#like my parents have a gas stove

[tenrose]

Just turned on the heating for the first time of the season... Already seeing money running away through the window 🙃

[itsprashimusic]

Maybe Leave The Cooking To Me

Summary - You love to cook, and Lando loves to help, but this time it goes sideways.

Pairings - Lando Norris x fem!Reader

Warnings - minor injury, reader has good relationship with parents, reader is same age as Lando, fluffy.

W/C - 1.4k

A/N - my first fic for f1 lets gooo Happy reading<3

Navigation

 It was the end of a triple header meaning that now you had a break you were craving. The Monday meetings were done with, you and Lando were on the flight back to your Monaco apartment. The exhaustion caught up with you and the both of you were out within seconds of your heads hitting your pillows. 

It was now a Tuesday night. There was some music playing in the living room, Lando was somewhere in the house, and you were in the kitchen. You wouldn’t call yourself a chef, but you loved to cook and learn new recipes. Travelling the world with Lando made it so that you would not get to cook very often, so when you did get to cook you would take the chance.

You sat on the counter contemplating what to cook. Before you shifted to Monaco your mom had written out a recipe book for you with all different kinds of recipes which she had found and curated to your and your family's taste and liking. So you sat on the counter, reading through the fat book.

"Babe, what do you wanna eat?" you yelled to Lando, your eyes still focused on the book. You didn't get a reply, but 5 seconds later he walked into the kitchen. "I'm not really sure," he said while walking up to you. He walked in between your legs and tilted the book in your hands so that he could read it.

"Oo, how about spaghetti? You always say how you wanted to make it." He said and pointed to it. "By that I meant making it from scratch. It is too late to do that." you reply and turn the page.

"Then just boil the spaghetti we have and make the sauce." The excitement in your eyes when you heard him say that made him chuckle. You got off the counter and began rummaging around the kitchen looking for all the ingredients. "Red sauce?" "Red sauce" he confirms. You get out the tomatoes, chillies, garlic, herbs and spices while Lando takes out the spaghetti.

You give him the simple task of watching the pasta boil and reminding you when it was 20 minutes. He dutifully did his task and even drained the water and left the spaghetti in the colander. It was getting late and the two of you were growing hungrier, but knew that the food would be worth the wait.

While waiting for the boiled tomatoes to cool you were cutting some onions and garlic. "Can you get the grinder out?" you asked Lando. He was a bit deep in thought, so only hummed before retrieving the asked for item. "What are you thinking about?" "I could've overtaken Russel at turn 14." he said.

"Baby, it's ok," you abandoned the half cut onions and wiped your hands. You walked over to Lando and gently made him look at you, "Could you have done something then? Yes. Can you do anything about it now? No. It's no use dwelling on something that can't be changed. The best you can make of it, is to be aware of it and try and avoid repeating it in the future. Hmm?" you hummed at the end with a nod. Lando looked at you and nodded along.

To get his mind off of the last race you got him to make good use of his muscles and crush some dried chillies. The cooking went on. You peeled the tomatoes, put them in the grinder and set up the wok on the stove. Lando was slicing some pieces of soft chicken which he wanted you to add in the sauce.

The sauce was half ready when you turned the gas off and went to the sink to wash your hands. "Is it done?" he asked you. 'No' you told him and dried your hands, "It still has some chunks which didn't get ground." This is where your casual Tuesday night took a turn.

Lando, being the muppet he is who can't cook, poured the chunky liquid into the grinder bowl, covered it and put it on the machine. You then faced him and saw what he did. But you did not have enough time to tell him to not do what he was about to do.

He turned the knob and within less than a second the hot tomato sauce spewed out of the bowl and all over you, Lando and your cosy kitchen.

You would expect that a formula 1 driver's quick reflexes would not just be limited to when they are driving. But if you saw the scene inside Lando and his girlfriend's kitchen on a Tuesday night after a triple header, you would be greeted with quite the opposite. The once clean kitchen was now covered in red food. You and Lando were covered in near-boiling hot pasta sauce.

When the sauce spewed out, Lando's first reaction was to let out a slightly high-pitched scream and you quickly turned the loud nightmare-like-sounding machine off. Neither of you said anything, you just looked around the kitchen, taking in the mess, processing what happened, and slowly registering the pain you felt where the sauce lay on your bare skin.

Thankfully most of the spilt sauce got on your t-shirts and not on either of your faces, but some did reach your arms. Lando was the first to say something "Ow, that hurts, that's-that's starting to burn, ouch." Without wasting much time, you grabbed his arm and took him to the bathroom. You turned the shower on, "keep your arm under the water. Do. Not. Move."

You went to the sink and shed your tomato-covered top and left it there. You got Lando to do the same and then joined him by putting your own, now slightly burnt, arms under the spray of cold water. "Baby, why did you start the grinder with a hot liquid inside of it?" you asked him, your voice soft and full of concern, "I'm not mad, just wanna know why."

"You said you had to grind it." His voice sounded broken, you wanted to hug him tight and never let go. "Lan, you have to wait till it has cooled down. The steam inside created pressure which caused the lid to pop open and the sauce to scatter everywhere." He just gave a quiet 'oh' in response.

"How much of your arm got burnt?" you asked and he showed you the parts which hurt. You left the bathroom and came back with two handkerchiefs and ice packs. With the help of rubber bands you secured the ice packs to his forearms. "Where are you going?" he asked when the two of you changed your clothes.

"To clean the kitchen and salvage whatever is left of the sauce."

"Let me help, please."

How could you say no to that face he was making? After some back and forth he got you to also attach an ice pack to your forearm. you grumbled but nevertheless allowed him to take care of you.

You both clean in silence. He cleaned the counter, cupboards and the grinder while you cleaned up the floor where most of the sauce got. 10 minutes later the now salvaged sauce was on the gas with the chicken in and almost ready to eat.

Lando got out two plates and served you both some spaghetti. Your stomach rumbled, which made him giggle. The two of you quickly began laughing. Some people process and handle things by crying, some yell, some throw things around the house and some just sit in silence and wallow and wither away. But you had a different way of coping with emotions and stress. By laughing. That was one thing you and your boyfriend had in common. You both would laugh to process things.

It was kind of the reason the two of you got together in the first place.

Soon the sauce was ready and was severed. You both took your plates and forks and sat on the couch, something ready to play on the TV. The ice packs had come off by then, but Lando insisted on wrapping the cold napkin around the red part of your hand which was not covered in ice earlier.

He finished wrapping your arm and you leaned forward to kiss his nose. Before you could reach though, his lips caught yours in a short but sweet kiss. You both ate your spaghetti and watched what was playing on the TV, occasionally making comments about it here and there.

"Babe"

"Yea?"

"Next time, maybe leave cooking to me?"

"I’m with you a 100 percent on that one" 

A/N - this fic came to be because I read a lando fic where reader was eating chicken pasta and decided to cook spaghetti for the first time and ended up burning myself(dw i'm fine, the burn was very minor)

Hope you enjoyed reading<3

[furiousgoldfish]

Survival skills: Cooking, Cleaning, Laundry, Living space maintenance, and other extra stuff, for those who need the basics because they've never been taught by abusive parents/caretakers! (this post is cooking only, I made another post for the rest)

Cooking

I'm going to assume you know absolutely nothing about cooking, and you're just looking for basic survival meals. There are videos online but it can be overwhelming to watch them without knowing the basics!

One of the first thing people usually learn is to make eggs; this is how you do it:

You find a pan, some eggs, and turn on the stove. You only turn the part of the stove on that you're intending to use. New stoves can be turned on by a click of a button that tells you which heat circle you're about to activate, old gas stoves sometimes need a little lighter, in order for the gas to catch fire! Don't worry; the fire will only be enough to heat up your meal. Once you've successfully turned the heat on, you put a pan on this heated area, and you leave it there for a minute or so, because you want the pan to be hot before you start putting food on it. That way the food will stick less to it too. You pour in about a spoonful of oil, if the pan is heated enough, the oil will easily spill around, then crack an egg directly into that oil, carefully not to splash oil on yourself. You can crack as many eggs as you want in there, depending on how hungry you are. The easiest way to crack it is to do it against a surface, and you're trying to keep any shell from getting into the pan – if you get some shell in, you can fish it out using some utensils.

If your pan has a lid, you can close it to allow the egg to be surrounded with heat on all sides. Some people like to add in a little water to steam the top of the egg, when they close the lid! The water will evaporate (if you add it, you don't have to). You'll see it's done very quickly, when the eggwhite is all in white color, and it gets a little brown on the bottom, you can check with a fork if it's brown yet! You turn the stove off, put the eggs on a plate. You salt it at your preference, and you have a meal.

Pancakes are the second thing I ever learned, it goes like this:

You need a bowl big enough for the pancake mix, a pan that is flat at the bottom, a whisk (or a fork if you have no whisk), a knife or some long flat utensil that can flip pancakes. One or two eggs, milk (can do with water too), flour, sugar, salt. American version uses baking soda or baking powder, in my country we do without that and will sometimes add mineral water. Baking soda and baking powder just make them puff up and make the little air bubbles inside of them, so you can decide if you want flat pancakes or puffed up ones!

You crack the eggs into the bowl, add milk (you add however much you want the mixture to have, there's no hard limits), add a spoon of sugar, pinch of salt, and you mix this up with a whisk or a fork, and then add flour bit by bit, until the mixture becomes a bit thick. It's still supposed to be liquid, you're supposed to be able to pour it out easily, but the consistency is supposed to be thick enough to not be runny, if you drop some on a plate, it should not spill around. If this is confusing, you can try making it with different consistencies and see which one you like best and which one works best for you!

Once you have your pancake batter, you can turn on the stove, put your flat pan on it, and wait for it to heat up, you want it hot before you start. Put about a spoon of oil on the pan, pick it up and angle it around, so the oil covers the entire bottom of the pan – if the oil is hot, it should spill around the pan easily! Then you can grab either a big spoon, or a telugu, or you can just pour directly from the bowl, the pancake batter. If you've added baking soda or baking powder, you want small little puffed-up pancakes, so you add them in little circles and wait for them to be cooked on one side. If you want flat pancakes, you add the mixture to the middle, then grab the pan and angle it around so the batter spills over the entire pan, so it covers the entire bottom of it, like you did with the oil.

It's cooked on one side when it's no longer looking liquid on the top, usually within one minute. At that point you grab your knife, or whatever utensil you have that can flip pancakes, you push it under the pancake, see if the entire pancake is unstuck to the pan, if there's bits sticking, you unstick that first! If you can easily separate the pancake, you try to flip it. Later when you have more confidence, you can flip them just by grabbing the pan, shaking it to unstick, and then snapping it so the pancake snaps up, turns in the air and falls down – it's what I usually do, but you need to be careful to not have a lot of oil under it in that case.

If you mess up the flipping, don't worry, it's still edible even if not cooked perfectly on both sides, it also happens to everyone on the planet, I mess this up regularly, you didn't do anything wrong, pancakes are fickle and don't listen to reason or logic, you can still eat it, it's all good.

Once it's been cooking on the other side for half a minute or so (usually takes less time to cook the other side), you can slide it onto a plate, then cook the rest of your pancakes (usually the first looks the worst and the second one is better), and then you can put whatever toppings you want. We usually use jam, or cocoa, it can work with just sugar, or maple syrup, or honey, or fruit (berries), or some melted chocolate. You can eat it as-is if you don't have anything. In any case you've made something nice tasting that has some protein from the eggs, milk and flour, and you're not going to be hungry after eating them.

Vegetables

I'm going to assume you don't know anything about vegetables, and what you need to know is that there's 2 main differences between veggies: cooking time, and whether they let water out, or soak water in. You can cook any vegetable in water, salt it, and it will become edible, it's not complicated, it's healthy no matter how you do it. If you want to mix different vegetables, you need to know what their cooking time is, so you could add them at different times in your soup/stir fry/whatever you're doing.

All of the legumes (beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, soy beans) will take water in when they're cooked, they usually are soaked about 8 hours before cooking (lentils and fresh peas don't need the soak) and then cooked for about an hour. Soaking just means you put them in a bowl, cover them so there's twice as much water in there as beans, and then just leave that for 8 hours. Afterwards you throw away that water, put them in a pot, pour new fresh water over them, put this on heat until it boils, then reduce the heat so it's not bubbling so violently, it can be a very gentle bubbling, cover it and let it cook for about an hour. Then you can take one out with a spoon, check if it's soft and nice tasting, and if it is, you're done! You can now use your cooked beans for a meal.

Fresh peas you can just cook for 10 minutes and they're done, lentils can take up to half an hour, chickpeas can be an hour and a half of cooking time, you can adjust this to how these taste to you. After you've done your basic cooking of them, you can eat them in a salad (you just add some oil, salt, vinegar, spices and whatever other veggies you have, and you got a salad), or you can additionally bake them, cook them in a pan, use them for other recipes. You can NOT eat these raw, you need to cook them until soft, if you attempt to eat raw legumes, you will get poisoned.

Vegetables like cabbage and asparagus also likes to take in some water, so be sure to never let them cook just on oil for long, they get softer and nicer with some water.

Vegetables that let water out while cooking are: Zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, beets; this means that if you put them in a pan with some oil, the mix will get soggy quickly, they will let out their own juices, which you sometimes might want! Also they will let more juice out more quickly, if you salt them, salt helps take juices out.

Vegetables that don't take water in or out, meaning they can be cooked just on oil and the mix will stay the same: onions, leek, potatoes, green beans, garlic, carrots, pumpkin. You can put any of these in a hot oiled pan, cook them, and you will get a nice stir-fry, that won't get soggy. You can also add the peppers, zuchinni, or any water-letting vegetable in, and then cook it until all the water evaporates, that works as well! This is then a sautee, meaning you're cooking the vegetables in their own juices, which is delicious.

Greens like spinach and swiss chard are usually added to stir-fry mix last because they are done cooking very fast. Okay let's look at some of the cook times (these are in water, oil cooks them all faster):

Cooking times for vegetables

Potatoes: 20 minutes if in big pieces, 10 if cut really small. Cannot be eaten raw, poisonous when raw.

Carrots: Can be eaten raw, you can cook them for any time you want, they'll get soft after 10 minutes, in soups they can be cooked for long time to let the flavor out.

Zucchini: takes only 5 minutes to get soft and start letting water out, you can cook anytime in a soup, it's not poisonous when raw either.

Peppers: will get soft after 5 minutes, can be eaten raw and are full of vitamins.

Pumpkins: 5-10 minutes to get soft, can be cooked in soups for longer.

Onion and leek: 5 minutes, gets soft very quickly, you can cook in soup for any amount of time, this is the main flavor of many meals! Onions and leeks are added to meals specifically to make them flavourful, and so is garlic.

Green beans: 20 minutes, don't eat raw.

Peas: 20 minutes if fresh, longer if they're dry and soaked.

Spinach, swiss chard, other greens: they're done in an instant almost, a minute of cooking is enough.

Broccoli, cauliflower: 5-10 minutes, depends on how small they're cut.

How to make a vegetable soup:

You'll need onions, and other vegetables of your choice, you can decide which ones mix well for you. Where I live it's traditionally onions, parsley, celery, carrots for the base, and then it can be leeks, potatoes, peas, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, zuchinni, peppers, even just one or a few of these ingredients will make an okay soup, you can mix and match them to your liking or according to what you have. The main flavor of the soup usually comes from onions, or garlic if you want to make garlic-tasting soup.

You cut your vegetables first, and the size doesn't really matter, you cut them how you want to eat them, it won't specifically affect the quality, can make the cooking time less if you cut them really small.

You turn on the stove, put a pot on it, let it heat up for a minute or two. Then you add a spoon or two of oil, and you add your onions. You let onions cook for a few minutes while stirring them, this is your main flavor, and the longer you can stir them without them getting burned, the better the soup will taste. When they start browning, you can add other flavor enhancers, like garlic if you have some, salt and spices, and if you're doing potatoes or green beans or leeks, I would add those in sooner too, because oil enhances their flavor. Once these have some good flavor profile, you can add the rest of your cut veggies, and pour water until all of your vegetables are covered. Then you let the water come to boil, reduce the heat, and let it cook until the longest-cooking vegetable is fully cooked.

Soups made of only vegetables are not super filling, so people will usually add some pasta-like stuff in it, I will make a little mixture out of flour, water and salt, with soft consistency, and then add spoonfuls of that in the soup – this is done in the last 5 minutes of cooking, because this only needs a few minutes to cook. That will make your soup more filling!

It's also normal to add some kind of meat to your soup from the start, to enhance flavor and add more nutrients, I can't really write about this because I actually don't consume meat so I am not smart about it, but I know stuff like pieces of meat, or pieces of bone are added to soup, and then soups are cooked much longer in order for the nutrients and the flavor to combine.

If you're feeling super lazy you can just add bunch of vegetables and pasta and whatever to a pot, add water, boil, and it will still be a soup, even if you don't pay attention to how flavours combine and if cooking time is not aligned, this will still turn into something edible if you add salt and you won't be hungry or lacking in nutrients. So if my detailed description sounds intimidating, you can do it in whatever way. Just adding water and heat and salt to vegetables, makes them edible, and you can eat that and be done. It doesn't need to be perfect.

If you want to make a specialized soup, like mushroom soup, tomato soup, pea soup, it's basically the same thing with putting some onions on oil, but then you just add this one thing you want your soup from, like you'll just add tomatoes, garlic and some spices to the onions if you want tomato soup. For mushroom, you just add mushrooms and whatever spice you want, and later you can blend it with together if you want a creamy soup. For peas, you just add peas on top of onions, add water, cook that, smash or blend it to make it creamy. Those are super easy soups, and onions are a base flavor for all of them. And you can even do it without onions and it's fine, they'll still have an okay taste.

Sauces: are very similar to soups, except you add some flour on the oil, mix that to make a roux and then add water to make it thick! You choose whether you want a tomato sauce, mushroom sauce, or whatever else, and you make it a thicker consistency than a soup, and with more concentrated flavor (less water).

Mashed foods: you cook your vegetable in water, cut to any size you want, once the cooking time is over and your vegetable is super soft, you pour the water our (you can reuse it for soups later), add salt, you can add some butter or milk if you like it more creamy, and you mash it with a masher or a fork, until it's all mashed! You can do this with many vegetables, you can make mashed potatoes, pumpkins, zucchini, carrots, peas. You can even mix two veggies, I love mashed potatoes with zucchini mix.

Fried foods: I don't do this a lot, so I am not the best to explain it, but the basics of this is that hot oil cooks the food much quicker, draws out much more flavor, and makes it delicious! It also adds a decent amount of calories so it's great for when you need a lot of energy quickly. I know people like to smash pieces of meat, cut it or grind it into small pieces, then mix it with cut up onion, garlic, spices and herbs, add some flour, and then form it into nice little patties, which they can fry on oil, and it makes for a good sandwich pattie. You can also make this type of pattie out of vegetables, if you mix some cooked beans, soy, lentils, potatoes, cabbage savoy, kale, really anything with some flour, garlic, spices and salt, and form it into a pattie, you can put it on hot oil and make a little burger pattie, or mix it with some mashed potatoes to create a meal.

I'm unable to make detailed instructions for meat as I don't consume it, but I know it's important to cook it thoroughly, and make sure it's never raw in the middle, because it could give you diseases otherwise. I won't go into making bread because this post is already too long, but if you want me to write it out in detail, let me know!

If you want to make more specialized meals, you can find instructions and recipes anywhere, knowing the basics will make it easier to understand any recipe out there. I myself am not good at baking so I won't go into that!

I'm going to write a separate post on cleaning, maintaining space and laundry, because this is already very long and might be overwhelming to read. If anyone wants to write details about non-vegetarian dishes, please do add it in the comments!

[trynafindbarbiee]

VOID SUCCESS STORY <3

TW : Abusive family, bullying, suicide attempts!

Before I go straight into my success story I wanna THANKYOU from the bottom of my heart you are my fairy Angel and I love you more than anyone else bestiee :)

I'm sharing this here so everyone can see this

It's been so long since I've joined loa community but I always failed to manifest Consciously , I would constantly look for the 3D to change and I literally wasted years to learn how to manifest when it's the most easiest thing in the whole universe. Then luckly I came to know about the void state but I kept on failing I was unhealthy obsessed with the void with this my mental health became even worse I started to feel like not living anymore. I felt anxious very often, then one day I decided to end my life because things were getting terrible everyday. I attempted suicide and it failed and then the very first thing someone told me after this was "it failed because you deserve to live, you deserves the best, you deserves the world" And guess who it was! SHE WAS MY FAIRY ANGEL 🥺 YOU! MY BESTIEE <3 I'm very thankful to have a friend like you

What I've learnt over time is that these feelings are definitely not permanent and this too shall pass YES it hurts and survival feels difficult but the hope I got from my bestie (Barbie) throughout my recovery process is just unmatched, unexplainable especially for someone like me who keeps thinking that things will never get better. At the same time I was living in a abusive household I was being hated by my parents, friends, neighbours And one day IT'S nowhere near as bad as what you'll get, but my mom had a small amount of narcissist in her. SHE HELD MY HAND OVER A GAS STOVE because as an 15 year old I wrote something that she disagreed with in my journal. I experienced violence with my mother and father beating each other. Seeing drugs being used and knowing that there was something bad and wrong. I also seen my mother having sex with other men and once heard her having sex and I thought she was being beaten.As I got older, I began questioning her medieval methods. Whenever I brought it up, She would always say that she did it for my own good, or that she was showing me how the real world was like. As a baby, I was ferberized. I was sent to a daycare from the moment I could walk. My mother would often punch and slap me in the face, and so I developed a reflex where I put my hands near my head in defense if anyone raises their hands. I have been bullied and ridiculed.

I have overconsumed info to a point where I even started doubting bloggers and loa but then I met my fairy Angel, my life, my bestieeeee 🥺💗 Everyone, let me tell you all of you one thing that she's a real life Angel I swear! She was there with me when my own family was against me, she helped me through my toughest times, she never let me down, she took care of me like a big sister. I'M BLESSED TO HAVE A FREIND LIKE YOU CUTIE PIE <3! we started journey together and she entered the void but I was still struggling. When she messaged me telling that she did it I literally jumped out of my bed and cried, cried and cried I WAS SO HAPPY FOR HER. I got superrrr motivated after that so I took her advice and tried to enter the void once more but I still failed, I didn't enterbut she kept me motivated . She showed me the things and her mansion that she manifested so that I don't doubt void anymore and I'm so grateful to you for that . She told me to try to wake up in the void instead of entering I again listened her and tried and guess what! SHAMEFULLY I again failed , I was giving my power to a method, I didn't realize how powerful I AM.

After all the failed attempts I called Barbie and talked to her for 4 hours straight I told her all the things that were going on in my life and I cried a lot and even Barbie got emotional too and she cried for me I can't forget that day ever 🙂 she told me "Don't worry honey! It's never too late, I'll enter void for you and after that you will be free of all this bullshit" THIS MADE ME SO HAPPY LIKE I WAS NOT EXPECTING THISSSSSSS :) she already did so much for me and still she wanted to help me out, this is why I call you my Fairy Angel <3

And next day she did enter for me and affirmed that I'll wake up in the void but in the morning nothing happened I realized that I didn't woke up there I GOT SO DISCOURAGED and I told this to her and she said that I have to assume that I'll wake up in the void unless it will not work 🙁 I literally Slapped myself for doing such a stupid thing Not assuming that I'll wake up in the void :( But she again entered for me and again affirmed for me Like? How can someone be so nice?

AND THAT NIGHT I DID WOKE UP IN THE VOID 😩💗 I felt so relaxed there, I was in a whole dark space I manifested everything that I wrote in my journal , I was beyond happy that morning when I woke up in my dream apartment the first thing I did after seeing myself in my dream house was that I messaged barbie that WE DID IT 🥺 !!

Y'all are very lucky to have my bestie here , I love you honey, ily so much <3 God literally sent you for me

Sending you so much love, hugs and wet kisses 🤭

~ your beloved 🎀

The most beautiful SUCCESS STORY I ever saw !

Thankyou bub for sharing your story here too ♡

My eyes got wet while I was reading this :) like you are so sweet and strong! ily too and I always will and no need to thank me..Your life was exactly like mine bef I entered the void , I also experienced all this bullshit so I could understand your situation that's why I helped you so, no need to thank me 💗 You should thank yourself bc everytime u felt like ending ur life , everytime u felt like giving up YOU made it through... so thank youself honey ! <3 I'M SO PROUD YOU MAHH BESTIEEE

You also played a vital role in my journey !

I've been through a lot. I have been through things that I didn't even told u . I have been through things that I haven't told anyone . Because of the things that I've been through, I used have an EXTREMELY hard time trusting people. I used to overthink abt how to talk to you and share my feelings without making you feel bad or you thinking I'm dramatic. I don't know how to talk to you without it being awkward but not only u listened me but motivated me also even when u r going through the toughest time in ur life.... Yes I have so many friends But you r someone special , I love you differently than I love my any other friend. Yes we've been through hell. And it's been insane. But still we are together! ily ♡

Idk how do I put my happiness into words :) I'M JUST SO PROUD OF YOU

Enjoy ur life to the max <3

Want me to manifest for you too?

[starluvsx]

★𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭

𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 𖦹 𝐏!𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤

proofread:YUPPP

word count:1.4K

WARNINGS:swearing?thats rlly it

A/N:i wanna do more headannons and stuff like this.this was rlly cute and fun to write.also I look wish the baby project was like a thing at my school but we don't even got working lights in some of the bathrooms soooo.

nick

you guys turned to each other as soon as the teacher said you could choose parameters

y'all were so convinced you would be great at taking care of the kid

you were wrong

You guys didn’t know you were supposed to change the baby until one of your friends told you

the first night nick took the baby too his house and left it on the kitchen table for six hours

he didn't realize he left it there till his mom came home from work and heard crying

you left it in your backpack twice

people said you were starting to look like an actual mom because of how stressed you were over this robot baby

almost set the bay on fire then you guys were trying to make pancakes

"so then I told her I was like why the fuck would you-"you began before you realized neither of you had the baby.you looked around before seeing the babies head dangerously close to the fire coming from under the pan in the stove. "Nick oh my gosh!"you said as you shot up from your seat at the table, grabbing the plastic baby from the counter. “you almost killed her!"you dramatically said as you cradled the baby, touching it's now warm head lightly.you didn't let him touch the baby for the next 2 days.

"y/n I have to hold the baby eventually,I don't wanna fail."He tried to negotiate a few days later.

"only if you promise not to put my baby's head near an open flame again."you asked him to do while rocking the baby.

"bitch im not gonna burn your baby."he joked, making the two of you laugh.you then handed him the baby, still smiling at your best friend's stupid joke. as soon as the baby was in his arms though it began to cry and wail. "Actually you can have your baby back"he said before handing it back to you jokingly.his gesture made the both of you laugh even more.

you guys got a C+, partly because some of the babies' hair was a little burnt.

Matt

treated that baby as if it was real.

literally named it Issac

set timers for every time he had to feed it and change it

The baby had a built-in voice box to make him laugh so he loved to make it laugh and giggle.

wouldn't let the kid go

had to stay on the phone with you on the nights you kept the baby

like the whole night

there was one time where you forgot to feed the baby and he literally freaked out

on the last week of the project he realized he didn't wanna give the baby back

you were already done with it though

everyone at school said you guys were like actual parents by the end of it

you didn't even realize how attached he was to the baby until you walked in on him sleeping cuddled ups that the baby

your phone rang from inside your pocket.the gas station you worked at was empty at the moment so you didn't hesitate to answer it. "Matt" read the caller id, confusing you because he knew you were at work but you still picked it up nonetheless. "Hey baby."he said into the phone.

"hi matt, what’s up,i’m at working right now so I can't talk for long" you explained as you saw a car pull into the parking lot.the headlights standing out in the darkness

"Well i was just wondering if you wanted to come over after your shift, i got some snacks but nobody to share em with." he asked cheekily though the phone.the people from outside stepped into the gas stations mom and her daughter.you laughed at his slyness until faint baby cries in the background.

"Is that isaac?did you forget to feed him?''you asked worriedly through the phone.the mom and her daughter looked at you confused as your young face was talking, presumably, about her baby.

"No I just have to change him" he explained through the phone.shuffling could be heard from the other line before you could say anymore.matt letting out a dad like groan while getting up made you smile to yourself.

"ok yea i'll come over in a little, probably like 9:30, is that okay?"you asked through the

phone.he mumbled a small 'yea thats fine' before we said 'I love you's and 'goodbye's and hung up.the lady and her kid coming up to the register once I put my phone in my pocket.

later

I let myself into the house and was greeted with Mary Lou and Nick watching a movie in the living room. "Hey guys,"I said sweetly, smiling and waving at the pair. They greeted me the same way before I asked "is Matt in his room?"

"Mhm" Mary Lou hummed. I walked down the hall till I made it into his room.i knocked on the door before opening in slowly.i was met with matt sleeping soundly,plastic baby cuddled up to his chest.i giggled a little before taking out my phone to take a picture.

Once I snapped the picture I tapped him on the shoulder lightly to not scare him.he fluttered his eyes open and looked at me tiredly. "oh hey babe" he mumbled out while sitting up and looking around wearily. "Was I cuddling with the baby?" he asked,confused at the doll that was in his now unraveled arm.

"yea you were"I laughed out before moving the 'baby' and climbing into bed with him.

"I was wishing it was you"he said as he pulled closer to him.the little comment making me laugh lightly.

I turned my body to face him before asking "so where are the snacks?" which made him

reach over to his bedside table and grab some chips, candy and 2 sodas.

"right here"he said while smiling and kissing me on the cheek.

you guys got an a+ on the project and your teacher even said you would be “perfect parents one day"

Chris

he actually asked you to be his partner instead of it being the other way around

It was way more stressful than you guys thought it would be

First you guys lost the bottle for a whole day

Literally looked up and down to find it but you just actually could not.

Turns out Chris left it in his locker

He def posts pictures of him and the baby with captions and stuff saying “ me and @youruser babyyyy” and “I think she looks more like me but idk” on instagram and snap

Was actually a very good parent despite thinking he wouldn't be

Dropped the baby like twice though

He also bought like little clothes for the baby so she wasn’t just walking around nakedly

you were so confused when he brought them home

when he would play video games you would tease him and ask him to "not swear in front of the child"

both of you ended up very emotionally attached to the kid

was very committed to being an actual dad after the fact

you guys were tired.watching a movie in chris' bed after a long day at school wasn't the best idea for staying awake.but while you were very tapped into the movie, you could also simultaneously feel his eyes boring into you.you didn't know why but also didn't think much of it.he's always been a bit of a starer.

you decided to continue focusing on the movie until it was abruptly paused. "hey why'd you do that?"you questioned.looking over at the boy who had been looking at you most of the night.

"Wanna have a kid?"he asked.the question leaving you stunned and confused at the sudden idea.kids had always been a possibility in both of your minds but it never something that could manifest into a real physical thing.

"Right now, like at this age?"you asked him to clarify.

"well now, in a years, five years, i don't really care"chris answered

"definitely not now, maybe when we're older with a house, a steady paycheck and you know, a high school diploma."you attempted to explain.

"I can't wait that longggg."he whined

"Well I definitely can,"you sassed. "Now turn the movie back on, I wanna see how this ends."

"probably with them having a baby."he joked under his breath as he reached for the remote to do what you asked

"chris you've seen this movie before you know how it ends"

[skzcollision]

take the breath that's true | lee felix (1/2)

pairing: non-idol!lee felix x fem!reader

content info + tw: time travel, angst, fluff, felix is called yongbok in this, wrote this when i was sleep deprived lol, violence + bullying

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

It had begun as a small lie, really. A lie so good, you believed it yourself.

"I'm taking a semester off."

You would be doing a paid internship to fill that time, so it's not like you're not doing anything because god forbid you take a break from your studies to backpack through Europe or something so useless. Your parents would have a stroke.

And then, you did the unthinkable.

You dropped out of university.

Got a full-time job at a bookstore. Began living life peacefully, all the while deceiving your parents who lived a few hours away.

The liberation you felt by doing this was nothing you had ever experienced before.

Of course, it had its drawbacks. You were practically living a lie. Because you dropped out of school, you no longer saw your friends every day. They often hung out without you, and over the years, you eventually turned into something of a social recluse.

You had one good friend from work who invited you to go out every once in a while. Each time you declined because blowing out your eardrums whilst standing in a room packed with strangers either drunk or high on something never really appealed to you.

Soon enough, you reached a place of discontentment.

Would your life have turned out any better if you pushed through with school?

That was something you wondered about every single day.

"Are you eating well?"

The line fell silent, save for the distant sounds of your mother chopping up something on her cutting board. You could hear something boiling on the stove.

You stared blankly at the bowl of instant noodles by your sink.

"Yes."

Another small lie amongst all other lies.

"You sure?" She pressed, disbelief evident in her voice. "Why don't I come over there sometime, fix you up a proper meal-"

"No. Mom, you don't have to do that. It'll just be a waste of gas, I'll be really busy these upcoming weeks."

"Well, when is your break? It's been a while since you've last visited us, you know. Your poor father has been wanting to see you, he misses you."

Your mother knew just how to pull at your heartstrings.

"I know, I miss you guys too. I'll visit on my birthday, okay? In a couple of months, I promise."

Seven years ago;

They were at it again. The three biggest pompous assholes of your grade.

This time, it was this short, lanky kid. You recognized him from homeroom.

Your eyes flitted to his so-called friends, turning away sheepishly when he looked to them for help. Just one moment ago, they were all at their table, talking and laughing.

Why was no one doing anything?

Just as you were lifting yourself from your seat to inform a teacher - someone, anyone - another boy stepped in front of the smaller one.

The bullies were blocking him from your line of sight, but you could see that he wasn't much taller than the former. They were still towering over him.

"Isn't that Yongbok?" The girl behind you whispered to her friend. "He does taekwondo, right?

"Yeah... but there are three of them. And they're double his size."

You promptly slid out of your seat, gripping onto your metal lunch tray. Your friends glanced at you in a snap, all visibly concerned. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just..." You didn't get to finish your sentence as you neared the guys. Not that you knew the answer to that anyway. You were acting on pure impulse.

Now you could fully hear what they were saying.

"Rich guy, huh?"

They were apparently laughing at the boy's choice of accessories. He wore a gold watch on his wrist. It did look quite funny on him - only because it seemed a bit too big and grown up for the boy.

Something did surprise you, though.

If he was intimidated, he was great at hiding it. It was as if they were all having a normal and friendly conversation. On the other hand, the kid behind him was close to wetting his pants.

"So, if you're done talking to my friend, we would like to have our lunch now."

This did nothing to defuse the situation.

"What did you just say?"

Sweat pooled between the palms of your hands, the utensils clattering as they shook in your tray.

Your mind flashed to the first week of school. That kid, who got beaten up so badly he was coughing up blood.

Was this just going to keep on happening?

Without much thought behind it, you drew your arms back and flung your tray at them as hard as you could.

It made an audible plunk as it collided with the back of their leader's head.

There was momentary silence before the cafeteria exploded with stunned gasps and sputters of laughter. You remained frozen at your spot, arms still above your head. Your lunch was now on his white shirt, staining it orange.

"Who the hell-"

Everyone in the room was staring at you. Your gaze fell to the boy with the gold watch. He looked afraid now.

But not for himself.

You were so, damn lucky.

One second, you were receiving the deadliest stare from the scariest guy at school, and the next, a teacher had come to break them up.

For the next few days, you went everywhere with your friends. Needed to use the restroom? Needed to grab something from your locker? The whole group was coming with you.

You had never once been so scared for your life.

One afternoon, one of your friends had overheard the bullies talking. They were teasing their leader for letting you off the hook so easily. He apparently refused to bully a girl - a cute one at that.

"Oh my god, ew. Unbelievable." You shook your head with an expression of disgust. "There's no way. You made that last part up."

"He really said that!"

Your friend next to you released a wistful sigh, pursing her lips. "I wish someone would fall in love with me right after I'd just chucked a full tray of food at them, too..."

Things weren't so easy for gold watch boy, though.

He became their target. And he made it so easy for them, too. Every time any of them had a problem with anyone, he would be there, at their rescue. Taking their place. He didn't fight back either.

You just didn't get it.

How could someone possibly endure that much? That had to have taken a physical and mental toll on him. Yet you would see him in the hallways every single day, with that same bright smile. Despite the cut on his lip.

They kept getting interrupted on school grounds, so the bullies had made it routine to take him somewhere after school. You decided to follow them one day, and you were led to an alleyway just a couple blocks away from school.

Why didn't he just run away? You had seen him on the track. He was one of the fastest in your grade.

"... just not on my face, guys."

You ran and snuck up behind some stairs, peeking over the railing.

Whatever he had said earned him some scoffs.

"Pretty boy doesn't want his face ruined."

"What a vain little shit."

Yongbok blinked widely, almost innocently - as if it was all just one little misunderstanding.

"Oh, it's not like that at all. It's just my mom... I don't want her to know about any of this."

"Alright," the biggest of them all chuckled, lip curling smugly.

Your heart twisted in anger.

"We can have that arranged for you," he ambled towards the boy.

"Sike!"

His body turned, and his foot suddenly shot up out of nowhere.

You winced with your entire self as the boy stumbled back, holding himself up against the brick wall.

"Shit..."

From your angle, you couldn't tell what exactly happened. But you knew you had to do something before the situation escalated.

You could swear your whole life flashed before your eyes as you sped towards them, yelling. "Stop!"

"The hell?"

"It's that bitch that threw the tray!"

You stopped just a few feet from them, your thoughts racing a mile a minute. A deep sense of regret - then anger, at these stupid bullies, and at yourself for not knowing what to do next and just charging at them like an idiot.

Someone then yanked on your wrist, ending your train of thought. You were forced to move on your feet again as Yongbok dragged you with him through the alleyways. Several voices followed, hollering at you - but you couldn't register anything they were saying as you were focused solely on getting away.

It felt like it had gone on forever. Fortunately, you had run into some policemen, and that managed to scare the guys away.

You now sat at a convenience store, icing Yongbok's jaw where a bruise was starting to form.

"Man, what am I going to do about this?" He clicked his tongue as he stared at his reflection. "This isn't gonna go unnoticed - and I'm running out of excuses."

You were brimming with anger once again.

"Why do you let them do that to you?"

He stared at you, dumbfounded.

"If they don't pick on me, they'll just pick on someone else."

He had said it so plainly and simply. It was mind-boggling. You genuinely could not tell if he was the bravest and most selfless person you had ever met or just an idiot. Somehow, you felt he was both.

You walked away momentarily to pick up something from the cosmetics aisle, paid for it and went to sit back down again.

"So..." You began as you gently dabbed some coverup on the bruise. "You think this makes you like some sort of hero then?"

"Hadn't thought about it that way," his eyes darted across your face absentmindedly. "I'm sorry I didn't get to thank you, for the other day. In the cafeteria."

You waved him off, cleaning your finger on a piece of napkin. "You take their hits on purpose, don't you. I can tell."

He bobbed his head, looking down at his shoes.

"And you dodge some so you don't end up seriously injured."

You sighed through your nose in exasperation. "Why haven't you reported them?"

"You don't know, do you?" He gazed out the window. "Nothing will be done about it. One of them - his father donates large sums of money to the school."

"Doesn't make him untouchable."

"It kind of does."

You hated it. That deep down, you knew he was right.

Yongbok slid a packet of ice cream towards you. "Here," he grinned. "For saving me from the bullies, twice."

Present;

On the ride home, the car passed by your old high school. It did - every time you came back.

And you were always left wondering what ever happened to that freckled boy since you last saw him.

If he was happy, and if he was doing better than you now. You hoped so.

It was comforting how much had remained the same, as if you had never left - a time machine in a way.

You longed to go back.

To the summer before you began your first year in university. The last time you were ever truly happy.

Despite it being the night before your actual birthday, your parents had thrown an event for you. So many people had shown up - neighbors, old friends from high school that stayed back.

It felt very reminiscent of the past when everyone would get together, and you slept that night content for the first time in a very long time. You dreamt of your life before, how those warm memories felt closer than ever now that you were here.

Such happiness...

"Wake up, my precious girl~"

A grin was spreading across your face before you could even fully open your eyes. You ignored the ache behind them as the sun greeted you first thing.

Your mother smiled kindly back at you, her fingers gently combing through your bedhead.

"Mom..."

"Hm?"

"Can't I stay here..." You mumbled. "Stay here forever?"

She laughed softly, and your smile grew at the sound. "Don't you want to see your friends today? They must have something planned for you."

"My friends?" You rubbed at your eyes, still disoriented from sleep.

"C'mon," she stood, patting your leg. "Let's get up. I've prepared breakfast."

With your eyes half-shut, you felt your way out of the room and sat yourself on a wooden chair.

Your mother settled a bowl of soup in front of you on the table. "Happy birthday, sweetie..."

"I have something for you." Excitement shone in your father's eyes as he pushed a dark blue box towards you.

He didn't... again?

"Dad, you don't need to get such expensive gifts."

He chuckled heartily. "Can't I get something nice for my only daughter just this once?"

You flipped the lid open and grew puzzled at what was inside. It was a simple, silver necklace with a round diamond pendant. The one you wore every single day.

The one your father gifted you a few years back. It was the first time he had spent so much on a present.

"Do you like it?"

"Yes, but dad - isn't it..."

Everything felt eerily familiar.

You shot up from your chair, and headed back to your room.

"What's wrong?"

You searched for the necklace on your nightstand where you had placed it last night, then on the floor, if it had fallen by any chance.

It wasn't there.

As you rose to your feet, your eyes caught the screen of your phone.

What? It couldn't be right. Yesterday was Friday... so shouldn't it be Saturday?

"You guys aren't... playing some sort of prank on me, are you?"

Your parents glanced at each other with momentary confusion, then back to where you stood in the hall.

"Are you that surprised with my gift?" Your father laughed, then beckoned you over. "Come on, you can put it on now. Then we can eat."

It was happening again - all of it.

The things your parents said at breakfast, you wouldn't have been able to recall it but now that it was in front of you all over again, there was no doubt about it.

Everything was the exact same.

You looked in the mirror and had bangs again.

Your phone was blowing up with the same messages from your friends in that old group chat.

This only meant one thing.

He was still here.

⭒

[harrywavycurly]

It’s the fact Eddie doesn’t let the reader use butter knives 😂🙈 idk why that kinda dynamic does something to me like plz let Eddie baby me and do everything for me😩😌

Hiiii babes!! I mean…yes I’d love to see Eddie doing everything for me😂 so I get it! So enjoy these little convos about it💖

-Some may not like the idea of being treated in a spoiled “princess” type of way and that’s okay, also one of these is a conversation you have with Steve and Eddie and it’s marked with an ✨ so you’ll know.

-find everything Eddie and his Princess related here

*Eddie doesn’t see anything wrong with making your life easier even if it means he wakes up two hours earlier than normal…*

“What are you doing?” “Helping you with the groceries?” “I don’t need your help baby just go inside and relax I’ve got it.” “It’s just two bags Eddie I can handle it.” “Baby…” “fine fine I’ll go inside but don’t come crying to me about how your back hurts later.” “Don’t worry sweetheart I won’t.”

“So then Steve calls me in a panic about how his precious-” “Eddie.” “car won’t start and I asked him if he had the key in the ignition because he’s called me about it before-” “Eddie…” “and the dingus didn’t have his key in all the way so it wouldn’t turn on but this time he swore he had it in-” “Edward!” “Huh? What’s wrong baby?” “I can cut my own food…” “so like I was saying he had the key in this time but he was out of gas so I had to go bring him some before going into work this morning.” “are you going to feed it to me too?” “Do you want me to?” “No…” “I will if you want baby I don’t mind.” “You’re ridiculous.”

“Eddie it’s five in the morning…” “sorry baby go back to sleep I’ll be right back.” “Where are you going?” “I forgot to fill your tank up last night so I’m gonna run and go do it real quick before getting ready for work.” “I can run to the gas station on my way into work Eddie just come back to bed.” “Can’t let you do that princess…it’s my job as your boyfriend to do things like this.” “I don’t think so but…whatever you say.” “Just go back to bed sweetheart I’ll be back before you know it.” “Love you…can you bring back some breakfast?” “I love you too and of course I’ll grab something on my way back home.”

✨ “what do you mean you don’t know how?” “I mean…I don’t know how…Eddie does it for me.” “Eddie? Eddie Munson? Does it for you? But what if he’s not home and you get hungry?” “If he’s not going to be home he leaves me food in the fridge so I don’t have to worry about using the oven or the stove thing.” “But you know how to use the stove you just don’t…right?” “I’ve never used a stove before…” “I…but what did you do before you met Eddie?” “My parents cooked for me…” “Jesus…and Eddie just took over? Did you have to ask him to cook for you? I’m sorry I just can’t picture Eddie in the kitchen.” “I didn’t have to ask Steve he’s always done the cooking and he does the laundry I just put it away...sometimes when he lets me.” “Now you’re just fucking with me. He doesn’t do the laundry.” “Yes he does.” “What the fu-” “hey Princess you ready?” “Yes I’m ready…see you tomorrow Steve.” “You good Harrington? You look like someone just told you Santa isn’t real.” “Uh yeah I’m just…you spoil her you know that right?” “Yeah…I’m aware? She’s my princess…that cool with you?” “Oh uh yeah yeah that’s fine.”

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for putting knob covers on the stove that my disabled dad couldn't open?

So I (26M) recently moved back in with my parents (60M and 58F) temporarily because I'm kind of between apartments right now. My dad has Parkinson's disease and has, over the years, become both clumsier and more absent-minded. An important symptom of Parkinson's that will become relevant in this story is that he also has partial anosmia (his sense of smell is impaired).

So anyway, about a year and a half ago, before I had moved out, one day I came home from work and smelled gas as soon as I entered the house. I discovered one of the burners on the stove had been left open, and gas had been seeping into the room. I turned off the main gas supply, opened all the windows, and waited outside while calling my mom about it frantically. It turns out Dad had been cleaning the oven earlier and must have bumped the burner with his head while leaning in to clean the door. Because of his anosmia, he had not smelled the gas. I kind of freaked out and threatened to remove all the knobs off the stove, because I felt my life was in danger, but my mom talked me down into believing that it was just a fluke and probably wouldn't happen again.

Anyway, fast forward to the day before yesterday. I woke up after sleeping in late (I work night shifts now) and went to go make myself some food, but for some reason the GFI circuit breaker to the stove outlet had tripped. After resetting it, I immediately noticed that the lower drawer oven was on, because the knob had been left on. That oven is a little broken because the drawer mechanism is bent, so it doesn't close fully - I'm speculating, but the only thing I can think of is that the breaker must have tripped because the drawer was open and the heating element couldn't keep it up to temperature without getting so hot it exceeded its current rating or something. There was no gas leak this time, thankfully, but I knew my dad must have left it that way since my mom never cooks in the morning, especially not with the oven, ESPECIALLY not with the broken drawer oven. The only logical conclusion was that he accidentally bumped the knob again and didn't notice again. This time, thank God it wasn't the gas again.

I basically just told my mom that I was getting knob covers for the stove, and she agreed. So I got some on Amazon with next day delivery and installed them as soon as they arrived. I then took an afternoon nap, and then spent a few hours in my room playing video games and talking with friends on Discord. I was home the entire day, though, and he has my phone number and is able to text if he thought it would be impolite to knock or something. He didn't say a word to me all day.

Apparently, though, he got furious with my mom because the knobs have safety covers on them now. He told her he can't open them (although I later walked down the stairs, and found one of them open, and I had not left it that way - he definitely can, I think he just had trouble figuring out how at first. They're child safety caps so unfortunately they're a bit tricky to get open) and that now he was unable to cook for himself. He did not ask me to help him get them open though, and I would have done so in a heartbeat. He has not said anything about this to me at all, not even anything subtle or passive-aggressive.

I discussed it with my mom, and we agreed to leave them mostly closed but unlatched - the latch is the difficult part to get open, but they stay closed enough for them to keep the knobs from being bumped even if they are not fully latched shut. My mom agreed to communicate with him better about stuff like this. But if he asks to have the caps removed completely, it's a hard, hard no - I don't want to die in a gas explosion.

AITA for doing this?

What are these acronyms?

[candieduranium]

owlish traits of an owl therian

this is a dump of all of the owl-like things about me over the years

tw for sh

• ever since i was little, like 4 years old, i ran around the house and flapping my “wings”. my mom found it cute and funny and praised it. i also used to associate the people i knew with different species of birds. i would think of some people as bluebirds, some as finches, etc.

• the bump in my upper lip is slightly more pointed than most folks’, so it’s like a :} shape. kind of like a beak! i used to hate that point and would bite and chew at it in an attempt to break it off simply because i thought it looked ugly, but now it’s honestly one of my favorite things about my appearance.

• i’ve always been so interested and fascinated with birds. it’s natural and probably very common for a therian to have been interested in their kintype(s) for a long time before awakening as a therian, which is what happened to me. it wasn’t specifically owls for the majority of the time, but recently i discovered such a strong connection and self-association with barn owls. this is what awakened me as a therian.

• phantom limbs. so, so many phantom limbs. for years i’ve felt like my arms were supposed to be wings, my legs should bend differently. i used to play with my shadow so much and try to manipulate it so that my arms looked as close to wings as i could get them.

• my sense of smell. my mom has a bad habit of turning on the gas stove and accidentally forgetting to make sure it’s lit and not just spitting out a bunch of gas lmao. i can smell it within seconds that it happens. every. single. time. barn owls have a keen sense of smell, like me. super smelling, or hyperosmia, is something that i’ve felt i’ve had for years from being especially sensitive all sorts of smells. i once smelled a gas leak at home that my parents didn’t and immediately alerted them. it was quickly fixed, but i don’t know what could’ve happened if i hadn’t caught it.

• i like planes… classic birdkin lol. i’m not scared of flying. in fact, i might even become a commercial airline pilot as a career someday, but that’s definitely up for change and not set in stone.

• “early bird or night owl?” gimme your best guess lmao.

• my glasses!! i have thin, roundish glasses which are mostly a silverish color with black on the front. many people have likened me to harry potter (rip. kill that little br*’ish boy.) which i… unfortunately see. but since im growing my hair out now it’s definitely not as obvious as it used to be. i got them before i awakened as a therian, but its funny to me that i just naturally chose a frame that already makes me look so owlish.

• i pull at my hair and pick at my skin when im anxious, which is also what birds do when they are stressed for extended periods of time. they pull out their feathers, and i pull out my hair, usually my eyelashes or on my arms.

these are all of the things i can think of at the moment, but i mentally point out little habits and traits i have that are similar to the ones barn owls also have. i’ll probably add on to this list more whenever i catch a new one.

but lastly, don’t think that you’re not a therian if you don’t have experiences like mine! you could be like the polar opposite of your kintype(s) irl, and it does not diminish your validity in the slightest!

[zetadraconis11]

We know what all HL characters are like personality and behavior but how do you think they behave when they are at MC's home for the first time and meet their parents?

Oh boy. So personally, my MC, Estelle, has been an orphan since she was a baby. So she doesn't know who her actual parents are, and she was raised in an orphanage for fifteen years.

Now, in the bigger picture, for all the MCs out there that have families and parents, I'm sure they'd all be polite. If MC is muggle-born, I'm sure the whole group of friends would try to not act too crazy in front of the family to unnerve. To give the family a good impression of magicfolk. They would TRY to be on their best behavior. Ominis would probably be the most proper, Natty and Amit would be delightfully polite and curious. Poppy would also be nice and probably try to acquaint with any pets MC families have. Sebastian and Garreth would be the most curious about the Muggle things, I'd say. They'd probably ask the most questions, wanting to know more about this other world.

But if Sebastian and Garreth come up with a crazy idea, then you'd best hope it doesn't end up as a fiery disaster. Don't leave them alone near a Muggle gas stove, lol.

Garreth: So this is a gas stove...

Sebastian: Apparently you just light a match and stick it close to the stove.

Garreth: ...So...hypothetically, what do you think would happen if we used Confringo instead to light the stove?

Sebastian:

*a minute later*

MC: We were gone for only a little bit! How did you-?!

Sebastian, covering in soot: Our curiosity blew up in our faces.

Garreth, also covered in soot and repairing the exploded stove and kitchen: Literally.

[batty4steddie]

@spicycinnabun and I expanded the friends prompt. Hope you enjoy the angsty fluff from us ❤️️

My Buddy, My Bro, My Pal The party had been going on for about an hour or so. Steve was hosting. He didn’t know when Eddie had arrived but could hear his voice, and then he saw him chatting with Jonathan and Nancy. Steve shot him a smile from across the room. He was so happy Eddie was there. It’d been a long work week, and they hadn’t seen each other since last weekend. He couldn’t wait until they got a moment to greet each other. Chrissy and Robin were there, too, so Eddie had plenty of people to talk to while Steve was making the rounds.

Steve was just catching up with some of his friends who had gone off to college. Everyone was back home visiting their own families during the school break. It’d been a perfect time for a party with his parents out of town. 

When Steve finally broke away from the conversation, it was to refill some of the snacks and drinks. He ran into Eddie in the kitchen. “Hey, man. Happy you made it.” Steve went in for a half hug and gave Eddie’s back a few hard pats as he pulled back and smiled at him. “How’s my good buddy doing? Did you get a drink?”

There it was again. The word Eddie so loathed. Buddy. 

Eddie thought that shit was going to stop once they’d started fooling around together, but if anything, it had only increased. Buddy this, bro that. Once, Steve had even called him pal.

Eddie should have grinned. He should have played along like he usually did. But he was four vodka Cokes in, and his feelings were more feelingy, weeks of pent-up frustration hitting its peak. 

So, he did something monumentally bold and got into Steve’s space, putting his (fifth) drink down and backing him up against one of the counters. “You know what? Buddies don’t kiss each other,” Eddie said, breathing the word harshly between them. His fists clenched at his sides. “Yeah, you… You’ve definitely had a few.” Steve could smell the alcohol on his breath. He was worried they were standing too close to the gas stove. Eddie saw Steve’s eyes widen, his head twitching like he was just barely concealing the urge to look around and make sure nobody had heard that. Eddie barrelled on. It was a courtesy that he was even lowering his voice. He didn’t have to. “If you want to keep on pretending that’s all we are, you go right ahead, Steve. But I won’t be.”

Steve’s heart sped up like it normally did when Eddie got close to him. His eyebrows rose as the counter dug into his ass. This would’ve been really fucking hot if Eddie wasn’t so angry at him. He was surprised that Eddie had that reaction to his comment. He thought it was an innocent enough statement, but clearly, he had struck the wrong chord. 

Steve’s eyes were doing all the reacting, looking at Eddie but dying to see if anyone had overheard. If they had, it probably wouldn’t have made sense to them anyway. No one knew he’d seduced Eddie into more than just kissing him. Friends didn’t kiss or fuck each other like wild rabbits, either.

Steve shook his head. “I’m not pretending. I didn’t know that you wanted this to be an official thing. I thought you wanted to keep things casual,” he said coolly, even though his heart was beating out of his chest. “I’m open to something more exclusive if that’s what you want.” 

They hadn’t talked about what they were, but if Eddie was gonna call him out so aggressively and publicly at his own damn party, he was going to get Eddie to admit that he wanted to be his boyfriend. What he had been doing was bullying him about being friendly and excited to see him. Wasn’t this a mutual decision they needed to come to before feelings got involved? It was too damn late for that, apparently, with Eddie’s alcohol-induced liberty.   

Eddie was short-circuiting. Thrown completely off. “Excuse me, what?” 

Heat rose to Eddie’s face with the speed of a Nascar driver, leaving a burning trail up his cheeks. He had been… like, one hundred percent sure Steve was deeply in the closet, and that was why he kept insisting they were friends and not, you know, fuck buddies. More than dudes who spent time together. Steve didn’t call any of the chicks he slept with what he called Eddie, right?

“I—I never said we have to be official,” Eddie finally said. His face was blisteringly hot at this point. Had Steve actually said he was open to it? To him? To dating Eddie? Fuck. “I just thought…” Eddie swallowed (fuuuuuck), “…you wanted to hide me under the rug like some bro. So I was pissed about that.”

Did Eddie want to go steady with Steve? 

Hell yes!

He had been infatuated with the hairy bastard long before they’d started sleeping together.

“I would be amenable to. Um. To being exclusive. With you. Yes.” God, he was usually way smoother than this. His fists finally uncurled. He looked at Steve uncertainly. “Do… you want to?” 

Steve had said he was open, but what did that mean? Open wasn't really yes.

“I invited you here.” Steve wanted to end the night alone with Eddie. 

They’d spent the last few weekends in his bedroom, exploring every inch of each other’s bodies. (Steve didn’t even know he had that many moles and that there really was one there. He’d laughed like a hooligan, and it felt like he was gonna break his neck trying to find it in the mirror. Eddie had helped him find it eventually.)

Steve hadn’t been exclusive with anyone since he’d gotten with Nancy, but the thought of being with anyone other than Eddie made his stomach hurt. 

“And we hadn’t talked about it yet,” Steve pointed out. He wasn’t lying. He was open to it because he’d been thinking about it. He saw the way Eddie’s demeanor changed from hurt to hopeful. “I brought it up, didn’t I? Yes, Eddie, that’s what I want. I promise not to refer to you as my friend, without boy in front of friend ever again.”  

Steve wanted to prove it. It was his party, and he could kiss who he wanted to. While Eddie had been so concerned about being a secret hookup, Steve was only concerned about what would make them both happy. He knew kissing each other did, so to hell with what everyone at the party thought about Steve “The Hair” Harrington kissing Eddie “The Freak” Munson. They could get the fuck out and leave them the hell alone if they didn’t like it. 

Steve smiled and kissed his boyfriend for the first time. Eddie, still stunned but quickly getting with the program, clutched Steve’s hips and kissed him back.

In the background, they heard Robin and Chrissy cheering. “Nancy, you owe us twenty bucks!” Robin yelled.

[shego1142]

I know yall probably know about poverty and generational poverty and what not but I just want to vent….

Because like… the things people don’t like know about generational poverty unless they’re experiencing it is just how… trapped you feel… weighed down by absolutely everything.

See I honestly think something may be up with our gas line

Which is a terrifying thought.

Now, idk if it’s a leak per se (though we’ve got the windows cracked just in case) but if we turn on our stove the gas smell is really strong, the flame flairs out of the sides of the stove, etc.

Shit that shouldn’t be happening.

Shit that is really fucking dangerous.

We know this is dangerous, we’re not stupid.

We know we should get it fixed.

But here’s the thing, okay?

The floors are just base boards, they’re falling in and there’s holes everywhere.

There’s rats that we’ve tried every trick in the book to get rid of, short of hiring an exterminator. We’ve borrowed traps, had traps “gifted” to us, tried poisons that friends and family have bought for us, etc. It cuts them down but they come back.

All of our food is in thick sealed plastic containers and yet they’ve eaten some of the containers open. They even ate our soap and makeup and cleaning supplies and that didn’t seem to stop them. (Our soap and cleaning supplies are now in plastic containers too but idk how long it will deter them, and the makeup is thrown away)

We have shoddy wiring in the house, done by my own grandpa back in the 70’s when they first bought this place.

Our roof has cracks in it that have failing patches, done by a family friend.

Our AC doesn’t exactly work very well and it’s been reaching 100°F weather (with 70% humidity no less) and to fix it we’d need $10k at least, but we’d also need new flooring, so it would likely be more than that…

Etc.

And like, it’s not that the house is dirty, but that it’s falling apart.

And here’s the deal… calling someone who knows what’s what about houses to check the stove means calling someone who is going to inspect the whole house, someone who’s going to say:

“hey uh, your gas is messed up and your electricity is messed up and so’s your plumbing… Your floors are bad… we have to condemn this house and if you can’t pay to fix it up then you’re going to lose it.”

And it’s not like we got this house and destroyed it by a lack of maintenance, this house is like, 50+ years old, and has been my home since I was born.

My grandma and I couldn’t take care of everything because my grandpa had Alzheimer’s and he was going downhill and it was me and her caring for him.

My health is really bad and I can’t work a regular day job because of it, but I haven’t been able to hire a lawyer to apply for disability, so we’re living off one income and whatever side gigs I can do from time to time.

We don’t have the money to pay the mortgage, buy groceries, pay the home insurance, the gas bill, pay medical bills, buy pet food, etc and also then pay for our house to be inspected and potentially condemned for things I didn’t even do in the first place, things that came before I inherited this house…

My whole family has been poor my whole life, from my great great grandparents to my parents, etc.

It was always “you don’t pay for a professional to fix it, you either fix it yourself or get a family member or a friend of a friend to fix it”

Which means that if we ask a building inspector to tell us what’s wrong with the house… well… it’s going to probably be everything. Because this house has never been “professionally” fixed, it’s only ever had family members and friends of family members slap duct tape over glaring issues and say they’ll only charge you a glass of sweet tea.

Which means it’ll probably cost nearly the entire value of the house to fix tbh.

I just feel like I’m on a ship that’s sinking and way more water is coming in than I could ever manage to get out. I keep trying to patch the leaks but the materials just not available, and besides, if I stop bailing out the water for even a second to go and try and patch the leak, I’ll go fully underwater.

And you know, it’s not fair. It’s not right that it’s like this. This is our home and we love it. This has been my home for years and we love this house, this land, the trees and plants that grow, everything here is loved. It’s cared for. We try to take pride in it.

But you wouldn’t know that because we’re too busy trying to bail out that sinking ship. We’re too busy from constantly working and cleaning and repairing.

It’s not okay that it’s set up that way. We need help, we need community. We should be able to call someone and be like “Hey, we love this house, we’ve never been late on a payment, we’ve worked our butts off to try and keep things going, but we need help. Can you look at everything this house needs to function and be in good condition and help us get those things?”

Like, hell a payment plan option would work, wouldn’t it? Why isn’t that the done thing?

I mean, I know why, the more houses that are taken from the poor means the more real estate that’s available for the rich, they’re already trying to make our whole neighbourhood into some corporate venture instead of a residential area. And besides, if they manage to make us homeless they’d be just as happy throwing us in jail for the “crime” of being homeless and poor and making money off free labour.

Like that’s why it’s normal practice not to help anyone keep their home when they actually have a home. The system is set up for you to fail unless your family is at least moderately wealthy.

It’s just such an unforgiving cycle. And I know I’m beating a dead horse with this vent. I know that like over half of America’s population is likely in the same shitty place we’re in.

It’s just… I’m so tired of being in cycles like these.

I’m too sick to work, too poor to afford to get on disability, and both too poor and too exhausted to go to the doctor to get proper treatment, and it’s just a loop.

I’m too exhausted to fix the house, too busy cleaning the house to rest, too exhausted to make money to have professionals help fix the house, rinse and repeat.

The house breaking down is very likely making me more sick, but I’m too sick to be able to get the house fixed.

My grandparents didn’t have money to fix the house, my parents don’t have money to fix theirs, I don’t have money to fix my house.

Every step forward is like ten steps backwards and I genuinely don’t know what the solution to all of this is.

I feel so fucking trapped. I don’t even have the energy to run a gofundme for myself to try and get the help we need, because it takes so so much to to actually get a gofundme up and off the ground, I have tried before and it’s always been a failure because I just literally never have enough energy for it.

We have so many things we’d love to do. We’d love to make this house into an eco-friendly, sustainable home, with solar panels and a huge garden. We want to make a farm stand with fresh eggs and vegetables and fruit and let it operate on an honour system, so anyone who needs food can take what they need and pay what they can, yes even if it’s $0. I want to crochet hats and mittens and set those out too, for sale or just for those who need them…

We want so badly to take care of our community… but it feels like our community isn’t there to support us, not because people don’t want to support one another but because we’re all trapped or are being prevented from supporting one another.

Because having a farm-stand means you need to buy business licenses… building a sustainable home means you need to buy a building permit.

Every step of the way feels like good intentions are wasted, road-blocked.

I can’t even begin to explain how many jobs I’ve applied to, writing, editing, working as a cook or a waiter, data entry, etc.

In school they told me I’d be able to do anything I wanted to. I was a “gifted” straight A student and as I’m sure many people on this site know, that’s not bragging. It’s the opposite. The school system, the system that is supposed to help me be successful in life, told me I would be, and now I would be lucky to make $7.25/an hour while living in a place where the minimum liveable wage is $35/an hour.

It costs $35 an hour for one person to live moderately comfortably in my town. And this isn’t an arbitrary number, it’s literally on our county’s government ran poverty assessment website.

And that’s not a thriving wage it’s a surviving wage. It’s Home, Food, Utilities, Transportation & Clothes.

It leaves no room for medical care, comfort, entertainment, etc.

So what the hell are those of us who are working for anything less than that, or those of us unable to work, supposed to do?!

And like I said, I know I’m preaching to a choir rn, I know everyone is experiencing some version of this. I just… I need to be able to express it from time to time. To talk about how unfair and ridiculous and needlessly cruel this is.

It’s so deeply flawed and evil that we’re unable to have legitimate health concerns inspected because we’re worried about the house being taken away from us.

It’s trash. It’s inhumane.

And if anyone has any like… suggestions or advice that would be great… I’m considering just having our gas service canceled by our gas company and buying a small electric grill instead… but our gas also powers our hot water heater so…

:/

[heresiae]

A Glamping rant

I have to say, in my opinion, people that coined the term "glamping" are either envy of other people equipment, think that camping = suffering/being almost as wild as a wolf.

it's not.

my parent use to have a tent the size of a room, in full canvas, with dividers for the sleeping area and a very big porch. of course it took the entire roof of their car went they went camping, but they also had cots and all the furniture. these were the 70s and mostly everybody had them (I have to say, the air tents did change the game for family in terms of space carrying). nobody called them spoiled, it was just a different way of camping (especially for areas with lots of rain...).

wen I was born they went from carrying the (quite big and heavy) tent to rent caravans (on the site). we still called it camping (we were on a camp ground after all).

of course, when you first start camping you have like three things: your tent, your sleeping stuff and a lamp.

then you evolve. you start to buy more equipment, a better tent (because after a few rainy days you realize that the cheap tent has way too many weak points), more lights, the gas stove and cutlery, the table and chair (and of course an hammock). then it comes the tarp (above your tent but mostly the "living" area to be able to use it when it rains). also, a portable fridge, because in some places is way less expensive to arrive fully prepared (and thus you'll evolve to have one of these little guys. yes, it does make a difference).

honestly, with all the stuff I had this year the only reason that you couldn't call my camping "glamping" was the tent, because it's still an igloo (a very practical and nice igloo. not in production anymore, sorry. it's very effective with any weather).

and I can't actually fully afford "glamping", because a family had this baby up there and let me tell, you can call it glamping as much as you want, but they ride the two storms we had like champions (but if they stuck with this year campsite they will save so much money in the next 10 years with their two young kids; you spend couple of thousand of euros once and then basically like less than 500 at year for two weeks up there with everyone. that's a win).

let me tell you another thing though: they still had to collect and chop wood, clean their utensil in the communal sink, use the camp stove to cook, dry their clothes on improvised rack lines, deal with bugs, had a tarp over the kitchen and table, fight the rain to go to the bathroom, etc. the only difference was that they did not suffer humidity and cold once in their tent. plus, (and trust me on this one), the more equipment you have, the more effort you have to put in preparation, dismantling and maintenance. "glamping" it's not that easy, unless someone does it for you (that is the Hemingway way).

camping is not much about how little stuff you can survive with, but to be closer to nature. to open your tent and have it in your face. it's also community. camping lifestyle involve a lot of trust in other people honestly, because you literally left your possessions unguarded in your tent or outside (not much use in bringing your phone if there is no reception). it's also sharing help, clothes lines, food, chats. if you see someone struggles, you help them. you keep an eye on kids playing because yes. you also kind of chastise the ones that not follow community rule. if you're still noisy after 10pm someone will come to tell you to stop it. if it's raining and you're not in you tent, I will collect your clothes for you and put it in you porch. it's literally the construction of a temporary old times village with people you'll never see again but it was very nice to meet (and I have to tell you, this year the Dutchs have won my hearth).

anyway, being so close to 40, I realize that igloos are not that nice for me anymore. I don't have the spirit or the back to keep using them up there. they're still good for seaside though and that's where I will use them from now.

for the next year I'm thinking this. Because if you just have to sleep, the rule of buy a tent of the number of people using it + 1 is good, but if you have to live in it most of the day (or all day), it's probably a +2.

can't afford a hot tent, but I'll definitely carefully manage a camping gas heather.

call it glamping as much as you want, meanwhile I will collect, saw and cut wood for that night bonfire and have a cuppa while thinking on which river spot I will read that afternoon.

(also, hammocks with mosquitoes net rules).

[the-letterbox-archives]

file (1)34-18-050: questionnaire

thank you @willtheweaver for the tag!! this one's an oc questionnaire, and i've picked faye, daphne, and ven to answer!

q1. “what is your favourite kind of music?”

faye

“Ooh, I like punk and pop rock stuff! Songs that’ve got really angry lyrics but the music is still nice to listen to. And not to brag, but I write some stuff, too.”

daphne

“I don’t stick to genres, really. Um, I do like indie music, though. Whenever I talk about songs I like I can’t find other people who’ve heard of the artists. Faye usually knows, though!”

ven

“I’ve never really listened to music… but I remember this noise while I was asleep, I think you’d call it a song. It was soft and comforting, it kind of felt like air, only… kinder. More gentle. I liked that song.”

q2. “can you cook? If so, what do you like to make?”

faye

“The last time I tried to cook, I forgot I turned the gas stove on and nearly killed me and my mum. Long story short, I’m banned from the kitchen.”

daphne

“Oh, I cook all the time! Usually only for myself, but sometimes for Faye too, if her parents are away or too tired to cook for her. In terms of what I make, I’m good at pasta dishes. My favourite thing to make is probably dolmades, with lots of oregano!”

ven

“Come to think of it… I don’t think I’ve ever eaten before. I don’t remember eating. But I think I’d like to learn how to cook.”

q3. “what is the one thing you would not wish on your greatest adversary?”

faye

“I wouldn’t want anyone to have my reputation. It makes me feel so alone. Yeah, I know it’s deserved, a little bit… but it still hurts.”

daphne

“Probably being alone. Or– not alone– lonely. That’s just the worst, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. That’s not to say I have any adversaries, though! At least I don’t think I do.”

ven

“Sissy. She’s a menace.”

here are your questions!

"what's your relationship with your family like?"

"do you have any hobbies? if so, what ones?"

"do you dream often? what about?"

tagging @ominous-feychild, @rkmoon, @fenmere, @moltenwrites, @leitereads,

@introchasingstars, @bloodmoonloveletter, @honeybewrites, @glassfrogforest, @ghostlyboysstories,

and @autism-purgatory, + open tag!

[paperficwriter]

"The Second Floor" (Metal Bat x Garou)

I figured I'd go ahead and start doing some cross-posting here...I don't know if I'll post everything here because not for nothing but I get harassed more here than Twitter, which is saying something.

Regardless, here I am, coming back to my roots. It's my take on what all has been happening in the main comic, so a bit different from the 'Monster in my Bed' universe. Enjoy!

Cut is for length, not for content. AO3 link and tags in the reblog.

“Alright, so…here it is.”

Badd opens the door to the second-floor apartment, stepping inside of it to let Garou pass. He’s glad, then, that he came up before and gave it a good cleaning, got the windows open, the place aired out a bit. That was the first time he had been back inside since his parents died, and even though his uncle had straightened it out and made sure there wasn’t anything left for Badd and Zenko to have to take care of, the place had felt…strange, like it had been put into some kind of suspended animation for the past eight years.

Badd watches as Garou wanders around with the kind of caginess that Tama had when they brought her home the first day. There’s a wariness to his movements, and…did he just see his nose twitch. “This is the main room,” Badd says. “You can see the kitchen right there.” He nods at the window cut into the far wall, showing the small, sunlit space with a full-sized fridge, stove and sink. “The door across from that’s the bathroom…s’got a bath, though it might be small for ya. Then there’s a bedroom.”

Garou looks down at the squat table in front of an old television—already old when Badd was a kid, when he would come up here and pretend he was a squatter if there wasn’t anyone living in the apartment. “It’s gonna be a tight fit,” Garou finally says in his cold, rough voice. “But I guess I’ve lived in worse places.”

A flash of anger rises up suddenly in Badd’s belly like the gas on the old range had been turned on in a rush of blue flame. “Now, listen—”

“I guess I’ll take this front room, though.” He scratches the inside of his ear with a pinkie finger. “Just don’t wake me up when you’re cooking.”

“Wait…no, dammit, I’m not living here!” A warmth travels across his nose and pinks his cheeks as Badd stuffs his hands in his pockets. He’s not wearing his hero uniform today, but a bomber jacket with a tiger on the back and jeans. “This place is just for you.”

Garou looks surprised, white eyebrows going up and then back down. He starts wandering around again, somehow even more suspicious, touching the walls, opening the cabinets in the kitchen. Badd follows him.

“I got a couple of things…some basic stuff. Noodles, sauce, some canned stuff. There ain’t much in the fridge ‘cause I didn’t know what you liked other than…meat. Though I did get ya some of what was on sale at the supermarket.”

When he says that, Garou has his spiky head shoved into the fridge, taking out the wrapped packages, eyes gleaming. Badd can’t help but grin a little because he has the kind of expression he’d expect to see if he left him a basket full of candy and not a couple of strip steaks…

After a quick inspection of the bathroom and then the bedroom, which has a desk, an empty bookshelf (what the hell is going to go there, Badd wonders—this is Garou living here, does he even know how to read?), a dresser and a rolled up futon, the former Hero Hunter turns to Badd. His gold eyes are narrow as he steps up to him. “What’s the catch?”

“Huh?”

“You said you’re not living here. Is the old man paying you? Or are you going to start charging me rent or something?” He says it like he’s expecting Badd to tell him he needs to start selling his organs downtown.

“What? No!” Badd growls and cracks his socked toes against the soft wooden floor. “I don’t need any damn money, alright?! I live downstairs in the apartment under this place! The first floor!”

“Why do you have a spare apartment?”

“My folks bought the place like this and used to take tenants…anyway, it don’t matter! Do ya want it or not?”

It’s a little weird, but Badd only realizes after he’s said it that they actually haven’t discussed at all or not Garou wants to live here. Because initially, the conversation didn’t even happen with him. It happened with Bang, at a cafe, after Badd’s patrol but before he had to go pick up Zenko from piano practice. “You want me to let Garou come live with us. Are you serious, old man?”

Bang had picked up the tab for their tea and a few small desserts, and he was eating a pastry and taking a stupidly long time to answer Badd. “I am. He doesn’t seem…comfortable, living with me. Not that we haven’t mended some of what was broken between us, and I wouldn’t ask you this if I didn’t think it was safe.”

“Maybe he’s uncomfortable because he doesn’t think he can get away with being him when you’re watching.”

Bang shrugged, sipping his tea. “I think you two will have more in common with each other than he does with me. It’s good for young men to spend time together. They grow from mutual experiences.”

What planet was this geezer on?! “There is no way I got anything in common with that guy! And if it’s about age, why not one of the other heroes?!”

For a moment, Bang took a breath, like he was gathering his words. Then, finally, he said, “You two have the most shared history at this point. And I have caught him watching the news about your hero work from time to time.”

Badd didn’t know what to say about that. He didn’t know what to say when they parted ways, except that he did have some space and so long as Garou didn’t do anything to make him regret it, he could stay there. And he still doesn’t know what to say now, because Garou is staring at him like he’s still waiting for this all to be taken out from underneath his feet.

Finally, Garou shrugs. “Sure. Whatever. It’s better than being stuck up in that place above that smelly dojo.”

The tension in Badd’s shoulders lessens immediately. Even though he should be dreading the fact that Garou has decided he will be living above him now, having to deal with him thinking that he was trying to con him out of something was worse. And at least if he’s there, maybe Badd will be able to catch him if he tries anything…

When he tries anything, Badd mentally corrects himself. Because he will. He’s sure of it.

Once he’s handed him the key, Badd walks back down the same set of stairs that he ascended. At one point, before his parents bought the place, the stairs would just lead to different levels of the house, and the landing where Badd has left his shoes would be the foyer. Now, there is a door that leads to his apartment with Zenko. He’s about to open it when he feels a prickle at the back of his neck and—

Badd jumps back from the door to shoot his gaze at Garou, who is watching him with catlike eyes from his upper floor, leaning over like a burglar. “Oi!” Badd growls. “What’re ya doin,’ punk?!”

“What? We’re neighbors now, right?” Garou has a sly smile. “I can’t check out what my neighbor is up to?”

Nevermind, Badd thinks as he goes inside of his apartment and closes and locks the door. Probably nothing could be worse than this.

It’s quiet, for a while…and Badd almost thinks that Garou has changed his mind and decided to run out. He comes back from his hero work and hears nothing from upstairs, and at one point he asks Zenko about it. “Have you heard anything from Garou?”

She’s working on her homework at the table where they eat dinner, as Badd cooks. He’s cut up some bell peppers that are softening with onions, and there’s some beef browning in a cast-iron skillet. They’ll have it with rice. “Yeah,” she says. “I hear him go out before I go to school and you leave for work.”

“Huh?! Only then?”

“Is that weird?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve been working day shifts since he started living here. Don’t you think he would be going to his job too?”

That’s true. He figured that if Garou was going to do something, it would be under the cover of night, now that everyone knows who he is. Badd grabs the pan handle and gives it a shake that’s maybe a bit too aggressive, because two green slivers of pepper escape onto the stove top. “There’s no way a guy like that’s got a job,” he mumbles.

Zenko puts her pencil down then and he hears her sniff the air. “Big bro…something smells funny.”

“Eh?” He frowns. Zenko’s always liked his cooking…but then he realizes there’s a tickle of something else…acrid and burning…and there’s a haze outside the window. Could that be coming from— “Stay here!”

Making sure to move his pans to other burners, Badd runs to the door and opens it into the landing. Sure enough, there’s more smoke in the hallway, and he leaps to the top of the stairs in one bound. “Garou! What the hell’re ya doin’?!”

When there’s no answer, Badd acts on instinct and punches a hole in the door, tearing his way through it. The apartment is cloudy, although the window in the kitchen is open. He darts in to look through it and there’s Garou, perched on a section of the roof, holding a skillet with something on fire in one hand and his phone in the other. “This recipe is bullshit!” he curses, and he seems like he’s about to throw the pan probably into oblivion but then he stops, showing a degree of self control that Badd didn’t expect.

So there he is, just pouting, the flames going out slowly…and Badd has to laugh. It’s not like there’s any damage to the apartment other than the smoke, so…

Garou’s eyes snap over to him. “Hey! Shut the hell up!”

“Okay, okay…you just…look like you’re having a hard time.”

“I followed the stupid video. It’s not my fault.”

Badd turns on the water and watches as Garou crawls back in the window and puts his pan under the running sink. Whatever it was, it’s charcoal now. Badd could leave him to it to figure out what else he’s going to eat, but…Garou looks so pathetic and angry, instead he finds himself asking, “You want to come down for dinner? I’m making bell peppers and beef. I usually end up havin’ enough for a few nights in case I gotta work, so…there’s plenty.”

Garou doesn’t reply for a second, and Badd prepares himself to get shot down, probably with some snide remark. But then, there’s a high, strange noise that ends in a sort of warbling grumble, and Badd realizes it came from Garou’s stomach. Garou puts his hand over it like he can push the noise back in. With his long fingers over his abs, Badd realizes for the first time how thin he is, and, sure, he’s lean with all those muscles but…then he recalls the report from the fight in the woods between that gang of heroes, Genos and Bang, the one that mentioned him being found in a shack.

And other than that kid…he was all alone.

“Well,” Garou says loudly, with an exaggerate shrug. “I guess I’ll try it. It can’t make me any sicker than this would…”

Any sympathy Badd was feeling evaporates like the water hitting the hot pan. “Ya know, you could starve for all I care.”

“Nope, you can’t take it back now.” As Badd goes into the bedroom to open the other windows in the apartment, he hears a sharp, “What the fuck did you do to my door?!”

“Shut up! I thought you were burning the house down! I’ll fix it!”

When they get back downstairs, Zenko has already set a second place. Badd returns to the stove, grateful he had the foresight to move the food so it wouldn’t burn up too, and he finishes getting the rice done as he carefully listens to Zenko and Garou talking.

“Do you remember me?”

“Yeah, how could I forget? You were the dumb brat who tried to butt in the middle of our fight.”

“Who’s dumb?! I got you all to stop, didn’t I?”

“Okay, maybe you have a point. What’s that you’re doing?”

“Math homework. It’s Advanced Geometry.”

“Ugh…what do you need that for?”

“I want to be a veterinarian!”

Badd is ready to interject if Garou makes a smart-ass remark, but then he hears him go, “Yeah, guess you need to work really hard for something like that. Better give it your all and not quit school like I did.”

“I am!”

Did he really say that? It was…surprisingly thoughtful. Did Garou really drop out of school? They’re about the same age, and Badd just finished the year before, so…it would make sense.

Then, he hears Garou laugh. “Unless you’d rather just do something that doesn’t require any level of intelligence, like being a hero—”

“Alright, I’ve got plates of food here, so why don’t you shove this in your mouth, eh?”

Garou smirks as Badd puts down the plate of food in front of him, but when his eyes settle on it, he really does get quiet. With a quick ‘itadakimasu’ he’s stuffing his mouth like someone is going to take the plate away from him. Zenko and Badd exchange glances before beginning to eat as well.

Badd continues watching him out of the corner of his eye. How is it that the longer he interacts with him, the more he questions everything he thought he knew about him?

It doesn’t feel like he’s trying to trick him either…

After dinner, Badd walks Garou to the door. “I’ll fix the door this weekend. So just…don’t do anything dumb, yeah?”

“Like what? Leave it unlocked?”

“Okay, goodnight, smartass.”

It isn’t the last time that Garou eats some of Badd’s cooking (and to his knowledge, enjoys it). In the days to follow, Badd notices there are less leftovers in the fridge over the subsequent nights after he’s made a big meal. If there are three plastic containers, the next day there are two. If two, then one.

Is he seriously breaking in and stealing food?! Can ’t believe I was beginning to trust that guy…

He heads upstairs to confront him about it, but when he opens the door he nearly runs right into Zenko. She trips backward and lands on her rear. “Zenko! Are you okay? What are you doing?”

Then, he sees the empty container in her hands. She’s clutching it to her chest. “Nothing!”

“Are you…giving him food?”

Zenko stands back up, her nose in the air. She always does that when she’s trying to meet his height, to match his energy. “So what if I am? Clearly he’s terrible at cooking. Recently all he brings home are convenience store foods—”

“How do you know that?!”

“I say hello to him! Like a good neighbor!” Zenko crosses her arms over her chest. “Why don’t you say hello to him more? He’s your friend!”

The desire to fire back that no, he is absolutely not his friend, tickles his tongue, but Badd stops himself. Because he doesn’t hate him like he thought he would. But he doesn’t like him either, so…he takes the empty container from Zenko. It looks like it’s been practically licked clean… “It’s fine. I’ll…put some extra servings to the side so he gets a bit of everything.”

Garou doesn’t say anything for a while, and Badd wonders if Zenko has told him that Badd knows now that he’s feeding him. One evening, though, he’s about to take the trash out when he sees Garou coming down the stairs. He’s got the leftover box in hand. Badd nods at him. “Hey.”

It’s the first time he’s gotten to take a long look at Garou in a while. He’s different from how he was when he first arrived—softer, his brain supplies first, comfortable, less starved. There’s still that same air about him, like he’s prowling, ready to pounce, even if his form of attack is just to quip. Now, though…his body looks lived in, stretched out a bit.

Badd is surprised at how he kind of likes that look on him.

“I think this was my favorite,” Garou says, without any greeting of his own. This was a honey garlic stir fry he made with chicken and mixed vegetables.

“I hadn’t made it before. I’ve been trying some new recipes.”

“Mm.” Garou follows Badd outside as he goes to deposit the bags of garbage at the street. The fireflies are out, the late evening easing in and bringing with it a cool breeze. “How do you even…” He shakes his head. “There’s so much in it.”

Badd realizes he’s still talking about the dish, and at first he’s about to talk about all the steps he took to sauté the chicken and thicken the sauce before tossing it all together, but…instead what comes out is, “You could come down and watch. Maybe help a bit.”

A distant cicada starts buzzing. It fills up the silence, and Badd is grateful, because it’s taking Garou a while to answer. Finally, what he gets is, “…sure.”

The agreement is not nearly as surprising as when he actually knocks the next evening, ready to get started.

After a few weeks of dinners, Garou is about to head back upstairs when Badd asks him if he wants to give breakfast a try. “Broaden your horizons a bit. We could do some eggs, pancakes—”

“No,” Garou says quickly. “No mornings.”

Badd frowns. He’s really wanted to believe that Garou hasn’t actually been up to something, ignoring the fact that he’s gone before he and Zenko get up and always home by the evening. He’s even walked home with Zenko from school a couple of times. But… “Why?”

It’s like a door between them closes, and evenings of cutting vegetables and talking about hero movies and things that normal people might bond over disappears. “None of your business.”

Badd can’t let that slide.   

A few days later, Badd switches his hero patrol day with Genos so he can see where Garou goes when he thinks he’s gone. It works out perfectly since Zenko wanted to sleepover with one of her friends from class, and he gets up early without having to worry about coordinating it with her school day. Sure enough, Garou rises before the sun, leaves the house and starts running towards the east end of the city.

Badd takes off after him, dressed in a nondescript sweatsuit with his hair down. Granted, he can’t exactly be as covert as he’d like to be, because keeping up with the human monster requires jumping from building to building lest he chance catching up with him. They run for almost a half hour, so far that it’s almost out of the city entirely. But then Garou stops, shoves his hands in his pockets and walks into the konbini at the corner. There’s only one other person shopping and an old woman is stocking some drinks towards the back. Badd watches as Garou walks around behind the counter and into the back room.

When he comes out again, he’s got his hair wet and pressed down as much as he can get it, and he’s wearing an apron. From the rooftop across the street, he can’t hear what’s being said, but Garou and the old woman exchange words. She’s smiling and patting his arm, and as she disappears to get more products, he takes his place at the register. If Badd had never seen him before, he might believe it’s someone else—a cute guy with a serious face, who could even be someone’s boyfriend.

Garou has a job…and Badd feels like a complete asshole.

There are a few things he learns on his phone as he heads back to the house: the neighborhood where the konbini is located is small, largely made up of senior citizens. It wasn’t affected by the battles that had happened those few months back…in fact, it hasn’t been affected by any villains in years. It’s not even on the patrol map that’s used by the lower-tier heroes, let alone the S-class ones like him.

One article catches his eye about some kids who had been playing in the road when a moving van cut a corner too fast. They were saved by a mysterious man who dashed in and grabbed them so quickly no one could get a look at him. One of the kids, however, said he had “wolf ears.”

Subtle, Badd thinks.

For the rest of the afternoon, Badd sits in front of the couch without actually watching what’s on television. He thinks about the Garou he was convinced he knew before, and the Garou he’s coming to know now. And that Garou is the one that is making something tug in his stomach, an invisible thread that is coming out and trying to get to him.

When Garou comes home that night, he walks into Badd’s apartment, more than a bit doggedly. Badd has left the door unlocked for him now for…how long, he’s not sure. There’s that pulling sensation again…why does Badd want to give him a hug and welcome him home? He’s been working all day behind a counter miles away.

“Hey.” Badd gently elbows him as Garou washes his hands at the sink. “Listen, sorry if I was pushy a few days ago, askin’ what you were doing and all. You were right. It’s none of my business.”

Garou squints at him. “Did you hit your head today?”

“What?! No!”

“You don’t apologize for anything ever. Weirdo. What’s your deal?” With his hands occupied, he uses a foot to kick Badd in the ass. He’s grinning at him, though, so Badd can’t actually be mad. Instead he runs his hands through his own hair and grabs Garou’s fingers just as he finishes drying them. “Ugh, gross, I just washed these!”

Badd laughs. “What’re you, fuckin’ five? Think I’m gonna give you cooties?”

“Nobody wants to find your nasty gooey hair in their food!”

“It ain’t gooey!”

Garou stares at him for a minute, and his smile softens in a way Badd has never seen it do. “Actually, yeah…you wore it down today.” He starts soaping up again. “Not bad.”

In his stomach, Badd feels a fluttering like wings. Not butterflies, something bigger, more important. “Heh…thanks.”

They start cooking after that in silence. The quiet isn’t awkward, though. It’s warm and comfortable, a blanket they are sharing between them.

On the weekend, Badd comes home from a morning patrol to see that Garou’s door is open. It’s the first time he’s actually seen him reciprocate the availability that Badd has put forth. Not that he’s ever pressured him too—Garou seems like a man who needs his privacy—but then he’s also rarely there during the day and…

Before he can think better of it, he’s walking up the stairs.

Garou is sitting in the living room, facing the television and watching some kind of sentai show. The first thing he can’t help but notice is that he is very shirtless, his pale skin smooth and light in the sunshine coming in from the window. Once again, he notices how Garou has softened considerably since he’s come to live there with them; there’s a little roll of plushness that’s developed at the base of his stomach, and where the angles of his muscles once seemed sharp, like they would cut you if you touched them the wrong way, they’ve smoothed a bit.

Badd catches himself staring, even moreso as Garou lifts a wrapped taiyaki to his mouth. There’s a red bean filling, and it crunches in his teeth, warm and fresh. Badd realizes he’s never seen Garou eat something sweet before. Come to think of it, whenever he’s offered him dessert, Garou has turned him down…

Seeing him like this, it’s almost as though he’s kind of vulnerable.

He doesn’t want to spoil the moment, but he also doesn’t want Garou to suddenly catch him sneaking up on him. So he announces himself with a little clearing of his throat. “Hey.”

Badd expects Garou to jump, but he doesn’t. Instead, he puts down the taiyaki, turns off the TV, and pivots so he can nod at him.

Now, Badd thinks. Tell him now. “You got a minute?”

“Sure.”

Badd leaves his bat at the door and walks inside, sitting down beside him. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.”

“Ready to kick me out?” Garou jokes, but then his face changes when Badd puts his hand on his wrist. His pulse quickens under his fingers, and his eyes seem to adjust, blinking slowly and catlike.

“No. I want ya to stay. Now maybe more than ever.” Badd takes a breath, trying not to feel totally scrutinized as Garou watches him. “I like ya. Not just…as a neighbor, either.”

Garou’s chest rises so much that his shoulders go with it. He doesn’t pull away.

“And I’ve been tryin’ to figure out how to tell ya. It’s hard, y’know?” He uses his free hand to rub the back of his neck. His voice is rolling into that delinquent drawl that comes out when he’s working. “And that ain’t all. I gotta tell ya, one day I—”

“Yeah, I know.”

Badd’s eyes move up from where they had been focused in on the table, on the point of contact between his tan skin and Garou’s wrist. “Which part…?”

“All of it.” Now it’s Garou’s turn to search the room for everything but Badd’s face. “Knew you followed me that day. Knew you weren’t just…being neighborly for a while now. And I knew you were outside a couple of minutes ago.”

Badd’s face flushes, but worse than that his heart twists uncomfortably. Is Garou about to let him have it for creeping around on him? Or, worse, is he going to let him down and tell him he doesn’t like him that way? “Guess I wasn’t doing a good job hiding it.”

Garou chuckles. “No, you weren’t. But…” He finally does meet his eyes, and the gold there is bright, like sunshine through honey. “I don’t mind.”

“Really? Do you—”

“Yeah.” Garou cuts him off, and the way he sets his jaw makes a very clear message: I’m not spelling it out for you.

Badd takes a long breath. “Why didn’t you just say you got a job?”

“I don’t know.” Garou sounds annoyed, but not with Badd. He scratches his belly. “Everything about me is changing. I don’t recognize myself anymore. And if I said it out loud to someone it would mean that I have to admit that it’s happening, that I can’t get away from it. But…” He mrrrrs like a grumpy animal. “I don’t hate it. I guess.”

Badd nods. The hand that’s been on Garou’s arm moves to his hand, the cool skin there. Garou has pretty nails…he’s never noticed that before. “If it helps, you still seem like a huge jackass to me. Same as ever.”

Garou makes a short cackling laugh, a genuine one, and Badd grins at it. “Oh good. I’m glad.”

They look at each other, and Badd finds himself staring at Garou’s mouth. But instead of leaning towards it, the way everything in his body wants him to, he picks up the last pieces of the taiyaki and lifts it up to him. Garou is wary again, like that first day, but then he slowly parts his lips and takes a bite of it. The pink tip of his tongue picks up a scrap of a crumb, and Badd waits until he’s swallowed to bring the treat back. This next time, Garou takes the rest, and his pink lips brush Badd’s fingers—linger on them—and then he finishes it.

This time, Badd doesn’t ignore the tugging, the pull of gravitation, the magnetic drive that brings them together to meet in the middle. And that’s where he stays with Garou, longer than he ever believed could be possible.

[vividwritinglove]

next door XVI - a Pierre Gasly Story

You Guys ♥️ long time no see! I had such crazy two weeks: quit my current job from one day to the other and applied for my dream job the day after, got accepted after 2 interviews and signed the contract - all within 1 week! WYLD!!!

I want to inspire you to step out of your comfort zone and get shit done! There are no words how I am feeling atm - upcoming Wednesday will be my last day at the old work place and then I am off for 1,5 weeks until my new work chapter will start. Can’t. Fucking. Wait!

Back to business: I am so grateful for every single like, comment and feedback from you. Almost 600 beautiful people here! So here is some soft Pierre for you - something we all need and deserve!

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pairing: Pierre Gasly x fem!reader

warnings: language, love making time ♥️

word count: 2.6K

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During the afternoon Pierre shows you how to sail the yacht. At the beginning you are still a bit insecure and cautious, but he is right behind you and can intervene directly if needed. You sail along several bays and with every turning maneuver you become more confident. Finally, you both decide to spend the night in the smallest and most secluded bay you have discovered so far.

Evening falls and bathes the sky and the sea in a beautiful warm orange light. By now you've slipped on Pierre's white linen shirt and made yourself comfortable in the driver's seat of the yacht, while Pierre is below deck inspecting the refrigerator in the small galley. He has asked the staff of the yacht rental company to fill it with drinks and food for your stay. As he doesn't come back after a few minutes and you notice a semi-quiet French cursing, you decided to take a look.

"Can I help you?" you have to grin when you see Pierre in the much too small kitchen. He is standing somewhat awkwardly at the kitchen counter and is chopping up some vegetables, more poorly than well.

Pierre looks up at you a bit exasperated, "I was actually planning to surprise you with dinner.".

"From the looks of it, you're more likely to lose a finger before anything else..." you grin and put your hand on his, which is holding the knife, "Let me."

Pierre hands you the knife and makes room for you. With nimble and skillful hand movements you cut the remaining vegetables. Pierre is almost dizzy watching how fast you move the knife and fears for your fingers as you look him more in the eyes rather than on the cutting board.

After that, you devote yourself to prepare the steak on the gas stove. Pierre meanwhile got 2 wine glasses from a cupboard and pours both of you some white wine.

"Where did you learn to cook like that?" Pierre asks you with interest as he moves back to stand next to you.

"My aunt taught me. I lived with her for almost three years."

You tell him about your teenage years, the time when the rift between you and your parents began to became massive. They were traveling around the world for work and started living abroad. You didn't like the constant moving, the new schools and new "friends." What you needed was stability and your aunt, your father's sister, was the only one who could offer you that in your adolescent phase. As you turned 18, you moved out and into a shared apartment with a friend and started your bachelor studies shortly after.

Pierre listens to you very attentively and sips from his wine glass every now and then. Under no circumstances he wants to interrupt you. As far as your relationship with your parents is concerned, you've always been very reserved. Here and there you let it slip that you don't have the best relationship with them, but Pierre doesn’t know the real reasons behind it. Slowly, he was able to put the puzzle together for himself. As a little girl, you felt neglected by your parents, because they choose to put their careers first. You settled for relatives or nannies as a substitute. Of course, this was anything but conducive to a good bond with your parents. However, you learned to be independent very quickly. You have never been dependent on anyone and therefore often appear aloof to the outside world. Pierre now understands that you never knew love and affection the way he did - sheltered in a loving and supportive home with four big brothers. You have no siblings, you have always been kind of on your own. A true lone wolf. He understands and accepts it. He wants to and will show you what it is like to be truly and sincerely loved. That is his task, his goal.

While you tell, you continue to cook. Execute each step efficiently and meticulously. That's the little perfectionist in you. Pierre puts his hands on your hips and stands behind you. Through his closeness you relax a little and lean up to him.

"My shirt looks really good on you..." Pierre murmurs in your ear and brushes his lips over your exposed collarbone. You have to grin, Pierre is so affectionate and tender with you. It is unusual for you, but you gradually get used to it and enjoy his affection towards you. You feel like opening up more to him and letting him be a part of your past.

You decide to have dinner on the upper deck. The indirect lighting of the yacht is bright enough so that you can sit outside for a longer time. The two of you enjoy the togetherness. Even though you are aware that the initial phase of a new relationship is always beautiful and exciting. Still, it feels different with Pierre, much more serious and intense than your previous ones ever were at this point. Although Pierre and you have that age gap, it shows how grown up and mature he actually is. Especially during this vacation, you find yourself thinking more and more about building up a long-term relationship with him. Simply because he is so future-oriented and down-to-earth.

After you have washed up together, you make yourselves comfortable on the sunbathing lawn on the bathing deck with another bottle of wine, a blanket and plenty of pillows. You lie tightly embraced under the starry sky. Pierre's fingers draw slow circles over your forearm and you nestle your face into the crook of his neck. You breathe in his unmistakable scent. His perfume is masculine, musky and really appealing. Your hand travels up his chest to his face and brushes slightly through his scruffy beard. This man only needs to breathe and it turns you on. Pierre pulls his head back a little, puts his index finger under your chin and lifts it up so you're both looking deeply into each other's eyes.

Your heart starts to race. This sight of him gives you butterflies and you wish this moment would never end! Your noses touch and shortly after your foreheads too. His hot breath on your Cupid’s bow, makes you open your mouth and without further hesitation, Pierre closes the last gap between the two of you with a passionate kiss. His lips feel so familiar on yours.

Pierre pushes you demanding but tender back into the pillows, so that you lie on your back underneath him. You open your thighs so that Pierre is even closer to you. Immediately you feel his hard cock pressing against your hot core through his light linen pants. Pleasurably you moan into the next kiss. His weight on you feels heavenly. Your hands caress his broad shoulder blades. Pierre interrupts the kiss and looks at you. His pupils are dilated, his gaze hypnotizing. You continue to scan his face. His tousled hair, the notch in his right eyebrow, the red swollen lips and those dimples, especially when they become more prominent as he smiles slightly and the narrow gap between his teeth flashes. His nostrils lift violently up and down. Gently, you brush his cheek now.

"You're so fucking beautiful." says Pierre almost tonelessly and it takes your breath away. He kisses your forehead, your temples, your nose, the corners of your mouth, your chin and then moves his caresses further down your neck. You stretch your upper body towards him. With fast and gentle fingers he opens your bikini top and exposes your breasts to him. Your nipples are stiff not only from arousal, but also from the balmy sea breezes that brush over your heated skin. You get goosebumps all over your body and Pierre has to grin at this sight before he sucks one of your nipples into his mouth. The other is gently twirled by his fingers. You pull in the air sharply and bite onto your lower lip.

Your gaze wanders upward, above you so many stars - it couldn't have been more perfect. Your hands wander into Pierre's hair as he continues to move downward with his kisses. Reaching the waistband of your bikini panties, he looks up at you. Seeing him between your thighs nearly drives you out of your mind. With both hands he pulls down your panties and kisses the inside of your thighs. He never breaks eye contact with you. Pierre licks his lips at the sight that is offered to him: you lying naked in front of him only in his unbuttoned linen shirt. His fingers trace your tan lines and make you shiver. Slowly he opens the cord of his linen pants and pulls them together with his boxers over his butt. He bends down again to kiss you. Welcome, you open your mouth to allow his tongue to enter and feel the tip of his cock at your wet core.

"Put your hands over your head..." he asks you between kisses and you obey him immediately, stretching your arms up and crossing your wrists. With only one hand he can grasp them and pins them down in this position. You were now completely at his mercy and you like it a lot. Again he kisses you, lovingly and passionately. His tip constantly brushing against your entrance and you wish nothing more that he finally fills you up.

"Pierre..." you gasp and spread your legs even further apart.

"Tell me what you want, what you need..." he murmurs against your lips before kissing you again.

"You!" you moan as you gasp for air once more. That's all he needed. Slowly he enters you and the familiar feeling of him stretching your walls makes your eyes roll into the back of your head. He takes his time, staying inside you for a few seconds and enjoying how tight you are for him before starting to move. He's not fucking you, he's making love to you tonight.

You two find a slow but soulful rhythm and never before have you felt and sensed him so intensely. His grip around your wrists loosens and now he lets his fingers intertwine with yours. You can’t remember when you have had such beautiful and loving sex. Even if you like it wild and rough, this was exactly what you have always longed for. Pierre and you enjoy every second of it.

To let him thrust into you even deeper, you put your legs around his middle. Pierre maintains the calm rhythm of his thrusts and you feel tears of bliss gathering in your eyes. Again he puts his forehead and nose against yours. You love this closeness and can't hold back your emotions.

"I'm close..." you whisper against his lips and feel a tear running down your cheek.

"Me too." Pierre murmurs and kisses your now swollen lips again. In your abdomen spreads the pleasant warm feeling that makes you groan his name. As your climax passes through you, all your muscles tense, your toes curl and you squeeze Pierre's hand tightly. Almost simultaneously with you, he also cums. His moan is the most beautiful you've ever heard and you could almost cum again just from the heavenly sounds he makes.

He rolls off you, but keeps you close to him that he continues to be inside you. He wants to have this feeling for as long as possible.

"That was amazing." murmurs Pierre, pulling you even closer to him and throwing the blanket over your hot and naked bodies. He smiles. You just nod in agreement and bury your face in the crook of his neck again, smiling as well.

"That was something I always wanted to do."

Pierre looks at you in wonder, "Sex on a boat?".

"No, I am talking about sex underneath the stars." you mumble against his skin, "Although sex on a boat would have been great on the list too!"

"What list?!" asks Pierre now even more curious.

"Oh, just some nonsense between me and my girlfriends. Hardly worth mentioning it!"

"I want to know! What's on this list?"

"It’s a sex bucket list. Places, positions all kinds of things you should have experienced before your 30th birthday."

"I want to see it!" he demands, grinning.

"No way!"

"Come on!" he whines, brushing a strand of hair out of your face, "Maybe I can help you accomplish one or two more things on it...".

"Trust me, you've helped more than enough already..."

Astonished, he looks at you, "Have I?"

You nod with a sly smile on your lips.

He keeps pushing about more details until you finally give in.

"Alright, alright!" you groan annoyed, "Well, for example I am still missing: sex on the beach - I know such a cliché! Mile High Club, a threesome, shooting porn, sex in the ocean or a lake, sex in your old kids room, wearing a remote controlled sex toy all day..“.

"Wait a minute... a threesome? Porn?"

"Those weren't my ideas!" you raise your hands apologetically, „And I will never do one of these!“.

„Hmmh.“ Pierre nods and grins, „I am down, if you’re down!“

Shocked you look at him and give his shoulder a slap. He can’t hold back a loud laugh, „Which ones was I involved in so far? So, sex underneath the stars, check."

"Sex on another continent, sex in the pool, sex with a neighbor..."

"Really? The neighbor..." Pierre continues to grin, leaning down to you again.

"I never thought I'd ever check that one off."

"We still have some work to do, I'd say." he murmurs against your lips and kisses you tenderly.

„How about getting some sleep first.“ you suggest and snuggle back up to him and kissing his jawline.

„Fine..“ he murmurs, embracing you tightly and both of you fell a sleep a few minutes later.

The rocking of the yacht wakes you up. Dawn has set in, but the sun has not yet risen. You sit up and rub the sleep out of your eyes. Pierre lies peacefully next to you on his stomach and continues to sleep, the blanket draped lightly around his bottom. A sight for the gods.

You can't help but look at him. He is so beautiful, truly the most beautiful man you have ever been with. You watch him for a long time, examining every part of his exposed skin. After a while you realize how lost you actually are and shake your head to wake up from your daydream.

Slowly you get up as not to wake Pierre. You sporadically button his linen shirt up and go below deck to get ready for the day. While you wash and change, you already have the coffee machine running. After you step back on deck, the sun has already started to rise. You decide to wake Pierre up with a fresh cup of coffee.

Calmly you sit down cross-legged next to him and your closeness wakes him up. He leans on his forearms and looks up at you.

"Good morning, ma belle." he murmurs in his raspy morning voice that immediately makes you smile, "The best sight I could ever ask for.".

You lean down to him and kiss him gently. Then you hand him the cup which he accepts more than gratefully. Pierre sits up across from you and enjoys the first sip of his hot wake-up drink. He closes his eyes with pleasure and lets his head fall back into his neck, "I could wake up like this every day.“

You enjoy the rest of the sunrise together before Pierre gets up to get ready as well. Almost narrow he struts naked over the small yacht. He obviously had no problem with being naked in public. You look after him and bite excitedly on your lower lip at the sight of his naked butt.

You prepare everything for a small breakfast. Pierre joins you in just his orange swim trunks. The color looks even more vibrant due to his tanned skin.

"What else is on the agenda today?" you ask him before biting into your toast.

"Definitely jet skiing, maybe hitting another bay or two, because we have to be back by mid-afternoon."

"Too bad." you mumble, holding your hand in front of your mouth as you continue to eat.

"I'll take you to the Côte d'Azur or Monaco, on much bigger boats."

"Which might be a little more difficult with the undisturbed sex." you grin mischievously at him.

"We'll think of something," he winks back at you and pours himself a second cup of coffee.

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