here?” Barbaras eyes lit up, “of corse! Why?”

Adam sighed, “just had a fight with my dad about being a ‘witch apologist’ or something dumb like that.. You know.” Barbara nodded, “Well you are more than welcome to spend the night, in just going to do a bit of reading for your next training till I sleep, so you can just head on up.” Barbara walked into the hall where a large bookshelf stood, there she skimmed through some of the book with her finger. Adam looked at her confused, “wait upstairs? Shouldn’t I sleep on a couch or something?” Barbara shook her head and smiled, grabbing a velvety red boom she held it close to her chest. “I think we’ve gotten close enough, you can sleep with me tonight! Plus I’d hate for you to sleep on the couch, their not really that comfy.”

Adam blinked slightly at the witch who was now skimming through the book, “ooo I’ve got a good one!” She turned the book at pointed to a picture of a floating cloak, “to keep up with body manipulation I’ll teach you how to turn invisible! Great for easy getaways.” Barbara smiled and closed the book, keeping a mental note on what page she was looking at. “Alright it’s late we should probably get to bed.” Adam nodded and fallowed her up the stairs.

Barbara was already in bed reading more of the book and talking to Adam who was standing in the doorway. “You know there’s so many good spells in here! Like we could get you to talk to animals!” She stopped and looked up“though, it might be weird to skip around that much. Ah! Remind me to introduce to you my carrier owl tomorrow!” Adam nodded, “I will Barbara.” Adam fell onto the bed as Barbara set down her book on the side table and laid her head on the pillow. “Hey Barbara.” Barbara gave a small hum. “Are you really sure i can do all this magic?” Barbara let out a soft laugh as she moved closer to him throwing her arm over his chest, “Adam I know you can do it! Hell you got you’re magic to make fangs today! You’re going to do amazing.

Adam felt his face light up but he laughed a bit, “You right! Oh uh barb..” Barbara hummed again, snuggling her face into Adam shoulder. “How do I uh.... make my teeth go back.” This Barbara’s free hand she waved it by Adams mouth, he felt the fangs retract almost instantly. “Thanks barb.” There was a muffled “youre welcome” from the woman as she drifted off to sleep. Adam let out a sigh and melted into Barbara’s touch putting his hands over her arm. Man was his father going to yell at him for this.

-

That morning Adam awoke to a loud noise on the window. Squinting his eyes he looked around the now brightly lit room. He was still at Barbara’s, the witch in question was still wrapped around him fast asleep. Looking over at the window there was a.... horned owl? Adam had to take a double take but sure enough yeah... he was there. Nudging Barbara he whispered, “hey uh- barb sweetheart there’s a... owl at your window.” Barbara awoke groaning something out as she tiredly waved her hand, allowing the window to swing open. The owl in question flew in and perched on a small metal perch just on Barbara’s night stand. A letter fiercely clamped in his mouth.

Barbara begrudgingly unwrapped her self from Adam and sat up. Her hair was a complete wreck but to Adam she looked still as beautiful as ever. This was also true with Adam, who’s glasses left a red mark where they were pushed against his nose all day, and his hair stuck out every which way. Though, Barbara found him still utterly adorable.

Barbara pushed through her morning drozyness and got out of bed taking the letter from the owls mouth. When she did she rubbed his head and just under his chin before laying back down. Cuddling up back to Adam she went on to read the note, “..... more vampire hunters attacking in New York and east of Connecticut...” the witch softly cursed but sighed. “Is that a bad thing barb?” Barbara thought for a moment than nodded, “yeah... where there’s vampire hunters there’s witch hunters.” Adam let out a soft ‘oh’ and the room fell silent as she read more.

“Their moving this way... but winter river is so remote... I’m pretty sure they’ll never find us here. I mean unless some big time vampire moves into the area were completely off the map.” With this Barbara smiled and set down the note on her night stand. Curling back up to Adam she found herself enjoying more and more of his company. “So... what’s on the list today?” Barbara smiled, “I’m not to sure. What I DO know is it’s time for tea. I need a pick me up.” Barbara found herself placing a small kiss on his cheek that made Adam light up immediately. “You coming?” Adam nodded, “yeah in a minute. I like this.” Barbara hummed, “Yeah me too.”

[blankdblank]

Secret Scarves Pt 34

Pt 1 - Pt 1a - Pt 1b - Pt 1c - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 - Pt 6 - Pt 7 - Pt 8- Pt 9 - Pt 10 - Pt 11 - Pt 12 -

Pt 13 - Pt 14 - Pt 15 - Pt 16 - Pt 17 - Pt 18 - Pt 19 - Pt 20 - Pt 21 - Pt 22 - Pt 23 - Pt 24 - Pt 25 - Pt 26 - Pt 27 - Pt 28 - Pt 29 - Pt 30 - Pt 31- Pt 32 - Pt 33 -

Aimlessly in class on one of the few days without you there Thranduil sat waiting for his students to finish their exams. The play by play growing across the screen of his phone of the retrieval of Lana fetching and taking Letio back to their distant home again after Legolas agreed to share an email for only their conversations for some sort of connection. To calm himself again and again he would slip the now laminated covered slip of paper you had given him stating that you loved him out to stare at reminding himself of the future you had together. He just hoped you wouldn’t mind the night he had to spend grading these tests instead of curling up around you.

.

A short distance away Thorin sat back in his own seat eyeing the pocket journal of his that each night he had spent at your place or you at his he had found a new random note or doodle eased inside from you. It was only a few pages but nipping at his lip he traced each rune and image with his finger until the final test was handed in and his class was over to once again check his phone at the progress report for the special dinner he so painfully had to miss. Tonight you surely would be missed and dreamed of with hopefully an early stolen moment could be found with you so he could possibly pass you a cute note of his own he had been contemplating doing for a while now, just needed to find the right one.

…

Choosing to take the later train back to you Frerin headed back to his apartment. A cheerful giggle and clap from Aletta in her bouncer dangling in the doorframe to the kitchen from the hall brought Tea from her fixing dinner with momentarily pursed lips in seeing the grinning Professor entering his home she had been welcomed into so selflessly. Crouching to greet Aletta he peered up at Tea, “Long day?”

Tea shook her head, “I thought you had that dinner tonight.”

“I do. Though I was wondering about your plans for Valentines day. I found a box set of Hugo the Horse and a nice bottle of wine if you wanted a night in after I take Jax out to the Aquarium?”

Instantly a blush spread across her cheeks and she nodded, “Oh, okay. I have pot roast recipe, family recipe, sort of hit and miss between too much garlic and not enough so it adds some mystery to the meal.”

In the fading of her words he raised Alt in his arms and stood up with a chuckle answering, “I have never had a pot roast with garlic before, but I cannot wait to try it. Also, I am off tomorrow Dis mentioned you needed a male perspective on your gown for the gala.”

Her blush deepened, “Well, I sort of already picked it.”

With a nod his grin spread in purring out, “What color am I wearing?”

Quietly she led him through the apartment to her room where he eyed the clear garment bag with a figure hugging blue dress flaring at the base. The top however was white mimicking feathers, with shimmering rhinestones across the sleeveless up to the neck design held in place with a button under the bright blue bow on the sheer backless portion. Timidly she stated, “It’s a bird theme for the new exhibit.”

In a chuckle he kissed Alt’s cheek then hummed, “No need to be nervous. I have a blue suit that will match it nicely.”

“You have a blue suit?”

Again he chuckled in a wide smile, “As a Durin it would be a crime not to have a blue suit. It is a lovely choice, no doubt you will be the envy of all.”

In a roll of her eyes he chuckled and shifted on her feet making him ask, “Anything wrong? Do you need shoes?”

“I have, shoes.”

He nodded with a smirk saying, “Alright. If you say so. I just needed to pick up a suit for tonight and wanted to ask about the weekend.”

“Ya, I’ll be here.” With his grin holding as she claimed Alt mumbling, “Where else would I be?”

The warmth of his hand cupping her cheek silenced her and parted her lips in taking in his adoring grin at her, “Please don’t be nervous, I cannot wait.” She nodded and he chuckled again, “I could use some help picking a tie if you have a moment?”

Lowering his hand she nodded and joined him through to his room she pretended to have never stolen glances into before as well as the closet packed with shirts and sweaters she wanted to steal so badly. Easing her mood in the brief conversation through choosing the right blue suit for the Gala along with a charcoal one for that night, though in his exit he caught another timid glance from her in asking, “You like the new house then?”

Frerin smirked, “It is lovely. Boromir made certain it suited all Jaqi and Jax’s needs.”

“And your needs?”

“I can skip the train out Friday if you prefer.”

She shook your head, “I don’t want to force-,”

Leaning in her voice died in his lips meeting her cheek, humming lowly through her blush induced silence at being inches from her lips, “I will stay Friday. No force needed. I can grab Jax in the morning.” In her steady inhale to try and look alive again he added, “If you ever want me to stay let me know.” After a gentle peck on the tip of her nose he kissed Alt’s cheek again and promised to drop by tomorrow after work leaving her nodding silently only to chuckle under his breath down the hall hearing an elated squeal through the door behind him.

…

Dis beside you on the couch added the sugar to her own tea after offering you yours asking, “How are your classes, I understand you are missing Denethor’s course now?”

You nodded, “I was at first though I managed to find a shorter route so I get there a few minutes late. He’s being very understanding about it all.”

Dis, “No doubt. Greenwood is very understanding when it comes to young parents. Jax is adjusting well, I heard through Tea about you getting called in to see his teacher?”

“Oh, that. He’s been asking for extra credit and spending play time in the library. Handing in paragraphs in on books on marine life he’s been reading. Headmaster asked for tips for a class wide book club and even offered me a tutoring position next year.”

Her lips parted and she said, “Tutoring-, that is a very good school, are you considering it?”

Your head tilted to the side, “It’s on the list of possibilities.”

“How did you get Jax to excel so?”

You shrugged, “Um, hard to say. I mean he’s always seen me studying and I got him reading early, children do love learning things and there’s a great deal of magical things to learn in libraries. A lot of times it is easier to just get sucked into books, I sort of coped with studying and I suppose he did too. Out in Gondor outside of his specialty school there wasn’t much of a group for him to converse with outside of us, at least out here he has a few friends. Bombur’s girls for example really have just lit him up. He loves to learn and share so it really isn’t a shock to me at least he’s focused on exploring his marine passion on his breaks. Why the teacher can’t understand you don’t stifle them when they find that spark is beyond me. I know mine bounced around but Theoden did his best to keep up.”

“I think you would be a wonderful asset to the school. Any clue on what you would be tutoring on?”

You shook your head, “I’m not certain, though I could sort of be a general tutor, cover all the bases I suppose. How is your work? I heard you managed to get Letio calmed down.”

Your eyes wandered to Thrain and Boromir following Jax to go see his project he added to your guest house wall as she answered with a curious look over you gauging your reaction. “Yes, we did. Work is good. Busy as usual really. Not as boring as it sounds, we do meet some interesting characters. How are you handling it, the whole Letio situation, I heard from Celeborn Lana dropped by your job?”

You nodded and lowered your cup from a sip, “It’s more of a bother for how Leg is taking it. I know it was probably more about him trying to get to know Leg than anything but there’s a way about that. I mean I’ve had demanding relatives before.” Wetting your lips you leaned in a bit asking softly hearing the guys coming back, “I have to ask, Lana’s, really tall, even looked taller than Thranduil,” Dis couldn’t help but smirk, “I mean, comparing us, was he just out for the polar opposite?”

Dis chuckled, “I know Lana was the only one his height growing up, he sprouted early, all limbs and hair, even then they had troubles it really didn’t last long. If anything you are exactly, had he written down all the traits he wanted you would fit it to a T.”

You nodded and smirked through replying, “Oh yes, lotta little with a dash of damaged and opinionated to boot.”

In your sip she rolled her eyes in a chuckle, “Don’t sell yourself short.”

“I am not short, I am travel sized.”

An awkward snorting laugh came from Dis making her sons smirk in entering while Frerin made his way through the door easing his jacket on behind his father and Boromir. Jax hurried out and climbed onto the spot between you two shifting your arm he eased under to steal a sip from your cup through Boromir’s lean in to kiss your cheek asking, “How was work Darling?”

“Lovely as always, got to trade caramel drinks for the new espresso machine.” You glanced at Dis, “Eowyn’s stomach churns at caramel.” Making her nod in understanding, “yours?”

Boromir, “Ah, yes, Monday is the big send off for your instruments to the specialty schools. Press should have it out Tuesday, the public models are still a few months off. But we’re all excited, we have it all planned.”

Thrain inched closer to you and at the announcement of one of the servers that the dinner was ready you stood peering up at him as his grin split across his face and his arms extended, “There are no words to express how honored I was with your gift.”

Giggling to yourself you hugged him tightly in return saying, “I knew if anyone would appreciate it that it would be you. I memorized it years ago and trust me, so much better than the translated copies.” Pulling back you said, “Shopping for you is a bit difficult still.”

Chuckling lowly he planted his hand on your upper back saying, “True, even my love has trouble finding gifts for me.” Guiding you to the dining room, in the walk there you caught Frerin’s approving glance at your dress that melted into a knowing smirk at having been right about their father loving you the most right now for the priceless gift. “How did you even come across it?”

“When my stat book was coming out I was in the publisher’s office mostly while my parents went over the contracts, I got to browse through his bookshelves, it was his wife’s, bought it in some auction but they were divorcing so he just didn’t want it to fight over I guess. Neither of them spoke Khuzdul, so, no reason to keep it.”

Frerin, “I can’t imagine how much she spent on it.”

Without a pause you replied, “47.5 million.” Around the table they froze and you flashed them a grin, “The receipt was included with the authentication papers. Oh, I found them, they’re in my office, go them a little protective sleeve display folder and all, you can see the whole transaction history, all the receipts are with it since the First Age.”

Thrain, “Four-,”

You waves your hand and pointed at him, “Now don’t you even consider talking about the price.”

Dis, “How much did you pay for it?”

You looked at her with a smirk, “He gave it to me, for free.”

Her mouth dropped open and Frerin chuckled when Boromir said, “Trust me, it was a brutal divorce. He’s where I got that Bugati, couple million, just signed the deed over to me when I offered to pick up him a sandwich when I was off to get Jaqi’s lunch.”

Thrain, “I, don’t know what to say.”

You smiled at him, “You gave me something so much more valuable than that book will ever be. Even if it doesn’t feel like it.” With a giggle you helped Jax pull his chair in closer to the table beside you making Thrain turn his head to subtly wipe a tear from his cheek. Easing your skirt along your legs you lowered into your seat that was eased in for you and you caught Boromir’s third glance at his phone before he pocketed it. “Waiting on Dwalin to rush in?”

Boromir shook his head, “No, sorry.”

With a smirk you held back your question and looked to Dis in her asking Frerin, “Have you asked her yet?”

Frerin smirked and replied in taking his own seat then said, “I have, when Jax and I are done with the Aquarium I was thinking I could bring him home with me so we could have a dinner together. She showed me the gown she chose for the Gala,” his eyes switched to you, “Which reminds me, I need your help to pick her a pair of shoes to go with it. She says she has some but, new gown she needs some new shoes settle the night as spectacular.”

You let out a giggle saying, “I’ll text you a list most of our emails are flooded with shoes. There was this one pair, bright blue and stunning, strapless just to die for heels that she would love and it has a cute little bow on the backs of them in rhinestones, she will squeal.”

Frerin chuckled and grinned at you, “Thank you. She seemed stunned I would have a blue suit somehow.”

The first course was set out in front of you and with your thanks you looked to him again, “Well her ex was a black suit and tie kind of guy.”

Dis, “And we’re certain he won’t be there?”

You shook your head, “No, last I heard he was still in the process of finding a lawyer willing to take the case, turns out the cop he attacked was a relative to the King. So, he’ll be tangled quite a while. If they let him live to the trial.”

More and more you all chatted with Dis asking more of you, your thoughts and interests the others joined into, especially Thrain, who loved learning more about you and getting to spend more time with you. But eventually even through the stolen stares from Fili you managed through the night seamlessly and accepted the parting hugs from Dis and Thrain while Jax rushed off to catch one last bout of cartoons before bed at your approval through Frerin and Fili’s move to change. Alone in the kitchen of Boromir’s house you joined him in stealing one of the last brownie bites you stole one of asking, “Tabi emailed me today.”

Boromir smirked catching your eye sheepishly, “She told you?”

“Why didn’t you tell me she was two months off? I mean, you said she offered to be your surrogate and you’d talked about actually going through with it-, but, seriously? She’s ten months pregnant with your baby!”

Boromir grinned wider squeaking out, “Little girl.”

Your mouth fell open and you gave him a tight hug filled with giggles from the both of you and you pulled back, “No wonder you needed the house! What about Dwalin?”

Boromir wet his lips, “I told him, when I moved out here that I had a surrogate.”

“Really?” you popped the brownie bite between your lips and he nodded.

“Yes. We hashed it all out the other night. Tabi had that car accident early on and she was really cautious hoping she wouldn’t lose our girl and she’s pulled through and now she’s arriving on the train Monday, didn’t want to risk flying. We’ve planned it all, Dwalin’s going to come and meet Tabi, they’ll bond and when Cleo-,”

“Aww, Cleo.”

His grin spread across his face again in a blush, “So when she arrives, which you know Tea was overdue like her other sisters, the nursery supplies will be here next week so we can set it all up for her. Tabi is finalizing her book draft and that could take a while so easily she could handle that while helping to nurse Cleo for the first few months and help us to settle our lives around our little girl. When she is old enough surely I could take her to the daycare there easily and of course that should give Tabi enough time to settle her plans to her next step.” Inching closer his hand eased around yours and he asked, “And of course we discussed this, we would like you to be the godmother.”

With tears in your eyes you stole a tight hug around his neck, “Of course.” With a sniffle you pulled back out of his loosening grip asking, “I have to ask, you’re skipping marriage?”

Boromir chuckled, “Ah, that, no. Dwalin requested to wait until a family dinner in two weeks to announce it fully, and as far as an engagement he has demanded the rights to propose how he sees fit since I was the one in college to spoil things. It will be his terms any day and way of his choosing and of course we will be following Dwarvish traditions for the ceremony since Gondor really has nothing special to it.” After a chuckle he added, “And with your own place being nudged down the aisle the topic of a double wedding came up,” making you roll your eyes in a giggle, “In case you don’t want all the attention on you.”

You nodded, “Because I’ll just blend right in, three grooms and a bride.” Making him chuckle as you ate another brownie bite. “Now, I will have to head off to bed, early press and all that.”

You nodded and giggled again saying, “You’re going to get an email from me,” his brow inched up, “Look it over with Dwalin, I found the cutest onesie and footie pajama site. To die for.” He chuckled joining you through the door kissing your forehead on your way to your house.

With a giggle you found Jax in his pajamas lounging on the couch and you eased off your heels and laid out beside him laying your hand against his leg his hands instantly folded around. Curiously Fili poked his head through and hurried to the couch to settle under your legs resting his hands on them until you got up to take Jax to bed. Straight back to the couch again you strolled then plopped down how you were in front of Fili, who was stretched out in your former spot. With a grin he eased his arm over your middle asking, “Have I mentioned how breathtaking you look?”

With a giggle you shifted to glance back at him, “Not in so many words thank you though, and you looked amazing in your suit.”

He smirked and leaned in stealing a kiss then hummed against your lips, “Thank you. There’s a monster flick on if you’re not tired.”

You nodded and turned to grab the remote you used to switch the channel he mentioned you then put back on the table and stretched out in his arms. At the fourth building being smashed in the ac kicking on you shifted to wiggle under Fili making him chuckle and straighten over you peppering a trail of kisses along your jaw ending with a heated make out session until the credits rolled and with numb lips you both stole one last kiss and split up for bed once Fili had helped to lower your zipper past your shoulder blades.

Wrapped in Thorin’s t shirt you washed your face and let your curls down grumbling your way to bed, wiggling under your covers you settled in and looked at your phone in your hand smirking as you sent off the picture of you in the shirt you took in the mirror to your guys messaging, “Sweet Dreams.”

You could almost hear their groans when they typed good night in return promising to make up the night alone to you. Plugging your phone in you settled back to bed and closed your eyes, sure you wished there was someone to snuggle with but you were also incredibly grateful for a full nights sleep.

Pt 35

[marvelsdarling]

The Man on the Train - Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x (female) reader

Summary: After graduating from veterinary university y/n plans on traveling Europe before going back home to Canada. One night she meets a stranger on her train to Venice who she can’t seem to forget.

Warnings: Only fluff here 

Word count: 2.3k

-

When you had decided to fly from Toronto to London you didn’t know if it was crazy or stupid. Your best friend who lived in London assured you that it was, in fact both and that you should have at least called her before showing up at her apartment (or flat as she called it) unannounced. Still, she took you in and actually agreed to go to Venice with you for a few days, which was a hop skip and a train ride away from London. It was however on that train to Venice that you would meet someone who changed your life significantly.

“Y/N we have to go!” You could hear Ava yelling from the main floor. She had been your best friend since you were around 3 back in Toronto, and now you were dragging her across Europe. Actually, just to Italy, you had always wanted to go to Venice after staring at a picture of the Bridge of Sighs that hung on the wall by the top of your stairs your whole childhood.

You stuffed a pair of jean shorts into your luggage along with your toothbrush and a floppy hat. Quickly, checking your (y/h/c) hair in the mirror once more before scurrying down the stairs with a smile on your face. This was it. You would take a train to Paris and then to Verona and finally Venice. The image of the sun reflecting off the water and actually going on one of those gondolas which were totally a tourist trap, but something you wanted to do, raced through your head. You probably looked silly by the time you’re bounded off the last stair.

“Okay you, idiot, let’s go before you crack your face open with that dumb look on your face.” Ava rolled her eyes and dangled her keys on one finger, looking down at you as you grabbed your coat and slipped on your boots.

By the time you got to the train station, you felt like a five-year-old waiting for ice cream to be handed to you from over the counter. The station was surprisingly empty, but choosing one of the last trains to leave - especially one that was supposed to take all night - would make the station pretty empty. When you got to the platform Ava had to hold you back from jumping around (seeing as you had a lot of room to do that.)

“Why is everyone down there?” You asked hesitantly, looking down the platform to see a crowd of people. Ava looked up from her phone and glanced in the general direction of the mob of people, “Probably a tour group, just ignore it.”

Not a lot of tour groups in Canada, let alone Toronto. It’s more of a read a book and does it yourself kind of place if there were any travel books about Toronto anyhow. Shrugging your shoulders, you reached into your leather bag, which was a birthday present from Ava last year, and pulled out a book you were halfway through reading. Turns out when you’re not cramming for exams on the canine anatomy that you have a lot more time to read.

Looking up from your book, which was just getting really good you could see the train pulling into the far end of the station, and shot up from your seat, quickly gathering all of your belongings in the process.

“Y/N slow down, it won’t leave without us.” Ava’s blonde hair flew behind her as the train pulled to a halt in front of them. It was something out of a book really, or a cheesy movie with a bad ending; two girls embarking on a mission to find themselves in Italy, or one girl looking to find something in Italy and the other tagging along for emotional support. Taking the train overnight made sense, and although it was pricey, you had been saving for this trip for a while, and it was going to be worth it.

The little compartment that you had booked was, quaint shall we say; for two people at least. Two single beds and one nightstand. More than enough room to sleep but not to do much else; not that you minded one bit. Situating yourself near one bed you dropped your luggage and clambered onto the small cot. Ava was only just closing the door behind herself when you were sitting cross-legged on the bed, book in hand. Throwing her bag onto your’s, she hoisted herself onto her bed and pulled out her laptop. When you turned over to look at her she already had headphones on and Netflix loading. That was basically the end of talking to her for the night.

When the train pulled away your heart jumped in your chest. This was the trip you had wanted to take for so long now. You hardly noticed when Ava fell asleep, only when your eyes started giving out on you did you look up at the clock and realize that it was quarter past midnight. Your eyesight wasn’t perfect, especially at night, your vision would get blurry quickly if you didn’t rest your eyes. Being stubborn, however, you blinked a few times and looked back at your book. Only a few more pages before you were done your chapter anyways.

Three chapters later and a few more blinks, your eyes had pretty much given up. Focusing on one object was pretty impossible at this point; still not tired though. You remembered seeing a small kitchen coming into the train, possibly you could grab some tea and then go to bed. Looking down at your dishevelled state you contemplated your options. On one hand, it was well past a respectable hour to be awake and no one would see you wearing sweatpants, an old tank top and bright red converse. The other option is, on the off chance you wake someone up it looks like you’ve been doing crack for 5 days straight and hasn’t gotten a wink of sleep since basically ever. Screw it right? Who could you possibly run into?

Slowly you crept out of your room, being very careful to not bump into anything and tiptoed down the hallway, spotting a faint light at the end of the car. Bingo. If only you could see clearly, this would be so much easier. The water boiled in a few minutes and you had already put the tea bag in your cup before you were cut off by a male voice behind you.

“A little late for you to be awake, miss.”

You jumped at the sudden break of silence and spun around to be met with a blurb.  Damn your eyes. This could literally be a serial killer and you wouldn’t know what they looked like and when the police took you in for questioning, you would be useless to them.

“I’m so sorry did I wake you?” You couldn’t tell if this person was angry with you or just noticing that it was well past the respectable hour to be awake.

“No no I was already awake I just came to grab some tea.”

You came to some conclusion. Based on this answer: Brittish, male, and possibly kind. A serial killer is still an option. You let out a small chuckle and fiddled with your fingers, looking down at the ground. “Oh good,” you said with a small smile.

“Are you alright miss?” His voice sounded familiar, did you know this guy; highly unlikely? You looked back up at him, trying to focus your eyes. For a split second, you could see something but your vision just went blurry again.

“Oh yeah just… I’m not wearing my glasses so you are a blurb right now and I hope you’re not a serial killer because I literally would not be able to identify you to the police if I had to.”

You could hear a soft chuckle, very British, that’s all you could tell at this point. “I can assure you I’m not a serial killer.” Now it was your turn to laugh.

“Exactly what a serial killer would say.”

“Probably, good thing I’m not though.”

You smiled shyly, hugging your arms across your chest, painfully aware that you looked like a drug dealer and now you were talking to a very charming British man who isn’t trying to kill you.

He spoke again, this time like it was the most normal thing in the world that you didn’t know who the heck you were talking to. “Are you enjoying your conversation with a blurb?”

You thought about it for a moment, were you? This stranger was incredibly charming and sweet, although this is one of the most awkward experiences you’ve had in a long time, “I think everyone should have a chance to talk to someone without knowing what they look like. It’s very humbling and you judge them on their character not their looks.”

“And what is my character?”

You thought about that for a moment as well, “ A charming British man who is being very kind to me, even if I look like a hot mess. And you’re not a serial killer so bonus points for that.”

“You think I’m charming?” You could hear the smirk in his voice. Was that all he retained from that sentence?

“Not killing me is very charming, yes.” He let out a loud chuckle at that. Man his voice sounded familiar.

“For what it’s worth, I think you are equally charming and not a complete hot mess.” Oh how very kind of him. You shook your head side to side and giggled quietly, “You should be going off to bed now, miss.” Oh right. Bed.

“You too.” You replied, picking up your tea and looking up at the stranger’s face. You could make out maybe dirty blonde hair and glasses. You could also see him smirking at you, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” he replied, and with that, you scurried back off to your room.

-

2 weeks later

Your time in Venice had been astounding. You had dragged Ava to almost every tourist attraction you could find, and spent the last few days just walking around the canals and small alleyways. The whole time, however, she didn’t stop bothering you about this strange man you had told her about. Looking back at the conversation, you could have been more clear that he wasn’t threatening.

“What do you mean you don’t know who it was, he could have killed you!”

“That’s what I thought too, but-”

“No! You cannot go around making friends with people who you can’t see, it’s not safe. At least tell me he was hot.”

You sighed, there was no real way to convince her that everything was fine. “He was very charming and kind, and I could have sworn we knew each other from somewhere but I don’t know what.”

“So just to be clear, you were talking to a kind charming, British man, who you might know from somewhere and you think is quite possibly very hot and you didn’t even bother to get his number?!”

“Well... no but it doesn’t matter now because he probably doesn’t remember me.”

Not that any of that mattered now. You were still in London; still living on Ava’s couch and still cleaning up after her. You had a bag of groceries in one hand, and a bouquet of flowers in the other. Across the road there was a movie of some sorts being filmed, not that you had looked into it much, all you knew was that it was blocking the most convenient way back to Ava’s flat.

You crossed the road and started walking towards your’s (or rather Ava’s) parked car, faintly hearing a voice behind you through your music. Quickly you tossed your groceries into the trunk of the small car, turning around to be met with a very tall man. Tilting your head up slightly you realized that the very tall man was Loki, or rather Tom Hiddleston in a full Loki costume standing in front of you in the middle of the road. Your mouth fell slightly agape at the sight before you could regain your composure, “Umm, hi, how can I help you?”

“I’m assuming you don’t remember me?” All it took was that for your brain to connect the dots. Oh god. Oh no. That guy on the train. The one who saw you in your full on ‘I’m a drug dealer and I’ve had no interaction for 5 days’ state was Tom Hiddleston.

“How-What?” You had no idea on how to react.

“Not everyone can wear bright red converse and pull them off.” He smirked at you and winked, making you blush. You could hear concerned voices from around the corner.

“I’m going to assume that’s your people wondering why an actor just walked off set in full costume and makeup?” You asked, tilting your head to the side slightly.

He held out his phone to you. “I would like to keep chatting, love, but I have to go. May I ask for your number first?”

You probably looked stupid, you could feel your jaw hit the floor. “I uh-yeah just umm-oh yes,” you fumbled. Your heartbeat was loud in your ears and you hesitantly punched in your phone number.

“Goodbye love.”

“Bye,” you said, flustered.

You didn’t really register when he turned the corner and ran back to the set. You stood on that street corner for a few minutes absorbing information. Really? You? Did that just happen to you? You felt the smile form on your face, as you pulled out your phone. Maybe you would stay in London longer then you had planned. You could hear a voice from the phone and quickly pulled it up to your ear.

“Ava, you won’t believe what just happened.”

[dkronpa]

Chapter 2: Lost in Sacrificial Fate ~Investigation~

And the first chapter on a blog of its own! The investigation into the 2nd murder is underway, hope you all enjoy! And with the creation of this blog, I’ll probably create profiles for each character so that if anyone (for some reason) finds this blog and wants to read it, knows a little about each character.

-Chapter 2 Investigation, Auditorium-

 We all just stood in silence, just staring at Irunami-san’s body. We had all just watched him die in front of us, how the hell was I supposed to process something like that? He was just on stage about to start his act and then all of a sudden…

 “He’s not here, is he?” Sly-san looked around the room. “Kurohiko. He’s been missing ever since the act with Kurosaki. He should have heard the body discovery announcement so, where is he?” That’s right, Kurosaki-san joined the audience after his set, but Kurohiko-san still hasn’t showed up. I’ll need to look for him during the investigation.

 “Who cares about that guy anyway? What a total loser, right?” Monokuma said. Great. This again. “Ah, that beautiful lack of a scream…it’s such a nice change of pace. Anyway, with this brand-new murder I gotta present you with…the Monokuma File!” Just like before, our E-handbooks all buzzed when Monokuma said that. “Y’know this is gonna be super exciting! I just can’t wait to see how you guys will handle this whole trial!”

 “Huh? What does that mean?” I asked.

 “Ah, you’ll understand once you get to the class trial, so until then…I’ll see ya later!” And with that, Monokuma vanished.

 “First and foremost, who’s going to watch over the body this time around? Last time Irunami and Hachi did it, but obviously that’s not going to be the case for this murder.” Sly-san said.

 “I…I still want to watch over Irunami-kun’s body…I don’t think I could focus if I tried to investigate elsewhere…” Hachi-san sounded out their words slowly. Their mask made it hard to tell, but it was obviously hurting them a lot.

 “Then I shall stay with Hachi-sama. I plan to perform an autopsy anyway.” Ishikawa-san said. “Please, leave this to me. I will help in whatever way I can.”

 “It’s decided then. Hachi and Ishikawa will look over the crime scene. The rest of us should split up and try to find as much evidence as possible. Like last time.” Sly-san instructed. Like last time…first Watanabe-san, and now Irunami-san…how could we let this happen again…?

 Investigation Start!

 “Okay, the Monokuma File…” I opened up the file on my E-Handbook. The full-body image of Irunami-san showed a pink splotch on his head. That much was expected, so there’s nothing to really not on this page. I scrolled to the second page.

 The victim is Sadao Irunami, the Ultimate Hypnotist. His body was discovered in the auditorium at 1:30 pm. The cause of death is blood loss from being struck with a blunt weapon.

 This has a little less information than the first Monokuma file, so I’m not sure how useful it’ll really be. Either way, evidence is evidence. I can’t complain.

-

Truth Bullet Added: Monokuma File 2

Cause of death was blood loss caused by being hit by a blunt object.

-

“Let’s have a look then…” I stepped closer to the scene. I watched Ishikawa-san inspecting Irunami-san’s body without much problem. I didn’t want to interrupt her, so it might be easier to ask her later. “This here…is this a stage light…?”

 “Right!” Okanaya-kun said with a smirk. “I gathered those from an equipment room backstage. Made the lighting rig myself…but geez, I can’t believe this happened.”

 “The lighting rig fell…Okanaya-kun, do you think this could’ve been an accident?” Okanaya-kun seemed a little surprised for a moment. Did I say something weird?

 “A-ah, um…I don’t think so. That lighting bar is pretty sturdy, and the cables were secured. I made sure of that last night.” He assured me.

 “Well…who was working on the lighting for the show? Maybe it was sabotaged?” I asked.

 “Nah. I was the only one working the lights for the show. There’s no way it could’a been sabotaged…so I guess this all bein’ an accident is possible. Though it’s just who caused the accident we’d need to figure out.”

 …does he not realise?

-

Truth Bullet Added: Lighting Rig

A bar that held the stage lights above the stage. Came crashing down during Irunami's act

Truth Bullet Added: Cables

The cables that held the lighting rig up. Suddenly gave way during the performance.

Truth Bullet Added: Okanaya-kun’s Account

He was the only one who was working lighting for the show and he made sure the lighting was secure the night before

-

 “It’s…odd…” Ram-san whispered. “Nagata-kun, it’s really odd!” She suddenly yelled.

 “H-huh? What’s odd?”

 “Irunami-kun…I m-mean…the stage outfit Asano-san and I made for him. He isn’t wearing it, and that’s really strange.” She fiddled with the middle part of her hair. Right, Asano-san and Ram-san were in charge of the costumes for the show. If Irunami-san was on stage, it’s odd that he wasn’t wearing his stage costume.

 -

Truth Bullet Added: Ram-san’s Account

Irunami had a stage outfit prepared for his set however he was discovered in his regular clothes.

-

 “How are you feeling though…? Last time we saw a body you really didn’t handle it well, not that I blame you. Are you feeling well enough to investigate this?” I asked.

 “Y-yes…I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all, b-but we have to investigate, or we’ll all be in trouble. Don’t you think…?” Ram-san asked. Was it really necessary to ask something like that? Obviously if we didn’t investigate, we’d jeopardise our lives. “Nagata-kun, what about you? You did a lot of work the last class trial, are you going to be okay if that happens again?”

 “I have to be. I’m not particularly special, but I can at least organise everybody else’s thoughts. That’s all I can do right now.” I closed my eyes for a moment. “We’ll work hard and find out the truth of the incident though. Okay?”

 “Y-yeah. Okay.” Ram-san smiled weakly. I nodded and looked back at Irunami-san’s body, specifically the spotlight next to him covered in blood.

 “I suppose this was the light that struck him when the lightning rig fell.” I said to myself. The light wasn’t attached to the rig, so it probably broke off on impact?

 -

Truth Bullet Added: Broken Spotlight

A spotlight not attached to the rig that's covered in blood. Possibly the one that struck Irunami. The glass bulb is cracked but it’s overwise undamaged.

-

 “Y’know, he was the most excited about the show…” Hachi-san spoke softly. “It was really Irunami-kun’s idea to have the talent show. Shinko-kun and I just helped him iron out the plan. But now…I should’ve stopped him or something. If I knew this was going to happen…”

 “Hachi-san…” I tried to find words to comfort them, but nothing was coming to mind.

 “It’s fine. I can focus still. You wanted to ask me something I’m guessing?”

 “Actually, yeah. You were next on the list of performers, but when the lightning rig fell you ran past me. So…where exactly were you before the lighting rig fell?”

 “Oh, I was in the audience. Irunami-kun’s final trick needed me to be in the audience, but he wouldn’t tell me what the trick was. He just told me that I’d know what to do when I saw it.” Hachi-san explained. “Come to think of it…Irunami-kun was acting weird ever since the motive got revealed. I can��t explain it, but he’s just been…off…organising the talent show, deciding who was in what group, making me host magic classes…”

 “That’s a lot to absorb in one go…so he decided the groups, huh? And…magic classes?” I asked.

 “Yeah. Irunami-kun said it would be worth my time teaching the special effects team one of my magic tricks. It was a wind trick. Though a pretty big number of the group showed up, guess they really wanted to learn from the best.” Hachi-san explained. Irunami-san did all of that…?

-

Truth Bullet Added: Hachi-san’s Account

Hachi was in the audience to help with Irunami-san's finishing trick but even they didn't get to find out what it was. Irunami had been acting strange since the motive reveal, organising the groups for the talent show and creating the magic classes.

Truth Bullet Added: Hachi-san’s Magic Lessons

Hachi-san was teaching magic classes to the special effects group in the days leading up to the performance including a wind trick that they were known for. A large portion of the group, even outside the SFX team showed up.

-

 -Chapter 2 Investigation, Backstage-

 Past the wings, I came to the backstage area which was a hallway with different dressing rooms situated along it. I counted 7 dressing rooms in total. “Jesus fucking Christ…” Shinko-san cursed, standing over an odd-looking machine.

“Shinko-san? Is something wrong…?”

 “It’s the fog machines. Remember how much fog was on stage during Irunami’s set? That was way too much than what we’d use in the rehearsals, so I thought I’d check out the fog machines, but it looks like this one got broken when the stupid lighting rig fell.”

 “Right, it was so foggy that we could barely see Irunami-san past it all.” I murmured. “What else can you tell me about the fog machines?”

 “Not much else. They have different intensities; low, medium, and high. We had then set up in the wings so none of the fog would spread outside of the stage. They were supposed to be for Hachi’s act, but they turned on during Irunami’s instead. Maybe someone fucked up the timing of it.” Considering what just happened, I’m kind of glad for the fog.

-

Truth Bullet Added: Fog Machines

Several were set up in both wings offstage. They were to be used in Hachi's act, but were turned on early in Irunami's act

-

 “By the way, Shinko-san when you were called up to the stage at the start of Irunami-san’s act…didn’t you say something to the effect of that not being the first time it happened.” I asked. Shinko-san took a moment and frowned.

 “If I’m honest, it’s been bothering me for a while. I know Irunami’s a professional but his rehearsal and actual performance up until the lighting rig dropped were pretty much identical, word-for-word.” Word for word? It’s not impossible, but it sounds a little weird…

 “What was the rehearsal process like?”

 “Not too exciting. Basically, mostly Irunami and Hachi practicing what they’re gonna say and blocking their tricks and shit. Irunami recorded all the stuff he did so he could watch it back later and see if there was anything he needed to fix.” Shinko-san explained. That was a lot of information, but I’ll just need to do my best to remember it.

-

Truth Bullet Added: Shinko-san’s Account

Irunami’s act up until the lighting rig dropping was word-for-word the same as rehearsals. During the rehearsal process Irunami and Hachi took up the time blocking their tricks and recording them for future reference.

-

 -Chapter 2 Investigation, Under the stage-

 I wandered down a set of stairs that were backstage after saying my goodbyes to Shinko-san. I came to a dusty area filled with various junk from props to costumes to speakers though it was proving hard to see with how dark it was down here. They must use the area under the stage for storing the stuff they’re using for the show. I look around until I found a light-switch, flicking it the room was lit very dimly but I could at least see better.

 As I ventured further into the room, inspecting the small bits here and there…that’s when it happened. Behind a box…I found him.

 “KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! DON’T KILL MEEEEEEEE!!!!” I jumped back in surprise as Kurohiko-san screamed in fear.

 “K-Kurohiko-san?! Is this where you’ve been…?”

 “H-huh…? Nagata-san? Oh, thank god it’s only you…” He let out a sigh of relief. ‘only’?

 “What are you doing here?”

 “A-ah…wh-when I heard that crash and then the body discovery announcement, I got really scared…I thought the killer might’ve been on a spree and trying to just kill everyone off.” So, he hid. What a troublesome guy… “Sorry, I probably worried everybody, huh…”

 “Don’t apologise.” It took me a while to notice, but…Kurohiko-san’s outfit…

 “A-ah, right. I’m still wearing my stage outfit, I know.” Luckily it was changed from what Hachi-san had made them wear that first day of rehearsal. “After I came off-stage with Kurosaki-san, I left to find my normal clothes, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. I still don’t know where they went…geez, why does it always have to be me?!” Kurohiko-san’s clothes went missing, huh?

 “Well…where did you leave them?”

 “On the costume rack.” Kurohiko-san pointed to the costume rack in the corner of the room. “When I couldn’t find them I decided to look around the wings to see if one of the other racks had them.”

 “You would’ve needed to cross backstage to go to both wings. Did you see anyone during that time?”

 “Other than Okanaya-san who was working lights? No…well, I passed Amaterasu-san as well. She seemed frantic for some reason.” Amaterasu-san? Frantic?

-

Truth Bullet Added: Kurohiko-san’s Account

After coming off from the performance, he found that his clothes had went missing. He started searching around for them by checking the other costumes racks in the wings. During that time he saw Okanaya in the wings and Amaterasu walking around.

Truth Bullet Added: Costume Rack

Everybody's costumes for the show were left here. They were left under the stage.

-

 I started to look around the area properly now with Kurohiko-san present to turn to in case I need to ask about something. I found a contraption resembling a lift. One wooden panel with a circular frame on each side of it. “Hey, Kurohiko-san? Do you know what this is?”

 “Hmm? Oh! It’s the trap door. If you hit a switch them this panel on the bottom will be switched out with the panel on the stage. Pretty cool, right? It’s like everything in the auditorium is controlled via remote control! I think Irunami-san was planning to use it…before…” A trap door…

-

Truth Bullet Added: Trap Door

A lift that alternates between two panels underneath the stage. Activated by pressing a button.

-

 Sitting around the back of the room was a toy car. It was a model I’d seen before when I played with my toys in elementary school, but what was it doing under the stage.

 “That’s it!” Kurohiko-san suddenly exclaimed. “That toy car is the thing that Amaterasu-san was looking for earlier! It’s so awesome!”

 “Why was Amaterasu-san was looking for a toy car?”

 “It was part of her act. Whilst she sang to the audience, this car was supposed to drive around and pickpocket the audience without anyone realising. I saw her practicing with it earlier. Seems like its well equipped with a robotic arm so it can grab what it needs to.” Kurohiko-san explained. Even if she’s the Ultimate Thief, this seems a little too far…and where did she even get this?!

-

Truth Bullet Added: Remote Control Car

Was part of Amaterasu-san's act but she never got to use it. Equiped with a claw so it can pickpocket people while Amaterasu-san distracts them.

-

 The last suspicious thing I noticed was nearer the trap door. A life-sized plush doll was lying on the floor. It was dressed in some kind of flashy outfit I recognised. It was the costume Ram-san had made for Irunami-san.

 “You curious about the dummy? We used it as practice for the dangerous stunts like Kurosaki-san’s knife throwing and a few of Irunami-san and Hachi-san’s tricks.” I inspected the dummy closer, finding a tear at the base of the back of the dummy’s neck.

 “Did you actually ever damage the dummy?”

 “Don’t think so. Kurosaki-san’s pretty good with those knives so I don’t think he ever actually hit the dummy.” Then where did this tear come from?

-

Truth Bullet Added: Dummy

Used during rehearsals to practice the more dangerous stunts. The one underneath the stage has a tear on it.

-

 -Chapter 2 Investigation, Irunami’s Dressing Room-

 According to the name plaque on the door this was Irunami-san’s dressing room. For such an immature guy, this place is pretty orderly. There was a desk with a large mirror on the wall it was set against, the desk was covered with what I had to guess was stage makeup. Asano-san and Yokozawa-san were already in the room when I arrived.

 “Nagata-kun, good timing. You won’t believe what Asano-san and I found.” Yokozawa-san held up a device that seemed to resemble a small cannon. “It was just chilling back here, and I thought it was suspicious. Turns out its something really cool!”

 “Something cool?” I raised an eyebrow.

 “Shinko-kun described it as a device like an air cannon that shoots out pressurised air. Irunami-kun was supposed to use one for his act that would be used to launch him into the air.”

 “I-it’s that strong?!”

 “Yeah! How cool would it have been to see that?! Just hit this power button and it builds up pressure and releases. It sucks we didn’t get too see it.” Yokozawa-san sighed. I think its worse that Irunami-san died but call me a buzzkill, I guess.

-

Truth Bullet Added: Air Cannons

A cannon that shoots pressurised air after building it up for a while. Has enough power to blast someone into the air. Irunami was supposed to use it in his act.

-

 “Asano-san, what about you? Have you found or saw anything important?” I turned to Asano-san who seemed to smile slightly at the question.

 “I am very glad you asked me. I feel as though I may have important information that could direct us towards the killer.” I seriously had to ask her to give us important information?! This girl… “When we were all in the audience, I took note of everybody around us at the time and just before the lighting rig fell the only people missing were Kurohiko-san, Okanaya-san, and Amaterasu-san.” A list of possible suspects?!

 “Asano-san, I’m really glad you told me, but I shouldn’t have needed to ask you for that information. Would you have really kept it to yourself if I never asked?”

 “Apologies if I upset you. I am only ever allowed to speak when other speak to me first.” Asano-san bowed apologetically.

 “You’re not getting my point. If you have something to say, then you should say it. Your parents aren’t here, so you should be making decisions for yourself.” The idea seemed to visibly shock Asano-san. “Don’t worry so much. You see us all make our own decisions plenty of times, just do what you want to do…”

 “What…I…want to do…?” Asano-san repeated. “W-w-well…I was thinking about the case as a whole…I feel as though that we should note certain things about the acts previous to Irunami-san’s act.”

 “Huh?”

 “I just…feel as though it’s important. Recall for Kurosaki-san’s act that several people were working lighting down in front of the stage. Myself, Yokozawa-san, and Ram-san were working the lights from the audience shining up to the stage whilst Okanaya-san was working in the wings.” Is this what they call women’s intuition…? “And for Shinko-san’s filming, those working on the film were busy the whole rehearsal times. Those people being Hachi-san, Ishikawa-san, myself, Sly-san, and naturally Shinko-san.”

 “Whoa…Asano-san, you should speak up more often.” Yokozawa-san said. Yeah, no kidding…

-

Truth Bullet Added: Asano-san’s Account

From Asano-san's observations, at the time of the murder Kurohiko-san, Okanaya-san, and Amaterasu-san were the only ones missing from the audience.

Truth Bullet Added: Kurosaki-san’s Set

Kurosaki-san had several people working lighting down front for his set. Including Asano-san, Ram-san, Yokozawa-san, and Okanaya-kun. He also had Kurohiko-san on stage to help him out.

Truth Bullet Added: Shinko-san’s Filming

The filming took the last few days to create. Hachi-san, Ishikawa-san, Asano-san, and Sly-san were all working on it with Shinko-san.

-

 I began poking around the room and my eyes landed on the costume rack. It had a bag that I’ve seen tailors put suits in. Irunami-san’s stage clothing was on that dummy though, so what’s in here…? I unzipped the bag and a familiar outfit tumbled to the ground. “Those are Kurohiko-kun’s clothes, aren’t they?” Yokozawa-san asked.

 He mentioned that his outfit had went missing, so it ended up here…I inspected the clothes closer and found small splatters of blood on the shirt. Could this blood…?

-

Truth Bullet Added: Kurohiko-san’s Clothes

Kurohiko-san's clothes he was wearing before Kurosaki-san's set. Found in Irunami-san's dressing room with blood on them.

-

 I looked at the mirror and saw a piece of paper taped to it. It was the rehearsal schedule that we all agreed to at the start of all this work. We’d start at 9 in the morning after breakfast and then we’d finish at 9 at night so we could chill a little before night-time. I suppose its not a bad thing if I keep note of this.

“Shinko-kun was pretty uptight about sticking to the schedule. Had to be here sharp, hard to leave sharp. He even locked the doors. What a guy, seriously.” Yokozawa-san commented. Keys again. Shinko-san and keys.

-

Truth Bullet Added: Rehearsal Schedule

A schedule posted around the building for all the people working on the talent show to see. We would always finish work at 9pm.

-

 -Chapter 2 Investigation, Auditorium 2-

 I arrived back at the auditorium to find a select few still present. Naturally Hachi-san and Ishikawa-san were still watching over the crime scene, but Graves-san and Kurosaki-san were here as well. It could probably pay to talk to them as well.

 “Ishikawa-san, have you finished your autopsy yet?” I walked over to the thanatologist.

 “Indeed. I’m quite pleased with my work this time around. As the Monokuma File said, the cause of death was indeed the blow to the head, however I also found that this wound was the only one Irunami-sama has. No signs of fighting back, and no second injuries.” Just the fatal blow.

-

Truth Bullet Added: Ishikawa-san’s Autopsy

There are no signs of a struggle on Irunami's body, and the fatal wound was the only one present.

-

 I walked over to Graves-san who was covered with dust patches, just where had see been? “Graves-san? Have you found out anything interesting?”

 “Oh, you wouldn’t believe it! I was thinking that there might be evidence somewhere weird so I decided I would search the ventilation system. I crawled around there a whole bunch and found it goes through the whole building! Every floor, every room!” That explains the dust on her outfit. “Of course, I’m gonna have to wash all of this after the trial. I didn’t even find evidence, but I had fun!”

 “I suppose that’s important?” Was it?

-

Truth Bullet Added: Vent System

Goes throughout the whole building. Every floor and every room according to Graves’ investigation.

-

 And finally,…him. “Kurosaki-san-“

 “Nagata-kyun! Perfect timing~!” Kurosaki-san held out two pieces of paper. “I made these for the investigation, I felt like they were important to note!” Huh…?

 “These are…the production team jobs and the show line-up? You made note of this stuff, of all thing…?”

 “If the killer is so who I think it is then we’ll need this. Just trust me on this, I’m sure it’ll come in handy.” Kurosaki-san smiled. Kurosaki-san was really helpful in the last trial, but his attitude still creeps me out…but information is information. It can’t hurt to know this stuff.

-

Truth Bullet Added: Talent Show Line-up

Each act was on for 20 minutes - 30 minutes. There were five acts, Kurosaki, Shinko, Irunami, Hachi, Amaterasu

Truth Bullet Added: Job List

Perfomers: Hachi, Kurosaki, Shinko, Hokama, Irunami.

Tech Crew: Graves, Okanaya, Kurohiko, Kurosaki, Yokozawa.

Costumes & Props: Ram, Asano, Kurohiko, Nagata.

Special Effects: Hachi, Ishikawa, Sly, Okanaya, Shinko.

-

 ~Ding dong, dong ding~

 The monitor turned on. “Alright, I feel like I’ve given you all plenty of time! Meet at the red door like before and we can get this class trial underway!” The monitor turned off.

 …the class trial…we have to go back there.

 -Chapter 2 Investigation, Class Trial Grounds-

 Once we had all gathered, Monokuma instantly appeared before us. “Good good, everybody showed up! I’m glad I didn’t have to drag that stupid idiot Kurohiko here!”

 “H-hey!”

 “Anyway, everyone should hurry into the elevator and I’ll meet you at the trial grounds! I just can’t wait to get started~!” And no sooner, Monokuma vanished and the elevator door opened. There was a moment of hesitation before Sly-san, Amaterasu-san, and Kurosaki-san walked into the elevator confidently.

 “Everyone…I want to find Irunami-kun’s killer…” Hachi-san’s voice had a sudden grit to it; I was almost taken aback. “No matter what, I can’t let the killer escape, I won’t let it happen so please…let’s work together and find the killer.” Without another word, they stepped onto the elevator.

 “Oi, Nagata…did you find anything out?” Okanaya-san asked.

 “I’m not sure. I have a lot of evidence but putting it together might be a little difficult. So, I’ll be relying on you and everyone else. Please, do your best as well, okay?” I smiled.

 “Yeah, you can count on me!” Okanaya-san nodded. “You too, Ram! We’ll be counting on you as well!”

 “H-huh?! A-alright then! I’ll do my best!” Ram-san, caught of guard agreed without really knowing what was just said. Then we all stepped onto the elevator and took it down to the trial room. When we got off the elevator, the room had completely changed from last time. Instead of the simple red carpets, the whole room was decorated like a stage at an awards ceremony. Lights all focusing on the circle of podiums where Irunami-san’s and Kibe-san’s portraits were now added alongside Watanabe-san’s.

 Watanabe-san…sorry we ended up here again.

 “Alright everyone! Take your places and get ready for the trial to begin!” We did as we were told, a little less hesitation than before and stood ready for the trial…

 Sadao Irunami, the Ultimate Hypnotist. In both appearance and in nature, he was a kid that was always joking around. He was a bundle of energy who could brighten up the whole room, not to mention he seemed to genuinely care about us all…someone like Irunami-san...was murdered.

“Ram”

Yuuki Kurosaki

Doi Kurohiko

Saori Kibe

Amaterasu Hokama

 And that killer…they’re someone in this room.

Sly

Karma Graves

Junpei Yokozawa

Maemi Watanabe

Kobo Okanaya

Tomoe Hachi

 For Irunami-san’s sake, we need to uncover who it is and survive!

Mami Asano

Toson Shinko

Sadao Irunami

Tsukiko Ishikawa

Ryuu Nagata  

And so, the battle between Hope and Despair…the class trial…begins!

[evamariagarcia-blog]

My Survey Lines are Now Closed and the Results are in!!

To start with below are my key stats for the survey:

I was a little disappointed with there being 47 visits and only 28 people filled in my survey. I do feel like I got a good amount fo responses that I can use for my research.

The results are now in...

Question 1 - What age bracket do you fall under?

I was thinking my target audience would just be designers. Which as we know come in all different ages. I assumed I would probably split them into students and then working designers. My results where pretty ranged and fell under my expectations.

There was:

35.7% for 18-24

42.9% for 25-34

14.3% for 35-44

7.1% for 45-54

This fall under my brackets as I assume the audience above 25+ are working designers but now reflecting on this that could have been a question I asked in my survey instead of just assuming.

Question 2 - What tools do you currently use when doing design research?

I listed out a few options of research/inspiration tools that I use myself and had found when doing competitor research.

This list was:

Dribbble

Behance

Design Inspiration

Usepanda

Muzli

Awwwards

Out of these, I was expecting Dribbble to be the most used.

The three top results where:

75% Dribbble with 21 responses

60.7% Behance with 17 responses

25% Awwwards with 7 responses.

A few people have other as an option and suggested something that myself feel silly for not putting down as an option which was BOOKS!! I am thinking now maybe having a section in my web application with books for designers.

Question 3 - If you have any, what would be your main frustrations when doing research?

For this question peoples, biggest frustration was “Having too many tabs open and losing websites”. The other highest result was “Trying to stay organised”. These are answers that I assumed people would answer with but it is what people wrote in the other section that was interesting.

Responses from the other section:

Having a no-show for a user interview

Finding examples that meet my use case

Most available design inspiration is superficial, showing one element or one page of an entire project. This doesn't allow for a deeper UX understanding of how these elements fit together and create a cohesive user experience.

The last point was interesting as I can understand this sometimes with the likes of Dribblbe and Pinterest you don’t see the design thinking behind the design. This is something I could help with my app I think and something I can do more research into. Definitely has given me food for thought.

Question 4 - Do you think we have a responsibility as designers to keep up to date with design news?

I think from a biased perspective this was my biggest question. 82.1% people said “Yes” with 23 responses out of 28. I think this shows that it is important we keep up to date with design news which I knew from the start.

There was one comment I got in the other section that I found interesting it was:

“Design trends don't always = good design. Keeping up with news such as new tools, new techniques, new lines of thinking can be very beneficial however also overwhelming.”

I do agree with the first statement for example when I did my research into light and dark theme which you can see in a previous post. I read that dark theme now is trendy and a lot of people are using it because it is trendy and thats not right as we should be using it based on our user's environment. I also think that design trends help us evolve and grow as designers. This statement has made me think of this from two points of views which is helpful.

Question 5 - What tools/sites do you use to read up on design news?

The three highest results in this question where:

82.1% Medium with 23 responses

25% Designer News with 7 responses

17.9% The Designest with 5 responses

I was expecting Medium to be the highest result. I am starting to realise that the best information is in the other sections of my survey. There is some really interesting suggestions for this question.

They are:

4 people said twitter

UX Collective

UX Collective and Sidebar newsletters

Panda

Designtaxi

A custom feed of various blogs and sites

I have never heard of DesignTaxi so that will be something I can do competitor research into. I also have never used twitter for design news so that is something I can look into for my project and also myself.

Question 6 - If you have any, what would be your main frustrations when keeping up to date on design news?

The three highest frustrations where:

67.9% It is easy to miss things when you are busy with 19 responses

35.7% A lot of different sites with 10 responses

35.7% Not being able to go back and read later with 10 responses

These are interesting as a feature of being able to save back and reading later was something I was thinking about so it is helpful to see this is something designers have frustrations with.

Question 7 - Can you suggest anything that would improve your experience when doing research for a project?

This question was an open question.

Some of the useful suggestion where:

One central platform for everything design research related

Quickly finding examples that suit my use case

Documenting ideas, sources, analysis, images as you go.

Finding resources with more detailed case studies e.g. how a company designed ftux from start to finish, how that evolved over time or as new features/products were introduced. Things that worked and didn’t work and why.

Access to previous research archives from other designers

Getting snippets of information so if I don't have time to read the entire article I can get the highlights. Also if I can get all the sites, inspirations in one location will be super helpful.

Better categorization / easier browsing (i.e., not just search). Something visual skin to Pinterest?

A more diverse range of sources

A place to store and collect inspiration/articles/notes/thoughts easily using an accessible and simple method. Possibly a Chrome plug-in (see Pinterest's plug-in - however, it is all visual, it doesn't really allow for the collection of articles, quotes, concepts etc)

trending/top rated articles appear at the top

For me, the most important thing is the understanding of colour trends, trend styles and several other trends.

Category specification and thematic distribution of art online

A place where I can keep all my bookmarked sites that help with research and design in a visual way. possibly a website that reposted hot topics from other sites into their own so you would only have to go to one place (sorta like how you can have a fb news feed embedded into sites)

There is a lot here that I find useful and will go through each one individually and do research and see if I can think of any features for my application that will help or anything I could use to make my application experience better.

Question 8 - Can you also suggest anything that would improve your experience when keeping up to date on design?

This question was also an open question.

Some of the useful comments where:

One central platform for anything design related

A resource curated by the design community would be nice but it would have to be supported by the whole community and design leaders.

Take notes on ideas, takeaways so that you can refer to them later!

More blog posts or article that show how long it takes to read so that you might be less likely to bookmark to read later (which is what I do a lot)

Having a single source of truth, there are so many views and opinions it's sometimes hard to know what best practice is actually best. Maybe some way to centralise this info and maybe vote among designers

reminders to see latest design inspirations which will be like a min or 2 ...so basically quick view but also relevant to me

Better, curated content. Like design journalism by good writers, rather than just link posting

Time :D

Subscribe to sites like Medium so they are in your inbox

Keeping Information Overload low

A streamlined edited view that wades through all the ideas, "pretty" visuals and egos to show the best work happening in design/UX right now.

quickly get updates, I don't have all-day

Know how much exactly you need time for specific design so you can easily manage multiple projects

Better bookmarking/saving system

A single platform dedicated to such updates.

One platform with multiple feeds

A website that had a list of high rated design articles, other sites, news etc

As you can see there is a good amount of feedback here that I will need to sort through and do research into and figure things out with it. One of the answers was “Time” if only I could give people more time!

Question 8 - What do you think of an app just for designers to help with research and design news?

I then summed up my survey with my idea and if people would find it useful.

I got 23 responses out of 28 saying that they thought it was a great idea this is really encouraging. I hope I am going on the right track with all my research and from this survey I feel like I am.

I was able to generate a report with Typeform so that you can view my results here: https://evagarcia643343.typeform.com/report/xVxzyg/vYfzRJ6MGIL1dcU6

[z1nomad]

New Reality Journal- It's a First

I'm not sure when the first thought of keeping a journal popped into my head as an adult. At the age of 48, the memory of inconsequential random thoughts have a tendency to become fuzzy if they reoccur often, or maybe happened more than 20 years ago. I'm guessing, my lack of exact recollection is due to the latter. There is something romantic and yet uncomfortable about permanently logging my thoughts and feelings. I am a girl who wears her feelings on her sleeve. What you see is what you get. Or, maybe I just like to tell people that. To let them think I am a simple friend with simple feelings and simple expectations. That's a lot easier than sharing how complicated, deep and contemplative I actually am. I made an attempt once. When I was maybe 10 or 11 a birthday party gift haul yielded a shiny red, "Hello Kitty" diary, complete with a mini pencil and shiny, gold lock with 2 little keys. I was intrigued. After all, it was 1981 or 82 and most of my friends had already bragged about hours spent tediously logging their inner most secrets in their own diaries. So, I set out to start logging my life and my secret thoughts. I promptly put my little red diary in my underwear drawer with an air of excitement at the anticipation of a new hobby that I thought would make my friends like me more. A few days went by, and I was startled when I remembered my shiny new diary still nestled in my underwear drawer. "Shoot!" I was so irritated with myself. "I need a better spot." I thought. So, with determination, I tucked my little red diary right under my pillow. With that, I was sure to be successful at stealthily listing all of my secrets. I couldn't possibly forget! Dinner rolled around, and my parents and 2 brothers all sat down to eat. Conversation turned to an account what each one of us had done for the day as it often did. Mundane chatter, my toddler brothers messy, slurpy eating sounds and laughter all wrapped around that comfortable easy feeling you get sharing food and talk with those that know you best. Then, out of nowhere, "So, Gretchie, have you been writing in your diary?" My Mom! I felt my face break out in prickly cool perspiration. I felt all eyes on me, even my toddler brother, Tim. Minutes, or hours it felt like went by in that brief split second before I stammered, " Oh, yeah. Yeah!" What?!! Why did I lie? Ugh, why do I just blurt out things when I get uncomfortable and say what I think people want to hear?! Why!? My other brother, Toby, the annoying, 16 months younger than me, awkward dork, chimed in..."Oooooh" in that goofy dorking paltry attempt to try to burn me. I rolled my eyes. The conversation changed and I can't quite remember what my Dad asked my mom. I immediately felt a rush or relief quickly followed by anxiety and despair at my lie that I just told coupled with the lack of even one single entry into my diary. The pressure was on. We finished up dinner. It was my turn to load the dishwasher and my brothers turn to rinse. We didn't talk. I was annoyed that he was moving at a glacial pace. Getting the dishes done was taking what felt like forever. I noticed that he seemed overly methodical about getting every last smudge of remnant food debris off of each dish and piece of serviceware. "Come on you reject!" I jeered at him. "What's your problem?! Mooooom! Gretchen just called me a reject again." "Shut up! I did not!" I snapped " Mom. He's taking forever!" "You two knock it off in there." Dad in a halfhearted attempt to stop our bickering. In our house, my mom ran a strict timeline of nightly events during the week. Dinner happened right at 6pm, dishes were done promptly after eating while she gave Tim a bath, and my Dad settled in on the couch. After, Toby and I were done with the dishes, we each took turns pretending to take baths or taking baths depending on the day. That a very slim amount of time for homework check with my mother, before teeth were brushed and lights were out as we were shooed into our comfy beds. Finally! Done with the dishes, and I ran to my bedroom. "I'm going first!" I sing songed as I jerked open my drawers to retrieve my flannel pajama set and Little House on the Prairie underwear. "It's not your turn to go first." Annoying dorky brother. "What do you care? You never want to go first, anyway." "So! It's my turn to go first! Moooom!" "Shut up you turd! I'M going first tonight!" I spat at him as I pushed him aside and launched myself into the bathroom. I quickly locked the bathroom door as I heard him whining to my mom. I quickly started the bath water to pretend that I couldn't hear my brother starting to cry and my mom calling my name. I bathed in less than 10 minutes. I even washed my hair and brushed my teeth. I was so quick, that the water was still circling counterclockwise down the drain as I yanked the door open and yelled out, "I'm done!!". I sprinted down that hall, lunged into my room, and flicked on the light switch. I looked at my reflection in the French country style dresser mirror and smiled. I was finally gonna do it. I was finally gonna tell all of my secrets to what was going to be my new best friend...My Diary! I pulled my pastel, rainbow bedspread down and slipped my hand under my pillow. It was there, cool, smooth and inviting just like I expected. I relaxed as I pulled it out. I was comforted by the thought that my dinner table lie, could easily be remedied and off of my conscious in just a few short minutes. Jesus wouldn't be too mad at me if I wrote in my diary and asked for forgiveness when I said my prayers. I closed my bedroom door, came back and tucked myself into my bed. I used the tiny keys to carefully turn the lock to the right. With a click, twist and lift the diaries pages were free. I eagerly slid the mini pencil from it's sleeve and used it to write my name on the first page. My name. My diary. My private thoughts! The next two canary yellow pages were mirror images of themselves. The top left said in all caps "My Diary" follow by a space and "Date:_______" The font was slim and delicate in a faint red that was almost pink. It was so feminine. So, not me. But, all my friends diaries were all probably this girly, and I desperately wanted to fit in. So, it was okay. I made the obligatory date entry and moved down to the body of the page..."Dear Diary," I started. Okay. Now what? What salacious and surprising secret do I want to list first? Wait. Do I have any secrets? Okay. Yeah. I will write about the time I stole candy at the Grocery Outlet and almost got caught because my friend Stacy Lucia had the candy she shoved in her pants fall down the leg as we were walking out. Wait. No. That's not good enough. Maybe I should write about boys. Well, I don't have any boys that I really like. Boys don't like me. I have lots of friends that are boys though. I stared up at the rainbows stretched across my canopy bed. Ugh. I hate this bed. Why did my mom pick this bed out for me? Okay. Back to my diary. Ummmm....well, maybe I should start with just saying what I'm going to do. I gripped the awkward mini pencil and pressed it to the paper. "Hi. My name is Gretchen Garcia. This is my diary. I'm going to write all of my secrets here so that I can read this when I grow up. The end. Good night. Gretchen" My diary, as you can probably guess, never had any real secrets logged in it. I was always too worried my jerk brother would find it and tell everyone what was in it. Plus, I was always distracted and after about 3 or 4 entries, I would forget about it again until one of my friends would mention theirs. That would send me into a renewed fervor to get back to sharing my thoughts. I lost track of this little diary. We moved around a lot and it must have been tossed at some point. So, let's hope this new journey into adult diary keeping sticks. I think logging family stories will keep me engaged. And if it doesn't, well.... Hell. I tried...AGAIN!

[dbl07consulting2]

Free Website Design Tips For Businesses

Free Website Design Tips For Businesses 

Do you LOVE your website? You should! If you are looking for a great looking website that has all the core SEO stuff to get you to the top of search engine results, then you are in the right place! We can help build an awesome website for your business or update/refurbish/renovate your outdated websites.

We are a Columbia Local Business just like you, so if we can help your business grow, give us a call. 803-479-7699 or visit us online http://www.DBL07.co/

Here is a quick link to some of our services:

Website Design

Social Media Marketing

SEO Search Engine Optimization

Video Production

HD Digital Photography

Logo Design & Brand Recognition

Mobile Website Design

Online Reputation Management

Local Business Listing

Domain Name

Web Hosting

First Lesson – Web Design Basics

Welcome to the first lesson in the Business Web Design Basics. Over the next few days you will receive several lessons that will help you learn some basic web design techniques that you can use to improve the look, function and usability of your website.

In this first lesson let’s talk a little bit about the importance of good web design.

Fact #1 – Your website is the life force of your online business not to mention vital to your overall success. It is the virtual representation of your company.

Fact #2 – When you are doing business online, people can’t meet or see you as they would in a more traditional off-line business setting. Hence, they judge you by your website. This is where a good design comes into play.

Think for a minute about running an offline company. Would you allow your salespeople to behave or dress inappropriately when they are dealing with customers?

By making your staff wear professionally, you are telling your customers that you do care about quality. This works simply because first impressions matter.

The same holds true with your website. If your website is poorly designed and hard to navigate, you are literally driving your visitors to your competitors websites and leaving them with the impression that you are unprofessional, unreliable and not safe to do business with.

On the other hand, if you have a totally professional looking website

you are giving your visitors the perception that you have given meticulous attention to every detail and you care about professionalism. You are organized, focused and you really mean business.

Now let’s go over a few quick design tips that you can use for your own website right way:

Make sure you have clear directions on the navigation of your website. The navigation menu should be uncluttered and concise so that visitors can find what they are looking for without confusion.

Reduce the number of images on your website. They make your site load very slowly and more often than not they are very unnecessary. If you think any image is essential on your site, make sure you optimize them using

image editing programs so that they have a minimum file size.

Keep your text paragraphs a reasonable length. If a paragraph is too long, you should split it into separate paragraphs so that the text blocks will not be too big. This is important because a block of text that is too large will deter visitors from reading your content.

Make sure your website complies with basic standards at: www.w3.org and that they are cross-browser compatible. If your website looks great in Internet Explorer but loads poorly in Firefox and Opera, you will lose a lot of prospective visitors.

Avoid using scripting languages on your site unless it is absolutely necessary. Use scripting languages to handle or manipulate data, not to create visual effects on your website. Heavy scripts will slow down the loading time of your site and even crash some browsers. Also, scripts are not supported across all browsers, so some visitors might miss important information because of that.

Unless you are using a design platform like WordPress to build your site you should consider using CSS to style your page content, because it will save allot of time and effort as you expand and grow by styling all of the elements on your entire website consistently.

Remember, your website is the face of your online business and that makes it crucial to your success, so it only stands to reason that it is extremely important for you to take the time to learn and practice good design principles.

That’s it for today’s lesson. We have a lot to go over in the next few days if you want to learn how to improve the look, function and usability of your website, so make sure you look for your next lesson soon.

Thank you again for joining. If you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact me at anytime using the contact information below. I will be happy to help,

Until then,

Cheers

DBL07 Consulting

For 150 more Free Website Design Tips Checkout our blog, Here is a sample 150 Website Design Tips – Columbia SC – Tampa FL – Hawaii 1.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -Do not forget to try out your site on several major browsers. A particular browser will interpret an internet site differently than a different one will, and quite often the differences can be drastic. Learn which browsers are utilized the most. Usually do not neglect mobile browsers, because they are increasingly utilized by people of any age test to discover that your particular new site works across an entire spectrum of browsers.2.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -White is a superb option for your page background color. Your site content can turn out to be easier to read — and make trust in your site if you utilize a white background. Gaudy backgrounds, by contrast, often blend in together with the content, and make it appear to be hastily assembled. It is usually preferable to get a simple background. 3.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -In case you are making a very big website, you need to always include a search function in to the site. A good place to put your search box is on the top of your homepage. Shoot for the upper right corner. Users often expect to see a search box here and may wish to search your web site to the information they are seeking. You should use Internet search or FreeFind, while they both provide you with access to an engine which happens to be free and simple to operate. 4.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -Make sure to be sure that your web site works about the different browsers which can be around. Different internet browsers can display the valuables in your internet site differently, that may sometimes dramatically alter a visitor’s experience. There are now many websites that you can visit to determine which internet browsers are most frequently employed by internet users. Use all popular browsers to check your website, including the mobile web ones. Read More

2 Second Lesson – Business Web Design Basics

It’s time for your second lesson in the Business Web Design Basics crash course. I hope you found lesson one informative and now have a better understanding of the importance of good web design.

In this lesson we are going to go over a few more ways that you can improve the usability of your website, so that you can attract and retain more visitors.

As we discussed in your last lesson, the look of your site is very important. However, if it’s hard to navigate and the main content isn’t visible and easily accessible, then the simple fact is; your site isn’t very useful to your visitors and they won’t waste any time moving on to your competitors.

Today we are going to discuss some simple tips that you can use to improve the usability of your website to ensure that it looks good, functions properly and remains user-friendly.

– Content

The first thing you should do is make sure that your content is free from spelling and grammar errors. Break it up into small easy to read blocks of text that your visitor can consume quickly, without much effort. You should also make sure the font size of your text is large enough to read easily so that your visitors don’t have to strain their eyes to read the actual text.

If you are using CSS to style your website it will do most of the work for you by setting the font size and spacing out the lines according to your desired style set.

– Navigation

Make it easy for visitors to find content that brought them to your site by focusing on good navigation. For instance, if you have hundreds of

articles on your site and a certain visitor wants to find one specific article, you have to provide them with an easy way to locate it quickly.

You can do this by providing a search feature on your website, adding easy to see navigation links and including a sitemap. how you include these aspects in your design will depend on what platform you are using to build it. If you are using a platform like WordPress you will be able to use a SQL-driven database to help organize your content easily and effectively.

– Load Time and Compatibility

It’s important to make sure that your site loads fast so that you don’t lose visitors before they’ve had a chance to see what you have to offer. Fact: most internet users will leave a website within 15 seconds if it doesn’t load completely. There are several things that you can do to reduce the load time of your website including optimizing your images, limiting the amount of scripts you run, Etc.

It’s important to keep in mind that your visitors will be using different Web browsers when viewing your website, so you will also want to ensure that your website is cross browser compatible.

There are many tools available that you can use to check the load

time and compatibility of your website. they will also provide you with helpful tips and information that you can use to make sure that your visitor has a smooth and enjoyable experience on your website.

Here are a few to help get you started:

Pingdom.com http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt

Webpagetest.org http://www.webpagetest.org

Browsershots.org http://browsershots.org

Last of all you should test each and every link on your site to ensure that their functioning properly. There is nothing more irritating to a visitor than clicking on broken link’s. Of course you should check the links manually whenever you create a new page. However, if you have hundreds or even thousands of pages on your website then you may want to use a good link checking tool like the one at: http://validator.w3.org/checklink

By taking the time to make sure that your website is easy to navigate and user-friendly you can help ensure that your visitors will stick around!

That’s it for today’s lesson. In your next lesson we will be talking about the importance of including a sitemap in your web design. Again, I appreciate you joining me for this short course.

If you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact me at anytime. I’ll be glad to help.

Until then,

“DBL07 Consulting”

3 Third Lesson – Business Web Design Basics

Hey,

It’s “DBL07 Consulting”, with your third lesson Business Web Design Basics crash course. I hope you found a lesson two informative and now have a better understanding of the importance of making your site easy to navigate and user-friendly.

Today we’re going to talk about the importance of including a well-crafted sitemap. We touched on this briefly in your last lesson, but I feel it deserves a little more attention because it is often a forgotten or overlooked part of a good site design.

As the name implies a sitemap literally acts as a map of your website. Unless your website is massive and includes thousands of pages a sitemap is usually a single page that contains links to each individual page on your website.

There are several options available when it comes to creating a sitemap for your website. Including manually creating the page yourself or using a sitemap generator like the ones found at: http://www.xml-sitemaps.com

There are also different types of site maps that can be created including:

-XML sitemap that can be submitted to Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines to help them crawl your website better.

– A text sitemap that displays a plain list of all your pages.

– An ROR sitemap, which is an independent XML format used by multiple search engines.

– An HTML sitemap specifically designed to help visitors to easily navigate on your site

Which ever type of site map you decide to use it’s a good idea to include a link to it on your front page as well as the main pages this will help ensure easy access for not only your visitors, but the search engines as well.

Let’s go over a few reasons why a sitemap is important to the success of your web design:

– Optimization

Sitemaps are very important when it comes to search engine

optimization. Imagine what happens when search engine robots visit your sitemap. They will follow the links on the sitemap and naturally index every single page of your site.

– Navigation purposes

If your visitors browses your site and can’t find what they’re looking for from the main pages on your site, they will often refer to your sitemap. You may be surprised to learn that many Internet users will go to your sitemap first and navigate through your pages from there.

– Organization and relevance

A sitemap enables you to have a complete bird’s eye view of your site structure, and whenever you need to add new content or new sections, you will be able to take the existing hierarchy into consideration just by glancing at the sitemap. As a result, you will have a perfectly organized site with everything sorted according to their relevance.

Once you have created your sitemap you’ll want to take some time and submit it to search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing etc. This will encourage the search engines to send out robots, often referred to crawlers, which are powerful programs used to catalog and index your webpages for inclusion in their directories.

That’s it for today’s lesson. In your next lesson we are going to talk more about search engine optimization and creating search engine friendly webpages.

Remember, if you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact me. I’ll be glad to help.

Until then,

DBL07 Consulting

4 Fourth Lesson – Business Web Design Basics

Hey,

How are you today?

Well, we are winding down to the end of this short course, but we still need to go over a few things if you want to know how to start designing a website that looks good, functions properly and is still user-friendly.

Today we are going to jump right in and talk more about search engine optimization and creating search engine friendly webpages.

A major source of traffic for most sites on the Internet is search engines like Google, Yahoo!, Bing, Ask and so on. Hence, by designing a search engine friendly website, you will be better able to rank well in the major

search engines and in turn obtain more visitors.

As I briefly mentioned in your last lesson, the search engines use programs known as robots or crawlers to index the pages of your website to include in their directories. When a search engine robot visits your website it follows the links to your pages, reads the content and records it in their directory database.

These directories literally house millions of webpages all categorized according to keywords and relevance, ready to serve up the best results possible based on an Internet user’s query. So it stands to reason that you’ll want to make your site as search engine friendly as possible.

Let’s quickly go over a few things you can do to help ensure that your site is search engine friendly:

Avoid using frames on your website unless absolutely necessary. Frames can confuse search engine robots and often cause them to index it incorrectly or abandon completely. Frames also make it difficult for users to bookmark a specific page on your site without using long, complicated scripts.

Do not present important information in video, Flash, or images. It’s important to keep in mind that search engine robots can only read the text in your source code, so if you present important information in any other format other than text your search engine ranking ca be affected dramatically.

Use meta tags accordingly on each and every page of your site so that search engine robots know at first glance what that particular page is about and whether or not to index it. By using meta tags, you are making the search engine robot’s job easier so they will crawl and index your site more frequently.

Stop using wrong HTML tags like <font> to style your page. Use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) instead because they are more effective and efficient. By using CSS, you can eliminate redundant HTML tags and make your pages much lighter and faster to load.

I hope today’s lesson was helpful to you. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for my next email. There will be some great stuff in your last lesson. we are going to be talking about going to talk about designing your website so that it’s easy for your customers to make a purchase.

Until then,

“DBL07 Consulting”

5 Fifth Lesson – Business Web Design Basics

Hey,

Well, we have come to the final lesson in the Business Web Design Basics crash course. I sure hope you have enjoyed your lessons and learned a lot about building your own attractive, user-friendly website.

In this last lesson we are going to talk about designing your website so that it’s easy for your customers to make a purchase.

There is no doubt that convincing your prospects to make purchase from your website is a hard job! But have you ever considered that you could be making the process more difficult and necessary? This is especially true if your site is poorly designed and your prospective customers don’t have a clear and easy path to the order button!

That’s why when designing your website it’s always important to keep in mind that it doesn’t matter how good your content is or how good you are at convincing your prospects that they need what you have to offer, they won’t make a purchase if they find the process confusing or complicated.

Now let’s go over a few specific design techniques that you can use to ensure a smooth and painless transaction for your customers:

– Clear path to order

As I mentioned, make sure that your prospective customers can find your order form quickly and easily. You never want to make them hunt for the buy button. You can do this in several ways, one is by writing a clear, concise paragraph to direct your prospects to your order form so that you can minimize the chances of them getting lost. You can also reduce the

chances of losing prospects by putting a prominent link to your order page from every other page on your site.

– Multiple payment options

Next, you should offer multiple payment options? Some people may feel comfortable paying via Paypal, some may only want to pay with their credit card and others might want to send a check. The more options you offer, the better your chances of covering your prospects’ desired payment method.

You also want to make your that prospective customer is as comfortable making a purchase from you as possible, so you need to do everything you can to prove that you are a reliable and credible merchant.

To do this make sure that you are using a secured order form with SSL encryption technology. Most online payment processors like PayPal offer this without any extra effort or cost on your part.

Here are a few of the top online payment processors for you to check out:

PayPal http://www.paypal.com

Authorize.Net http://www.authorize.net

Google Checkout http://checkout.google.com

Amazon Payments https://payments.amazon.com

We Pay https://www.wepay.com

– Offer a money back guarantee

It is also important to offer a money back guarantee, so that people will feel confident about buying from you. Don’t worry that this will cause you to lose money in fact a good refund policy often increases sales substantially.

The majority of customers will not request a refund, especially if

you are offering a quality product. However, if they do request a refund make sure the process is quick and easy as well. This will make them

happy and help ensure that they will feel comfortable making a purchase again in the future.

– Be available to help

Always include some form of contact information on your sales page. A help desk or ticket system is an excellent choice and not very difficult to include. This way customers can contact you with any questions, concerns or problems they may have before or during the purchasing process.

– Include testimonials

If you have a list of happy customers be sure to include their testimonials on your website in a prominent place, for instance, with in the sales copy and below the order button. This will help make new customers feel more confident when making a purchase from your website.

By taking the time to include these basic elements within your web design you can make your prospective customers feel confident and safe and such your during the check out process, which will help increase your profits too!

As we close this final lesson I would like to thank you again for joining me for the short course and I sincerely hope that you have learned a lot about how incorporating good design elements into your business website!

Even though the course has come to an end, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about how to build your own attractive, functional and user-friendly business website. I will still be glad to help.

Until then, Cheers!

For 150 more Free Website Design Tips Checkout our blog, Here is a sample

150 Website Design Tips – Columbia SC – Tampa FL – Hawaii

1.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -Do not forget to try out your site on several major browsers. A particular browser will interpret an internet site differently than a different one will, and quite often the differences can be drastic. Learn which browsers are utilized the most. Usually do not neglect mobile browsers, because they are increasingly utilized by people of any age test to discover that your particular new site works across an entire spectrum of browsers.

2.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -White is a superb option for your page background color. Your site content can turn out to be easier to read — and make trust in your site if you utilize a white background. Gaudy backgrounds, by contrast, often blend in together with the content, and make it appear to be hastily assembled. It is usually preferable to get a simple background.

3.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -In case you are making a very big website, you need to always include a search function in to the site. A good place to put your search box is on the top of your homepage. Shoot for the upper right corner. Users often expect to see a search box here and may wish to search your web site to the information they are seeking. You should use Internet search or FreeFind, while they both provide you with access to an engine which happens to be free and simple to operate.

4.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -Make sure to be sure that your web site works about the different browsers which can be around. Different internet browsers can display the valuables in your internet site differently, that may sometimes dramatically alter a visitor’s experience. There are now many websites that you can visit to determine which internet browsers are most frequently employed by internet users. Use all popular browsers to check your website, including the mobile web ones.

Read More

DBL07 Consulting Website Design Irmo SC DBL07 Consulting & Web Design

Website Design Columbia SC DBL07

1400 Pickens St

Columbia SC 29201

 Website Design Tampa FL

400 North Ashley Drive

Tampa, FL 33602

 Web Design Hawaii

4331 Kauai Beach Drive

Kauai, HI 96766

Matthew Rings

803-479-7699

CEO & Founder DBL07 Consulting http://www.DBL07.CO

We specialize in Website Design, Social Media Connectivity, SEO Business Listings and Online Reputation Management.  

Website Design Company Columbia SC

mailto:007@DBL07.CO

CEO & Founder Onion Rings Studios http://www.OnionRingsStudios.com

CEO & Founder Carolina Destination Weddings http://www.CarolinaDestinationWeddings.com/

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin

 Author of:

Kauai Tips Tricks

The Pursuit of Man: Genesis

DC 4 Teens

In God We Trust?

 Originally posted 2014-06-06 20:47:29.

The post Free Website Design Tips For Businesses appeared first on DBL07 Consulting & Website Design.

from DBL07 Consulting & Website Design https://www.dbl07.co/free-website-design-tips-for-businesses/

[dbl07consulting1]

Free Website Design Tips For Businesses

Free Website Design Tips For Businesses 

Do you LOVE your website? You should! If you are looking for a great looking website that has all the core SEO stuff to get you to the top of search engine results, then you are in the right place! We can help build an awesome website for your business or update/refurbish/renovate your outdated websites.

We are a Columbia Local Business just like you, so if we can help your business grow, give us a call. 803-479-7699 or visit us online http://www.DBL07.co/

Here is a quick link to some of our services:

Website Design

Social Media Marketing

SEO Search Engine Optimization

Video Production

HD Digital Photography

Logo Design & Brand Recognition

Mobile Website Design

Online Reputation Management

Local Business Listing

Domain Name

Web Hosting

First Lesson – Web Design Basics

Welcome to the first lesson in the Business Web Design Basics. Over the next few days you will receive several lessons that will help you learn some basic web design techniques that you can use to improve the look, function and usability of your website.

In this first lesson let’s talk a little bit about the importance of good web design.

Fact #1 – Your website is the life force of your online business not to mention vital to your overall success. It is the virtual representation of your company.

Fact #2 – When you are doing business online, people can’t meet or see you as they would in a more traditional off-line business setting. Hence, they judge you by your website. This is where a good design comes into play.

Think for a minute about running an offline company. Would you allow your salespeople to behave or dress inappropriately when they are dealing with customers?

By making your staff wear professionally, you are telling your customers that you do care about quality. This works simply because first impressions matter.

The same holds true with your website. If your website is poorly designed and hard to navigate, you are literally driving your visitors to your competitors websites and leaving them with the impression that you are unprofessional, unreliable and not safe to do business with.

On the other hand, if you have a totally professional looking website

you are giving your visitors the perception that you have given meticulous attention to every detail and you care about professionalism. You are organized, focused and you really mean business.

Now let’s go over a few quick design tips that you can use for your own website right way:

Make sure you have clear directions on the navigation of your website. The navigation menu should be uncluttered and concise so that visitors can find what they are looking for without confusion.

Reduce the number of images on your website. They make your site load very slowly and more often than not they are very unnecessary. If you think any image is essential on your site, make sure you optimize them using

image editing programs so that they have a minimum file size.

Keep your text paragraphs a reasonable length. If a paragraph is too long, you should split it into separate paragraphs so that the text blocks will not be too big. This is important because a block of text that is too large will deter visitors from reading your content.

Make sure your website complies with basic standards at: www.w3.org and that they are cross-browser compatible. If your website looks great in Internet Explorer but loads poorly in Firefox and Opera, you will lose a lot of prospective visitors.

Avoid using scripting languages on your site unless it is absolutely necessary. Use scripting languages to handle or manipulate data, not to create visual effects on your website. Heavy scripts will slow down the loading time of your site and even crash some browsers. Also, scripts are not supported across all browsers, so some visitors might miss important information because of that.

Unless you are using a design platform like WordPress to build your site you should consider using CSS to style your page content, because it will save allot of time and effort as you expand and grow by styling all of the elements on your entire website consistently.

Remember, your website is the face of your online business and that makes it crucial to your success, so it only stands to reason that it is extremely important for you to take the time to learn and practice good design principles.

That’s it for today’s lesson. We have a lot to go over in the next few days if you want to learn how to improve the look, function and usability of your website, so make sure you look for your next lesson soon.

Thank you again for joining. If you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact me at anytime using the contact information below. I will be happy to help,

Until then,

Cheers

DBL07 Consulting

For 150 more Free Website Design Tips Checkout our blog, Here is a sample 150 Website Design Tips – Columbia SC – Tampa FL – Hawaii 1.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -Do not forget to try out your site on several major browsers. A particular browser will interpret an internet site differently than a different one will, and quite often the differences can be drastic. Learn which browsers are utilized the most. Usually do not neglect mobile browsers, because they are increasingly utilized by people of any age test to discover that your particular new site works across an entire spectrum of browsers.2.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -White is a superb option for your page background color. Your site content can turn out to be easier to read — and make trust in your site if you utilize a white background. Gaudy backgrounds, by contrast, often blend in together with the content, and make it appear to be hastily assembled. It is usually preferable to get a simple background. 3.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -In case you are making a very big website, you need to always include a search function in to the site. A good place to put your search box is on the top of your homepage. Shoot for the upper right corner. Users often expect to see a search box here and may wish to search your web site to the information they are seeking. You should use Internet search or FreeFind, while they both provide you with access to an engine which happens to be free and simple to operate. 4.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -Make sure to be sure that your web site works about the different browsers which can be around. Different internet browsers can display the valuables in your internet site differently, that may sometimes dramatically alter a visitor’s experience. There are now many websites that you can visit to determine which internet browsers are most frequently employed by internet users. Use all popular browsers to check your website, including the mobile web ones. Read More

2 Second Lesson – Business Web Design Basics

It’s time for your second lesson in the Business Web Design Basics crash course. I hope you found lesson one informative and now have a better understanding of the importance of good web design.

In this lesson we are going to go over a few more ways that you can improve the usability of your website, so that you can attract and retain more visitors.

As we discussed in your last lesson, the look of your site is very important. However, if it’s hard to navigate and the main content isn’t visible and easily accessible, then the simple fact is; your site isn’t very useful to your visitors and they won’t waste any time moving on to your competitors.

Today we are going to discuss some simple tips that you can use to improve the usability of your website to ensure that it looks good, functions properly and remains user-friendly.

– Content

The first thing you should do is make sure that your content is free from spelling and grammar errors. Break it up into small easy to read blocks of text that your visitor can consume quickly, without much effort. You should also make sure the font size of your text is large enough to read easily so that your visitors don’t have to strain their eyes to read the actual text.

If you are using CSS to style your website it will do most of the work for you by setting the font size and spacing out the lines according to your desired style set.

– Navigation

Make it easy for visitors to find content that brought them to your site by focusing on good navigation. For instance, if you have hundreds of

articles on your site and a certain visitor wants to find one specific article, you have to provide them with an easy way to locate it quickly.

You can do this by providing a search feature on your website, adding easy to see navigation links and including a sitemap. how you include these aspects in your design will depend on what platform you are using to build it. If you are using a platform like WordPress you will be able to use a SQL-driven database to help organize your content easily and effectively.

– Load Time and Compatibility

It’s important to make sure that your site loads fast so that you don’t lose visitors before they’ve had a chance to see what you have to offer. Fact: most internet users will leave a website within 15 seconds if it doesn’t load completely. There are several things that you can do to reduce the load time of your website including optimizing your images, limiting the amount of scripts you run, Etc.

It’s important to keep in mind that your visitors will be using different Web browsers when viewing your website, so you will also want to ensure that your website is cross browser compatible.

There are many tools available that you can use to check the load

time and compatibility of your website. they will also provide you with helpful tips and information that you can use to make sure that your visitor has a smooth and enjoyable experience on your website.

Here are a few to help get you started:

Pingdom.com https://ift.tt/va33Fd

Webpagetest.org https://ift.tt/gNGMPa

Browsershots.org http://browsershots.org

Last of all you should test each and every link on your site to ensure that their functioning properly. There is nothing more irritating to a visitor than clicking on broken link’s. Of course you should check the links manually whenever you create a new page. However, if you have hundreds or even thousands of pages on your website then you may want to use a good link checking tool like the one at: https://ift.tt/HeTE4I

By taking the time to make sure that your website is easy to navigate and user-friendly you can help ensure that your visitors will stick around!

That’s it for today’s lesson. In your next lesson we will be talking about the importance of including a sitemap in your web design. Again, I appreciate you joining me for this short course.

If you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact me at anytime. I’ll be glad to help.

Until then,

“DBL07 Consulting”

3 Third Lesson – Business Web Design Basics

Hey,

It’s “DBL07 Consulting”, with your third lesson Business Web Design Basics crash course. I hope you found a lesson two informative and now have a better understanding of the importance of making your site easy to navigate and user-friendly.

Today we’re going to talk about the importance of including a well-crafted sitemap. We touched on this briefly in your last lesson, but I feel it deserves a little more attention because it is often a forgotten or overlooked part of a good site design.

As the name implies a sitemap literally acts as a map of your website. Unless your website is massive and includes thousands of pages a sitemap is usually a single page that contains links to each individual page on your website.

There are several options available when it comes to creating a sitemap for your website. Including manually creating the page yourself or using a sitemap generator like the ones found at: https://ift.tt/zqkd5M

There are also different types of site maps that can be created including:

-XML sitemap that can be submitted to Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines to help them crawl your website better.

– A text sitemap that displays a plain list of all your pages.

– An ROR sitemap, which is an independent XML format used by multiple search engines.

– An HTML sitemap specifically designed to help visitors to easily navigate on your site

Which ever type of site map you decide to use it’s a good idea to include a link to it on your front page as well as the main pages this will help ensure easy access for not only your visitors, but the search engines as well.

Let’s go over a few reasons why a sitemap is important to the success of your web design:

– Optimization

Sitemaps are very important when it comes to search engine

optimization. Imagine what happens when search engine robots visit your sitemap. They will follow the links on the sitemap and naturally index every single page of your site.

– Navigation purposes

If your visitors browses your site and can’t find what they’re looking for from the main pages on your site, they will often refer to your sitemap. You may be surprised to learn that many Internet users will go to your sitemap first and navigate through your pages from there.

– Organization and relevance

A sitemap enables you to have a complete bird’s eye view of your site structure, and whenever you need to add new content or new sections, you will be able to take the existing hierarchy into consideration just by glancing at the sitemap. As a result, you will have a perfectly organized site with everything sorted according to their relevance.

Once you have created your sitemap you’ll want to take some time and submit it to search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing etc. This will encourage the search engines to send out robots, often referred to crawlers, which are powerful programs used to catalog and index your webpages for inclusion in their directories.

That’s it for today’s lesson. In your next lesson we are going to talk more about search engine optimization and creating search engine friendly webpages.

Remember, if you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact me. I’ll be glad to help.

Until then,

DBL07 Consulting

4 Fourth Lesson – Business Web Design Basics

Hey,

How are you today?

Well, we are winding down to the end of this short course, but we still need to go over a few things if you want to know how to start designing a website that looks good, functions properly and is still user-friendly.

Today we are going to jump right in and talk more about search engine optimization and creating search engine friendly webpages.

A major source of traffic for most sites on the Internet is search engines like Google, Yahoo!, Bing, Ask and so on. Hence, by designing a search engine friendly website, you will be better able to rank well in the major

search engines and in turn obtain more visitors.

As I briefly mentioned in your last lesson, the search engines use programs known as robots or crawlers to index the pages of your website to include in their directories. When a search engine robot visits your website it follows the links to your pages, reads the content and records it in their directory database.

These directories literally house millions of webpages all categorized according to keywords and relevance, ready to serve up the best results possible based on an Internet user’s query. So it stands to reason that you’ll want to make your site as search engine friendly as possible.

Let’s quickly go over a few things you can do to help ensure that your site is search engine friendly:

Avoid using frames on your website unless absolutely necessary. Frames can confuse search engine robots and often cause them to index it incorrectly or abandon completely. Frames also make it difficult for users to bookmark a specific page on your site without using long, complicated scripts.

Do not present important information in video, Flash, or images. It’s important to keep in mind that search engine robots can only read the text in your source code, so if you present important information in any other format other than text your search engine ranking ca be affected dramatically.

Use meta tags accordingly on each and every page of your site so that search engine robots know at first glance what that particular page is about and whether or not to index it. By using meta tags, you are making the search engine robot’s job easier so they will crawl and index your site more frequently.

Stop using wrong HTML tags like <font> to style your page. Use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) instead because they are more effective and efficient. By using CSS, you can eliminate redundant HTML tags and make your pages much lighter and faster to load.

I hope today’s lesson was helpful to you. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for my next email. There will be some great stuff in your last lesson. we are going to be talking about going to talk about designing your website so that it’s easy for your customers to make a purchase.

Until then,

“DBL07 Consulting”

5 Fifth Lesson – Business Web Design Basics

Hey,

Well, we have come to the final lesson in the Business Web Design Basics crash course. I sure hope you have enjoyed your lessons and learned a lot about building your own attractive, user-friendly website.

In this last lesson we are going to talk about designing your website so that it’s easy for your customers to make a purchase.

There is no doubt that convincing your prospects to make purchase from your website is a hard job! But have you ever considered that you could be making the process more difficult and necessary? This is especially true if your site is poorly designed and your prospective customers don’t have a clear and easy path to the order button!

That’s why when designing your website it’s always important to keep in mind that it doesn’t matter how good your content is or how good you are at convincing your prospects that they need what you have to offer, they won’t make a purchase if they find the process confusing or complicated.

Now let’s go over a few specific design techniques that you can use to ensure a smooth and painless transaction for your customers:

– Clear path to order

As I mentioned, make sure that your prospective customers can find your order form quickly and easily. You never want to make them hunt for the buy button. You can do this in several ways, one is by writing a clear, concise paragraph to direct your prospects to your order form so that you can minimize the chances of them getting lost. You can also reduce the

chances of losing prospects by putting a prominent link to your order page from every other page on your site.

– Multiple payment options

Next, you should offer multiple payment options? Some people may feel comfortable paying via Paypal, some may only want to pay with their credit card and others might want to send a check. The more options you offer, the better your chances of covering your prospects’ desired payment method.

You also want to make your that prospective customer is as comfortable making a purchase from you as possible, so you need to do everything you can to prove that you are a reliable and credible merchant.

To do this make sure that you are using a secured order form with SSL encryption technology. Most online payment processors like PayPal offer this without any extra effort or cost on your part.

Here are a few of the top online payment processors for you to check out:

PayPal http://www.paypal.com

Authorize.Net https://ift.tt/qRRFvQ

Google Checkout https://ift.tt/tkCNxK

Amazon Payments https://ift.tt/u5u3Kt

We Pay https://www.wepay.com

– Offer a money back guarantee

It is also important to offer a money back guarantee, so that people will feel confident about buying from you. Don’t worry that this will cause you to lose money in fact a good refund policy often increases sales substantially.

The majority of customers will not request a refund, especially if

you are offering a quality product. However, if they do request a refund make sure the process is quick and easy as well. This will make them

happy and help ensure that they will feel comfortable making a purchase again in the future.

– Be available to help

Always include some form of contact information on your sales page. A help desk or ticket system is an excellent choice and not very difficult to include. This way customers can contact you with any questions, concerns or problems they may have before or during the purchasing process.

– Include testimonials

If you have a list of happy customers be sure to include their testimonials on your website in a prominent place, for instance, with in the sales copy and below the order button. This will help make new customers feel more confident when making a purchase from your website.

By taking the time to include these basic elements within your web design you can make your prospective customers feel confident and safe and such your during the check out process, which will help increase your profits too!

As we close this final lesson I would like to thank you again for joining me for the short course and I sincerely hope that you have learned a lot about how incorporating good design elements into your business website!

Even though the course has come to an end, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about how to build your own attractive, functional and user-friendly business website. I will still be glad to help.

Until then, Cheers!

For 150 more Free Website Design Tips Checkout our blog, Here is a sample

150 Website Design Tips – Columbia SC – Tampa FL – Hawaii

1.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -Do not forget to try out your site on several major browsers. A particular browser will interpret an internet site differently than a different one will, and quite often the differences can be drastic. Learn which browsers are utilized the most. Usually do not neglect mobile browsers, because they are increasingly utilized by people of any age test to discover that your particular new site works across an entire spectrum of browsers.

2.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -White is a superb option for your page background color. Your site content can turn out to be easier to read — and make trust in your site if you utilize a white background. Gaudy backgrounds, by contrast, often blend in together with the content, and make it appear to be hastily assembled. It is usually preferable to get a simple background.

3.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -In case you are making a very big website, you need to always include a search function in to the site. A good place to put your search box is on the top of your homepage. Shoot for the upper right corner. Users often expect to see a search box here and may wish to search your web site to the information they are seeking. You should use Internet search or FreeFind, while they both provide you with access to an engine which happens to be free and simple to operate.

4.DBL07 Website Design Tip + Columbia SC + Tampa FL + Hawaii -Make sure to be sure that your web site works about the different browsers which can be around. Different internet browsers can display the valuables in your internet site differently, that may sometimes dramatically alter a visitor’s experience. There are now many websites that you can visit to determine which internet browsers are most frequently employed by internet users. Use all popular browsers to check your website, including the mobile web ones.

Read More

DBL07 Consulting Website Design Irmo SC DBL07 Consulting & Web Design

Website Design Columbia SC DBL07

1400 Pickens St

Columbia SC 29201

  Website Design Tampa FL

400 North Ashley Drive

Tampa, FL 33602

  Web Design Hawaii

4331 Kauai Beach Drive

Kauai, HI 96766

Matthew Rings

803-479-7699

CEO & Founder DBL07 Consulting http://www.DBL07.CO

We specialize in Website Design, Social Media Connectivity, SEO Business Listings and Online Reputation Management.  

Website Design Company Columbia SC

mailto:007@DBL07.CO

CEO & Founder Onion Rings Studios http://www.OnionRingsStudios.com

CEO & Founder Carolina Destination Weddings https://ift.tt/1kk8FX1

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin

  Author of:

Kauai Tips Tricks

The Pursuit of Man: Genesis

DC 4 Teens

In God We Trust?

  Originally posted 2014-06-06 20:47:29.

source https://www.dbl07.co/free-website-design-tips-for-businesses/

[mathematicianadda]

Intmath Newsletter: Poly equations, charts, potential, water

31 Oct 2019

In this Newsletter:

1. New on IntMath: Polynomial equations graph solver 2. Resources: Tilt Brush, charts 3. Math in the news: Lenses, integral equations 4. Math movies: Potential 5. Math puzzle: Square age 6. Final thought: Water

1. New on IntMath: Polynomial equations graph solver

After many reader requests, I rewrote a lot of the Solving Polynomial Equations chapter recently. I'm not a big fan of the way this topic is normally handled (via the Remainder and Factor Theorems) mostly because those techniques only work for low degree polynomials with "nice" numbers and involve an amount of guesswork. But I agree there is some benefit to learning the concepts.

The revised pages are:

How to Factor Polynomials

Roots of a Polynomial Equation

I also added one new interative page:

We can always use numerical approaches to finding the roots of equations (like Newton's Method).

But I've always found (for the last 30 years while we've had such tools) that zooming in on the x-intercepts in a graph application is easier and quicker. We can get whatever accuracy we need by zooming in some more.

See: Roots of Polynomial Equations using Graphs

2. Resources

(a) Tilt Brush: Painting from a new perspective

Google's Tilt Brush for Vive, Oculus or Windows Mixed Reality lets you paint in 3D space with virtual reality. There's a lot of scope here for math students and teachers for drawing 3-D functions and vectors.

See: Tilt Brush: Painting from a new perspective

Has anyone played with this? What's your experience been?

(b) Making charts easier to read at a glance

Charts of complex data can be hard to comprehend. This new method from Columbia Engineering and Tufts University aims to develop easier to read data visualizations.

See: New data science method makes charts easier to read at a glance

3. Math in the news

(a) How One Mathematician Solved a 2,000-Year-Old Camera Lens Problem

Greek mathematician Diocles first reported on a problem most lenses have - spherical aberration.

Here's a summary of a recent fix from Popular Mechanics:

See: How One Mathematician Solved a 2,000-Year-Old Camera Lens Problem

And here's the actual paper for those interested:

General formula for bi-aspheric singlet lens design free of spherical aberration

(b) Metamaterials solve integral equations

Solving integral equations has been a staple of science and engineering for hundreds of years. A new optical approach makes computer solutions significantly quicker.

See: Metamaterials solve integral equations

4. Math Movies - fulfilling our potential

(a) How we can help the "forgotten middle" reach their full potential

Most of us fit in the "forgotten middle" - neither exceptional nor problematic. This talk gives some insights - for both students and teachers - on how such people can reach their full potential.

See: How we can help the "forgotten middle" reach their full potential

(b) The boost students need to overcome obstacles

Everyone has a story - a reason why they have not met their own expectations or hopes for their lives. How we approach our obstacles can make a huge difference.

See: The boost students need to overcome obstacles

5. Math puzzles

The puzzle in the last IntMath Newsletter asked about the probability involved in a given hexagon.

There were five attempts at an answer, and all were different. My approach was as follows.

Choose 1 for the length of each side of the octagon. That means the triangles and the square also all have side length 1.

The octagon's area is 2(1 + √2) (a well-known formula, or it can be derived from splitting it up into triangles).

The area of each (equilateral) triangle is √3/4 (half the base times the height) and we have 4 of them, so the total area of the triangles is √3.

The area of the square is 1.

The area of the blue parallelograms (kites) is the hexagon's area minus the area of the trangles and square.

Area blue = 2(1 + √2) − √3 − 1 = 1 + 2 √2 − √3.

So the probability is

New math puzzle: Square age

Europe in 900 CE. [Image credit]

If I said I was x years old in the year x2, it would mean for example, in the year 900 CE (AD), I was 30.

How old would somebody be if they could say that in the 21st century?

When is be the next century when nobody will be able to say the year is the square of their age?

You can leave your response here.

6. Final thought - water

Parts of Australia are undergoing the worst drought in recorded history. Some towns have already effectively passed "day zero" since trucking in water has become necessary. In many places, "day zero" will come sometime next year. Meanwhile, Capetown in South African recently averted a "day zero" situation.

For years scientists have been predicting such scenarios, and for years all we've seen is political football games.

Extremely high water risk in parts of Western USA. [Image credit]

Yes, the rains will come again. But it's more likely the next drought will be even longer. Many Australian farmers are talking about giving up, and this is in the country that promised to be the "food bowl of Asia".

You can't eat coal, and you can't drink oil.

So how did Capetown do it? They imposed personal water restrictions of 50 liters per person per day and tough industrial restrictions ("Level 6B" water restrictions). By comparison, US citizens consume around 500 liters per day, New Zealanders consume 227 liters a day and in India, it's 120 liters per day.

See the state of your country in this Water Risk Atlas data map.

Until next time, enjoy whatever you learn.

Related posts:

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IntMath Newsletter: squaring circle, lens fillet, data visualization In this Newsletter: 1. Squaring the circle - a reader's...

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[harrisjv]

Funnel360 Review Discount And Huge Bonus

Funnel360 Evaluation - Are you looking for even more understanding regarding Funnel360? Please review my straightforward evaluation regarding it prior to picking, to evaluate the weak points and strengths of it. Can it be worth your time and effort as well as cash money?

The Definitive Guide to Creating High Converting Touchdown Pages (Part 1)

Often, all you require is one high transforming landing page to bring in the large bucks.

Right here's the proof.

Conversion Price Experts created $1,000,000 million for Moz with a single landing web page, a tempting phone call to action, and also a couple of emails.

Even if you don't produce that quantity of income, a high transforming touchdown web page can be the foundation of a successful online company. In this overview, I will certainly go into the components of effective touchdown pages and also reveal you how to develop landing web pages that convert well, every time.

The overview will cover:

Recognizing Landing Pages

Carrying Out Marketing Research

Creating Your Landing Web Page

The Psychology of Color

Exactly how to Increase Your Touchdown Web Page Conversion Price

Let's dive in ...

Comprehending Landing Pages

Funnel360 Marketing professionals spend a great deal of time driving web traffic to their site and also blog web pages with the hope that the target audience will join the opt-in procedure. However, if these locations don't attract potential consumers into your sales funnel and also enlighten and transform them into consumers, you are squandering your time.

That's why touchdown web pages are so vital and also developing a great touchdown web page takes greater than slapping on graphics, text and also a call-to-action (CTA) button.

Allow's start with the essentials:

What is a touchdown web page? A touchdown web page is any type of webpage where you send site visitors, in order to initiate a conversation as well as close a bargain.

Reliable landing pages are typically standalone website with a single focus; a call to action pointed at your target market. With any luck this is a lead magnet for you.

You absolutely require to make the landing page a favorable user experience to obtain a greater conversion on e-mail advertising.

According to The Landing Page Course, "Landing pages live individually from your web site and also are developed to only obtain project website traffic. As we'll see, this splitting up permits them to be focused on a solitary objective and makes analytics, reporting & & evaluating a simpler job."

You can make use of a touchdown web page for virtually any kind of function-- to record e-mail leads, sell a product, welcome people to a conference or Funnel360 webinar, make an announcement or use a price cut ... the choice is yours. But, that objective requires to be clear and also connected to a proper call-to-action, as this example from Yellow Pages shows:

Why you need a touchdown page: According to Hubspot, 48% of marketing experts craft a new touchdown web page for each project.

Every online company has a specific reason they require a landing page, yet here it remains in a nutshell: you need a touchdown web page to accomplish a particular objective, whether that's building your brand name, growing your email list or earning a profit. At its core, it facilitates some type of opt-in process.

Right here are some of the primary benefits that you can obtain for your online organisation by using specific landing web pages for your advertising and marketing campaigns:

1. Advertise a favorable first impression: An eye monitoring study highlighted by Conversion XL shows that it takes 2.6 seconds for an individual's eyes to arrive on the part of your website that will certainly leave a perception.

Actually, that time might be also much shorter. Ion Interactive claims people develop impacts in simply 1/20th of a 2nd.

To put it simply, individuals won't stay long on your website, so impressions matter. Touchdown web pages can assist you appeal to your audience, to ensure that they will certainly wish to stick around and make the button from reader to consumer.

Help Precursor's landing web page ignites my interest and makes me wish to try their solution. That's the impact of a wonderful landing page layout that causes a simple call type or registration form.

2. Make use of trust components: Did you understand that Funnel360 photos, video clips and also graphics can attract your visitors and also convince them mentally to do something about it? That's due to the fact that 40% of individuals react better to aesthetic information than to text. It makes for a positive user experience.

I've seen incredible outcomes with a hand-crafted image for my Regarding web page.

As well as, including pictures to my Advanced Guides Collection has actually had stunning results, with over a million distinct site visitors from Google alone.

3. Raise the conversion rate: It's easier to catch email leads from a well-designed landing web page than from a typical blog site or website where the particular goal is higher conversion to a membership type.

That's due to the fact that while your blog might focus on highlighting popular messages, collecting e-mail clients or advising affiliate items, a landing web page has only ONE purpose.

Some landing pages do not even have navigating components, in an initiative to lower diversions. An instance is this landing web page from Jonathan Mead, creator of Paid To Exist.

If you intend to create a high converting landing web page, you have numerous options:

Text-only landing web page: Most on-line marketing professionals like to utilize duplicate that is mainly text-based for their touchdown web pages. They do not include videos or big graphics. simply a couple of pictures to attract the area of your brain that procedures visual info.

Considering that page lots time influences Google rankings, the significant advantage of a text-based landing page is speed for a favorable customer experience.

A text-based touchdown page will deliver promptly on what the headline assures. Copyblogger is a case in point:

Copyblogger utilizes a Funnel360 button rather than a message web link, which is something that I do on my own website to make the CTA noticeable and also attractive.

Video touchdown web page: According to eWeek, on the internet video system revenue is forecasted to cover $800 million by 2019, as YouTube, Vimeo as well as other video clip sites become more preferred.

As recent study programs, one-third of all online task is individuals viewing video as well as it's a great method to help them recognize your service or products. That's why you should think about adding video clip to your touchdown page. Numerous effective net online marketers are already doing this.

Here's a video touchdown page from Blog Dictator. This is his Concerning page, however it's intelligently made to build his personal brand As Well As his e-mail checklist.

Regardless of what your service or product is, adding a brief video clip that walks the prospect/customer with your deal will certainly boost your conversions as long as the opt-in process is basic too.

The advantages of making use of videos on your touchdown page are:

1. Retention: An useful video will motivate individuals to stay much longer on your page, enabling your message to penetrate.

2. Boosted trust: Video clips give your item life as well as a voice, increasing depend on.

3. Fulfilling client preference: Unbounce located that lots of people like to view a 5-minute video clip instead of read a short article. If you give people what they want, your Funnel360 touchdown page will certainly transform much better.

You will certainly require a catchy call-to-action as component of your video. Here's an instance from Derek Halpern.

Video clips can additionally show leads exactly how your item works, which is a needs to if it requires to be mounted or configured. As an example, when you check out Lengthy Tail Pro, you instantly see the video to learn what the search phrase software program can do for you and also just how to use it.

Keep your landing page video short as well as beneficial, since desktop audiences often tend to stick to video clips for much less than 5 minutes. On the other hand, iPad video visitors stay and enjoy a video for approximately 5 mins.

Note: Sometimes you can have a crossbreed landing web page, where more than one aspect is used in the duplicate. A touchdown web page home builder can assist you with ideas for this.

Long or brief duplicate!.?. !? Should landing page duplicate be long or short? It depends upon the web page. It's common to locate long copy touchdown web pages in the internet marketing sector. It's a terrific style when you're trying to showcase the advantages of your products or service in order to close a sale.

On the other hand, if the aim of your landing page is simply to demand somebody's email address in exchange for your free record, your copy as well as page can be brief to enhance the customer experience, obtain even more Funnel360 consumers to delve into the opt-in procedure as well as have more subscription kinds completed.

A typical example of a brief duplicate touchdown page is Quicksprout. It presently transforms at 67.2%, since I just request people's LINK.

My individual opinion is that you ought to examine both sorts of duplicate and also make your very own choice.

Conversion Vigor carried out A/B examinations on short and long duplicate landing pages. In the study, they found that brief duplicate returns great results when there is little commitment for the customer/visitor and also little threat pertaining to the conversion objective.

On the other hand, long landing page duplicate functions well when the offer calls for a high degree of analysis, a higher level of dedication as well as there is higher viewed danger for the conversion goal. Or, as I typically claim, "the bigger the ask, the longer the page."

If you're offering a premium package at $1,997, you require to offer plenty of reasons somebody need to fill out the membership kind as well as spend loan on your item.

Examples of great as well as negative touchdown pages: How do you tell an excellent touchdown page from a bad one? I believe all of it boils down to the objective it fulfills. If the touchdown web page can flawlessly address the visitor's issue, after that it's great.

But, if it does not please the end-user, it's a dreadful landing page. That's not nearly the duplicate, however the positioning of your CTA button, the shade and also simplicity of navigating. If you desire visitors to transform, don't make them look.

Funnel360 Review & Overview

Maker: Dr. Ope Banwo

Item: Funnel360

Launch Day: 2018-Dec-19

Release Time: 11:00 EST

Front-End Price: $37

Niche: Software program

What Is Funnel360?

Funnel360 Is The Worlds First Complete Integrated Funnel Home Builder with a Page Building Contractor +Video Clip Maker + Video Editor on one control panel.

The One-Stop Service For All Entrepreneurs & Business Owners annoyed with the complicated, technological and also pricey procedure of developing Marketing Pieces for their Organisations ... and those who need an inexpensive one-dashboard remedy for developing Advertising Funnels, Web Pages, Sales Video Clips and Professional Graphics ...

PROS

Easily Produce Very Converting Advertising Funnels + webPages + Videos + Videos from 100s of Layouts of from square one in minutes

No Technology Skills Needed - real Artificial Intelligence innovation makes producing Pages, Videos and also Video a straightforward job for every person

Use Ai-Powered Web Page Importer To 'Steal' Any Kind Of Existing Web Page through LINK, Edit And Release It As Your Own In Minutes

Full Commercial & Whitelabel Company rights included - Generate income Producing Funnel Pages, Videos and also Video for 3rd events

Funnel360 Features & Advantages

World's Most Ingenious Drag-n-Drop Internet Site Contractor (Free Flowing - 100% Controlled) Move elements anywhere on the web page, resize them in any shape with basic Click-n-Drag easily, Put them anywhere, increase or lower height, width as well as it'll still be mobile responsive. That's the Power of xFunnels.

Instantly Develop High Converting Funnels Web Page Funnels, Webinar Funnels, Lead Funnels, Traffic Funnels In 1 Click.

No Domain or Hosting Required - Host All Your Websites, Pages & Funnels on our Quick CDN Server - 100% Free for Funnel360 Users Why invest 1000s of dollars annually on domain names as well as holding when you can have fastest loading websites on our fast web servers

A/B Evaluating Make Variations of Pages & Funnels to locate a winning performer

Automatic Pixel Positioning Make Re-targeting list on fb, google and on various other platforms

Mobile pleasant fast loading internet sites (Google Mobile Friendly )

Deep Analytics Know your Conversions, Clicks, Impacts to Min Level at every page

GDPR Compliant & SEO Friendly Ultra Quick Pages

Statistics On Gross Profits, Total Amount Orders & No. Of Opt-Ins in Particular Time Period

Real-time Automobile Save on page during Modifying All adjustments save automatically to prevent any kind of loss due to an unintentional close of a tab.

Exactly How Does Funnel360 Work?

Utilizing Funnel360 is as EASY AS 1-2-3 ...

Action 01: Select Your Sales Funnel

( Sales Funnel, Item Launch Funnel, Subscription Funnel, Email Funnel, Webinar Funnel, Lead Funnel, Website Traffic Funnel, Conversion Funnel )

First, you select the type of sales funnel that is clinically pre-designed to sell YOUR kind of product ... so you can lastly send out web traffic to your deal and watch sales been available in. Or Create One from Scratch In Secs

Tip 02: Make The Ultra-Fast Page In Minutes

Each Step In Funnel is Page, Produce Web Page for Every Step In Funnel.

Already Have a Site Or Touchdown Page?

Paste URL & Import It In Page Editor to Click. Edit. Change. Publish It as Ultra-Fast Web Page In Much Less Than 5 Minutes to produce 25% High Conversions & 400% Times Extra Profits On Same Page, Exact Same Layout.

Usage High Converting Templates To Create Page

Over 100 High Transforming Page Templates In Any Particular niche. Simply CIick.Edit.Modify.Publish your dream page in minutes With Straightforward Steps.

Intend to Create a New Page From Scratch?

Funnel360 has the globe's most convenient Drag-n-Drop as well as free-form page editor Include Aspects (Headline Text, Paragraph, Images, Videos, Contact Us To Actions, Interactive Kinds, 1000s of Shapes, Social Icons, Countdown Timers) to web page Move several aspects at the click of the computer mouse anywhere on a web page, resize them in any kind of form, Increase elevation or size by click and drag easily In Simply 1 Click.

Action 03: Publish Your Funnel Stay In 1 Clicks

All Linked Actions (Pages) will be Active & Live as soon as Funnel is Live. Get extra website traffic, leads, conversions with two times the rate and also make more sales with freshly energetic channel.

Every Page, Every Step, Whatever Is Done In Just Few Minutes!

Conclusion

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Not just are you getting accessibility to Funnel360 for the very best price ever before used, however likewise You're investing totally without risk. Funnel360 include a 30-day Refund Warranty Plan. When you choose Funnel360, your fulfillment is assured. If you are not completely pleased with it for any type of factor within the initial 30 days, you're qualified to a complete refund - no question asked. You've got absolutely nothing to shed! What Are You Awaiting? Attempt It today and also obtain The Following Reward Now!

[roguenewsdao]

Merging Black Holes, Antarctica Pulses, Receding Tides, Earthquakes, and Hurricanes - A Jigsaw Puzzle Part I

"The data sets also indicate that this is something ancient and that perhaps somebody has flipped the "ON" switch. I'm not sure if the "ancient" descriptor is legitimate. But I do trust that the descriptors of "guidance," "sentinel," and "ray gun" do apply."  -- Clif High, interview with Sarah Westall, August 2017

Many people set out on an organized quest when they assemble a jigsaw puzzle. Personally, I like to pick out all the flat-side pieces and connect the border of the picture first. Then I tend to sort the pieces into piles by their dominant colors. Sometimes, within those piles, I'll further sort those colored pieces by their general jigsaw shape.

In this article, I am laying out a few jigsaw puzzle pieces. Some do belong with each other. Some might belong to a different puzzle box. But I will lay them out nonetheless and see where it takes us. In a previous blog [linked here], I introduced this new topic of #Celestials as a hazy disassembled puzzle that invites the readers and armchair scientists out there to put our heads together and look at the futuristic agenda through the eyes of those overlords who have an endgame in mind. Mr. W. has suggested that we think about how the alignments of hyper-dimensional energy waves within our galaxy have an effect on the destructive potential of directed energy weapons. So, if we could figure out what future alignments such a Cabalist would be looking for by which to set his countdown clock, then we might be able to foil their plan of using our own planet and sun against the human race.

In that spirit, I've been thinking about the rush of events that have been happening in just the last six weeks. I am talking about the sudden avalanche of energy events that have exploded within days of each other, some of which you likely haven't even heard of. These are being mentioned in this post as possible puzzle pieces as we try to bring the Cabalists' countdown clock into view. Remember: these #Celestial posts are not meant to present the completed image of this phenomenal jigsaw puzzle; they are only a means of organizing the pieces for display. We all need to work on this puzzle together.

Below and in my blog to follow, I will present summaries of these three recent natural, or not-so-natural, energy events:

1. August 11-12: Coastal residents in Uruguay and Brazil observed their ocean "disappear" and recede several hundred meters from their coastlines. No tsunami occurred and the water lines eventually resumed to normal.

2. August 12-13: Somebody in Antarctica has been re-directing pulses of natural energy at particular times for at least a year, culminating with a highly strange, extended pattern that reached all the way across the southern hemisphere up to Hawaii.

3. August 14: The resultant gravitational wave signal left by the marriage of two black holes located 2 billion light years away was detected by Europe's Virgo interferometer. Scientists hope that observations made by the LIGO and Virgo instruments will launch "a new field of astronomy," a better understanding of the physics of outer space, and most importantly, how to bend the fabric of space-time. 

All three of these events immediately preceded the devastating monster hurricanes that barreled through the Caribbean, leaving a path of destruction in Houston, Miami, Puerto Rico, to name but a few affected areas. At the same time, Mexico was hit on her southwestern coast with an 8.1 temblor which was followed days later by a supposedly unrelated 7.1 earthquake in central Mexico, leaving hundreds dead in Mexico City.

Two Black Holes Send a Signal

A story that only a true physics geek would love: two dancing black holes that became one. As reported by Loren Grush at TheVerge.com, from a galaxy far, far away, on August 14th, the Virgo interferometer in Pisa, Italy detected the gravitational wave signature of an astonishing event that took place nearly 2 billion light years away from Earth. This is the fourth such gravity wave that has been detected by the LIGO observatory in two years:

Astronomers say they have detected another set of gravitational waves — ripples in the fabric of space and time traveling throughout the Universe.... Even these waves diminish significantly on their way to Earth, they can only be detected with the most sensitive instruments. That’s where LIGO and Virgo come in. Each facility is shaped like an “L,” with two long vacuum-sealed tunnels that contain a suspend mirror on both ends. A split laser shining at each mirror is located where the two tunnels meet. When a wave passes, space-time is warped in such a way that it will seem as though the mirrors are getting closer and farther away from the source of the laser. Scientists can measure these movements by timing how long it takes for the laser to reach each mirror. It can be a tiny amount: the movements of the mirrors are 1,000 times smaller than the width of a proton.

On August 25th, LIGO finished its latest observing run that began on November 30th, 2016. It has resulted in at least three detections (and perhaps more that the collaboration hasn’t revealed yet). Virgo, which is slightly less sensitive than LIGO, started its own observations on August 1st, giving the observatory just enough time to detect this black hole merger on August 14th. The two black holes had masses 31 and 25 times that of our Sun, spinning around each other 1.8 billion light-years away. They eventually merged into a single black hole 53 times the mass of our Sun, the study says.

The stated purpose of the Virgo station is pretty interesting in itself. Per her Wikipedia page:

The first goal of Virgo is to directly observe gravitational waves, a straightforward prediction of Albert Einstein's general relativity.... On the longer term, after accomplishing the primary goal of discovering gravitational waves, Virgo aims at being part of the birth of a new branch of astronomy by observing the Universe with a different and complementary perspective than current telescopes and detectors. Information brought by gravitational waves will be added to those provided by the study of the electromagnetic spectrum (microwaves, radio waves, infrared, the visible spectrum, ultraviolet, X rays and gamma rays), of cosmic rays and of neutrinos. 

Other science articles indicate that the LIGO and Virgo research will enable scientists to either confirm Einstein's general relativity or, even better, figure out where his famous theory is lacking. In any event, the research should keep adding to the evidence that will (or has?) lead to evolving that elusive Unified Theory of Everything. Now, I will admit that I am no physics expert and 2 billion light years' worth of distance might seem to be too much of a distance for anything "out there" to radically affect anything "in here." That may be true or maybe we just need a better understanding of what the domino effects are from waves rolling through the universe and connecting with other energy grids. However, what does seem evident is that the scientists who operate at this protected elite level of research are definitely seeking to understand the signal, the information, that is yielded by such a powerful event. On August 14th, they detected such a signal in Europe.

File all of that away as we look at a few other odd energy events in the month of August, one in particular that took place just hours prior to the detection of that signal. Once again, the Neutrino Boyz of Antarctica are up to something again. For the sake of easier blogging and reading, I will save the story about the Disappearing Ocean and the Antarctica Pulse Wave for the next article in this series.

My contact information with link to my Karatbars portal are found at my billboard page of SlayTheBankster.com. Listen to my radio show, Bee In Eden, on Youtube via my show blog at SedonaDeb.wordpress.com.

[water-cygnus-blog]

the inner life of a footnote, part I

you’re not what they see and hear, and neither am i. Infinite Jest, which has been with me since 2011 and with the world since 1996, helps remind me that no one is.

in the novel, David Foster Wallace visits humans across all ages, classes, genders, and (sort of) races, and then transcribes, with keen interest and empathy, the conditions of their interiority. in his 2005 commencement address to graduates of Kenyon college, Wallace explained that “the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about.” like maybe the fact that other people are actually people.

George Eliot said in Middlemarch:

[W]e do not expect people to be deeply moved by what is not unusual. That element of tragedy which lies in the very fact of frequency, has not yet wrought itself into the coarse emotion of mankind; and perhaps our frames could hardly bear much of it. If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence. As it is, the quickest of us walk about well wadded with stupidity.

the fact that other people have lives and interests and concerns and fears and worries is obvious and not unusual, but it’s also not something that u feel in your body - you just feel yourself in there. 

...

one time as kids, my cousin Laura and i painted pennies w nail polish. this is my first memory of painting - maybe of ever making art. i remember thinking that we were defacing government property. i remember we painted the American flag and a five-petaled flower. when Laura got sick, i had been living in Massachusetts for a year. my intuition said to go home to California, where our family was. it was a clear call, and i wanted to go, but i didn’t.

here are 2 separate entries in my journal from the year i first read Infinite Jest, one dated 5/16/11 and one undated; both appear on the same page:

I had to stop reading Infinite Jest because it made me feel ashamed and addicted...

I think maybe it isn’t FAITH that’s necessary for prayer, but instead the need to communicate, the exigency of being heard and understood. Bc I was taught that He knew everything, so it followed that [God] got me on all levels, w/o that assumption now, I don’t know what I’m left w… please make her better, and don’t let her lose hope. I know, she believes in you, so please don’t let her down.

...

something that’s only recently dawned on me: i’ve conflated my desire to make art w a desire to succeed at EVERYTHING, all at once. i was inspired by artists. i listened and read interviews abt ppl passionate abt their PATHS and how creating gave their life meaning. i would think: i love making stuff, too. i want to make things, too. but i don’t want to make art, i just want to be a lawyer who’s passionate abt lawyering.

On 12/22/12, i wrote in my journal: “I wonder what will come of splitting my focus bw learning how to write & trying to be a better law student & trying to get a job. Part of me is terrified knows that writing will have to go, & I’ll just limp along studying, unfulfilled. But there’s this stupid hope that maybe what happens is I start forging some crazy neural connections & everything works out. Or maybe I figure out I was a born writer (another twinge here). Or maybe I just add writing to my life (heart beat faster, excitement) - like how diet & exercise is part of my life.”

to me, “forging some crazy neural connections & everything works out” = being a lawyer AND an artist, w love and passion for both things EQUALLY.

quick aside on that last line in that journal entry: in 2012, i had lost 15-20 lbs after starting to exercise and eating healthier. i gained it all back and then some when faced w the reality of studying for the bar exam and job hunting after law school. i’ve recently gone from 138 to 110 lbs. i take joy and comfort in cooking, and i move my body around. i keep my apartment tidy and inviting. this is NOT how i am all the time. when i tried to give everything i had to the legal profession, my home would be littered in ash and pizza boxes, with the dishes crusted and piled. one time i found a rotted piece of raw salmon on the floor. i wheezed on staircases. i don’t want to tell u all this, but i’m trying to be honest here.

...

i appreciate that Wallace opens the discussion of addiction w people who have problems w weed (Ken Erdedy, Kate Gompert), which is p benign as far as drugs go. it’s a brilliant rhetorical strategy. it makes it easier to accept one of his premises in IJ: that it doesn’t matter what the thing is; if you’re addicted to it, it’s bad and soul shrinking. C.G. Jung said “[e]very form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism,” and that addiction is “the equivalent, on a low level, of the spiritual thirst of our being for wholeness.”

me? i’m addicted to STABILITY and maybe an idealized image of what i could or SHOULD be. here’s me in my last year of law school (4/27/14):

Where am I? Place of flux - many moments of deep, true happiness, but @ least the most confused and directionless I’ve ever felt. Unmoored and (unintelligible) and in a fog w/r/t what I do (identity & purpose)

Although the q of who I am is less vexing than it ever has been, in terms of values, if I’m a piece of shit, it’s mostly bc I don’t have a job.

throughout this journal (2013-2014), I tried to exhort myself to take heart, to CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY. i found comfort in jotting down lists of potential writing assignments and stories, but nothing ever comes to fruition. i drew and wrote notes, and the art was bad and discouraging. i gave up. i stopped exercising and eating well. i drank to dull pain and find oblivion. at the same time, i focused on work. the job was going v well. but i struggled to snuff out my desire to balance work w art in order to make a life in New York, or rather a living. i know that time isn’t separate from flesh, but i didn’t know it in my body until my phone rang, and it was my dad, and i knew and i ran to the hall and i put on my shoes but there was nowhere to go and i fell to the floor, and across the country Laura was gone.

...

maybe i’m reading Infinite Jest now, six years later, bc when i started reading it, i was in a moment before things became irrevocable. there was a moment when my intuition, my body - was tugging in the direction of love, family, truth. but my desire for a well-defined career path and stability tugged harder. i was motivated by fear. i thought that i was being crazy to change my plans and go home. i needed to go to law school before it was too late, before i ruined any chance of building a stable life, before the money ran out, before time ran out. i’d tend to everything else later. i just needed to focus on getting my life together first. 

time ran out anyway. i guess this all begs the question: why am i not just re-reading the thing, but trying to write about it? maybe i want to write because i’m done bullshitting myself. maybe i just want to learn how to start telling the truth. all i want is a noble skull, like Yorick’s. i want to be an artist, but i’m out of practice. and so i’m going back in time. back to the site of the damage, putting my shoes on, no matter how futile that was and is now.

part II

[reesesxxpieces-blog]

Chapter Sixteen : Baby Names and Plans for the Future

Spencer For two months, a spare bedroom at Judas’ had become home.  Spencer wouldn’t ever quite feel at home there, but she knew it was her own fault they were in the position to be there; a guilt that would never quite leave her.  Sitting in the middle of the bed, still in her uniform from work that day, a laptop and pad of paper in front of her, she was looking at houses to purchase online while scribbling figures of down payments on the pad of paper.  Frustration had her by the throat as it had occurred to her that morning they had five weeks to prepare for their son’s arrival, if not less depending on his eagerness to enter the world.  Scrappy nudged Spencer’s hand for her attention, which was easily split between the computer and the dog while a demanding baby within played a game of kickboxing with her ribcage.  Flipping the page of the notebook, she glanced down at another list she had running.  The top name on the list had immense marks scratched through it making the name impossible to read, but she knew what laid beneath it.  A name she had always hoped could be given to her first born son was now not an option.  The thought alone had her flipping back to the numbers on the page before as it was easier to work through even without funds in the bank to back any of it up.  A low whine from Scrappy as he jumped off the bed and Spencer knew easily what that meant.  John was back.  She shoved the notebook under the mattress as she brought the computer to her lap as though she’d been casually looking at homes instead of crunching numbers and working on baby names.  Keeping it casual for him as the pressure she felt didn’t have to go both ways.

John "What the fuck happened?" The penthouse door could barely close behind him before his brother’s voice was starting up. Knowing it would. The biker rolled his eyes. "What? You don't like it? Thought you might get one too?" Rubbing his hand over the rough scrape of his buzz cut, Judas nearly winced at the thought. That would be the day when Judas let a 2 clip hit those precious locks. "Fuck outta here, Mister Clean..." Johnny smirked. Pulling his leather cut from his back. Already too hot from the ride as he pulled the cut over his shoulder. It was a multi-million dollar penthouse. It should have been a dream, but it wasn't his. Making his way towards the guest wing of the place that had become their own, getting their own bathroom and even living room in the process. Judas had been more than hospitable but it still wasn't theirs. Walking into the bedroom, he located his wife laying there. "Evening, fertile turtle..." he hummed, tossing his cut to the edge of the bed before his shirt was lobbed off. Instantly going to the rooms independent heating unit to ice them out.

Spencer The whimper of the dog only grew louder as John’s voice grew closer.  A growing pup anxious to see his daddy, waiting to greet him at the door.  Though they had the space to spread out, Spencer still found herself locking herself in that room when John wasn’t there.  It wasn’t home.  She wasn’t comfortable.  She wanted what was theirs again.  As John entered the room, the dog was instantly transformed into a kangaroo, jumping upwards to get at John every step of the way.  Spencer shifted the laptop beside her, revealing the untucked shirt she despised so much.  Previously, she donned jeans and a t-shirt to work.  For the last two months, she’d been on desk duty.  A dreaded place that required a uniform, of which she hated more and more with each passing day.  Once John was there, she was able to disarm herself, easing the clip from her side, placing the firearm on the nightstand, something she would only allow herself to do when he was home.  “Evening, super sperm.”  She returned, pressing her hand against the bed to allow herself to stand up off the bed, moving a little slower these days.  Running her hand atop his head, the hairs tickling her palm, she smirked.  “I like it,” she offered, always liking it best right after he’d get it trimmed.  “Hope you’re feeling adventurous.  I found a problem this morning and I don’t much know any other way to rectify it…” she offered, biting at her lower lip as she recalled the struggle that took place in the shower that morning.  “I can’t quite reach…” she added, making quite the distressed facial expression as she indicated she’d attempted shaving and Mr. James within her had other plans for her always smooth legs.

John "I don't know how super it was..." he returned, reaching down to pet Scrappy who was quickly exceeding the name 'puppy.' Each day he grew a little taller and twice as wide. He no doubt was adding extra security alongside Spence. Between her piece on the sidetable and the dog, he could feel a little better as he went about his day. Watching her move herself and give her stamp of approval. "Yeah, fuck the long hair shit. Been there, done that. Too hot." He complained, not to mention he had shaved his head for the first time to mark a transition. Hearing her mention a problem, he cocked a brow before it was explained. Having to laugh. "First it's your legs...you know what goes next..."

Spencer “Maybe in the winter, just so I can see it long?”  She asked, eyes lifting as if it might be something of a turn on for her, especially when she wouldn’t feel as though she weighed 300 pounds.  Watching as he interacted with the dog, she crossed her arms over her chest, another region that had grown a bit in the process of things, looking up at him as if to ask where her kiss was.  Clearly having to wait her turn since she couldn’t quite do the kangaroo move Scrappy could.  “Well… if I’m being honest here… I lost sight of that some time ago.”  She mentioned, knowing well that it had been well cared for in the mean time, though she’d not confessed until now just how.  “Last month I couldn’t get there, so I had someone help with that.”  She spoke honestly, only hoping the man wouldn’t lose his shit on the matter.  “I can get help on the leg part too, but they don’t have an opening until next week, so it’s either you help me, or I slice myself to bits trying, or we don’t have sex for a week…”

John Distracted with the dog at his kneecap, wet kisses and a demand for attention. He knew she was awaiting something as she crossed her arms. Leaning in, he landed his kiss on her. Hearing her mention what she had gotten help on, he cocked a brow. Never having expected that one. "Well, I never had a full bush before. I know you'd love to be that first for me." He teased, sitting down on the bed where he cracking her a telling smile. "I can help if you'd like me to."

Spencer Watching as he took that seat, she could still feel that half kiss at her lips.  As he agreed to help her, she eyed him over his previous statement about a full bush, which she’d never be party to.  Just the sound of it had her feeling the need to shower and manage what she could in that region on her own.  She’d rather sport cuts than sport the alternative.  Offering him a smile as she approached him there on the bed, she wouldn’t dare sit on his thigh as she might have normally done, feeling as though she’d probably break him at this point, though her own mental image of herself was much different than what was really there.  “I think I’d like that.”  She nodded, reaching over for the laptop just behind him to show him what she had found since she had gotten home from work.  “It might take some work to get them move in ready, but maybe…?”  She asked, showing him the fixer uppers she had found.  The down payments would be lower than something finished out, but it would mean they would have to do a bit more hands on work before they could move in.  “If we work hard, maybe by the time the baby is here?...”  It was pushing it and she knew it, but on the next tab if he were to click over, he’d see the ones she was actually interested in, but the down payments alone could kill them.

John As he sat down, his hands were already reaching for her ankles. Positioning himself for the usual foot massage, seeking to reduce the swelling as he laid on his side. Looking over the computer screen at what she had been occupying herself with. "We should just get one for sherrif's sale and work on it..." the man stated, having his fair share of technical knowledge. Unable to write a text without a spelling error but he was good with his hands. Wood working, carpentry. Hell, he had done dry wall out of high school and played his hand at some electrician work. Eyeing the pictures and the prices that came with them. "Now I remember why we were squatters growin' up. You got to be fuckin' crazy to agree to a number with three digits in it before the comma." He remarked, maybe one of the only thing his mother had done that he agreed with.

Spencer As he started in on what they should opt for, she felt her heart sink a little.  He had only seen the first batch.  The needs work batch.  Not the ones that truly had her attention.  She’d even played with the idea of asking her former partner for a loan, knowing he could handle a down payment.  Or the engagement ring she still had in storage from Chris Wilson.  Surely that would bring in a good amount towards a down payment.  Since coming off homicide, her takes were small and not so often anymore, leaving her to rely on true earnings, finding that making an honest living was pure hell when looking to buy a home.  Her credit was good, stellar, so even that was an option if they could get a seller to roll the down payment into the mortgage.  But John was right.  Reaching forward to click the second tab closed, not wanting him to see what she actually wanted now that he had told her what would be best.  Maybe it would be best.  And maybe it would all work out okay in the end.  Maybe it would be better than the others that were ready to move in with vaulted ceilings.  She slipped her hand over, nudging his out of the way so she could close that other tab without him much noticing as she brought her lips against his.  Partially a ploy for distraction and partially to grant herself that kiss she had wanted before instead of the ‘in passing’ kiss he had given her.  

John Feeling her nudge, his eyes were already on that second tab and had been. Prepared for the showing bringing his eyes to meet her. Pressing his lips back to hers yet his hand didn't budge. Not catching on as she wanted to show him something and he was there to be shown, not directly suggesting that he could learn how to give her the things she wanted in this house at half the expense. She already saw the few pieces in his apartment of what he was capable of. He could have been a carpenter in his own right if life had led him down the right path.

Spencer As his hand didn’t budge, yet he met her kiss, she knew she was not as sly as she liked to think she was.  Pulling back from the kiss, she leaned back against the bed completely, removing her hand from where she’d made an attempt at that trackpad to close the tab.  “That second page would need less work… we could move in right away if we could figure out the financial side of things…” she confessed, leaning over to draw her notebook from between the mattress and box springs, her only thought on that first page with the numbers scribbled on it, not the second page with prospective baby names jotted beyond the one severely scribbled through.  Placing the notebook beside the computer, she allowed him to see her scribblings.  Notes in the margins about potential lenders she might be approved through for down payment money.  Potential takes that she might be able to collect on with a threat or two.  Kenneth Ryan’s name as a potential contact she could tap for some assistance, even though she was quick to think John would draw his own line through that one.  “But if you saw something on the first tab you’d like to take on…”  she offered, a bite to her lower lip as she wasn’t sure there was time for all of it.  Five weeks just wasn’t long and they had yet to buy a single thing for the baby who was quickly approaching.

John Eyes scanning over the page, attempting to make sense of it all. Words weren't his thing, yet even he could see the name of her partner on the end of the page. Whatever involved him, he didn't want. "So you want to do this like...legit." he asked, his own way of saying legally, as surely he could make quick cash within the club asking if Blade had any lose ends he needed tied up. He always did. Hell, someone always did. There was always a place in the city ready to put up big dollars even if there wasn't necessarily a threat as they had been made to understand. Eyes lifting up to hers at his inquisition before back to the page. Clicking over where the price ranges hit him in the face. What was the point? These were someone else's houses. Built by foreign hands. "You know, we might have to sell this kid to afford shit like this..."

Spencer “We don’t have to sell the kid.  We just have to get in the house.  Then I’ll be back at work soon after and things will be better,” she reminded him.  On desk duty, she didn’t have the luxury of the take anymore whilst on desk duty, but once she was back in her jeans and boots, the money would roll in once more.  She wasn’t above doing it illegally, but her credit was good, and with her job she was sure there were allowances given with the detective title on an application.  She knew two things for sure.  This baby was coming and they were still pursuing custody of River.  It was time to start making something happen, or they’d be raising a family in Judas’ place, which she still wasn’t comfortable within.  Sitting up from where she had been laying back, she rose from the bed, finally unbuttoning the button down uniform shirt she despised, dropping it there at the end of the bed.  “It can wait until tomorrow,” she offered, as their status or situation wasn’t changing any in the next twenty-four hours that she knew of.  Slipping the pants down that now had no button on them, she laid them to the end of the bed as well to go with dry cleaning for next week’s shifts.  Heading towards the bathroom, she paused a minute, pressing a quick kiss to his forehead as a whisper found her lips.  “Don’t stress about it,” she offered, knowing she was doing enough of that for the both of them as she slipped into the bathroom to start a bath, giving no thought to that which he had right in front of him with that notebook on the following page.  “How was your day?”  She asked from within the bathroom as she waited for the water to warm up.

John Watching her stand up, not stressing about it at all. Just trying to understand where they stood as she walked to the bathroom. Closing the laptop head as he didn't get why it was brought up just to side step it, hearing her question. He shrugged. Leaning back into the headboard where his eyes wandered to one of the walls. "Alright, I guess...you?" He asked, collecting the notebook and her laptop which he set to the sidetable allowing him to stretch out in her absence.

Spencer “Hell,” she returned almost too quickly.  She hated desk duty.  Hated it.  Lucky for John, she didn’t resent him for pushing the issue on it, as she knew it was best for their child, but she still hated it.  “How many times do I have to answer the same phone call, tell them I’m going to transfer them, for them to hang up and call back like they are suddenly going to have the right person on the end of the phone?”  She knew the answer to her own question.  It was in fact six.  Running her hand under the water, the temperature was finally right, even if the doctor’s had instructed her no more hot baths, only luke warm.  She’d run it a little higher anyways.  Stopping the drain, she turned around, finally removing her undergarments as she stepped over the side of the tub.  One hand coming to the soap dish, the other to the edge of the tub to lower herself down carefully.  In truth, it wouldn’t be long before even this would require a helping hand, but for now she was able to ease into the tub without too much trouble, making herself comfortable at least until she’d have to sit up to turn the water off.  “I have loved carrying your child, John, but I cannot wait until this is over.”

John "Atleast they aren't strippers." He reminded her, hearing her complaints yet knowing they were valid as she continued now that the water was off. He shook his head. "You don't gotta lie to me, Spence. Pregnancy sucks." He remarked as his eyes wandered to the notebook at the side of the desk. Eyes narrowing as he managed the list title. Wondering what the big mystery was. Like she didn't want him to know she was pregnant and that they needed a name or things for this baby. He let it be. She'd talk to him in her own time as he tried this patience thing out for a whirl and attempted to respect her privacy.

Spencer He had her on that point.  They weren’t strippers.  Just the word alone was enough to shoot jealousy through her veins all over again.  John was working with these women.  He always had, but back when this all began, she didn’t look like… this.  She felt about as far away from sexy as a woman could feel, and yet he had women surrounding him constantly that certainly could get him going in ways she could no longer pull off.  Once the water was off, she leaned back, closing her eyes as she heard silence in the bedroom.  Figuring already he had laid down, she wasn’t going to disturb him further.  A few moments would pass by before she’d sit upwards, reaching for her razor and shaving gel to give it a go herself once more.  Spraying the gel into her hand, she propped her ankle on the edge of the tub to assist her reach, lathering her leg as best she could.  A strong kick from within would tell her baby James was having none of that pressure she was applying, prompting her to lean back in the tub, her soaped hand coming against her stomach to urge the baby to cooperate with her.  When it was clear that wasn’t going to happen, she’d have no choice but to admit defeat, which was not a defining characteristic of Spencer James.  “John?”  She asked, her tone altogether different.  That tone meant she was at a loss.  That she couldn’t do something herself.  That tone meant she needed him not to answer, but that she actually needed him.  A tone she hated the very sound of as it came from her lips.

John Hearing nothing in response, he figured that to be the end of it. Humming low to himself in a "now what?" Instance. Tempted to turn on the TV which he ultimately did. Flipping on Sports Center before he heard his name. Not even having to respond as he stood up and made his way to the bathroom. "Got a hot date?" He asked figuratively, approaching the side of the tub, hand reached out for the razor.

Spencer As he entered the bathroom, her very on knight in shining armor, her face depicted how much she hated asking for help, hence the reason she had sought other forms of treatment for the other region that needed attention regularly.  As he lifted the razor, her pout was on display.  “If I had a hot date, I think he’d be rather disappointed,” she spoke honestly, remaining leaned back in the tub, unable to keep herself from thinking this was a far cry from where they were those first months of their marriage, having to wonder if he was let down at all by it all.  

John "What's to be disappointed about? A hot girl you can't get any /more/ pregnant, shit...sign me up." Knowing the woman was feeling a bit more off than usual, he didn't like the sounds of it. He took those insults personally. She has his, after all. Looking at her with the razor in hand. "Alright, what do you think is the best way to do this? You wanna lean back and put your leg over my lap or..." eyeing her for her comfort, he forced a brow.

Spencer With a bite to her lower lip, she found his tone there indicating to her he didn’t like what she had said one bit.  She drew in a breath as he posed his question to her, almost drawing a laugh from the woman.  She didn’t know how to do it any more than he did to be honest.  “Well… I…” she offered, trying to think this through.  She could leave her leg on the edge of the tub as it was if he could get a safe angle.  Then, she knew.  If only she could help with the process to get it there.  “How about you make this a hot date and strip,” she offered, a lift of her brows as she suggested he join her in the tub.  He could sit across from her and she could rest her foot against his chest.  The angle would be right and they could be together, if he felt comfortable with it, that was.  “If you did a little stripper dance, it might make me feel better,” she teased, trying to make light of it as she reached over, stealing the razor from his hand as she urged for a little entertainment in the bathtub since she wasn’t able to offer much these days.

John Watching her steal the razor, he decided to play her at her own game. "I can't just strip? I used to be good enough for you once, Spence..." his dry tone suggested sarcasm as he stood up, reaching for the button of his jeans as he let them drop. Reaching for his boxers where he guided them down to his ankles. No music or dancing needed. "That's all you get."

Spencer Instantly he had taken a rather down on herself wife and turned her into a woman who was genuinely happy.  Her laughter took over as she heard his statement, to which she couldn’t respond to before his clothing was coming off, in his very own stripping style.  “Ya know, for a guy that works with strippers…” she suggested, the one and only time in their marriage she’d refer to his job as something that could have been brought home to her.  Lifting her hand out towards him, she flashed him a full smile; one she hadn’t worn in a while.  “C’mere,” she urged as her hand was outstretched towards him, finding herself potentially more in love with him in that moment than she had been to begin with.  The mere fact he would entertain her spoke volumes to the woman, let alone the fact he was still coming home to her every night when she was looking the way she was.  It said something.  Something Brock Reese would never believe.  

John "I'm not a stripper. I just clean up the glitter and make sure no one trips." He reminded her warmly, he had never been that type. She knew who he was at this point. No flash or thrills. Just Johnny James. Watching her hand seek out his, he took it with ease where he gave her a gentle squeeze. Waiting for her to curl her legs up to give him the necessary footing. Stepping within the tub. The alignment of her sitting and him standing making it ever clear that the two were quite comfortable with one another at this juncture.

Spencer As he stepped within the tub, she kept his hand as though he needed her help at all.  She knew he didn’t, but it made this whole needing help thing not feel so bad, of course John was making quick remedy of that all on his own.  Crossing her legs Indian style in front of herself, she gave him the room to lower, although her eyes were most certainly where they didn’t belong.  Or maybe they did.  But she couldn’t help herself.  She’d make no secret of it as she slowly brought her eyes back upwards to his as he was now given the room to ease down in front of her.  “Good thing this tub is bigger than ours was.  I don’t know that we could’ve made this work at home,” she reasoned, still finding the old apartment to feel more like home than this did, though she was still making the best of it.  “When we do find a house, we need tubs like these,” she added, bringing the conversation back to that which she had abandoned before.  “Tubs so big we can sit side by side,” she exaggerated as it wasn’t so in this one, but making her point just the same.  A slow smile finding her face as she realized this stood as the first time she’d ever seen the man in a tub instead of using a shower, not taking it lightly as she knew he was in there for her.  “You’re a good man, John James of South Philly,” she whispered, an honest smile there at her lips as he truly had made every bit of the best husband she could have imagined.  Thinking back to the day they wed and how unhappy she was with that which they had to do, things had truly come full circle for the two in the last eleven months.

John Using his free hand to shield his boy bits as if she had not seen them before. He lowered himself to the opposite side of the tub. "Thank god." He sighed as she mentioned the size of the tub. "You should see the one in his master bedroom...it's like 7 feet long." The man remarked, having seen it himself, hearing her whisper as he shook his head at her. "You don't know that...I could nick the shit out of you with this razor."

Spencer “That is deprivation,” she argued at his attempt to cover himself, which she wouldn’t be pointing out to him the fact that his hand wasn’t doing the trick.  She’d let him think he was up to something, but in fact, it might’ve been the cutest thing she’d seen from him in quite some time.  Enough so that it kept that smile on her face just that much longer.  “I promise you that you will do no worse than what I attempted to do to myself this morning before work…” she offered, lifting her right leg to his lap, her ankle and knee looking as though they’d been attacked by a weed whacker.  “It didn’t work right,” she confessed, bringing her foot to rest against his chest, trying to keep the pressure against him light, swollen ankles and all.  “This work for you…?”  She asked, needing to be sure he was comfortable or at least as comfortable as he could be.  Proving to him in that moment just how much she trusted the man to hand him a blade to use against her skin.  Truly it was this, or she’d find a way to bathe in hair remover because no sex for a week simply wasn’t an option.  

John Watching her foot press to his chest, he nodded at her question. Reaching for the razor as his hand reached up to support her ankle for  the meantime. "Would it strike you as surprising if I've never done this?" He asked, positioning the razors head to just above where his fingers sat, opting to go from the base of her ankle to her knee in short yet gentle skids of the razor over the shaving cream.

Spencer “Would it strike you as surprising if I told you I’d never let anyone do this?”  She asked, returning his question to him as the two discovered there was a first to be had.  There hadn’t been many of them in their marriage, to be honest, so when one arose, she treasured it perhaps more than one should.  It became theirs, as this was becoming in that very moment.  That is to say he’d ever want to do it again when she wasn’t pregnant.  As he brought the razor to her skin, she remained silent.  Not out of fear, but out of allowing the man to focus there, knowing how he felt about her being hurt and only able to imagine how he would feel should he inflict a mark in a non-sexual manner against her.  “You’re doing fine,” she assured as he lifted the razor to begin a new stroke.  Giving him a minute to adjust to it before she’d ease back in the tub again, closing her eyes as she attempted to show him just how much she trusted him.  The baby within her settling down now that she had rid the pressure at her abdomen he seemed to hate so much.  “I think your son is claustrophobic,” she offered, a smile at her lips as her eyes remained closed.  “He doesn’t like it when I lean over him.  Not a bit.  It’s like it instantly turns into a game of beat up Spence until she moves.”  She teased, not quite ready to call herself mom in that sentence, though she thought of it for a moment.  “Speaking of your son…” she offered, drawing in a breath before she’d let the rest out.  “You think maybe we start finding a name for him instead of just calling him ‘him’ or your son…?”  In truth, it had been on her mind since the day they found out they were having a boy, but the timing was all wrong.  It was only recently her head started to level out from the murder committed the same day to where she could truly think of such things, hence the sudden rush on baby items, houses, and names.

John Watching in concentration as he got closer to her shin, his vertical action turned horizontal. Gentle over the bone as he kept his eyes to her skin. Dabbing the shaving cream in the water as it collected. "He's running out of space." He reminded her, not that she couldn't accomplish this in her own right as she lived it. Hearing her mention baby names, his eyes briefly flashed upwards. "About fuckin' time. Was startin' to call him James James in my head." He remarked, out of lack of creativity before his eyes were back down and conquering the territory of her shin.

Spencer “You could’ve brought it up anytime you thought of it!”  She returned, her eyes flashing open as he had given her a hard time, suddenly unaware of the blade in his hand that she may have just startled.  She’d be lying if she hadn’t thought of James James in a comical moment of her mind as she had.  “I started a list,” she confessed, but wanted to hear his input before she started spouting off anything she had come up with.  Always having thought she’d give her son her father’s name had been a killer for her when they found out the baby was a boy, hence the dark scratches over the name “Brock” in her notebook on the bed.  

John "Let's hear it." He added as she mentioned her list, not having read it so there was still the element of surprise. Not to mention to see if she'd stick to any naming schemes. Double J's or even R and J like River. His attention was back to the blade, gently pushing her knee cap up to tighten the skin there and allow him to smoothly work over her with an edge of concentration.

Spencer Hearing him turn it around on her, not wanting to offer his own thoughts on it, she offered him a pouted lip.  She wanted his input as it was his son.  But if he would insist she go first, she’d give him that much.  “Well… I always thought I’d give the first or middle name of my father, but that’s not happening,” she confessed, knowing John would see where the problem lied in that.  “But I thought Reese, maybe.  Like my mom gave me Spencer from her maiden name.”  She explained, giving that bit of history to him in case he had never known where her name had originated in the first place.  “River is River John, so I thought maybe we go with Reese as a middle name and put a Jaxon or Jagger, or Julian with it.”  Offering a shrug of her shoulders, she glanced towards him as he brought the razor for another pass, noticing just how careful he was being having to smile at his careful demeanor around her knee.  “What have you got?...” she asked, truly interested and hating that she had to go first there, but yet another moment to prove she knew when to try him and when to bend to him.  This would be one of those times she’d bend to him without a second of argument.

John "Name a kid after someone who wants their old man on ice...sounds like some shit for a therapy couch." He pointed out, hearing her mention her own maiden name. Understanding how that could have worked for her. "I like your maiden name...it could have worked but...it's still your father's name. Your dad is going to resent this kid for coming from me. Much less having his name and being mine." He reminded her, not trying to be so hard about it but coming from a man who had been resented for being born, he has to consider these things. Kissing a patch of her shaved ankle as his head turned. "Rockston, Rylan...Reginald..." keeping with the king and queen theme, a name fit for a prince. "Hard to believe Judas has been preparing for this shit for like 5 minutes and already has a first name picked out for his potential boy."

Spencer Hearing his explanation as to why her name wouldn’t work, she just nodded her head.  She had crossed Brock off the list for that very reason, but she didn’t feel as though Reese belonged to her father.  She had felt as though it was hers.  But she wouldn’t say a word on the matter, just a nod of her head as she let her eyes fall closed again.  Running through the names he offered in her mind, pairing them with his last name.  “No Reginald,” she offered, not liking the sound of it at all, though the other two might grow on her in time.  In time once she swallowed that the child would have no part of her except the DNA, yet she should have known better.  Lowering her leg from his chest, leaving one finished and one yet to be touched, she eased up in the tub, slipping forward as her legs formed to either side of him.  Her belly separating the two in the tub as she leaned over to rest her head against his chest.  Emotional swings he would be accustomed to by this point, and yet she still wasn’t.  Not letting a tear fall, though just wanting to feel close to the man, even if the task of shaving her legs wasn’t complete, nor was the idea of naming the child.  

John "Reginald is awesome...Reg." he stated as she moved her leg, watching her as she leaned into his chest as he cleaned off the blade in the water. "what about ‘Rhys'? Like R-H-Y-S?" He asked, explaining for clarity sake so it was hers yet not her father's all at once. Pressing his lips to the side of her temple.

Spencer “Yeah,” she whispered, the sound of that pending emotion on her voice as it cracked beneath the short word.  Keeping her head at his chest, she didn’t want to dismiss it for lack of spelling, knowing John was giving a lot in that just to suggest it.  The issues with her parents had been silent for some time now, and although she was comfortable with the choices she had made, there would always be those little reminders that she didn’t get to keep those parts of who she was anymore because she chose John.  John’s family held issue with her.  Her own family held issue with her.  She truthfully had only him and this baby and she knew it.  She had isolated herself by falling in love with someone, believing in them, and committing herself to him fully.  None of which were convictable crimes, and yet that was how it felt at times.  She didn’t move there from his chest, needing a moment to gather her thoughts, if not for herself but for John who was still trying here.  “I think I’d like that,” she offered finally, though her voice was still unable to sustain consistency throughout the short phrase as she drew a breath to try to find center again.

John Feeling her energy change, he had never intended to force this on her. The pregnancy. The marriage. Her parents had good reason for not liking him, especially in comparison of what her ideal match should have been. But to directly tie this child in with her family would be a mistake. They'd never accept him as their own. It was a bit of protection while he was still unborn. "This kid is half yours...more than half. You can come up with something that represents you but it doesn't have to be about them, Spence. They aren't going to accept him as long as he is mine."

Spencer “I know,” she managed, knowing she had done this to herself.  John didn’t do this.  She did this.  She could have stuck it out in the marriage long enough to ensure neither of them were facing charges and gotten out.  But she was the one that went and fell in love with the man.  She was the one that turned her back on her family.  She didn’t put any of this on John, but entirely on herself.  And then there was the part of it that she believed her parents should trust her enough to know who she belonged with and there was not a doubt in the woman’s mind that she was meant to be Spencer James.  He might not have come from the lineage they might’ve preferred, but they had their choices when they were younger.  John was hers and she would always feel that choice should have been respected.  “No Rhys then,” she offered, resigning to the fact that it was still too close.  Her father’s ways had effectively screwed him out of the dream she had held since she was a teenager of passing down one portion or another of her name or his to her first child.  She wasn’t even optimistic enough to say maybe for another child.  Time wasn’t going to heal this as she knew what she had left and ironically enough, it all fit in a tub.  Drawing back, she brought her damp hand against her face to attempt to wipe away that bit of emotion that had leaked from her eyes, instead simply turning both cheeks wet from her hand.  It worked, as it masked anything left to fall as being just water on her cheeks.  “I’m sorry,” she offered as she started to move back to where she had been, allowing the man to continue the mission here if for no other reason but the fact that this was supposed to be a sweet gesture, not an emotional breakdown.  She’d push through it for him, although if left to her own devices for any amount of time, the breakdown might simply be on pause.

John "Stop apologizing." He seemed to demand as she pulled back, they were going to be having a kid soon. There could be tears now, god knows there would be plenty to come. This was just the beginning of a long and treacherous emotional journey that neither of them could anticipate. "What if we incorporate your hometown into his name?" He asked as he watched her slide back against the tub.

Spencer It was clear to the woman that he was trying, bless his heart.  She couldn’t find a way to explain to him what it had meant to her or how her heart had been set upon it for years upon years, long before she knew how to properly order a slice of pizza in Philly.  Finding her place against the wall of the tub again, she leaned back as she brought her hands to her face, bringing water over her forehead to chin.  “Irving, Las Colinas, McKinney, White Rock Lake.”  None of the names would work, but she gave them to him anyways.  Shrugging her shoulders, she finally allowed herself to look back towards him at the other end of the tub.  “John, I love you.  I love that you are trying, but it doesn’t have to be there.  So, what did we have… Rockston and Rylan?...” she drew in a deep breath, attempting to get back to somewhere productive, though the other was simply being shifted just below the surface.  “Did you like Julian or Jagger?  Jaxon?... any of them?”  She asked, not truly holding any attachment to any of them for emotional value, but knowing there had been one she was keen on over the others.  “No more Reese or Rhys or me.”  She offered, swallowing hard after her resignation from that portion of their conversation.  She had one thing to give and she understood why John couldn’t let her bring it.  Aside from that, they could choose a name with no emotional value and base it purely on their likes and dislikes.  Bringing her hand against his thigh, her hues set to his as she offered a faint smile and a nod of her head.  “It’s okay.”

John "Just...Dallas." he remarked as she went into more specifics when he had been exceptionally broad about this all. Listening to her other suggestions. "Julian reminds me of this local food joint...and Judas' kid if it's a boy will be 'Jackston.' One thing to be close but that's a little too close. Jagger ain't bad though. Feel like we'd have to be Stones fans to work that one out." He teased, only knowing that when they heard it, they'd know. Hearing her, he shook his head. He didn't want a name without meaning. It was useless if it just sounded cool. "Or you?" He asked, not quite sure he understood. "I'm not doing this by myself, Spence."

Spencer Drawing in a deep breath as he held elimination on Jaxon, her eyes found the ceiling as deflation washed over the woman.  Drawing her lower lip between her teeth, biting against it to withhold herself from breaking entirely.  “I’m not asking you to do it yourself.  I’d never ask you to do it yourself.  It’s just…”  she attempted to get it out, but instead all that would happen was the release of the tears she had been attempting to hold in.  Reese was gone.  Jaxon was gone.  They had a baby arriving in five weeks or thereabouts with no name and the names she had been the most drawn to were pulled off the board for reasons beyond her control.  The pressure of finding a house they could afford was hard enough to bear, but now with the names becoming a mess to her as well, she was beyond salvation at the moment.  “He can’t just be baby James or James James or ‘him’.  And nothing is working!”  Every word broke under the pressure of her emotion.  Squeezing her eyes closed tightly as though it would stop the onslaught of tears, though it would not, she brought her hands up over her face.  She was quite literally shutting down right before his eyes.  A list she had slaved over, now amounting to other people’s names.  

John Watching her go through the motions for no real reason, watching her shut down over the course of a few names. "River didn't have a name for two days..." he stated idly, they still had time. "If you want to be less picky about names then we can do that. Guess I just think names are more important than what just sounds good." He stressed, thumbs wiping away the tears leaking the perimeter of her hands.

Spencer As he suggested they be less picky about the names, she literally saw red behind her hands.  Feeling his thumbs to her face, she withdrew her hands, not hiding her emotion since her hands hadn’t much done that anyways.  “I think they are important too, John.  That’s why I started a list.  That’s why I’ve been trying out every variation of them.  But I didn’t much know that the two at the top of the list were going to be axed because they belong to someone else.”  The tears now flowed freely from her eyes as she no longer hid how devastated she was over both names being erased for reasons beyond her control.  She didn’t expect him to understand her.  She didn’t know how to put it in to words how hard she had worked on those names before opening up to him with it, now regretting ever having breathed a word of a house or a baby name at all.  “And what I meant by no me was just this.  No my name.  No my list.  No me.  I’m shot down, John.  I’m admitting defeat.”  Lowering her head, she completely gave in to the emotion, making no attempt to pull it back in.  Even if she had tried, there was no way she could.  Truly devastated as she had this whole idea of how sweet it would be for the two to name their child together, sharing ideas.  John could give a piece.  She could give a piece.  But all she was feeling was put off.

John "I just said one sounds similiar to Jackston..." he pointed out, knowing logic may not work in his favor here as it was clear the woman just needed some space as he was trying but it apparently was not good enough. Granted, he'd never let such things show as he knew she was just upset and hormonal. "You can't admit defeat. This isn't something you can opt out of..." he reminded her subtly before he glanced down into the water. Ready to give her that space. "Now let me get that other leg so I can finish up." He remarked, already able to feel her temper nearly heating the water. He had tried and gave his hand, hearing out her own. Axing maybe one just as she had one of his without any hurt feelings. He was literally just willing to do what would make her happy here yet not even she knew that.

Spencer Hearing him out, she knew the man was trying.  Deep inside, she knew and she had told him that she loved him for it.  She realized every bit that he was trying here for her, but she didn’t feel that he had any grasp on how she was feeling.  First her own name, then the name she loved from the list of names sticking to the R and J pattern established.  She was trying to honor those parts of him and couldn’t even manage to do that right.  In her mind, she’d been exiled by her family, then exiled by most of his, facing adversity through their relationship and trying to go with every punch that came, but now as it came down to their child’s name, it was almost more than the woman could take.  Her tears were unceasing, but she did as he asked, bringing her foot up to his chest once more.  Something that had taken a great deal for her to ask, then to spark something that could have been highly intimate, destroyed probably at her own hand for liking the wrong names for a child she was allegedly just as much a part of as he was.  Her emotional state was not stable in that moment as the pregnancy hormones took her completely, but at least John was able to find a center to focus on the task at hand.  Silence befell her as she couldn’t manage any words for several moments after she brought her foot to his chest, breaking down in front of him a whole three and a half feet away.  This standing as the first time she had truly broken down that she couldn’t just be pulled into his arms based on sheer mechanics of their positioning; also her fault.  Even John’s own name couldn’t be used as it was a piece of River’s.  She needed something here, something that would make her feel that she was more than just an incubator, but she couldn’t see it.  

John As she slipped her chest up, the man would honor any name choice she selected in fullness. She wasn't working with him though. Helping to guide her leg up, he reached for the shaving cream. Administering it in a thick covering before he went to work the same way he had. Full of concentration as he listened to her. Eyes flashing up briefly. Finally speaking. The gruff tone of his voice only seeming more so. "If you could put any name on that birth certificate, full name. First, middle. What would it be? What would be your final choice out of everything? No rules, no taken names. What would you choose like those two other names never existed to anyone else."

Spencer “John…” she whispered quietly.  He had found the right thing to say to her that would literally bring her around to pure and simple logic.  She couldn’t name her child after a man that hated John, even if she saw it as her name and her contribution.  It didn’t matter that she wanted to name her first child that for most all of her life.  It didn’t matter at all.  She couldn’t bear the thought of them taking a name so close to a name already stated as Judas’ child’s name either.  John’s name wasn’t an option as she’d never want to take that entitlement from River, who they planned to make a part of their family officially as soon as possible.  But it would be in his words that she would find some form of comfort that he did want to do what she wanted there.  That he would potentially honor anything she wished for in that moment.  But she knew she couldn’t do it.  Her own name, it had been ruined.  Jaxon… she had just been too late to start formulating names she loved.  In truth, she’d been too late for John’s own name as well.  Though her leg was already lathered, up against his chest, supported by his hand, she drew it down into the water, undoing that which John had already done.  Reaching forward, she wrapped her hand around the soap dish, her other hand coming to the edge of the tub, using the two to lift herself upwards, finding her knees beneath her.  She couldn’t take being so far away from him anymore.  Now that the tears had almost subsided, only a few falling in the process, she moved towards him, her knees carefully tucked between his thighs as to not hurt him in the process.  Bringing her hands to his face, her own nose inches from his, meeting his eyes through the curtain of tears in her own.  “If I could put any name on that birth certificate in the world, it would be the name you and I come up with together.  Something we can both hear and instantly think, that’s our son.  Not the name that I wanted or you wanted.  What we want.  And I understand why those are off.  I do.  And I’m sorry I got upset.  I just… I want it to be perfect.  Some kids grow up thinking they have the worst name ever.  Like their parents just drew it from some popularity list for that year.  But I never felt that way.  And I never want him to feel that way.  I don’t want what I want.  I want what we want.”  She offered, her thumbs gently stroking at his cheeks as she attempted to meet him halfway as he was clearly doing more than that for her in that moment.  She had to put down the names she liked, as it wasn’t about her.  “I just met you too late,” she offered as her reasons for why the list of names was eliminated.  Reese, Jaxon, and John for that matter.  She was just too late.

John Hearing his name, well, at least what he thought was used for his name, his eyes shifted. Assuring she was calling upon him and not suggesting it as a name. Watching her draw down her leg before she lifted up. He watched her slip before him. Negotiating carefully as he met her eyes. Thumb sweeping a few fallen tears. "Not too late, things just take a little tweaking sometimes...but we'll know it when we hear it. So if you don't think we are there yet, let's do our homework and come back to this conversation except I want you to find the R and I'll do the J." He decided, the first name being all together more important, after all. Still hoping she'd consider "Rhys" for it.

Spencer The two of them finding a middle ground on the matter without either of them getting out of the tub or walking away from the other, though she was at a severe disadvantage when it came to getting up in any hurry at all from the floor of the tub, she couldn’t be disappointed any longer.  Feeling his own thumb against her face, she leaned her head into his palm, her eyes there at his as she nodded her head in agreement to that which he offered.  “I have literally never been more in love with you than I am in this moment,” she whispered, quite a far cry from how exiled she was feeling a moment before, but the swing of pregnancy hormones could go both high and low.  In the moment, this high was crafted by the man who credited himself not nearly enough in such matters.

John Feeling her leaning within his hand, he met her eyes upon her confession. Knowing she was only a moment away from tears at any given time, he decided to take the lighter approach. “Well, yeah…I’d hope so. You don’t think I’d shave just anyone’s legs, do you?” he asked, knowing that she knew, perhaps not in detail, that he was not a man such as this. To pamper and wait upon a woman. Hell, to even call back. It looked as if they were both making leaps and bounds from their former selves. Whether it be progress or the opposite, neither would know for sure.

Spencer In nearly a year’s time, neither of them were the same as they came into this relationship.  A relationship that was supposedly a sham, meant to keep their asses out of prison, and yet Spencer had found herself in the deepest kind of love that existed.  A kind where her own well-being was not of her concern.  Literally willing to take a bullet to the head for the man any given day of the week.  Her complete focus was him and him alone.  It wasn’t the Spencer anyone knew before John, which might have had a strong bit to do with why her father loathed him the way he did.  “No, I don’t,” she whispered, her smile gracing her features as she remained there on her knees between his thighs, her lips stealing to his for a brief moment before she’d draw back.  “But I don’t think I’m talking about you shaving my legs making me more in love with you either,” she reminded him as she stole another pass of his lips, not wanting to return to her end of that tub in the slightest.  A slow smirk slipped across her face as the man was there, in the tub, and she’d see just how long she could keep this going.  Slipping her hand behind him, she unplugged the drain, allowing the water to begin making its way down the drain to allow for fresh water to be added.  Turning slowly, carefully maneuvering though all the while knowing John would let nothing happen that would cause her nor the baby any harm.  As she slipped back down, her back to his, she leaned against his chest.  Off to one side so she could turn her head to his, her eyes met his with an innocent smile on her face.  “I think all important decisions should be made just like this from now on.  What do you say?  Dinner choices.  What to watch on tv.  Pretty much everything.”  It wasn’t /this/ tub she was so into.  It was this man she was so into.  She could do without the place they were staying, even if she was grateful to Judas for helping them out.  She wanted their own place to get started on their family and focusing on what was actually important, them.  “Stay?”  She asked, giving him the free will option to leave if he wanted to, but making her desires known as she found that they had something in that bathtub that she wanted to keep going.  Open communication flowing between the two.  A balance that often times they lacked.  If it was only present in this tub, they may as well take advantage of it while they were stuck at Judas’ place.

John “If I knew shaving your legs was all it took, could have done it the first night and spare us the trouble…” he teased before she was off with the task of the tub. Watching and feeling her lean into him as she made her suggestion. “Whatever makes you happy, Spence.” he stated simply, hearing her question as he gave a slow nod. “as long as you don’t tell nobody that I took a bath with you willingly.” he returned, thinking they had a promise if she could keep up her end of the bargain. Lips finding her temple where he allowed them to linger. Hand sweeping down over her stomach.

Spencer “You were held at gun point by a psychotic pregnant woman insisting she would kill you or your son if you didn’t lay with her in the tub.  Got it.”  Her words were teasing as she felt the pressing of his lips to her temple.  Leaning into that touch as his hands moved down over her stomach.  A soft sigh passed her lips as ten minutes earlier she could not have imagined them in this position at all.  John had shown more growth than she ever would have anticipated from the man, and yet she knew love did very strange things to people.  As the water drained out of the tub around them, she remained still there against him until the noise of the last of the water funneling out through the drain made itself known.  Slipping her hand to the faucets, she turned on only the hot water at first as it was still warm from when she filled the tub not long before.  Adding in the cold to appease the doctor’s wishes at least to some degree, she lowered her hand, letting the fresh water fill around them.  “So you really think we could get a fixer upper and have it ready in time?”  she asked, conceding to negotiate with the man as he had been so kind as to do the same for her in regards to their child’s name.  Sure, she wanted move in ready.  She wanted move in now if it meant they could get into their own place and start getting the baby’s room ready, but if John wanted to do it another way, she would at least entertain the idea of such.

John Watching her adding water to refill the tub, his hand remained to her stomach. Finding it intensely interesting and odd how that child lurked just under that surface and how he could most likely feel his father’s hand from overtop of his mother’s stomach. Lost in that thought before he heard her question and perked a brow. Allowing a low sigh. “Honestly? I don’t know if it’ll be ready right then but give me about 2 months after purchase date and it’ll be perfect.” he offered. “Or maybe…we could rent a place in the meantime. I can borrow the money from Judas.” he stated, knowing it took a lot to make that offer but they needed it and his brother was always quick to remind him that he’d be happy to help in these respects even if Johnny /would/ be paying him back.

Spencer There were certain things Spencer had in her mind.  Moments she had pinpointed that she was truly looking forward to with their son that would grace them in just a few weeks.  One of which was bringing him home, to a room done just for him.  Walls painted by the two of them.  A crib in the center of the room, free standing from the walls as he was the focal point of the bedroom.  A piece of furniture in the room made by his father’s hands.  But as John asked her for two months and the idea of renting in the meantime, his mention of perfect struck her.  John had never come off to her as one who strove for perfection anywhere outside of their marital bed.  But in that moment, she saw something there in him that had her instantly nodding her head.  “Let’s find one.”  She agreed, only hoping they could get the financing under her, and perhaps have the down payment rolled into the sale.  It was rare anymore, but it could be done.  “And we can get a rental in between, but only if you can make me just one promise.”  Bringing her hand over his there at her stomach, a restful baby making only slight motions beneath their hands.  “Promise me the first thing we do is his room.  That way when we leave the hospital to bring him home, we take him there and we put him in his bed and even if the rest of the house is unlivable, he spends his first moments in that room.”  Her eyes fixated on his as she anticipated his response, hoping they could find a way to meet halfway here as she put every ounce of trust in the man that he would put into her own wishes.  Compromise was now flowing in both directions and she was completely at ease with the idea of it.

John The man was far from a perfectionist, but he knew Spence was. He felt an obligation to make this experience as close to perfection as he could. This was her first child and while the baby would be important to him without a doubt, there was something about saying that. He was her firstborn. The first baby she’d ever look down and see her own traits reflected and maybe a few of his own. Hopefully less the latter and more the first, in John’s mind. He wanted it all to be perfect for her, as it hardly had for him. He had been denied these pleasures with River. These firsts. She would not be. Hearing her agreement, he glanced down towards her. “Yeah…I can do that.” he stated, as the baby’s room would be no big task. Or so he thought. Imagining a house they didn’t even know existed yet. Meeting her eyes with a nod.

Spencer As the water reached an appropriate level, she’d steal her eyes from him for the moment as she reached over to turn off the source.  “And then we do River’s room.”  She offered, not dropping the dream of having the young boy there within the close fold of their family very soon.  One of the things she had hated the most about how things were playing out at the moment was their lack of access to River.  She had gotten something rather steady going there for a while, but with her breakdown a couple months’ prior, such a thing wasn’t possible in her eyes.  If she were to be arrested, if the evidence were to surface, it would not be with John’s son in their presence.  “And then /our/ room.”  She added stress upon it, flirting with her husband a bit there as she spoke of a home she would have no idea just how much work or money it would need poured into it.  Just certain the right house existed with enough work to be done to keep the price down, but not so much that it would take months upon months to move in, she was finally feeding into John’s plan on this one without the resistance he had been met with in the bedroom not long ago.   Spencer had spent long enough ignoring this pregnancy, denying it, hiding it.  In the past few weeks it had all started to weigh on her and now with only a few weeks to go, she was finally truly getting excited about the baby arriving and the four of them starting their family.  “The whole threshold thing… out of the question?”  She asked, teasing him a bit there as she stole a kiss from his lips.

John Hearing her mention of River’s room, the man nodded. Yet, knowing the room would be a painful reminder. An empty crib with an occupied one in the other room only because one belonged to a different mother. He only hoped that her parents didn’t overhear what happened with River and learned that they could pull the same. Her mention of /their/ room was specific enough, idly glancing over towards the spicket before her other question struck. An inappropriate smirk as she pressed her lips to his. “Might be a little hard to pull off because I can imagine you’d be holding the baby by then.”

Spencer “Not then, John.  When we get the keys.  When it’s ours.  Even though it won’t be ready, it’ll be…” It was then that she realized that day would come while she was still quite pregnant.  Scrunching her nose as she dismissed the thought there, shaking her head.  “Not a big deal,” she offered, admitting defeat on that one.  She knew John was strong, but it had been quite some time since the night he carried her from the spare bedroom of their former apartment to the bedroom they shared.  Remembering how he had been with her that night would take over her thoughts for a moment as she turned slightly, her face resting against his chest.  “Tell me what you want,” she requested, wanting to hear his thoughts.  She’d told him what she wanted and what order she thought they should tackle it, giving her only real request that their child be brought there first, placed in his bed, and it be his first home even if they weren’t living within it yet.  “When you think of our house, what do you think of?”  She asked, her fingertips playing with the ends of his, completely relaxed there against him.  By far one of their softer times together, but the woman was in sheer heaven experiencing such with him.  Knowing it was not of the norm for them made it all the more memorable in her eyes, even if it was one of those moments between them she’d have to take to the grave.

John “ohhhh…yeah, we could pull it off.” he stated, not much fearing the prospect of her being that pregnant as he could pull it off now and he could pull it off then. Feeling her resting to his chest, he heard her request. She asked a very intense question that he had asked himself. One that was bound to drudge up a lot of feeling and it did. Nearly taking his breath away as he managed a deep breath. Not even sure if he wanted to answer. It made his chest heavy, swallowing hard. “When I…when I was little…one of my earliest memories was back in a house in Port Richmond. I don’t even know why we were there. Things weren’t so bad in those days. There were less of us. Before Joelle was born.” pausing. “Judas was probably around 6 or 7. I was maybe 5…and the old owners left a little bike in the yard. We didn’t know how to ride bikes because no one was around to teach us but Judas decided that he wanted to learn. I wanted to learn too but he told me no. Not yet. ‘Wait until I learn and when I’ve learned, I’ll teach you.’ I listened to him. He was the brave one, he was the older one. I watched him outside from the window for hours. Getting on, falling off, getting up. Doing it again. By about dinner, you could have wrung his clothes out from how bloody he was but by the time the sun went down, he had gotten it. Somehow, by himself.” glancing away for a moment, he returned to her eyes. “So he came in the house and he brought me outside…and he taught me. In the grass at first so if I fell, it didn’t hurt and then on the street. I didn’t bleed once. He taught himself first so he could teach me. That’s what brothers do. They protect one another…and though I know that our son will always have parents to teach him how to ride a bike, I’d want to see River out there with him someday. Grabbing the handlebars when he lost his balance, helping him get a running start…” stopping, the man cleared his throat. Knowing how impossible that all seemed now. The reminder of how close in age they would be like he and Judas were an ever prevalent reminder.

Spencer As John began, he had Spencer’s full attention.  She was so focused on what was on the inside, she had forgotten momentarily what the house was actually going to be.  A place for the four of them to live, to experience life, to grow together.  It wouldn’t take long before a slow smile would sweep her features as John opened up a bit to her about a childhood she would never fully comprehend.  As he glanced away, she could only assume it was to refocus himself as to not allow the memory to fully take him over.  It had her though, hook, line, and sinker.  Small pools of moisture collected in the corners of her eyes as she kept her eyes set to his own.  There for him throughout as her fingers continued their nonsensical pattern over his as if she didn’t have them committed to memory already.  “Our son will have parents and a big brother to love him and protect him,” she reminded him, that much she was confident in.  They might have had to wait a little longer than either of them had wanted with not having a permanent residence, but the new house was going to go a long way with the court system to show the stability John was now able to offer the child.  Not to mention being married to a cop, albeit dirty, but.  She knew not to try to overly convince the man that River would be there soon enough, but she knew it in her heart to be true.  She didn’t blame John for keeping it at arm’s length in his slight hesitation and disbelief as surely he would be attempting to protect himself from the letdown, but she had promised him happiness and she was going to give it to him.  “And while River is teaching Rhys to ride his bike in the grass… where will you be?”  She asked, her smile only growing that much more as she drew her lower lip between her teeth.

John Hearing her reminder, she said it but she had to say that. It was expected and appreciated but he knew better. He always had known better. Maybe someday but by then, so much damage will have been done. His sights were still locked on getting him back before his third birthday, yet anything past that, he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to explain to a child one day why his earliest memories did not have him in it. Why he had to learn to call him “dad.” Hearing her give into that name like he knew she would, the question earned a low nod of his head. Meeting her eyes. “You know where I’ll be.” he reminded her simply, as if it was the simplest question in the world. /Right there beside them./ As if he’d miss the chance.

Spencer As he confirmed that which she already knew, just beyond an acknowledging nod of his head to her slipping in of the name she would choose for him, there was not a bit of stress residing within the woman.  Going from stressful house purchasing discussions to stressful name discussions to now having most of it all worked out, she was beside herself.  Lifting her hand from his, abandoned there against her stomach, she brought her hand to the side of his face.  Meeting his eyes, completely on board with the entire idea of the boys playing in the yard with their father right there, she would move heaven and earth to make that happen for John without a single doubt of her mind.  “I can’t wait,” she whispered, an honest confession as it was exactly what she wanted as well.  Lifting her chin slightly, she brought her lips to softly pass over his, a kiss to match the tone of the conversation though not a typical display of affection between the two.

John Meeting her lips with his own, anything other than that kiss and it’s tone would have seemed inappropriate given the obvious. He allowed his fingers to gently pass over hers and over her navel. Knowing how she felt about the fact that her belly button had popped and he was always playing with it just to get a reaction out of her. Trying not to smile into the kiss as it was literally just about the only thing that could make him laugh at the moment despite the fact that it was at her expense.

Spencer Drawing back from what might have been one of the sweetest kisses the two would ever share, she instantly was batting his hand away from her stomach.  “C’mon, John.  I kiss you, you kiss me.  There’s no ‘let’s fuck with Spence’s belly button’ involved in that.”  She complained, a pout there at her lips as she drew her arms up to cross against her chest, her forearms resting against her protruding stomach.  “That’s it.  Bath over.  And I’m telling everyone you took it willingly, and you requested bath salts.”  Her words left her lips quickly as she was reaching for the drain to let the water out again.  A glorified temper tantrum earned by him completely.  He was more than deserving of it, knowing how much she hated her body in general at this point in time.  No part of her felt sexy and definitely not that part of her that seemed to draw his attention time and time again.

John “I did kiss you!” he complained in return, watching her pout that he would have happily kissed. Loving that pout. Hearing her threat that brought a shake of his head. Seeing her letting the water out as it was one way to get out of the tub. “Oh, relaaax.” he stated as his lips found her temple and her cheek repeatedly, alternating between the two as he attempted to kiss it better. “I’d let you play with my belly button…” he reminded her and she knew he would as his lips pressed firm kisses down her jawline and the back of her shoulder. Literally, kissing up. “You’re all baby, Spence. I bet I can feel a little foot right underneath that belly button.” he reminded her, as the woman had no reason to feel insecure about it.

Spencer “John,” she whined, feeling his kisses that were so fucking hard to resist, though she would try with all of her might to maintain that pout at her lips.  As his lips found her jawline, she was fucked and she knew it.  “John, c’mon.  I don’t like it,” she complained, though he well knew it by now.  She wanted her body back.  She wanted the body back that she knew he had enjoyed from day one.  She wanted their child, but she wanted her body back.  Her booty shorts.  The tiny tank tops.  She wanted it all but it was still so far out of reach.  “I bet you can!”  She laughed, finally showing he was breaking through her as she was fairly certain with the right amount of pressure to any area of her stomach, he could more than likely make the shape of the child’s head, bottom, foot, maybe even a hand if the baby was feeling cooperative enough.  Feeling his lips to the back of her shoulder, she was quickly losing her own battle there.  Knowing it, she gripped her hands to the side of the tub, taking the first step to lifting herself out of the tub and away from his attempt to make his transgression forgiven.  “John…” his name again, perhaps going for a record for how many times she could say it in thirty-five seconds.  A tilt of her head with a sigh to her lips would prove he was getting to her as she pressed her palms against the tub to lift herself, the struggle between a pout and a laugh at her lips still waging its own war.

John Hearing her laugh, he knew he was getting somewhere. Just going to show that she was all pregnancy belly. Feeling like he was cracking through the ice as he heard his name once more. “Spence.” he returned knowingly, arms sneaking underneath of hers to assure she wasn’t going anywhere. Showing that his arms could still very much wrap around her and then some as his lips found her ear. Pressing those firm kisses. “all this hostility when I just want to play with your belly button.”

Spencer As his arms slipped around her, holding her there, she kept her hands placed on the rim of the tub as though she could find an opportunity to slip the man’s hold, though she more than knew better.  As his lips found her ear, she drew her lower lip between her teeth.  “You aren’t playing fair, John, and you know it,” she accused as she bit against her lower lip.  Always so easily turned on, he wasn’t helping matters as pregnant Spencer was perhaps even more ready to go at all times than non-pregnant Spencer, which spoke volumes.  “John, please.  John.  Just.  God…” Feeling herself on the verge of conceding to let him play with it if it meant he would stop this onslaught of kisses.  Even four months ago, she would’ve been turned around, straddling the man in no time flat.  Letting him bend her over the edge of the tub.  Positioned against the top of the bathroom counter.  Pushed against the bathroom wall.  The opportunities were endless.  But now, there was that protruding stomach that said such things were simply not possible.  This would play through her mind over and over again as he kissed her flesh, having to literally remind herself that she couldn’t from where they were.  She had to get out of the tub.  She had to get them out of the tub.  She had to have him and she couldn’t have him there.  “You are playing with fire, Mr. James…”

John Hearing her relenting, he had to laugh. It was too fun for him to get her going. She entertained him even when she wasn’t trying and at times, he felt that was the differences. The women he was used to dealing with were bodies and faces, hardly personalities. Nothing held at the end of the day but that. She was different, always had been. It held even when the rest faded away. Hearing her final statement that drew out a low laugh. “Good thing we are in an empty tub then…”

Spencer “John!”  She screamed, using every ounce of strength she had now to push against him, not finding his antics funny at all.  “Let me go!”  She screamed out again, turning her face towards him, finding the look there on his face indicating just how much he was enjoying this.  “I’m gonna…”  she began, a threat just behind it was assured.  “I’m…” again she would begin it before finally her pout would disappear completely, her lips suddenly pressing firmly to his as he had won this war if by those kisses alone.  Knowing the tub wasn’t an option, one wouldn’t know it from the fire behind her kiss.  Her hand finding the side of his face as she turned into him as much as she could there, abandoning the hands at the sides of the tub, feeling his arms still there around her.  She hated him for this, for breaking her.  She hated him and yet she loved him all at the same time, for there was no other that could get her going quite like he could.

John “Spence!” he returned with the same enthusiasm, hearing her idle threats that she couldn’t even finish as he felt her turn slightly. Hand to his face as he met her eyes with a challenging smile. This was what she fought for, this is what she loved and would come home to each night and she had to know it. There was no in between with Johnny. It was intensity on both sides of the spectrum and she was in for a hell of a ride. “I love you…” he reminded her, letting the sound roll off slowly from his tongue. A reward he knew she loved just for dealing with him at the moment.

Spencer Feeling that break between them, she met his eyes as he said those words to her.  Words that were only exchanged ever so often.  Words that meant more to her coming from him than they had coming from any other in her entire life for with John, she knew them to be true.  They were prized.  They weren’t overused.  They were only for their most private of moments.  But to hear him prompt them first had caught her off guard.  She let her thumb stroke against his cheek as a smile took her features.  “And I love you,” she promised, as if there were any question on the matter.  Pressing her lips to his once more, she brought her hands back to the sides of the tub to see if he would let her go now that the water had escaped the basin entirely.  

John Getting what he wanted out of her, he’d let her go. Arms slipping from around her to allow her to stand up without fear of distraction. Knowing he’d assure she was careful as she went as it was precious cargo between her and the baby both. A hand instead passing over the top of his head. Still attempting to grow used to the feeling himself as he smirked softly. Quite proud of himself for both getting in that and getting himself out.

Spencer Knowing John was right behind her, she could ease up with no fear that the man had her completely.  Once to her feat, she reached out of the tub to grab a towel for herself.  Wrapping the towel around her body, she carefully stepped out of the tub and onto the mat there waiting as she grabbed John’s towel for him as well.  Holding it just out of his reach where he would have to get out of the bath tub dripping ass wet to retrieve it, slowly taking another step back with a grin on her lips.  Teasing him now since he had more than had his fair share of fun on that last one.  “You want this?”  She asked, a laugh there at her lips as she took another step back, now making it impossible for him to snatch it from her from within that bath tub.

John Standing up as he heard her question, he narrowed his eyes. Knowing exactly what she was doing but he wasn’t going to chase her for it. “Easy…floor is wet.” he reminded her as she was literally dripping onto it and any sudden movements could render disaster as he stepped out of the tub himself without much concern. “I don’t need that towel, I can just climb into bed like this…wouldn’t make any fuckin’ difference to me.”

Spencer Hearing his warning, she took notice quickly as she took another step back, still attempting to taunt the man with the towel as she took advantage of the moment to look him up and down.  “You can’t get into bed like that.  You’ll get the sheets wet!”  She reminded him, shaking the towel in her hand, reminding him it was the key to getting into bed with her.  The only moisture she wanted on his body was either sweat or her own.  “Just take it, John,” she teased, taking another step back.  “Here, I’ll be nice,” she offered, holding it out to him where she would yank it back should his hand make any attempt to the fabric.

John Narrowing his eyes at her, eyes still careful of her footing against the floor as she was actively making him nervous and she knew it. “I’m not taking it, get onto the carpet…” he warned, as the cut off of the rug to the bedroom would provide a bit of traction, walking past her into the room where he loomed ever close to the bed. Threatening to get those sheets of hers wet shamelessly. “Are these the good ones too?” he asked curiously, reaching out to feel whether those were the ones that were a far cry from what he kept. The sheets expected of this kind of penthouse, finding that they were. He had to smirk. “They are the good ones.”

Spencer Standing her ground now on the wet floor, a stand off between the two.  As his hand reached for the bed, she gasped.  “You wouldn’t!”  She dared, but as his wet hand touched the sheets on /her/ side of the bed, she took another step intentionally remaining on that tile floor.  “Come get the towel and I’ll get on the carpet,” she argued, lifting her foot and taking another step, intentionally giving him something bigger than wet sheets to worry about.  “Don’t get on that bed, John James.  Towel.  Towel and… towel and I might let you fuck me.”  She offered, a lift of her brows as if she was making the sacrifice there.  The towel being raised out towards him in front of her.  “Come get the towel and no one gets hurt…”

John “I’m not coming towards you until you get off that fucking carpet.” he returned, watching her step which made him wince. Taking a step forward. “okay, you get onto the carpet and I’ll take the towel.” he returned, attempting to make this work before he heard her offer. Snorting back a laugh. “You /might/? Yeah? You thinking about it?” he asked, knowing well that the man knew how to get what he wanted out of her if he so wanted. “Feet to the rug, missus…and I /might/ think about fucking you.”

Spencer Lifting her foot towards the carpet that was just inches before her, she rested her big toe against the carpet, a smirk to her lips.  “Take a step this way,” she offered, making a little progress there as she brought her hand to the doorframe that separated the bathroom from the bedroom if for no other reason but stability.  Holding his towel now close to her own body, negotiating with him at least to a certain degree here.  “Towel to your body and I might /let/ you fuck me.”  She repeated her own words again, clarifying who was letting what happen here.  She already knew she’d back down to him.  She knew it.  He knew it.  It was just simply in her nature at this point.  But she would not submit to the man until he had her in a compromising position.  Then he could have anything he wanted from her, as always.  But as long as her feet were on the floor and his lips were not on her flesh, Spencer James was still very much in control of herself, for the moment anyways.

John Watching her edging closer to the carpet, he literally growled. Knowing she was throwing her weight in the best way she knew how and she was winning but he was alright with this. For now, until she was over the boundary of the door. “God, I can’t wait until you are not pregnant anymore…throw that difficult little ass over my shoulder…” he reminded her as he reached out for the towel, giving in as he took it and began to towel dry himself with it. “C’mon.”

Spencer The moment he threatened her, she smirked, finding that to be the greatest threat ever.  “Count me in,” she teased, making a mental note to be just as difficult as possible just to make him do it as soon as she was in the clear to do so.  As soon as his hand snatched the towel, she brought both feet forward onto the carpet simultaneously as he told her to come forward.  “See.  Was that so hard?”  She asked teasing the man, a laugh at her lips.  Using her own towel to finally dry herself off, walking towards the dresser to find a set of clothes to sleep in.  “I’m holding you to that over the shoulder thing, by the way,” she reminded him, flashing him a smirk over her shoulder.

John “Don’t you worry. You’ll find yourself there sooner before later…” he seemed to vow as she walked towards the dresser. Relieved to just find her on dry carpet though part of him was still tempted to grab a seat on the bed. Passing the towel over his head and the back of his neck, behind his ears with all the gentle touch of a man cleaning his car against his own skin. Waiting for her to draw out his usual as he dropped the towel into the nearby hamper.

Spencer Given ample opportunity to play another little game with the man, she withdrew her own articles of clothing from the right side dresser drawers, then his from the left.  Turning around with his boxers in her hand, she smirked as she leaned over, stepping within them.  As she brought them up, she flashed him a full smile.  “Tonight, we trade.”  She teased, unable to even finish the statement without laughter interrupting her.  Playfulness had found its way into their night in a way that was uncommon for the two of them.  All of it playing into a rollercoaster that had come to be some sort of normal with her over the last two months as the pregnancy seemed to infect her brain entirely by this point.  “No?  Not so much?”  She asked, biting at her lower lip as she looked up towards him through a short distance between the two.  “You can take them back if you want to…” she offered, a lift of her brows she didn’t realize had even happened.

John “No. no. no. no.” already starting his chant by the time he saw what she was going to be doing, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get it out of his head. Whining as she pulled them on. “No.” he insisted as she brought them up bringing him to reach up and thumb at the elastic. Wanting them off. “Those are mine…and I most definitely can’t wear yours.” he reminded her, wincing at the thought. Already reaching out to tug them down and off. “Now I won’t be able to achieve wood for a fucking week. Did this one to yourself.”

Spencer John’s reaction was priceless.  Spence was in stitches cracking up instantly as he was dragging the boxers from her.  “Oh c’mon, John.  I was fucking kidding,” she managed through her laughter, shaking her head.   John not getting hard for twelve hours would be a miracle, let alone a week.  “You wanna bet me?”  She asked, a devious smirk already to her lips as she was stepping out of the boxers at the guiding of his hand, her own hand slipping out to wrap around his piece.  “How much do you want to bet me?”  The grin to her face said the woman was far from done with her own playful antics, yet as she positioned herself to touch him, she knew she was relinquishing power at the very same time.  Stroking her hand against him, she stepped in closer, lips finding his upper arm as her free hand gripped his bare ass.  

John Feeling her hand instantly going for him, he met her grin as he took in a deep breath. Shaking his head as he felt her pull in. Knowing his body would make him a liar. “Well, you see…I meant that I wouldn’t get a naturally occuring boner for a week.” rephrasing to make himself less of a liar, she knew what she was doing when it came to him. A little too well versed and what got the man going.

Spencer “Ohhh, is that what you /meant/ to say?”  She asked, knowing that was a blatant lie in itself as the man tended to wake up hard as fuck.  “Ooookay, John.  Let’s go with that.  And in the morning, you make sure I get a quick hand check to find out.”  Eyes cut upward to him knowingly, her smirk easily felt against his upper arm.  As her hand continued to stroke the man, her eyes would drift back up towards his eyes, gauging his reaction behind his hues.  “So… now the question is… do you want your wife?”  She asked, teeth coming in contact with his skin just beyond her question as if it were a slight taste of what would forever be present between the two.  “Or do you want me to get dressed?”  She asked, tightening her grip slightly as she kept that stroke slow and even up and down his full length.

John “Mhm.” agreeing with his continued efforts at convincing her, he heard her response. Meeting those light eyes of hers, the look of mischief loud and clear. She could do mischief plenty well in her own right though she’d probably deny it. Hearing her follow up question, he had to smirk. “Have I ever /not/ wanted my wife?” he asked honestly, knowing she knew the answer to that. That his idea that he did not want her could stop there if considered that the man had never backed down from the challenge. Leaning in where he pressed another firm kiss to her jawline just as he had a few moments before. Hands seeking out her hips.

Spencer The feeling of his lips to her jaw would naturally bring her chin to rise towards him, a bite already there at her lips as she continued the stroke of her hand around his hardening cock.  “Never,” she returned, as he was absolutely correct in having never not wanted her, although as the days stretched on, she was losing the ability to believe he wanted her as much as he once had.  Things were different.  She was different.  Her own insecurities would reside just behind her hues, though they were every one unfounded as John never instilled them on her, but she to herself.  As his hands found her hips, her teeth released that lower tier as she lifted to her toes to steal his instead.  A soft bite as her eyes cut up towards his, desire flooding hazel eyes as she tugged slowly back against his lip.

John “That’s right…and I’m never /not/ going to want you…” he stressed, and there was nothing she could do to change that. Feeling her seek out his lips as he felt her tug. Allowing this as he leaned forward into her. One of his hands finding the side of her face so he could better control this situation. Even better, to steal control from her as he pulled back and met her eyes. “and I always am going to want you…even one day when you want to crochet and watch soaps all afternoon. Going to be that perverted old man you gotta’ shoo off.” he remarked, though most of him thought he wouldn’t make it that long, he could at least give her that much of what their future could entail.

Spencer A smirk graced her lips as she let his lip fall from her grasp.  “And I’ll still ride you like it’s your last day, even as I catch up on my stories with the crochet needle going with my arms around your neck.”  If he could tease, she’d do the same, though she was rather certain it wouldn’t matter how old they grew together, she’d still want him just the same as she had since day one.  If there was one thing that was never lacking in their relationship, it was sexual chemistry.  Feeling his hand to the side of her face, she was privy to his game there, and she’d let him have it, for there was no place she loved better than to be at the will of the man’s hand.  Trust radiated from her at every turn in positions such as this as her eyes shone up to his that full and endless trust that he had earned from her one of their first nights as a married couple.  Not breaking her eyes free from his, she brought her hand up from his cock, turning her face towards her palm to add moisture against her palm before she’d bring her hand back to glide easily over his piece, able to draw a quicker pace there as she stole her lower lip for her own hold once more.

John Laughing at the mention of the crochet needle. He could see it. Somehow. He could see a future with her, not just one day to the next. He saw a tomorrow with her. “Wouldn’t expect anything less.” he assured her as he felt her hand seek him out once again with the addition of lubrication for the task. Inhaling slowly. Clearly appreciating it as he watched her against her own bottom lip. Leaning down where he captured it for himself between his teeth. Hand to her hip tightening as he pushed a step forward to get them a bit closer to the bed.

Spencer Before her teeth could leave marks against her own lower lip, he had stolen it from her, generating a soft whine from the woman.  Taking the prompted step back as he stepped forward, she took another and another until the back of her thighs were against the bed behind her.  Following his lead every step of the way as he had his wife in full obedience mode, a rarity as she often challenged that authority.  But truly, she knew he had earned this one for how compassionate he had been within the bath for her benefit.  Additionally, when she behaved, she truthfully reaped the benefits tenfold.  Her hand continually stroked against him, rotating her wrist slightly as she came up his length where she would remain until he deemed her to stop.  Her eyes easily reflected her state of mind as she kept them up to his, fixated on his light hues as if to eagerly await his direction.  She may not have felt the part she once stood within, as she was lacking certain elements she once held, but she still knew she would never give the opportunity for John to want for something or someone else.  She would please him to the very best of her own ability, even if she couldn’t see what he saw anymore.

John Feeling her still stroking him as he guided her to the bed and knowing her to be the end of it. Merely waiting for her to go ahead and make that stop there. Quite alright with this in the first place as his hand remained to her jawline. Meeting her eyes as she met his. For once, he did not wish to dominate her. He wanted the push and pull, the ebb and flow. He just wanted the feel of her and the release at the end of the day. To be close to her. Meeting her eyes, he watched her as he allowed his hand at her hip to sweep down. Tracing the delicate flesh between her legs as he furthered his closeness to her heated core with each passing moment.

Spencer As his hand fell gently against her hip inwards to her inner thigh, she drew in a deep breath at the softness in the man’s calloused hands.  She had found and learned the difference in the way the man would look at her in moments such as these.  The tone of his eyes nearly altering in softer times to which she was almost certain she was picking up on in that moment.  No strong power play made, she leaned forward, pressing her lips to his chest as she took it upon herself to test the waters of the gentle approach she felt through his eyes.  Breaking that eye contact if only to press her lips to his flesh, drawing back slowly to capture his eyes once more.  Double checking herself to be sure she was picking up the right signals from her husband as she brought her free hand to his side.  Gripping lightly at the man’s side for that stability as she lifted one leg to draw up to the bed, followed by the other, bringing herself to her knees in front of him at the taller height the bed offered her.  Still not eye to eye with the man, but closer than she was on flat foot.  Her hand at his cock took a softer approach as she became more thorough in those strokes, molding to that which she thought he wanted.  The one time she was game for true obedience, he didn’t want it, but the woman wouldn’t crack a smile to the thought as this took her position to a new level.  Equally inventive with a common goal of satisfying her husband by means of their joint partnership.

John If her pregnancy had caused any change in them sexually, it was this. Less inclined to grip her up and do what he might normally. Quicker to allow her the softer stuff knowing he couldn't quite enjoy himself with anything too rough. Too concerned with her comfort as she drew back on the bed. Slipping a hand from between her thigh where he found her side again, gesturing for her to lay back as he had found his window to dive exactly into what he wanted.

Spencer Even as the tone had changed between them intimately speaking, there would still be those moments where he would gesture something that would send a spark through her.  Dragging her lower lip through her teeth, she would do as suggested with little to no hesitation.  Altering her position to lay back against the bed, her eyes shot up to him, a faint smile gracing her lips as she drew a soft breath.  The anticipation of his touch already getting to her even in that brief few moments of break between them. Truthfully, a part of her hoped this softer side of things found some residence in life after the baby, though she truly could not wait until a time when they could return to the full degree of that which they knew at the same time.  Reminding herself it was just a few weeks away was more than enough to get her through, aside from the fact that the increased intimacy between them here was more than appreciated for what it was.  She loved John before she was pregnant, but had found an entirely different level of loving him while pregnant as she saw firsthand just how far his protection for her would reside within him.

-April 19, 2016