#leonardo wishes he could take a nap too this man is TIRED

[purpleturtle9000]

"My twin never does anything like that," Leo boasts, arm around a dozing Donnie's shoulders.

"Your twin bit me this morning," Leonardo reminds him, jabbing at Tello with the handle end of a broom. They try to bite it but he yanks it back just in time. "Would you work with me, here?"

Tello hisses at him, the long, drawn-out sound that usually indicates they're about to do something violent.

Good thing he has a broom. He twists it around and bops Tello in the face with the sweeping end, leaving an imprint of dust across the top of their head. They splutter and cough so much that they dislodge from the ceiling and drop straight down to the floor. He's not worried by that, not when he's seen them walk off much worse falls, but he does mind when Tello immediately rolls over to sink their fangs into his ankle.

"I hate you so much," he says, sounding tired even to himself.

From his left, he hears a snicker and a camera shutter. He thinks he hates Leo too.

[silvanable]

UwU hello~ I hope I'm following your rules, kinda read them several times :")) ehem– may I request for an ikevamp hc of Harry potter au, with an fem MC/reader who's a mud blood(? I think) and joins Hogwarts (with your choice of suitors). How she meets with the vamps and their reactions~ somewhat like that! Wishing you a lovely day~❤️

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this is such a cool idea. i really enjoyed it and i have to say i now have a list of possible house alignments and blood statuses for all of our ikevamp boys!

i only went with 4 here though and i hope that’s okay!

feel free to wiggle with the assumption of the age brackets here because HP students are young but also i can just casually slide canon under the rug for a hot minute.

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↪  GUIDELINES

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ー ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

it’s very likely she run into him in the library.

and i mean she runs into him.

he’s was just picking out a few more books for referencing material when it happened.

not to be dramatic but books in her arms and his ended up everywhere, pages flying, somehow a quill is stuck in her hair.

after the initial shock she’s apologizing, a quick string of “i’m so sorry” follow.

arthur is a man with very specific tastes pretty much anything that moves and seeing such a flustered little dame kicks his flirt into overdrive.

“no, no, i’m just glad i could catch such a beautiful woman”

there is an endless amount of flirting from him and she denies his pretty words do anything for her.

but we all know she’s lying it absolutely works and she just can’t admit she likes the attention.

though it’s not all about that, i see her and arthur finding common ground either in sharing a house, similar hobbies, or common likenesses in things.

she would absolutely make a muggle culture reference, absolutely expecting it to fly over his head like is does with almost all the students.

“this search would go so much faster if we just had wifi to look it up” let me have this okay i didn’t know what else to say

instead she finds him staring up at her from his parchment, eyes focused on her from behind his glasses.

“you miss wifi too?”

and in the next moment they’re both laughing and complaining about how with all this magic...

it’s revealed then that not only is she a muggleborn, but so is arthur.

his reaction would range from excitement to relief to joy because finally someone else is like him, who gets this wifi-less struggle.

BONUS:

he is a slytherin, a very subtle one, and it’s not uncommon for him to be mistaken for a ravenclaw sometimes because he bears a very creative, witty, and observant streak. not to mention he’s extremely intelligent and practically the castle’s personal mystery solver.

ー COMTE DE SAINT-GERMAIN

pureblood, no question. comes from a serious well known and powerful family but not a pureblood supremacy family.

he’s the ancient studies professor fight me.

ends up meeting her on her first day of the job as a professor of muggle studies, arts, musics? probably.

it’s customary for the staff to meet and greet new members, get them familiar with the castle, offer them introductions, etc.

comte naturally volunteers for the job.

so there is the new professor, shining with absolutely determination and excitement and maybe a little bit of nervousness.

the tour is light, she is in awe ( who wouldn’t be it’s hogwarts ) and conversation mostly consists of the school and its students.

then she asks a question of what is expected of her, as she quietly adds “i’m not exactly sure how muggles and wizards differ in etiquette and behavior”

comte already knew her her field of study and what she would be teaching, but her muttered statement fits the last of the pieces together.

comte lets out a short laugh, “i can teach you if you would like to know?”

expect this man would definitely want to learn the differences as well, so really it would be a win-win.

her blood status would probably never be brought up directly and if she does bring it up, comte would likely just smile and say he knows.

BONUS: 

comte is a ravenclaw in my book. i find his personality and the infinity corridor magic door, as well as his enjoyment of the other cultures and travels make him a very curious and studious ( or willing and eager to know about ) of other cultures.

ー LEONARDO DA VINCI

like comte, leonardo comes from a well known pureblood family.

the first meeting is because leonardo fell asleep outside on the steps. she didn’t notice him until it was too late.

she trips over him a very graceful entrance.

he’s fine though, she however is not only dazed, might have bumped her head, and now is in a panic over whoever she landed on.

i entirely believe he would hardly be phased by being stepped on, so he hardly moves.

that scares her a little more because her concern goes from hurting someone to she might have found a dead guy.

her panicking led her to do the first thing that came to mind: VIOLENTLY gently shake him awake and ask, “are you alright, are you hurt?”

it was the consistent disturbance that woke him up.

can’t a man nap in random places without someone wondering if he died, like please.

it becomes a consistent thing for them to encounter one another exactly like that, except the worries of her hurting him become more of a “you need to stop falling asleep in weird places to get stepped on!”

it’s honestly very endearing.

finding out she’s muggleborn does come up in a later conversation, rather nonchalantly in regards to his sleeping habits and how her parents were doctors who could help figure out why he’s always so tired.

nothing is wrong with him he’s just the humanoid persona of a cat it’s fine.

that piques his interest enough to ask her about what they do as doctors. that’s when it comes up that both of her parents are muggle doctors.

her blood purity would never really come to mind with leonardo, as he does not believe in purebloods having supremacy.

BONUS: 

despite seemingly nonchalant and aloof, leonardo is a gryffindor. he shares a lot of their other traits besides the generally tag of “loud and prone to danger”. he is a very practical and playful person, but also he has a firm belief of right and wrong for himself and that’s not something he’s willing to back down from.

ー THEODORUS VAN GOGH

probably met her on the first day because of vincent yes blame the brother.

the train ride has a bunch of new students, all excited and nervous at the same time.

theodorus and her ended up in the same train car during the ride.

he strikes me as the person not into conversation while she needed the conversation to ease her own nerves.

even if he did not respond or called her an idiot in his own way, she found over time that she was not as nervous.

she might have spilled her life story to theo though and that’s how he figured out she was a muggleborn before even she had a clue what it meant.

i see taking some time for her and theo to actually become closer because he’s a lowkey grump who needs to be bribed with pancakes but he most certainly would enjoy having her around.

it would first strike her what a mudblood was when pureblood losers harassed her about her background.

theo would intervene to protect her.

it most certainly would linger with that hurt in her and she would probably bring it up to theo, “why are you okay with being around me if i’m not a pureblood?”

“that doesn’t matter, hondje”

and if that isn’t enough to settle her mind he’ll tell her that both he and vincent are halfbloods.

coming from both a muggle and wizarding family he doesn’t care that she’s a muggleborn.

BONUS: 

theo is definitely a gryffindor in my book but he has slytherin undertones that show in his ambition, focus, and sheer determination in his goals. but he has a very brave and compassionate personality under all the sharp remarks.

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[pseudofaux]

is "(semi) public + Leo" enough of a thing to go off of because,,,, please indulge me o mighty pseu 👀😩

🗣 YES!!!

BLESS you, just thinking about this is 🥵 FEWF!!! FEWF, I SAY! Love Leo. Love that MAN hhmmmmnggggggggg. Thank you for asking for this! I scribble furiously!

Cut for content, it’s not explicit but I wouldn’t read it if your boss was behind you, yeah? GOOD LUCK GODSPEED AAAAAAA LEONARDO IS SO GD HOT. We’re all doomed. Hooray:

“They’ll catch us!” she hissed, but he was already chuckling as he crowded her against the shelf of props, and her fingers were sliding over the backs of his hands, not sinking in to stop him. The corner of the little tent was musty and wonderful, the smell of sweat sunk into the fabric but so often aired out that it was simply... pleasant, like the smell of company. And of course, the smell of Leonardo himself, cloves and cinnamon bark in a fire far away, and that scent she didn’t have a name for but suspected was simply eternity clinging to him (because she sometimes smelled it on le Comte, as well, when he was close to her), something a little like honey.

His touch was not like honey. It was strong and it was fast, and it felt amazing, but... but the actors of the traveling troupe were nearby, and so were some of their friends!

“They’re close already, canarina, can’t you see them? And heading this way, too. Probably tired of the tour and coming to hear what you’ve been singing about.”

She wished they were behind a real wall or even a real curtain— this little tent was made of a fabric she could see through and of course that meant people on the other side could see through it, too. She clapped a hand over her mouth and tried, tried to be quieter. Leonardo hummed and moved his hand between her legs, cupping her so completely she felt him everywhere as she moved against him. One of the seams of his glove was going to drive her mad.

Someone walked in front of them, right on the other side of the shelf and the tent wall, and she gasped as quietly as she could and went rigid. Leonardo’s nose was against her hair, taking in lungfuls of the scented water she had used to style it that morning.

“A tragedy, to silence a songbird,” he murmured, pressing his palm against her.

“If you get us thrown out before we get to see the commedia performance I’ll never speak to you again, see how you like that silence,” she threatened on a whisper. He laughed, trapping the delight in his throat, and called her something she couldn’t be sure of. She thought it might have been “viper”.

She liked that, and it gave her an idea. She pulled his other hand from her stomach to her mouth and bit into the leather protecting the meat of his thumb. His groan was cleverer than his laughter, able to escape into her hair— she could feel it against one of the pins at the back of her scalp, a wonderful buzz of victory warming her.

“Can’t just fool around all day, you know,” he said gruffly, dexterous fingers finally slipping inside her. His curse was lower than his usual register. “Cara mia, this is how I find you while we are among all these people? Are you an actress, too, needing the thrill of a crowd?” He teased with his voice, but his fingertips curled perfectly to press inside her, spiking magnificent feeling everywhere she was most sensitive.

“I’m leaving you for Pantalone’s actor if you don’t hurry up,” she murmured sweetly against his glove. “I don’t want to be caught.”

He moved his hand to stroke her tongue with his thumb and continued his work under her skirts with more purpose. When her thighs trembled, he whispered that she made any place a stage, she was so lovely, and he kissed the side of her cheek and then the back of her neck while his arms kept her from slumping.

She caught her breath and thanked him without turning around. She wasn’t sure she could handle his face just then, sure to be smug and tempting.

“The tent walls...” he said, reaching to touch the one in front of her, “the fabric is special, made to see out but not in. It gives the actors a place to change,” he told her.

Tempting her to murder him, maybe.

“You’re the devil,” she said tiredly. “You waited to tell me that on purpose.”

Leonardo conceded as much with a hum.

“I think... I need a little nap before we face anyone.”

“This tent doesn’t belong to us, cara mia,” he said, but he sat down on the trampled grass behind her and pulled her down into his lap. “We can’t just stay here and inconvenience the troupe.”

The space between his shirt and coat, just below his shoulder, was the best place for her head. “Hmm, then what are we doing, exactly?”

“Nothing,” he said, stroking her hair. “Nothing.”

[tartagilicious]

i’ll wait for you (arthur x reader)

major spoilers for arthur’s route [loosely inspired by this scene in titanic] 

[8:07PM] She had been away for months on work related to a job after settling down permanently in the past, leaving the mansion almost as if she’d never been there in the first place. Her room was virtually spotless, and the same chores were done just fine without her; but her spot at the dining room table remained empty, just as the sheets hanging outside blew mirthfully in the wind as if she was still putting them up with a hum. 

There was an inexplicable hole there that no one could correctly explain nor fill. 

The residents were the only profound examples of traces of her. Sebastian did everything on his own as he once did, quieter in her absence. Vincent sat painting vivid memories of blooming flowers in place of her smiling face. Arthur slept alone through the nights again, writing as he did and living to see her once she returned. 

He’d spent nights awake, unable to sleep because of the cold sheets next to him. Unable to put his mind to rest as they raced with the thought of her. Unable to write because his muse was no longer sitting next to him, smiling and lifting his spirits in a way that only she could.

Life, to put it blatantly, was simply a bore without her. 

Everyone went about like the days before her for months, until one evening, there was a curious knock on the front door. Sebastian, being the house butler and the only one close enough to hear it, answered it with a formal tone that he’d since adopted to guests after seeing ___ kidnapped from right under his nose. 

“Hello? Is there some-”

Sebastian trailed off, his tone depleting as his lips curved up into a pleasant smile. It wasn’t much, but, she could still tell that it meant that he was happy to see her. 

“Hi, Sebastian. It’s great to see you again,” She giggled softly, her voice hushed as she put a finger to her lips. “Is there anyone else around? I missed everyone a lot while I was gone, but I want to keep this a secret for a little bit.”

“Are you planning something, ___?”

The mischievous tone to her voice has his smile growing slightly as he just nodded in silent understanding, watching the woman’s eyes crinkle in a smile. 

“Thanks, Sebastian. If I can ask, do you know where everyone is at the moment?”

“Is this part of your plan?”

“..Maybe.”

He couldn’t help a quiet laugh as he began telling her what she wanted to know. “Everyone’s in for the most part. Mozart, Arthur, and Dazai are the only ones out, but they should all be back soon.”

She hummed, nodding along as he recited the list of residents that were currently out. She pondered when hearing Arthur’s name come up, momentarily disappointed, but put it aside, knowing she would have plenty of time with him later. 

“Ok. Thank you so much Sebastian. ”

He merely chuckled and took a step back, politely putting an arm out as he said, “Of course. Welcome home, ___.”

She stepped inside with the tenacity of a spy, quietly manoeuvring about the halls as quickly as she could without signifying her presence. Her quick steps cast her shadow briefly onto the carpeted floors through the bay windows, but the only thing that gave evidence of her ever being there was the small indent her heel made in the carpet. 

She grinned to herself giddily as she shut the door to her room softly behind her, dropping her bags and immediately going to sit on the bed. But, as she went, she noticed something that stopped her first. A small pile of paper, maybe 4 or 5 pieces, every single one folded down with nothing but her name starkly printed in the middle. 

Curiously, she delicately took one in her hands, her eyebrows curving gently as she began to read the letters addressed to her. 

‘I actually find myself enjoying writing these to you, ___. I dare say it feels just like speaking to you in real life — I’m kidding. I would much rather talk to you in real-time, but I suppose these letters will have to be enough for now.’

She stopped, looking up with her brows knitted as she picked up the other letters. Five of them, there were, every single one was addressed to her, and every single one written by one man. 

Arthur’s handwriting was a curvy scripture that came with decades of practice, and his letters were always easily identifiable, if not by his words. It had been a long time since she’d last talked to her lover, but unlike him, the letters were barely enough for her, even now. 

She put the last one down after what felt like hours of re-reading them, and felt a fuzzy feeling envelop her chest. She had been planning on surprising him by coming back unannounced, but now she wished more than anything that he could’ve been waiting for her at the gates at her arrival. 

It felt like all of the moments she’d spent missing him were complied into one in that single moment. Six months worth of heartbreaking moments and abstract thoughts, all compiled into one cruel moment when he finally had the chance to be around, but wasn’t. 

Sighing and letting her hand fall limp in her lamp, she turned her head to look out the window and into the setting sun. The sky was a lonely mix of purples and blues, the sun hanging just below the treetops as it began to disappear for the night. It was likely that Arthur was out drinking at the moment, playing witty games with anyone that willed to play against him. The night was still young, as he’d say, and there was still plenty of time to make use of it. 

Yet, knowing it had been her choice to surprise him, she stuck to it, suppressing her emotions and resolving to wait until he arrived home. It was at least better off to spare at least part of her heartbreak, so, she revealed herself to the other residents of the mansion not long after reading Arthur’s letters. 

Le Comte was overjoyed to see her back in the mansion, asking her about her job with all the affection of an old friend. Even Theo seemed happy that she were back, ruffling her hair and promptly teasing her about Arthur before Issac whacked him on the back of the head. Leonardo was the one to pull the two apart as she laughed, greeting her with a charming smile and a deftly phrased ‘cara mia’. 

She truly felt at home with everyone she’d met there; that was why she’d decided to stay in the mansion, after all. They were like family now, and she couldn’t possibly have just left them behind after everything that had happened. Everyone had been so incredibly kind to her, even if it wasn’t always outright. It was because of them she decided to stay, and it was because of them that she knew she could never leave. 

Time passed quickly as she made her way around the mansion, greeting everyone and catching up on everything she’d missed in the months she’d been separated from her friends. It ended up being late as she began to make her way back to her room, having decided that she’d take a short nap until Arthur came home. Still, even knowing that she would have to wait a bit longer to see her lover again, she walked through the halls with a small smile on her face. She felt content just simply being around everyone again, and she had been taking that feeling with her wherever she went. 

It followed her almost like an expensive perfume, and left anyone that happened to be in its wake in a significantly better mood. It was a power that only someone like her could have, and was something no one dared to dispute. 

The first thing Arthur noticed when he came back home was the change in atmosphere. Little details such as that came naturally to him as a mystery writer, but he was still stumped in finding the reason behind the light air that held the mansion. She briefly flashed across his mind, but he was quick to remind himself that couldn’t possibly be it. 

She was still away.

Feeling down despite the mood swirling around the halls, he began to make his way to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee. Sebastian knew full well by now the habits of the man as he usually had a hot pot of coffee running on the stove for when Arthur came back, and tonight was no different. It was one of the only things substitutable for blood, but more frankly, it was one of the only things that managed to sober him up. 

Humming an old British drinking song that wouldn’t be invented until nearly decades later, he walked through the halls towards his room with a steaming cup in one hand and his glasses hanging off the other. Like almost every other night, he planned to fall asleep by simply writing until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore; until his mind was too tired to dawdle on her absence. 

But, turning a corner and spotting the back of an all-too familiar head, he deemed that his plans might have to change.

Almost fumbling for his glasses, he slid them on just to make sure his tipsy brain wasn’t playing cruel tricks on him. And sure enough, she was real, and she was clear as day walking in front of him. The kitten heels she wore left small imprints in the carpet, and that alone was enough proof for him. 

She reached for the doorknob to her room, and even began to walk inside, but just briefly, she turned her head and met his gaze for a moment. He obviously hadn’t registered to her yet, but, when he did, she took a step back with her brows curved delicately. 

“Arthur?”

The sound of her inquisitive voice sent a fluttery feeling straight to the centre of his chest, and he couldn’t help a smile as he playfully scolded her.

“You couldn’t have told me when you were coming back, ___? I’m hurt.~”

She laughed as she let go of the door knob and faced towards him, shrugging just as playfully. 

“I figured you being the last to know would up the surprise a little. Did it work?”

He smiled to himself as he set down his cup of coffee on a nearby accent table, his grin bright and his eyes happy.

“Too well, I’m afraid. You’ll have to make it up to me.”

She rose a brow, flirting back almost naturally even after all time she hadn’t seen him. “And how can I do that, Arthur?”

He held out his arms expectantly as she broke into momentary excited laughter, hurrying over to him and throwing her arms around his neck at last. Smiling into his shoulder, she marvelled at the affectionate feeling flooding into her as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“I missed you so terribly, ___.” He admitted this softly into her hair, his arms around her tightening securely as he sighed. “I’m glad you came back.”

“Of course I came back.” She whispered, leaning back to look him in the eyes. “I told you that night. I promise that I will never disappear on you.” 

Hearing the words spoken aloud again had a type of feeling spreading through his chest mixed with relief and endearment. For decades, he had lived with demons he couldn’t shake; yet she seemed to do it with every word. 

His lips curved up into a small smile, his eyes warm as he pulled her back into him. And finally, with a single whisper of a breath by her ear, he relaxed.

“I know you wouldn’t.”

[coconutseaways]

Aug 15-2017 - august baby. Wow.

Aug 14: I can't believe it's been over a week since the last blog. Time is flying and we have been so busy. So the last thing I wrote was that we had a couple onboard, German, who were okay with not sailing since the weather was pretty crappy - cloudy and very gusty and the water choppy. They made the best of it by spending the day at the beach anyways, since it was their last day of holidays. We lent them a couple face masks and they were able to enjoy some of the beautiful fish here. Mike and I relaxed on the boat while they spent their whole day and most of the evening on land. While they were away, we happened to have the radio on and overheard a boat calling in for a tow. He was just outside the harbour wall but his engine wouldn't start and he didn't want to try to sail in. Mike answered his call and asked where his last port was and the date he left. Also the size of the boat and weight to see if we could help him. He replied saying that he left Florida, on JUNE 10! That is the same day Mike and I left Nova Scotia, and we have been hanging out here for almost two months!! This poor man solo sailed here and was stuck on the ocean for 55 days or so, on a 26 foot boat. I am sure he was running low on water and maybe food too. He told us that he either had no wind, or crazy storms to sail through. He ripped his main sail, sewed it back up, then blew it again. He then flew a small storm trisail instead. When we saw him on the pier, finally tied up and on land, his eyes were beyond bloodshot. He was hunched over and had to shuffle his feet to walk. He looked about 60 but the fatigue made him seem 20 years older than that. Mike went up to him and told him we were the ones who offered to help tow him in (the marina went and did it with their zodiac which was faster and easier than us lifting anchor). He shook Mike's hand and thanked him for offering assistance. I just wanted to give him a hug and tell him he made it because he looked so broken down. The next day we saw him and he was doing much better after a shower, a good night sleep and some good food with no stress. Today (Aug 14) he says he is leaving for the Greek Islands. He needs to get out of here and go. The wind is pretty strong today, and Mike even asked if he was sure he wanted to leave today. He said yes and Mike wished him luck. Clearly a very strong sailor at heart. We wish him all he luck and safe sailing. Anyways, our German guests came back around 10 PM and we stayed up talking for a while about the boat and travel experiences. The next morning they were off by 8 AM. Although it means more laundry for us, the quick one night turn arounds are an easy way to make a little cash. We love to do sailing trips obviously, but it's nice to have a few easy days with minimal effort required. They were our very first booking after listing the boat on Airbnb and I hadn't thought of blocking out at least the day of check out, to prevent someone else from checking in. So of course we got a booking for the same day for two nights. Our German couple left, and a lovely Italian couple checked in a few hours later. Again, Thank goodness I bought extra sheets! I had originally thought this booking was two guys, since the initial message said we are two guys lol. Airbnb translator error I'm sure. So when I walked up to them to meet them and saw a guy and a girl I was a little thrown. But I recognized the guy and introduced myself. It was big smiles and hellos. They came aboard right away and checked out the boat. They spent a few hours on land that evening checking out the festivities of Semana do Mar (Sea Week). The next day, even though the wind was a little strong, they were keen to go sailing for a bit. We headed out to the Faial canal which can get very choppy due to the proximity of the two islands (Pico and Faial). We went out and it was choppy all right! They sat up on the foredeck and were getting splashed regularly. We were heeled over about 25 degrees, and the wind was blowing. They were all smiles though and even I got a bucketful of salt water soaking my back. We only stayed out for a couple hours, and due to the wind and chop, couldn't anchor out without going pretty far to get into the lee of the island. But they were super happy and said for a first sail it was awesome! We all went for a couple beer 🍻 and some food. Then we split up: they went walking to the store and whatnot and Mike and I had a shot from one of the bars. €1 each - tequila for me and brandy for Mike. Anyone who's had shots with me knows that tequila gets me feeling good and I have a permanent smile - until I drink too much that is haha. After a couple beers and a shot I was feeling a little tipsy. We walked around a bit and then decided to come back to the boat. Mike assured me he was only going to take a short power nap and then we would go back ashore, since we were both feeling a little bit of party mode. Well...of course he was out cold and only moaned or groaned when I tried to wake him up. Since our guests were still on land, I spent my time reading and drinking a nice cup of hot chocolate. A couple hours later, our Italians came back and they gave Mike and I a lovely gift of chocolate. They bought us some after eights and some delicious dark and milk chocolate. It was very sweet of them. We all had an after eight and then went to sleep relatively quickly. Their ferry was at 9 AM so another early morning rise of coffee and fruit and they were gone in a flash. We spent the rest of the day doing some small jobs and getting some food for our next trip which was going to Graciosa Island. August 7 we checked out, hit the bakery and set sail for Graciosa Island. We left around 11:30 AM and arrived around 7:30 PM. It was a long 8 hours since we had a very close reach the whole time. Waves kept slapping the hull and splashing up. As soon as I started drying off, another one would hit. I kept my cool, but by the time we got there I was tired and cold. We snuck into a tiny little harbour in Praia- second smallest of our boat time (Varcheres, Quebec has the record), but both had very tight 90 degree entrances. There were already 5 or 6 sailboats - tied two or three abreast and a bunch of fishing boats. Mike and I slowly made our way all the way in and found an open dock spot, long enough for Athena. We tied up, at 9 feet deep and went to find a restaurant, since neither of us were up for cooking after that long day. We found a nice restaurant just a couple minutes up the road. We got hamburgers, which again, are just not the same as home. I would love a fatboy. The beef is unseasoned and dry, and doesn't have that burger taste to it. But it was good enough for us. Beside the restaurant was a little windmill that is an Airbnb listing. The Italian couple that had just checked out were going there, while our next Dutch family were there already. Mike and I made our way back to the boat and went straight to bed around 8:30. Around 10:30, I could here Portuguese and looked out the window to see a red fishing boat right beside us. I woke Mike up and we went out. We were in their spot and they had just returned from fishing all day and evening. The captain didn't speak English but one of his fishermen did. He told us that we could tie up to the outside of him, we just needed to switch places. So Mike and I used ropes and pulled ourselves forward alongside another boat while they docked. Then we pulled ourselves back. Before we could get back on the boat to go back to sleep, the Captain pulled out 8 decent sized red fish. They were either rockfish or alfonsino - not sure. He also gave us a ripe melon. They smell like cantaloupe, and the outside is rough like a cantaloupe, but the inside is green like a honey dew. The taste is kind of in between the two, but absolutely delicious. We ate half each in the morning with a spoon holding them like bowls. The man who spoke English - Leonardo (not DaVinci as he said) told us that they would be going out again at 8 AM. We told them we would be awake and we would switch spots again. We thanked them for their generosity and had a great sleep. The next day, as promised the fishermen were at the boat just before 8. Mike and I were already up making coffee. They asked if we enjoyed the fish and Mike and I had to laugh, since there was no way we were cooking fish at 10:30 when we were so tired the night before. We told them we would be eating it that day. We gave half of it away to another sailboat because there was no way we could keep that much without it going bad, or eating it all fast enough. Before they headed out fishing, Leonardo told us about the festival in a town called Guadeloupe and that they would be running the bull in the street. He offered to take us and we agreed. He said he would pick us up at 5 PM and the bulls started at 6. We spent the day airing out the boat, and rinsing the clothing that got sprayed with salt water. I cooked up our free fish as the fishermen came back and gave us more fillets and we ate as much as we could. Then after we had gotten everything rinsed with fresh water and hung out to dry we headed to the nearby beach for a quick dip to cool off. I was so hot from cooking fish and the sun was strong. The beach was very pretty and there was a tiny shore break from the waves, which reminded me of Virginia, hanging out in the constant crashing waves. They were small but once in a while you would get a bigger one to break and I would dive under it instead of getting washed over by it. There is lots of red seaweed too, and the water had a red tinge from so much floating around. It wasn't as pretty as the clear blue water, but it was still a gorgeous little spot. Apparently the locals collect the red seaweed and use it for cosmetics and for medicinal purposes. Most of the beaches have free cold showers and Mike had his thinking cap on and brought soap. We had a good cleaning and were feeling very refreshed. We went back to the boat and got dressed for the nights festivities. As soon as I was done brushing my hair, Leonardo pulled up and we were on our way again. He drove us around the entire island, showing us different buildings and telling us how many of the people live in Canada or the States now. The island used to have 13 000 people and now, it's down to 4500. He also told us he was turning 80 in February, which if you see his picture on Facebook or Instagram you probably wouldn't believe it. He lived in Canada for many years, has sons, daughters and grandkids still there, but after his wife passed away 3 years ago, he decided to come back to Graciosa and do what he loved: fish. He goes fishing almost everyday and he is a very spry man still. He told us about how he caught his first whale at 14, when whaling was an important occupation here. He was a whaler then and a fisherman now, and he loves every day of it. He took us all the way up the island and back down the other side. He showed us the new marina they are building in Santa Cruz, and the factory building where they processed the whales. He also told us that one sperm whale (cachalot) can carry 12 000 litres of oil in their head. The bull run was similar to the one in Velas. But instead of being on the pier by the water, this one was in the street. They had blocked off any side streets with heavy equipment or containers. They also had set up barred cattle trailers for people to sit inside along the road. So they could get a front row seat but still be safe from the horns. They had four bulls, one at a time with breaks in between so you could get another beer or a snack. The pulled pork rolls were pretty delicious. They also had a fried dough with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on it that was pretty tasty. Similar to a doughnut but a little heavier. They had two white lines on either end of the street which marked the safe zone. If you crossed into the danger zone (Oh I miss Archer) then you were solely responsible. The matadors could not guarantee your safety. One guy, who I think was from the states was literally centimetres from being hit by the bull. Some of the pictures were insane. He was really lucky. Mike, Leonardo and I were much smarter and stayed behind the wall, for the most part like sensible people. At the beginning of the first bull, Mike was hiding behind a tree, right on the road, and the bull was a mere ten feet away. Then we were able to make it to the wall where we could spectate safely instead of trying to taunt the bull to run after you. It was a fun evening and after 4 bulls and a couple beer, Leonardo drove us back to the marina. He showed us the house he grew up in and then the house he lived in now. He offered us showers, but since we had used the beach ones we politely declined. Back to the boat for another good rest and then guests the next day. Aug 9, we had a family from Holland check in. They originally booked us for Velas but a few weeks ago messaged me and told me that they had counted on a ferry that day when there was none. The next ferry was a day later and plane tickets for the four of them to Velas was pricy and would have used up an entire day of their holiday. Instead of them having to cancel their reservation with us, we offered to pick them up in Graciosa and sail them to Velas. They were also sailors and owned a boat in Holland. They were happy to accept our offer. So they got on board at 11AM and we were off by noon. We had a nice beam reach until we reached the point of Sao Jorge, where we had to turn to go up the coast. The rest of the trip was against the wind and it took another 8 hour day to make the final journey. We arrived into Velas around 8 PM and we all agreed to go out to eat. We went to a nice little restaurant, enjoyed a couple beers and had some good food. As soon as we were all back in the boat, we all went to bed. It was a good day of sailing but it was tiring. The next day, they wondered if we would go sailing again. The wind was quite strong and we were all tired. We suggested staying on land and they accepted. So we took them out for a nice snorkelling trip in the harbour, lending them wetsuits, masks and fins. Another Dutch woman, from a different boat joined us and we saw sea stars, moray eels and an octopus. After, Mike and I spent our afternoon hiking up to the plateau, where the SPAR is and we got our orange milk chocolate for €0.69 each. We have only seen it at that price at this particular SPAR. So we stocked up on 6 bars. Before we got there, we got hit by a rain squall which was a nice cool off from the steep hike up to the store. Since this was probably the last time we would be in Velas until next year, we took the long way down to get the most of our last walk on Sao Jorge. We got back to the boat and had a couple hours to ourselves while the Dutch family were off checking out the city. We did some prep for dinner, since the daughter was a vegetarian but ate fish - I made my potato veggie skillet while Mike prepared a potjie dish - meat, potato and vegetables all in one pot. Our guests returned and we started cooking. We had so much food to cook. They bought tuna steaks, hamburger patties, pork kebabs, pork chops (which they asked for lamb but didn't get), Mike's meat dish and my vegetable dish. Needless to say it was a cookfest, and we were all very well fed after. The next day our Dutch family left the boat around 10 AM. We prepped the boat and after everything was said and done, we left around noon to head to Horta. Again, we got booked on the same day, even though I was sure that I had blocked out the day. So we were "racing" to Horta to pick up what turned out to be an awesome French couple. I had originally told them we would be in Horta by 3 PM, but the winds didn't cooperate that well and we left a little later so we didn't arrive until 4:30. They were super cool about it and as soon as we were checked in and ready, I met them at Peter's. They came to the boat right away and didn't leave. They didn't care about the last few days of Semana do Mar, or checking out Faial. They wanted to be on the boat the whole time. Which was really cool. They loved every minute of it. We just hung out and had some beer together on the first night. They bought some beef steaks and I made potatoes, a salad and some delicious garlic bread. The bread was a hit because we ended up having it every night with our meals. The next day we started the day with a snorkel. It was nice and calm and the visibility was great. Then we went to the bakery to get more bread for you guessed it, garlic bread. Then we got ready and went out sailing for a few hours, checking out one of the craters around Faial and then anchoring by the beach to take a swim. We went out just as the traditional sailing boats were about to start racing. It was so cool to see them all hoist their sails at the same time and start. We stayed to windward and watched them head for the windward mark. We kept well clear of their lay line, watching them race. It was really cool. They headed for the leeward mark and we thought they would do another round, but they headed in for the finish line. Either way it was super great timing and the weather was gorgeous. We had delicious cucumber, mayo, cheese and pepperoni sandwiches for lunch. Then we came back into harbour, picked up our mooring and hit relax mode. The guy went into the dinghy and was fishing around the harbour for a good couple of hours. He came back with a very decent sized triggerfish. Mike and I made another potjie, Mexican style if you ask Mike, and cooked up this fish. Of. Purse we added the garlic bread. Dinner was delicious. They taught us a cool card game and we played a couple rounds with Mike winning the first one. They were really cool people and we really enjoyed having them. They booked us for three nights, but she said if she had found us sooner they would have booked us for a week. They absolutely love sailing and wanted to spend as much time doing so. They are going to come back to stay with us in the Caribbean and we are really stoked about that. We have made some awesome connections on this trip. Yesterday (Aug 13), before going sailing, they went to the store to get ingredients to make us crepes for dinner. Real French crepes... We loaded up headed out onto the water just before noon. There was a cruising regatta race, but we didn't enter. We watched the race and then sailed along the coast of Pico. We found a nice little spot and dropped anchor. We all snorkelled and saw some really pretty parrot fish. Mike was able to spear us two fish to eat (not parrotfish because they are too pretty). The anchor was wedged in between two rocks really well, which was great for holding us but meant it would be a little harder to lift when we were ready to go. Mike tied a recovery line to it and when we were directly over it, Mike pulled it free and we were adrift. We sailed out with just the jib. It was cool to anchor and lift anchor without needing to turn the engine on. The sail back to Faial was a little tedious, since we had to beat back. We put two reefs in the main because the wind had increased quite a bit. Once we approached Faial it started raining. So Mike and I stayed out and brought her into harbour. We didn't get back until almost 8 PM so it was a decent 8 hour day on the water. Our guests started preparing the crepes right away, making a huge bowl of batter! Mike prepared the two fish and first we BBQ'd some garlic bread and sausages. Then we had the fish. Then... the crepes. Oh man they were so amazing. We had savoury ones with smoked ham or chorizo and Sao Jorge cheese. They were delectable. I definitely want to try to make some pizza ones with pepperoni and a little pizza sauce. We gorged on those and still had half a bowl of batter. Very shortly after, they made the sweet crepes. Oh man. Lemon juice and sugar was so delicious. We also pulled out cinnamon, brown sugar and nutmeg. They were so tasty. We still had some mixture left, so they cooked them up plain, and we saved them for breakfast in the morning. Finally...today. We got up shortly after 7 since they had to leave for the airport in a taxi by 8:15. I made coffee /tea and we ate cold crepes with some sugar in them. They were still super good. We said our goodbyes and they were off down the road. It was truly so much fun to have them onboard and we had lots of laughs, wine and food. They were just great!!! And now it's the middle of August and I can't believe we are getting near the end. I am working on the Airbnb listing for the Caribbean...we were having some technical difficulties using the app. It's all fixed now and I will make sure to share it tomorrow. We will be based out of St. Maarten. It's gonna be so great! I can't wait to get there. Anyways today we cleaned up and got things put away. Mike made his awesome spaghetti bolognese for lunch to use up the rest of our hamburger meat. Which is probably the most expensive meat to buy it seems at €5 something a kilo. We enjoyed two big bowls each and not too long later decided to take a nap to recover. I love the days off in between. At least 2, 3 is better. We get to rest for the first day, then laundry on the second day. If it doesn't dry totally on the second, we still have the third to finish it up. But we are adaptive and can run on the fly too. But we don't want to get burned out and stop enjoying what we are doing. These last 10 days have been super busy, and we are definitely enjoying the breather. Tonight...we feast on crepes! Haha. We are cutting the recipe down by 5 and will see how it goes. That should only be about 4 crepes each. We have 4 more bookings left until we are done and it's been a total blast. Sorry the pictures have been lacking a bit. I will do better. I had a nice chat with mom this morning at 11, which was 6AM for her. She was already up for work so I knew I could call without waking her. We had a good 15 minute chat before the wifi area was closing for lunch. So we said see you later. It was nice to chat with her for a bit. I had wanted to yesterday, since the weekend is always easier to chat at a reasonable time for both of us. But being a late sail and then eating crepes until almost 11 PM, I didn't make it over to the wifi. Life is good and we are doing great. We are still smiling and laughing, swimming and snorkelling around the Azores. I have enjoyed it so much and am glad we have had such great guests! I promise to work the camera and the go pro some more and am counting down the days until we head to Sao Miguel and Santa Maria Island. Keep following us on Facebook and Instagram @ coconut_seaways. Share our page and tell your friends about us. I think we will book up in the Caribbean quite quickly. Friends and fam get first (last dibs says Mike haha) dibs!!! Lots of love to all my friends and family. Miss you tons.