#like bro just random walk then saw flower and he thought “traveler !!!!”

[erabu-san]

I am a shoujo manga lover and my dose of romance is being feed by a fantasy action gacha game.

[animeomegas]

Omega!Naruto getting married

Anon: Omg omg bro I just saw the amazing and wonderful art of naruto in a white dress and it just got me thinking. Could you do naruto and his alpha getting married pllleeeaaassssee🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺I also wanna show you the picture soo badd he's so beautifullllllll

(Omg tag me in this 🥺I want to see!!! Naruto is so so beautiful you’re absolutely right and I love him and this was so far down my writing list but I just really wanted to write it anyway. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. <3)

I wrote for a Western wedding because I have no idea how Japanese weddings work (although I’m taking a degree in Japanese rip)

Warnings: Alcohol mention.

This boy will never admit it, but he always dreamt of getting married when he was a child.

When he was really young, he asked the Sandaime why people get married and the Hokage told him that marriage is what two people did when they loved each other more than anyone else.

Naruto always wanted someone to love him and so he clung to this in a similar (but less extreme) way, to how he clung to his dream of becoming Hokage. 

He always imagined his future self as the most badass ninja/Hokage with  a beautiful mate/spouse and some little prankster pups who would love him and who he would love unconditionally in return. 

And so when his alpha finally proposes to him.

This man goes a bit crazy.

As soon as the shock wears off, you suddenly get bombarded with him shouting about a thousand different things he wants at the wedding, and what food there should be, and “Do you think they sell orange wedding cakes?”.

He wants an insanely big and extravagant wedding.

It’s probably best to just humour him.

Proposal:

You were already mated to Naruto when you proposed.

Naruto lowkey believes in soulmates and when you had been courting for about a year he knew you were his. 

His very next heat came around, and boom, you were mated. 

You proposed about a year and a half after that, spurred on by Naruto’s less than subtle hints about it.

Naruto loved being around his friends and he also loved positive attention, so the idea for your proposal came naturally. 

You threw a get together for him and his closest friends. Good food, plenty of drinks and board games.

Naruto was laughing and smiling all night. He teamed up with you for the games, sitting on your lap the entire time. 

He used this vantage point to demand congratulatory and commiserative  kisses everytime something happened in the game. You could feel him smiling into the kiss each time.

The plan was working perfectly so far. 

As the evening began to wind down, you stood up, immediately garnering the attention of everyone in the room.

You cleared your throat awkwardly as all the eyes in the room settled on you. Sakura gave you a thumbs up behind Naruto’s shoulder.

‘You got this!’ She mouthed, eyes twinkling with excitement. With her encouragement in mind, you took one final deep breath before beginning.

“Sorry to interrupt you all, but there’s one more thing I have to do before everyone goes home.” You started, successfully avoiding any unfortunate stutters or out of control nervous scents.

Naruto furrowed his brows at you, confused. You only smiled, silently telling him to wait. 

“I have an... announcement of sorts to make.” 

“Then get on with it.” Drawled Shikamaru, smirking at you from the corner. You glared at him for teasing you, but he was too busy dodging a ‘shut up’ punch from Sakura to notice.

“As you all know, I’ve had the honour of being mated for Naruto for almost two years now,” You focused your gaze onto your mate, watching him perk up at the mention of his name. “and I have been madly in love for every minute of it.” You paused thoughtfully. “Even the minute when he drank out of date milk and threw up all over my bed.” 

Naruto went red as his friends giggled at him. He let out an embarrassed whine as you joined in the laughter. 

“You didn’t have to tell them that!” He groaned, voice muffled from the cushion he had temporarily buried his face in. 

“What I’m trying to say, is that when I met Naruto my life changed forever, for the better. I can no longer fathom a life where I could live without him.”

You turned to address Naruto directly. He was watching you closely. Maybe he was starting to guess where this was going.

“When I wake up next to you, when we invent terrible ramen flavours together, when I bandage you after training because you tried to show off and hurt yourself,” You laughed breathily. “Those are the moments when I am the happiest. The common denominator is you, Naruto, my beloved mate.”

No one else in the room mattered now apart from you and Naruto. You took one final breath to steel yourself, before dropping on one knee. Naruto gasped, his hands coming up to cover his mouth. 

“Which is why I want to be with you for the rest of our lives.” You pulled the ring box out of your pocket, opening it to reveal a simple golden band. 

“Will you marry me, Naruto?”

Naruto nodded furiously, his bottom lip wobbling as his eyes filled up with tears.

“YES! YES! YES! A thousand times yes!!” 

Naruto threw himself into your arms as his friends applauded and whooped in the background. You caught him with a happy laugh, leaning to kiss him. Naruto reciprocated enthusiastically, earning a few wolf whistles from his friends.

Naruto’s scent was that of pure sugar and you revelled in it, certain that your own was the same. Eventually you pulled away from the kiss, wiping a tear from Naruto’s eye, cradling his face gently in your hands.

“A toast,” Chouji’s voice called out, interrupting your thoughts. “To the newly engaged couple!” 

All your friends cheered, raising their glasses in a toast to your engagement. 

“May their love last forever!”

You laughed gleefully. Forever indeed.

Planning:

Naruto has a lot of ideas and a lot of passion, but not so much in the planning skills department. 

I hate to say it, but Naruto is a little bit of a Bridezilla type. A cute one though, so that’s better?

He really really wants a lot of random specific stuff that he dreamt about as a child, but he’s not good at organising it so you get a lot of:

“Alphaaaaa, can you book [insert incredibly specific wedding thing]?”

“Alpha, alpha, alpha, can you find a [insert incredibly specific wedding thing] for me, please???”

Here is a list of some, not all, of the things Naruto wants for his wedding. Bolded are ‘no compromises allowed’.

A traditional, white wedding dress (He knows he can wear whatever he wants, but his life has only ever been atypical and he just really wants a traditional white male omega wedding dress.)

An orange wedding cake (Naruto wants an orange wedding cake, but he can be persuaded to settle for orange detailing instead of the solid orange monstrosity he originally wants.)

A ramen course ( he wants one of the courses to be ramen of course! The idea of a really expensive, fancy ramen course just makes him melt with excitement. Nobody is surprised when they see ramen on the menu.)

A big wedding (He will invite the whole village if you allow him to. Ultimately though, as long as there’s room for every friend he’s ever had, he’s happy.)

Double barrelling your surnames (He really wants to take your name. Now that you’re married and mated, you’re a team for life and he wants that reflected in your names, but he also spent most of his life without family, and his name is one of the only connections he has to his mother. As such, he would never be able to lose it completely.)

A stag do/bachelor party (He just thinks it would be fun to get together with his other omega friends. He wants to hang out with his friends and wedding party for a night without anyone being away on missions for once.)

A honeymoon in Konoha (Naruto doesn’t want to travel for his honeymoon. Konoha is his home and his favourite place to be, so he wants to be there. If you desperately want to travel, you could probably organise a half-and-half style honeymoon. Half in Konoha, half wherever you want.)

Two empty chairs for his parents during the service (He has lost so many people, he could never leave empty chairs for them all. He keeps everyone he’s lost in his mind on his wedding day, but his parents are the ones he misses the most on his special day. When he looks at the empty chairs, he likes to think that they would be proud watching him get married.

The Wedding:

Naruto is fully bouncing off the walls.

He’s so excited. And nervous. But excited.

He gets ready and when he gazes at himself in the mirror, he feels amazing. As a child, he always thought he would cover his whiskers with make up, thinking they were on of the reasons people treated him differently. But now, as he stares at his reflection, he wears his whisker marks proudly.

Everyone pitched in to make the wedding perfect. Ino with the flowers, Chouji with the food, etc.

The wedding was kind of a bizarre mix. Some parts were strictly traditional and other parts were... orange. 

Naruto had plenty of fireworks set up to go off in the evening, and this ended up being one of his favourite parts of the day.

Naruto asked Iruka to walk him down the aisle about a month befpre the wedding. Iruka 100% cried when that happened. And then Naruto cried because Iruka was crying, it was an adorable mess. 

You got married outside. The sun was so bright, and the weather was warm but with a slight breeze. 

Naruto and Iruka wait just out of everyone’s view. When they send the signal, everybody stands.

You watched in awe as your mate turned the corner, grasping tightly at Iruka sensei’s arm.

He was stunning.

The sunlight reflected off his blond hair like light off of water, his white dress adding to the blinding effect. Naruto had refused to tell you what he would be wearing today, but this was more beautiful than you could have ever imagined. 

As he reached the end of the aisle, your mate gave up on being graceful, running the last few steps and throwing himself into your embrace. You caught him easily, twirling him around. Laughter rang through the hall.

“You look stunning.” You whispered in his ear, gently stroking up and down his arms.

“So do you.” He grinned in return.

The ceremony flew by. You had tried your hardest to listen, but you couldn’t stop staring at your mate instead. His eyes were always one of your favourite of his physical features, but they had looked especially magical today. 

Before you knew it, it was time for your first dance.

You hadn’t planned anything and you certainly didn’t take any lessons, so it was just you and him, in each others’ arms, swaying together to the music. 

Naruto felt warm in your arms as you swayed. You took a moment to nuzzle your face into his scent glands, pressing a firm kiss to his mating mark while you were there. Naruto hummed in delight, holding onto you even tighter.

“My omega. My mate. My husband.” You breathed into his ear, knowing how much he loved his new title.

Naruto shivered and purred in response. “I love the sound of that, you know.”

“I’m aware.” You laughed, using the distraction to twirl him. Naruto completed his twirl before trying to twirl you as well. 

Other couples soon began to join you on the dance floor, but you and Naruto only had eyes for each other. 

“I love you, more than anything else in this world Naruto, never forget that.”

“I love you, too. Forever, I promise.”

“Do you love me more than ramen?”

“What? Can’t you just be happy with second place?”

“Narutoooo.”

“Fine... Joint first.”

“I hate you.”

Naruto barked out a laugh at the look on your face.

“No, you don’t.”

[gumnut-logic]

We’ll Be Home For Christmas 5.1

Title: We’ll be home for Christmas

Day Five – Here on Tracy Island – Part 1 Prologue | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 5.1

Author: Gumnut

20 Jun 2020

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can’t fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 3313

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos I started this fic before we saw it.

Author’s note: For @scattergraph​​​​​. This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D

No, I haven’t forgotten about this fic, and yes, it hit the six month mark about two weeks ago. I started writing this 8 Dec 2019. I’m nearly there.

Landmark, though. It is now officially my longest Thunderbirds fic, overtaking Gentle Rain today at around 60,000 words, depending on which word processing program it is sitting in. Never expected it to be this long.

This chapter pretty much wrote itself. It is almost like a role call of the five brothers and their states of mind. So a little bit of all the bros in this. I hope you enjoy.

Many thanks to @i-am-chidorixblossom​​​ @scribbles97​​​​​ and @onereyofstarlight​​​​​ for reading through various bits, fielding my many wibblies, and for all their wonderful support.

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

Day Five: Here on Tracy Island

Virgil woke late the next morning. It was a pleasant awakening, slipping from deep sleep to doze to a peaceful warmth beneath the covers. His room was dark. Darker than his cabin on A Little Lightning and with decidedly less sway.

He lay there for a while, enjoying the lack of need to get up and do anything and the absence of pain. He had slept the sleep of the dead and was thoroughly rested. There was something to be said about sleeping in your own bed at home that no holiday anywhere could provide.

But honestly, he wasn’t one to sit and do nothing for long, his brain kicking into gear while he lay there, listing off things waiting to be done. A visit to Two to reassure himself she had been checked over and was ready should she be needed. Not that he didn’t trust his family, it was just for his own peace of mind.

He should be able to get away with it so long as he didn’t spend too much time down there.

It took him a full half an hour of random rumination to realise that it was Christmas Day.

Oh shit.

The clock said eleven am.

His family...

He sat up abruptly and was thoroughly reminded of how stupid such a move was.

Oh, for the love of...

He grunted and rolled over until his face was smothered in his pillow.

The medic in his brain listed off the reasons why he shouldn’t have done that and why he needed to be careful and, goddamnit, he was sick of this. It was only an appendix, for crying out loud.

Stupid surgery.

That could have been so much worse.

He was being a spoilt child.

He let out a breath into his pillow, its warmth wrapping around his face. Another week and he would be fine.

But now, it was eleven oh five on Christmas morning and he was holding his family up.

He clambered out of bed with minimal complaint from his body, into the shower, a shave and into his familiar red flannel, jeans and boots.

It was such a comfort to be home.

He blow-dried his hair, gelled it up and made himself presentable.

The man who stared at him from his bathroom mirror was one appendix less and a whole pile of experience more.

He hummed to himself, tasting the notes in his throat. He could feel the soft whale skin under his fingertips, hear the lap of the water, the breeze in his hair...

And the music.

His eyes were closed without permission, the imagery taking over his mind. His fingers tapped against the bathroom vanity marking out the beat and rhythm of what he was trying to say, the pictures warping into abstract and lack of understanding.

Salty and long spoken, the notes repeated.

He didn’t know how long he stood there under the bathroom light, eyes seeing another world somewhere below the ocean surface.

By the time he shook off the haze it was eleven forty-five.

Almost lunchtime.

Alan would be foaming at the bit.

He pushed himself away from the sink and killed the light. Walking carefully across his room, he shook himself, rolling his shoulders. Get it together, Virgil. Your family is waiting for you.

Out through the door, down the corridor and, screw the stairs, he was taking the elevator.

It swallowed him whole.

-o-o-o-

Gordon had been up since before the sun. It was a sign that he was home. A session in the pool brought familiarity into the equation. There was definitely a difference between swimming in the pool versus the ocean and it had nothing to do with water salinity.

The ocean was beautiful and he adored it. But the pool sported no threat, no need to monitor his surroundings beyond the presence of a mischievous brother or two, leaving him to be able to focus on his stroke and let his mind wander.

The pleasant warmth of well used muscles pulling him forward through the water, simple thought processing...and considering the last few days, there were a lot of thoughts awaiting examination.

Some he had managed while piloting A Little Lightning on the home stretch, but there were still more needing answers and tactical decisions.

Sam. Mel. Scott. John. Virgil.

As far as he knew, Scott was still planning on inviting the neighbours over today. That would place Sam within reach of the apparently resistant Virgil.

He understood where both men were coming from. Virgil needed time and Sam was just a ball of eager energy.

Gordon was stuck between the two.

Push came to shove, he would side with Virgil regardless. He had too. But he really didn’t want to be divisive. If Virgil would talk just a little, it would help not only Sam and himself, but it might assuage the ball of worried energy that was Scott.

His arms sliced through water until he reached the end of the lane, his body automatically flipping and turning into the push off surge in the opposite direction. Air, splash and his hands slicing through the water again.

Okay, he would admit that he was worried himself. At first it was just amazing. His brother could sing to whales! A breakthrough. But yesterday he witnessed exactly how spaced Virgil became when singing and everything screamed wary. Humpback whales were beautiful creatures, but so big and so possibly unintentionally dangerous.

He couldn’t let Virgil anywhere near a whale alone. It just wasn’t safe. There was so much they didn’t know and the urge to protect his gentle brother just swelled in his heart.

They needed to investigate further. Find out exactly what was going on. Make sure his brother was safe. That it didn’t affect any water rescues.

They couldn’t afford to have Virgil spacing out in the ocean at random. As it was, Gordon wasn’t going to let Virgil anywhere near the ocean during rescues for the foreseeable future. He could stay up in Two.

Safe.

Whale song could travel around the globe.

His native realm had become a hazard for his big brother and that was unacceptable.

They had to find out what was going on.

John and Eos had made a good start, but Sam and himself needed to investigate further and soon.

Virgil needed to cooperate for his own safety.

Gordon broke his stroke, pushed himself to the side of the pool and rested his head on the concrete a moment, letting his body float randomly.

Blood pumped through his ears, his heart still running at exercise rate.

He needed to convince Virgil.

Somehow.

-o-o-o-

Scott revelled in the early dawn light. His feet pounded on his wonderfully familiar route around the Island. A trek he hadn’t laid eyes on for a week.

His runners crunched volcanic gravel beneath them.

The sun was just rising on Christmas Day, the beautiful weather hanging strong, the sea a stretch of glass disappearing off into the horizon. His current trajectory pointed him directly south where he knew beyond the glass lay Raoul Island. A single spot in a sea of blue, so similar to the even tinier spot that was Tracy Island.

Same sea of blue.

A pokey tree appeared on the side of the track, its red flowers quite glorious in the morning sun, and he found himself grinning. Sure, he knew the correct name of the pōhutukawa tree, but Alan’s name was so much easier to pronounce and it made Mel laugh.

His legs took the strain as he jogged up the rapidly steepening trail.

If he was honest with himself, the whole no strings attached thing was a lie. He found himself thinking about the woman more the longer they were away from Raoul.

And they only left yesterday.

As soon as the sun was high enough in the sky to be polite, he would be contacting Raoul with his invitation to her, Sam and Liam. It wasn’t the only time he had invited people to the Island, they weren’t entirely hermits, but it was rare and the first time in a long time.

And he was so looking forward to it.

Penny and Parker were due after breakfast as was the tradition. As soon as everyone was awake, they would have their present opening party, always a major family event. More for the company and laughter than the presents themselves.

He could almost hear Gordon declaring it ‘Tracy style’ complete with the arm movements to compliment the claim.

But Mel...it was like he was excited to show her the Island, perhaps because he knew she would be very interested in the ecosystem that had developed here since their father had begun repairing it over a decade ago.

And he was staring at it right now as he followed the path around the back of the Island. Pokey trees, palms and ferns were everywhere a foothold was available. Scott knew very little about their ecosystem beyond the need to keep it safe. Gordon and Virgil were the ones who knew most about it among the brothers. Gordon focussed on the sea and Virgil sometimes helped out with animal numbers and photography for the scientific group.

But Mel hadn’t been here since Dad...

He grunted and hurdled a rock he hurdled every morning as the slope inverted and started heading down. The view was stunning.

Despite the glass of the ocean, the swell still crashed on the back cliffs of the Island, jagged volcanic rock resistant to the relentless pounding.

Hopefully she would consent to the visit even though it was late notice.

He did have a Thunderbird, after all.

-o-o-o-

John hadn’t slept much. He never did when something was on his mind. His everything drove him to find a solution, particularly when a brother was involved.

Eos never slept, so she was the perfect insomnia companion.

There was also the factor that he was home, but he really wasn’t.

He was missing Five.

Now he was back on the Island, everything was screaming at him to go home.

Not that he didn’t like the Island, quite the opposite. The Island contained his brothers, his grandmother, Kayo, his family and he adored his family.

But the stars were calling to him. His body ached to feel the release from gravity. He wanted his home.

He ignored it.

His body needed gravity. It was an undeniable fact. It had evolved under the pressure exerted by the planet and while his mind adored the stars and the lack of gravity, nature demanded its return under the ‘use it or lose it’ mandate of life on Earth.

So, tired, but awake anyway as the sun hit the front of the villa, John made his way down to the pool where he found Gordon, as expected, in the water, but unexpectedly, not swimming. His head was lying on one arm at the edge of the pool, his body floating lazily behind.

John dropped his towel on a lounger and, bare footed to the edge next to his brother. Folding himself into a seated position he dropped his feet to dangle in the cool water.

“Gordon?”

“Hmm?” His head rose a little blearily. “Oh, John, hey.”

“Merry Christmas.”

“Huh? What, oh, Merry Christmas, John.”

A frown. “You okay?”

Gordon flexed his shoulders. “Yeah, just thinking.”

“Virgil?”

“Yeah.”

John sighed. “Same. But you do know he’s okay?”

“Yeah, just thinking it through.”

John pushed himself into the water and couldn’t help a relieved sigh as the water took away so many of the effects of gravity, cradling his body. “Swim with me?”

Brown eyes turned to him and John saw a reflection of his own worry in their depths. “Sure.” Gordon pushed off from the edge, his movements graceful despite his distraction.

John moved to the lane next to Gordon’s preferred and lined up beside his fish brother. Gordon shot him a brief but grateful smile before pushing off the end in a careless surge into stroke. He was metres ahead before John had even shifted into form.

Typical.

Show off.

But he couldn’t help but smile as he pushed off the edge himself, automatically moving into a strong but leisurely stroke in warm up.

Swimming denied verbal communication, but it wasn’t needed, the two of them just keeping each other company.

By the fifth lap, John started pushing himself, putting his body through the exercise needed to keep it healthy. He had no delusions of keeping up with Gordon. He just paced himself as his body needed it. Twenty laps in, he eased up a little and checked on his brother.

Gordon was still going. John brought himself to a halt, treading water, muscles pleasantly buzzing.

“Hey, John.” The astronaut startled, turning in place to find Scott standing on the edge of the pool. His running gear appeared well used, sweat stains prominent, and he was still breathing heavily. “Just letting you know that I’m going to be taking One out in about half an hour.”

“You going to get Mel and Sam?” Gordon was suddenly beside him. It was a sign of how tired John actually was that his younger brother startled him almost as much as Scott had a moment earlier.

“Yeah.”

“Can I come with?”

“Don’t you want to be here for when Penny arrives?”

John arched an eyebrow in Gordon’s direction. The fish had been looking forward to Christmas for that very reason. Before Virgil’s illness, it had been Penelope this, Penelope that. Apparently, he had the ‘best’ gift lined up for their first Christmas as a couple. Whether or not that was still going ahead considering recent events, John had no idea. Gordon hadn’t mentioned it since Virgil fell ill.

“I thought you had the fastest plane on the planet, Scotty.”

Their eldest brother snorted. “Plane, yes, younger brother, no.”

“Hey, I can be fast.” A strawberry blond frown. “Regardless, I need to speak to Sam.”

Scott eyed him a moment. “Virgil?”

Gordon sighed. “Yeah, Virgil. Gotta handle this delicately.”

Scott’s lips thinned. “Okay, then you better be ready in thirty because that’s when I’m leaving.”

The fish was already climbing out of the pool. Wet footprints marked the concrete as he strode to his towel.

Blue eyes turned to John. “You okay? You look tired.”

John let water run through his fingers. “I am, but I’ll live.”

Voice quiet. “Virgil?”

A single nod, voice equally quiet. “Virgil. Eos, Gordon and I will work it out. We just need time.” And patience. Admittedly, he didn’t have much of that where his brothers’ health was concerned. He could fake it, but it didn’t mean he felt it.

Scott’s expression was thoughtful. “I know you will do your best. Don’t forget to look after yourself.”

A groan. This was why Virgil was always adamant that he was fine. I single hint of something wrong and their biggest brother was all over them, his concern obvious. “I’m fine, Scott.”

That earned him a grunt and John actually struggled not to smile at his brother’s exasperation. John swam to the pool edge and pushed himself out of the water. A wave in the direction of the rising sun’s reflection. “The pool is all yours, dear brother.”

Scott eyed him. “Thank you.”

The morning breeze cooled John enough to raise goose pimples on his arms. Before he could reach for his towel, Scott was handing it to him.

Ever the big brother. It was John’s turn to eye him back. “Thank you.”

Scott smiled at him, a definite smirk on those lips. He knew exactly what John was thinking and had likely done it on purpose. “Anytime.”

Hmmm. “Merry Christmas, Scott.”

Those blue eyes widened as his big brother obviously realised that despite all the preparations underway, despite the tree they had stacked with presents the night before, he had still managed to forget the significance of the day.

It was John’s turn to smirk.

But Scott recovered quickly, tilting his head, a small smile on his lips. “Merry Christmas, John.”

With that he turned and headed off into the house.

-o-o-o-

Alan loved to sleep in. He shared this love with his second eldest brother. Getting up early sucked big time and he had no coffee addiction to help him.

But there was one day of the year when you could witness the youngest Tracy out of bed, while not early, at least a decent time where breakfast could still be called breakfast and not lunch or even brunch.

Christmas Day.

Alan adored the day. Presents, food and family, what more could a guy ask for?

So, eight am found him stumbling down the stairs to the kitchen in search of the second and third items on the list. He found Grandma at the kitchen table eating her fruit and yoghurt.

Alan made no effort to be quiet, but she didn’t appear to realise he was there, staring out across the lagoon. “Grandma?”

She dropped her spoon with a clatter as it hit the bowl. “Alan!” She clutched her hand to her chest, gasping. “You frightened me. Gave my old heart a kick in the pants.”

“Sorry, Grandma. Are you okay?”

“This time. Though I wouldn’t recommend doing it too often.” She held out an arm. “C’mere and give me a Christmas hug.”

Now that was something he was quite happy to do. Grandma hugs were always appreciated. “Merry Christmas, Grandma.” He held her tight.

“Merry Christmas, honey. Are you hungry?”

Uh, that was always a loaded question and there were important indicators related to that. “Where is everyone?” He had expected to find at least John down here. His space brother would eat his breakfast staring out into the lagoon and follow it with work on his tablet just to be around family in his own way. But not today.

“Scott and Gordon have gone to Raoul to collect Ms Fisher and that scientist friend of Gordon’s.”

“Sam?”

“I guess. They were both in quite a hurry to leave.”

That set Alan grinning. “I think Scott likes Mel.”

An arched eyebrow. “I thought she liked Virgil.”

A snort accompanied the grin. “I don’t think she is Virgil’s kind of girl.”

Of course, that was the very moment Kayo decided to enter the kitchen. She had obviously been on a run, dressed in shorts and a high cut top.

“Who’s Virgil’s kind of girl?”

Alan’s eyes widened. “Um.”

Green narrowed at him. “What are you up to, Alan?”

“Nothing!” He held out his hands. “What did I do?”

“I’m more concerned with what you are going to do.”

“Suspicious, much? I’m going to eat breakfast, that’s what.”

She continued to eye him. “No practical jokes today.”

“I wasn’t planning on it. Gee, you’d think I was Gordy or something.”

“Gordon will be contained by Lady Penelope. You, however, are not.”

“And what? That makes me some kind of prank genius?”

“Genius, no, annoyance, yes.”

“Hey, Merry Christmas, Kayo. How about a little of the spirit?”

She glared and him and grunted before turning away and stalking off.

“What’s up her skirt?”

“Alan!”

“Well, you saw her. I didn’t do anything!”

Grandma was quiet a moment. “She has things on her mind.”

“When doesn’t she?”

“Let her be.”

“I didn’t do anything!”

Grandma sighed. “Things will work themselves out for the best.”

Alan stared at his grandmother. What on Earth was going on? Did everyone know something that he didn’t. He sighed. Wouldn’t be the first time. “I’m going grab some breakfast.”

“Yes, dear.” And Grandma was staring out at the lagoon again.

What the-?

Alan grabbed the refrigerator door and flung it open, his eyes raking its contents. Perhaps food would fix things.

A glance at Grandma found that she hadn’t moved.

There was definitely something going on.

-o-o-o-

End Day 5 Part 1

[ritchiestories]

chapter 1

I walked into the party around 10 PM. Shit usually didn’t Jump off until around 11 with this crew, but Chance got pretty stingy with his parents liquor around them and started pulling out the cheap shit he got from his brother and i wanted to have a sufficient buzz before that happened. Once your palate becomes accustomed to Tito’s, nothing else will do. I parked my car and walked up Chance’s excessively long driveway to the front door. There were already a decent amount of cars since most people came straight here after the charity gala. I unfortunately was one of the lucky few who got to stick around and chat with the Dean of Admissions at Howard who just happened to be at the table my dad bought for this wack ass function.

It wasn’t all bad though, I got to swipe the last few shrimp and grit puffs from the night. For a food pastry combo that sounds so unconventional, shit was really fucking good.

I loosed my tie and rang the doorbell to Chance’s house. His crib was probably the biggest on the block considering his mom owned the only black movie streaming service in the world. “Niggas really love Brown Sugar bro.” Chance would say anytime people asked about how his mom got so rich. Not that many people asked this since we all came from families with excessive amounts of money but, I think people just have this strange fascination with making sure you deserve the excess for whatever reason. Chance opened the door after about two minutes.

“What up lil nigga?” Chance said as he let me in. “How you gon’ be late to your best friend’s function? We only pull that CP time shit for the Chad’s bro.”

Chance and I had been best friends since the 2nd grade. Partially because our parents met at a Jack & Jill mixer and realized we were the only two black kids in our class. Mostly because we couldn’t properly roll a joint without the other’s assistance. He’s a bit louder than me, and he has an affinity for snapbacks that I find hard to support, but I couldn’t do this “black man in a white world” shit without his ass.

“Sorry bro,” I said as I stepped over the threshold. “Dr. Williams was at my table and my dad wanted me to talk with him for a bit.”

“Damn again? Your dad always has you kissing that nigga’s ass. Did you fondle his balls this time too?” Chance said as he closed the door behind me.

“Do you actively try to be this fucking gross? Or is it just habit for you?” I asked rhetorically.

I walked into Chance’s kitchen where there were already about twenty other kids from our school. I gave a few smiles and head nods, but nothing too personal. Chance was the people person in our friendship. I didn’t even know half these kids by name.

“Yo, come here,” Chance said as he leaned down to a cabinet under his sink. He came back up with a full bottle of Tito’s vodka. “I got what you’re bougie ask asked for. Why can’t you be into peach Ciroc like everyone else?”

“You know how many fucking additives are in that shit? I like my binge drinking to be organic.” I said as I topped off the red solo cup in my hand. “Plus bougie is my aesthetic.”

“Whatever dude.”

Chance and I shot the shit for a while as more random niggas strolled into his crib. He started trying to convince me how he’s going to try to be the black Gordan Ramsey when he grows up, traveling to different soul food restaurants across the country and making their shit better. I told him that wouldn’t work because no soul food restaurant in the country would let him talk to them the way Gordan Ramsey does. About forty five minutes later Chance left me to go tend to the AUX chord (someone had played Bodak Yellow one too many times for his liking.), so I went to mingle through the party. Per usual I didn’t know a damn soul so I made my way outside to Chance’s backyard.

Chance’s house sat on one of the highest residential hills in the neighborhood, so the view from behind it was pretty amazing. After you walk past the combination pool jacuzzi setup there’s a set of couches that look over the entire city. “I be on some Big Brother shit up here,” Chance would say whenever we sat outside. “I can see everybody and everything, but nobody can see me.”

Being by myself at these things was pretty normal for me. I didn’t really need a whole bunch of friends, Chance was really enough. The more people you let in your life, the more people gotta know shit about you. And the more people that gotta know shit about you, the less shit you have to your self.

I sat on the couch and pulled a joint and lighter from my suit jacket pocket. I placed the joint in my mouth and sparked the lighter. I inhaled the first puff and resisted the urge to cough. I exhaled and watched as the wind pushed my weed smoke past me back to Chase’s house. I sat back as “911” by Tyler the Creator blasted from the stereo.

This was a normal Saturday night for me, finding a pocket of solidarity in a crowded room. Not on some loner Jared Leto in My So Called life shit though, this rich kid shit was just getting tired.

I closed my eyes as my body started to go slightly numb. I started thinking about the leftover shrimp and grit puffs I was going to enjoy in about 15 minutes. As thoughts of Old Bay began to fill my mind i was interrupted by a small shatter. A flower pot had fallen off its stone pedestal erected next to a sliding glass door. Two kids came from behind the pedestal to pick it up. The first was Larson Clark. Larson Clark is the son of the Mayor of Baldwin Hills. Larson Clark exclusively wears vintage Yale sweatshirts and loafers like he’s always auditioning for a J Crew shoot. Larson Clark is the editor in Chief of The Union, our school’s literary magazine ran by a bunch of hotep niggas who think they’re better than everyone just because they read the Malcom X biography. Larson Clark is an asshole.

The second kid was Sydney.

“Oh shit..” Larson said tumbling past the spilled soil, “this shit is wrecked.”

Sydney pushed Larson in the chest. Not that it did anything, the nigga plays rugby.

“Shut up and help me clean this up.” she said, bending down to pick up the broken glass. Her curls swooped down into her face and she pushed them back behind her ear to see better.

“Oh fuck that, its not like he’s gonna know who did it.” Larson said, picking up Sydney by the waist. “Besides, his mom just signed that development deal with that chef dude, she can buy like twelve more.”

Larson and Sydney playfully struggled for a couple seconds before giving up on the vase and walking away. Larson grabbed Sydney’s hand and led her across the backyard back to a set of double doors that led to Chase’s entertainment room. I took a drag from my joint and unsuccessfully held back a cough. Sydney looked right in my direction.

We made eye contact.

She stopped in her track for two seconds. I sat up and adjusted my tie.

“Yo, you good?” Larson tugged at her hand to get her attention.

Sydney came back to reality. “Yeah, I’m fine.” she said, as they continued to walk. They disappeared behind the double doors.

I sank into the couch. I couldn’t tell if it was because of how high I was, or if it was because of what I saw. I took another puff of my joint as the music transitioned. “Mr. Lonely” started playing from the stereo.

I can’t even lie I’ve been lonely as fuck.

I can’t even lie I’ve been lonely as fuck.

I can’t even lie I’ve been lonely as fuck.

I stared out at the city. The lights started to blend together like stars. the cars stopped looking like ant and more like centipedes. A warm sensation emitted from my chest and flowed into my fingertips and toes. I tilted my head back resting it on the back of the chair as I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.

[crashpaddiaries]

Dear Crashpad Diary #28

Helllllllooooooo my favorite beasts of the entire world!!

How´s going there?? Hope you´re ready for the summer and the outdoors season!! hahahahahaha

well… now I understand when some people defend that cold weather is better for climbing… after months of hot-boiling weather in SEA, I came to a conclusion that, summer in these places is not suitable for even a living, actually…. freaking hot hahahah I'm right now writing and dehidrating as I´m sweating hahahah

Today I´ll write about: Loads of falls, getting better on surfing, that´s why I don´t like policemen, drinking coffee that just came out of an animal´s ass, photo pranks, earthquakes…

I´m seriously having fun here while learning how to surf!! We´re currently in Bali and we´ve been going to some beaches that are better for learners and cookies hahaha The problem is that, when you are learning from someone that already knows what the story is, sometimes you lack some good information!! hahah The first morning we´ve gone inside the ocean I had a big board with good flotation… therefore… the thing would not dive right?!?! Yep!!

So there is no need to tell ya that whenever a huge wave was coming and I tried to dive with the board it would not work and I would go inside the wave in a washing machine state hahahah After 3 or 4 big waves I kinda felt that sth was wrong and I had to change the strategy!! ahahahaha

Ever since I almost died in Patagonia due to a sudden snowstorm allied to my excess of confidence I have always been afraid of nature and it´s power… maybe the ocean is the one that scares me the most… so… after all those huge waves, I was decided to leave the ocean and rest for a bit (or for days) at the beach… but my bro came and told me how to deal with them and it is actually pretty ok… you don´t feel like dying the whole time hehehehe And after that I could focus on standing up hahahahah which I did just after 4 hours… or 3 days…. not sure… I´m not controlling the time here!! hahahaha

Once in Bali, the rice fields and Ubud area are a must-see attraction… off we went then… We rented a bike… got my camera and all the stuff and venga!! 
 BTW… we have been using an app called Maps.me which is absolutely fantastic! you can use all the maps offline and download all the countries or areas you might need… freeeeeaking nice!! That saved us many times on the trip!!

And there we were… maps on one hand… Luh driving…. we had like 40kms in front of us… everything was fine till the time we got to a big avenue and the policemen stopped us… to check the docs… funny though that they were stopping only tourists…

As soon as he stopped us… Luh gave him the drivers license and all the motorbikes documents that were in pristine conditions as the bike was Wayan´s one, from the hotel we were staying… Anyways… does not matter if that was ok or not… they were stopping only tourists to get money out of them… they came with a story that the driver´s license was not valid here and bla bla bla… the police guy brought us to the corner and said that we would have to “fix the mistake”… we tried to discuss a bit but he asked for 500.000 rupees… we said we did not have, which was true, cuz who´d go out for a day trip in a place like this carrying the daily budget?? haha

He asked 50% then, and we said no… but in the end he got 150.000 from us and let us go…. fucker!! =(

Later that week we met some locals that told us it is pretty common… you only need to put like 50.000 inside the motorbike´s documents when you hand it off, they will take the money and let you go with no harm… it´s sad to see things like this happening tho!!

Forgetting about this shit happen… people like this policemen cannot dictate the way you face or remember the day… I just decided to write about to help people avoiding losing money for nothing!! 

The trip that day was awesome… the rice fields were beautiful an huge… even after living in Hampi and having its great rice paddies as a constant background… I still have the capacity of fall in love with rice fields around the world… they seem to get greener and more vivid as the life goes on!! heheh

Something funny happened that day in the fields… funny for us… cuz for that lady twas not funny at all!! hahahah She was being photographed… and suddenly, she was covered by the mud and surrounded by rice hahahahah Yep… she fell inside one of the fields… and all the people present in that valley that day will remember the scared noise that one of her family member made as she collapsed!!

I can only imagine what happened: “Let´s take a pic people… Grandma… one step back… another one…. one last step for a better position!!”…. Grandmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa….. hahahahahhahaha

Poor thing!! She was rescued fast without major injuries… she fell prob around 3 metres… but her clothes…. hahahaha I´m laughing but twas not funny for her… clothes!! RIP white shirt!! hahahahah

The next matter might sound a little awkward and maybe disgusting for some of yous…. but it was a valid, different and, I risk to say, delicious experience!! Someone had already told me about the most expensive coffee ever… a coffee that somewhat was extracted from an animal´s poo!! hahah And the best part of the story… it was somewhere in Indonesia!! hahaha

It happened to be in that area.. in Ubud… place where the animals were kept in captive… feed by the human and, after all the digestive process, the poo would be collected, roasted, ground and served as the most expensive coffee on earth… I have to agree that the coffee is indeed good… but as all the good coffee I´ve ever taken… Colombian, Brazilian, Kenyan… all of them were great too!!

So… I have been trying to understand why we keep these animals in a cage to make sth that we have already mastered without them?? Maybe it is a way to add some different value to the product.. but is it worthy?? dunno…

It seems that the human being have a fetich for the animals asses though!! Some time ago a friend of mine told me that vanilla flowers are extremely rare, therefore, original vanilla flavour is costly… reason why all the big companies found a way to artificially replace it… and the way they found, involves something found on otter´s asses…. seriously??? First you get the vanilla from the otter ass and now the coffee from the Luwak ass????

Can you imagine what would be a Luwak vanilla coffee then!! hahahahahaha

Well… with the unpredicted bribe expense, we decide to save some money using the app Tripadvisor to get info on cheap places to eat and all… silly mistake!! They have a way to rate the restaurants with € symbols… if the place has one symbol is cheap and so on…

It was easy for me and Luh to choose…. the ones with more than € were automatically out of scope hehe Unfortunately and fortunately, they have some sort of trouble to define what is cheap and expensive… cuz the cheap stuff they define was overpriced … that's the unfortunate part… cuz we walked to few of them for 2 or 3 times… got there starving and had to abort the mission because of the prices…. However… and that's where the fortunate part comes… we got to find some nice, delish and cheap local places!!! Yummy and in your face trip advisor!! don´t like ya!! haha odds of using apps haha

Talking about odds…. what are the odds of going to bed thinking out of the blue about tsunamis and thinking what would be the best action plan for us if that happened (I know… it's weird but it was pretty random thought) and wake up the next morning with an earthquake???

Weird, isn’t it??? I know!!

Maybe because of the thought of the previous night… I woke up, got out of bed and opened the door to leave the room in a split of second… when I opened the door my brother woke up and while he was trying to understand what was going on I told him to leave fast…. by that time we had few more secs of shakiness and then it stopped… checking the internet few mins later I could confirm that it happened 35km from our place and it was quite strong… 6.10 on the Richter scale!! wow… one can freak out when the safety of the ground vanishes that sudden!! I can remember the soundtrack of it all was provided by some old ladies that kept yelling for the whole length!! haha

In that same website… earthquaketrack.com, I saw that you can register to receive earthquake alerts on twitter!! hahahaha Imagine that… you get an alert like: “Holy Shit…. run!!!!” or “Fuck fuck fuck fuck!!” or even “Good night Mr. Jones, We´d like to let you know that in few mins from now you´ll feel like you´re losing it… don´t worry… it´s all good… if you live your home and head to a park or some sort of open air area like… NOW!! 

or... even the classic Douglas Adams advice: “Don´t panic!!” hahahahahaha

Sweeeeeet!! I hope you had good fun with this post… all the stories and infos are true, even the paragraph that I say I did get up on a surfboard!! hahahah

All the best smiles and sweet vibes from the great Indonesia!!

oh… and if you´re thinking about grabbing your backpack and travel the world… let me know…. I might join you somewhere!! =)

Cheers and good trip!!


Evan