#i speedran this in like a day and a half it was so fun

[warddokteur]

PIZZIZA GAMIZMAY!

this was originally going to be an arimnaes gets chased by kiane gag but clearly i went a little overboard by accident. whoopsie doodles.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

beloveds.

[yeehawbvby]

Let’s Play a Game (Sebastian x GN!Reader)

Rating: Teen+ 

Summary: Sebastian has a strange proposition for you.

Author’s Note: Inspired by this comic! This is my first fic to be released publicly and I speedran it at like 5am when inspiration struck. It’s super corny, but I hope y’all like it anyway!

Edit: Found the comic’s source, finally! Martin Rosner, or @/HotPaperComics on Twitter :)

Check it out on ao3!

“Let’s play a game.”

You cock a brow, choking back a strong sip of your drink, fresh off the bar counter. Jeez, that blue-haired chick spiked the crap out of this thing.

“What kind of game?”

Your acquaintance, Sebastian, is sporting the most dastardly possible grin.

He’s the son of your neighborhood carpenter, and just about the only human you’ve had contact with under the age of 40 since moving away from the city. A charming fella, if you find edgy, nerdy stoners to be charming… Unfortunately, you do.

And after you somehow got lucky enough for him to invite you out, and couldn’t resist saying “yes” to his obnoxiously pretty face. You hadn’t checked your luck today, but you can only assume that the spirits have been doing Yoba’s work.

Narrowing his eyes, he answers your question. “Chicken.”

Chicken? Memories of your childhood friends flood your mind. Stacking atop each other’s shoulders on a hot summer’s day, pool noodles in hand. Sunscreen and sweat and heavily chlorinated water making your grips slippery. Not a worry in the world, other than whether or not you would be the first to fall into the water below you…

“Like, the pool game?”

He laughs, “Not quite.” He sips his own beverage — the same thing as yours — unfazed by its strength. Show-off. “Let’s spend some quality time together.” Oh? “We’ll help each other with errands, do some cooking together, go on some adventures in the mines or whatever…”

“So,” the gears turn in your brain as you cut him off, “you just want to… hang out? How is that—”

He silences you with a raised finger, cutting you back off with his words. “First one to fall in love loses.”

“…What? ”

“You’re new, so you’re basically friendless, yeah?”

“Ouch,” you wince, although you can’t help the light laugher that escapes you. He isn’t wrong.  You just got here, what, a week ago? “Yeah, I guess.”

“Are you single?” He endearingly wiggles his eyebrows, to which you roll your eyes.

“Yeah…” you grumble into your drink before bravely downing half the glass.

“Then it’s settled.”

“But still, how is this a game?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

_______________

You knew you were at a disadvantage when starting this stupid little “game” with Sebastian, but you had no idea how hard it would be. Of course he’s cute, so there’s no avoiding a crush on the guy. You knew that. But after spending so much time with him over just a few days, you’re hopelessly into him.

But you’ll be damned if you tell him that.

Sure, it’s probably cheating, but you have too much pride to just openly admit defeat so easily. And besides, who’s to say it’s love yet? Not you, you sly bastard.

One night at the beach, watching the stars and waves together, you ask for clarification. “What is love?”

He avoids the question, only singing the lyrics “Baby don’t hurt me, no more," in response.

Another day, while he’s helping you forage in Cindersnap, he cheekily asks, “Have you ever wanted to kiss me?“

Of course you have. But instead of answering, you sing, “K-k-kiss me, infect me with your love and…” etcetera.

It’s become a trend. Part of the game, if you will. Whenever either of you openly questions the other’s feelings, the rules of the game, whatever, the other person pulls a song outta their ass, turning the situation into an impromptu karaoke. It’s fun, but it’s only making things harder in the end.

The charade goes on for weeks. Neither of you have had the balls to call it quits, and you’re both feeling the consequences of this long-fought battle.

________________

“C’mere,” Sebastian mumbles from the other side of your couch.

You scoot over just a little, not daring to cuddle up. The two of you have only made light contact thus far, and you know you’ll probably come out as a big dirty cheater who lost the game forever ago, if you were to do so much as hold hands with the guy.

He whines, “More.” He reaches his arm out, signaling you to tuck yourself into his side. “I don’t bite hard, I promise.”

You glare at him. “I’m good.”

“You’re shivering, actually.” Ugh. He’s right. The central heating in your cabin hasn’t been installed yet, leaving the fireplace in the kitchen as your only source of warmth.

“Fine, whatever.” you snuggle into his arms, balling up your blanket over your cheeks to hide the fierce blush coating them.

As Sebastian searches through your movie options on Netflix, you’re able to slowly settle into his touch… although, the more you cozy up to him, the faster you can hear his nearby heart racing.

Maybe you fell for him first, but this is definitely the heart rate of someone who’s just as into you as you’re into them. Holy shit.

You giggle.

“Hmm?” he hums questioningly.

“Is your resting heart rate always this fast?”

No answer.

Your eyes widen at his silence. You peer up to see his own eyes wide as well.

“Oh my god,” you lean up, leveling with him.

He closes his eyes, “God damnit.”

“Oh my GOD.” Beaming, you cup his cheeks in your hands. His eyes are still shut but his face is getting warm. “I won.”

No answer.

“I fucking won!”

Still no answer. His eyes slowly open, staring back at yours. As soon as he sees your goofy smile, he mirrors it.

Not knowing what else there is to do at a time like this, you kiss him. He kisses back, and it’s as magical as you’d imagined it to be. His lips are soft, his kissing style as rough around the edges as he is. It doesn’t take long for tongues to get involved.

But it also doesn’t take long for him to crack the code:

With a light grunt and his eyebrows furrowed, he pulls away. “Wait, but if you’re this eager to…” he thinks aloud. You can almost see the lightbulb go on. Oops. “You didn’t win, did you?”

[jasper-pagan-witch]

2024 Grimoire Challenge Review - January Week 1

Well, I had to wait until Wednesday to get out of the house and get a binder and some paper for my challenge grimoire this year, so I basically speedran all of the December prep and the first week of January, because I will never learn and never improve on this habit of mine.

Keeping in line with other grimoires I've used in the past (such as the Epsilon Ledger and the Delta Book of Tarot Spreads), this red binder has been named the Eta Binder. I wrote down my proper name (let's go, trans mages!), tacked @2024-grimoire-challenge onto it to remind myself that that's what we're doing, and gave it a date of working. Since I started on Wednesday, that's 1/3/2024 (because I'm an American) to an unknown end date.

I had to scramble to come up with a list of 52 plants and stones to work on. I just went through the list of herbs and teas offered by my local ("local" being half an hour away) spice shop and capped it off with some Missouri flowers. For the stones, I just flipped through Judy Hall's Crystal Bible (somehow both a really good and really bad reference book) back and forth a bunch of times until I had a list of crystals I hadn't already done dives about.

As for my magical study ideas, I mostly just threw shit down that I've been interested in or have just gotten interested in. I gave each deity I worship their own bulletpoint and also split up the specific areas of pop culture magic I'm digging more into. I made sure there was a blend of comfortable old stuff, brand new stuff that I'm not sure of, and things that are generally outside of my purview.

Through the power of "work had too many 3-ring binder dividers", I have split my binder into seven sections - 1 is Plants, 2 is Stones, 3 is Work-Related Notes, 4 is Spells Designed (if I complete any, they'll be moved into my spell binder that also houses all of my correspondence lists), 5 if Journal, 6 is currently blank, and 7 is Empty Pages.

Then I finally got started on the actual projects. For the plant and crystal prompts this week, I used an integer generator online to choose two numbers randomly and received caraway (aka Carum carvi) and muscovite (aka KAl2(AlSi3O10)(F,OH)2), so I used my normal research process for the two. It was actually pretty fun, if you ignore the fact that my hand hurt so much because it ended up being 4 pages (well, 2 pages but front and back) EACH of information drawn from books and digital sources that I was all but copying word for word.

As for the Work-Related Notes, that's where I've saved things like my Definitions page, Spellwriting 101 (in my practice), and a page about my Common Tools.

I will admit that I skipped the year outline, mostly because the passing of the year means near nothing in my craft. I don't celebrate any particular "magical holidays", I don't work by the moon cycle, I'm definitely not Wiccan and thus don't celebrate the Wheel of the Year, seasons just mean whether or not I have to wear a coat, and I don't care about matching particular workings to days of the week. I'm starting to think I'm just a deeply boring person, upon reflection.

Then we get to the Work Spaces / Altars page, and oh boy! I don't actually do...workings at my altars, so they're probably better described as shrines. I have my Primary Work Space (my wooden desk, the metal microwave stand I've stolen from somewhere, and the tiny red bookshelf under the microwave stand) that is an absolute MESS at every given point that holds whatever the fuck I'm working on, regardless of what project it is. I have a Thoughtform & Spirit Shelf (which is actually a partial shelf) in my big red bookshelf that holds the anchors for my thoughtforms but also my PokeFamiliar. I have five altars around my room that are currently holding seven deities, a candle for an eighth deity, the Lokifam, three spirits, the Unknown Benefactor, the symbol of an animal spirit I want to reach out to at some point this year, and Jasper's Casper (an adorable little ghost that my coworker and her daughter crocheted for me to celebrate the first anniversary of me working at the library).

Shit's a bit cramped in here!

And today, I'm writing about my Personal Practices that have made it into my craft. I'm actually working on this now, but I paused to write up this summary. It's pretty neat to think about all the stuff I've done that I still do.

Results: My hand hurts and my head is throbbing, but c'est la vie. This is a really fun challenge, and I hope it goes all the way through 2024, unlike when I tried to do the 2023 challenge and the host of that one vanished into the aether.

[r1ghtt1mewr0ngplace]

fun fact most, if not all of my ocs are queer as fuck.

olivia is aromantic and has been an ally for years before she realized it! she's also pretty gnc and likes to toy with her gender expressions while staying a cis girl

umaru is a trans man (manfred barred him from transition for years but he speedran all phases of it while studying in europe to be a prosecutor), also he's very much bisexual, see his painful crush on mvk that died in silence and his love for lana skye

hanma is bisexual and is so so so femme that despite her being a cis woman it circles back to being queer as fuck

sean is literally a nonbinary butch lesbian who lived the better half of their life as a trans man idk what else do I need to say here

basil never thought about it and he can be kind of queerphobic because he's not educated about the community but he's basically enemy-sexual (probably pan)

i have a side character I used in two cases called redhead, that's not his actual legal name, but she doesn't reveal her "real" name and introduces himself as just redhead, he's a he/she bigender and I don't even know or establish what her agab is because fuck that

if I start going through my aa ocs we'll be here all day so why don't we talk about my completely original characters

in project David like 3/4 out of the main 4 are genderqueer, Glenda is nonbinary and uses they/them (while being nearly fifty years old btw), Louis is a transmasc bigender who uses he/she and visibly appears as a man, not disclosing her "female" side to most people in fear of being seen only as a woman again, and Elis is a trans woman, well, not Exactly a woman but woman is the closest, a nonbinary transfem that uses she/her. and Dan is a bi cis dude (that can change though. my transfem friend sees Dan as an egg)

my collegeverse ocs literally consist of sapphics and an enby god, Loren, a pronoun fluid genderfluid who mostly uses she her and is butch in a fixing cars way, Mag, a lesbian that's been repressed for many many years and finally allows herself to change and let herself be who she is, gaining weight, getting with a girl and changing her gender expression, butch in a suit and tie way; Eve, a pan trans girl and Megumi, her bi girl best friend; and also Arc, an agender person (or is it a person) who uses it/its and may or may not be a deity

god I love queerness.

and yeah over the course of this post I only ever mentioned the queer identities of the characters but some of those characters are marginalized in other ways and that very much intersects, for example Elis is a black trans woman. I'm not adding it on to flaunt how progressive I am for having diverse characters, I'm simply like, aiming to acknowledge that white thin able-bodied queerness isn't the standard and people experience queerness differently based on that

[raymondshields]

Turnabout is fair play! What have you been working on of late? :D

All right, I survived posting however many cyworlds that was so now I get to answer an ask. :p

Right now, I'm not actually working on anything: I probably wrote 250-400k of words in the past year (likely higher, I'd have to sit down and total it all) and I realized right around mid-November that I was quickly reaching burnout: writing was getting difficult, even when I had ideas, and I just felt exhausted.

So I speedran the rest of NaNoWriMo, finished on day 23 (the year before, I kept writing and landed with 70k, which was insane, this year I just tapped out once I hit 50k), and I haven't actually written anything since.

But, that doesn't mean I'm done writing! I'm just putting it on the backburner atm. When I get back into the swing of it, I want to finish off (read: do the second half of) my NaNo from a couple months ago, Turnabout Runaways, which is mostly focused on the Ace Attorney side of Sagiverse except for where it isn't. (There's a good chunk of Aethelian stuff in there, and I do absolutely intend to write the Saint Seiya fic in there. Just... once I get there, because I have to adjust the plot of that one to account for Myncroft Walden, who was absolutely alive during it, and that'll shift the plot a bit.)

Like the other big fics I've done this past year, it's an anthology, so I've mostly been just compiling oneshots. The major theme is obviously that each fic is about running away (mostly literally). It's going to keep the anthology theme of having interludes / prologues to each fic, but it also has the fun addition of every fic being split into three 'scenes', and every fic opening with lyrics from a Sirinnkata song!

(The Sirinnkata are a fictional band in Sagiverse, as well-known as the Beatles and surrounded by the mystery of why the two frontmen vanished off the face of the planet four hundred years ago after both of them had a very public mental breakdown. I've genuinely enjoyed telling their story exclusively through their music, which is funny because I can't write music to save my life.)

This is the entirety of my notes, minus Sirinnkata lyrics, for what's left. (The crossed out part on the right are the fics that are done.) Runaways is shaping up to be a lot longer than the three previous anthologies, so it may have to be split into two volumes, but like... that's a problem for future Pale, when I get back into the swing of things.

In the meantime, I've been organizing files, so uh - if you're reading this, Wavy or someone else, the next hundred and fifty or so posts on your dash is just me being queueblocked from posting Cyworlds. Sorry. ^^; (It's either rebageling cyworlds or sorting my DGS fanart folder until I can do my Neopets dailies, and there's fourteen hundred files in that folder. I'm doing my best here. :p)

[paigelts05]

FNAF - I know you're in there!

https://www.deviantart.com/paigelts05/art/FNAF-I-know-you-re-in-there-883911006

Published: Jun 27, 2021

Renegade File Server Location: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23858029

This posting contains art, a story, and a micro rant about bugs in applications.

Warning: mentions blood, injuries, and use of thumbscrews.

I do not apologize for the rushed quality of the art.

I basically speedran this drawing as all of my drafts are stuck in the master app because for some reason, logging in with Google on the amino master app on an Android device isn't working as of 23/06/2021. In the meantime, I've been using the FNAF amino standalone, and both the FNAF amino and Arts and OCs amino on browser. I know the issue is with the master app or Google and not my account as I was able to log into amino on the Firefox browser.

With that our of the way, I would like to introduce this rushed bit of art.

I was browsing various collections on AO3 and found out about something known as 'bad luck bingo'. I don't have a Tumblr, but had a look at what it entailed and the prompt list.

Because I was not joining a challenge and doing this for fun, I made a small list of sad things and made a Vannis (Luis Cabrera X Vanessa | Vanny | Reluctant follower) fic about it.

I chose the following: can only move the eyes, mind control/ Ghostly possession, and at the end of story, it reveals thumb screws + scarpia ultimatum but instead of the usual, it's "let your body get used to murder people or I will use your body anyway to kill your boyfriend".

Fun stuff! So I wrote a short fic and didn't know what scene to draw.

But because I had to rush this out the gate it made choosing a lot easier.

=°•.🌹 Story 🌹.•°=

°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•🌹•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°

It was a normal day. Ness had been living with Luis for quite some time; in part so that she wouldn't suddenly vanish again, part because she didn't want to go back to her apartment, and part because she had wanted to move in with Luis for a while, and this situation was a perfect excuse.

They had decided to watch a movie together. A film from the 2010's that they hadn't watched in years but both found that they had watched as a child. About half way through, Ness asked Luis to pause the film for a second.

"I need to grab a drink. I'm thirsty. I also need to pee."

"Ok. Don't rush, but please don't take three hours. If you feel ill like last time, just say something. Even if you think it's normal." Luis replied.

"Will do!" Ness said as she left the room. Last time she felt ill, she wound up throwing up in the toilet. The time before that she'd rather not remember.

The movie was paused on a rather funny looking frame, catching the smear between key frames. It made Luis laugh a little, and he realised how tingly his legs were from being sat in an awkward position for so long, so he decided to stretch his legs by walking around the living room, revealing an awful cramp in his foot.

After who knows how long of walking in circles to try and get rid of the cramp, Luis heared Ness walk downstairs. Then he heard the back door creek open.

"Ness, did you just go outside?"

Luis had to ask. He was always worried when the door opened.

Ness didn't reply.

Luis had a bad feeling about this and bolted towards the back door, and seeing it left open, he bolted outside, not bothering to even put on shoes.

"Ness? Where are you?"

He shouted in a panic, wondering where she could have gone. He then heard footsteps and rushed towards them. A bad instinct, but Ness could be in danger.

His instincts were dead on.

A woman in a patchwork fursuit was standing in the street. Luis knew this was Ness.

He also knew that Ness wasn't in control in there anymore.

"Damnit," Luis cursed himself out, "of course this was going to happen. No way it was just going to be over like that."

The suited woman turned to look at Luis and and placed a finger to her lips before rushing at Luis with a kitchen knife.

Ness definitely had no say in this fight. It was him versus whoever was controling Ness. He knew who this controller was, but his mind blanked as adrenaline coursed through his body.

Luis dived to the side, the knife cutting his shoulder, but nothing more.

'A lucky break,' Luis thought. The cut stung and was fairly small, but he knew that this was just the first of what was to come.

Luis managed to steady himself, but Ness, no, Vanny struck again, bearly missing but managing to grab him and throw him to the ground. She laughed in a voice that didn't sound like her as she plunged the knife towards Luis.

The knife grazed against his back as he rolled out of the way. As Vanny was recovering, he managed to get back to his feet and decided it was his turn.

He threw himself at Vanny with a shoulder barge, aiming to knock her to the ground. Perhaps if he was able to get that cartoonish rabbit head off her head, she would return to normal.

The hit connected, but only sent her stumbling back a bit, but not before Luis heard some slight crying from within the suit, and she recovered from the blow quickly, slashing again. This time, the hit connected, creating a deep wound in Luis's arm - the same one as the slight nick from earlier.

He was bleeding, but that wouldn't stop him. He knew that Ness was in there and that she needed his help.

Luis dashed again, seeing if an elbow to the gut would topple Vanny, but it didn't work. Whilst she may have stumbled back for a second, she recovered inhumanly quickly and grabbed Luis by the throat.

"What do you even want with her" Luis was able to eek the words out before the cloth paw tightened around his neck.

Vanny didn't answer. She just laughed, but behind the laugh, sobs could be heard, as if two separate entities were inside the suit, and tossed Luis to the ground and trapped him underneath her, a leg either side of his torso, but most of her body weight being used to keep him on the ground and from rolling away again.

Vanny laughed as she held a knife above Luis's throat, but no amount of laughter could mask the cries coming from under the rabbit hood.

In one last ditch attempt to save both Ness and himself, he reached up, grabbed the rabbit head by the ears, and tugged as hard as he could.

There was a gasp of air and metal collided with tarmac.

"LuisI'msosorryItriedtostophimbut-"

"Shhh, you're talking a million miles an hour, but it's ok. Let's go back inside."

Ness was shocked as to how calm Luis was. She had just tried to kill him - I mean, it wasn't exactly her, but William using her body - but he was so calm. Even though both thier hearts were beating at a million miles an hour, he seemed so calm whilst she was so shocked and scared.

Ness nodded and managed to stumble to her feet. Luis - somehow in a better condition than her - picked up the rabbit hood and knife after clambering to his feet. The two then made thier way back inside.

After locking the suit in a box - as destroying it may insentivise making one again or worse, Vanny running around with no visible tells of it being Vanny - and Luis washing the knife - he was the only one cut by it anyway - it was time to tend to the wounds.

Luis - despite bleeding out of his arm - grabbed the bandages out of the cupboard and begun to clean and bandage his cuts.

He winced as the antiseptic burned the area around the wound, but he knew he had to clean it out, lest it get infected. After the wound was cleaned, it stopped bleeding and looked nowhere near as bad.

"Guess it was just a minor flesh wound," he said as he then begun to bandage the wound.

"Do you want me to help?" Ness meekly asked, having changed into pajamas and a mismatched pair of winter gloves.

"Du yuh hink yuh can ush a hafety hin whith your hands in those ghluves?" Luis's words were mostly muffled by the fact he had a bandage in his mouth, but Ness knew what he said.

"Umm," Ness wasn't sure, "I'll try."

Ness took the safety pin from Luis and pinned the bandage in place. Luis was then able to take the bandage from out of his mouth and finish wrapping up the wound.

Luis then moved on to the the various grazes on his head and back, cleaning the grit out.

"Ness? Why are you wearing gloves? Are you cold?" Luis asked as he winced as he picked another bit of the pathetic excuse of a road surface out of his neck. "You were wearing some when we were watching the movie too. Is it really that cold in here?"

Ness stayed quiet, but sighed, knowing she couldn't keep it a secret forever. "No. The temperature is fine. It's just... Take a look for yourself..."

Ness removed the gloves and showed Luis her hands.

The tips of her fingers were bloodied and bruised and the nails were snapped down the middle. After the order of thumb screws came through to the office, Luis had done a bit of research into the medieval torture device, just in case, and recognised the damage.

"Thumbscrews?" Luis asked, already knowing the answer.

Ness nodded.

"I guess we didn't hide them well enough." Luis replied.

"He made me use them." Tears welled up in Ness's eyes as she spoke, "He has more control than I thought he did. He also told me that if I didn't let him use my body as a means to kill things, he'd make me kill you..."

Luis was shocked, but not entirely suprised. He should have expected something like this from someone like William. Cassey had told them the identity of Glitchtrap many times, but sometimes when things got stressful, it was easy to forget such an average name.

"It's ok," Luis said, "I'm just going to look up how to help ease the pain of those wounds. And no more gloves. That'll just agitate it."

Ness nodded and smiled.

A few minutes later, they were back on the sofa with the movie resumed. The only difference from before the film was paused being that Ness now had an ice pack for her broken nails, Luis had a roll of bandages wrapped around his arm, and Ness had her glass of water.

°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•🌹•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°•°*°

Ship names for the web crawlers to find:

Luis Cabrera X Vanessa Luis X Vanessa

Luis Cabrera X Vanny Luis X Vanny

Luis Cabrera X Ness. Luis X Ness

Vannis

[sioneus]

Twitter Memoir - 2021

I was full of motivation starting 2021 and had planned to run all the games listed in the picture. The reality was quite different, as plans usually go.

After one last SMT I PB I decided to move onto SMT II and focus on it, on remaking its manip and therefore improving the route. And so the struggles began.

I remember in the beginning of the year I told myself I'd want to do more marathon runs so I made it a goal to submit to more. So the first half of 2021 was focused on marathons and doing SMT2 runs, followed by learning and running SMT If... as well (which I didn't quite like as much).

Then the legendary news arrived. News about SMTV which was coming out later that year. At that moment, I knew - the plans had changed. There would be no way I'd run the games I said I'd been planning to in the beginning of the year.

Getting to do a run for Questing for Glory was something I'm definitely proud of but it's not my favourite marathon run I've done. I mostly only remember the tech issues we had at the end, which soured the experience. I'm hoping to submit to the next edition and get a better run then.

And finally the SMT SNES Trifecta. I am very happy with the times I got for every single one of the runs and had a great time. It was also my first time streaming with a webcam on and I've never looked back ever since. It was also my first day living in that room, as I moved houses afterwards, so I'm glad I got it on camera at least once. Horrible house, full of bad memories but even those are worth remembering sometimes.

And so I moved back to my parents' house for the summer; and jobless and motivated, I speedran like my life depended on it. Here are some of the highlights:

A new SMT I Any% route that caught everyone off-guard. This would become the most popular SMT I speedrun category, to my dismay.

I also dropped some youtube videos, this one being one I'm particularly proud of. A lot of speedrun-centric information that can be picked apart to help casual players. Overall, simply something I'm happy to be able to create due to the knowledge I've obtained speedrunning SMT I.

Then the semester started and my availability to learn new runs became sparser. Before I knew it, November had arrived, the month of the release of Shin Megami Tensei V.

My last goal for the year was to route SMTV. I did one Safety run and then put all my efforts into routing Normal Any%. My initial route was absolutely terrible! Truly. But I had so much fun coming up with it and I was terribly addicted to the game.

It was truly a great year where I achieved many things I'm proud of. Over before I knew it, and then came 2022

[rusted-sun]

HELLO! Did you have a good yesterday?

hi hi!!! and YES!!! it was a goddamn blast!! me and my friends all had so much fun, it was great. we spent like 5hours at this one place where theres tracks built on trees and your goal is to just.. get trough them. its pretty simple and very safe

also a few funny moments i remember

- i was given 6 vases worth of flowers by people so i had to make dad do the walk of shame to the car cuz they are H E A V Y . felt like a workout even holding em all

- the seagull shitting on the principals suit right as he started speaking

- we pushed off my grandma AND godmother down this 300m long ride across a lake where your only support is ropes and wires (they loved it, dw)

- my friends and i imitated gta srippers (and charater walks in general) while my family was right there, and im convinced they thought WE were the ones drunk dhbsjssbms

- my friend speedran the hardest track in.. 16 minutes... we timed it. that was their second time on it that day and near the end their arms gave up on them. still finished it.

- i had to have a rescue mission cuz my body gave up on me on like the 3rd obstacle. it was so humiliating but also funny as hell cuz i was just powerlessly hanging off a tree not being able to reach anything </3

- every time someone was on a track, my other friend would show them pictures of monkeys. we really did have to go monkey mode a lot

- also got some of the goofiest n stupidest pics ive ever seen of ANYONE djbdjssbjs

- also didnt happen to me, but reading the class GCs, turns out someone lost the classroom keys with all their stuff inside while half of them probably werent even at school anymore jdshsjjf

- also the amounts of alchohol they were bringing to the ball,,, holy shit,,, fear.png at its finest. someones not waking up this morning and man i feel bad for their hangovers today

[gonewith-thewind]

say what you want but if I am a person who doesn’t vent seriously and I’m clearly having a rough day and I get into it a little bit and give you multiple chances to opt out because it feels pretty heavy and I don’t want to force anything on you and every time you say no go ahead and so I do and it keeps pouring out of me, and I’m getting it off my chest to another person for the first time. And since this is all happening on a call though I’m typing everything you can just leave and so. You say you are really tired and just leave me there mid-breakdown? Kind of an asshole move. Considering you know how it feels to be having a breakdown and where it can lead to. And you were given multiple very clear chances to not go any further.

And maybe I should just let go of it because it was a little less than half a year ago. But maybe I shouldn’t because that was my one attempt at giving venting to a person and not a never posted draft. And you totally fucking ruined it. And now I feel like I ruined our relationship for like following few months which just made everything worse for me. And now I fall back harder into never asking anyone to do anything they normally wouldn’t and pretending everything is a-ok hoping someone will figure out it’s not and do something about it aside from just asking me if I’m alright. And maybe I found someone who’s a little link that because we share those same qualities but none of us can truly help the others because we’ve all done this to ourselves, at least a little bit because of you. And others, but you are there. So we all feel the same way and try to comfort the others by acknowledging we all aren’t alone but it isn’t what we need.

And I already have have a hard time expressing things like this without making it a silly little haha bit. And as fun and loving and caring as you are sometimes I’m worried that you’ll feel suicidal again if I tell you all of this. Because you mentioned how I don’t vent to you anymore last time it was a really big issue. And I love you, which will just make it harder to leave. I want a fresh start, though. Maybe I want a place I can establish good habits from the start with someone I’m not just a little afraid of saying stuff to sometimes. And maybe I’ll miss you. A lot.

But maybe I think back to that day and know it was a low point for me and I was spiraling while using facts to back me so I wasn’t entirely logical. Which might be all the more reason I needed you then. Because you were the only person I could go to. And you fucked me over to breakdown by myself after building me up to finally sharing. So say what you want about me(I say plenty of things myself tbh) about how rude and mean some of the posts I put on here, my specifically unknown about venting side-blog, are, how they don’t really deserve to have me write these things to essentially the void behind your backs, but maybe you shouldn’t have done that asshole move then speedran me here. And I resent you just a little for it. Because I needed you then, you asshole.

[mosstliest]

i think the act of verbally asking for consent to physically touch someone (platonic or not) is very important and it can also be very cute in the different ways people would ask for consent to touch the other so perhaps headcanons on how dsmp characters would ask for consent to hug someone (maybe even asking for consent to use something of the persons)

have a wonderful day :] - 🪐

cw! pogtopia wilbur because I couldn't help myself

in this: (all c!_) Technoblade . Sapnap . Fundy . Wilbur

C! Techno:

It’s common knowledge that physical affection doesn’t come particularly easy to the callused warrior

Techno rarely initiates contact

and whenever he does, he makes sure to ask you if it’s okay

“can I” he signals with his hands, he’s vague and awkward and blushing just a little

you don’t answer, mouth much too occupied in an enamoured smile to conceptualize a coherent sentence

“y’know… hug you?” deep voice gone low and red eyes drifting between snow tainted windows and his lover before him

“of course” you talk in that way you do when you’re in love and he can hear your smile

there’s barely a step between him and you and walking it to wrap himself around you comes naturally as breathing

your hugs are the kind that could last for hours without ever being awkward, be it when you let go or while you’re wrapped so tightly your edges become blurry, it’s organic

C! Sapnap:

Having skin as warm to the touch as a freshly lit match never posed much of an issue to Sapnap

sure he couldn’t bare wearing anything heavier than a white top without melting, and dolphins swam away from him when his friends and him went swimming  --George has been sleeping for a while and Dream is rotting away in a blackstone prison cell, so that doesn’t even matter now.

It was never bothersome

That is

Until he met you

No that’s not right

It was fine for a while, it opened a door to many a “woah you’re hot” jokes (the punchline hereof was without fail “hehe, I know”)

and he could easily mask any faint blush with some bullshit about temperature

however, he is deeply terrified of hurting you, even if his skin has never gotten warm enough to burn, the very thought of leaving a single red mark, a single blister…

so he always asks, to hold your hand, to kiss you, to hug you or put his arm around your shoulders

a shy question with a tentative “are you sure?” following suit

and you say yes, because he’s sapnap, he’s warm and feels like home

C! Fundy /p

poor boy’s got issues

he holds onto stuff to dearly, he holds onto people for dear life because one two many have left him stranded

he likes to wear your jewellery

you're probably one of the only people he wouldn't steal from, and when he asks if he can keep a string bracelet or old copper ring there isn't a moment of hesitation before you say yes

he'll always come back with a ribbon or a flower, as a thanks

while his primary love language is gift giving (it might have to do with his fox half but that’s unimportant)

physical touch has a way of making him feel safe, specially if it comes from you

he’s startled easily and takes a while to open up to people, even longer to let them touch him in any way

so he’s slow and careful

“I really want to hold your hand right now but I want to know if that’s okay”

he likes to walk around holding hands, or with his arm around your shoulder if he’s feeling douchey

he likes it when you ask too

If you want to hug him, you’ll grab his wrist and whisper

“Is it okay?”

It always is

C! Wilbur (pogtopia era)

the ravine is cold, the rocks too grounded to each other for any light to scurry through

the ravine is cold and Wilbur is beautiful

the war hero clad in white, red and navy blue is long gone. Now, he wears brown, gray and stone

he’s beautiful in the way all dangerous things are

and still, maybe for the worst, under the maddening rebel he’s still… Wilbur

he still fucks around with tommy, albeit less frequently, and he banters with technoblade and he teaches weird stuff to tubbo

he no longer swoops you off your feet and spins you around like crazy

he’s careful

like he doesn’t want to scare you, like he’s scared he might hurt you

he wouldn’t, not in a million years, he’d rather cut off his hand than ever inflicting any pain in you

still, he’s scared

because war has a way of scaring one’s soul, so does solitude, and god knows he’s gotten enough of both to spare

so he asks

his voice a lot quieter, a lot sweeter

and sometimes you say no, when the fire in his eyes looks more risky than warm, or the cold of the cavern is at the tip of your fingers

but when you say yes and he wraps his arms around you; he smells like brimstone and leather and Wilbur

for a split second it’s like you’re home, in a country built on friendship and shielded by blackstone.

Home is a curious word, hopefully one day you’ll mold it to mean a cold cavern inhabited by two young souls too excited by not having to hold onto the railings, a warrior with a history coated in blood and a man whose brown curls have lost most of their shine and who always asks before he holds your hand

🪐 my dearest, I hope this is what you were expecting and you (all) enjoy it, it was a lot of fun writing it :^)

I pray you excuse any typos I speedran this in like an hour

likes and reblogs are rewarded with a kith and I hope you have a lovely morning/afternoon/evening/night

<3

tiny taglist! (dm or smth if u wanna be added)

@i-bitch-you-bitch @bi-narystars @p1gst3p

[quackiseok]

— Stay?

quackity x gn! reader || oneshot

genre : fluff

warnings : none

summary : Alex were editing late at night and you were curious of how was he doing.

a/n : HELLO EVERYONEE!! i'm so sorry for being inactive :( but i'm back now \o/ here's a small quackity x reader brainrot i had! i'm sorry if the language is messy i speedran this on 1 AM SHSHDHS OTL

song to listen to while reading :

Staying up late until 2 AM wasn't something new to both you and Alex. The two of you mostly spend your time together at night since he has a busy schedule in the day. Even though it's late, what mattered to you is that the two of you had fun hanging around together at midnight.

However, today was a bit different. Being a streamer with a huge platform was surely tough for Alex and there were some days he has to work up until late at night, editing the clips he shot in the morning for his upcoming video. Today was one of those busy days.

What time is it now?

A small sigh escaped your lips as you read the time on the clock, indicating that it was already 2 in the morning, yet there were still no signs of Alex being finished with his work anytime soon. You usually don't get too worried about Alex because he finishes around 1 AM, but now it's been an hour late since the usual time.

Should I check on him?

The option was tempting, but another half of you didn't want to bother Alex with his work. You looked at the clock again, still contemplating whether you should go check on him or not.

Well, trying doesn't hurt, right?

Standing up from the bed, you decided that you should try and give Alex a visit to see how he was doing.

You made your way towards his workroom, gently knocking on the door before entering.

"Come in!"

Alex chimed from the other side, allowing you to enter the room.

"Alex! Are you done yet?" You greeted his figure on the gaming chair, asking whether if he was finished yet or not.

"Not yet, but I'm almost finished!" A warm smile plastered on his lips, his gaze still fixated on the monitor in front of him.

"Oh, that's cool!" You replied as you walked closer towards his desk, standing behind his gaming chair to see what he was working on.

Geez, editing seems to be really complicated.

You thought to yourself as you saw the complicated layout on Alex's computer. No wonder why it takes such a long time to create good video content.

"Can I ask you a favor, though?" Alex suddenly asked, his eyes never leaving the monitor.

"Sure! What is it?" You accepted, happy that you might be able to help him out.

"Come closer." He shifted his gaming chair a little bit, his face now somewhat facing you.

You couldn't help but feel a bit skeptical towards him since he often pranks you with his little tricks, but you encouraged yourself that tonight might be different. Nonetheless, you did as you were told, your figure now facing his.

"Turn around." He commanded again, leaving you even more skeptical than before.

What kind of favor is he asking me to do?

"What are you doing?" You scoffed out of confusion with an eyebrow raised.

"Trust me! I promise I'm not messing around!" He chuckled, assuring you that he wasn't messing with you.

"... Fine." You turned your body away from him, your back now facing his face.

A surprised yelp left your throat when you felt two arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you down to a sitting position.

"A-Alex!" A blush crept up to your cheeks when you realized that you were sitting on his lap, his arms still wrapped around your waist and his nose nuzzled on the crook of your neck. Nothing but a giggle left his mouth in response to your flustered state.

"Stay with me here for a bit?" Alex mumbled on your neck, his embrace hugging you tighter than before.

This man. I swear.

At this point, it felt like you could melt into a puddle at any second from now.

"O-On your lap?" You asked him, trying to make sure that he wasn't joking.

"Of course. Stay here with me while I edit for a bit." He rested his chin on your shoulder, his hands now going back to his keyboard and mouse. Before Alex continued his work, he stopped and fixated his gaze on you.

"Wait, are you okay with waiting for me here?" He asked, making sure whether you were fine with this or not.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine with this." You stuttered out, still flustered from his sudden actions to you.

Alex smiled softly as he heard your response, pressing a soft kiss on your neck before he continued on with his work.

"Thanks, love."

[slepyicarus]

Mc!Monday

So i saw this fun challenge by @obeythedemons and wanted to try it out too! Please don't be to harsh on this, i haven't written anything in a story format in literally years so im veeeery rusty and im still getting familiar with the Obey Me! Characters (so this maybe ooc for them i apologize again; Also I speedran writing this)!

Prompt: "Mammon stole something from MC to get some money for the witches. How does MC react?"

Tags: established relationships, ooc, bad writing and english

To say Icarus was upset was the understatement of the week.

He flipped his room upside down, searched his pocket dimension and backtracked his whole day multiple times with no sign of his lost star necklace. He had a hunch a certain silver haired demon took the precious accessory to sell it off somewhere but he immediately dismissed that though ‘Mammon may has some sticky hands sometimes but he wouldn’t abuse the one time I nap alone..right?’, he tried to reason with himself and continued his search. As he was looking through the ocean of pillows that he called a bed for the third time his alarm rang. ‘Dammit. Now I have to continue after I made sure that peacock actually took a break, maybe i should ask him if he saw it actually, the half-ling though bitter while he threw on his cardigan and went to the kitchen.

After quickly making tea and grabbing the slice of cake he, Barbatos and Luke made the day before Icarus went through the libary to the door of the secret study. Using his ever present tail he knocked once, twice, thrice and waited. A quiet “Enter” followed shortly. Taking a last calming breath Icarus went into the large study and greeted the demon working in the room

“Hello, Lucifer. I brought you some Tea and a slice of cake that I saved you.” “Thank you, Icarus. Sit with me?”, the older demon answered and looked up from the never ending paperwork scattered across his desk. Nodding Icarus crossed the room and put the tray on the last bit of free space on the desk while Lucifer caped his ink and put his quill to the side. Having grown used to the half-lings demand of rest and attention Lucifer held his arms open. Being touch starved as he is said half-ling sat on other's lap and leaned into the offered hug.

A few minutes into the cozy warmth of the hug Lucifer asked: “Now why is the resident cleaning monster so set on turning the whole House of Lamentation on its head when you scolded Belphie for sleeping on the floor while you organized just yesterday?” Not having expected the question Icarus looked above him into the ruby eyes studying him. Sighing the boy explained “I did the mistake of taking off my star necklace before I took a nap and now its gone.” “Sounds like a certain someone came into your room and took it.” “You think Mammon stole it? I know he is a bit of a kleptomaniac from time to time when he wants to make money but he knows how much it matters to me.” “But you looked everywhere outside of our rooms and couldn’t find it yet, correct? And everyone else is out except Mammon, yourself and I.”, Argued the Avatar back while petting the half-lings head. Icarus had to admit that he himself had though of that possibility but didn’t want to assume the Avatar of Greed actually stole the precious star in case he is actually innocent. “Alright, I will check with Mams if he got my necklace. But first tea, yes?”, the young half-ling declared while looking at the man holding him. “Of course.”, chuckled Lucifer.

Afterwards his tea with Lucifer, Icarus went straight to the second-born’s room. Standing before the door he took one deep breath before he ripped open the door startling the owner of the room who now scrambled to hide all of the stolen good in front of him including the softly glowing star that was missing. “Mammon.”, echoed the normally soft voice now turned cold through the room of the Avatar of Greed, “So you really took my necklace.” Still scrambling to hide his stolen goods the demon stumbled over his words “H-Hold up, ‘Rus! I can explain!” “Then start explaining because I feel like making your constellation unlucky for the next month.”, Icarus warned while crossing the distance to his first pacted demon and standing apposite to him with crossed arms and anger in the soft green eyes. Swallowing Mammon explained how the witches expect a portion of his debt be paid back by the end of the week of or they will punish him by doubling the interest charges. Looking anxiously at Icarus after explaining Mammon waited. The former thought over the words of his greedy lover. He understood the panic Mammon must have felt but that still didn't excuse why he stole the necklace Icarus almost always wore and was quite attached too.

The longer the two stayed in this tense silence the more anxious of the super nova the half-lings anger he got. After several silent minutes the younger sighed and shook his head. “How much do they demand?”, he questioned. “6.000 Grimm- wait. Ya aren't upset?”, piped up the demon. Shaking his head again Icarus pulled his wallet out of his thigh bag before giving the Avatar a stack of Grimm and explained “No, I’m very upset but I understand your reasoning. Now, here are the 6.000 Grimm so you can get the witches off your back for now”. Jumping on the younger to tackle hug him out of relief Mammon laughed happily “Thanks, Treasure! And ‘m sorry for takin ya necklace” While patting the taller demons back softly Icarus growled light “Should this happen again and you take my things next time again, I won’t be nice and help you out, Mammon. I hope we are clear?” “Yes Sir” “Good. Now give me my necklace back please. I feel anxious without it.”

[bluepenguinstories]

Remoras Full Chapter XXXI: Treant

There wasn’t much interesting about me. Not really. That wasn’t me being self-deprecating or anything. If anything, I quite liked being in the background. Others around me have always been more interesting, and I was happy enough just to help those others out.

That’s why I worked from childhood through my adulthood in order to become a doctor. It wasn’t like a total dream of mine, and I wasn’t sure if I’d call myself “passionate” (one of my top qualities, I think, is that I’ve been called a dispassionate person. But I shouldn’t humblebrag), but when I was in grade school and saw one of my classmates get injured, I couldn’t help but be compelled to want to help them. Then there were times, like when my sister or my mom would get sick and I’d be like “gee, I wonder what would help them get better.”

Skip past many years of boring details, and the rest is history. Got my own apartment after completing my internship at one of the nearby hospitals. When my sister helped me move in, we found a time travel device in the closet that I mistook for a Nintendo 64. It’s not as interesting of a detail as it seems. Anyway, that aside, there was still work to be had just about every day.

Skip ahead a few more years after that…

...And there was still work to be had.

It was about that time in the morning when it wasn’t yet bright and early and the coffee I poured tasted like sludge. When the showers were scalding and suffocating fumes filled the bathroom, yet when I turned off the shower, I shivered like a nudist at the north pole.

Towel was too small. Quick shimmy and I groaned and threw it in the laundry basket. No one else was around to see me naked, so whatever. Even if there was, my bedroom door was closed. On the bed were my work clothes, which in my groggy state, I tried to fit the shirt on my legs and the pants on my head. After a few tries and tired moans and groans, I got it right. Still, my tie was a little loose.

I’ll fix it on my way there. Or I won’t and I’ll just say I’m setting a new fashion trend.

I glanced down at my limited edition Kamen Rider Black wristwatch and my blood pressure spiked upon noticing the time.

“Fuck,” I cursed, though in my hoarse tiredness, it sounded more like a donkey braying.

Yes, it was ‘fucktime’, that universal concept of that time of day where one looks at the time and exclaims “fuck!” There were many reasons for cursing at a time of day, and it didn’t have to be any time in particular, but the most common reason was due to the situation I was in: I was running late for work.

In a state of fight or flight (which I am always in flight since I could use the exercise), I put a couple of bagel slices into the toaster, wished that my toaster had a turbo speed button, and paced about until those two slices popped up; they weren’t crispy enough, but they’d have to do. Like the skilled painter that I wasn’t, I swiped across the two halves of the bagel with a messy gloop of cream cheese.

No more time left.

I ran out the door, or whatever constituted as a run in my mind, with the bagel halves held tight in my mouth.

This ridiculous display persisted for about...oh, to hell with it, let’s just skip all the embarrassment. Fast forward to when I got to the hospital, drenched in sweat and cream cheese on the cuff of my shirt.

“Ran late again?” The receptionist, I think her name was Wormwood, looked up from her computer. Her thick brown hair was in a bun and she didn’t just have bags under her eyes, but bags under those bags. That’s okay, I’ve had those days as well. From the reflection of her glasses, it looked like she was playing an intense game of Tetris.

“A doctor is never early nor late,” I huffed, trying to sound more self-assured than my short breath would allow.

“Yeah, you wish. Go change your shirt. You’ve got a patient waiting for you in room 413,” she clucked. Was clucked the right descriptor? Well, it was a vague chicken-like tone, so cluck was good enough.

“Why’s it always patients with me?” I joked. She didn’t so much as give a half-hearted chuckle. She could have at least said, “A for effort,” but I guess everyone was a critic. I hurried over to the hospital’s resident dry cleaner, who always had a spare pair of uniforms, scrubs, nice shirts, you name it. Our dry cleaner guy was a typical average dude with stringy red hair, named Marion or something. He always had that strung out look about him that gave the impression that he was pretty trustworthy. I showed him the cream cheese on my shirt and he made an OK sign with both hands, closed his eyes, and shook his head.

“Say no more,” he assured me in the most endearing bored-out-of-your-mind voice imaginable.

As I waited for him to grab me a spare shirt, I looked up and saw a couple of green scrubs hanging around.

“I can’t do this on my own. I’m no superman,” I hummed the tune. Marion (that might not have been his name, but it was pretty damn close to what I imagine his name was) turned and asked, “what?”

“You know, Scrubs? It’s a reference.”

“Oh, man, I don’t know the first thing about references,” he bemoaned in both a disinterested tone and a disoriented one.

Man, nobody appreciates a good reference these days.

After I received my change of shirt, I went into the nearest bathroom and speedran the Trent Dress Up game. Not to brag, but I might have set a new record that day. Okay. Moving on.

Up four flights of stairs I lumbered up, each foot dragged behind the other. Yes, I could have used the elevator, but then that wouldn’t have been very doctor-like of me, would it? I mean, plenty of doctors took the elevator, and there was nothing wrong with that, but I always tried to do healthy things. It didn’t really matter much, I mean, I was already healthy, I was just a little chubby, was all. So what? I was a big ol’ teddy bear in a lab coat. At least I rocked the look.

Twelve rooms down. Then the thirteenth: that was where I heard the assistant.

“Dr. Bark will see you now,” the assistant informed the patient. After she left, which I didn’t really get a good look at, but I’ve probably worked with her before, I opened the door and greeted the patient.

“Woof, woof!” I made my best dog voice, which probably sounded closer to a howler monkey than a dog.

My patient just looked at me, not amused in the slightest. He was an elderly man who looked like a bad caricature of an elderly man. Not one of the kind ones, either. No, more like the grumpy kind who would yell at you if you so much as lived in the general vicinity of the same neighborhood he lived in. Then again, I knew looks could be deceiving and if anything, his face was probably contorted in pain.

“Okay, so I’m not that clown doctor, but if you honk my nose, I will still make a sound,” I gave a nervous laugh as I said. He just continued to stare at me.

It turned out that he had a small seizure just as I entered the room. Lovely timing, really.

Before I could take a break and have some lunch, there were a few more fun moments, gross moments, sad moments, silly moments, the whole gamut. Really, I loved my job because there were many opportunities to treat others and get them to better health. But also I hated my job because it was a job and I hated being the bearer of big bills due to the malicious concept of private insurance.

My sister-in-law was always going on about how I should be more ambitious. How I could try to start my own clinic and treat people for free, out of the kindness of my heart. Which I loved, that really was a dream if I ever had one. But there was the matter of means. Equipment costs money, I’d need more space, I’d have to get all those good prescription drugs that all the cool cats liked. I wasn’t even sure if I could do it, legally.

But hey, if it were possible, I’d do it. For sure. Maybe.

Once I made it to the hospital’s cafeteria, I grabbed a lobster salad with a garlic roll and a pink lady apple for an extra layer of irony. It was ironic because no matter how many times I ate one of those, I could never keep myself away from the hospital. Shame, too. The busier I was, the less time I had to play Monster Hunter.

Anyway, as I looked for a place to sit, I hummed a tune I heard over the radio.

“Don’t call my name, don’t call my name, Alejandro. Fernando,” I hummed. Or rather, mumbled. Because I knew for a fact that I said those words out loud, whether or not I should have saved myself the embarrassment.

“Yes?” Crooned the seductive and husky toned voice of a man I didn’t recognize. I looked around, then noticed that the owner of such a voice was seated all by his lonesome at a table in the middle of the cafeteria.

Oh good, finally a table that’s not crowded.

I made the no-brainer decision to sit across from him at the table. His head sported a vast field of curly black hair as well as the stubble-laden remnants of a rugged black mustache. He reminded me of the guy from that Just Cause series of games, though not sure why, as I’ve never played them, though I had to admit, grappling hooks were pretty cool.

“Did you say something?” I stared into his inviting rosemary colored eyes. Mostly because I felt it rude if I didn’t. Imagine if someone did that to me, just looked away when they spoke to me. Actually, that’s probably happened many times.

“You said my name,” he replied, more plain this time, without as much of a soothing effect, but no less friendly.

“Oh? Alejandro?” I blinked, unaware that I had said anyone’s name.

“No, Fernando, but you may call me Fern. Everyone does,” he smiled as he told me, a smile as soothing as his voice could be.

“Well, I certainly wanna do what everyone else is doing,” I chuckled. “I’m Trent, by the way.”

He gave a slow nod.

“What a beautiful name. Do you know who does the song that you were singing?”

Oh god, if ever there was a time to be embarrassed.

“I just heard the song on the radio! I don’t know anything about it, I just thought it was kinda catchy.”

“I’ll give you a hint: it starts with ‘Lady’.”

Fuck. I was bad at guessing games.

“Lady and the Tramp?”

“No.”

“Lady Marmaduke?”

“No. You have three more guesses.”

Wait. He never said I had a limit of five. Now I was really feeling the pressure.

“Lady Groudon?”

“Close.”

Oh! Now I knew what it was!

“Lady Goomy!”

“...No, not quite. But really close.”

Damn. I only had one guess left, too. The heat was really on now.

“Lady Gloop?”

He bit his lip trying to hold back laughter, but couldn’t, and it all came flooding out.

“Um, did I win?” I wasn’t sure what to make of that laughter, but I had to know. I just HAD to know.

After he settled down, he shook his head and with an aching calm assured me:

“It’s not important.”

“Well, what is important, then?” I grimaced, the answer not given to me.

“The lives of our patients are what’s important.”

Yeah, that seemed a little obvious, though, considering our professions and all. Actually, I wasn’t quite sure whether he was a doctor or not. I didn’t recall ever working with him.

“What do you do here, by the way?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m a nurse, mi amor.”

Once he said that, everything clicked into place.

“No wonder you’ve got that gentle voice,” I observed.

“I don’t have to be gentle if you don’t want me to be.”

“No, no,” I shook my head. “For the sake of the patients, I think you ought to be.”

We went back and forth after that, chatting about this and that, though nothing really important. Really, it was nice, I didn’t usually chat with anyone. Afterward, however, it was back to the grind. Oh joy.

Once said day one was done, I flopped on home and collapsed on my sofa. Next to me was a controller, and I had bought my copy of Final Fantasy XVI the other day, but haven’t had a chance to play it.

“My body...too feeble…” I wheezed out the words as my hands shook trying to reach for the controller. Just as it seemed like the controller was within my grasp, my phone rang.

When there was something in closer proximity than the item that I really wanted, the natural urge was to reach for the one in closer proximity instead.

“Hey Trent. It’s me,” came the sudden and to the point tone of my sister-in-law: Vesuvius.

“Oh, hey. What’s up?” I snapped to my senses and sat right up. “Is everything okay? Nothing too serious, I hope.”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I’ve got a nice little apartment with my beautiful wife. I just haven’t spoken to you in a while and wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Oh, what a relief. I was worried you were having another mental health episode.”

“Hey! I don’t go around pointing out the time you had food poisoning, do I?” She scolded. Yeah, okay. That was fair.

She didn’t have many mental health episodes, but ever since that incident with her and Juniper’s stalkers, she had been more sensitive and more on edge. That said, I really was happy for her and that she was at peace.

“You’re right. God, that was a rough time. Who knew blueberries could be so poisonous?”

“All things in nature can,” she stated. Gee, if anyone knew that, it would’ve been her.

“How are all things with settling into the apartment?” I asked. She hadn’t been there long, but it was a bold step for her, considering her social anxiety, which she tried to act like she didn’t have.

“You know, it’s an adjustment. It gets lonely when Juniper isn’t home. I’m not used to her having anything resembling a job. I hate to sound possessive, but I don’t like that she has one. I wish we didn’t have to make money to live.”

“Be as possessive as you want,” I chuckled. “Er...within reason. Say, have you saved up for anything?”

“No. Why?”

“Well, you always go on about wanting to do that whole ‘cottagecore’ lifestyle thing. So maybe you could save for that and go for it?”

She drew a deep breath, as if she were about to blow a gust of wind out of every orifice.

“First off, I don’t know what a ‘cottagecore’ is, but I’m cautious around anything with the suffix of -core. You know I’m a delicate flower.”

“And a poisonous one,” I pointed out.

“Yes, well, poisonous flowers can be delicate. And hey! Be nice to me!”

I coughed up a chuckle.

“Okay, well, second off,” she continued. “What I want is to live off the land, in a field of flowers. Growing my own field. Having peace and quiet in the middle of nowhere.”

“Yeah, that’s cottagecore.”

“Don’t say words I don’t understand to me!” She scolded. “It’s really demeaning.”

“Okay, okay,” I tried to settle down with the teasing. “But for real, it’s not like it’s impossible. Juniper could build a house, she likes making things.” Then again, she probably wouldn’t build a house very well, but I’m sure she’d enjoy the attempt. “It may take a bit of money for the resources, but it’s not like it’s impossible.”

“Yeah, well, first thing’s first is I want to see a therapist. Like, an actual therapist.”

“Oh, that could be good for you.”

“Yeah…” Her voice trailed, and the tone of her voice shifted to a more mournful one. “I still remember how I was during that time. I have trouble believing that it’s really over. All of that pain lingers with me. It’s not something I wish to remember, but it’s something I’m unable to forget.”

“Don’t beat yourself up too bad,” I tried to reassure her. I assumed she was referring to the whole stalker incident that occurred at the same time she dealt with her mental health episode. “Everyone has a breaking point. There’s nothing to be ashamed of there.”

“No, but there is. I was confused. Desperate. I hurt the most important person in my life. I hurt someone else that I could have helped. That I could have saved. If I had just known how. If my mind was more clear back then,” her voice shifted into a growl. “I hate it. I hate inflicting pain. Especially because it’s not who I want to be. No who I am anymore,” her voice then grew sharper. Harsher. “Yet I can’t help but feel like it’s still with me, buried somewhere, and I just want to punch a wall, rip my hair out, something! Something to cut this off from me!”

“Hey, hey,” I could tell she was working herself up. “You and Juniper are both sensitive people. Sometimes people lash out when their emotions are heightened. It doesn’t mean you’re bad or anything, but you can work on it. For what it’s worth, I do think you two are good together.”

“Thank you,” her voice quieted back to the mournful tone it was at first and I could hear sniffling and weeping in the background. “I’m sorry. I told myself I would keep composed and yet I went off into that rant. Gee, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re a better therapist than the one I pretended to be.”

“Heh. It’s nothing. You’ve definitely been through a lot. Get yourself some tea or something, that might help.”

“Thanks,” she sniffled again. “What about you? Is there anything new with you?”

“Eh. Same ol’ boring stuff at the hospital. People get sick and die, some people get better.”

“To which?” She let out a weak chuckle.

“Oh, definitely the sick part. I’ve yet to someone get better from being dead, but anything can happen. Fingers crossed, right?”

“Heh…so there’s nothing new at all? What about at the house? I bet you’re glad to have Juniper and I out of your hair.”

“Eh. You guys weren’t that bad to deal with.”

“That’s a relief. Do you miss us?”

“Hmm...a bit. It’s a bit quiet now, but I like it. Means I can play video games in peace and walk around the apartment in my underwear.”

“Indeed, that is a positive. Though I didn’t need to hear the last part.”

I tried to think about anything of substance I could actually talk about.

“Oh! I met someone new at the hospital today! This nurse named Fern. He’s got these beautiful murky green eyes and maze-like curly dark hair. Oh, and his mustache. I bet I’d be ticklish if it rubbed against me,” I announced with a sense of excitement at the prospect of actually having something to say.

“Are you attracted to this Fern person?” She inquired.

While I didn’t quite know where she got that idea from, I wasn’t going to say that he was ugly or anything like that.

“I’m certainly not repelled by him,” I joked. Heh. Magnets. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious, since you described him in such exquisite detail.”

“Eh. Isn’t it normal to describe people you talk about?”

“Not in my experience. Not like that, anyway. But hey, what do I know?”

“Yeah, well, I just met him today, so I doubt I’ll describe him every time I talk about him. He seems nice, in any case. Hey, maybe the four of us could play D&D together sometime?” I perked up at the prospect of having someone else to play D&D with. That was the most important thing about meeting someone. If not D&D, maybe I could gush about 80s Sci-Fi movies or J-RPGs.

“I don’t know...that game always brings out the worst in me...I try to be a healer but whenever I encounter a monster I just want to grind them into dust and then I curse the fact that I didn’t pick a class like barbarian.”

“Heh. That is a problem. You could always just be a barbarian.”

“No. I don’t want to,” I could tell she stuck her nose up just by her tone of voice alone.

“In any case, we gotta get this going on! We never seem to finish a campaign!” I was SO pumped to get this thing going on.

“That’s because I always either quit out of frustration or you end up too busy and we decide to start over from a new campaign as soon as you have free time again,” she pointed out. At least she was honest.

“We’ll figure something out, I’m sure!”

“Mm...well, it was nice talking with you, Trent. I’m glad you seem to be doing well, and good luck with this Fern person.”

“Thanks! You take care too! Bye!”

We hung up and I spent the rest of the day being an exhausted nerdy Trenty bear who somehow did nothing yet time still passed.

As the days went by, I’d spend lunch having conversations with Fern and he said I could talk about whatever I was passionate about, so OF COURSE a bunch of nerdy shit came up.

“About halfway through the game, she dies, but you can get her final limit break later on. This is a way to show that she’s still with the party in spirit and the party keeps it as a memento, even though they know they cannot use it, OR they refuse to use it to honor her memory.”

“I see. And it’s not just the developers making a mistake?” Fern pondered. The gall.

“No way. Game developers wouldn’t just do that. In fact, you can hack the game to make it so Aerith lives, by coming back after she dies, but she’ll say at a certain point, ‘I’m not supposed to be here’. That’s because the developers knew that players would try to bring her back, so they were prepared.”

“Wow. That really is haunting,” he looked moved by my explanation. As he should be.

“The game devs were also brilliant for making her and Cloud be besties instead of a romantic interest. There’s a part where Cloud and Aerith go on a date on a ferris wheel and right before they go on the ferris wheel, Aerith turns to cloud and goes ‘wa...wassup homie?’ and Cloud says, ‘golly gee’ in response. By having them be besties, it shows the importance of friendships over romantic relationships. It’s actually shown in a prequel that Cloud had a boyfriend named Zack, but despite it being canon, many fans prefer to act like the game doesn’t exist.”

“That’s a wonderful message for them to show,” he nodded along.

“Yeah. So anyway, Zack dies in the prequel.”

“Damn. This Cloud guy just can’t catch a break.”

Before I was able to continue the conversation further, I received a beep on my pager.

“...And neither can I. I gotta split.”

That was how our typical conversations went. I did most of the talking while he stared and smiled the whole way through. Most of the time, I didn’t mind that, but it also meant that I didn’t know much about him. He hardly seemed like the mysterious type, and I should’ve known the mysterious type due to the people I’ve let in my apartment in the past.

So the next chance we got I decided I’d hold nothing back. We both sat together, once again with our lunches in front of us, and I popped the question:

“Do you have any siblings?” I was casual as I asked him, plain as day with an egg and lettuce sandwich in my hands. He tilted his head and rested it on his palm, looking even more radiant than usual.

“Why yes. I have four sisters. Two of them are engaged. One of them’s married. The fourth one is still looking for love.”

“Oh wow,” I replied. “You know, you could tell her that she doesn’t have to find love. It’s not the be-all and end-all, after all.”

“I think she already knows that. Still, she wouldn’t mind the experience. What about you, Trent?” He spoke my name with such a delicacy that it made my heart tackle the walls of my chest.

“Uh, yeah,” I stammered. “I’ve got a sister. I don’t even know why you mentioned relationships since I just asked about siblings, but she’s in one. I mean, she’s married, so I guess I’ve also got a sister-in-law. If that counts as another sibling, then I’ve got two sisters, maybe?”

He coughed up a chuckle against his fist.

“Love is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?”

I shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess it can be.”

For some reason that simple exchange reminded me of an early memory when Juniper and I were kids and we shared a room, bunk beds, in fact.

She hung upside down from the edge of the top bunk of the bed. I always did tell her to be careful, but she never was good at listening to me.

“Hey bro, bro, bruh, bruv,” she pestered me.

“What is it?” I looked up from the book I was reading.

She held down a magazine with pictures of women in hiking gear.

“Look! Aren’t those girls cute? Aren’t they your type?” She pressed it up to my face. Or as well up to my face as she could. Her aim wasn’t the best when she hung upside down. Nevertheless, I took a glance. Of course, as I was more interested in the book I was reading, I didn’t really pay attention.

“Uh-huh. Sure.”

Not satisfied, she grew in intensity.

“Come on! You didn’t look!”

“Yeah I did!” I shot back. “I’m just more interested in this book right now! You have no idea how cool the Shannara novels are!” Oh, but I wasn’t done. “Also, I’m pretty sure those are your type, not mine!”

She stuck her tongue out.

“What even is your type?” She teased.

I shrugged. Really, I didn’t know then, and even into my 30s, as a doctor, I had no idea if I even had a type. For anyone. After a pause, she then asked.

“Do you think you’d ever have a crush on anyone?”

I gave it some thought. Then, as if it was a no brainer, it clicked.

“If someone was actually interested in me, sure! But c’mon, I’m a nerd. You know how hard it is for people like me.”

She scowled at that.

“That’s just a myth. That shouldn’t stop you.”

She was right. Both back then, and in the present, if she were to tell me that again. But over the years, I grew to have a different excuse.

“Would you ever be open to the idea of love?” Fern’s question brought me out of the memory, back to the moment that I shared with him.

I shrugged.

“Sure, I wouldn’t mind. If the opportunity were to occur. But then, I’m always too busy to think about things like that, so it’s never really crossed my mind. I’m sure you can relate, seeing as you’re probably about as busy as I am.”

“Indeed,” he agreed. “But it has its advantages.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“Like how we can spend the same amount of time together.”

Oh yeah. That was a really good point.

“Heh. It is nice to have someone to chat with,” I agreed.

It was a surprise how little time had passed, but I was glad for it. Considering how unpredictable this job could be, I had to be thankful for any precious minutes I got.

“Let’s not worry about that. If we run out of time, we can pick it up another day. So what do you say?”

“So tell me, how did your sister meet her lover?” His curiosity took me by surprise. Not something I thought would be worth asking, but who was I to say what someone did and didn’t find interesting?

All right. So I told him. It seemed he just had that kind of effect on me.

Maybe it was a little cliché, I don’t know, because I don’t know what constitutes as cliché, but it was a rainy evening. I had just gotten off work, I had my umbrella, but it seemed to do me little good as there was a mighty gust of wind and the rain just slid down the umbrella and managed to force itself onto my jacket.

On the way home, I took a shortcut through a side street. I guess it was like an alleyway, but more open. I don’t know, side street sounds appropriate. Curled up underneath the cover of a building’s awning was a homeless woman, a single orange striped blanket over her, damp. Her hair seemed covered in dirt, she shivered, but made no attempt to voice her discomfort. I couldn’t quite make out her face, but maybe it was pity that brought me to pay attention to her in the first place.

Yeah, typical “boy meets girl” story, huh?

At last, she looked up and croaked. Despite facing me, her face seemed to droop low and she looked downtrodden.

“You got money?”

I jumped. Startled. Yeah, not too dignified, but I really just didn’t expect for her to notice me. Once I composed myself, I dug through my jacket pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.

“Here, it’s not much, but it’s what I got on me.”

“Thanks,” she replied and took it. No more than that. Of course, if that was the extent of the exchange, there wouldn’t really be anything to tell, now would there?

“Hey, I know it’s late, but there’s a cafe close by we can visit if you want a coffee or something. They’re not open forever, but it’ll keep you dry for a little while,” I offered.

She looked up again, scowled.

“I don’t trust strangers,” she stated.

“Oh, yeah, definitely. I’m a stranger, you’re a stranger. I get that,” I chuckled. “I just figured I’d offer, but you can decline. If you’re worried about me being someone dangerous, you can punch me. I’m not really interested in being cruel or violent or anything like that.”

She squinted. I would later find out that was less because of how ridiculous she may have thought me and more because she had poor eyesight.

“Are you that desperate that you would ask a homeless person out on a date?” Her biting remark might have gotten under the skin of just about anyone else, but I’ve probably heard much worse from some of my patients. Instead, I laughed.

“You don’t have to think of it as a date. I don’t. I’m not really the dating type, anyway. It’s just a spur of the moment thing.”

She shifted eyes, turned her head from left to right, then looked back up on me.

“I can’t believe I’m going to agree to this…but sure,” she heaved out the words.

“Cool,” I stuck my thumb out, then continued, “it’s just a couple of blocks away. I really like the place, since I sometimes don’t get off work until real late and it’s open past midnight.”

“I don’t care...when it’s open...but I could use something warm...to drink,” she sounded lightheaded, in a daze.

Once we made our way through the door of the dim lit cafe with neon lighting, she wiped her shoes on the mat.

Oh. What good manners, I thought. As someone who often forgot to wipe their shoes when entering places, it was a nice reminder to see someone else do so. At least I remembered to put my umbrella down, but that kinda went without saying.

As soon as I approached the counter, I turned to her, still drenched.

“Don’t worry about the cost. Order whatever you like,” I assured her. After I said those words, she looked up, squinted, then closed her eyes.

“I would like a lavender mocha latte, but no dairy. Almond milk if you have it. Coconut would be even better. Give four extra shots of espresso, and if you have dark chocolate syrup, use that.”

Damn. It was like she had the whole thing recited and ready to go. All right.

“I’ll just take a black coffee,” I shrugged. I didn’t need all the sugar or any of that extra stuff.

“Oh. I should have went with that too,” she looked down, possibly embarrassed at her order.

I laughed.

“Don’t worry, I said you could order whatever. My treat.”

She made her way to the table nearest to the window, and took the seat closest to the window as well. As soon as she sat down, she lowered her head onto the table and her arms outstretched to cover her head. Behind her, raindrops slid down the window. It wasn’t much an interesting sight, but I wasn’t a very observant person, so I felt I ought to have taken note of something.

“Just so you know, you should probably forget about me after this,” she uttered and despite her words being muffled, I could still make her words out clear as a river.

“If you want,” I shrugged.

“I’m serious. You shouldn’t associate with me. There’s people after me. I’d rather not get anyone involved.”

I pondered if there was any validity to that. Maybe she ran from an ex, or there was some trafficking ring. That last bit was a little dark. As a middle ground, I thought that maybe she had run off from home as a kid (surprisingly, that part was sort of true, in a sense).

“You probably think I’m crazy. Paranoid, even. I get it. Some homeless woman tells you there’s people after her. You don’t have to believe me. Just so you know, I’m homeless by choice. It’s easier this way. You don’t have to believe that, either.”

“Well, if you’re on the run, maybe it’s not by choice?” I suggested.

She looked up, her face still semi-buried in her arms. Still, I could make out eyes through her bangs. Grayish-purple bags under her eyes, but eyes nonetheless.

“Yeah. You’re probably right. It’s been so long, it’s hard to tell anymore. My head won’t cooperate,” she seemed to agree with my assessment, and as if to confirm as much, she lifted her head up and rubbed her forehead with her palm. With one eye visible, she glared at me.

“Just so you know, even if you considered this a date, I wouldn’t be interested. I’m…” she looked around, then stated, “men don’t interest me.”

I chuckled.

“It’s okay. My sister’s a lesbian. You don’t really have to beat around the bush about it.”

Her eyes widened, then squinted again.

“I don’t know why you would tell me that. I’m not interested. My main focus is my survival, it’s just…” She began to glance to her side and down at the floor. “I’ve been running and hiding so long, I’m growing tired. Sooner or later, I might just give up. It’s a terrible thought, but I don’t think I can go on.”

My concern began to grow, even if I didn’t know the scope of her problem.

“I don’t really know what it is you’re dealing with, but you don’t have to deal with it alone.”

“No. I refuse to endanger anyone else,” she seemed adamant about that.

Maybe she was justified, but in a selfish way, that also made me want to help more.

“You can refuse if you want, but the weather forecast says it’s going to be raining over the next few days. I’ve got a spare room in my apartment you can stay in. If nothing else, it’ll keep you dry.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose,” she looked away once more.

“You wouldn’t be. I’m the one that offered,” I shrugged, a favorite gesture of mine.

“Well...maybe my head is just messed up enough right now, but...fine. As long as I reserve the right to leave at any time.”

“Of course,” I assured her, and I even lifted a feeble smile. Once our coffee was brought over, mine a regular paper coffee cup, hers a ceramic cup filled to the top, we drank in silence. Between intervals of me sipping the bitter bean, I peeked over and noticed how she held onto her cup with a sort of elegance; one hand on the handle, the other grasping the base of the cup, and slow sips taken, not a single slurp to be heard. It was probably a little weird of me to pick up on something like that, I admit.

“I’m Trent, by the way,” I told her out of courtesy. Depending on how long she’d stay, I felt it wise to tell her my name.

“Et...err...Vesuvius. You can call me Vesuvius. Or Ves. I don’t care which,” her eyes shifted and she stammered out the words.

After we finished our coffee, we headed out, umbrella up and ready to go. There wasn’t a long walk ahead of us, and she was silent the whole way through. Not that I tried to make small talk anyway, since the rain was kind of gloomy weather for conversation. She walked with a slump, something I should have warned her to be cautious about, lest she get a hunchback. Maybe she did so because she felt she was too tall to fit under the umbrella, or maybe she had been under such duress for so long that standing up straight no longer registered to her.

Before long, we made our way inside and I showed her to where the spare room was. She didn’t speak a word, not so much as a nod, just went inside. Before I closed the door, I told her, “if you need anything, just let me know. I’ll be down the hall and to your left.”

Still, no acknowledgment. That was fine. Just as long as she heard me. For whatever reason, it didn’t register until after I closed the door that I didn’t have anything like an air mattress or a futon for her to sleep on. That room was bare, empty. Not a single item to be found.

Despite that, I was too tired to do anything rational like look for some spare blankets or pillows, and decided it was high time for me to get some rest. At the very least, I turned the heater on and let it run. It wasn’t something I liked to do, and I didn’t think Juniper would be all that comfortable with it on, but screw it, I was the one who paid the bills.

“Well, time for me to get some shut eye,” I announced, thinking there was no one around who could hear me. However, I soon noticed from the corner of my eye a foam basketball being tossed up into the air.

“Who’s the babe?” Juniper, asked in a rather dull voice. I soon turned and saw her laying on the couch, flat on her back.

“Don’t be disrespectful,” I scolded. “I found her on the street. She’s just going to stay over for a few nights.”

“So now you’re picking up homeless chicks?”

Really, maybe she was just moody ‘cause she was tired, or maybe she just felt like giving me a hard time that night in particular.

“I just felt like doing a good deed, there’s nothing behind it,” I corrected her. Again.

“That’s rather nice of you. Just make sure not to overexert yourself. Your health is important too,” she reminded.

“Thanks.”

I thought I could just go to bed, but then a smile which signified mischief spread across her face.

“So, tell me about the babe,” she wouldn’t drop it so soon.

“Oh, come on,” I groaned.

“C’mon, the babe.”

“No,” I folded my arms on my hips. If she could nudge me from where she was at, she would have.

“You remind me of the babe,” her cheery voice returned, coupled with a sing-song tone.

“What babe?” I finally gave in.

“The babe with the power.”

“What power?”

“Power of voodoo!”

“Who do?”

“You do!”

“Do what?”

“Remind me of the babe! Ha ha ha!” she kicked around the couch and laughed. There were certain nights where I could just tell when she watched Labyrinth that day.

“Okay, okay, don’t stay up too late,” I reminded her. “You know where your room is.”

“Yeah, yeah. ‘Night.”

Ah, Labyrinth. Classic. David Bowie and his tights. Things didn’t get much better than that.

Somehow I managed to tell him all of that with time to spare.

“You have a big heart, Trent,” he told me, which kinda made me want to sulk.

“Yeah...I do try to have a good diet, though,” I pouted.

“No, no, I mean metaphorically,” he patted the air as he spoke, a sure sign of sincerity.

“You mean…?” I stared into his earthen rosemary colored eyes.

“Yes. You are very kind.”

“Oh, phew. For a second there I was worried you meant my weight.”

“No, no. Dear. You are adorable. When I first saw you that fateful day, I said to myself, ‘this is an adorable teddy bear’. I would never have anything unkind to say to a teddy bear.”

“Well, thank you. Does that mean I’m a cuddly looking teddy bear?” I let slip my curiosity.

“I’d have to find that one out for myself. Hey, your story about your sister’s wife got me thinking. How would you like to go out for coffee after work?”

Gee, the possibility never even occurred to me, but it was so simple. Of course.

“Yeah, I don’t see why not. I’m pretty sure the place is still open.”

“And,” he leaned in a little closer. “May I consider it a date?”

I laughed a little at that.

“If you’d like to.”

“And,” a little closer still. “Would you consider it one?”

That time, my heart went “boing boing” against my chest. I didn’t know the answer to that one. It was too much being put on the spot, I was used to the attention being on other people.

“Um...not no, but maybe yes...I’m not sure…” Came my disgraceful blabbering until I managed to catch myself and re-compose. “Er...I’m not used to thinking about things for myself...but...sure. You’re a pretty cool guy. Let’s consider it a coffee date.”

So we did. Just a few nights later, after work we walked into the parking lot. He had a motorcycle, with enough of a seat for me to fit in the back. It wasn’t awkward in the slightest and in fact, it played out much the same as many of our conversations at lunch before. It all felt natural between us, like trees. He ordered an oregano tea latte and I had my usual black coffee.

As if by miracle, the sun had yet to set and there wasn’t the slightest hint of rain. We sat across from each other and immersed ourselves in the ambiance of the hums and smooth glitchtunes playing on the coffee shop’s speakers.

“So, if I were to come over to your place tonight, would I see your sister and her wife?” He posed the hypothetical question.

“Nah, they both moved out almost a year ago. They’ve got their own apartment somewhere else in the city, though they’re also saving up to move elsewhere again.”

“So soon?” He tilted his head.

“Well, it’s a dream of Ves’ to live in a field of flowers, open nature, all that stuff. Psychedelic drugs, flowers in hair, tie-dye, I could go on. Juniper’s already found a place a couple of states out, and she found an old beat up pick up truck in a ditch and decided to repair it just for fun. So now all they gotta do is assemble the wood, get some electric lining, plumbing, all that stuff. Which...I don’t have a lot of faith in my sister, she’s no architect or electrician, but she’s the type who gets insistent about doing everything herself, so it’s not like I could talk her out of it.”

“That’s great, though! They’re pursuing their passion. Isn’t that beautiful?”

I shrugged.

“I dunno if ‘beautiful’ is the word I’d use, but yeah. I suppose I’m happy for them.”

“What about you? Do you have any goals?” His eyes fluttered, almost like he wanted to lull me to sleep.

“Sorta, but it’s kinda dumb? I just don’t like the whole ‘charged ten thousand dollars as soon as you walk in and good luck getting your overpriced insurance that you can barely afford, if afford at all, to cover anything’ so I was thinking how it would be cool if I could run my own clinic. I don’t know, maybe it could be funded through donations, but in no way would people have to pay. Like, I doubt I’d be able to do the big stuff like surgeries or transplants, but it’s still something, right? Thing is, that’s kinda impossible, don’cha think?”

Rather than some kind of agreement, he reacted in a rather ferocious manner: he stood up, leaned over, and slammed his hands on the table.

“Trent,” while his voice grew in intensity, it certainly didn’t sound angry. More...motivating. “You must never be afraid of your passion.”

“Uh...okay…” I scratched my cheek. “But what about you? What are you passionate about?”

He sat back down.

“You. Of course,” he answered, so simple, so straightforward in his delivery.

“So, like, does that mean you’d want to play D&D with me sometime?”

He laughed.

“I’d love to.”

“Really? Are you sure? What if you don’t like it? I mean, I don’t even know what your hobbies are.”

“If I end up not liking it, then at least I’ll have found that out for myself. But all of your hobbies, everything that interest you, I want to immerse myself in. Because all of you...is my hobby.”

“Bro…” I leaned forward. “That’s kind of...uh...cool!”

“Oh, and I also like to ride around on my motorcycle. I like watching the sunsets, going hiking, mountain climbing, kayaking, and making ceramic cups.”

Hiking, mountain climbing, kayaking...he sure looked fit. Not to mention, those things sounded like fun, even if possibly dangerous.

“Do you think I could do those things with you?” I asked, hesitant, but I figured if he was wanting to do the things I liked, I may as well ask him in return.

“Of course. You can do whatever you want with me.”

“Then in that case, can I kiss you?” I joked, though it seemed to come out of nowhere. However much I meant it, it was out in the open now.

“Of course. Would you like to do it here, or at your apartment?”

“Err...at my apartment?”

To be honest, I’ve never kissed anyone before. Or been kissed by anyone before. That thought never even crossed my mind and I pretty much figured I’d be fine not having such a thought and continuing on with my life, but dominoes were falling or something like that.

“Let’s go, then,” he stood up and motioned for me to head toward the door. In a hurry, I chugged down my coffee.

I should probably brush my teeth first. Coffee breath probably isn’t a good taste. Then again, would he want to brush his teeth. Should we just use the same toothbrush? Or maybe he packed one with him.

When we shoved our way through the door of my apartment, those questions were erased from my mind.

“I’ve actually never kissed anyone before...I know, in my thirties and…” he put his finger on my lips and made a “shh” sound.

“Relax. I’ll take the lead,” he lowered his hand, then leaned down and spread his lips against mine. As he released, I wished that he hadn’t. But then the thought of my breath returned to the front of my mind.

“Sorry, uh, hope my breath doesn’t bother you.”

“Does it bother you?” He asked.

“Well…it’s probably good to take care of your teeth. I’m not a dentist, but I do think good health is important in all aspects of one’s health and --”

He pulled out a box of mint chews.

“Here,” he opened the box. I took a couple and popped them into my mouth. On instinct, I bit down on them and chewed, despite knowing that I wouldn’t be prepared for the icy hellfire that was the minty taste. After a couple of seconds of huffing, I looked back at him.

“Okay, I’m good now.”

“There is one more interest I have now,” he decided to pick back up from our conversation at the coffee shop for some final choice words.

“Yeah? What would that be?”

“Supporting you and your dreams.”

Then we kissed again.

So flashforward a year or so and through some sort of miracle, such a dream was realized: we converted the apartment into a clinic and moved upstairs to the apartment directly above. Both of us quit our jobs at the hospital so we could focus on the clinic. Really, I couldn’t have done it without him. Or, maybe I could have, but I’d like to think he gave me that sort of push, y’know? That little “oomf.”

There were many improvements that could have been made, and might be made as time went on, but I liked seeing the genuine attempt to help, and the look on people’s faces when they knew they wouldn’t have to worry about cost...worth it. What’s more, people donated freely, and often. We met several people around the community and even convinced some to play D&D with us. I think the biggest surprise was how much of a hit the game was with the elderly.

Oh, and also, Fern and I became boyfriends. Not really sure how that happened, but it did and I’m cool with it.

On one particular slow day, an interesting thing happened: see, it had been a while since any strange people walked through my door. After a streak of Ves, Blanc, and that weird stalker lady my sister hugged, I figured I’d see the last of any weirdness. In fact, I never even thought to tell Fern about any of the weird visitors (besides Ves, of course). But then as I was doing a solo hunt against deviljo in Monster Hunter on my PC in my office, Fern ran into my office.

“Hey Trent, dear, there’s someone outside the front door saying she’s your cousin,” he informed me. I looked up, a little perplexed.

“I have relatives?” I asked, even though it might have seemed like a pretty dumb thing to say.

Never mind the dumbness, I stopped what I was doing and rushed toward the door only to find a short lady with blonde hair who looked to be in her 20s.

“Hello, can I help you?” I asked her.

“It’s me, your cousin. Demetria?” She folded her arms and scowled.

It took a few seconds to click, and then I remembered.

“Ohhh. You were at my sister’s wedding. I think. Probably.”

“Yeah, I probably most definitely was,” she turned her head and spat on the ground.

Fern stood beside me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Who might this be?” He asked.

“Fern,” I gestured to Demetria. “This is apparently my cousin, Demetria. Demetria, this is Fern, my receptionist-slash-boyfriend.”

“You make me sick,” Demetria growled in response.

“What?” I blinked, and I was quite surprised to hear such a thing. “Are you homophobic?”

“No, I’m not homophobic, I just can’t believe you’re dating someone named after a tree! You were supposed to be the chosen one! You could have broken the cycle!”

That was an odd thing to focus on, but good to know it wasn’t too serious.

“It’s short for Fernando, actually, and technically, Ferns aren’t trees,” Fern explained to her.

“All right, buster,” she pointed up. “But you’re on thin-fucking-ice!”

Then she turned to me.

“Also, grats on being gay, I guess. That’s kinda cool,” she eased up her abrasive tone.

“Well, I might be bi. I don’t know. I haven’t been interested in women before, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be interested in any women. I think the real question we need to ask is, is it gay to be in a relationship with another man?” I suggested. Demetria just looked at Fern, who then looked at me.

“Yeah,” they both said at the same time.

“Well, in any case, what can I do for you, Demetria?” I shifted focus.

“Right. I need you to tell me where Juniper lives.”

“What for?”

“So I can go live with them. Why else?”

That was an odd thing to want to do, and I didn’t even think Juniper and Ves would agree to such a...oh, who was I kidding? Juniper was that kind of person.

“Right. Uh...I guess there’s no harm. I’ll write down their address for you. You got a way to get there?”

She shook her head.

“I make it up as I go. I got here just fine, didn’t I?”

Yeah, that was a good point.

I pulled out my notepad from my shirt pocket as well as a pen and scribbled down the address. After I handed it to her, she squinted and scowled.

“Shit. How am I supposed to read this chicken scratch?”

Right. Doctor.

“Here, I’ll just spell it out for you, so you can just type it in the notepad app on your phone or whatever you have.”

“Oh, great. More work for me to do,” she grimaced, but pulled out her phone and pressed the power button.

“Let’s see...a few missed calls from my mom. Typical. Also, a text from Ray. ‘If you ever consider coming back here, don’t. I don’t want to see you again.’ Gee, wasn’t planning on going back there, but good to see I’m not wanted. Typical...oh, here we go. Notepad.”

I didn’t really know what that bit was about, but I wasn’t about to pry. Wasn’t my business. As soon as I told her the address, she turned her phone back off and put it back in her pocket.

How are you going to know where to find the place if you don’t even look at the address?

Oh well. Juniper and Ves’ problem now.

“See ya,” she waved, then ran off. Fern and I waved too, then Fern turned to me.

“Well, she was interesting,” he remarked.

I shrugged.

“Yeah. It tends to go that way. I never really told you, but besides Ves, there’s been some strange people who showed up here a couple of times. First there was Blanc, this amnesiac who was missing an arm. Juniper decided to make a prosthetic limb for them after learning about Fullmetal Alchemist and we kinda let them live here until they just disappeared one day. Then there was this one stalker Juniper had who wanted her and I to leave town but didn’t really explain why and then Juniper hugged her and she freaked out. Not a clue what that was about, but we never saw her again, so I guess we never needed to leave town.”

“Wow, your sister had a stalker?”

I shrugged.

“Yeah, it was horrible, I guess. She seemed rather nonchalant about it, but I could tell it affected her in some ways. She was paranoid for a bit until she met this stalker in person, and then said stalker turned out to be harmless.”

“Still, I would’ve been scared too.”

“Oh yeah, and by the way, Ves is a time traveler. Yeah, you probably think I’m nuts now, but she was originally from the ‘60s and my sister and I found this time travel device that looked like a Nintendo 64 when we moved in. It apparently belonged to Ves’ father. So that time at the coffee shop when she was homeless? Yeah, apparently I met her before that actually and neither of us realized that. Of course, she was a teenager back then and only showed up to take the time travel device back but anyway…”

I realized I started rambling and the more I went on, the more ridiculous things probably seemed.

“...Anyway, you don’t have to believe me, but that was all to say that everyone else who’s ever been in this apartment has been more interesting than me. Including you. Compared to them, I’m kinda just...there.”

He shook his head and placed a firm grasp on my shoulders. He looked me in the eyes.

“No, you are very interesting. How could you not be when you’ve met all of these interesting people? Take it from me: I wouldn’t be interested in you if I didn’t find you interesting.”

“Gee,” I looked away, embarrassed. “Thanks. But also, there’s one more thing: my family has this weird tradition of naming people after trees. Yeah, I’m Trent, but I was named after Treant, this tree monster in D&D. My mom wanted to name me Ent, but apparently couldn’t because the Tolkien estate has the rights to that name.”

“See? Another interesting thing about you!”

“Ha. I’m glad I met you. My mom wasn’t exactly a nice lady, but it was cool that she was into D&D. That’s probably where I got it from. Maybe it’s genetic. Still, neither mine nor my sister’s personalities are like her, although Juniper’s probably closer, though way nicer. It’s hard to explain, but you’d just have to trust me.”

“Every time you tell me something new about yourself, I’m fascinated more and more,” he smiled wide.

We kissed once more before getting back to work. Our day hadn’t yet come to an end.