#i used to grow them. maybe i should try to get a lil pot of them going on my balcony

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

I'm trying not to do any daydreaming related to a specific house right now because that's a recipe for heartbreak, but the only way I'll stay motivated is if I do SOME kind of daydreaming about the future we're going to have once we get settled in a couple of months. I need to be able to create the path I'm going to be on in order to not just show up there in December and flounder aimlessly. So. Daydreaming under the cut I guess.

I've been thinking about making kitty climbers and a tree for them when we get to the new place from scrap wood, rope, fabric, and other supplies. The wifey and I have been imagining a sort of whole house jungle gym that allows the kitties to scumble around the walls of the house away from the dogs whenever they like, and get some fun kitty exercise, as well as to hide lil packed treaties around for them to hunt for enrichment. They've recently taken to "hunting" the dog's treat pack overnight and stealing all their treats lol, so clearly they could use they stalking time.

I think it'll be really good for all of us to not be so squished up together in such a small space, but adding levels for the cats so they can travel around in places where the dogs can't reach at all should be extra soothing for them, especially Taako who may take a while to adjust to climbing but I think will take to it beautifully once he learns how much freedom and privacy it offers him. Lup loves to climb things and go for adventures already so I expect as soon as she sees a new surface to climb on and smells the catnip on it she will be all over that shit.

I think I might tuck little potted catmint plants around the platforms too for them to nibble on at their leisure. Maybe silvervine for Taako too if I can find it. He can take or leave catnip but he LOVES silvervine. Apparently, it grows trellised, so I may see about growing it on wall mats or in a little window box for them. It'd be great to not have to source our kitty fun time plants from elsewhere anymore.

I want to also try my hand at constructing some sturdy bed crates for the dogs and making my own mattresses for them, rather than buying dog beds. That way each of the dogs can have their own nice little individualized space in the house, a bed, a food bowl, a waterer, and a snuggly. I want to get back to learning crochet soon because it's definitely a skill I want, and I figure a couple of doggie blankets are a perfect practice project. Maybe some easy crochet stuffies for Jaxxie to chew on and Tobi to snuggle with. That ought to be a good number of projects for me to work on too, as I'm settling in and trying to find my routine in the new place.

Between these, painting, establishing the garden, and finding furniture for the place at thrift shops, we should have enough on our hands for a good year of projects for the household. That'll give us time to start making connections, settle into the area, get to know our neighbors, and establish our routines. Year two is hopefully where things really get going.

First of all, in year two, I'm going to be taking on a much bigger role at work, including a title change, a pay increase, and a shift in the type of work I am doing. So financially, we'll be in much better shape, in an area where the cost of living is half what it is here, and with an established garden covering probably about a third of our food costs. If we're lucky, this is the point where we'll be able to get chickens, shifting our food costs down a smidge further (eggs is expensive and we go through a lot) and post up a little "take what you need, give what you can" farm stand with produce and eggs to give away excess food and start collecting a cash savings in addition to our normal one.

Regardless, year two is the absolute latest of when I expect that we'll start working with local food banks and community fridges to donate regular produce boxes for their patrons. My hope is that we can use this as a starting point to get involved with the local mutual aid scene and see what's needed and how we're best equipped to support that need, whether it be financial donations, volunteering our time, resource donations, logistical work, or other legwork. Wifey plans to make a career out of organizing at this point, and I'm happy to say that we're about to be very well set up to support (and finance) that as soon as these last few logistical puzzle pieces fall into place. My career is looking to be in great shape as well, and while I need to keep taking strides and putting in the work to keep it on track (there are definitely places where I am falling down on the job but it is largely due to either a) my brain is still doing a lot of avoidance that I am working to overcome via meds and therapy and b) oh god advancing your career in my field is so fucking expensive and right now i am stretched to my absolute breaking point just getting us through to house-get. I can't even think about CEUs and certifications. But once I'm done with all the deposits and inspections and paying rent I can't afford, I need to make sure that my first priority is getting my tf-cbt certifications and getting as close to emdr certification as I am allowed at my level. I should also really get started on some broader CEUs too, though I can probably find at least one or two good free ones between now and then. I have a couple in my files I can upload to my tracker already I think (hope I remembered to save those certificates!) and at least that would show I didn't completely ignore them for a year after graduation lol. Anyway maybe I'll find one to do this weekend so I can at least have a start on things.

One of the things I'm really looking forward to about being settled is getting to having the space to exercise again. I'm planning to start doing a morning pilates routine and a mid day strength training routine now that I'm going to have a real office and can leave space for myself to have a little exercise corner. I'm hoping that between the structured workouts and the functional work of gardening, I'll finally start to build my body back up now that I seem to be regaining health. I want to feel like I felt during the years I was doing daily pilates and strength training in college, like I used to feel as a kid. Strong, in tune with my body, capable. Not.....like I have been feeling for so long. I can't keep living like this. I need my body to be right, and that means HRT, that means top surgery, that means getting stronger, that means for once in my life not apologizing for my body but reveling in it. I want to get tattoos after top surgery, not to cover my scars, but to go where my nipples would be, cuz like. Why graft nipples back on when you could have cool tattoos, am I right? And I figure, once I have fun nipple tattoos, the world is my tattoo oyster from there lol. That tattoo artist is my tattoo artist for life if they were cool about that project and did a good job. Which works cuz I have like. Three tattoo designs in the works and once we're settled, and I'm making moves on HRT and shit, I can start sourcing queer tattoo artists in the area who might dig the idea of working with me on my ink.

Starting to get tattoos would be step one of allowing the reality of me to exist divorced and separate from professional me. I don't plan (yet) to get tattoos anywhere that would be seen on camera, so while professional me would exist as they always have, up close and personal me would have a different vibe.

Step two is clothes. It's time for me to stop wearing things just because "it fit and I can afford it". With a little luck my office will be big enough for three things: my work station, an exercise corner big enough for a yoga mat, and a sewing station with a sewing table and dress form matched to my body and a tuck away ironing station. I want to start making my clothes from scratch so I can have outfits I actually feel comfortable in. I think I also need to knit myself a good pair of long socks and buy myself an actual quality garter belt. I'm planning on wearing my boots from now on, because they're actually good shoes, but I have to wear socks with them, and in order to keep the socks from rolling down to my goddamn arches at some point during the day because god forbid the sock just stay put nooooo, my leg has to be shaped like the world's best slip n slide. So until I learn more about leatherwork, I'll have to be picking one up. The garters I have never actually keep the goddamn sock because they're just meant for shitty lingerie. I also want to grab a good pair of suspenders. I plan to be the world's classiest goddamn dyke.

Year two should see me in good shape to start doing that, because my body will probably be in a less dramatic state of flux after being on hormones for a while. Obviously the dramatic change of no titty will probably be yet to come, but I can probably bind, or get a good set of corsetry to manage that in the meantime.

Step three of making me again is hair. I gotta figure out this hair thing. I can't just keep letting it growing out completely wild and then hacking it off in a passion only to do the same thing all over again. I need to actually learn how to cut my hair properly into a hairstyle I'll like. I'm gonna give this one another go today because I think I have an idea of how to fix it up a little, but I'm a bit anxious that I fucked it lol.

[doxiedreg]

Decided to draw all the fish I have lost so far and name those that didnt have names. I think it helped a little..Keeping fish can be so fucking rough..

Causes of death of each under the cut:

Pandam: First fish to die, cause unknown. Happened like a week after purchasing them and the first group of corys. Kept away from the others while alive and was lethargic. Found him severely injured one morning (i think the pleco or snails might have attacked him in his weakened state) put him seperate in a bucket of water and a few minutes later he was gone. burried him (Like all the other deaths except the shrimp and one of the rasboras) in one of my flower pots.

Lil orange: first was flashing herself against plants and decor, her and lemon were acting strange for a long while before i finally figured out it was worms (caught them hanging out their anusses one night with a flashlight) however the worms had injured her and weakened her too much and eventhough i medicated, she succumbed to them and secondary infections/injuries.

Nuv and Dix: freak accident that im still not sure how it happened. They both ended up lodged between my filter sponges. I found one of them still alive, got them out of the filter and put them back in the water. However they had suffered too much stress and injury and could no longer swim. Put them in the bucket so they could at least die in peace and they passed a few minutes later. Then for a couple of days I noticed that another one was missing. I could only see 8 while it should have been 9 after that death. Then next filter maintenance i found a slimy fleshy heap attached to one of my sponges which i assume used to be the missing rasbora that i must have missed when i found the other one..

Mom shrimp: White ring of death. I assume it was all the waterchanges i did in a short amount of time because of the medication. She had eggs who were already quite developped. I left her in the tank to be eaten by the others so her nutrients could be recycled at least

Lemon and most of her babies: Lemon finally gave birth but most babies were stillborn and then eaten by the other fish. at least 3 fry survived but 2 are now stuck behind the filter with no way for me to get them out of there so they will probably starve to death and i feel absolutely awful about it..but at least one baby is still alive and growing, swimming around the tank grabbing lil food scraps here and there. Tentatively naming them lemon baby

After giving birth, Lemon still remained very swolen. I first thought that maybe she still had some babies inside her but even days later she was still swolen. She developped a dark spot visible under the skin and while at the beginning she could still swim fine, near the end of her life she was constantly at the surface and couldnt swim well. I tried giving her salt baths and while at first she acted more active in the salt water, it didnt really improve her situation. I was thinking of putting her down but didnt have a container to mix the clove oil in yet..then one morning I found her dead, the black spot gone but her insides looking quite red. I suspect the black spot was either a tumor or a cyst filled with blood that then popped and she internally bled out. Im still not entirely sure what caused it, maybe reproductive cancer?? Dont think it was worms again because i didnt see any. she didnt eat or poop from what i could see either.

Loki: The fish i put down with clove oil today. He had been breathing heavily for a long while. He was also paler than the others and less active. He held his fins clamped and was less reactive and seemed to struggle with getting around. When the water was medicated before i didnt see the symptoms improve and the other panda corys are active and looking healthy. And corydoras are very sensitive to salt from what ive read so i couldnt try that route. So…I decided to put him down..when i caught him in the net he struggled like crazy which made it even harder on me. I even thought about letting him go but then he would just continue to slowly waste away..and i didnt want him to suffer. So i put him in the bucket and added the mixed clove oil. he slowed down and then eventually lied on his side, i added another higher dose and then he was gone. Waited 20 minutes to make sure he was really gone and then burried him. I didnt see anything obviously wrong when I examined him before that so its again very hard on me. making me doubt myself.

Keeping fish can be heartbreaking as you cant take them to the vet or even examine them yourself easily since they are so small. So unless it's an obvious external fish disease (like ick or mold) you don't know whats wrong with them and you can only throw general medication at them in hopes it works. I will be okay..I still love my fishtank as I enjoy watching it but it sure is a cause of stress and worries..

Just..had to write that all out. If you read it all, thank you..I just..am trying my best to cope..

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS DAYLIGHT Vol.9 Mukami Yuma [TRACK 1]

Original title: 北風に吹かれて

Source: Diabolik Lovers Daylight Vol. 9 Mukami Yuma

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Tatsuhisa Suzuki

Track 1 ll Track 2 ll Track 3 ll Track 4 ll Track 5 + Epilogue

→  LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

Track 1: Hit by the Northern Wind

The wind blows harshly in the background.

*Rustle rustle*

[00:29] “Oi, Sow. Are you listening? I thought the situation was hopeless now that you’ve gone to a place far out of my reach, but I was wrong. If ya can no longer be by my side, I just gotta go to yer side instead, right? It’s easy. Whether it’s eternal life, or eternal death, eternal always means ‘forever’. It’s the exact same thing. What really matters is the fact that we are together. If we truly love one another, we have to be by each other’s side at all times.”

*Rustle*

[01:27] “Heave-hoh…Heh. You’re so light. For real. ーー Well then, let’s get goin’. In search of our ‘forever’…”

*Woosh*

A flashback starts.

[02:23] “Godー The wind’s crazy today. Couldn’t we have done our groceries some other day? …Che, it’s hard to walk with all of these darn bags. You’re carryin’ a few yerself so don’t trip, ‘kay?”

You say it’s because Yuma bought too much food.

“Hehe. Oh shut up! Nothin’ wrong with eatin’ the stuff ya like, is there?”

You question him. 

[02:54] “Ya love to call me out on the weirdest things, huh? Who says that Vampires can’t have a big appetite? Well, this amount should carry me over for quite some time. When it needs to be used up, we can just throw in some veggies from my garden and make a stew or pot-au-feu as well.”

You note that would be yummy. 

“It’s takin’ me blood, sweat and tears to grow those bad boys, ‘course it’s gonna be delicious! Ahー Borscht sounds nice as well. My red beets are outta this world!”

Yuma suddenly comes to a halt.

[03:30] “Oi, gimme those bags after all. I’ll carry them all.”

You shake your head.

“Look. Yer pace has been slowin’ down this whole time. The bags are heavy, aren’t they? I’ll carry them for ya.”

You hesitate.

“That’s what I offered to do from the very start, but ya refused to give in. A few bags extra barely makes a difference for me so don’t hold back.”

You hand him the bags.

*Rustle rustle*

“...There. Let’s go.”

The two of you continue walking again.

[04:12] “...Oh. Hey, something’s off ‘bout ya. Why are ya walkin’ so slow? Are ya tired or somethin’? Maybe I shouldn’t have let ya carry those heavy bags? It’s darn cold today as well.”

You look away.

“Don’t avert yer gaze. If ya wanna try and dodge the question, you’re gonna have to try a lil’ harder. Tell me what’s up. Don’t try lyin’ ‘cause ya don’t wanna bother me either.”

You admit to feeling a little sluggish. 

“Haah…I knew it. Ya gotta tell me that sorta stuff sooner!”

Yuma looks around.

[04:55] “Um…Is there anywhere we could rest up? Actually, there’s a park over there, isn’t there? There should be a few benches then. Follow me.”

*TIMESKIP*

You arrive at the park.

[05:39] “Come on. Take a seat here.”

You sit down on the bench.

“Haha! What a loud sigh! Ya must have been really exhausted.”

You nod.

“The cold takes its toll on the body after all. I remember sufferin’ quite a bit during winter back when I was still human as well. …Come on, lean ‘gainst me. It’ll make it a bit easier on ya, no?”

*Rustle*

[06:15] “...Hehe. Look at ya rubbin’ yer face ‘gainst me. Are ya a dog or somethin’?”

You chuckle. 

“Oh…There’s a vendin’ machine over there. I’ll go buy ya somethin’ hot to drink, ‘kay?”

Yuma gets up and starts walking away but you stop him.

*Rustle*

“Ah…Hah? What? Let go.”

You insist that it’s fine just sharing body warmth. 

“I’m warm? Whatcha goin’ on ‘bout? I’m a Vampire, remember?”

You pout.

[06:55] “Haha…Geez, fine then. God.”

He sits back down.

“Scoot a lil’ closer then. If it makes ya feel at ease, we can cuddle as much as ya want.”

*Rustle rustle*

“Mmh…Yeah. Perfect.”

You snuggle your cheek against him again.

“Hehe…Look at ya cravin’ affection…”

You yawn.

[07:30] “What? Ya gonna doze off like this? Oi, wake up…You’ll catch a cold.”

“Oh…Your eyes are watery. …Are ya temptin’ me, huh?”

You tilt your head to the side and frown. 

“Tsk. …How much an airhead can ya be? Ya don’t have to do anythin’ for yer scent to drive me absolutely crazy. Ahー …Haah…My fangs are achin’…”

*Rustle*

“Say…Ya don’t mind, do ya? Lemme have a lil’ sip.”

You protest.

[08:19] “Nobody watchin’, trust me…Besides, even if they were, nobody would even notice. They’d just assume we’re some couple gettin’ it on.”

You pout.

“That’s exactly the kind of expression which gets me goin’…I’m basically dyin’ to pounce ya….

*Sniff*

[08:48] “I’m gettin’ my fill of yer blood…”

You eventually give in.

“...’Kay. Good girl. Hah…”

Yuma bites you.

*Sluuuuurp*

“Ahーー It’s delicious, just as I thought…”

*Rustle*

*Sluuuuurp*

“Hah…Ahー The more I drink, the more I crave it…I can’t get enough…”

*Sluuuuurp*

[09:51] “...Say? How ‘bout ya? Can ya feel my fangs?”

You nod.

“No longer bothered by the cold, I bet?”

He takes in your scent.

“Let’s get even more heated…Mmh…”

*Sluuuuurp*

“Mmh…”

*Sluuuuurp*

*TIMESKIP*

*Rustle*

[11:00] “Hah…Nothin’ beats yer blood. It just melts on my tongue. …Oh. Oi. What’s wrong? Are ya alright?”

You admit to feeling faint.

“...Fuck! Did I suck too much? Don’t worry. I’ll make sure ya get home safely.”

He gets up.

[11:36] “Hop onto my back.”

You tilt your head to the side.

“I’m offerin’ to carry ya on my back. Ya can still crawl on there, right?”

*Rustle rustle*

“There we go. Now hang on tight, ‘kay?”

You say sorry. 

[11:56] “Idiot. I’m the one who got lost in the moment and sucked too much of yer blood, so don’t apologize. …Hm? Aren’t ya kinda lighter than usual?”

You frown.

“Oh well. You’ve always been a lightweight, so I guess it’s just my imagination.”

*Rustle*

“Come on, let’s go home.”

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

[your-daily-biaswrecking]

Serva me, Servabo te

save me and I will save you

pairing: photographer!Taehyung x f.reader

genre: angst, slight enemies to lovers, slow burn, lil spooky, lil fluffy

word count: 7.7k | reading time: 40 min

chapter summary: perhaps staying close is going to be better

warnings: as always a little spooky house and a little twist

All chapters | Masterlist | Read on AO3

Chapter 4: Meticulous chaos

You didn't want Taehyung to be the first thing you thought about when you woke up, yet he was. Probably because you woke up due to noises coming from another room, and you must have subconsciously connected that to the only other person living there with you. Nevertheless, there you were, lying in bed with your eyes fixed on the ceiling but only seeing the face of a pretty boy. You shook your head. See, this is why you didn't want to stay there with him. This is why you didn't want to spend too much time around him; because you can easily get used to it.

Because when you looked through your clothes to pick what to wear, the idea of him seeing you in that outfit crossed your mind and surely affected your choice. Because when you kept hearing noises from around the house, you couldn't help but wonder what he was up to. And because you worried about how it was your turn to cook, as if there was a dire need to impress him. When you hopped down the staircase, you walked around the rooms with a clear intention of spotting him. He wasn't in the kitchen, nor the hallways. Not in the sitting room either, that solely boasted its fireplace with a strong flame.

That fire was almost out last night. Yet there it was, dancing about as if it was immortal.

You headed back to the kitchen after your small search was proved fruitless. Even though you had thought you wouldn't have to eat again for the rest of the week after the feast you had the previous night, your stomach was tight from hunger. There was, of course, the easy solution of buttering up some toast along with all the toppings the Manor provided. But Taehyung had gone out of his way to make pancakes for the two of you, it would be a weak admission of defeat to settle for less. You chewed on your lower lip as you investigated the cupboards for ideas; it almost felt like you had put yourself in a competition no one had asked for. A competition that you were doomed to fail, considering the skill Taehyung had displayed in the field already. But if he had to brag about making his hook-ups fall for him through breakfast, you had to at least try to go against him, didn't you?

And then you saw the perfect item: a pudding mix. All you had to do was add milk and bring it to a boil, no extravagant cooking talent needed. And you'd get nice little bowls of vanilla cream that not only would be a unique breakfast but would also fit the aesthetic of the Victorian house and appear as intricate as his pancakes. He didn't have to know it was actually an instant mix.

The wooden floors from upstairs kept making loud noises while you stirred the cream in the flower garnished pot. It almost sounded like he was moving around furniture, but why? You tried to take your mind off him -he had been in there too long, you thought- and finished up your breakfast, serving four small balls. The pudding smelled absolutely delicious but was still steaming, so you opened a window and put two of the bowls out to help them cool down faster since you were impatient to eat. The yellow pot had gained a couple of dark spots at the bottom, a clear sign that you hadn't stirred the milk as much as you should have. You went straight to rubbing it, hoping to fix it, while you noticed the noises had died down and you assumed the other man would walk into the kitchen any time now.

Then you heard the obvious sound of the front door closing. You dropped the pot. Where was he going? Without eating breakfast? Without even saying a "good morning"?

"Tae?" you found yourself calling out. Then you cleared your throat. "I mean... Kim Taehyung?"

There was just silence. You looked out the window but he wasn't in the garden. A sort of itch bothered your right hip, something like curiosity, or even affection for the man, that you had buried and embodied deep in your gut. An itch that acted up when you decided to ignore your thoughts of him once again and go back to scrubbing that pot.

But then the unmistakable sound of the door was heard again. You froze and bit your lip, trying to stop yourself from calling out his name again. However, you couldn't stop the way your head slowly turned towards the door, peeping from the corner of your eye at the hallway, waiting. You heard the footsteps, then you saw just the tip of his shoe before you jerked your head back forward. You wouldn't be caught watching the door, waiting for him to enter. That would be embarrassing.

"Something smells delicious." His voice was husky, his tone lower than normal, as if that sentence was the first one he had spoken that day. Which could very easily be the case.

Your eyes ran to his form the moment you deemed to be safe, and even though you knew who you would see, you still didn't expect the exact sight and ended up smiling sheepishly. Taehyung's somewhat long and curly hair was falling over and under a pair of clear glasses that hung low on his nose, poking at his eyes, looking like he had just woken up and hadn't even run one hand through it. His head was tilted back so that he could stare at you from under his locks, and his jaw was slightly turned to the side as he was probably biting his tongue. Lips and cheeks a soft pink; long fingers stroking his chin. His hair tucked behind his ears made them stand out, along with his thick neck that was framed by a short turtleneck he was wearing.

All that and your eyes hadn't even traveled further down yet.

"Hey," you simply said, your voice small, barely escaping your tight throat.

How could a man look so good in such a sight of sloppiness and untidiness?

"Hey," he rasped, let his arm fall to his side, and smiled at you. He had his camera hanging from his neck and hovering over his stomach. One hand in a pocket of his dark jeans, and a jacket on. Took two steps closer while keeping his eyes to the ground. "Did you cook something? What's the smell?"

"Yeah, breakfast," you responded and gave up on the pot you were cleaning altogether, washing your hands to turn to him. You swallowed hard when you realized Taehyung was standing right in front of you, close enough that you had to look up to see his face, yet far enough to not guarantee a complaint. And there you were again, almost uncomfortable just by existing around him. Though this time it was a different kind of uncomfortable. Something that derived from a sense of comfort that you, but mostly he, displayed right now. You couldn't quite place what it was.

"What kind of breakfast?"

"Vanilla pudding." You noticed his eyebrows rise under his fringe.

"Sounds nice." He gave you a smirk. "Didn't think you'd do that for me." He tilted his head to the side, trying to make you look at him, but you avoided eye contact.

"Don't worry, princess, it's not because of you." You bit the inside of your cheek, regretting immediately having called him that, even if it was his own words you were using against him. And the silence that followed for a heartbeat made you grow with worry.

But then Taehyung laughed. Loudly. He pulled away, swinging his feet towards the island with his back turned to you, clearly enjoying your remark. Enjoying the air in the room, the entire moment and interaction between the two of you, so casually, as if it was all going according to a plan he had made.

And then you realized. There was something in his aura that had changed. Looked a lot like the one he exuded when you first met him. Yeah, those past couple of days he had been walking around as if he was sorry he was taking up space. Now he was walking around as if he knew he could seduce you just by standing next to you. He probably wasn't wrong. Yoonji had said the fact that Taehyung was attractive made the whole situation of being stuck with him there easier, but you were certain it was the exact opposite. Just how attractive that man was, was starting to make staying there with him so, so difficult.

"Uh, well... I had breakfast hours ago when I woke up but- I'll indulge in some pudding since you made it," Taehyung murmured, leaning on the counter with his elbows and looking you up and down as if he was talking about eating something else.

You frowned a bit as you processed his words, along with his outfit. "Where have you been?"

He grinned in a way you knew he had been waiting for you to ask. Then he took the camera off his neck and placed it on the table. "Actually, I thought I'd go find that fairy ring you talked about."

"You've been out?"

"Yeah, I took the mushroom trail you said you took, the one in the tour guide. But I didn't find it."

"You've been out all morning?" you insisted.

"Yeah, I told you. But I didn't find any mushrooms. Like, how far into the woods did you go? I was walking for half an hour and I still hadn't found a single mushroom."

You stared blankly out the windows. "That's weird, when I went, the path was filled."

"Weird, huh?" he mumbled. He hummed and looked around a bit before he turned his attention back on you and your frozen stare. "How many days do mushrooms live? Maybe I was too late?"

"So, you just got home? You were out up until now?" you asked again.

Taehyung frowned. "Yeah, I already told you. Why do you keep asking?" His frown deepen when you didn't answer. When you just kept looking off at nothing like a statue. "Amy? Why, what happened?" he asked concerned, something in your expression not sitting right with him.

Finally, you looked at him. The inner corners of your eyebrows turned upwards as you took a deep breath. "I... I've been hearing... noises."

He pushed away from the counter and walked closer to you. If he did that to make you feel more protected, or himself, you didn't know. "What do you mean? What kind of noises?"

You shrugged, still staring at him without even blinking. "I don't know, just- noises. From upstairs. I thought it was you."

You felt his right palm fold nicely around your left elbow, a touch you almost didn't register right away. He didn't speak immediately, nor did you. Perhaps because there was only one thing that crossed both of your minds, yet neither of you wanted to admit it. It was foolish, wasn't it? You were adults. Adults don't believe in those kinds of things. So you kept quiet, looking with wide eyes and searching in each other what was proper to say. Because you wouldn't profess what you really wanted to say.

Perhaps that is the most adult thing you could ever do; not admit your true thoughts and feelings.

"It's an old house," the photographer was the first one to speak, starting a sentence even he didn't know the ending. "Sometimes it just makes old house noises."

"What are old house noises?"

"Maybe it's just the pipes."

"Yeah, that's what they always say," you snorted. "In horror movies!"

And then Taehyung laughed. With the hand that was on your arm, he ruffled your hair like you were some kind of adorable kid making up stories, completely invalidating your comment. I guess he chose to play the grown-up.

"Well, good thing we're not in one then, right?" he chuckled as he walked away and sat down in one of the chairs.

He was probably right. But still, how dare he pretend to be the logical one and insinuate you weren't. You rolled your eyes and puffed, crossing your arms over your chest.

"I mean, you never know," you grunted.

Taehyung bit his tongued visibly between his front teeth as he smirked at you. "Don't you think that if this place was haunted or something, they would advertise it as such? They'd make a lot more money that way."

"Not if it was really dangerous," you argued. "Then I think they would keep it a secret and offer the place at a great price to lure people in. Which is probably how Jimin and Yoonji could afford this in the first place."

"Ha!" Taehyung simply said in a way you couldn't tell if it was a genuine laugh or a sarcastic one. "No, Jimin is a lot richer than you think." He frowned as if scolding himself. "Motherfucker is richer than me!" he complained. "That's not fair, I'm the one who made him famous. What's a model without his photographer, huh?"

You tried not to break character, rolling your eyes back to avoid smiling. "That's beside the point. The noises?"

"Probably the housekeepers."

"Oh."

The truth was you hadn't thought about that, had almost completely forgotten about them. Possibly, you had even started doubting their existence; what kind of housekeepers are completely invisible?

"I didn't see them," you said. "Did you?" He shook his head in response. "Did you light the fireplace in the sitting room?" He shook his head again and you had to sigh in defeat. "Well, I guess that was them, too. Even if this house had ghosts, I doubt they'd be lighting us a fire to keep us warm."

"Or cleaning our rooms," he added with an amused grin.

You reciprocated his energy. "Unless the housekeepers are the ghosts. That would be convenient."

"Maybe that lady that was here the first day was a ghost, too. Maybe the whole Manor is run by ghosts."

You both laughed at the idea. Yeah, it was indeed ridiculous. You had to laugh.

"So... pudding?" Taehyung suggested then, pressing his lips together and motioning towards the bowls that were sitting on the counter next to you.

"Oh, right." You jumped a bit at remembering. "I have some here," you mumbled as you turned around and opened the window that put up little resistance.

You frowned at the sight. The two bowls you had placed on that window sill not long ago were still there, but...

"The bowls are only half-way full," you announced, bringing them inside while you stared at them confused the entire time.

"It's okay, I'm not that hungry."

"No, I mean they were full, then I put them outside to cool down, and now half of it is gone!"

Taehyung narrowed his eyes at you, considering how to reply for a second. "Are you suggesting I ate them somehow?"

"No!" you exclaimed, your frown deepening.

"Then what are you suggesting?"

You shook your head, exhaling. "I don't know," you said, and you really didn't. "Do you know if there's a cat or something around here?"

He humored you for a moment and thought about it. "No, actually... Haven't seen any cats. Have you?"

"Or- do you know if fairies, perchance, like pudding?"

Taehyung smiled at you and shook his head. But he didn't argue that any kind of mystical being was out of the question to be the culprit responsible for your pudding disappearing, so you guessed there could be a part of him that believed it. Or at least thought about it. And yet again was too pragmatic to admit.

"If we don't know what ate those, I suggest we just throw them away," he said eventually.

You agreed. "There's more, anyway." And with a motion, you emptied the little cream left in the bowl in the bin. The two spare bowls were still filled to the brim and warm to the touch. "But these haven't cooled down yet."

"It's okay, I prefer them hot anyway."

"You do?"

"Yeah."

You raised your eyebrows as you grabbed two little spoons and sat down next to him. "Hm... I'd never have guessed that about you," you whispered and pushed one bowl in front of him.

He opened his mouth dramatically. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know," you said biting back a smile, shrugging too, for added effect. "You just seem like a cold guy."

Taehyung snapped his head away, his chin raised high. "I'm not cold. You just don't allow yourself to get to know me better."

"I'm talking about pudding, princess."

"Stop calling me princess!"

"You first."

A small battle of stares and smirks ensued between the two of you before he gave up and picked up his spoon. You remained, and watched, waiting for his reaction like it would be your payment. And the boy, as if he knew, dragged him movements out; dipped that little spoon in the jiggling, runny cream slowly, moving the bite close to his lips ever more so, as though he was filming a commercial. He held the spoon there long enough for you to lose your thought while staring at his lips, the deep cupid bow decorating the top. Then, finally, he tried your pudding and you had to hold your breath when he closed his eyes. Was it because it was really good, or really bad?

"Oh, that's really good."

You sighed in relief. Then snorted at his act. "Don't sound so surprised." You had a taste too and you mentally congratulated yourself. Not that you had done anything much, but he didn't know that, and the result was good enough to boast about.

"I mean-" Taehyung continued while taking another bite, "-I did notice you almost burned that pot over there, so excuse me if I am pleasantly taken aback."

You rolled your eyes and smacked his upper arm, but decided to stay silent. At least for as long as you ate. Taehyung didn't speak either, simply gave you a quick glance after every bite, almost as if he was checking you were still next to him. Next to him, so close to him... You could have easily chosen a seat farther away, but let's be honest, whether it was consciously or unconsciously done, you needed to be in as low of a proximity as possible. It felt safe.

Which is probably why you got up at the same moment as he did, walked to the sink right after him, left the kitchen, and headed down the hall right behind his steps. Taehyung didn't notice, or if he did, he didn't mention it; even if it could be a nice excuse for the teasing he loved to do. He simply stopped in front of the main staircase, looked up, then around him, and then straight to you and said:

"What are you going to do now?"

"Eh?" Were you supposed to do something other than follow him around all day? Well, damn... "Um, I don't know. What about you?" you chewed out your words.

"I wanted to continue some of my work."

You remembered what he had said the previous day. "Right... And you need the sitting room to yourself, I assume?"

He shook his head. "I don't mind sharing," he said in a near whisper.

Your chest puffed as you took in a deep breath at that, trying not to let your face light up. Then again, you couldn't see your face and you could only hope it didn't betray the way your toes curled at the thought of Taehyung implying he wanted to stay in the same room as you. The way his eyes searched your own for a reaction, however, let you know he probably hadn't detected it.

"Oh, good," you mimicked his voice. "I mean, that room is easily the coziest one here, so I'd like to do my reading there, too." You felt proud of your quick and believable excuse.

"Right." Taehyung smiled at you. "It has a lit fireplace, too, so of course we both wanna stay there," he said, basically revealing an excuse of his own.

Inarguably, those were the true reasons to stay in the sitting room. It had nothing to do with the fact that both of you were starting to think the place might be haunted or, God forbid, the fact that you craved each other's company.

Satisfied with yourselves, you jogged up the stairs with the same pace, parting ways for only a minute in order for either of you to fetch your laptop and your books respectively. Taehyung called dibs on the large armchair by the window facing south and you settled for the side of the sofa that was closest to the fireplace. That way you were opposite one another and it was not only easy, but unavoidable, slipping a glance over your work and onto the other. And, simply due to the laws of statistics, it was therefore easy and unavoidable making eye contact a few times as well. He seemed more comfortable when that happened than you, giving you his usual smirk, or even the occasional wink. You, instead, cleared your throat or pretended you were taking a break from staring at the same page all the time, rereading the same sentence.

Yet it was impossible to stop. Taehyung was like a colorful flower in a garden and you were like a starving bee; simply put, you were drawn to him. Both your eyes and mind were incapable of staying focused on your books, every few seconds drifting off across the room in search of the same image again and again: the photographer's serious face, his eyebrows naturally set in a frown, his lips moving along with his thoughts, his jaw clenching and unclenching. Despite that, you weren't upset when that wasn't what you got. You weren't upset when you were met with his smug expression instead, or his head thrown back, or his attention on the dancing flame. Sure, getting caught made your face burn disagreeably, but you were never upset.

You thought being there with him -and I am referring to the entire week- would just make your blood boil. Yet it didn't. Was it because he was acting unexpectantly nice to you, an indication of a different character than the one you were counting on? Had you simply stopped hating him so much with the passage of time? Or had you gotten used to him already? Was it a combination of all three?

Whatever it was, it was definitely causing you to appreciate his presence right now.

"What are you working on?" Right, and it was definitely helping in wanting to know more about him.

Taehyung smiled at you. "I'm editing some photos for the magazine I work for."

"Oh. The ones you took in the garden?"

His smile grew, his teeth showing. "No, no. Those were just for me." He seemed so happy with the interrogation, so happy that you were showing interest. It almost made you cower a little, but he went on right away. "These are from a photoshoot I did right before I came here."

"With Jimin?"

"No, unfortunately," he chuckled. "This one was a lot harder to work with."

You nodded to show you understood. You gave your books a glance, debating whether you should keep the conversation going or go back to silence. Not that you could focus on those books, but perhaps Taehyung could focus on his thing and you were preventing that. "What magazine do you work for?" you asked, anyway.

"Vogue."

You choked. "Wha-" He had said it so nonchalantly you weren't sure you had heard that right. "Vogue? As in, the Vogue?"

"Vogue Korea, yes."

You laughed, shaking your head. "And you just say the magazine I work for? As if it's not a Devil wears Prada kind of situation?"

He licked his lips, his eyes running over your whole face. "What do you want me to do, brag? Isn't that the type of thing that made you dislike me in the first place?"

You raised an eyebrow at his words. "You don't even remember meeting me, how do you know the reason I dislike you?"

Taehyung tilted his face and lied back in his chair. "An assumption," he said casually. "Anyway, I thought you already knew I worked there."

Your tongue poked the inside of your cheek as you narrowed your eyes at him. "Believe it or not, Taehyungie, I didn't spend my free time looking up facts about you."

"Such a shame, I happen to like stalkers."

You snorted at his odd sense of humor, one of the things you clearly remembered about him. But the implication that he wanted to like you didn’t go by unnoticed. In fact, you had picked up on every single comment that served some type of flirting role, at first brushing it off as just the way the man is -he probably did the same to everyone- but you couldn’t help but question whether it was more than making conversation and if it had something to do with you. If, namely, he thought you were pretty or liked you enough to toy with you that way. It didn’t sound improbable.

“How does someone like you get a job at a place like that?” you asked again, seeing you had room to annoy him further with your questions. He didn’t seem exactly eager to get back to editing.

“Someone like me?”

“You know what I mean,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“Do I?” he asked again, but raised his eyebrows in a way you knew he was more entertained than offended.

“You’re so young.”

“Touché. Well, um…” He placed his laptop on the coffee table and leaned closer. “I made a video with Jimin and I in it as my last project in college, and then when I uploaded it on Instagram it went kind of viral. That way I was able to find a job right after I graduated, meanwhile, my follower count kept growing. Jimin gained traction too, and when he was scouted as a model for a commercial, he asked that I be his photographer. We’ve been working together ever since.”

You nodded along. You knew parts of that story, like how Jimin started his modeling career, but you had never considered it from Taehyung’s point of view.

“And Vogue?” you questioned.

He shrugged casually. “Started working there about half a year ago, when Jimin had a photoshoot for the magazine. They offered me a two-year contract.”

You hummed in response. You knew Taehyung was not doing bad in terms of his career, but you had never grasped just how good of a career that was. In your head, you thought of him on the same level as some random influencer; simply had a cute face and a few million followers online. But he seemed to be on his way to becoming one of the greatest photographers in our days, given the exponential growth of his fame in just some years.

And you… You were staying in an old house alone with this celebrity. It should be overwhelming, and it was, but not for that reason.

“Wow. It had never dawned on me just how big you and Jimin are,” you mumbled. “Like, how is Yoonji managing to keep such a man around, still?”

Taehyung laughed. “Yoonji is one of the coolest girls I know, of course she has Jimin. Also, I remember the man had a crush on her since day one of meeting her, and also she was one of the few people that were nice to him back then. He had a lot of bullies, you know.”

You fidgeted a little, looking away. “Even so, he could have cheated or left her for someone better,” you almost whispered. “Isn’t that what celebrities always do?”

You noticed out of the corner of your eyes that he was chewing on his bottom lip aggressively, staring at you unblinkingly. He didn’t respond. Neither to deny nor affirm your words. You cleared your throat and looked around the room, spotting the grandfather clock next to the door, and decided to change the subject.

“When should we have lunch?”

Taehyung finally looked away, picking up his laptop again and placing it on his lap. “I’m in no rush.”

You puffed your cheeks full of air. Maybe it was just an excuse to leave now, but you said: “Yeah, but making food takes a while.” You closed your books and held them tight in your arms, getting up and heading for the door. “Perhaps I should start cooking. Or, at least, see what there is to cook, I don’t know.”

You were almost out of the room when he quickly spoke up, hasting to stop you. “Hey! What… What do you think about having a picnic?”

That really caught you off guard. “A what?”

Taehyung licked his lips when you looked at him over your shoulder. “A picnic. The weather forecast says there’s going to be heavy rain from tomorrow on, and the woods seemed lovely this morning. I was thinking today might be our last chance to get outside a bit.”

You turned fully to face him, trying to digest his words. “You wanna go into the woods?”

He shrugged just one shoulder. “We could go towards the river. I mean, do you really like being in here so much right now?”

Oh, he knew you were scared of these walls. What he didn’t know, however, was that the outside sounded just as scary. Especially after something ate your pudding. What the hell was that?

“I don’t know,” you mumbled. “A picnic, though?”

“We can just get something, like, to eat, some snacks and stuff, fill up that basket in the kitchen, and go for an afternoon walk by the river,” he tried further to sell the idea to you. “It doesn’t sound too bad, does it?”

You fidgeted again. “No, it- it sounds romantic.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

Maybe it was. You weren’t sure yet. Then again, the idea did sound nice, something that you would have definitely liked to do normally. You switched your weight from one leg to the other, back and forth, thinking about what to say. But the longer you took to respond, the more intense his look seemed to get. It put you on the spot, it prevented you from thinking straight, only making your mind focus on his eyes and the way he was waiting for your agreement. And the longer you couldn’t think straight, the harder it was, the more anxious you got.

“Fine,” you blurted out then. Why, you didn’t know. Maybe because you couldn’t think of a decent reason to say no.

You missed the way he smiled at you in favor of getting out of there quickly. You hid away in your room, no longer concerned with being alone since you had other things to keep your mind busy with. The other things being Taehyung and Taehyung alone. You tried contacting your roommate in need of some advice or a simple willing ear to listen to you, but she either was ignoring you or the signal was so bad she didn’t even get your texts. So all you were left to do was walk up and down the room, rummage through your clothes to find something to wear, sigh repeatedly while lying face down on the bed, bounce your leg and pull your hair… Nervous as if you were going on a date. Feeling funny in your stomach and you didn’t know why.

Taehyung was already in the kitchen, making a couple of sandwiches. You joined him without too much noise, packing up some crackers, some cheese, some charcuterie, some fruit. The basket was already looking deliciously full, and it was all starting to seem like a good idea, after all, ignoring the itch that was against this whole thing. You even smiled and agreed to the bottle of wine he suggested completing the meal. You covered everything up with a blanket you borrowed from a spare room and left the house with the hiking guide in your hands.

“The stream seems to be very close, only about a ten, fifteen-minute walk,” you let him know as you read the guide.

Taehyung was walking ahead of you, caring the basket he had insisted on, leaving you in charge of recognizing the path. He had his small camera with him, hanging from his shoulder like a purse, and every now and then he stopped to take a picture of the scenery. He was right; the forest seemed inviting today. Looking around you almost couldn’t believe it was the same trees surrounding you. There was ample sunlight boring through the branches and the leaves, hitting your face gently and providing some warmth. The trail was wide and easy, making the walk enjoyable enough, something the other trail had barely offered. What you didn’t expect to find was wild, purple little flowers by the egde as if it was already springtime.

Taehyung bent down and collected every single one of them, making room for them inside the basket.

“Why are you picking flowers?” you asked.

“For you,” he simply answered.

You clicked your tongue, not quite believing him. “Seriously.”

“I just thought they’ll look good with our picnic,” he said, changing his original answer.

You hadn’t even walked ten minutes and you could already hear the running water, gentle yet loud enough to reach your ears. And then it appeared next to the trail. The river was wider than you expected and boasted the bluest waters you had ever seen. White, roundish rocks were inside and around the stream, causing it to splash onto them violently and make all the noise. It was shallow, you could easily see the bottom of it, and the trees were almost falling over it, hiding it away, giving the water its bright, turquoise color.

“There should be a bridge here,” you said, checking the guide again, while Taehyung had already placed the basket down and was taking pictures of the place.

“There is,” he said, pointing upstream without taking his eyes off his camera.

When you walked closer to him and leaned over the edge, you spotted the stone, single arched bridge that was definitely older than the Manor. Its grey stones having turned dark for the most part where the water hit. Over it, it was clear enough for you to be able to see the peaks for a couple of mountains in the background, the river probably having begun up there and gotten so far in its search for the sea.

“Here.” Taehyung’s voice pulled you from your thoughts, along with his hand that landed on your arm. He pushed you in front of him. “Stand over there.”

“Wha- why?”

“Let me take your picture.”

You stayed still, where he needed you to be, and stared at him as you felt your entire head fire up. “Me? Why would you do that?”

Taehyung just looked at you as if you were acting weird and this was something normal you did all the time. “Isn’t that what people do on vacation? Take pictures?”

“Um…”

“Do you not want a picture with the bridge?”

You gulped, pushing your hair behind your ear and then immediately undoing it because you knew you looked bad that way. “Alright,” you whispered. Truly, it wasn’t anything that crazy, you had your photo taken so many times before, by so many people -even strangers- and still, you had no idea what to do, how to pose. You just stood there, looking not at the camera but at the man hiding behind it.

“Right!” he called once he was done. Gave the screen a glance and nodded, satisfied with himself. “Not bad at all. Wanna see?”

He wasn’t lying. The picture was more zoomed than you expected, your face taking up most of the space and outshining the scenery, but it wasn’t bad. Apparently, your a little confused-a little awkward face appeared pretty nice through the lens. Or maybe it was all just the talent of the photographer.

“Where do you want to sit?” he asked you.

Happy to be back to occupying yourself with anything but your thoughts regarding him, you looked around and walked deeper into the path. “Let’s get closer to the bridge, there’s an opening there.”

And so you did, found some grass you could put the blanket down on right by the foot of the bridge. Taehyung gave you the piece of clothing to lay down, and right after the bouquet of flowers he had gathered. Shaking your head at his antics, you placed them on the side, by the basket. The photographer left you alone to take the food out as he got distracted by the beauty of the place again, walking right to the middle of the bridge and taking many pictures. Up the mountain, down the stream, back at you and your little picnic set.

You arranged all your food on the two plates that proved themselves too small for everything, keeping the sandwiches along with the bottle of white wine inside the basket, two glasses on each side of the blanket. It was a nice spot, you thought. It had a nice view and the sun reached down to cover you, the wind blocked away from the forest to your left and all of it together making for a cold-free location.

“Tae,” you whined his name when he got back down there yet was still just taking pictures here and there. Pictures of nature, of the food, of you. Again. “We’re not here for a photo shoot, we’re here to eat!”

He hit himself on the head. “Oh, right. How could I forget,” he said in a teasing voice, yet put the camera away and finally sat down crossed legged in front of you. He gave you a big, boxy smile. “This is nice, isn’t it?”

You looked away, kind of not wanting to admit it, but nodded anyway. “Let’s eat,” you announced, picking up a sandwich.

Taehyung opened the wine bottle and pour both of you some. He clicked his glass onto yours and smiled at you before tasting it. And you were taken aback; that was the best white wine you had ever had.

“Hold on!” you mumbled, taking a look at the bottle to double-check the name. “This is really good!” It was a Sauvignon Blanc, but that wasn’t surprising. It must have been the specific variety because it had such an aroma, just a fruity taste, it seemed more like drinking juice than a dry wine.

“I know,” Taehyung told you. “You know, I’m not a big fan of alcohol but I always make an exception for this wine. It’s my favorite.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

He sucked some air through his teeth. “Probably because it’s a little pricy…”

“Are you implying I’m poor?”

He laughed. “No, I’m implying I’m rich.”

You chuckled while rolling your eyes at him, too. Then you both started biting down on your sandwiches that, needless to say, were delicious, the bread soft and crunchy as if it was baked just that morning. You filled your mouth up with all other snacks as well, appreciating the combination of the wine with the cheese. Oh, and you gulped down that ambrosia-like drink so fast. One glass, then another… You couldn’t have enough.

“I swear, I’ll get too drunk to walk back home at this rate,” you chuckled as Taehyung was pouring you the third glass.

“Then I’ll carry you.”

You dismissed him with a push on the arm. He wasn’t drinking as much but was reciprocating your energy easily. Your chuckles, your jokes, your openness. He threw a grape in the air and caught it in his mouth, which in turn gave you the brilliant idea to turn this into a game. The rest of the food was all gone save for a couple of crackers, the sun was getting more golden as it was slipping downwards, the birds’ chirping getting louder and the temperature falling just enough to make you squirm.

Your brain felt fuzzy but you would argue it was in a good way. You lied down on the blanket with a giggle, folding your arms behind your head, looking at the sky. It was pink.

“We should head back before it gets too dark,” you shared your thought.

Taehyung hovered over you, enjoying your eyes instead of the view. He hummed. “I don’t want to leave yet.”

You smiled at him. “Me neither,” you admitted, and it was true. “Look at the sky!”

He glanced up just as a flock of birds flew over, making him decide to grab his camera one more time. As he was too busy to notice, you let yourself look at him. Stare at him. He blended so well with the artistry of nature, you thought. And he was acting so nice lately, he was making you feel so nice. You knew that meant you were letting your icy cold walls break down in front of him, but at the moment you didn’t have the mental strength to stop that.

“Can I take a picture of you just like that?” he asked when he turned to you again.

You didn’t flinch, you didn’t cower away. You just grinned and let him. The man hovered over you again, hiding his face behind the lens, and you kept giving him the brightest beam you had to offer. Not because you suddenly knew how to pose; it came effortlessly. Taehyung stood up to photograph you from farther away, then got back on his knees and literally crawled to you. Your expression couldn’t help but get more and more serious, the closer and closer he got. Kneeling next to your hip and holding himself up with an arm next to your head, you heard his camera snap a couple more times, and he was so close to you now you felt like there was barely enough space to breathe.

“Tae…” you purred in an attempt to bring his attention back on earth, feeling like he had drifted away somewhere.

He heard you, and with one last snap, he pulled the camera away from his face. You couldn’t have predicted how much worse that would be; how much worse it was to be looking at his eyes -his lips when he licked them- instead of an inanimate object. And he was, oh, so close.

He smiled at you sweetly and completely dropped the camera next to you but still didn’t move an inch. Perhaps he was even getting closer as he used both hands to trap you under him- you didn’t know, you couldn’t fully understand.

“You know, Amy, I’m really glad we came here,” he spoke, his voice as low as it was that morning, basically resonating in a whole different frequency, nearly hard to be registered by a human ear.

You pressed your lips together as you gave him a curt nod. “Yeah, the picnic was a good idea.” He wasn’t even touching you but you felt like you couldn’t move. Why couldn’t you move? Why didn’t he move?

He licked his lips again and pushed his glasses up his nose with his middle finger. “I mean- hmm…” his voice vibrated in his throat. ”I’m glad we both came to this Manor. It’s better that you’re here.”

You had to bite your lower lip and your legs pressed well together. “Uh, yeah…” you said, clearing your throat immediately after. “I’m glad you’re here, too. To be frank, it would have been very boring if I was staying here alone.”

He licked his lips a third time- what the hell? Was he doing it on purpose, solely to keep your attention on them? Or had he always been doing it and you were just noticing now? Noticing because your eyes were on his lips anyway.

“I’m good company, then?” he chirped.

“You’re not terrible.”

Taehyung chuckled. You noticed his eyes traveling down your body with an amused smirk. “You’re not so bad yourself, princess.”

The way the nickname rolled off his tongue made your stomach do a flip. It wasn’t like all the other times he used it to make fun of you. Or maybe it was, but this time you liked it. Maybe you were too tipsy, or too lost in the moment, but your breath was heavy and his eyes felt like beams of fire burning into your form. And you couldn’t get a hold of yourself; you couldn’t stop, you couldn’t pull away, you couldn’t think straight. Your muscles moved on their own, your body taking control over your mind and you leaned in without knowing, without realizing. You really didn’t realize what you were doing until your lips hit his.

Taehyung immediately kissed you back. One of his hands snaked under your head and held the back of your throat to pull you closer to him as he swallowed you desperately. It was impossible to escape- his lips were soft and fit on yours with practiced ease. He was warm, and your body craved this heat as if it was freezing to death. And you couldn’t stop, you couldn’t pull away, you couldn’t think straight. And perhaps you didn’t want to.

He broke away only for a second to catch his breath; it was a second too long. The moment his lips left yours it was like you were freed from a prison spell. You could move, you could think. And you did, pushing him away.

“No…” you mumbled. Got on your feet right away, looking around as if you were lost. “No, no!” you basically screamed.

And you started running away.

“Amy!” Taehyung called your name as he got up too. He called you again, and again as he saw you run down the path you had taken to get there. “Amy, wait up!” you heard his voice get fainter as you got farther. But you didn’t wait up. You didn’t slow down. Now that you had started running from him, you didn’t know how you would stop.

Next Chapter

[fantastic-bby]

SKZ vs. their s/o dancing while cooking

Pairing: Reader x Member

Word count: 2k

Genre: Fluff 

Summary: They catch you dancing in the kitchen while you’re cooking 

Warnings: -

Requested by @m4rshm4llow​ (I hope you like it!)

Masterlist 

Chan

More often than not, Chan probably wouldn’t come home in time for dinner 

He spends so much time at the studio that he usually only leaves when it’s already past midnight or when he realises that it’s getting really really late

And most of the time, you’re already asleep when he gets home 

Buuuuttttttttt

Chan told you he was gonna be home earlier 

So being the loving s/o that you are, you decide to cook him dinner ^-^

So you're in the kitchen, wearing one of his black t shirts which pretty much engulfs your entire body :3 

While cooking, you have one of your speakers blasting songs at full volume

Since you're wearing socks, you're gliding all over the kitchen 

You barely even hear the door opening when you're in the middle of pretending your spatula is a guitar during the guitar solo

"Babe?" 

You snap your head up and see Chan smiling while standing in the kitchen doorway

You really weren't expecting him to be home for another half an hour or so

"Is that 5sos?"

You don't answer him and instead grab onto his wrist, dragging him closer to you

"Dance with me, Channie!" 

He laughs as he watches you dance 

Chan thinks you’re so fricking adorable he’s just aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (^ω^)

"Come on, baby, you know the words" 

You eye him playfully and he chuckles

"Destination permanent vacation" 

Minho

Minho comes home at a reasonable hour 

He'd been working so hard for the past few months with the comeback, you decided that maybe you should make him dinner rather than just ordering something like you two usually would

What Min doesn’t tell you is that he’s coming home earlier to surprise you because he wants longer cuddle hours with you 

So you dance away in the kitchen, wooden spoon in hand and the music at full volume

When Minho stands outside your shared home, he can already hear the music

Wondering what you’re up to, he steps in without saying anything since he also knows you most likely won’t even hear him

He does not expect to find you dancing in the kitchen while pretending your spoon is a microphone 

So he just stands there, watching you with the biggest smile on his face

You don’t even realise his home until you turn around and see him standing like a Sim in the middle of the doorway 

“Min!” 

You grab onto his arm and start dancing, trying to get him to catch onto your vibe

He laughs at you and thinks you’re an absolute bundle of joy 

But Minho being Minho 

He doesn’t want to admit that he thinks it’s cute and wants to tease you

“I didn’t realise I was dating such a party animal”

“I know you like this song too, so shut up and dance”

He really can’t resist

He wouldn’t openly admit it but he loves when you’re all amped up

Changbin 

Binnie usually wakes up earlier than you do 

So when you wake up and notice that not only is he still asleep, you also have time to whip him up some breakfast

You climb out of bed carefully, trying not to wake him up 

But you notice how he snuggles into himself tighter when you slip out of his cuddle and it makes your heart just go (｡♥‿♥｡)

Since you’re still wearing your socks, you slide around the place without actually walking 

When you start cooking, you have your phone hooked up to one of Changbin’s many speakers 

You tried to keep the volume to a minimum 

But you were starting to disappear into your own bubble so you ended up making the volume a lil bit louder

Unsurprisingly, it wakes up Changbin

It was also the musician inside of him yelling at him to follow the source of the music

He climbs out of bed, shuffling his way out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen

Where you’re dancing and gliding all over the place 

Changbin’s not new to this sight 

He’s seen you busting out your favourite hype playlist while cooking before, but it never fails to make him smile

He leans over the kitchen island and watches how you barely even notice that he’s there 

Before you whip around and almost yelp in complete shock at the sight of him giving you the most adoring smile ever 

Something like ^-^

“Binnie, come dance with me”

You extend your hand towards him and Changbin can’t resist as he rounds the counter and wraps his arms around you 

“You’re so cute” 

Hyunjin

It’s not a new occurrence for you to be dancing and singing while cooking 

Hyunjin knows that quite well

He’s caught you a couple times 

You usually turn around and look at him all flustered and embarrassed 

He thinks it’s so cute how you immediately stand straight when you realise he’s watching, pretending that you weren’t actually doing anything 

Makes him go all ( ˘ ³˘)♥

Hyunjin absolutely loves when you’re acting all hype and excited even if he doesn’t actually openly say it 

So when he comes home from practice to see you using your kitchen as a dance floor

He can’t help but start giggling 

“Babe, what are you doing?” 

You whip around and your smile grows 

“It just started playing TA!”

You pull him into the kitchen and it makes Hyunjin laugh even more 

He loves seeing you dance to one of his songs he thinks its so cute 

“Dance with me!” 

You beckon him over and he obliges 

Putting his bag on the kitchen counter, he makes his way over to you where you’re pretty much happily bouncing in your spot 

“You’re so full of energy today”

He wants to tease you for being so excited 

But Hyunjin doesn’t want to ruin your vibe 

He would feel terrible if he did 

So he starts dancing with you while trying not to push over the pot that’s currently boiling on the stove 

Jisung

I genuinely feel like 

Jisung would be the kind of person to have random bursts of dance in his body 

So I feel like he really wouldn’t be surprised if his partner would have the same type of spontaneous tendencies

But since you’re not really that much of a dancer, you don’t actually have the same amount of dance bursts as Jisung 

He LOVES when you do though 

Makes it feel like you’re catching onto his energy 

So when you’re cooking lunch and Jisung’s working on music in your shared bedroom

You start dancing first by just bopping your head and humming along to the lyrics 

Then the song changes to something more upbeat and you’re already starting to sway with the rhythm 

When it reaches a particular 5sos song, you’re amping up the volume 

They make really good upbeat and possible revolution leading songs I don’t make the rules here

And it catches Jisung’s attention because now you’re belting out the lyrics 

At first he’s like ?? because he thinks it’s coming from his earphones

But when he pulls them down and realises that the singing isn’t coming from his laptop he’s all curious 

So he sneakily steps out of the bedroom to see you singing in the kitchen 

He would go all (ノ°▽°)ノwhen he sees you 

Jisung also wouldn’t hesitate to bump his booty with yours 

“Babe, you’re a better dancer than I am!” 

You turn around and at first you feel guilty for disturbing him

But then you see how he’s dancing too 

So you start dancing again 

And the two of you are just dancing away in the kitchen together

Felix

Aww this man has dance parties all the time you can’t change my mind 

He would totally be into just grooving whenever he wants to 

He hears a song he likes? 

He’s dancing (｢･ω･)｢

And I think his partner would have to be down with spontaneous dance parties too 

So you would just be doing your own thing 

Yaknow 

Vibing around the apartment as you usually do 

Gliding all around the place with socks on and sliding into every room possibly 

You’re just having your own vibe

You’re shaking your lil booty while wearing one of Felix’s colourful sweaters being really careful not to spill anything on it 

Your sleeves are rolled up and you’re stirring away at a pot of pasta while 5sos plays in the background 

Felix steps into the apartment and he sees you busting your cute butt in the middle of the kitchen 

He recognises the song almost immediately 

“You’re listening to 5sos! :D” 

Every bit of exhaustion Felix felt from practice just vanishes 

Especially when you point the spatula in your hand at him like it’s a microphone 

“They say we’re losers and we’re alright with that!” 

He laughs as he pulls the spoon out of your hand 

“We are the leaders of the not coming backs!” 

He immediately moves to your side and it’s like your energy has instantly been amplified 

Because now you’re both jumping around the kitchen excitedly while She’s Kinda Hot plays this song makes me feel like leading a rebellion i stg

Felix throws his bag across the room 

For the moment you’ve both forgotten your worries and are just belting out the lyrics in the middle of the kitchen 

Completely oblivious to the fact that your neighbours can probably hear you 

Seungmin

Minnie seems like the kind of person who would pretend stuff like this embarrasses him he really loves it

He would be the kind of person who would go 

“Baby, that’s so weird ( -_-’ ) ”

But he’s really just being a tease because he wouldn’t admit you’re absolutely freijashjkdase adorable to him 

You don’t mind it either 

He’s acts like he doesn’t like it but you know he loves it 

It’s also not new for you to listen to music while you do things 

Stuff like cleaning, cooking, even when you’re working, you’re always listening to music 

Seungmin takes note of it but he’s never actually seen you dancing to yourself since he’s usually away at practice when you’re really having a hype day 

But you weren’t expecting Seungmin to be home so early 

He was supposed to be home later in the night, but here you were in the kitchen while frying up dumplings 

Music’s blasting from the speakers but you can hear the sound of the front door opening 

You’re too hyped to stop dancing 

So when you turn around to see Seungmin’s amused smile 

You point at him with your spoon while singing 

It makes him laugh so hard 

He doesn’t even know how to react when you grab onto his hand and start dancing 

He just stands there LIKE A SIM before he starts laughing again

His heart’s doing backflips on the inside though 

Soon your energy starts spreading to him

“Baby, the whole building might hear your music” 

“Minnie, I don’t care”

He laughs even harder because it’s rare to see you so loose 

So he joins you 

Jeongin

You would be vibing around your apartment 

Just doing your thang 

You didn’t intend to have the music blasting because it started with a lo-fi playlist since you were finishing up some work at first 

Then you switched it to a more intense playlist when you moved to cleaning 

Then it changed into your hype playlist when you started cooking 

So you’re still wearing your socks because you thought it would be more fun to move around the place with them on

And you’re just busting out moves like the kitchen is a dance floor and not a place that could be a total fire hazard 

When Jeongin comes home he’s ??? because he hears music 

He comes in and you don’t even realise the front door opened 

He steps into the kitchen and his jaw drops because you’re pretty much in you’re own world 

Jeongin goes from :0 to c: to :D real quick 

“(Y/n)! Baby!” 

You turn around and see him and you’re also :D 

“Dance with me, Innie!” 

He doesn’t really have much time to react 

Bcs you’re pulled him into a your bubble 

And he feels the hype almost immediately 

Jeongin starts to catch on to your vibes

And he goes from swaying to the beat 

To bouncing 

To pretty much using Back Door’s choreo to dance to whatever song’s playing 

So you both end up using random choreos that probably don’t even fit with the song 

It doesn’t matter tho because you’re both happy lil beans c: 

[amara-scott]

Unexpected Journey

Movie: Triple Frontier Characters: Tom "Redfly" Davis x Reader Categories: some Angst, yelling, a lil fluff (good ending?)

"Could you pass me the salt?" I ask, stirring the sauce while keeping my eyes on the recipe that is written in this old book my mom gave me last month. She said even her grandma used it for cooking. Definitely looks and smells like that. I sigh, glancing up and see Tom staring down at his phone. "Earth to Tom?" I swing the tea cloth over my shoulder and lower the heat of the stove, seeing as the sauce is done anyway.

I take a couple careful steps toward his figure, him leaning against the countertop a few feet away. He is chewing his lower lip, deep in thought. His fingers moving across the screen as he types away.

"Hey there." I say, tilting my head slightly, trying to take a better look at his face. He finally meets my eyes but only shortly, looking back down onto the screen.

"Hey." He replies. At least. I throw the towel onto the counter next to him and stroke his upper arms.

"What's up?" I ask, not trying to come off as too nosey. He sighs, locking his phone and placing it onto the counter beside him before fully paying attention to me. He sends me a small smile. A tight one that doesn't reach his eyes.

"Nothing, all good." I hum at his reply, raising a brow, not believing him. He wipes at his face, gulping and turns to the side, my hands falling off his forearms I kept stroking with my thumbs.

He walks over to the pot, stirring and tasting with a spoon, his eyes squinting. "Needs salt." He holds out his hand to me and I grin, shaking my head as I see his smirk growing.

___

"-And I told her, you can't just walk up to him and say that! He'll think you're insane!" I giggle as I tell him about last weekend where I went out to drink cocktails with my best friends from high school. It's been way too long since I've seen them, us all having lives but all kept living in the same town we grew up in together.

He chuckles along and takes another bite of his potatoes, dipping them in the sauce. He seemed distant all day. Especially after that text conversation earlier.

"So, what's going on, Tom?" I try again, gently.

"Nothing, why?" He looks up, sitting up straight and takes the napkin to wipe his mouth before taking a sip of his beer.

"Just- you seem distant and like something is bugging you or someone-"

"-(Y/N), everything is good. Don't worry, okay?" He tries again but I don't get that reassuring feeling whenever he says 'it's all good'. Quite the opposite actually. The more I hear it, the less I believe it.

I place down my fork and clear my throat, drinking my wine. I place the nearly empty glass back down on the table and sit back, crossing my arms. Eyes boring holes into the table cloth.

"It just doesn't seem that way, is what I'm saying-"

"Seriously, let's drop this, okay? Nothing is the matter, you're about to make a big fuss over nothing. Just- don't." I look up at him as he uses his stern voice, like he's scolding me. I frown at him, rubbing my thighs, the topic really itching me and he knows it.

"But if something was the matter, you know you can talk to me, right?"

He sighs, closing his eyes, jaw tight. He stands up then, taking our plates and walking into the kitchen. I look after him and regret saying anything. My eyes back on the table, the rain outside catching my attention next. Loud, whistling wind and hard droplets coming down on the windows.

What a great date night. I stand up with a heavy sigh and take our glasses, following him into the kitchen. He's loading the dish washer as I walk up next to him to empty our drinks and he steps aside, giving me room to add the glasses to the dish washer. I close it and when I turn around he is gone. Way to avoid me now. After grabbing two bottles of water for us I head up as well.

I enter the bedroom but he's not here, neither in the bathroom. So he's in the study. I roll my eyes and place the bottles onto our night stands, getting ready for bed. I thought we'd have a romantic dinner and maybe even have sex but- I guess not. I am mad at myself for ruining this. But also disappointed, he clearly keeps something from me that is bugging him. But I realise it's probably for the better to just give him space.

I pull my dress over my head and glance at myself in the mirror as I take one of his shirts from the drawer. My new lingerie set. I huff, pulling off the black lace bra and throw it into the corner, missing the chair but I don't care right now.

"Tom, you coming to bed?" I ask down the hall as I enter the bathroom.

"Yeah, in a few." So, no. He won't. He will wait until I'm asleep.

Once between our comfy sheets I lie there, staring at the ceiling and listening to the rain. Soon my eyes drop closed and I drift off.

Light kisses to my neck stir me half-awake but I don't move, nor do I open my eyes. I feel him cuddling up to me, arm around my waist as he pulls me a bit tighter against him, breathing down my neck. I shift my hand up, placing it above his' and lacing our fingers. His thumb running across my hand as he leaves a kiss on my shoulder.

"I love you." He whispers, his beard tickling my neck. He told me one day that he hates going to bed without telling me at least once. I smile into my pillow but don't answer. Hoping he believes I fell back asleep already.

___

The next couple days we don't talk as much. Silent smiles and quick kisses. That's all. But I want to give him space. I remind myself every day. I know I would want the same.

We sit at the table, eating breakfast in silence. I choose to make his favourite for him while I eat cereal. Not really in the mood for anything fancy. The radio is playing in the background softly. The window open, allowing fresh air to enter our kitchen and the morning sun warming my skin.

"Santiago wants to come over later." He says and keeps his eyes glued to the newspaper beside his plate. I take a sip of my orange juice and nod.

"Does he want to stay for dinner? I wanted to make fresh homemade pizza." He nods, sending me a small smile.

"Sounds good." Conversation over. I hold back a sigh and stand up, clearing the table off dirty dishes and grab a few bags from under the sink.

"I'll go get some groceries, I'll be back later." I kiss his cheek, leaning over his shoulder and he places his hand on mine that rests there. His lips brush against my knuckles.

"I love you." He says, glancing at me over his shoulder as he lets go of my hand. I smile and kiss his cheek again.

"Love you more." I walk into the hallway and put on my shoes, grabbing my keys and phone, throwing both into my bag.

"Do you need anything else, Tom?" I call out but he says no, so I walk out the door, taking the silver pick up to get shopping.

Once I'm done I make my way back, parking in the driveway, another car already there. Santiagos. I smile, finally someone else to maybe get Tom back to his usual self.

I step outside and open the backseat door, taking a glance at the five bags and deciding I only want to walk once. I got this. Once I have all of them in my hands and arms I turn to the side, kicking the door shut with my hip, but it didn't close fully. I roll my eyes, sighing. Can't change that now.

"Need any help?" I nearly drop a bag at Santiago's voice but turn carefully, smiling at him through the paper bags.

"Hey you! How are you?" I say but slowly feel my arms getting heavy. He jogs over and takes the bags easily.

"Gimme those- I'm good, what about you? You look good." I wave him off, smiling and close the truck again. Walking toward the front door with him.

"You charmer, I'm good- you're staying for dinner?" I ask and he nods, grinning.

"Wouldn't miss (y/n)'s famous homemade pizza for anything." I open the door for him and take my shoes off after closing the front door once he's inside.

"Oh, you're in for a treat mister." I joke and follow him into the kitchen.

"Yeah? I sure hope so."

I see Tom outside in the backyard, drinking a beer and tell Santiago to go back to his playdate. He pinches my side and I flinch, playfully glaring at him as he exits, taking a couple cool beers with him on the way.

I store everything away and prepare the dough already, prepping all toppings and making the sauce. Once I'm done the men both walk back inside, Tom walking up behind me and kissing my cheek.

"How was the store?" I sigh thinking back.

"Damn crowded. For whatever reason. It's a sunny Friday afternoon."

"I feel like grocery stores are always crowded. No matter the day or time." I agree with Santiago as I pop a strawberry into my mouth, I offer them some after washing them and they happily start munching.

"So, what's the occasion for your visit? Just stopping by?" I ask as I sit down with them at the table. Must be torching outside.

"Yeah, something like that." I nod, not pressing the subject.

"Actually-" He starts again, glancing at Tom who shakes his head at him. "-come on man, you have to tell her eventually." He sighs, rubbing at his face.

"What's going on?" I ask, folding my arms and looking between them both.

"Nothing, it's-"

'-no, Tom, I'm actually tired of hearing that."

He looks up at me, hard face. "Let's not do this right now."

"When? Later? Tomorrow? In a week? Tom, I've been waiting for at least two weeks now. Giving you space, not pressing the subject- but I'm drained. I'm constantly worrying, my head is full of scenarios and none of them are any good. You either tell me or I will squeeze this out of Santiago."

There's a moment of silence before Santiago stands up. "I'm gonna be outside guys, Tom should be the one telling you." He pats my shoulder on the way out and closes the door to the backyard once he's outside.

My eyes are glued to Tom but he is just staring at the table, running a hand through his already messy hair.

"It's a bit more complicated." He starts and I sigh, relieved. He's finally telling me. At least that's what it feels like.

"I don't care how long you need or if you have to start over and over again. I'm right here, right beside you." I take his hand from his head and hold it in mine on the table. I send him a small smile, hoping I could encourage him to tell me everything that's been resting on his big heart.

He gulps, nodding. "You know that Santiago and I used to work together. Back in my military days." He pauses, looking at me. I nod, remembering him telling me on one of our first dates because I mentioned that a man in a uniform is instantly more attractive. He wanted to brag. But I also admired him. His bravery. I still do.

"Him and a few others I served with are going on a mission again." He continues, eyes not meeting mine. I stop stroking his hand but don't pull it off. I gulp.

I also remember telling him no matter how hot a guy is in a uniform, I could probably never be with a soldier, the constant worry, the goodbye. Not knowing what might happen.

I slowly nod, glancing over to the backyard, watching Santiago talking on the phone. I look back at Tom who finally meets my eyes.

"And you're joining them?" I state, even though I wanted it to be a question. He sighs, his jaw clenching and unclenching.

"I'm not sure." I pull my hand away and rub my eyes, standing up and walking toward the sink, grabbing a glass and filling it with water. I gulp it all down, setting the glass back down on the counter, hanging my head a bit. I close my eyes, then feel him behind me, running his hands up and down my arms.

"That's why you've been ignoring me?" I ask, turning back around, his hands falling to his sides.

"I needed to think. I had to weigh my options."

"What conclusion did you come to?" I ask, trying not to sound disappointed or sad. But it's hard.

"That I have to do this-" I want to interrupt him but he holds up a hand. "-I have to. If I want to be able to give you what you deserve. Provide for you. Have a good future with you. I can't even fucking afford a new fucking truck right now. How am I supposed to offer you a good, happy, carefree life if I can't even do something as simple as that?" He stops, seeming frustrated with himself and shaking his head at himself. He's avoiding my eyes now. "I fucked up my first try at a family. I don't want to loose you too."

I wait for a moment. Watching and waiting. But when he doesn't add anything I step closer and hug him, pulling his head down to my neck. I stroke his scalp and his arms go around my middle, pulling me even tighter. I feel a warm and wet sensation on the shoulder where his head is laying on.

"It's okay, you're okay." I whisper and can't hold back my own tears anymore. Seeing him break down like this was never something I'd want to witness. But I'm glad he opened up to me. Finally. The shows me he trusts me enough to let me in.

"You don't have to do any job for me, earn any money for me, dress a specific way for me- hell I don't even mind the truck. I love him. I call him Chuck the truck sometimes. You refused to name him, so- I had to get creative." He chuckles into my shoulder before lifting his head, shaking his head at me.

"I don't deserve you." He says, cupping the right side of my face and running his thumb across my cheek.

"Wrong. You deserve everything, Tom." He sighs, looking down between us before finding my eyes again.

"I don't." He argues but I can't respond before he kisses me, holding my face with both hands now. I melt against him and my fingers wrap around his wrists.

"I can come back another day-" We pull apart and look over at Santiago, holding up an empty beer bottle while grinning.

"No, you'll suffer for what you started."

With that Tom kisses me again, grinning against my lips as I giggle, hearing Santiago groaning and walking back out.

[moonlightreal]

Fate Episode One

At long last, it’s tiiiiiime!

First: whitewashing bad.  Fact acknowledged.  Everybody else has said everything on the subject (ad nauseum...) so no reason to say it all again!

I’m diving in with questions.  The main one is “Will there be a good reason for Musa to be a mind fairy rather than a music fairy?” Dunno why that’s what I’m wondering the most, but it is.  There’s also “Is Fate!Stella truly an unholy union of Stella and Diaspro?” and “so what makes them fairies not witches/psychics/mutants?” and “So what’s up with Beatrix?  We know nothing about her, and as an Umineko fan I’m favorably disposed towards witches named Beatrice!” and also “They’re not really having sex are they?!”

I’m going to try and approach Fate just like I do every season of the cartoon, ready to celebrate the good, snark at the bad, enjoy many headcanons, reference random stuff, and have a good time.  Pretending I haven’t had my fannish heart nigh to broken by the state of the fandom and that I’m worried I’ll get hate for even posting this.  I’m’a try to start from zero to find my own answer the really big question… “Good, bad, or totally irredeemable?”

So… In which we discover a new world.

We start with… a night scene.  Not promising when “too dark can’t see” is one of my pet peeves!  An old fella comes out to check on his cute Irish sheep.  He passes through the barrier, into the dangerous forest beyond to look for a missing sheep.  Yup, he’s gonna be guest victim in the first five minutes.

Oh no!  Something has disemboweled a sheep and left it hanging in a tree!  Clearly there are leopards in the magical realm!

There is a great roar and an unseen but very large-sounding beast chases our poor shepherd!  The guy trips and falls just as he’s about to get through the barrier and is set upon and devoured by the unseen beast!  Blood spatters the rocks!

Opening! It’s the wings we’ve sen and some really beautiful music.  One point for the music.

Then a gorgeous flying shot of the outside of the barrier and Alfea. Whatever the plot turns out to be, the outdoor setting is beautiful. Music that seems to be both pop and edgy plays as we zoom in on the logo on the gate, and there’s Bloom coming in the gate.

And there’s Terra with her father and a tray full of plants.

And there’s Aisha walking by with her dreads

And there’s Stella taking a selfie with other students.

And there’s Musa leaning on her suitcase, headphones on, looking at her phone.  Another girl says something to Musa and she turns and replies and smiles.

And there’s one of the guys twirling a knife.  I’ve heard Sky starts out in a pink shirt so this must be Riven.  The camera comes back to Bloom as she gives him a doubtful look.  In the novelization she’s mentally labeling him an edgelord, and that kinda fits.  Any dude showing off his willingness to twirl weapons at a high school probably is best avoided—except the dudes here are training to fight so the weapons rules must be different.  I wonder if Bloom knows yet that dudes with swords are normal here.

Bloom gets a text to meet Stella at the gate.  She waits.

Camera pan to Sky talking to another guy.  Sky looks… Sky-ish.  Chris Evans style handsome, blond.  I’d’ve made him grow his hair to mimic cartoon Sky’s silly shaggy haircut, but points for making Sky look like Sky!  Minus points for not dying Riven maroon.  They could’ve made it work!

Sky is indeed wearing a pink shirt.  In the novelization Bloom thinks he’s wearing it “because gender roles were for the weak” which is a line I think is funny and intend to use in a story somewhere. There is no obvious hint in the show that Sky thinks gender roles are for the weak

Bloom’s tired of waiting.  She heads off.  Sky ditches his buddy to go meet her.  “Wow, you are so lost.  I’m impressed with your confidence in the face of complete ignorance.  Issue is, you’re overcomitted. You’re essentially running.  And now that I’m here you can’t possibly give me the satisfaction of turning around.”  he says, all in one go.  

I can’t decide if that’s jerkish or charming.  Maybe Bloom shares my weakness for men with accents because she decides on charming.

Bloom says she’s a fairy, giggles because that’s something she never thought she’d say, they’re standing in the courtyard of a college for fairies, Bloom’s from California, not the Otherworld.  So we get all that established.  Sky is kinda charming here and points out the specialists’ hall and fairy hall.

Sky: “I’d be happy to-”

Bloom: “Mansplain it?”  

So the writing team does know some modern issues!  Bloom says Sky seems like a mansplainer, which seems like quite a leap since she is new and he is helping her, in a friendly-sarcastic kind of way.  She’s giggling, clearly charmed.

Then Riven comes up, and he’s like a foot shorter than Sky, and Bloom escapes for some reason so maybe she wasn’t enjoying the conversation as much as it looked? Or maybe it was just the plot needs to move along.  Riven glomp-hugs Sky.  He’s got a great accent too.

Bloom must’ve left because she saw Stella, they say hello.  Bloom says she got impatient waiting and Stella says, “How very American of you”  So American stereotypes are known in magical worlds also?    

So, Stella!  Blonde, tall, zero Stella vibe.  Accent. Long pale coat and a satiny top with big chunky pendant.  She gets to her ring quick, “Portal ring, the only thing that keeps me sane in this place is the ability to leave it.  Your world may not always be thrilling but it beats this one.  There are seven realms in the Otherworld, each a different kind of boring.”  All spoken in a jaded monotone.  Ugh, what have they done to our Stella!

The girls walk inside while Stella speaks, the school is pale stone and arches and plants.  Other students are arriving, hauling suitcases, hugging.  At least some of them seem happy to be here!

Cut to the globe!  and it’s a magical globe, the water moves and there are lil sailing ships!  But the lands are totally blank, so it’s a cheap magic globe Dowling didn’t pay enough for the one with tiny forests too.  Alfea is in the realm of Solaria.

Maybe they shouldn’t have made Ireland = Solaria.  I’ve only been to England but we did not see the sun the whole trip!  Bloom’s in Dowling’s really cool office.  She spins the globe but the camera pans away before we see the names of the other realms.  Bloom’s talking nervously about seeing people updating their insta stories, expecting Tinkerbells, and the lack of wings.

Dowling: “We had wings in the past.  As we’ve evolved, transformation magic has been lost.  Tink was an air fairy, you’re a fire fairy.”

Dowling says classes tomorrow, learn to use magic slowly but safely… we establish Bloom is here to learn to control her magic so she can go home and not keen on ‘slow.’  Dowling says, ‘trust the process’ which immediately makes me mistrust her.

Then she gives a great lil speech: “Alfea’s graduates have ruled realms and led armies.  They have forged powerful relics and rediscovered long lost relics.  They shape the otherworld.”

But Bloom just wants to get done and go home.  She says, ‘I'm here because you promised you’d teach me control.” and Dowling says, ‘no, you’re here because you knew you have no other choice.” and Bloom looks betrayed.

Yeah Dowling’s sus.  

Next scene: Bloom showing her dorm to her parents over video call!  How does that work between dimensions?  Her folks look nothing like Mika and Vanessa, dad’s got a beard and silver temples, mom’s got big blonde curls.  Neither of them have burn injuries or the sort of freaked out vibe I’d expect from folks whose house was just on fire.

Roommate pan-around!  Terra puts potted plants everywhere!  Stella preens at the vanity! Musa headphones-and-laptop but smiles at Terra.  Aisha comes in with her laundry bag.

Bloom’s parents get suspicious about the timezone thing, they think Bloom’s in the Alps, and Aisha comes and covers for her saying it’s time for lights out.

Aisha intro!  She is wearing a pink and brown checkered dress that’s not super fashionable or flattering.  I like her blue braids though. Aisha does not seem to have the accent that many Alfeans have.

Bloom explains the “human parents, fairy daughter, I must be a throwback to an ancestor” thing.  Aisha looks dubious.  Then they mention Harry Potter!

Bloom; ‘Ravenclaw, sometimes Slytherin.’

Aisha; ‘Explains the lies then.  Gryffindor.’

Bloom: ‘Explains the judgment.’

Congrats, you both were jerks in three short lines. 9_9  But they’re smiling so I guess it’s friendly sniping.  

Bloom goes to see Stella, who’s holding up sparkly tops to herself. She’s also got this weird rainbow skirt that looks like gymnastics clothes not real clothes.  Stella’s changing for the party because people have already seen her in her clothes.  Bloom asks confused, ‘People expect you to wear multiple outfits?’ and Stella comes back with, ‘people expect me to care how I look.” In the same jaded monotone.

Before Bloom can WTF outta there like a sensible person Stella snaps her fingers and creates a ball of light.  Bloom gapes, but not nearly as much as I feel like she should.  The magic is beautiful, it’s all rainbowy and sparkly.  Bloom just hesitantly asks, ‘Can I ask, how exactly you..?” and Stella shuts her down with an almost kind, “I’m a mentor, not a tutor.”

But she does give a little infodump.  “Fairy magic is tied to emotion. God thoughts, bad, hatred, fear, the stronger the emotion the stronger the magic.”

And Bloom says, ‘Do you hate me or fear me?  You were looking at me when you did that.  And I’m pretty sure you don’t love me.” Smart cookie, Bloom!  Points to you!  We know it’s because Bloom was talking to sky, and that gives Stellla some emotions.

And points to Stella, she thaws out her voice and talks like a real person, ‘I don’t know you.  I’m sure once I do I’ll find something to love.”  She sounds rather doubtful about the last bit but yay actual emotion!

Then Stella goes over to Terra for her intro scene and I cringe because the novelization did Terra dirty and I’m not keen to see it on screen.  But it works ok.  Stella gently calls Terra on the number of houseplants and says the secret garden was better kept secret, Terra responds that wasn’t really the message of the book, Stella looks at her with amused patience and leaves Musa and Terra to continue the scene.  And I decide if there’s no infodump about how earth and the Otherworld relate to each other in this show I shall be cross.

Then Terra chatters on about her family and how she grew up at Alfea since her dad works here (she’s holding a 100% fake plant) and drops that Stella is a second year.  Musa asks why a second-year is in a first-year suite and Terra says it’s some administrative thing probably best not to mention.  But Terra totally knows the secret.

Musa’s eyes glow purple.  Magic!  But we don’t hear what she hears.  She starts putting her headphones on.  Terra goes on to say they should all not mention it to Stella, then interrupts another headphones-attempt to offer Musa a succulent, “They’re low maintainence, perfect for you, not that I really know you...’

Musa: ‘If I take it will you stop talking?”

Terra visibly deflates and Musa apologizes and grabs the succulent before finally getting to escape into music.

Aisha leans in to ask Terra if Alfea has a pool.  It has a river and Aisha’s been swimming—twice a day every day!  Terra says no pool, just the pond where the specialists train but nobody swims there, at least not on purpose.

And we immediately cut out to the pond, which looks pretty mucky, I wouldn’t want to swim there either!  Two specialists, a boy and a girl, are whacking away at each other with wooden swords on the shore.  They’re all dressed in black pants and tank tops, very Divergent movie poster except with the Alfea logo on the front. There’s a bunch of specialists training all around the pond and one does indeed knock their opponent in with a splash!  But we home in on Sky and Riven and I cannot get over how short and skinny Riven is compared to Sky!  And the fact that I’ve just been rewatching Lord of the Rings and Riven doesn’t look 100% not like Dominic Monaghan… sorry Riven’s actor, I’m sure in future episodes I’ll stop thinking you’re a hobbit!

Anyway, Riven’s teasing Sky about his crush on Bloom, says Sky always goes for the crazy ones and all redheads are crazy.  Sky puts Riven on the mat and Riven says he was getting high all summer and not practicing. Before Sky can give him a “big brother speech” on that riven skedaddled because here comes the teacher with a different speech!

This show’s Codatorta, whose name is Silva and who looks very irish and I like him, does a little speech about how y’all gotta train, singles out a black guy I think is Dane and says, ‘even you will be able to fight like him.” and attacks Sky, who fights back.  They spar for a minute.

Infodump: “Sky’s father was Andreas of Eraklyon, that makes him a legacy.” Also, some of these kids are from families of specialists and some were selected by Silva based on their talent for combat and weaponry. “This place will seem like hell until actual hell comes.  We are the first line of defense, a certainty when the future is uncertain!’

Then Dane snickers about the whole ‘school full of kids with swords’ and Silva says it must be nice to be so ‘soft’ he can make fun. And Dane drops that the barrier exists ‘to protect the school from Burned Ones.”

As he says it, we cut to Sky going out through the barrier to smoke.  

Burned ones are gone.  But Silva saw one when he was a kid.  His father shot it but was killed by the Burned One’s poison.  Burned Ones are inhumanly strong and fast, and have a terrible poison, or disease that kills people who get away.

Sky looks over and sees the shepherd’s body.  Yikes!

Cut to the staff arriving to look at the remains.  Just three: Dowling, Codatorta, and Terra’s dad.  Is that the whole staff?  Who teaches? Could’ve been a wolf or a bear… Terra’s dad collects some gunk from the body and I think calls it “char residue.”

Dowling says, “She killed all the Burned Ones.”

She? This world’s Marion/Daphne, likely.

But the adults clean it up so the kids can party!  Our girls are gathered around the food, and they’re better dressed!  Aisha’s got her hair up and a blue hoodie, Musa’s got a little red coat.  Terra has not been blessed by the fashion fairy, she’s in some overalls it looks like, not flattering.  Terra is saying hopefully that maybe the shepherd died of old age and Musa’s ‘Yeah, that old age decapitation” is gentle ribbing not cruel.  

Aisha’s loading up a stack of cookies, says how much she eats and, ‘If I didn’t swim I’d be massive.” it’s not aimed at Terra , but Terra flinches.  Aisha heads off and Terra says something that boils down to, ‘Musa, you’re tuning out me in particular.” which, Terra you’ve known Musa for what, six hours?  Way too short a time to take it personal.  Musa says, ‘It’s a me thing, it’s not you.” and Terra just flusters and heads away.  Musa looks troubled but not sure what to do and puts her headphones on.

This is SO much better than in the book.  Not perfect, all the interactions between the girls have been very weird as if they’ve been given a script full of cruel catty lines and instructed to say them in a kind way, but at least they’ve tried for the vibe of “trying to be nice to people we don’t know yet and flubbing it” rather than “we are all terrible people” like I feared.

Terra meets her dad and tries to go to the greenhouse with him but he makes her stay to enjoy the party.

Cut to some grownup dude—Dowling’s secretary? Apparently searching for something in a desk that I presume is outside the headmistress’ office.

Beatrix… or possibly a gothed-up Bloom… comes to see Dowling and when told the headmistress isn’t in says, ‘I’ll just take a water, room temp, thanks love.’ and then when the door opens Beatrix greets Dowling with a simpering ‘I'm your biggest fan, I’m obsessed with Alfea...” and cascading apologies for swearing, with more swearing. Dowling and her secretary are as confused by this as I am but Dowling says Beatrix can study the history of Alfea in the library if she wants to.  I assume this is evil Beatrix slyly getting permission to hit the books.  Is Beatrix even a student at Alfea?

Cut to Bloom’s notebook, she’s already started taking notes about powers being linked to emotions, love hate and fear.  Great initiative Bloom, but are there no textbooks you could be reading ahead in?  

We get dumped back to a flashback: Bloom’s mom wants her to go out on a Saturday night, to a party or a movie or whatever teen thing.  All Bloom wants to do is go to antique sales apparently.  Bloom doesn’t want to be a “basic bitch” like her mom and her mom doesn’t want her daughter to be a “weird loner.”

Pause while I urban dictionary “basic bitch.”  Huh.  Not a term I ever heard in my circle of nerds.  

Bloom and her mom are awful to each other.  Back in the present Bloom’s eyes flame up as she remembers.  She decides it’s time to go experiment!  Right now!  Before even one day of magic class or one page of a textbook!  The idiot ball has entered play.

Night has fallen because of course it has.  Bloom runs into Sky at the party.  But she’s not looking to party, she’s looking for a place to be alone outside.  Sky directs her to beyond the barrier, because we’re about to have Plot.  If it weren’t for Plot I‘m sure Sky could’ve suggested a specialist workout area inside the barrier. Sky says there might be wolves or bears or “maybe something much scarier” and Bloom catches the idiot ball and says, ‘But no people?  Perfect!”

Sky offers to go with her but Bloom says no thanks in a “I think you may be flirting and I may be down for that in the future just not right now.” kind of a way.  Good character interaction!  Except Stella grabs Sky for a chat once Bloom heads out to meet the Plot.

Sky and Stella have an opaque exchange that really just establishes they have a past of some sort that everyone knows about because everyone stares—or at least Stella thinks everyone is staring.  I’m starting to feel weirdly sorry for this Stella who has none of her namesake’s sparkle and confidence.  Why does she think all the realms are boring?  Is she ever enthusiastic?

...wait, it’s still day!  Why was it night inside??  This show is weird about lighting.  Gosh Ireland is beautiful!  Where’s this castle they got to be Alfea?  Can I go there?  This FOREST!  It is a fully magical forest.  Aisha is swimming in the river, with goggles and a cap but Bloom heads into the amazing forest.  Good music here too!  Forests and magic and music, come on Fate you CAN be a good show, I believe in you!  Just put down the idiot ball and step away...  Bloom goes through the barrier and outside it sees a swirl of orange and white sparkles in the air.  She watches it and laughs and then hikes through a little more forest.

Finding a clearing Bloom calls her fire.  At first she can’t, then she looks through the pictures on her phone looking for emotion. “Pictures of my sad teenage years are not happy thoughts.  Noted.” She says with an angsty little smile.  Then there’s a photo of the burned out house.  She zooms in and stares at it taking in all the details.  And we get flashbacks to the line of fire racing towards her parents’ bed.

Fire! Bloom turns her handful of fire this way and that, delighted, then tries for two hands.  This is the scene from the trailer, playing with fire.  Good music here.  And good that Bloom thought the magic was neat… uuuuntil she realizes she doesn’t know how to put it out.  She freaks out and waves her hands around trying to blow out the flames.

Aisha comes to the rescue and says dumb things like, “You’re losing control.” and “If you get angry at me...” and Bloom does get angry and throws lines of fire right at Aisha.  Who looks terrified. Sensibly, but also has she never seen fire magic before?  She grew up in a magic realm, does she know nothing about how to help someone get control?  Is control taught to magical babies so teenagers rarely see someone wigging out?  But if magic is emotion then everyone will lose control sometime since we all get upset.  How does an emotion=magic society function?

Anyway. aisha pulls water up from the ground and puts out the flames.

Inside Aisha gives Bloom what for about losing control.  Including, “Is that American for sorry I almost set you on fire?”  Srsly, this show is Irish people and Italians stealth throwing shade at Americans!  *Laughs in January 2021* Bloom retorts that she went away from people to experiment for just that reason, and tells Aisha about not having had fairy parents or any magical experience.

Aisha responds with the story of flooding her school including the toilets and having to wade through poo.  (I also tend to call it poo, after watching Mike Rowe.  I wonder if they watch Dirty Jobs in the Otherworld.)

And Bloom tells her story.  Bloom isn’t a cheerleader, she likes antiques and staying home by herself, so she and her mom don’t get along.  Her parents removed her door, which is awful!  And Bloom got flamey eyes and sent fire straight at her parents while they slept. While Bloom sat on her bed in a rage trance.  Understandable level of fury after that fight.  And Bloom feels awful, also understandable. And she snuck out to sleep in a creepy warehouse to protect her parents.  Her folks didn’t know it was her of course, they don’t know about magic.

Aisha says that beats her flood story, but Aisha is also wondering about something.  “You drew on a good deal of magic without even trying. it’s hard to believe you’re from a dormant bloodline.  Is there any chance you’re adopted?”

Bloom laughs.  Then says she heard the story of her birth a million times, she was a miracle baby diagnosed with a heart defect but then after birth her heart was fine.

Aisha: “Oh god, you’re a changeling!” … ‘It’s barbaric and it barely ever happens anymore….”

Bloom has had enough and just says, “why would you even tell me that?” and leaves.  Musa comes over and asks Aisha what she said.  Aisha: “The truth.  Because someone’s been lying to her.”

Cut to Dowling, lookin’ sus!

This changeling thing had better be fully explained later.  Why was it done in the past?  Why is it considered barbaric?  What happened to the parents’ real kid?  I assume she died of the heart condition, but that’s a bigole dangling bit of Plot.  In the unlikely event that Fate goes for many seasons that baby will turn up with magic too or as a specialist or something. 

Dowling pours tea.  Then she telekinetically locks her office door and opens a secret passage!  Dowling is sus.

Back at the party, where it again seems to be night.  Dane is leaning on a column hangin out when here comes Riven with a flask!  He offers, Dane says no thanks, Riven says, ‘There are two types of first-years: pussies and aspiring former pussies.” and pours the entire flask’s worth of booze into Dane’s cup anyway.

Dane says something about, “It feels like less a binary choice and more like a spectrum.”  And points for the actor delivering this line like it’s a sarcastic comment on social juscice-ness rather than the large sign saying “Dane is not straight!’ that the writers intended.  Dane drinks, makes a face, and Riven bullies him into drinking the rest, tipping the glass so Dane chokes.

Terra rides to the rescue, “Bullying the first-years?  Can you be more basic?” and Riven says Dane was into it which he wasn’t.

Terra: “Thinks he’s some badass but you should’ve seen him last year he was just a tragic nerd in disguise.”

Riven: “And she’s just three people in disguise.”

Dane does call Riven out on that bit of nastiness but Terra just does a great lil speech and strangles Riven with vines.  Thought I’d hate that but I kinda liked it.  Go Terra.  Then she introduces herself to Dane, says that wasn’t a great first impression but Dane says he’s about to make an impression by throwing up after a single drink, and Terra hurries him away presumably to the nurse.  

Bloom google-imaged changelings!  Lotsa woodcuts, someone’s fanart entitled “horror of fairy babies.’  There’s more nuance to it than that…  Bloom looks at a family photograph.

There’s Stella, coming to be sympathetic?  Nope, she’s coming to conivingly advance the plot!  “You know there’s no shame in that, wanting a normal life, wanting to be home...”

When the girls get back Bloom is nowhere to be found.  Musa mind-reads that Stella is wracked with guilt,  They put it together, Bloom was talking to Sky and now she’s gone.  Apparently Stella did something nasty to the last girl who talked to Sky.  Terra is kinda straight up badass.  Stella confesses, she kindly loaned Bloom the portal ring so she could go back to “the first world” but to use it Bloom has to go deep into the forest outside the barrier to a door in a graveyard.

Portal’s super low special effects, Bloom pushes open a door in a cemetary, the ring glows, and Bloom walks into what must be the warehouse she hid out in.

It’s very dark inside both buildings but away from the cemetary it seems to still be day so we can see a Burned One’s shadow coming towards the portal.  Day and night seem to depend on location in this show, and anywhere you need a monster it’s gonna be dark!  Bloom seems to leave the magic portal open and we see her step out on the warehouse into a weirdly well-lit night on earth.

Real actual nighttime on earth.  Bloom walks to her parents’ house and calls them from outside.  Her dad’s surprised she called twice in one day.  This call her folks seem just worried and nice, not awful like they were in the flashback.  Bloom cries.  She can’t ask her parents about the changeling thing.  Her mom says very kind, ‘Your path isn’t like mine or your father’s but I can’t wait to see who you become.”  Bloom hangs up and cries and watches her parents in their house, then walks back to the warehouse to return to Alfea.

But first we get to see where she was camping!  In a little office in the warehouse. She brought a lot of stuff, bedding and pictures for the walls and everything.  She opens a notebook and we see that she was experimenting already, discovered she was fireproof, wondered if she had superpowers.  Then she senses something and looks out through an interior window into the rest of the warehouse.

Yikes! it’s a Burned One!

Bloom staggers back, trips, and drops Stella’s ring down a grate in the floor.

Bloom’s never heard of Burned Ones at this point but she knows a monster when she sees one.  She cowers, back to the wall. The Burned One breaks through the window and tries to grab her!

Bloom escapes into some kind of tunnel, I guess she opened the grate that the ring fell through?  It’s not totally clear.  There’s the ring, on the other side of a different grate or screen, Bloom can’t reach it, there’s lots of roaring, Bloom runs like hell!

And there’s Dowling!  She says, ‘don’t stop now.’ and gestures Bloom through the door back to the cemetery.  The door closes behind her.  Terra, Musa and Aisha are waiting to make sure Bloom’s ok. Bloom says the Burned One got the ring.

Stella, meanwhile, is on Sky’s bed when he comes out of the shower! Dressed, at least.

Sky is not interested.  “You can’t be here, Stell.  If Silva finds out-’   Sky goes for his trousers but Stella comes over and snuggles up to his bare back.  Sky is still not keen.  Seems Stella dumped him then went silent all summer and now she’s jumping in since he talked to Bloom.  Stella… comes out and says, “I got jealous. I did something really stupid.”  and she says, “I can’t sleep in a room where everybody hates me.”   For sending Bloom into danger to get home when that’s what Bloom wanted?  Not great, Stella, but hateworthy?  Did the girls all tell her they hate her or does Stella just think she’s an awful person?  And is Stella actually desperately unhappy or is she just trying to get in Sky’s pants?  Not sure what to take away from this.  Sky hugs Stella and tells her she’s better than she thinks she is.  

The others get back to the dorm and Aisha reassures Bloom that Dowling can take care of the Burned One.

Cut to Beatrix leaving her raid on the library with armfuls of books. She passed Riven, who’s smoking.  They say flirty things and Beatrix says she’s been “snorting the midnight adderall” to show that she’s a bad girl.  Riven offers her a puff but her hands are full of books so they do this almost-kiss so Riven can blow smoke into her mouth.  Erotic, also gross.  Is that a real thing people do? Riven asks Beatrix if she’s a first-year and she says “I’m lots of things” and walks off leaving Riven and the room he’s in, which has the most gorgeous arched windows with trees in them.  Is this place real?  It’s the same place the party was but now it’s night and these windows are glowing green with tree outlines in them. This has gotta be something the filmmakers added.

Pajama scene in the girls’ suite, Terra waters plants, Musa hops in bed with headphones on.  Terra does a needy little wave.  Musa reluctantly un-headphones.  Terra offers a speaker she borrowed from her brother so Musa can have her music without shutting other people out.

And I cringe so hard because just let people tune you out if they want! Communicate by whiteboard!  People not wanting to share doesn’t mean they hate you, it means they have their own thoughts they’re busy with!  Come on Terra, be better than your novelization self!

Musa calls Terra out on her fake-happy bullshit.  Musa can feel all of Terra’s insecurities and anger.  Seems like maybe empaths shouldn’t have to share a room!  What’s the range on mind reading?  How did Musa hit 16 without learning to tune stuff out or going mad?  But Musa says, ‘but if you want to know how I really feel...” and switches her music to a speaker, it’s guitar-y and nice.

Up in Dowling’s office, Silva says she should’ve killed the Burned One not left it chained up and knocked out in a shack outside the barrier.  Dowling needs to investigate this Burned One, see if there are more of them.  Then Dowling spills that Bloom is a changeling, from the time the last Burned One disappeared.  And she says, “Rosalind kept so much from us.  I’m worried about the students. The Alfea they know is very different from the one we attended.”  There’s something very “there was a war before” about the two of them.  Dowling may not be sus after all, though that may make her a terrible headmistress depending on how the next episodes go.

Montage of sleeping students.  Terra and Dane are texting.  Dane accidentally likes one of Riven’s sexy photos.  Riven’s pleased.  Sky and Stella are sharing a bed but after the last scene I can’t imagine they actually did anything.  Sky seemed pretty unseduceable.  

And outside a Mysterious Cloaked Figure passes through the barricade, finds the Burned One in the hut, and zaps it awake with lightning. It pushed back its hood… Beatrix!  So if she undid her too-tight braids she’d be Stormy?  So is Beatrix the villain?  I mean obviously she’s a villain but the threat of the Burned Ones feels... bigger than one teenager in Bratz clothes who has not got the presence of even one Trix much less all three wrapped up together.  But anyway she’ gets to be a doomful cloaked figure at the end of episode one.

Very pretty ending credits music. Listened to it several times.  I can’t understand the lyrics which is probably just as well.  Is it in irish or is it just sung in a way to not have clear lyrics?  C’mon fate, Irishness is a big thing you’ve got going for you, please milk it for all its worth!

I… I LIKED it!  Now my friends say future episodes get worse so I can’t get my hopes too high but this wasn’t awful.  None of the girls really had any vibe of their characters, only Bloom and Sky really look like Bloom and Sky.  The worldbuilding is lacking, I’m left with more questions than answers.

And oh god one episode was ten pages and about five hours.  I… I meant to do this with every episode but I’m not sure I can.  There’s so much to comment on it takes forever.  Maybe I’ll do each one in parts.  Or maybe I’ll abandon the writing and just watch the show like a normal person.  It’s a lot of fun to fine-toothed comb each scene but I’m’a be here forever!

[prince-dongju]

Runaway Prince

Prince! Seonghwa x Reader

Words: 7.1k (I got a little carried away) 

Fluff, a lil angst but a happy ending. The ending gets cheesy, like really cheesy 

Summary: When a handsome stranger shows up at your house, you take him in out of the kindness of your heart. What you didn’t know was how big of a turn your life would take as you grow closer. 

@shikyus… I finally posted it!!

It was a Thursday when he showed up, a tumultuous night filled with wailing wind and scattered thunderstorms. Claps of thunder and pouring rain caused a massive power outage, shunting the warmth from your apartment. Curling deeper into the sheets on your bed, you burrowed further into your hoodie. A sudden knocking at your door nearly made you jump out of your skin. Reluctantly, you left your warm cocoon to check who was at the door. Peeking through the peephole, you saw a man who you judged to be in his early twenties. His hair stuck in every direction, and his suit had probably seen better days. Shrugging your shoulders, you decided he looked pretty non threatening (and cute). Grabbing the handle, you opened the door. 

“Hello.” He sounded confused, like he was fully expecting you to not answer. 

“How can I help you?” You tried your best to keep your breathing steady, realizing that helping a complete stranger may not be such a good idea. 

“I… um…,” He stuttered, looking at the floor nervously. “This is going to sound insane.” 

“Try me.” Great. He’d probably been stalking you for months and had finally decided to talk to you. 

“I need a place to stay for a week or two, just so I can get back on my feet.” You weren’t expecting this. Judging by his appearance, you thought he would be some playboy millionaire’s son living off of his father’s money. Why would he be knocking on doors looking for a place to stay? 

You thought about his request for a moment. If he was looking to rob you, nothing you owned was of much worth. Why not? You made your decision.

“You’re just in luck. I’ve been looking for a roommate for a while now.” Okay, that was far from the truth, there was no way you could squash another person into your tiny studio apartment. “On one condition. You help out around the apartment.” 

“Deal.” He smiled. A smile so bright and charming with teeth so bright he could outshine the sun. You almost forgot what you were talking about. “Can I um, come in then?” 

“Oh, uh yeah.” You mentally slapped yourself for getting caught up in his smile and his deep, warm eyes.... Pushing the door open further, you let him step inside. The tour of your apartment only lasted about a minute, long enough to show him around the miniscule space. 

“Would it be okay if I took a shower?” He seemed nervous with his request, like you would reject the possibility of him cleaning up. 

“Of course. Let me find you something to wear.” Rifling through your closet, you found some clothes left by your ex. They seemed like they would fit so you decided to let him take them. 

“Here.” Giving him the bundle of clothes, your hands brushed his and you pulled back immediately. “Take as long as you need.” 

As the water rumbled through the pipes to fuel his shower, you plopped down on the couch. In a moment your life had turned around completely. You lived an average life, maybe partied with one or two friends on the weekend, nothing outrageous. Now you suddenly had an unidentified guest who would be sharing your living space. Your ex did tell you to be a little more spontaneous though, claiming that your inability to surprise him ultimately brought an end to your relationship. Pushing the thoughts from your head, you noticed the water had stopped running. When the man stepped through the door, he looked extremely uncomfortable. As if he had never worn sweatpants before. 

“If you’re uncomfortable, I’m sure I could find you something else,” you said, turning to look for something else in your room. 

“No no, It’s fine.” He smiled to show you he was okay. “Thank you for accommodating me. Your hospitality is much appreciated.” 

How proper. Shaking it off, you nodded and smiled back. Now… where should he sleep? Looking around, you decided the couch would be the best option. The couch also happened to be only thirty feet away from your bed. You sure hoped your gut feeling about him was right, or you might end up with a knife in your chest. After setting up the couch for him to sleep on, you realized you had never asked for his name. Upon asking, you learned his name was Seonhwa. A fine name, elegant like the man himself. Once he was all settled, you turned off the lights and crawled back into bed. 

“Goodnight, Seonghwa,” you whispered before falling into sleep’s comforting embrace. 

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

Opening your eyes, you took in the light filtering through the curtains. Stretching your arms above your head, you looked around. Last night felt so long ago. As if it was a distant memory. You would have chalked it up to a wild dream if not for the mop of blonde hair curled up on your couch. Rolling out of bed, you got to work on breakfast. Although you were trying to be quiet, the banging of pots and pans eventually brought your guest back to consciousness. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he yawned deeply and sat up. Even though his hair looked like it had gone through a wind storm, you had to admit he was still extremely handsome. His posture was extremely straight, his back as stiff as a board. When you told him breakfast was ready, he stood and walked elegantly to the table. Never had you seen someone move with such grace in their step. Now you were starting to wonder just where he came from. Maybe he spent some time in a boarding school for elite children? One of those places where they teach snobby kids how to be even snobbier. He thanked you profusely for the meal, even if it was just a piece of toast with some bacon and scrambled eggs. 

While you were finishing up your food, you decided to get some things out of the way. 

“I work until seven tonight. I have Netflix on the television if you get bored. It would be nice if you could clean the place for me, though.” 

His face lit up and he nodded eagerly before stopping himself and smiling a little. “I can do that. I am quite good at tidying up.” 

“Okay…” You’d never seen someone so eager to clean. “Tomorrow I’m off, so I can take you to get some new clothes.” 

He gave a slight nod. “Thank you so much for all you’ve done for me. You are truly the kindest person I have ever met.” 

You thanked him for the compliment, but something about it made you think deeper on it. The kindest person he had ever met? He surely was just saying that. If this was the kindest someone had ever been to him, that was a little heartbreaking. From the few hours you had spent with him, he had been nothing but polite, to think that people were unkind to him made you feel a little sad. Shaking your head, you chastised yourself for thinking so deeply about a man you just met. 

Checking the clock, you realized you were running a little late. “Crap! I’m going to be late.” You exclaimed, hopping up to quickly wash the dishes.

“Leave this. I can take care of it.” Looking up from the sink, you notice Seonghwa standing right beside you. Looking into your eyes with his comforting chocolate gaze, he gave a slight nod before motioning for you to head off to work. 

“Thank you Seonghwa.” You muttered before sprinting out the door as fast as you could. 

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

Work was a little hard to sit though. Your mind kept wandering back home to where Seonghwa was, doing heaven knows what in your apartment. Maybe leaving him alone was a bad idea. Mentally running through your apartment, you were confident you had hidden your important items. After hours of questioning just who this mysterious man was, the clock struck seven. Driving home was extremely nerve wracking. When you got home would your apartment be in one piece? Had he cleaned like you asked him to, or did he make a mess of the place? Turning your key in the lock was the scariest moment of your life. Steeling yourself with a deep breath, you pushed the door open and prayed for the best. The apartment was definitely not a mess. In fact, it was far from it. The windows were spotless, the counters sparkling, and… had the fan been dusted? You couldn’t remember the last time you had put so much effort into cleaning. 

“What do you think?” Seonghwa quickly stood from his perch on the couch, looking at you like he was nervous of what you would say. 

“Seonghwa! It’s amazing! You really are good at tidying up.” He smiled, his bright teeth glowing in the light of the room. “Thank you! Everyone at the pal- at home says I’m good at it. Come sit down. You’ve had a long day.” Guiding you to your own couch, he was ready to get you anything you needed. After draping a blanket across your legs, you offered to share it with him, smiling as he pressed closer to you. While watching an awfully cheesy comedy, you felt your eyelids growing droopy. Swaying back and forth on the couch, you tried to keep yourself awake. But it was no use. The day had taken a toll on you, leaving you exhausted. Noticing you were about to fall off the couch, Seonghwa gently directed you to lean back on the couch so you wouldn’t fall off and hurt yourself. When your head lolled to the side and landed on his shoulder he froze for a moment, unsure if he should let you stay or wake you up. He decided that you needed your sleep and let you be. Halfway through the second movie he caught the time on the clock and decided he should probably wake you up. Ever so gently, he shook your shoulder. When you yawned, he thought it might be the cutest yawn he had ever witnessed. 

“You should get to bed.” He looked at the floor, a little shy at the thoughts running through his head. 

“You’re right. Gotta get up early so we can go shopping before it gets too busy.” While you were waiting for your turn in the bathroom, you stared at the floor, deep in thought. A day ago you didn’t even know this man. Now you were falling asleep on his shoulder? What had come over you? One thing was certain, you felt really comfortable with him considering the fact that you had just met. Your thoughts were interrupted by Seonghwa softly calling your name. 

“y/n?” looking up, you took in his appearance. His hair was perfectly styled, as if he was going out rather than to bed. Skin glowing, and eyebrows shaped beautifully, his visuals were perfect. Even the clothes you gave him last night fit him better than they did your ex who actually owned them. “I’m done.” his words knocked you out of your trance, and you turned your head to hide your blush. 

In the morning you woke to the sound of the sink running. Looking over to the kitchen, you saw Seonghwa standing at the sink washing a few dishes. He noticed you were awake and gave you a warm smile. “I made breakfast for us.” His cooking was definitely better than you expected. Better than your own if you were being completely honest. Maybe letting him stay was a good thing. If he cooked like this all the time, you should keep him around. Conversation flowed easily as you walked down the street to the mall. It felt like you were talking to an old friend, making the time pass twice as fast. 

He looked a little uncomfortable going out of the house in the outfit you had given him, but you promised him that you’d find him something better to wear in no time. You noticed he was extremely cautious, eyes flitting around as if he was afraid of someone seeing him. 

You chalked it up to him just being embarrassed about the clothes and continued on your way.  The first store you entered had a few clothes you suggested he try on. He seemed content with the clothing you picked out, thankful for something to wear. After a few stores you told him to pick out an outfit, telling him you’d buy it so he could wear it out of the store. Waiting for him to change, you were curious as to what he would pick out for himself. When he stepped out of the changing room, you were floored. He looked like he had stepped straight out of a Vogue photo shoot. Models couldn’t pull off the look as good as he did. A white star speckled blazer rested atop a plain black turtleneck. The pants,which were complete with holes in the knees, were also black and matched the shoes he wore. 

Your jaw dropped before you could stop it, shaken over how effortlessly he pulled off the look. 

“How do I look?” He asked. Upon seeing your reaction, he smiled a little, gaining some confidence. 

“You look… you look good.” You managed to choke out. 

He noticed a blush spreading across your face and smirked a bit. Where was this sudden confidence coming from? He had been extremely shy and reserved up until this point. “Let me pick out something for you.” Snapping your head up to look at him, you got a little shy. There’s no way you’d look as good as he did in whatever he picked out for you. He could easily obtain a spot in any modeling agency, but you… not so much.

“You don’t need to do that.”

“Please y/n. It’ll be fun” He took your hand and pulled you around the store, stopping at a rack of dresses. “This one.” He said, pointing to a tan and blue striped dress. Taking it off the rack, he placed it in your hands and gently guided you to the dressing rooms. After kicking off your clothes and reluctantly putting it on, you had to admit it looked kinda good on you. Taking a deep breath, you steadied yourself and pulled back the curtain to the room. His eyes flickered to you immediately and he straightened up from the counter he was resting on. 

“Y/n…. you look. Wow.” The last word came out a little breathless as he stared at you, taking in your appearance. He knew he was staring, but he couldn’t help it. Not when you looked that good. Now it was his turn to blush. Chuckling, you give him a bright smile. You thanked him for picking it out for you, amazed at his fashion sense. 

Once you had paid for the clothing, you decided to take him around the town. You learned that he wasn’t from around the area, he was just passing through.  Conversation flowed easily again, and before long it was sunset. The whole day had passed so quickly, and you got a little sad at the thought of returning home. You suddenly became curious. Where was home for Seonghwa?

“Seonghwa. Where are you from?” His eyes left the sunset to rest on your face. Taking a moment to trace your features, he thought to himself. 

His eyes held a sadness at the thought of the town he once called his own. “Somewhere special.”

Puzzled at his response, you let it go and watched the final swatch of pink fade from the sky.  

“Do you want to go home? Maybe watch a movie or something?” You wanted to take the last few moments of the day to relax before you had to return to real life the next day. He agreed, and you took off towards your apartment complex. 

“You sure do watch a lot of movies.” He teased with a grin. 

“Hey. Movies take you places, to foreign lands and galaxies. Don’t judge me for wanting to escape reality every once in a while.” Your tone was light, but the smile fell from his face. 

“Believe me. I can relate.” 

Walking the rest of the way in an awkward silence, you thought about the sadness held in his words about his hometown. Now you were curious, but you didn't want to press him about it.

Turning on a cheesy chick flick, you tried to forget about all the questions running in your mind. One thing was for sure, Seonghwa made a pretty good friend and you were actually hoping that he would stick around in the city so you could see him after he left your place. Eventually, you drifted off to sleep. Watching movies late at night always had this effect on you. You could hardly stay awake once you pressed play. 

Seonghwa smiled softly as your head found its way to his shoulder again. Carefully, he brushed a strand of hair away from your face. Looking at your resting face, he whispered to your sleeping form, “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you about me yet. I promise you I will tell you before I leave.” He didn’t bother to wake you this time, slipping his arm under your knees and the other behind your back. Carrying you bridal style to the bed, he placed you under the soft covers. Pulling the covers over your body, he whispered a soft ‘goodnight’ before turning off the light and making his way to the couch.

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

Seonghwa had been with you for a week now. You had grown closer to him every day he was with you. It concerned you a little, knowing his stay was gradually progressing to the end. As the days went by, you learned more about him, his likes and dislikes. You learned he hated messy rooms and loved to clean. His cooking was phenomenal, and he always blushed a little when you complimented him on his cuisine. When you asked him to teach you how to be as good as him, he was so patient. Coaxing you along, he’d tell you which spices would work the best in each dish and gave you endless compliments till the end. You now knew he loved the color blue and when asked why, he said it reminded him of home. Then he’d stare off with that sad look in his eyes that always broke your heart a little. 

Life had become a routine at this point, coming home to find him on the couch. Usually he prepared dinner or ordered take out, always having something ready for you when you arrived at home. You’d watch a movie or two with him, always falling asleep before it was finished. You had often pondered on why you couldn’t finish a movie. Maybe it was because you hated endings. If you were asleep you’d never have to witness the fantasy of the movie coming to an end. In the morning you either found yourself in your bed, or on the couch with your head on Seonghwa’s shoulder. When you found yourself in the later position, he would chuckle as you both awoke, brushing the hair away from your face as you helped him do the same. 

With each passing day you found yourself falling for him a little more. At first you chalked it up to friendship. But the way he smiled at you had your heart pounding. It was also the little things he did for you, cleaning the apartment and picking up things from the local market that reminded him of you. All you could do was hope he felt the same, or pray that the feelings would leave quickly if he didn’t. 

A few nights before a big evaluation at work, he’d offered to help take your mind off the stressful event. You were sure you’d never forget the way he made you laugh, eliminating your stress completely. Wrapping your fingers around a bottle of cheap liquor, you gazed at him through hooded eyes. 

“Why are you staring at me?” Seonghwa playfully shoved your leg, giggling a little as he teased you. 

A few sips later with your senses clouded further, you told him, “Nothing. You’re just gorgeous.” Resting your chin on your hand, you let out a long sigh. “It’s really unfair.” 

Your admission brought a few chuckles from the male. “Me?” He scoffed a bit. “You’re the gorgeous one.” He may have slurred his words a bit, but he meant every one of them. And he hoped you understood that no matter what. 

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

Coming home after work the next night, you were greeted by the familiar blonde headed boy. He led you to the little dining area and showed you the meal he had prepared for you. It looked as if he had gone all out, digging the packed up wine glasses out of your cupboard. He even lit a few candles and placed them around the table. You told him that you had received a promotion at work and it seemed like this was his way of congratulating you. 

Pulling out your chair, he helped you get seated before he walked to the other side of the table and sat himself. 

“Congratulations on the promotion y/n.” He smiled brightly across the table at you. 

Feeling your heart flip flop at his action, you smiled back. “Thank you Seonghwa.” 

Dinner passed with casual conversation, but there was a heaviness evident between you. A tension in the room that was almost palpable. After the other night, something had changed between you two. Admitting to each other that you found the other very attractive could understandably change the relationship a bit. 

Reaching across to wipe something from the corner of your mouth, he paused and looked in your eyes. Electricity crackled and the world stopped for a minute before your phone buzzed and you looked away. Shakily, you continued the conversation until it was time to clean up, avoiding the intensity of his gaze as you got up. You took to washing the dishes, trying to clear your head from whatever had happened earlier. To your surprise, a pair of arms encircled you, spinning you around in their embrace. Your hands came to grip his forearms, steadying yourself from the sudden action. Dazed, you looked up into Seonghwa’s eyes, the eyes you had grown to love after gazing at them for so many days. They were filled with something deeper now, a sense of desperation. The familiar scent of whatever cologne he wore invaded your senses, making your knees weak and voiding your head of all thoughts but those of him. Pushing even closer, his hands gripped at the edge of the counter behind you. Eyes flickering towards your lips, he moved his head even closer to yours. Noticing the way you froze up at his actions, he pulled back in embarrassment. 

“I-I’m sorry y/n. I thought you felt the same way. I guess I was wrong.” He wouldn’t meet your eyes as he pulled away in embarrassment. 

“Seonghwa, wait.” You brought your arms around his neck and pulled him back to you. “It’s just… I’m scared.” You confessed, looking into his eyes which were now laced with confusion. 

“How so? Are you afraid of me?” The thought of you being fearful of him seemed to pain him. 

“It’s not you, Hwa.” Letting out a soft sigh, you tried to calm the frantic pounding of your heart. “I’m afraid of how fast I’m falling.” The words were nothing more than a whisper, falling from your parted lips like a faint breeze. 

Tilting your chin to maintain eye contact, his forehead gently met yours. “I feel the same way. But I don’t want to stop.” He moved forward now, wrapping his hands around your waist delicately as he tilted his head to the side. Lips pressing against yours softly, he let out a sigh of relief. As if he had been waiting for this moment. Tightening the grip you had on his neck, you pulled him closer, losing yourself in the feeling of his lips burning against yours. His mouth moved against yours slowly, savoring the way your lips felt on his. The way he kissed you left you breathless, somehow filling you up yet leaving you for want of more. After a few moments, he pulled back to leave a gentle kiss to the side of your jaw. Your eyes remained shut even after the loss of contact, trying to hold onto the way he made you feel for a moment more. 

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

Sitting on the couch the next night, you couldn’t help but feel that everything was right. You had never been so happy as you had been since Seonghwa came into your life a week ago. Had it really been that short? It felt like an eternity had passed. 

It felt good to be in his arms, and he told you just the same. With one of his hands around your waist and the other carding through your hair, you had never felt so safe. 

“y/n.” He looked you in the eyes. “I think I should tell you where I’m from now.” 

You braced for the worst, waiting for him to tell you he grew up in prison. 

“I’m actually not from around here. I grew up far away from here in a small country. But none of that matters anymore. All that matters is that I can never go back.” The familiar sadness upon mentioning his hometown was back. You wished you could take this pain from him and tell him that everything would be okay. On top of that, you were curious as to why he could never return home. 

“Why is that Seonghwa? Why can’t you go back?” He turned to face you a little and looked you in the eyes. 

“This may come as a bit of a shock, but I’m… I’m a prince. Or, I was” 

Immediately after the words left his mouth, your jaw dropped wide open. No way. He was kidding you right? Princes only existed in fairytales and ancient monarchies, not in drabby one room apartments. 

“I’m sorry… what?” He tucked a strand of hair behind your ear and continued with his explanation.  

“My stepmother married my father when I was just a little boy. He was so blinded by his love for her that he didn’t notice how she truly was. She slowly took control of the country and by the time he realized, it was too late. I was never enough for her. One of the reasons she resented me so much was because I was not her own child. In the end, she… she killed him. She murdered her own husband and banished me for crimes I never committed.” A single tear rolled down his cheek, falling upon your intertwined fingers. “If only I was fast enough. I could have stopped it. I could have stopped it all. And I-I-” His words cut off as sobs wracked his body. Pulling his head to your chest, you held him close and rubbed his back as he cried. The pain he was experiencing sounded unimaginable. Whispering words of comfort, you felt your heart break for him, wishing you could carry some of his pain. 

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

You awoke the next morning to sunlight streaming through the windows. Acutely aware of something tickling at your collar bones, you turned your head to view Seonghwa’s head buried in your neck. You had fallen asleep on the couch. His body was pressed upon yours, one of his arms draped over your waist while his other hand held yours tightly, as if he was afraid you would leave him. Letting out a sigh, you leaned forward to press gentle kisses along his forehead. He stirred a little at the feeling, snuggling deeper into your embrace. Grateful that you had the day off, you decided that a little more sleep couldn’t hurt. 

The next time you awoke, Seonghwa was gone. Opening your eyes wider, you looked around for him. Only once you located him were you able to breathe easily. He stood at the window, hands clasped behind his back. Standing from your place on the couch, you carefully approached him, admiring how the sun’s rays illuminated his features. 

“Seonghwa.” You called to him softly, catching his attention. Reaching for your hand, he gave you a sad smile. The pair of you stood in silence, gazing upon the awakening city. You felt his uncertainty, his fear of the future. Pulling him closer, you wrapped your arms around him in a comforting embrace. Closing his eyes, he sighed and leaned down to rest his forehead against yours. You stood there for a while, feeling his beaten heart pulse against your skin. 

The next two days were especially hard. Seonghwa was uncharacteristically down, the remembrance of his past taking a toll on his mood. You tried your hardest to get him out of his slump, even offering to help him clean. Even if nothing helped, you would always be there for him, a shoulder to cry on when the world felt like it was caving in. He told you once that he had never felt so at peace than when he was with you, all his worries slowly slipping away. It would take some time to heal, like every loss does, but having you with him made it feel a little easier. Although, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of guilt. You had given him so much and what had he done for you in return? Ever since he had shown up, he’d flipped your whole life around. The added expenses of keeping him here must be taking a toll on you. When he showed up he asked for two weeks, which were quickly coming to a close. Although it would be hard, he knew he should leave. 

That night, the power went out again. Another storm thundered outside of your apartment, knocking over a telephone pole. No power meant no heat, and you could see Seonghwa trembling under his single blanket on the couch. Cautiously, you spoke up. “S-Seonghwa. You can join me. If you want.” You told yourself that you’d offered a spot under your covers because he was cold. But maybe it meant more than that. Memories of the night you spent on the couch constantly flooded your brain, the feeling of his arms around you felt even better than you imagined it would be. You would be lying if you said you didn’t want him to hold you again. 

Oh so slowly, Seonghwa stood from the couch and cautiously made his way over to you. Standing over the bed, he looked at you with a nervous expression. “Are you sure?” Although he had slept with you before, doing so in your bed felt so...intimate. 

Nodding your head and giving him a shy smile, you scooted over and patted the mattress as an invitation. Carefully, he peeled back the covers and slipped beneath them. He had the overwhelming urge to reach out and pull you to him, to hold you so tight that there was no space between you. The idea of brushing your hair from your face and whispering sweet nothings in your ear sent his heart racing. But he held himself back. Leaving would be much harder the closer he got to you. Laying on his back, he stared at the ceiling, listening to your breathing. He could tell that you weren’t asleep quite yet, and when your hand reached out to grasp his own, he couldn’t take it anymore. Turning to face you, he wrapped his arms around your middle and pulled your body flush against his. Burying his face in the crook of your neck, he breathed in your now familiar scent.. He felt your fingers rub across his back gently, sending sparks of electricity down his spine. His lips trailed the expanse of your collar bones, each kiss confirming his adoration for you. Your fingers stuttered along his back when you felt his teeth reach to nip at your earlobe fondly. “Thank you for everything,” he whispered. It was a little hard to process the words when his fingers were running along your arms. His mere presence was intoxicating, sending your head spinning in ways you thought were impossible. When he dipped his head to give your neck some attention, you tangled your legs with his and slid your hands up his chest to wind your arms around his neck. Pulling back, he gazed into your eyes with a loving expression, studying every detail of your sparkling irises. “Seonghwa,” you whispered. Gosh, he loved the way you said his name. When you whispered to him again your voice was quiet, but it sent his heart into overdrive. “I think I love you.” Watching him nervously, you searched for any sign that he didn’t feel the same. His response was to crash his lips onto yours, eliciting a gasp from your pretty pink lips which he greedily swallowed with his own. Your words echoed in his head, driving him to press his lips to yours over and over again, making up for every time he’d wanted to kiss you yet refrained. He could swear his heart almost melted when he felt your fingers tug at his platinum locks, applying the perfect amount of pressure. “You’re so gorgeous,” He mumbled on your swollen lips, dipping his head to share a final tender kiss. Once the passion induced haze cleared from his eyes, he noticed how red and puffy your lips had become. Feeling a sudden surge of pride at being the cause of this, he swiped his thumb along your bottom lip and laughed gently. Looking into your eyes, he was captured by the intensity of your gaze. Becoming shy, he hid his face in your neck once again. He knew he should go soon, and continuing this would only bring you more pain. But how could this be so wrong when holding you in his arms felt so right?

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

Three days later, you decided to take him around the town again. 

Stepping from the apartment, you felt his hand reach over to intertwine with yours. You felt a surge of emotion flood you, completely enraptured by this gorgeous man. His fingers were long and slim, completely enveloping your own in his warmth. Turning his head, he gave you a soft smile. You blushed at his sweet gesture and quickly looked away, missing the way his smile turned into a smirk. When you were with him time seemed to slow down. All your worries and fears slipped away in his presence, calming you like nothing else. Looking at the sky, you silently blessed whatever force brought Seonghwa into your life, for whom you were eternally grateful. 

Everything about him could truly be described as princely. The way he held himself was so elegant, you had once wondered if you were even good enough for him. Those fears plagued you often, dragging you down until he assured you that if anything, you were too good for him.  

You walked around the city, content with each others presence. Stopping at an ice cream shop, you picked up a portion of the sweet treat for the pair of you. A small trek led you to the pier where you shared the desert. Reaching up, you moved a spoonful of ice cream into his open mouth. You couldn't look him in the eyes for too long, his gaze far too heavy for your heart to take. Moving your eyes to the water, you ate a spoonful of ice cream, deep in thought. Seonghwa felt distant lately. When he spoke to you he rarely made eye contact and when he did his eyes were sad. Adding to that, he had been particularly quiet this morning. You couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong. 

Your thoughts were abruptly interrupted by two fingers tilting your chin towards him. Before you could ask why, Seonghwa leaned down and captured your lips in a sweet kiss. You barely had time to trail your hands through his hair before he pulled away and gave you a sheepish smile. 

"You had ice cream on your lips."

Although it wasn't deep, there was a sense of urgency to the kiss. Something was definitely wrong. 

"Seongie. What's wrong?" Cupping his face, you forced him to look at you. He avoided your eyes as best as he could, trying to make a decision. Letting out a sigh, he finally met your gaze.

"I've been thinking." You waited for him to continue. "About leaving." 

"What?" He couldn't possibly be serious. Not when things were going so well. "Why?" You couldn't stop your voice from shaking. 

His eyes softened upon hearing the emotion behind your question. "It's time for me to go. I've burdened you enough already. You deserve so much better y/n. Not someone marked as a traitor." Looking up to your face, he paused when he saw a tear trailing down your cheek. Bringing his hands to your face, he wiped your cheek, aching internally for the pain he would have to put you through. 

"No. You can't." You knew this was coming, but you didn’t want to accept the reality of his words. Thinking about your life without him left an ache in your chest. "Please don't." Tears fell from your eyes and dripped to the pavement like rain in the spring. He wiped away every tear, eventually pulling you forward to bury your head in his chest. 

"If they found you with me, I couldn't bear the terrible things they'd do to you." He had informed you of the cruelty his people were known for. Although his punishment of banishment felt bad enough, those he once held so dear would not hesitate to harm a man who had supposedly betrayed his country. If it was discovered that you were housing him, you would be targeted as well. 

Running his hands over your back in a soothing manner, he shed tears of his own, hating the decision he'd been forced to make. 

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

That night Seonghwa slept in your bed again. Although you felt his breathing steady and his body grow heavy, you could hardly calm your brain. He was leaving in the morning. Nothing would be the same once he walked out that door. His presence was like a heavy blanket, something that takes getting used to, but its absence felt so deeply. Twisting in his arms, you took a moment to trace his features one last time. Once the morning came your vision would be too blurry to take it all in. Brushing his hair back, you traced the smooth line of his eyebrows, trailing to slide along his delicate nose. With one final look around his face, your eyes came to settle upon his lips. The lips that told you things that words couldn’t possibly express when they met yours. Lips that poured out praises when he thought you looked particularly good. Your own lips moved forward to brush over his cheek and press a sweet kiss to the soft skin one last time.  

When the morning came you ate a quick breakfast and helped him pack up the last of his stuff. As you moved to lay a sweater in the bag he was taking, a tear fell to land on the soft fabric. You didn’t even know you were crying. Seonghwa noticed and wiped away the tear streaks on your face. When he gave you a small smile, the dam broke and the tears came flooding back once again. You remembered your hatred for endings. It seemed like the world was playing a dirty trick on you, handing you the hardest ending of them all. He pulled you into his arms and held you tight, taking in the feeling of you in his arms for one last time. It would be hard, but he knew it would be better for you in the end. He couldn’t put you in danger because of his selfish desires any longer. 

Pressing a farewell kiss to your forehead, he said the words you had longed to hear from him all along, “I love you.” Turning to open the door, he grabbed his small bag and walked out of your arms, and your life for what could be forever.  

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

Two weeks had passed since you last saw him. Although you hadn’t known him for long, that didn’t stop you from missing him deeply. You had spent every free minute you’d had with him. His absence would take some time to recover from. 

You spent that night on the couch, falling asleep after watching some mindless show to get your mind off of things. When a knock sounded at your door early the next morning, you were jostled into consciousness. Opening the door, you gasped in shock. There he was. The man you had tried so hard to get out of your mind. 

“Seonghwa.” you whispered, overjoyed to finally be in his presence again. 

“I can’t do this y/n. Every thought that runs through my head begins and ends with you. I know it's selfish of me. So damn selfish. But please tell me you’ll take me back again.” 

Did you even have to think about it? “Of course. This place is just as much yours as it is mine.” Pulling him into the comfort of your apartment, you barely had time to shut the door before he pressed your back to the door and captured your mouth in a heated kiss. His lips crashed onto yours continuously, beginning to pay you back for all the days you spent without them on yours. “I love you so much,” he whispered against your lips, wrapping his arms around your waist and cradling you as close to him as possible. His kisses turned gentle, dripping with emotions you had never felt before. As you ran your fingers through his faded blonde locks, he pulled back to look into your eyes. “A prince should never leave his princess,” His forehead met yours as he spoke. “I never expected to you to open the door that night. You took me in when I had nothing. I’m so grateful for that night. It gave me you.” 

Everything would be okay now. Seonghwa was back in your life, right where he belonged. It looked like this wasn’t an ending after all, but a new beginning. One you were extremely grateful for.

"Oh how I've missed you, my prince."

[blogsupitssam]

Life After Us: The Heir Apparent

Chapter 2: “Show and Tell me Where Your Love LIes”

Note: So since Bloodbound has ended, @drinkwinebymeasure and I be making our own continuation of BB4 whether or not it will ever come back or not. We all know MC and Kamilah are now married and living together in tapestry scene. Now what will be in store for the couple along with moving into a new era? What will they do next? What's gonna happen for the world?

If you haven’t read last chapter(s):

Part 1

Warning: NSFW

 A week later, At Kamilah’s Rooftop Garden. 

Saturday in a quiet evening Kamilah sits on the bench quietly watching the moon slowly glimmer over the skyline illuminating throughout the garden with a golden glow and full splendor flowers dancing in the sound of silence.

The vampire queen delights as the sight of a gorgeous lady standing near the garden entrance , she gets up from the bench and offers an adoring smile. 

“ Hello, my love!! “ Kamilah holds her wife’s arm gently  as she pulls her closer to see the blooming flowers and plants in the garden. She is greatly pleased by the young vampire's rare appearance in her garden as the latter is so busy with her duties and responsibilities as a new COO of Ahmanet Financial. 

Samantha with a grinning smile plays across her face, puts her arms around Kamilah’s waistline bringing her closer and gives her a long and deep kiss.  “ Hey sorry I can’t wait for you to come down so I am here to fetch my queen. I’ve missed you today!.” 

The ancient vampire dishing a lovely smile and excited to see her wife. Caressing gently the cheek of the bloodkeeper.“No need to apologize, my garden is giving me a sense  of happiness and peaceful feeling but I would love to have you in my sight every second .. As you know my garden comes second  and my wife comes first before anything else… I am the happiest when I am with you. I love you so much.” 

Samantha hugs her wife and whispers. “ I love you too Kamilah… so much…come on let’s eat our dinner !” 

“ Not so fast my love!.” Kamilah ushers the young vampire to let her see her flowers and plants.

“ See ? They’re beautiful aren’t they? Kamilah asks Samantha.

“ Indeed they’re… so lovely.” The bloodkeeper agrees with her wife.

“ They are beautiful and lovely  … just like my eternal love for you Samantha… This love I feel for you is an intense feeling of deep affection. But this love of mine  won’t grow without a nurturing heart, so did my  affection to my flowers and plants. They won’t grow like these if I didn’t nurture them the way I nurture our love for each other.” 

“ Is that so?” Samantha playfully asks Kamilah. 

“ Believe me it is ! “ The passionate vampire beaming with confidence tossing some gardening tools to her wife. 

“ Come on here! It’s time to make your hands dirty..grab some tools and help me plant some of them.” 

“ Ehhh!!! I don’t have a green thumb…I might not be successful planting these seeds…” The young vampire with a worried face concedes. 

“ No!... give it a try!” Kamilah trying to convince her wife. 

“ Okay… I would try but don’t tell me I didn’t warn you !” Samantha reminds her wife and walks a few steps away from Kamilah and gets the tools she needs. 

“ Just observe and follow me my love!” The queen sounded so confident assures  her wife.

“ Right so… let’s do this !” With brows furrowed the young COO obediently followed her wife’s instructions how to plant the seeds. 

Two women are busy digging and putting soils inside the pots and planting the seeds while  Kamilah’s incharge of giving her wife a step by step tutorial on how to plant using seeds in the soil.

“ That’s it my love...you are doing good not bad for beginners I should say. You are a fast learner.. You should be proud of yourself!” A huge smile illuminating on her face complimenting her beautiful wife's effort. 

The bloodkeeper beaming with some sort of pride displayed on her face ...gaze at her ancient vampire wife.

 “ Not quite like you my queen… everything you do seems like perfection...I really stop thinking what else  my talented wife can’t do without perfection..” Samantha being amazed by the vampire queen’s immense hidden talent all over  again.

“ Well…I should have immeasurable talents I suppose..considering how long I’ve been living in this world my love..” Kamilah showing a broad face with smiling eyes glowing across her lips. 

The young blood with a mischievous grin...grabs some soil and hides it behind her back and cuts the distance between her wife and rubs in on Kamilah’s face…and runs in a circle inside the garden.

“ What the hell ????” Kamilah’s caught by surprise and unprepared.. Didn’t miss any seconds in a flash launches an efficient move to chase her wife but the young vampire is displaying her sleek moves  effortlessly through the air...the two vampires are like meteors dancing in the air…The older vampire having plenty of tricks under her sleeves in flash like a thunder capture the younger vampire in the air and wrapping her arms around her wife’s body. 

“ Not so fast my love”. The ancient vampire turns her wife facing towards her and crashes her lips with intense kisses long and deep ...both are fainting and breathless when leaving each other lips. But they didn’t stop there… Kamilah holds her wife’s shoulder and kisses her jaw all the way to her neck that sends  the young bloodkeeper into shiver. 

Too much sensation start to build among the two vampires oblivious around their surroundings. Hands are busy with each other pulling each other closer. When suddenly Samantha’s phone dings , that disrupted the intimate moment of two vampires. 

Kamilah with an annoyance stopped kissing and touching her wife. The COO vampire picks up her phone and Lily’s name appears on the screen. 

“ It’s Lily… she sent a picture.” The new blood swipes her phone and sees the picture Lily just sent to her. 

“ What???? How the hell did she get our picture kissing in the garden?” Samantha blankly asks Kamilah. 

“ What picture ?” Kamilah with furrowed brows asks Samantha back. 

Here look at this Lily just sent this to me..The bloodkeeper passed her phone to Kamilah and the vampire scanned the picture… Ushered her wife out of the garden..they took the elevator going back to their living room as the door opened Kamilah yelled .. 

Inside the Sayeed Penthouse 

“Lily!!!! Get your  face out in my house now! “

With confused looks Samantha stares  at her wife.

“Lily is here in our house?”

The purple hair vampire appears behind the utility’s room apologetic vibe in her face. 

“ Sorry granny !   I didn’t mean to pry ...it was just someone like an ancient grouchy vamp told me…  to come and run a security check to her luxurious penthouse’s  security system..and it so happened it took for me a long time to make sure everything is running smoothly.” 

Kamilah showing frustration touched the bridge of her nose glared  at Lily.

“ Right so! But I figured you were supposed to have done that by this time.” 

“ Don’t worry Granny I am out of way now! ... Lily sprinting towards the main door… 

Samantha amused by the gamer vampire’s reaction. “Lil,wait!” The bloodkeeper trying to stop her bestie.

“ Bye Sammie!! See soon.” Lily bid goodbye to her vampire bestie that leaves the couple shaking their heads. 

“ I stopped trying to understand Lily since she put up the thing… whatever it was.” Kamilah remembered something but she couldn’t, rolling her eyes from the thought.

“ Oh! The fangbook App!... Lily put up for vampires..” Samantha reminds her wife. 

“ Whatever that nonsense Lily invented I couldn’t care less.”  Kamilah rolling her eyes. 

The young vampire embraces her wife Kamilah 's expression softens, lifts up Samantha’s chin. 

“ I actually have a plan tonight for us. I want to cook our dinner. “ 

“ Oh you do? Perfect, I'm starving Kamilah.I can’t wait for the dinner. The younger vampire was eagerly excited. 

“ So eager, aren’t you ? Kamilah teasing her wife. 

The Egyptian vampire went to their lavish kitchen and started prepping all the ingredients and kitchen tools she needs to make for their dinner and the bloodkeeper decided to stay right beside her equally gorgeous wife. 

“ Is this the first time you will cook babe?” Samantha casually asks the older vampire cos you look like you have been doing this before. 

“ Maybe my first for a very long long time my love. I’ve not been in the kitchen for centuries.” the CEO tells her wife while busy putting her ingredients. 

“So what you have for our dinner then ?” 

“Oh it’s braised veal shanks..I actually prepped this veal meat before you woke up today. I braised it with wine and vegetables and just put all together and it will be ready soon.” 

“ Is that an Egyptian food? 

“ No it is not!” But next time I will make you some traditional Egyptian dishes if you wish to.” 

“ That sounds good to me” The bloodkeeper nods in agreement with the older vampire. 

Meanwhile, the couple wait for the dish to be ready. Kamilah asks her wife to cut some vegetables for garnishment later. 

“ My love, do some favors for me…  Can you cut some vegetables for the garnishment?” 

“ Sure! Not a problem babe… I will get the chef knife to cut them.” The bloodkeeper moves towards their kitchen cabinet and pulls out a chef knife and a wooden cutting board to begin slicing the vegetables when she accidentally cuts one of her fingers, nearly an inch long red line. “Ouch! Ugh, I cut myself! 

 The vampire queen rushes to Samantha’s side, “Careful Samantha….” Takes a hold of her palm of Samantha’s hand, examining her index finger, “It’s not so bad…. Here, let me clean that for you.” She gives a smirk on the last response, giving it a few licks on the little, crimson droplets dripping out, making the bloodkeeper's mouth open, but finds it… enticing. 

Then Kamilah brings the finger to her mouth, encasing the finger in her lips and Samantha seriously forgets how to breathe as she gives out a soft groan through her nose. 

The Egyptian Vampire gaze becomes amorous as she sucks on the red wantonly, giving her her most drop dead stare. It is quite literally one of the hottest things she has ever done for the young vampire, and her heart starts beating rapidly, in her own thoughts dominated with the desire of needing to feel her. 

Kamilah puckers her lips and dragged the fingers out slowly, letting out a content "Ah," once they were free. “Delicious...” Her eyes flicker of red with a wolfish grin playing on her mouth.

Samantha can't stand it any longer and loops her free hand around her neck to pull her into a passionate kiss. She moans as he can not only taste her mouth, but the evidence of Kamilah desire for her. 

Kamilah smiled at the soothing, wet feeling of her luscious lips she loved so much. The Bloodqueen brings her closer by a hand on the vampire pup, their chests are mashed together. 

Immediately Kamilah lifted her wife and carried her to their bed. Both stumble in the bed and let what their bodies desire, losing themselves to each other. Samantha’s moaning gets louder echoing inside the room as she screams,“ Oh my god!” she gasps as the pleasure rushed through her body in a release that made her head spin. The ecstasy filled her so completely that she wouldn't have been surprised if her body had come apart at the seams. It was almost too much and she yelled Kamilah's name as she trembled on the mattress.

Both pairs of legs were tangled together after the trembling ceased and her heart beat returned to a steadier, Samantha nestled against Kamilah’s chest, feeling warmth and security in her  arms. Kamilah’s right hand clasped over the newborn’s, both on top of the Bloodqueen’s chest while she lay back on a pillow against the headboard of the bed 

 A warm burst of love swelled inside of Samantha’s chest, laughing to herself having a thought in her mind before starting a conversation, "Heh, you been wanting to do that haven’t you?" she asks jokingly with a grin forming on her mouth. 

The Senior Vampire burst out a small, short chuckle, "You know, I couldn’t resist when it comes to you…." She shifts a little and uses her thumb tracing patterns over the Bloodkeeper’s knuckles. 

"Well… How can you? Nor even me…We finally have the peace we wanted, we’ve been living together, then married, doing the hell we want…." The Bloodkeeper vampire goes on, she shakes her head, smiling at herself before continuing, as she shifts up to look at her, their clasped hands let go of each other, Samantha leaning close to her, her chin rests on Kamilah’s “I mean, how can we get tired of.. this?” Giving her a wolfish smirk at her, implying of their intimacy. 

Kamilah gazes at Samantha’s dark eyes, her expression showing adoration, "Nights like this makes me feel alive… But out of all, being with you… I feel at peace... " She caresses her face, her thumb stroking the Bloodkeeper’s lower lip. 

"Every time you look at me like that…. I blushed and made an idiot out of myself." Samantha jokes with a chuckle of embarrassment averting her eyes away. 

" Hmm….. Sometimes your actions can be idiotic..." Kamilah’s hand drifted up and she ran her fingers through her hair as she added, " But, " She shows a soft look and raised her head to make Samantha look at her, smiling down into her beautiful face. "Adrian, Lily…. And you the most...You’re all I need… For I am Bound to you… Forever will be mine and I am forever yours...."

You’re all I need

That line made Samantha remember, reminisce about what Lily said about a week ago. 

 "You alright?" The Bloodqueen asks, after her expression changes to confusion on Samantha’s sudden moment of silence. 

The Bloodkeeper vampire shakes her head out of her cloudy mind, "Yeah I'm good…. I actually have been thinking a lot lately… I wanted to talk to you about something." Worry immediately crossed Kamilah’s face, Samantha quickly added, "it's nothing bad! I just…. Hope it won’t be to you." Samantha laughs nervously and she visibly calmed down.

"Yeah of course... You know you can talk to me. What’s on your mind darling?" Kamilah gives out a gentle nod, a small smile plays on her lips, giving Samantha some reassurance.

"I just.. I see me and you lasting, you know forever. I’m sure no doubt you think so too, but….  Having children, do you see that in the future?" Samantha’s heart was hammering in her chest after even saying the word.

The Egyptian Vampire takes a breath like giving herself a moment and she carefully tries to find words to answer, "I have no doubt you're the one that I wanna spend the rest of my immortal life with.." Kamilah replies with no hesitation, making Samantha’s nerves disappear for all of five seconds before she spoke again, "but, whenever I've thought about the future I've never imagined myself as a mother.." Kamilah responds, averting her eyes away for a moment, shrugging.

"You never want kids? Ever? What if I want them?" The Newborn Vampire asks, voice coming out a bit fearful, a little shaky.

The ancient vampire feels like having butterflies in her stomach. "Why are we talking about this now?" Kamilah said, taken aback at Samantha’s tone. 

"Because I want kids, Kamilah.” Samantha blurts out before adding, “ I think we should start actually trying to make a family for us and for the next generation especially for our family… It.. It would also be good for you. Like… What if something happens to us also? Someone should take care of Ahmanet. Take your place, like… an heir. I don’t think it can be anyone Kamilah...."

The senior vampire shakes her head,“Samantha…. I don’t know… I… I don’t hate...children… I just never thought, nor having plans of building a family of my own like Adrian once had… I’m not sure if I can even be good at it....I will give you whatever you want but I am not certain of this one.. You know I love what we have right now and let’s not complicate things by having children and besides I don’t really care if one day all these wealth we have will go to charities. I already put that on my will. 

Samantha’s rooted to the spot mouth open wide. “ Kamilah I can’t believe I’m hearing this!” 

“Why are you acting surprised about this? You know me… I have been living by myself for centuries.. Can’t we drop this subject now? I am not changing my mind Samantha.” Kamilah mentions to her wife, grabs her robe and puts it on and walks towards the liquor cabinet and pour herself some drinks. Looking disappointed evident on her face. 

Samantha jumps out of the bed to put her clothes on, rushes out from their bedroom looking upset, passes Kamilah without saying any words.

“ Wait! Where are you going? Why are you wearing those clothes … Are you going somewhere ?” The blood queen asks her wife.

“ It’s none of your business!”  Her wife yells out to Kamilah, like her emotions are finally being let out after bottling it in.

The vampire queen shaking her head looking at her wife, “ So, are we seriously doing this?” Kamilah, still in her composed behavior , asks Samantha.But the young blood hears nothing, she grabs her keys and shuts the door. 

“That Stubborn Woman!” the vampire queen with frustration murmuring to herself. 

[jubilantwriter]

Jaspvid Week 2020: Day 2 - Reunion

IT’S STILL MONDAY SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD

(AO3)   @jaspvid-week

Not So Dumb for Investing in Door Stoppers, Now Am I?

Summary:  Even as the world cycles over and over again, he’ll always find him.  And one day, no matter what the world throws at David, he’ll make sure that they’ll finally be happy together.

WARNINGS:  Character death(s), depictions of violence

Word Count: 6518

The first time he met him, he didn't really know what to expect.  Blue eyes.  Brown locks.  And a bright smile.

The door closed behind him, and he thought that this was it.

This was where he was meant to be.

But the door didn't lock.

And Jasper didn't stay.

And when he looked away for just a second.

Jasper was gone.

\\\\

It's red.

Everything is red.

His hands, his chest, his face.  There's red everywhere, and David can't press down hard enough on the wound to get it to stop being everywhere.

"Davey," Jasper grunts out, "it's okay."

"It's not!"  The bandanna that was wrapped around his neck seconds before is now stained with the red that coats his hands as he sobs.  "Just- just hold on!  Maybe- maybe there's a doctor in the town nearby or-"

"Don't think I'll last that long, partner."  Jasper coughs, and red dribbles from the corner of his lips as he tries to smile.  But it's weak, just like the rest of him as he squeezes David's hands.  "Do me a favor, Davey."

"Don't," he gasps, tears streaming down his face, "you promised!  You promised it'd just be us two out in the frontier, whether it be workin' together herdin' the cattle or just sleepin' under the stars!  It'd always be us two, stickin' together through thick n' thin!"

"Sorry."  Jasper smiles through his tears, and David knows him well enough to see the bits of fear that peek out from the corner of his eyes.  "Sorry."

"No- shhhh."  He removes his hands from Jasper's bleeding chest and cups his partner's face instead, trying to keep that light in his eyes just a bit longer.  "I'm sorry, I shoulda realized they were followin' us, I shoulda been more careful, I didn't-"

"'nough of that.  Ain't your fault."  Jasper's voice is growing quieter, and David pulls him closer to his chest, closer to him.  He needs to listen.  He has to listen.  "Just- promise me, okay?"

"Jasp-"

"Shhh, promise me."  Jasper's hand comes up to cup David's cheek, stroking it tenderly as he stares into David's eyes as if the stars were hidden there instead of the night sky.  "Promise me you'll find another."

"I can't-!"

"Shh, don't hold yourself just to me.  You're too good for just lil ol' me."  

"I can't- I don't think I can-"

"You will.  I'm sure of it.  You'll find another."

"But I love you!"  He curls over Jasper and desperately clings to the damp cotton shirt sticking to Jasper's chest.  "We waited so long, I-!"

"Davey, I..."  Jasper coughs again, rougher, harder, before he slumps against David with a strangled gasp.  "I love you too, I love you.  So don't- don't..."

Jasper's hand falls from his cheek, but he catches it in a swift movement.

"Don't- don't what?"  

And he clings to that hand.  That hand that would pull him up from the ground.  That hand that would brush the dirt from his cheek and pat his shoulder for a job well done.  That hand that showed him how to ride a horse and round up cattle.

That hand that would stroke his hair at night, when it was just them two together beneath the stars, and the only witnesses to their quiet, secret kisses were the understanding brown eyes of the cattle they kept watch over.

"Jasper," he whimpers softly, "don't what?"

And that hand.  That hand that would radiate warmth and comfort and belonging.  He clings to it, brings it to his lips and breathes on it as his tears obscure the sight of his partner.

"You're- you're so cold now, hold on, I've.  I've got you, alright?  I'll warm you up."  He pulls Jasper impossibly close, buries his face against his shoulder and sobs, cradling his lover in the cold, night air as the stars become the only witnesses to a loss he's not ready to fathom.

"I've got you.  I've got you.  I've got you forever, okay?  I'll come for you.  No matter what."

No matter what.

\\\\

Doors open.

And they close.

When they open, he catches a glimpse of a familiar back.  Broad-shouldered.  Brown locks.  A smile tossed lazily over his shoulder.

And when David reaches out to grab him, the door closes.

It's nothing like a game.  Nor is it a chase.  David merely follows a trail, desperately, after the one he loves.

Over and over again.

Sometimes, he gets lucky, and his foot catches the door.

But when he gets through.  When he tries to take hold of that familiar hand and sees wide, blue eyes catch sight of him.

He hears the door close again.

And visions pass him.

Of eyes meeting.

Fingers touching.

Nearly grasping.

But never quite holding.

It starts as a chance meeting.

"My name is Jasper, and yours?"

"...David."

"It's nice to meet you.  I hope we get along."

"Of course!"

A desperate feeling takes hold of him, and he nearly pulls this complete stranger in for a hug.

But that's strange, isn't it?

"We'll be working together from now on.  I hope I won't be much trouble."

"Nonsense!"

Together, they work in construction, building houses for the local townsfolk as they wipe sweat from their brows and groan with strain on their muscles.

Days pass like this, but David always finds himself looking forward to the end of the day, where he and Jasper can visit the pub for a bit before parting ways for the night.

It begins like it always should.

A shared laugh.

The clink of glasses as they drink away the day's labors.

And a secret shared between glances that only they two understand.

But one night, something changes.

The only warning he gets is a scream before-

A gunshot.

And he's shoved to the floor.

By the time he gets his bearings, Jasper is bleeding out on the floor with a few other unlucky patrons.

He cradles the man in his arms as deja vu strikes him, and he sobs as people scream for doctors.

Powerless.  He's absolutely powerless.

Sometimes a fleeting glance.

A brunette catches his eye as he orders a coffee, exhausted, tired, no doubt from the local college.  David smiles, as he's ought to do with the patrons that come by the shop.  The man smiles back, and David realizes with a start that the man is handsome.  Stunning.  And that his smile melts away the tension David holds in his shoulders.

And he finds himself starting conversation, something he never does willingly.

"What are you studying?"  He asks, already getting started with a brew for the brunette.

"Oh, I haven't actually..."  The man sheepishly combs his fingers through his hair as he laughs.  "I haven't figured exactly what I want to focus on."

"Oh dear, what year are you on?"

"This would be my second year."  The man shrugs and flashes an easy smile.  "But I'm sure I'll figure it out somehow."

"I hope so!"  He pours out the man's coffee and offers it to him.  Their fingers brush together lightly, and David jerks his hand away, feigning the pull as a touch from the hot mug.  The brunette watches him curiously before taking the drink with a nod.

David can't help but watch as the brunette stays, getting a refill or two of coffee as he stares out the shop's windows.  After a few hours, he's one of the few patrons left that sit idly by, the others either reading books or looking over notes.

And yet, this man does nothing but stare out the window and drink his coffee.

When another hour ends, he sighs and brings the mug up to the counter.  David already has another pot ready and waiting.

"Another cup?"

"Oh, no," he chuckles, but it's weaker than David would like it to be.  "I should be going, actually."

His heart drops.

"Already?"

A chuckle, more genuine, this time.

"Well, if I had any more coffee, I'm sure I'd have a heart attack."

"Oh, no I wouldn't want that!"

"I'm sure you wouldn't."  The man's eyes soften as their fingers brush together on the counter.  This time, he doesn't pull back.  "Thank you for the lovely coffee."

"It was my pleasure."  He smiles, an urge to interlock their fingers together biting at his core.  "Feel free to come back again!"

"Ah... I'd like to."

Oh.

"Just visiting the campus then?"

"A friend, actually."  The man pulls his hand away.  "I should go meet him, actually."

"Of course!  It was nice meeting you, I hope the rest of your visit goes well."

"...Thanks."

He watches the man's retreating figure leave the shop, and an optimistic bitterness wells up inside him.

It could have been worse.

It could have been a whole lot worse.

Or a brush between paths.

"Oh my gosh- Oakley!  I'm so sorry!"  He pulls his husky off the man she bowled over, his arm covering his face as she tries to slobber all over him.  "Oakley!  Heel!"

"It's okay!"  The man laughs as he gently pushes her face away to stand up.  He dusts himself off and gives David a bright smile.  David nearly forgets to breathe, a feeling of warmth blooming in his chest as he studies eyes so blue he'd dare call them familiar.  "She's just a little excited - aren't you, girl?"

Oakley barks excitedly as her tail wags.

"May I pet her?"

"Oh, um, of course!"  The man taps his chest, this time fully prepared for the entire weight of her as she licks all over his face, laughing as he pets her.  

"What a good girl you are!"

David should absolutely be scolding Oakley for jumping on a stranger like that.  But the two of them were clearly having so much fun... and they looked awfully cute together... and- ugh, no!  That's still naughty behavior!  He'll just have to... scold her when they get back.

"Alright, that's enough good girl."  He gives her one final pet and gently lets her down onto the ground.  "Thanks for letting me pet her.  She's a sweet gal."

"She is, when she's not jumping onto people she doesn't know."  David gives her a stern look, and Oakley merely stares back with an all-too-pleased snort.  

"Well then, I should let you two continue your walk."  The man bends down to pick up his hat, fixing it atop his head and giving David a polite nod as he continues on his way.  Oakley pulls at her leash, whining and wanting to chase after the stranger as he walks away.

For a moment, David contemplates letting her run towards the man.  It'd give him an excuse to talk to him some more, maybe excuse the poor behavior of his rambunctious dog, and-

Oakley's bark draws him out of his thoughts, and when he looks back to where the man once was, he finds that he's already disappeared.  She whines and tugs harder at her leash, looking at David before barking at the spot where the man once was.

"...Come on, Oakley, we shouldn't bother the good man."

She whines again and tries to fight against David's stubborn movements.  But he doesn't relent, and the husky trudges along with grumpy whines and howls as they continue their walk.

And for some reason, he finds himself just as disappointed in himself as she is.

If not, more so.

But nothing ever changes.  Jasper leaves, either by force or because David lets him go.

And David lets him go plenty of times.

Because if he lets him go, Jasper's less likely to be covered in blood, right?  He'll live longer, be happier, experience life to its fullest.

...But David is selfish.

So horribly selfish.

He sits with his back to a door and bangs his head against it.  He's tired.

So, very tired.

"...Davey."  A voice so familiar calls out to him from the other side.  "Why are you doing this?"

"I don't know."  He bangs his head again, trying to erase those memories of Jasper dying in his arms, Jasper dying in the streets, Jasper strangled or Jasper bloodied or Jasper turning his back and leaving- "I just want to see you again, I guess."

"You see me every time now."  A pause.  "And you're hurt every time."

"Aren't you hurt?"  He laughs bitterly, running a hand down his face.  "God, you get hurt the most, I know you do."

"Davey, maybe you should call it quits."  They've long since lost their drawls, another age coming upon them as their dialects change accordingly.  "You can always love someone else."

"Are you kidding?"  He laughs again, harsh now as he rubs away at his tears.  "I don't think I can do that.  Not until I find you again."

"You don't have to do this."  He's tired.  They're both tired.  They're tired of this endless search, this nearly pointless hide-and-seek where David opens one door to a thousand other doors, and he runs and runs and runs after the shadow of a man he can barely see anymore, a man that's trying to find his way back to David but can't, and so they both run and open doors that close others, all in an effort to try and find the other.

All so that he can see Jasper once more.

Really, truly see him as he is.

Hold him.

And kiss him.

And tell him to his face that he loves him and that they can be happy together for once.

"I have to."  David stands up and wipes away the rest of his tears, more determined than ever as he hears another door close.

And his door open.

He walks through his door, not surprised to find the other side empty.  David is sure by now that the hallways and rooms are all just filled with the echoes of each other's voices.  So he speaks out loud, loud enough that he's sure Jasper can hear him.

"I swore it to you.  I've got you.  And I'll come for you."  He tugs at his shirt, at the place where his bandanna once hung over and charges at the next door.  "No matter what." 

\\\\

David never liked attending these social events.  Too stuffy, too hot, and too crowded with socialites and incredibly rich people throwing their wealth around like a child throwing sand into the ocean.

But here he was.

Dressed in a suit that felt a little too tight on him, trapped in an old mansion in the middle of a masquerade party that he was tugged along to at his friend's behest.  And that friend was nowhere to be seen.

So now.  Here he was.  Sipping at his drink as a mask kept his identity a secret to everyone but him and his friend.  That is, if he could find her anywhere.  Now, where did Gwen run off to-?

"Excuse me."  A voice to his left catches his attention.  Soft, just a tad bit high, but for some reason, this voice sounds like the most calming sound he's ever heard.  David turns towards this stranger with the sweet voice, and a man dressed in an ornate, navy tailcoat that hugs his figure faces away from him.  The only distinguishing feature that David can make out is the mess of brown hair the man runs his fingers through as his nervous voice continues to speak.  "I'm afraid you have the wrong man."

"Don't be so silly!"  A blonde woman is clinging to his arm, pouting as she pulls at him.  "Even though you've cleaned up quite a bit, I'm positive that I have the right man!  ...Although you do sound a bit off.  Have you caught a cold?  Oh never mind that, won't you come dancing with me, darling?"

"Miss-"

"Oh um, excuse me."  David rests his hand on the stranger's shoulder and sees a pair of wide, blue eyes turn to look at him.  And David swears he's seen those precious blues somewhere else before.  

"Yes?"  The blonde woman turns her pout into a frown as she looks David up and down.  "Can we help you?"

"You mean ah, you.  Can I help you."  David pretends he can't feel the sweat begin to build on the back of his neck.  "You see, haha, my friend has been meaning to teach me to dance and um, he, therefore, owes me a dance.  Before you."  The woman's frown deepens as David quickly waves his hands in front of him.  "That is!  If he still wants to dance with you, he can!  It's just that- well, um, he promised me first.  S-sorry."  

"Right, dear."  She pulls her hand away from the stranger and crosses her arms.  "And I'm supposed to believe you because...?"

"I'm his friend!"

"Of course.  Then you wouldn't have any trouble telling me his name then, hm?"  A coy smile plays on her painted lips as she looks over David again.  "Shouldn't be too difficult."

"Oh um, h-his name is..."  David gulps as his mind races to pick a name out for this handsome stranger, but before his mind can pick one that stands out, the stranger's warm hand gently squeezes David's arm in comfort.

"Actually," he says easily, the sound of his voice taking David's breath away, "you seemed awfully familiar with me earlier.  Why don't you tell me my name instead?"

"Wh-?"  The woman scoffs and lifts a hand to laugh behind it.  "Don't be ridiculous, darling!  Of course I know your name!"

"What is it then?"  The woman frowns, and it occurs to David that maybe she really does believe she knows this man.  A part of him wants to laugh, just a little, because no one could possibly-

Huh.

"But if I say it, then he'd know your name too."  

"Then my nickname.  Shouldn't be too much of a giveaway."  And then the stranger releases David's arm to rest his own arm on David's shoulder, reclining ever so casually as David tries not to suddenly combust on the spot.

He knows he found the room hot earlier, but holy CRIPES does he feel like he's on fire now.

"Well I wouldn't say that-"  She pauses, eyeing the stranger's smug smirk as her brows draw together.  "...No, I suppose it wouldn't be, hm?"  The woman straightens up with a coy smile on her face, despite how her eyes flick between David and the stranger in confusion.  "It's Kev."

"Unfortunately, miss, like I said before, you got the wrong man."  The stranger nods to David without looking at him, but there's an unspoken trust that settles between them.  No doubt, no matter what name David says, the stranger will go along with it.  "What's my nickname, dear friend?"

As he looks over at this stranger who feels more familiar by the second, a single name is all that comes to him as he looks over the brunette.  Warmth spreads and builds up from inside of his chest as he speaks a name he's never spoken before.

"...Jasp."  Those blue eyes flick to him in interest as David breathes out the nickname.  "Short for Jasper."

"That's right."  There's awe in the man's voice, and David swears there's a delighted twinkle in his eyes before he turns away from to face the bewildered woman.  "My name is Jasper.  And if you still wish to doubt us," he lifts his mask up just enough to make the woman pale at her mistake, "there you have it.  I'm truly sorry that you mistook me for this 'Kev' person, but I'm sure if you look around a bit longer, you'll find your partner."

"He's not my-"  The woman groans and makes to pinch the bridge of her nose, only to be further frustrated as the mask blocks her way.  "Oh, never mind!  I'm truly sorry for mistaking him for you, please, continue on with your night."  She rushes away with a huff, only to pause as she throws a bored look over her shoulder.  "Although, I suppose a little bit of caution should be taken, hm?  Bull-headed idiots tend to roam around at night, and they usually charge first, think later.  If I were you, I'd be careful tonight."  Before either of them can question her words, she disappears into the crowd without another word.  It's then that the man takes his arm off David in a rush, hands up as if David was somehow upset by the touching to begin with.  

Surprisingly, he was not.

"Oh!  Sorry, I barely even know you and-"

"It's fine!"  David reassures the man quickly, laughing sheepishly as he feels himself relax around the stranger.  Why did he feel so calm around him?  "I don't mind, really."

"Right, um."  The man quickly cards his fingers through his locks, a habit David realizes is of the nervous sort.  "Thank you for saving me back there, I really appreciate it."

"It was my pleasure."  The conversation stalls to a stop as David shuffles nervously.  Normally, this is where they should part ways, right?  He helps out a stranger, they exchange their pleasantries, and then the stranger goes on about his night.  That's what most strangers do, especially if there's no reason to stay.  

But the stranger stays.

Drifts a bit closer to David until he offers a gloved hand to him.

"It'd be rude of me to go back on my word."  David blinks as the stranger with sapphires for eyes returns his gaze, a soft smile on his face.

"...What?"  David is about to scold to himself for giving such a dumb response, but the man merely chuckles and keeps his hand outstretched.  His chuckle is just as soft as his smile, and there isn't a hint of judgement in it.  It's light, free, airy.

A sweet sound that David tucks away in his memory.

He wants to hear that chuckle again.  

"You said I was supposed to teach my dear friend how to dance."  The man winks.  David swallows.  "And my mother always told me to make good on my word."

"R-right."  David takes his hand, and even with gloves on, he can feel the warmth that radiates from the stranger.  The man squeezes David's hand reassuringly as he tugs him to the dance floor.  "Oh!  But, um, I already know how to dance."

"Then that makes my job easier!"  With a laugh, he pulls David close to him and keeps his grip on David's hand, the other settling on his shoulder.  David's ears burn as he assumes the lead role, his free hand settling on the stranger's back.  Surely, his ears are burning because he can feel the heat of curious dancers boring holes into him and his partner, and not for any other reason.

They must be a strange sight to behold.  Two men dancing with each other as though they were the only ones on the floor.

But the stranger's bright smile makes it hard to focus on the scrutiny of everyone around them.  Another wink from the man has David's feet moving automatically with the tempo of the music, and the stranger keeps pace with him easily.

"So then, rude of me to just ask right now but, what is your name?"  The stranger tilts his head to the side as they dance, and David nearly stumbles from how cute that was.  

"Oh!  U-um, my name is David."

"David."  The man rolls his name around on his tongue, as if to savor the feel of it.  "A very nice name!  I like it."

"Th-thanks.  I like it too!"  Even more so now.  "And... your real name is...?"

"Well, wouldn't you know it?  Your guess was spot on!"  The man- no, Jasper laughs heartily as they continue to dance.  "My name really is Jasper!  You even got my nickname right, which is..."  Jasper trails off, his eyes blinking slowly behind his mask.  "...Huh.  Well, actually, I don't think anyone has called me 'Jasp' before."

"Oh, if that's so then, um, I can... keep calling you Jasp."  Jasper's surprised gaze causes him to squeak.  He nearly lifts his hands to shake them in front of him, but stops when he finds himself unable to let go in the first place.  Instead, he tightens his grip on Jasper as he tries to recover.  "I-I mean, if you want me to, that is..."  David's gaze drops to the ground as Jasper's feet slow to a stop.  A gloved finger gently tips his chin up as eyes that look like a clear blue sky meet his own with that familiar twinkle in them.  

"I think that's a splendid idea."  A smile matches the subtle squint of Jasper's eyes as he takes the lead from David.  "Even makes me feel a little more special than I already do."

"Special?"

"Well," Jasper gives David's shoulder a gentle squeeze as they drift with the dancing crowd around them, "I think all this special attention you're giving me is quite the gift already.  A nickname as well?  You flatter me, good sir."  

The best response David can come up with is incoherent stammering and a bright blush.  Jasper laughs as he sweeps David with his movements, swaying just enough with the crowd that they blend in like every other couple.

It's easy to get lost in Jasper's movements.  Easy to match every step he takes, every turn, every pivot - they flow naturally like the river behind his house, easily maneuvering around each rock, each log, each obstacle in their way as though nothing can break their rhythm.  When Jasper twirls him out with a grin, his grip remains strong as David is pulled back into Jasper's waiting arms, a giggle escaping David as he's held close to this stranger he swears feels more familiar to him with each passing second.

Which can't be true.  He barely knows the man.  But as Jasper continues to smile and spin him around, he finds himself dizzy with the idea of being around him more.

Maybe actually getting to know him.

Wouldn't that be simply divine?

Oh, but he supposes maybe getting actually dizzy might be affecting him too.

"Jasp," he gasps, head lolling forward a bit to rest on the brunette's shoulder, "can we, um, rest for a bit?"

"Oh- oh!  Sorry, okay, that's enough, huh?"  A worried chuckle escapes him as Jasper leads David off the dance floor.  "Do you want a drink maybe?"

He shakes his head.  "Is fresh air alright?"

"Of course!"  Jasper begins leading him out to the gardens where they're met by a rush of people happily drinking and conversing loudly within their many groups.  David didn't mind the ruckus - this is normal for parties, after all - but Jasper seemed less than satisfied with the noise.  "Let's say we try the third floor instead."

"Huh?  Why?"  That didn't sound very fresh airy.

"I heard there's a balcony on the third floor that has a fantastic view of the stars!  And I don't think these bumbling drunks can make it past the first flight of stairs."  Jasper takes David's wrist and tugs him along.  David should probably protest.  Maybe say wandering someone's mansion during a masquerade party isn't very guest-like behavior.

But then again...

If what Jasper says is true...

Then he could be alone with Jasper.

Even for a little bit.

It's enough to have him pick up his pace, a smile growing on his face as he feels like a child again.

Just the two of them, under the stars, talking.

Where no one can see them.

Where no one can judge them.

Jasper glances over his shoulder to David and flashes him a grin.

He gets it now.

As they make it to the third floor, Jasper pushing open doors and glancing around to find his little quiet spot, David realizes that it was never the ruckus that bothered Jasper.

It was simply the eyes that followed their every move.

And now, as Jasper happily crows at finally finding the balcony, he finds himself willing to break a few rules if it means spending time with Jasper like this.

"Here we are!"  Jasper leads him towards the balcony, the wooden railing creaking a bit under Jasper's weight as he leans against it.  Old wood, David thinks idly as he leans on the balcony next to Jasper.  Hopefully it won't crack under their weight.  "How's this for fresh air?"

The breeze ruffles their hair as David takes a deep breath.  Clean.  Crisp.  Cold.  He shivers and leans against Jasper for warmth, the brunette casually wrapping an arm around David to pull him closer.  David nestles closer to Jasper's side and sighs happily.

"It's... it's good."  He looks up at the night sky, and while his mask obscures a bit of his sight, it's still enough that he can see the stars twinkling ever so brightly in the sky.

When he was a child, alone and furious, he believed that the stars would look down at him only to mock him, for while they all had each other, he was by his lonesome, crying out by the barn with no friends to speak of.  But were they really mocking him?  Or was he just imagining it?

Because now.

Now when he sees the stars, twinkling and sparkling like tiny secrets just waiting to be told, he's reminded of Jasper's eyes, and how they twinkle and sparkle with untold secrets he wants to know.

Secrets whispered into his ear maybe, like a little treasure that only he's allowed to know.

He turns to look at Jasper, only to find the man gazing at him softly, a small smile gracing his lips as he rests his head on his palm.

"Has anyone told you that you have the most beautiful eyes known to man?"

David feels his face heat up once more as he looks away, flustered but happy.

"N-no."

"Really?"  He can practically hear the excitement in Jasper's voice.  "Well, lucky me for being the first to tell you then!"

David laughs a bit at that, and when he brings his gaze back to Jasper, he sees those lovely sparkles again as they practically shine with an affection David swears he felt once a long time ago.  It makes him want to see Jasper.

Really see Jasper.  No mask on to hide his identity.

Just him, and his plain ol' face.

He must have been staring for a while, for Jasper smirks playfully and points at his mask.  "What?  Do I have something on my face?"

David opens his mouth to respond just as cheekily when another voice responds for him.

"Well yes, actually, you do."

They both stiffen and turn to face the source of the voice, Jasper's arm quickly dropping as they do so.  

There, standing on the balcony behind them stood a tall blonde, arms folded behind his back as his smile sends shivers down David's neck.  It's cruel, and cold, and angry.  

"Do-"  David gulps, glancing at Jasper before looking at the blonde before them.  "Do we know you?"

"I wouldn't say that you’d know me," the man drawls, striding forward slowly, "I'd say you're quite innocent, to say the least.  But the man next to you is a scam.  So I'd suggest you step away from him and let me deal with him."

"Sir, I don't even-"  Jasper's words come to a halt as a silver glint reflects in the moon's light.  A breath is caught in David's throat as he stares at the knife.

"Oh, don't play coy with me," the blonde growls, his smile now swapped for a snarl.  "Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice- well, I'll make sure you don't go for the third time, hm?"  

David steps between them, ignoring Jasper's alarmed cry as he does so.  "Listen, let's all just calm down for a minute-"

"You don't get to tell me to calm down, sir," he waves the knife around in the air, and oh boy, is that dangerous, "so if you could please step aside and mind your own business-"

David quickly grabs the man's hand and twists his arm, making the blonde shout in shock and pain as he drops the knife.  Before the man can react, David kicks the knife off the balcony, hopefully having it land somewhere where nobody can get hurt.

Alarmed screams sound from below, but nothing bloodcurdling yet, so he calls that a success!

He, however, does not call the fist connecting with his jaw a success.  David grunts in pain and stumbles with the force of the punch, the blonde following it up with a sharp kick into his side that has David stumbling and collapsing onto the balcony floor with a pained wheeze.

"David!"

"And stay down there, if you know what's best for- ghk!"  Sounds of a fist connecting with something has David struggling to push himself to catch sight of Jasper grabbing hold of the blonde's suit to connect his fist to the blonde's face yet again.  

"I don't know WHAT your problem is-" Jasper grits out as the man catches his fist, "but I don't fuckin' know you!"

"I told you not to play coy with me!"  The blonde slams his forehead against Jasper's, stunning the brunette long enough for the blonde to slam him against the railing.  The low creak of the wood catches David's attention as his heart comes to a stop.

"Wait-"

"I've warned you once before, Kevin-"

What?

"Kevin?"  Jasper's bewildered voice quickly turns into a snarl as he grapples with the blonde.  "I'm not fuckin' Kevin!"

"Don't be ridiculous, I'd recognize that hair anywhere-"

"Oh, so you think all men with brown hair are your Kevin then?"

"I know your tricks!  You can try and mask your voice all you want, but I know it's you-"

The wood creaks dangerously as the two men struggle and slam against it, David barely pushing himself up fast enough to stagger towards them.  "Stop- the railing-"

The blonde tries to kick at Jasper's legs but instead breaks clean through one of the balusters between his legs.

Although initially shocked, the blonde grins widely as he slams his forehead down once more against Jasper's, a resounding crack that's followed by wheezing gasp as the blonde follows through with a punch in the gut for good measure.  As Jasper groans and curls forward, his mask falling to the ground as he fails to recover while the blonde braces an arm against Jasper's stomach and pushes up as he-

Oh.

Oh no.

"Stop- stop!!"  David runs towards the pair as the blonde heaves and shoulders Jasper's body over the balcony.  

Time slows down as David watches both of their expressions change as Jasper's body tumbles over the railing.

The horrified realization the blonde has as it is, indeed, the wrong man he just tossed over the edge.

And Jasper's fearful acceptance that he is about to fall to his death.

A promise rings loud and clear in David's mind as he shoves the blonde aside to make it to the railing and lurches forward.

I'll come for you.

He lets out a pained yell as his arm takes the full weight of Jasper's hanging body, half his body hanging over the edge as the broken baluster digs into his shoe as a shoddy anchor.

"I've got you!"  He gasps out, reaching out with his other hand to hold on tightly to Jasper's wrist.  "I've fucking got you!"

"David!"  Jasper's wide eyes stare at him from below, hand clammy and sweaty as David grits out a cry of desperation.  "David you're- you're going to fall too!"

He shakes his head, and this damn mask is just getting in the way so he shakes and shakes and shakes until it flies off and finally, finally he can see Jasper, and Jasper can see him.

"I'm not letting go!"  He digs his nails into Jasper's sleeve and nearly screeches as he tries to pull him up.  "I'm not losing you!"

It's too easy imagining Jasper broken and bleeding, the sparkles in his eyes gone as the light in his eyes go dull, and he lays lifeless and gone to the world.

Gone to David.

He hates how easy it is to imagine that.

And he wants it to stop.

If it means destroying himself in process just to save his life, just once, he'd take that risk.

"David just- just let go, it's okay!"  Jasper gasps and smiles through his tears as his sleeve begins to slip through David's grip.  "I'm happy I got to see your face, at least-"

"Shut up!"  David hasn't yelled in years, and it shocks him almost as much as it shocks Jasper.  "Just- just shut up!  I said I've got you, didn't I?!"  Even so, he can feel his upper body slipping more and more over the edge as he struggles to pull Jasper up, even with his foot caught on the broken baluster, if he doesn't do something soon, they both very well could die-

Arms wrap around his waist as a voice breathlessly calls out to him, "I've got you, so just hold on to him!"

There's grunts and groans as the blonde pulls from behind while David continues to pull Jasper up until he can grab the railing himself.  From there, David and the blonde grab him by the back of his suit and help him up and over until they all collapse on the balcony floor, Jasper sprawled out on David as they huff and catch their breath.

"Hey," Jasper wheezes out, gesturing at the blonde, "what's your name?"

"Daniel," he gasps out.  

"Fuck you."

"Well deserved and received."

David says nothing, and swings an arm around Jasper as he hugs him close.

"David?"

"Shut up."  He presses his face against the brunette's shoulder and hiccups through his breathing as a sob rises in his chest.  "Never tell me to let you go again."

"...Okay."  A hand cards through David's hair as he sobs against Jasper's shoulder.  "I won't."  There's a slight hesitance in Jasper's actions before David can feel the lips press against his forehead, a single breath brushing against his skin as he feels the words: "...Thank you."

\\\\

Doors open, and they close.

But this time.

This time, the door stays open.

A ginger cowboy finally grabs a familiar brunette's wrist, after years of searching and yearning and crying, he finally, finally catches hold of his lover's wrist before it can disappear behind one of those millions of doors.

"...Hey, partner."

And the brunette, shocked and surprised with a frown that turns into a soft smile on his face, turns to find the one he thought he'd never be allowed to see again.

"...You idiot."

"I told you I'd come for you, didn't I?"

"I guess you did."

The ginger pulls his lover into his arms, letting the brunette cling and sob into his shoulder as he rocks them both back and forth.

"I've got you," he soothes through his tears, stroking locks so soft, so familiar, so like home.  "I've got you.  No matter what."

No matter what.

[hiddendreamer67]

Borrower Analogical (3)

Chapter Summary: November 15th, 2019. The humans grow suspicious and Logan is moved to a new location.

(Check my reblog for links to previous chapters)

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

“We have a problem.” Logan looked up, eavesdropping on the human’s conversation in the kitchen. 

“What’s up?” Patton asked, stirring a pot on the stove. 

“I think that thing can get out.” Roman’s voice lowered in volume as he gestured to the cage. “The hook disappeared.” uh oh.

“I thought you said there were two hooks?” Patton clarified.

“Yes, there were.” Roman nodded. “But now there’s only one again.” Patton walked over towards the cage, leaning down to inspect Logan. Logan kept his head down, trying to feign disinterest when inside his heart was pounding.

“Well, it doesn’t look like he has it.” Patton pointed out. Roman joined him in the living room, looking annoyed. 

“I’m telling you, he’s responsible for this.” Roman said, not knowing he was only half-right. 

“Maybe you just misplaced it.” Patton offered. 

“No, I didn’t.” Roman insisted. “I checked all around my room, and all I found was that my paper clips had been moved too.”

“Your...paper clips?” Patton’s eyebrows furrowed. He shook his head briefly. “Roman, that’s all very strange-”

“Exactly!”

“But just think about what you’re suggesting.” Patton reasoned. “This little guy somehow undid the lock, went to your room, stole your office supplies, and then decided to re-lock himself in the enclosure?” Logan was relieved that at least one human was still capable of reason. 

“Okay, yes, it does sound a bit crazy.” Roman admitted. “But you’ve gotta admit, it’s a bit too much of a coincidence that out of all the things to suddenly disappear, it’s that dumb fish hook.” Roman looked at the cage a bit warily. “Do you think it has magic powers?” Logan almost raised an eyebrow as he tried to hide a snort, meeting Roman’s eye. “Oh my, now it’s looking at me. Why’s it looking at me?”

“Because you’re staring again.” Patton gently put his hand on Roman’s shoulder, pulling him a few steps back. “We’re probably startling it, most small creatures keep an eye on possible threats. We watched a video in class about it today. It’s perfectly normal.”

“There’s nothing perfectly normal about any of this.” Roman muttered, giving Logan the hand gesture for I’m watching you. Logan knew that it was perhaps best to not engage the human, but the small look of unease on the human’s face made it worth it. Logan put his head down, hiding a small smile. It was at least momentarily amusing to find he was able to bring a small bit of discomfort upon a human bean.

“I think we need to keep a closer eye on him.” Roman declared, causing Logan’s smile to drop. More human surveillance would only make it harder for Virgil to come up with an escape plan.

“How about we move it to your room?” Patton suggested, a small twinkle in his eye. “That way you can tell me if he has magic powers.” Logan tensed, not liking the idea of a change. Especially one that would put him in closer proximity with the humans. 

“Are you mocking me?” Roman huffed.

“Only a little.” Patton teased. “But it would also be good to get the lil’ guy out of the living room.” He looked down at said captive sympathetically. “I think all the foot traffic is scaring him.” 

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Roman marched over to the cage, causing Logan to scramble back. He lifted the enclosure, and Logan tumbled along the bottom slightly with all the movements.

“Careful!” Patton warned, rushing over to support the other side. Logan grasped onto the bars of the cage, trying to keep himself steady as he rose and fell with each footfall. 

“Over here, Padre.” Roman guided the two of them into his bedroom and towards his desk, freeing his hand briefly to push a handful of notebooks out of the way. The two gently set the cage down on the desk, Logan still panting heavily at the bottom. His eyes scanned across the room, reevaluating his new prison location.

“Perfect!” Patton said, clapping his hands happily.  

Logan held the exact opposite view of the situation. This was a disaster. He kicked at the bars out of meer frustration as the humans left to eat dinner, only for Roman to return shortly. Logan loathed everything about his new situation; he loathed the feeling of constantly being watched when Roman studied, he loathed the desk lamp that shone in his face as the hours crept long into the night, and he loathed how long it took for Roman to finally go to bed and leave him in peace. 

Of course, that peace was only relative as well, given the human was sleeping only ten feet away. His snores rumbled throughout the room, alleviating any chance of Logan getting some sleep. There was sure to be no privacy now that he resided with a human. At least while in the living room Logan had the night hours to himself. 

Still, Logan could at least take comfort in the fact that while Roman’s suspicion was dangerous, so far both humans proved too incompetent to even consider Virgil’s existence. He would have to warn Virgil to be more careful, though. Borrowing was going to be a lot more difficult now that the humans were looking for signs of the unordinary. 

“Finally.” Virgil said, appearing as if from thin air. Logan hadn’t seen him traversing the floor in the dark. “I was beginning to think he never sleeps.”

“What are you doing here?” Logan whispered, casting an anxious glance towards Roman’s form. Logan had never gone borrowing in the human’s room while he was asleep, preferring to borrow while Roman was at school, and thus Logan didn’t know if Roman was in fact a light sleeper.

“Rescuing you, remember?” Virgil crept over, keeping his voice low as well.

“Do you have a plan?” Logan’s face lit up. 

“Well…” Virgil cringed. “I’m working on one.” Logan tried not to vocalize his disappointment, but he was sure his facial features betrayed him. 

“The humans are getting suspicious.” Logan informed him. “They saw the hook was missing.”

“Yeah, I saw the whole thing.” Virgil fiddled with the hook at his side, the one that had caused all this trouble. “I’m, I’m really sorry Lo. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“I know you didn't.” Logan assured him. “I don’t blame you; and frankly, even given the circumstances I still would have advised you to take it. It’s too valuable a tool for you to lose now.”

“So...you don’t think I should put it back?” Virgil looked over to where Logan’s hook still lay on the other side of the desk.

“No, at this point that would only arouse more suspicion.” Logan shook his head. “It’s best you keep it.” Unfortunately, for the same reason Logan knew that his own hook would have to stay put. It was so close, and yet so far. Logan gazed at it as if it were mocking him.

“If you don’t have a plan, why are you here?” Logan turned his attention back to his friend.

“I just…” Virgil scratched his head, searching for the right words. “I dunno, I didn’t want you to feel alone.” 

“That’s...appreciated.” Logan gave him a small smile, despite the fact that Virgil’s actions were incredibly illogical.

A particularly large snort from their human roommate made both borrower hearts skip a beat, but Roman continued to sleep on, oblivious to Virgil’s added presence.

“I’ll, uh, take that as my cue to go.” Virgil said sheepishly, a bit shaken from the close call. “But i’ll come back tomorrow, okay?” Logan was quiet for a moment, thoughtful.

“No.” Logan’s response was softer than he intended.

“...Come again?” Virgil paused, in the middle of unraveling his hook.

“Don’t come back tomorrow.” Logan’s eyes were still locked on Roman’s sleeping form, looking fearful. “I’m being watched too frequently. Roman’s incredibly suspicious of my actions as it stands. Though both humans are incompetent, it’s only a matter of time before they connect the dots about today.”

“What, uh, what are you saying?” Virgil swallowed a lump in his throat to speak, catching on.

“If you keep coming, they’ll find you too.” Logan explained, looking at him. “Don’t come back. At all.”

“Don’t come back at all?” Virgil repeated. “How the hell am I supposed to rescue you, then?” Logan’s lack of an answer made Virgil’s eyes widen. “Oh, oh hell no.”

“Virgil, I know the prospect of moving is frightening-” 

“Like hell I’m leaving you!” Virgil’s voice was louder than intended, driven by rage. It bounced lightly off the walls. Logan put a hurried finger to his lips, but the damage was done.

Both borrowers froze as they heard a loud groan. Heads whipped around to face the large bed where the human let out a large yawn. Fearing the giant was waking, Virgil got ready to bolt.

After a few incredibly tense moments, Roman rolled over. The human shifted a bit more in those enormous sheets, and eventually… the snoring resumed. Logan let out a small sigh of relief. 

“What happened to all that talk yesterday, huh?” Virgil whispered, visibly shaking. “About how I’m smart enough for the both of us?”

“Virgil, I’m sure given the proper amount of time and resources you would be able to free me from this prison.” Logan turned to his friend. “Unfortunately, you are lacking both. The humans know of my existence. They know things are going missing despite the fact I’m behind bars. Sooner or later they’ll figure out there are two of us.”

“So?” Virgil muttered. The idea of humans knowing about his presence was frightening, but that was always a risk of borrowing. You never knew if a human bean had caught a passing glimpse of you in the night.

“Virgil, they’ll go looking for you.” Logan insisted. “They’ll put up traps. They’ll set up surveillance systems. You are a fantastic borrower, but the probability of even you evading capture forever if you continue to come back for me is slim to none.”

Virgil didn’t realize there were tears in his eyes until his vision became blurry. Logan was grasping his hands through the bars again, but he was barely aware of their comforting warmth.

“Virgil? Virgil, breathe.” Logan instructed, realizing Virgil was getting overwhelmed. 

“I - I’m sorry.” Virgil gasped, trying to get himself under control.

“It’s alright.” Logan assured him, waiting patiently for Virgil’s breathing to regulate. Virgil counted his breaths, timing it to Logan’s own. Slowly, Virgil could feel the world around him again. He gave Logan a small nod to indicate he was back. Logan spoke in a calmer tone. “Get out of here, Virgil. Get far away from this place while you still can.”

“I’m not leaving you here.” Virgil insisted, clinging to Logan’s hands tightly. He glared. “Stop acting like you know what’s best. We’re a team, remember? You don’t get to boss me around. And that includes bossing me around to get me to leave you alone.” Logan smirked slightly at this, but his eyes still looked broken. 

“Fine.” Logan slowly pulled his arms back from Virgil’s embrace as though it pained him. “I cannot control you. I cannot force you to move.” Logan pulled his arms around himself. “But at the very least, respect me enough to not come back. Not unless it’s a necessary aspect of your plan. We… we can’t risk any more social calls.” Virgil looked at him.

“...fine.” Virgil agreed, his heart aching. “I...guess this is goodbye then.” Logan gave a terse nod, and Virgil guessed that if Logan tried to speak no words would come out. Virgil reached out a hand, but Logan only backed further away, shaking his head. Virgil sighed, trying to stay strong for Logan’s sake as he grappled back down.

[nathalie-sancoeur-assistant]

This is filled w/ spoilers

So here it is, time for me to pull myself together and post all my thoughts and feelings on the new episode into one big long post. 

So my overall feelings?

I am upset

Not because it was a bad episode- it was amazing, literally so good- nope, it’s because of Nathalie- but I’ll get into that in a moment. I’m gonna put a read-more here cause this is gonna probably be really long- and could very well be a recap of the whole ep with my commentary. 

-----

First off, when Plagg seemed not to like Adrien’s birthday present for Marinette, he seemed so concerned (these screenshots aren’t going to be very good quality because I REALLY don’t feel like going through all the trouble of making them look nice & take hours on one post)

Look at the little bean! SO concerned. It’s perfect Honeybun, she’ll love it. 

Then onto the next scene...

Even during meals, they sit so far away from each other. Why? I’ve often wondered what the point of such a long table with so many chairs could be, especially in a house that’s so big yet so empty. I suppose that it could do well for meetings, but still, this is a family meal, not a company get-together or business meeting with people you have to impress. They have to practically yell at each other to be heard. 

Also, look at this

He basically asked Nathalie for approval. “Should I let him?” “Yes sir, I would.” “Very well, Adrien.”

Also, the fact that Gabriel and Lila have the same meeting place each time. He isn’t just driving by hoping to catch her, they have a time and place set up. And the idea that Marinette is a bad influence? Preposterous! But of course, this is Lila. 

Screw Lila. 

“You work to hard, sir” 

Yes Nathalie, I’m sure you know what working to hard feels like. You’re not exactly relaxing, yourself. 

---

Next scene! 

Ms. Bustier: Marinette, would you bring your school bag to me please, I need to check something

Okay so first off, you’re going off of an anonymous tip that one of your best and most well-behaved students (Aside from being late quite often) is a thief and a cheat? And secondly, you really think that she is SO STUPID that if she had taken them knowingly, she wouldn’t have maybe removed them from her bag? Third, why did Marinette not FIND them in her bag before school started, take them out, and maybe call Alya or something. 

“That’s impossible Marinette, Lila got the worst grade in the class” not impossible if she stole them after the test- also, way to be subtle on grades. I thought teachers were supposed to keep that stuff relatively undercover. 

And Adrien really said “Marinette Rights”

---

So.

There’s no sound of crashing. 

Lila just yells “Ready?” in the most mischievous voice she can

Then she starts screaming

And no one stopped to think “Hey, not only is Marinette really not known to assault people, but we didn’t hear a single thud that would have sounded like someone falling down the stairs preceding her screams.”

“She keeps calling me a liar, getting the others to gang up against me...” SINCE. WHEN?

Also. 

“Oh...I have proof”

How would she have known that the proof was in Marinette’s locker? And again, if she knew, why would she be surprised to find the pendant in Marinette’s locker??

UGH. 

---

Now we get to the part that started lil miss me to get so upset. 

“Are you ready, Nathalie?”

“More than ever.”

She just bounces out from behind him, ready as she’ll ever be. 

Look at her 

Then she goes on to call him the Almighty Scarlet Moth and I just smh 

Awww. She looks like she’s ready to punch those butterflies in the face. You punch those akumas. 

Varity Queen? Princess Justice? Oh yeah. I wanna see those. 

And now to the scene that hurt me

“What’s wrong?!”

“Nothing, everything's fine! Keep going..”

She was so ready to just fall down and choke while he continued his fight and she would have still loved him if he hadn’t stopped to help her

But this seen makes it so clear

he loves her too

Even if it’s just as a friend and assistant, he loves her. And it just...the voice acting, her voice actor was so good, it physically hurts me to watch that scene. 15/10.  

And Tikki yelling at Marinette...well not really yelling...but holy crap, there is a lot riding on this 14 year old girls shoulders when it comes to her own emotions. She’s still learning what some of them are, puberty is far from over with her, so now she just has the added pressure of not being able to feel the natural emotions that occur with hormone fluctuations and righteous anger from being falsely accused without having to be fearful of Hawkmoth’s akuma. 

But on the bright side, Alya FINALLY believes Marinette! She may have her flaws and push Mari a bit to much IMO when it comes to Adrien but hey, when it comes right down to it, she’ll stick it out with her pals. A true friend. 

---

Is that the same doctor we saw at Master Fu’s?

And despite her state, still the only thing she’s thinking about is him, his goals, what he wants- and he’s not even thinking about that right now. 

He looks so distraught too. He needs her. But she’s just so laser focused on one thing that she’s not thinking about the other possibilities. Mark my words, her persistence is what’s going to drive him to stop being Hawkmoth. 

“I don’t care, Gabriel. I want to help you.” I swear, I’m gonna start crying again. She’s telling him how she feels when she says stuff like that! It’s loud and clear. If he hasn’t seen it by now, when it’s more obvious than Marinette could ever hope to be- then literally nothing but her straight up saying the words “I’m in love with you” is gonna make it click. He has to know!

“Not at that cost! Never at that cost again...” then it cuts to his family portrait. 

Why, pray tell, does it cut to his family portrait? Of all things. Why did it cut to anything at all? They didn’t need to go to the trouble of creating a whole new picture to cut to if they didn’t NEED to. It’s saying something. And Im pretty sure that its that he’s not willing to give up Nathalie, not even for Emilie. 

I would also like to point out that in that picture, he is wearing blue- but now, he primarily wears red. What is a combination of blue and red? Purple. The color of Nathalie’s suit. 

Hmm...

Nathalie: Shh

Me: *handing Nooroo pots and pans*

She’s so desperate to help him- and look at how she treats Duusu. She isn’t being cruel. Duusu just told her “No, you should be resting” and she’s just like “Yeah, but what if I didn’t?” not “Don’t tell me what to do!” or any crap like that. Instead she stops and explains herself. And then Duusu...

No, not it’s not romantic. It’s twisted. I love Gabriel and Nathalie as a pair, but this isn’t a romantic gesture. Nathalie is losing herself in her desperation to help him, get the miraculous, end it once and for all, and her desires to please Gabriel even if it means that he’s not going to want her in the end. She is fighting a losing battle, no matter what happens, she’s going to get the short end of the stick- and it just breaks my heart that she is so willing to throw her life away when there are other ways she could be assisting him that don’t include her deteriortating. That’s why I cried so much during this ep- she wants to prove a point by using this miraculous when it isn’t necessary. And that is why I officially HATE seeing Mayura- because each time she transforms she’s one step closer to falling down and not getting back up. 

Also, I thought this scene was super interesting. That’s how she creates a sentimonster? That is so cool. 

Moving on, when Adrien pulls out his phone 

“I am Mayura, and I’m about to annihilate Ladybug, Mwahahaha!” Points for subtlety, Hon. XD

She’s so cute

“I’ve always gone out of my way to hide my true feelings for you but I just can’t do it anymore” possible foreshadowing? Hmmm?? “Your feelings for me haven’t changed and mine are growing stronger every day” I can’t help but think she was speaking from her own heart in some of that. 

And our poor little kitty

So desperate for love, he refuses to believe that

Ladybug wasn’t actually moving on

“She’s so perfect” “I’m nowhere near as perfect as her.”

Also “Senticharm!” *gets big gun blaster thing*

“Lucky Charm!” *gets fork*

Seriously Gabriel and Nathalie belong together at this rate. 

“Nathalie?!”

“Nooroo why didn’t you wake me up?” “I couldnt bring myself to you were sleeping so peacefully” because “Im scared of you and Nathalie told me to Shh” wasn’t the right response. 

She gets tired even when using the miraculous

And she still goes out in the field 

Heeeerrres Hawky!

Legit tho, this is what an anon was talking about earlier from the Gabenath ask meme I did a while back. I said that what I look forin a fanfic would include Hawkmoth needing to save Mayura on the battlefield. And it JUST became canon. Lord have mercy, I think I’ve died XD

Also 

“You’re the real monster!” 

“Oh, that...you’ll find out very soon” He doesn’t even care tho. Like, where’s all his givacraps fly off to? Oh yeah that’s right they’re akumatizing people, they just keep flying away.  

He is huge compared to them. And just going to town trying to whap this 14 year old girl into oblivion. Boy. 

“All I need to do is wait a few minutes until you two turn back into regular kids, so fragile, so easy to break” Absolutely no filter. Do you think that’s going to make you seem less like a villain? We don’t say stuff like that! You can’t just take that back! I swear, if you have a redemption arc it had better be Paarthurnax/Zuko-level convincing because there are very few people willing to forgive you after you say things like that with no remorse. 

“Release her”

You can’t tell me he doesn’t love her- he sucks at it, but he does. Im really hoping he’ll learn from this mistake and never ask her to use the peacock miraculous again- if she uses it, it has to be on her.

“Don’t mind me” Babe if he doesn’t mind you and you’re discovered then it’s just a hop skip and jump from Hawkmoth being Gabriel Agreste, 

He’s carrying her again

Idk if I should focus on how little Nathalie seems to care about how much danger she put herself in or the fact that we have a Gabriel booty close-up

He’s reprimanding her, she starts coughing, her glasses fall off, and he immediately softens up. 

Look at that soft look. And the music that’s playing in the background? It’s so...sad..and enhances the way he’s looking at her. 

And now.....Adrien

As soon as the adults leave, he growls and the music gets more aggressive. Intimidating. 

He is ticked. “Because we’re friends aren’t we?” that was just laced with venom and malice. They say demons run when a good man goes to war. 

Well Adrien’s started packing. Lila better watch her step. 

And in the end, she basically outed herself as a pathological liar. She admitted it, though she likely didn’t word it that way. 

Well, that’s all I have to say. Remember, God made you special and he loves you very much. *veggie tales theme starts playing*

[rycbar-horcrux]

I'm still gonna compliment you, sorry not sorry. It's beyond my power now. Also in the subject of flower language: Becky taught Alexa about it but Lexi also developed her OWN personal language (bc that's a total Harley Quinn thing to do) and is super complex and specific(like: this flower reminds her of her favorite cereal that Bex always get for her, for some reason) and she uses it making bouquets and flower crowns for Bex, and then she watches as Becky tries really hard to decipher them.

Okay, so I might have went on about this idea a little bit, so I’ve just hid it under here so it doesn’t take up too much space. 

Sure. I mean really, Lexi’s language makes much more sense because ‘come on Bex, how can that plant mean both pain and also healing and overcoming grief?’ and ‘what d’you mean that beautiful flower represents disappointment? That makes no sense.’ At least her language does them all justice.

Plus she knows how much she appreciates Bex’s flower crowns so she can’t resist the idea of making Bex feel the same. I feel like it would be something that she doesn’t do that often, but that makes it all the more special. It’s not quite like the little plants that she’ll bring home for Bex after a day of fun trouble making, cause that is always on a whim; whilst she always brings something back, she doesn’t go hunting for them, she always stumbles across the perfect plant that she just has to bring back. No, she always puts a chunk of time into making the flower crowns. It’s the kind of thing she can only carry out on a quiet day for a couple of reasons. Plus, unlike with Bex, there’s never any real reason behind her making them. It might be because she was bored and looking for something to pass the time, or maybe because she really had the urge to do something really nice for Bex.

Anyway, to start with she’s got to decide what flowers she’d like to use for it. Then kind of figure out how she’d like it to look, layout wise. Before finally she can start to make it. Now that always takes her time because she’s not quite got the way with plants that Bex has. So she’ll go relatively slowly with as much care as she can manage to try and make the crown look as perfect as she can because Bex deserves no less. All in all, whilst Bex can knock out a stunning and intricately woven crown in an impressive amount of time, the whole endeavour tends to take at least a couple of hours for Lexi even for a simpler crown.

But the crown never fails to make Bex’s insides melt. Cause for one she can always tell just how much work has went into making it. Plus this crown is not only a symbol of Lexi’s love, but is Lexi’s attempt to convey that incorporating this thing that she knows is so important to Bex. No matter how off the wall and frustrating she finds harley quinn Lexi’s own flower language, it’s her connecting with this thing of Bex’s and not only accepting her love of plants, but trying to join in with it. And that means the absolute world to Bex regardless of how ridiculous the whole thing can be.

Lexi watches as Bex gently turns the crown in her hands, fingers carefully running over petals, occasionally straightening a ruffled one. There was also a glint in her eye, which combined with her touch were perhaps more at home with a paleontologist examining the first dinosaur bone found at a dig or an avid reader handling an inscribed first edition of their favourite novel rather than someone taking in a slightly lopsided flower crown. The less than perfect state of the crown doesn’t faze Bex at all, the delight staying on her face as she looks back up. “It’s absolutely grand Lexi, I love it.” At this point Bex always caught the eager look on Lexi’s face as well as the hint of challenge in her eyes, and Bex is never one to back down from a challenge. Her eyes narrow in thought, crinkle forming on her brow as she turns her attention back to the crown. Occasionally her lips’ll move wordlessly as she thinks, other times her whole body perking up before looking at Lexi and dismissing whatever she had been considering. Sometimes she’ll suggest an idea, but it rarely turns out to be even close to Lexi’s meaning. So eventually she ends up slumping slightly as she gives up, turning her attention back to Lexi and asking her to explain it. Lexi’s grin always widens as she scoots closer to explain things.

It amuses Lexi how Bex always tries to work out the meaning, cause the pair of them know it’s really not going to happen. But Bex is just a lil bit stubborn, so she always has to try. The way Bex sees things, the crown is both Lexi and flowers; two things that she knows best in the world. Logically, she should be able to work it out, cause really, how hard could it be? Pretty blooming hard is the answer.

The problem is that the roots of the meanings in Lexi’s flower language tend to vary wildly.

Sometimes it’s something simple, like the colour. For instance the blue of a flower reminding her of the sky on a beautifully clear day, or the wide expanse of the sea. That flower she associates with peace, maybe a touch of tranquility. More often however she links a certain flower with an event, or maybe more the emotion tied to an event. And those get much more complex, both in regards to how they are connected and also with the fact that they tend to have deeper meaning.

Like the time that she got Bex to help her mess with Charlotte and Nattie. Even catwoman had to appreciate a giant moss graffiti dog on the side of her hideout surely? I mean really Lexi just thought it would help her out, after all, who’d expect to find catwoman in a building with a dog on it? No, she definitely wasn’t trying to wind Charlotte and Nattie up at all. But anyways, she remembers the small flowers growing at the foot of the wall, the way they blew in the breeze, almost as if they they were laughing conspiratorially with her as her and Bex worked. That same motion had continued later as she watched the pair discover her work. So that’s what that flower is, a mixture of trickery and secrecy, maybe a dash of partnership in the mix too.

Or the time that she’d told Bex a cheesy plant related joke and Bex’s reaction to it. The uninhibited laughter and the wide, silly grin that had taken over her face, practically brightened up the whole room much more than the sun could ever hope to achieve. In fact Lexi could almost swear that some of the nearby flowers had perked up in response, turning towards Bex as they did. So maybe that’s what a sunflower is, jokes and humor but deeper than that, the smile and laugh that just seemed to brighten everything up.  

Or her favourite cereal.

So, Lexi has her favourite type of cereal. But she absolutely never remembers to pick up more of it. She always keeps so busy, be it hanging out with Bex, planning a heist, going out to carry some sort of trouble out or whatever. That means she always gets caught out when it runs low/or out. And it might be something small, but that is the kind of thing that can knock your whole day slightly off-kilter. That feeling when you are really looking forward to something only to be let down at the absolute last minute. Especially first thing in the morning when you are still trying to wake up and gear up for the day. 

Now truth be told it takes Bex a little bit of time before she catches on. In fact, it’s not until the first time she actually sees it happen that she realises. She watches Lexi’s shoulders slump as she stares glumly down at the pitiful pile of cereal that just trickled out of the box. Watches as Lexi gives the box a hopeful shake only for nothing more to come out, a small sigh escaping her. That’s when she puts things together, connecting the times when Lexi’s mood had been off regardless of how happy she had been first thing. Putting things together more to remember that the way that Lexi had disappeared those days only to shuffle back in with shopping bags. Realising that running out of cereal was the cause. So Bex makes a mental note to make sure it doesn’t happen again. There’s no need for Lexi to be unhappy when she can take small steps to help. So she keeps an eye on the cereal level, quietly buying a box when it starts to run low and replacing it when needed.

Lexi doesn’t realise for quite a while to be honest, never putting any thought into the fact that her cereal supplies were now seemingly self replenishing. But, she does eventually. It had been a long day previous, so although Bex already had the next box at the ready she hadn’t actually carried out the switch yet. The pair go about their morning as usual. Whilst Bex is moving around and watering her plants, Lexi sits down to have her cereal. The gentle patter as opposed to the avalanche she usually hears cascading into the bowl instantly reminding Bex of her task. Lexi barely has time to sleepily pout before her attention is pulled from her bowl towards Bex. She watches with a small confused frown as Bex stops mid watering, moving over to a cupboard and stretching up to the back of the top shelf. Bex just pulls down a box of her cereal, placing it down in front of Lexi and dropping a small kiss to the side of her head before moving away, nary a word said. That’s when everything clicks for Lexi, suddenly realising that it has been months since she last ran out and that Bex must have been quietly doing this for so long now. As she stares at Bex’s retreating back a wave of love and gratitude wells up inside her and she is only able to watch as Bex picks the watering can back up, carefully rotating the pot slightly so that the flowers are better positioned to the sun. 

Lexi would swear that the cereal tasted all the sweeter from that morning on.

So fundamentally, that is what that flower is to Lexi; her cereal. But it’s also so much more than that. It’s that Bex always gets her her cereal. It’s all of that emotion that had filled her as she stared at Bex’s back. It’s the knowledge that Bex had noticed this small thing and taken steps for Lexi’s sake, never looking for any form of thanks.

And that is what always throws Bex, cause Lexi never goes into the hidden detail. She just never sees the need to. But Bex can never see those links in her head. She’s always like ‘sure, a flower for your cereal makes sense, but why not this one? It ties in with the cereal theme? Or this one that has the same kinds of colours?’ Lexi however is never swayed, and as confusing as the whole language is, Bex would never want it, or more importantly, Lexi to change.

[wakandan-flowerz]

The Shaman’s Daughter II

A/N: I’m sorry this took forever, but college really be trying ya girl. Enjoy!

Summary: You stole two of the herbs from the Garden of the Heart Shape Herb. You are trying to maintain this secret as Killmonger takes an interest in you

 Warnings: Reader is black/Wakandan...even though this shouldn’t be a warning. Erik being a dick, sorta. Cursing if you get offended by that stuff. I don’t own anything

 Part 1

 You laid in bed, listening softly to the sounds of nature before dawn. You would close your eyes but, the images that would come you couldn’t handle. The flames destroying the garden you planned to spend your life in. Zuri, your mentor, falling limply into the water. The new king, drilling his eyes into yours.

 You scratched your burning cheeks and eased out of bed. You crept out of your room and into the yard as your mother laid asleep, having been stoic for days now. You wanted so badly to tell her what you had done. But, you easily could put her in danger.

 You trekked through the garden you had grown to the quaint greenhouse made of vibranium and tinted glass. You peaked up the clay water jug and kneeled down. You poured the water over where you planted the smuggled herb. You prayed to Bast to give you strength and for the plants to grow.

 You still weren’t sure if you had made a good decision. Something told you to do it but, you had a feeling that this would come back to you soon. Bast, protect you and your mother.

 After tending to the seeds, you walked back into the house. Putting on a pot of tea and putting together a small breakfast for your mother who had been quite distraught since the garden. You heard shuffling in the hallway and looked to see your mother coming in, wrapping her hair.

 “Good morning. Are you feeling okay?” you asked.

 “This afternoon we will be going to agriculture district. We’ll be going to work for them...from now on.” she said, coldly.

 “Mother, come sit. Your tea will be ready soon.” you said.

 “Maybe, eventually we can get your vegetable garden to be more profitable. We could easily find a way to get you into medicine.” she rambled on as you poured her tea in front of her. The garden of the heart shaped herb was your future now it was just a fond memory of your past.

 There was a distinctive yet rough knock at your door. You looked over to your mother who appeared to be just as confused as you were. You went to the door and opened it.

 “W’Kabi?” You whispered.

 You got this cold chill. The King had to know at this point. He saw you take the herb and you were going to pay for it. You were going to imprisoned, punished, or worse.

 “You have been summoned.” W’Kabi said. “By our new king.”

 You heard your mother creep up behind you. “What is going on? What is the meaning of this?”

 “The King has requested your presence.” W’Kabi said, his eyes not breaking from you.

 “But, the garden has been destroyed. Why would he have need for us?” your mother asked.

 “Not you. Just Y/N. You will come with us, at once.” W’Kabi said.

 “Me?” you said trying to hide your shuddering.

 W’Kabi walked you into the throne room. You tried sneaking glances at W’Kabi to see if they were hints that he knew anything. Anything at all. His face was just cold and still. You didn’t want to ask anything in fear of giving yourself away as if your body language wasn’t doing that already. As the large doors opened, your eyes fluttered and stung as you gazed upon the king on the throne. Shirt open to expose the scars on his chest, leaning his head on his fist that was propped up on the armrest.

 W’Kabi motioned you forward. You felt this pull as you walked up but, you also didn’t want to get any closer than you were. You could see the shine off his gold canines, menacing. You began to wonder if he’d flash a wicked smile at his victims just before killing them and if you were going to be next.

 He glared at you as if he was waiting for you to address him. The silence was deafening and the intense glare between the two of you was making your eyes burn. Was he going to address what you have done or not?

 “You summoned me...your Highness,” you said not wanting to really give him the pleasure of the title.

 He snapped at W’Kabi and the Dora Milaje that stood behind him. They left the room and before the doors shut, he stood up and walked over to you. He circled you. You felt his scars against your shoulders. If he was going to torture you, could he at least tell you if he saw you take the seed?

 “Your Majesty, I...” you started.

 “What was Zuri to you?” he asked.

 “He was my mentor,” you said. The images rushed back to you of Erik slipping the blade into his abdomen.

 “Did you know that he was a liar and fucking snake?” he said, putting emphasis in his curse.

 “I...I only knew what he taught me,” you said, confused. You knew of his time as a War Dog but, it wasn’t important to you. “He and my mother taught me about...the garden.”

 He scoffed, seemingly amused about your statement. “Yeah. That shit is gone, now.” Gone...he didn’t know. If he was speaking like this, he can’t have known. Right? You took a breath of relief but, he saw it as you getting scared. He pressed his chest against your back. “Sucks, doesn’t it? Your simple livelihood turned to ashes. Your teacher in the ground.” You shuddered feeling him so close. It was like before in the garden. You wanted to turn and look at him, but the feel of his hot breath on your neck was doing something to you. The worst part was you weren’t entirely sure why you were liking it.

 “Why did you need me?” you said getting irritated with the fact you couldn’t keep yourself in check around him. What would he taunt you for? Why bring you here?

 “There’s a piece of information I need about a secret my father didn’t have all the information on. Zuri, being a former war dog, should have known. If you were as close as I think you were, you should know where I can find it.” He said.

You thought to yourself about Zuri’s office in the palace. “I know where it is, but…”

“Let’s go.” You grabbed you by your arm and walked you out of the throne room. You wanted him to release you but as you struggled, his grip got tighter. “I’d stop fighting me if I were you.”

“Why are you like this?” you said. “What made you so rash?”

He chuckled at you. “You all think I’m the insane one. It’s this damn kingdom that thought shutting itself from the outside world and leaving others like me to fend for themselves.”

“How can you put the fault of an issue on us?” you protested. “We played no part.”

Erik forced you against a pillar, placing his hands on either side of you to keep you trapped. His nostrils flared and his eyes had a flame in them.“That’s the problem, sweetheart. Doing nothing makes it worse. Over 350 years of oppression and even when you had the opportunity to make a difference you didn’t even bat a fucking eye.”

You looked into his dark eyes. Behind the rage and need to inflict suffering was something you couldn’t put your finger on. You noticed that he cocked his head to the side, gazing you up and down. He pulled you off the pillar. “Let’s get this done.” He said.

You opened the door to your mentor’s office. The room was neat with a small desk in the corner, bookshelves lining the walls with educational books, memoirs from people that would have made an impact on him while he was in America and his journals. Erik had brushed past you going to his desk.

“What is it you are looking for exactly?” you asked as he opened drawers and scanned the shelves.

“Records. Around the time when he and my pops were in America, there were war dogs that were close to my father. Some of them should still be active, even now. If they were close to my dad, let’s see if they’ll help with our new cause.” He said. Erik looked at you. “I didn’t just bring you here to suck oxygen, lil mama. Look around and see if you can find anything.” You turned to the bookshelf behind you and started to pull out the large thin journals, shaking off his attitude. You flipped through them and respectfully put them back. You scanned over some of the books and stopped. There was one slim black leather journal that caught your eye. You pulled it out and opened it. You fought to gasp as it had notes on the heart shaped herb. It was a guide to growing the herb. Everything you learned and more on paper.

You would need this. You didn’t even notice that you had been holding it for long when Erik had stormed over to you. “This isn’t it.” You said trying to persuade him to not look at the journal.

“Then, why you holding onto it for dear life?” he said motioning at how you held it to your chest. You felt your face heat up as he closed the space between you.

You closed it and went to put it away only for Erik to pull you back and take it from you. He opened it, flipping through it and grimacing. He tossed it back at you. You had to take it with you, but how? Could you find a way back into the office? Not without the Dora or any other guards noticing you. Bast, help you.

“Keep looking.” He said snapping his fingers at you. You went to the next shelf and opened a small thick notebook. You flipped through it and a map dropped out. You picked it up and studied it. There were pen marks with X’s in certain locations. New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Brazil, Canada. You turned back to the notebook and saw there were names and address matching to the X’s. “Um…is this what you needed?”

Erik moved over to you looking at the journal and the map. He flipped the pages and scanned it. He nodded. “This is exactly what I need.” His dark eyes looked at you. His smirked, making your breath stop right in your throat. The shine of his grill made you weak. Your eyes scanned his body, taking note of how toned he was. He glared at you, putting the book away. “Why you always checking me out, huh?”

“What?” you said. You didn’t realize you were staring so hard until his deep voice broke you out of your thoughts.

“Ever since I got here, you’ve been eyeing me. Looking me up and down. You make it real obvious” Erik said closing in on you. You were square with his chest. His thumb and index finger, clutched your chin and tilted your head back. “I make you nervous, don’t I?”

You wanted to speak, but you couldn’t find the words. He lowered himself to you lessening the gap between you. Erik was right against you. You put your hand on his chest to stop him but, you found yourself being enticed by his skin. Your muscles wanted to protest him, but now you had the urge to feel him. Your eyes left his to gaze at his chest. You had seen the scars before but, being this close and touching them was doing something to you. You wanted more. You wanted to explore his body. Were you getting turned on? You bit your lip as your fingertips grazed over them. You felt your cheeks get hot and you swallowed the saliva that collected in your mouth.

Your eyes trailed down his chest to his stomach. You wondered if that’s where the scars stopped. Your fingers glided down to the last rows of his scars. Erik’s hand gripped your palm, squeezing it just before you got to the waistband of his pants. You were forced to look back up at him. “Oh, you done got a little too comfortable.” He said, teasing. You expected him to let you go, but he still kept you locked into him. He yanked you into him, your hands as if one cue, wrapped around his waist. The next thing you felt was his lips on yours. You let out a whimper into his mouth as you felt as if you were melting into him. How could such a hard man have such soft lips. You let his tongue find it’s way into your mouth, letting it wrestle with yours. You clawed at his robe, clutching it as if holding on for dear life. Feeling his shoulder blades and the keloidal scars on him. His hand gripped your hair, slightly tugging it. Erik forced your head back, giving him even more dominance over you.

A chime went off coming from his wrist. He pulled away and looked at his Kimoyo beads. He looked down at you. “You gonna let me go or you wanna stay latched onto me like this?”

You retracted your arms, releasing you still hadn’t let him go. You rubbed your chest and neck in embarrassment. You had never anything like this before. Erik opened his palm as W’Kabi appeared. You turned to the bookshelf and eyed the journal. That journal was key to getting the herb to grow in your greenhouse. You had to do to get it. But, how?

“I have a new list of names that you’re going to have to contact. Meet me in five.” Erik said.

“As you wish,” W’Kabi said. Erik closed his fists and looked to you. “I’ll arrange an escort to get you home.”

You had to think of something. You couldn’t just take the journal without raising questions. Quick, think of something. “My King…I want to…I want to stay. With your permission.”

“What?” he said, looking at you confused. Erik scoffed at you. “Damn, girl. All I did was kiss you.”

“Please, your Majesty.” You said in a soft tone, batting your eyes. You’d see girls all the time do this to get what they want. He may have been a harsh man but, he was a man. Men always gave into women…right? “Will you have me?” You made yourself vulnerable, easy pickings. Either way, you got what you wanted.

“Aight. You want to stick around?” he said with his head turned up and to the side with his chest puffed out. His eyes scanned your body, drinking you in. “Stick around.”

A/N: I’m working on Part 3. If all goes well, I’ll post it by Friday maybe and there could be some smut. Stay tuned or tell me how you like it. Requests are welcomed, btw.

[divagonzo]

Funny Business (Harry & Ginny and more)

Ao3 // FF.net

A/N: Sp I got the idea from @gryffindormischief from a prompt from her and asked if I could take it for a short fic. 7000 words later and here we are.  Rated T just for giggles. Ace mostly safe. @vondrakenhof might be able to name the game in question. Also, my eternal thanks to @fightfortherightsofhouseelves   for the size 250 kick in the arse on getting on with writing part II up to snuff.

Under a cut line because it’s 7K in length but I’m publishing it in 2 parts since it is so long.

Oh, and A/N2: This based off my own nicheverse (*Cough CC isn’t Canon Cough*) and so Albus isn’t Captain Emo Edgelord and Harry isn’t a tosser to Al. – DG

“Alright Harry, fess up.”

Harry continued to stare at the kids playing video games in the den. “I – “

“The Minister being an arse?” Ginny cheeked. “Budget cuts stressing you out?”

“It’s not like that,” he muttered.

James stood up and danced over his brother Al, taunting him like only brothers could. “Don’t pout. I told you that you had to drink a strength potion before taking on that wizard. I can’t help it he killed you within 30 seconds.”

“Shut up. I’ll beat him” Al glared but Ginny knew that her other son would keep after his task until he did win and beat a task. He has her tenacity where James got by on natural talent. Al was the best of his parents, in addition to being a very kind boy, where James naturally took after his grandfather, supposedly.

“Alright. I’ll start it from the last save. Try it again.” James toggled his controller and the game backed up 5 minutes, to where the players were on the second level, with three more to go. The boys were immediately busy, fighting through trolls and other bad guys and jawing with one another. Lily Luna, though, was in the corner, playing with her toys and pointedly ignoring her brothers. Ginny knew Lils was irritated at her siblings for not letting her play on the console, but they also didn’t know that when Lils couldn’t sleep and Ginny was still awake late, they’d play a different game, bonding over video game go kart racing. Lily Luna loved going fast, either in a video game or for real. The family was thankful for their grandfather making such muggle things work in their household around so much magic.

Ginny tuned her kids out and focused on her distressed husband. She knew him better than he knew himself most days and needed to know what was going on before she could help him – or kick his arse out of agonizing over something he would reluctantly share with her.

“You took the kids out for ice crème when you got home from work at 1, and then went and played at the park for two hours. You’ve not left work after a half day in years. Now I know you adore the kids, but something isn’t flying straight here. I will help if you can tell me what’s going on. ”

“Maybe I wanted to spend time with the kids this afternoon. Can’t a dad have some fun time with his brood?” Harry kept his eyes forward, not looking at Ginny. She knew that look when he was lost in thought and not paying attention to what was in front of him.  “Al said he wanted to go play at the park and Lily asked for ice lollies. James wanted to play video games when we got home.”

“I know you too well. Something is bothering you. You distract yourself from mental torment by playing with the kids more than usual. They won’t notice but I can see it, how you stare out the kitchen window and forgetting to drink your tea.”

“You’re right.” He didn’t elaborate. He gazed towards the boys on the floor in front of them but his flame haired wife knew he was lost in thought. Ginny ground her teeth. She thought he was better the last few months, with work settling into an actual routine where he was home most evenings and they could spend time as a family. But in the last month, he grew distant, almost apathetic with the family. Ginny was at her wit’s end in how to help her Husband be his warm and affectionate self. He was intentionally busy enough that she didn’t have time to use her time-tested way of helping - a relaxing shag.

“Mummy, show me how to fix this.” Their diminutive daughter who was as curious as her Aunt Hermione, and as much a dragon as her Mum, stood there holding a miniature figurine she used for playing Quidditch at home. Uncle Ron bought it for her sixth birthday and she never tired of it. The toy pitch took up space on the floor and she could move the figures around  manually or her Mum could enchant it and she could watch the figures zooming around it. But one of the figures broke - the Keeper. Sometimes the bludgers didn’t go the right way. Ginny pulled her wand from behind her ear and pointed at the toy Keeper and silently repaired it. “There you are, dear. Good as new.” She pointed her wand at the pitch and animated the players along with the small scale bludgers. Lils went back to her corner with the toy box and was enthralled in moments.

“Come on, Harry. Spill it. You know I will pester you until you tell me either way.”

A loud squeal erupted. “No! It’s not fair. I did the spell. It should have worked.” James roared. “Turn it back. I’m not dying by the wizard.”

“I’ll resurrect you as soon as I beat him.”

“I said turn it back.”

“No. You’re mad you screwed up and got struck by lightning and were killed. Don’t blame me for cocking up and stepping on the trap.” Al unpaused the game and proceeded to kill the dark wizard who had been sabotaging iron ore for smelting. “

“It’s not fair. I’m turning it back to the last save. I have to beat the dark wizard.” James looked behind him to his parents on the couch. “Make Al turn it back.”

Ginny snorted. “He said it: you stepped on the trap and got zapped. It killed you. And he promised to resurrect you in a temple shortly. Quit pouting and wait ‘til he gets to a temple to heal you.”

James ignored Ginny. “Dad! Make him turn it back.”

“James, you died in the game. Either nicely ask or go revise in your room. I’m not giving in and going against your Mum.”

“But Dad!”

“Insulting your brother for your own mistakes is something Uncle Percy would do.” Harry knew he crossed a line by it but he’d not admit it to the kids right now.

“I hate you,” James threw the controller and ran off. “I’m nothing like him!”

Ginny shook her head at her oldest son’s antics. She glanced at Al and made a wink at her other son, her quiet one who was so much like Harry, but with a loving upbringing with tons of affection.

“Lils, do you want to play?” Al asked softly. “I could use a better companion.”

Lily looked at her Mum and saw the affirmation. She yelped and dropped the toy bludger she was about to set into motion and ran to where Al was sitting. He tinkered with the controls a touch and reset the game to the last save and off they went, fighting trolls and slime and mercenaries. Al quietly coached his sister on traps and how to evade death by treasure chest.

Ginny smiled. Her thoughtful son set the controls from hard to easy, for his sister’s benefit.

“Harry, tell me.”

Harry screwed up his face some before growing stoic again. But Ginny knew better. He wasn’t, not really. He was hunting up the words to use instead of exploding at her, even if she didn’t do anything. They’d agreed years ago that he could vent at her, even exploding, and she’d hold off unless she was directly involved. That agreement prevented many barn burning rows. He reciprocated for her, too, when the politics of the paper got to be too much for her.

Audrey performed so many miracles for the family after the war ended.

“It’s crap from work. You – “

“I do want to hear about it. You can share with me, well, as much as you can. You know that.”

“You’ve got your hands full with the kids. You don’t need my work crap too.”

“That’s a load of dragon shit and you know it.”

A door slammed upstairs. Harry and Ginny looked up towards the top of the stairwell.

“I’ll tell you after I go deal with James.” Harry stood up from the couch and Ginny reached out for his hand.

“You’re stalling.”

Harry looked at his wife, and past her words. Her features betrayed her casual comment. She was imploring him to share with her his burdens. He couldn’t resist anything she asked. “Yeah but when I get back, I’ll talk.” He leaned down for a peck on her lips before going to the stairs. He climbed them up with imposing footsteps. Ginny saw him limping up them and frowned. He wasn’t limping when he left this morning. Maybe his hip was giving him grief, a result of a previous visit and stay at St. Mungo’s.

“Mummy! I did it. I didn’t get killed on that level. We’re going down to the next one.” Ginny smiled at her daughter and caught a wink from Al.

“You did? That’s fantastic. Maybe Al can help you on the next level too.” Albus nodded in affirmation. They turned back to the game on the telly and went back to their dungeon crawl.

“Yes, Mummy.”  Lily Luna didn’t see her Mum give her brother a conspiratorial smile back. He smiled and turned back to the telly and unpaused the game. They were fighting once again against half-human creatures that were pretty easy to kill.

Losing patience at watching the kids clearing magical traps on the next level down, she got up to go to the kitchen to make a pot of tea for them as well as a tumbler with two shots of Firewhiskey for them, too. If Harry was that upset that it took much effort to get him to talk he might need a wee dram to lower his resistance – or she might need it to hear what he had to say.

She took the tray with the pot, cups, a saucer of milk, a dish of sugar with spoon, and the tumbler of distilled beverage back to the couch and put the tray down on the side table. She settled back into her spot on the couch with the latest copy of the Quibbler. She hadn’t had a chance to read the article from Luna about the Peruvian Vipertooth. While much of it was fascinating and educational, the humor behind the article was why she wanted to read it. Somehow she read all of the articles in Luna’s voice. It was like having her best friend at home, sitting next to her, reading aloud. It didn’t hurt that interviews with Harry subsidized her expeditions.

Ginny lifted her head when she heard Harry stomping down the stairs. “He’s grounded from the console and his broom the rest of the weekend.” Harry plonked down on the couch and scowled.  “He gave me some sodding excuse so I called him on it. He gave me cheek and I told him he was grounded the rest of the weekend. Maybe he can learn some manners while playing with his brother.”

“I never did, that’s for sure.” Ginny cheeked. Harry saw her smirk and softened. “I distinctly remember ending all of my seasons with the most penalties for a Chaser in the entire league. So I guess he gets it from me.”

“Oh I remember.  I seem to recall you running full speed into Zacharias Smith after a match one time. Not like the tosser didn’t deserve it.” He smirked at the memory. But his expression changed when Lily yelled at the television. “She’s like Ron that way.” Lily yelled again before howling. Al grimaced at her temporary death before resurrecting her. They needed a few moments before heading down to the next level and facing more traps, slime, and bad guys.

Ginny turned to get his cup along with pouring a splash of whiskey into it. She stirred it before handing it over. He took a sip and gave her a pointed look. “I don’t need it,” he whispered.

“Then I will drink the rest and listen to you not talk.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him as she picked up the tumbler and drained the rest of the brown distilled beverage. Her face flushed and she burped a small bit of smoke before smiling at him. Her hard-drinking days as a professional Quidditch player were years behind her but her alcohol tolerance never seemed to wane, as long as it wasn’t elf-made wine.

She turned her attention back at her kids and said to herself that she’d wait on him tonight. Ginny laughed with the kids as they beat the dark wizard at the bottom of the dungeons and collected plenty of treasure. They were onward up and out of the mines and off to their next adventure.

She was comfortable with companionable silence as minutes passed and the kids played their video game. There were plenty of nights post-war with them sitting in companionable silence. Ever so slowly Harry learned to open up and share what he was thinking and occasionally feeling.

She felt Harry take her hand. It was their unspoken signal he was ready to talk. They came up with it the first Summer after the war ended when so much trauma happened and sometimes Harry needed her but wasn’t ready to talk. When she’d squeeze his hand back she was ready to listen.

Ginny pulled his hand to her lips and kissed the back of his hand.

“Hemera is retiring. She informed me of it today, effective at the end of September. That’s six weeks from now. She’s been an Auror for decades, and I depend on her so much. She was a mentor and then an amazing friend.  Fuck, I’m going to miss her wisdom.” Harry took a deep breath before continuing. “It made me realize that while I will miss her, I miss Ron even more.”

Ginny put down her cup and saucer. Now that was profound, coming from Harry.

“I know you will. The two of you have been through hell and back so often you have your own boat across the River Styx. But what brought up the issue with Ron. Don’t you work with him, see him almost daily. Don’t the two of you have offices next to one another?”

“I do, yet I don’t. We’re both so busy in our jobs that we might see one another every fortnight at work or on the various inter-office memos flying around, but enough time to sit down for a lunch? Never. And  I never realized ‘til today how much I miss having him sitting across from me in the squad bay, throwing parchment at me when I was being a git, or his laugh when Hermione would drop by with takeaway when we were too busy to take a break for lunch. I miss Hemera ragging on us for being a couple of misfits or putting us on our ass in training without breaking a sweat.” Harry took a deep breath and blew it out. “All I seem to do now is sodding paperwork, beg for budget increases, and play politics in the office, with the very rare occasion of a mission to oversee. I never considered I would be more politician than Auror when I took the Directorship. Had I known, I’d have turned it down and let Hemera do it for a few decades.”

“I hate to say it but I do miss the early days of my career on days like this. I miss going without sleep for two days with Ron there, watching for one of the rogue Death Eaters and trying to bring him in alive, or not.“

“Don’t you see him in all of those bloody meetings you’re always complaining about, that take up so much time and are so unproductive?”

“I do, but it’s not like we have time to go to the pub after a shift and spend two hours talking about everything and nothing. Don’t get me wrong – I love the kids with every bit of my heart. I miss Ron and Hermione, too. Hemera retiring made me realize all it. When she told me, I felt like I’d been kicked in the gut by a centaur.”

“Let’s have everyone over this weekend, including Hemera and Aurora. I can cook a standing rib roast with all of the sides you like. Ron can bring over pudding.”

“They’re probably busy,” Harry said wistfully. “And since Hemera and Aurora’s daughter hasn’t started Hogwarts yet, they might have other plans.”

Ginny screwed up her face. “Look Harry, we –“

“I’m being stupid and selfish,” Harry complained. “I thought that things wouldn’t change when we had careers and kids and our families. I thought we’d share dinner once a week with everyone and grouse about work and laud the kid and others stuff.” He frowned. “I never expected that my mentor would become a dear friend of mine and it not be you. And then there’s Ron. I miss him being with me and available anytime I needed him. But then maybe that was my dream that we’d still be in each other’s pockets for the rest of our lives, which I wouldn’t ever mind. I never considered that one of my best friends at work would be my mentor and one of the bare few who lived long enough to mean something to me. I never expected to have my best mate working with me but barely seeing him.”

“Harry, dear. Do you think that we have to see them daily to keep the friendship? Or that if I don’t see Hermione for two weeks that I don’t love her as fiercely as I do my brother? Or that if I don’t firecall Mum for a week that she thinks that I hate her?”

“Well, um,” He couldn’t continue, “yeah, actually. Isn’t that how it works?”

“Damn those bloody muggles,” She complained under her breath. “Love, dear, I know that you need quantity of time with them. I get it. I really do. I miss seeing Luna when she’s off on her expeditions for months on end. I certainly missed you when I was off on tour of the world those months way back when. But being away from someone for days to weeks on end doesn’t mean that they don’t love you, or that they don’t want to see you. Those Muggles? Maybe so.” Venom dripped from every word regarding the Dursley’s, except Dudley who they were on a friendly basis with since he grew up and married a Witch. “Do you think that Mum and Dad don’t love you if they don’t see you for a couple of weeks? Far from it, dear. The same goes for Bill and Fleur and the rest of the family. Sure they might not see you for a month but they do love you, and even like you, too. I can guarantee that Hemera will bug you weekly, send owls, and postcards from all of the places that they will travel.”

“It still hurts. I still miss spending time with both of them, talking bollocks at a pub over a pint of bitter and how fucked up a mission was.” Harry sniffed. “That’s why I took off early. I owled Ron but he was working for George today at the shop and he couldn’t leave.”

“What about this idea then? I’ll call Hermione and see if I can keep her two pixies for a few hours and you can go with Ron to a pub and have some time?”

“But he’s working at the shop and probably won’t be home ‘til 8 or so. The kids start getting ready for bed at 8 and Lily won’t go to sleep unless I read to her for half an hour. I want to go out but you and the kids need me.” Harry turned to look at his beautiful wife. “I promised you and the kids I wouldn’t forsake you for silly reasons. Wanting a night with Ron at the pub getting pissed is a silly reason.”

Ginny glanced at her two kids who were still playing before turning back to her husband. She leaned into him and kissed him gently but with passion and fire, promising more after the brood was asleep. “Let me see what I can do,” she said. She kissed him again and got up from the couch.

“Al, heal me so I can keep playing,” Ginny heard from behind her. Her precocious daughter and amenable son warmed her heart daily. Ginny stopped in the doorway of the den and watched her husband using magic to bring the Firewhiskey bottle to him and pouring a wee dram for himself, tipping it back in one swallow while watching his kids.

‘I have to do something,’ she thought as she went into the living room, where they kept the dedicated Floo for their home. She grabbed a handful of powder and tossed it into the fire. “Granger-Weasley auxiliary fireplace; authorization Weasley seven three seven.” She waited ten seconds before yelling, “Ron? Hermione?”

Hermione sat up from her chair in her office and came over to the fireplace. “Ginny? Anything wrong?”

“No, but I do need to prattle a spell.”

“About?” Hermione knelt down on the padded rug in front of the fireplace, sitting awkwardly before crossing her legs.

“It’s Harry. Hemera gave her retirement notice today and Harry’s gutted. But it made him realize he’s also missing Ron. He misses spending time with Ron.”

“I heard about her giving notice but I’m boggled about Ron. How’s he missing him? They work together in the same department,” Hermione said. “They see each other daily, or so I thought.”

“Harry said that it’s meetings and waving but to actually have quality time with one another and not talking work or shop is bothering him. I will try to change his mind but – “

“No, don’t. Ron mentioned something about a week ago and it only now made sense. He said that while he loves the jobs and working in the shop with George, he does hate having to work so much.”

“Any ideas?”

Hermione sat still for a minute, chewing her lip with a far off look on her face. “Ya know? I actually do think so. And while it’s quite barmy, I think it’ll help them. I think it will be one of my more brilliant ideas.”

Hermione went into detail and the more Ginny heard it, the better it sounded.

“And the kids?”

“James is old enough to go with them but Al and Lily along with mine are probably too young to deal with that much travel. Camping they can handle, probably. But if Harry needs private time with Ron, I think James could stay with us and have fun with his cousins instead of that. It might be a bit much for him for a first time out.”

“Maybe not if we work out a few things magically. But do we do this with magic or not?”

“I think that doing such without magic will help them both. It’s not like they aren’t in shape, is it?”

“So when is Harry free next?”

“A fortnight from now.”

“I’ll see to it that Ron has that four-day weekend free. You can go ahead and get things set up and I’ll meet you there. We’ll have them go somewhere else and then meet up with us that Sunday evening.”

“I think that would be a lovely idea for a trip.”

Part II will be published at 12:00a GMT tomorrow.

[subtledismal]

I realize now most of my posts are pretty old. Should start writing again. Maybe 30 mins a day. Get so caught up in work I forget to spend time with myself. By that, I mean just relaxing. Taking the day to actually do nothing.

It feels like such a waist of time, but well needed.

Spring is coming, so that means the garden has to be setup again. Last year was pretty decent, but this year it’s gonna be big. Need enough corn and fruits to make enough alcohol to last till next year. I use the grain alcohol for some of my chemistry endeavors. Not to drink. Lol, I’m sure most people be like, “you make moon shine for cleaning products and chemistry products? Wtf??” Lol yes I do. I don’t like to drink very often. I’d much prefer to smoke. It’s main use is distilling for me. Excellent cleaner also. But for separating plant parts, it works pretty great. Working on a chemistry set for home distillation and essential oil making but they get a little pricy. So I just use the alcohol method. Cheaper and you just let it set generally. Until it comes to the separation process. The chemist set would make that process 100x easier. I’ve already started on my chemist/science glass set. Weird names for some of this shit.

Me and my dad are running experiments on marijuana plants. Seeing what works best with accurate results and controlled environments. Still working on getting all the tools we need. Not sure exactly what you call it being a chemist. Tools? Anyways, setup looks like we cooking meth. Kinda funny considering my dad use to when he was my age. Now we cooking up Mary Janes sauce. We do all kinds of stuff with it also. Into food, lotions, tinctures, infusions, DEFUSIONS, much prefer to turn it into wax or vape sauce (distillate). I got 2 full plants goin through a process right now. I came out with about 4 oz of material to work with this month. Next month is looking like 1-2 lbs.

Recent plant was autos, they tend to stay small in our testing.

And we got super fems and regular fems that’ll be ready next month. Got clones of all them that will take their place soon as their chopped. Their in an incubation tent basically. This last run was 2 plants in 30 gallon pots. 5 pots in main tent. We had Alaskan purple, that just came out, and white widow, green crack/girlscoutcookies, + zskittles that should be ready next month. Oh and gelato og. I thought gelato would be my fav, but it’s staying tiny. Think it’s getting choked out in roots. (2 plants 1 pot) they only need 15 gallon a piece though. Think we’ll separate again next batch. None of them seemed to mind it really. Just the gelato staying small. Prolly be really potent being the smallest. Less work on leaf structure and more work on nug and crystallization. Intriguing.

Zskittles is a huge plant. 5x5 tent needs only 1. Can produce up to 3 lbs outdoors or with proper spacing. It has around 24% thc also. (The higher end of the ladder) my guy thinks it’s too much, but I think it grows to the area. 1 of these plants will probably fill as much as 4 white widows in the same area. Although my personal white widow is growing massively these past few weeks.

Everything is LsT this time tho. Low stress training. Some really funny looking plants.

I’ll have to post updates soon. Have to get some newer up to date ones though.

3x 2k watt lights. Forget the brand. Cheaper brand, worth it for me for the size of them. I think they put out 1k true watts. Heater above them. 25$ Amazon heater hooked to custom controller for heating and cooling. 5k btu ac wall unit. Hidden to the right. Ducted out/in forced air, also carbon filtered. We ran a duct of the house unit to supply fresh air. Was too hot in the area to pull from around it.

This is the Alaskan purple. Autos tend to not carry certain genetics in looks over. Smells like fruity pebbles fresh cut. Drying after 2 weeks, starting to be a danker fruity pebbles type smell. With a bit of skunk. Weird, but amazing. In the closeup I’m looking for tricomes that are starting to turn brown. Some people wait till they turn, some pick it before it turns. They have different psychoactive side effects when smoked. Ones a more lazy, and ones a more paranoia is how they explain it to me. Not letting it turn is a more head high, but it onset’s paranoia. It doesn’t have a lot of cbn in it to counter act the paranoia symptoms.

Ya learn a lil every day.

The first picture is a month in, re-potted in its final pot. 2nd is a week later, and third is 2 weeks after initial pot. This is our base test plant out of the bunch this round. Only using superthrive and mineral water. It’s white widow. We have 2 others un controlled.

Comparing it to an expensive blend of nutrients used in the others.

Don’t have all the factors the same yet in our different environments but it’s coming together. 3 tents later. Also forgot to take a pic of the incubation tent. Will probably all get changed again next round. Hard to figure out the best way to get things situated. So you just test and test. Online most people aren’t keeping accurate logs. We are gonna try to provide our finding to the public. All the major companies are hush hush when it comes to best methods and techniques. I’ve watched several guys take down full guides they worked on for years. Why? Maybe they found the best/perfect technique?

With all this testing and refining, it is very easy to mess up full products.

Well, until next time.

Hope you enjoy my findings. It’s really been an adventure for me. Learning a lot.

-SubtleDismal

3/23/21

14:57:26