#like she will slowly start refusing to eat her food even with the normal gross additions in it and I have to keep upping the ante

[restinthewest]

I tried tapering Hallow off of wet food and her chicken and rice mixture because I was worried about how complicated it was becoming just to get her to eat and lo and behold I can see her whole ass rib cage again.

She will only eat kibble without additions if I throw it in grass for her to forage, but this isn’t workable for me to do for every meal. She won’t take kibble as training rewards. I feel badly that she’s so thin but I may have to do this every so often so that she stays motivated to eat kibble with her food additions because she will start getting picky about those over time as well.

[potterandpreferences]

The Way To A Man's Heart

Pairing: Ron Weasley x Reader

Setting: Half-Blood Prince; For the purposes of this one-shot, Ron dated Lavender in OotP

When you and Ron had started dating, a lot of people were convinced it would not last. Apparently, the school cohort was under the impression that he and Hermione were going to be the Hogwarts power couple. You could kind of see where they were coming from; there had been a lot of petty jealousy on both sides and there had been a sense that it was playground pigtail pulling. And yet, you couldn't help but think that those people were also selectively blind to how toxic that sort of relationship could be. Honestly if it wasn't for Harry, you didn't believe Ron and Hermione would still be friends six years down the line.

As it was, you had come to be somewhat of a secret friend to Ron Weasley. When he was at odds with his two best mates, he could find some solace in your company. Whether it was playing exploding snap, hanging out on the quidditch pitch (even if your feet stayed firmly on the ground some of the time), or - despite what others would believe - doing homework together in the library.

As a consequence of spending so much time with him one to one, it didn't take long to learn some of Ron's tells. When he was really, truly upset, he went off his food. When he was irritated, he preferred something like a pumpkin pasty or a sandwich, something he could tear into. When he was happy, he'd try some of everything, content with a little of lots until he went in for seconds. When he was feeling a bit down or worried, his preference of choice was a hearty stew followed by a warm apple pie with ice cream, something that reminded him of home.

This particular day it was sunny and one of the warmest thus far. Spring was slowly transitioning into summer, and with it exam season was upon the students of Hogwarts. Sixth year didn't count in the same way that seventh year would, but your continued presence in all your chosen subjects depended on passing all of their exams. And so, along with the sunshine, fifth years and up were also being subjected to the heat fueled by their ever increasing panic, which made sitting outside with a nice cool breeze all the more tempting.

You had been attempting to study in the library, but the librarian had all the windows firmly shut and it got a bit too stuffy for your liking. You checked out the books you required for your first exam, and ambled down the corridors in search of an empty courtyard. It was as you were descending the stairs to the first floor that you noticed a certain redhead stomping towards the doors that led outside, with the proverbial storm cloud raging above his head.

Concerned, you followed. He didn't slow his pace or give any indication that he knew he was being followed, something which raised even more alarm bells. Ron, as a by-product of living with the twins, was usually very aware of someone being on his tail. Ron's long legs carried him to the shore of the Black Lake. He followed the edge around to a little outcrop coated in pebbles and stones. These he grabbed at roughly, before launching them out towards the water with a growl.

"Ron? Are you okay? What's happened?" You approached cautiously, making plenty of noise as you walked closer so that your voice didn't startle Ron into accidentally throwing any remaining stones at you.

"Hermione bloody Granger is what happened!" He yelled.

You made a soft sound of understanding at his near shout. "Want to tell me what she did this time?"

Ron sighed, tossing the last stone into the water as he stared at the horizon for a long moment. Then, he sat down on the roots of a nearby tree and started to explain.

"I was revising for transfiguration. Had one of my old essays out for vanishing vertebrates, you know? Figured looking at where I went wrong on something that's bound to come up on the exam would be a good idea."

"I take it Hermione had different views on the matter?" It really had become something of a thing that your entire year and to an extent the years below knew. Never, ever do anything to get Granger started on how you should be studying, and Ron's mirthless chuckle did nothing to change your previous notion.

"She freaked the hell out. Started having a go at me for having got a P on an essay in the first place, told me it was useless trying to learn from rubbish like that, and then told me if I'd followed her revision schedule I'd have already covered the topic and at this point should be onto the practical wand work," Ron spat venemously.

"You know she's wrong, don't you?" It wasn't uncommon for Hermione to tell Ron that he was doing something wrong, and you knew that being told something repeatedly would make the thought that much harder to shake. How many more times would Ron be able to take unproductive, callous criticism from a snobby know-it-all before the thoughts became a fundamental part of his psyche?

"I know but... she just makes me feel like an idiot! I don't get the theory behind magic at a drop of a hat like she does! Hell, most of us don't. But you make one little mistake in your homework and she gets so bloody condescending," Ron sighed. Many thought he was lazy when he tried to get Hermione to do his homework. In truth, it was so he knew what she was expecting in the essay to avoid a rant - her, not the teacher!

"It sounds like it's gotten worse than normal. Actually it sounds like how she behaved when you dated Lavender last year," you commented. To be fair, dating was a very loose term for what Ron and Lavender got up to. It was too public to be just friends with benefits, but there weren't really any romantic feelings. The PDA was a bit much at times, but it was rarely ever Ron that initiated those instances.

"Ugh, don't remind me. I still have the scars from them birds! Mental, she is," he exclaimed. And yet, as you looked closely, you can't help but notice the tips of his ears were getting very red.

"Wait a minute - you're not dating Lavender again are you?!" His eyes widen in shock and he shakes his head, waving his hands in adamant protest.

"Merlin, no! I don't even - " He pulled a face of disgust. "I mean, I dunno, can't believe I dated her in the first place I suppose. Seems like a lifetime ago."

He was lying (you could tell from the way he fumbled for an explanation), but that was okay. You knew the sentiment was true even if he was sidestepping what he was honestly thinking about. You were curious, but you weren't going to push it. This wasn't the time for an interrogation by any means. Thus, you decided to change the topic entirely.

"Do you still feel up to studying some transfiguration? I have some books from the library and all my notes. I even have some cauldron cakes." When he refused both the studying and the food, you smiled sadly at him. "Okay. Well how about we go down to the quidditch pitch?"

And that was exactly what the pair of you did. You didn't feel like flying, so you sat in the stands and watched as Ron flew for a couple hours. He zoomed around the pitch in patterns you recognised from quidditch practice drills, before enchanting the practice quaffle so that he could work on his keeper skills. You called Dobby when you were sure Ron wasn't looking, and when Ron eventually joined you in stands, it was to find a delicious bowl filled with a generous helping or rhubarb and apple crumble waiting for him.

"I thought you might have worked up a bit of an appetite. Some of those drills looked tough," you admitted when he stared silently in surprise, mouth gaping.

"It's like you read my mind!" was all Ron managed to say before he was practically inhaling the food, shovel sized spoonfuls disappearing with complete gratitude no matter how swift.

"I just know you, Ron," you laughed. It should gross you out how much he ate so quickly, but his only fault at foodtime was talking with his mouth full. None ever spilled on his clothes, and his chin was remarkably clean.

When the pudding was half gone, Ron slowed down enough to process what you had said. "How d'you mean, you know me?"

"Well, when you're really upset, you don't want to eat, but flying makes you happy. When you've had a fight with Hermione, you usually tend to prefer something filling and pies and crumbles are your go to when you're feeling a bit down still."

He stared at you like he'd never seen you before. No one else had ever noticed - or at least mentioned - knowing what he liked to eat and when. Oh sure, lots of people had commented on his appetite and knew him not having much of one was a sign something was wrong, but the nuances? What food went with what situation? That was all you.

And, he realised as he ate in companionable silence next to you, this wasn't the first time you knew what he wanted to eat after having a falling out with his friends or stressed out about exams. The cauldron cakes you had in your bag, he liked to eat them when he was feeling nervous about school work. He rarely saw you eat them though so... did you keep some in your bag just for him? And there were all those other times too, when you just seemed to know when he was actually hungry and when he was just bored.

There was a plethora of things unique about his relationship with you that he adored, and he had sort of had thoughts that weren't strictly platonic about you, but this little insight into how much you knew about the things that went unsaid was what made what he was about to do next feel so incredibly right.

"Er, Y/N, I was wondering... would you like to go on a date some time?"

[laurensprentiss]

Jouska [Hotch x Reader]

Chapter 10:

Gif credit: @dudeitiskarev

A/N: Shorter chapter, an almost outtake before things really kick off. Emily ships it.

———

“Though soulmates aren't looking for you, they will find you.” - Kevin Ansbro

———

Hotch balances his phone against his shoulder and hops around on a single leg trying to pull his sock over his other foot. His words are strained when he speaks, “You’re gonna have to give me an extra twenty minutes, Ben I’m running a little late.” 

“Yeah, that’s fine - wait what are you doing? Why do you sound like that?” McCall asks.

He’s dangerously close to losing his balance, and decides against breaking his tailbone just because he might be late to work. “Nothing. I’ll see you in 20,” He grunts into the phone. 

Downstairs, Haley buzzes around the kitchen, moving from countertop to countertop, disinfecting the worktops as breakfast sizzles in the pan. She’s working on aggressively scrubbing a particular spot of grout on the worktop when Hotch makes his way downstairs.

She’s been so high-strung the last few days. Maybe even more than normal and he can’t quite figure out why. She’s being attentive and showering him with affection and has a ton of energy - teetering dangerously close to smothering him, he thinks.

She surprisingly didn’t have a lot to say when he came home after spending the night at your apartment a few days ago. It’s refreshing, sure, but he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Notwithstanding her almost overnight transformation, she’s also tossing and turning through the night, enough for Hotch’s own sleep to become disturbed, her eyes are always wide, darting around, almost paranoid and her nails are bitten to the quick. 

She’s been waking up at dawn for the last two days to clean and scrub every inch of the house now and Hotch swears he could probably eat off the kitchen floor the way she’s disinfected every possible surface of the house. 

“Hey!” She whips around when he enters the kitchen. There it is again. The squeaky, high voice. The disconcerting smile. 

He frowns, watching her carefully as she throws her arms around him. He doesn’t have a chance to respond before she turns back around to fix him a plate. 

“You okay?” He mutters, eyes following her movements. 

“Yeah! I feel really good! You?” It’s like she’s forgotten how to blink. 

He nods slowly, offering a tight smile in response. He’s lost for words and actions right now, takes everything in him not to profile her. 

That’s got to be unethical, right?

But he can’t help but notice the way she diverts his questions, her paranoid body language, her overcompensating. 

She’s hiding something. 

Hotch follows behind her and motions for Haley to sit at the table, he’ll bring them both breakfast at the table, he tells her. She hesitates moving but he gently nudges her over with a hand on her back and she takes a seat, chewing her lip. Even at the table, she’s not really sitting properly, it’s like she’s almost squatting, bottom barely touching the seat, on her tiptoes, back straight. 

Hotch walks over with two plates of food and she offers him a tight smile as he does. He’s about to walk back towards the fridge for juice when the house phone rings, Haley immediately shooting up from her chair.

Hotch taps her on the shoulder. “It’s okay, I got it.” He assures her but she trails behind him, anyway. He picks up the receiver from the stand and offhandedly speaks into the phone, spotting Haley a few feet from him. 

“Hello?” 

Nothing. 

Haley’s arms are crossed, her right thumbnail between her teeth. 

“Hello?” He presses.

He says it one more time and hangs up when there’s no answer, shrugging. “Must’ve been a wrong number.” 

Haley’s shoulders relax momentarily but there’s another ringing noise, this time from her purse, not even seconds later. Both of their gazes fall to her purse, her eyes widening and mouth dropping slightly. 

The colour drains from her face. 

He looks back at Haley with wide eyes who’s all but speed-walking towards her phone, the ringing persistent. 

She flips it open, “Hello?”

He watches her carefully.

“Oh, hey Mom!” She squeaks, her voice breaking. “Can I call you later? Aaron and I are about to have breakfast.” She pauses. “Okay, bye Mom!” 

She chuckles and points to her phone. “It’s uh- my Mom. She says hi.” 

“Yeah, I got that,” He nods and glances at his watch, careful to keep his eyes on Haley. “Actually, y’know what I gotta go, I’m already late. I’ll grab something on the way.” He explains.

Her face drops but she nods, grabbing his keys and briefcase for him. He bids her an almost cold goodbye, jogging to his car. A thought occurs to him suddenly that steels him, he glances at his watch once more, frowning. 

“It’s 6am in Seattle.” 

———

“So do you guys have plans today?” McCall asks, taking a sip of his coffee. 

You take a bite of your toast, telling him that you’re going visit your father today. You still hadn’t told him about what happened at the restaurant a few days ago, and the more time that went on, the more you think you’d like to keep it that way. 

You weren’t sure how he would take it, he could fall sick again, like he had last year when the notes first started appearing and you didn’t want to risk that, not after you’d just got him back. Besides, he was the only person you had left besides Emily. 

And Hotch.

The butterflies start again. Try as you might, you couldn’t divert your attention away from Hotch and the time you’d spent together. Nothing happened, sure. You sat and talked all night, but something about that night, something about the way he’d made you feel so safe and secure, stuck with you. 

The air had shifted between you.  

But this was just a case, an assignment. After they caught this guy, he’d go back to his normal life, move on with his girlfriend and live his life. 

But you weren’t so sure what you’d do. 

Maybe it’d pass - but there’s a constant buzzing in the back of your head and in the pit of your stomach that maybe it won’t pass. 

Something about this, about him - feels different. Heavy. That occurrence settles dread in your stomach, you’d got attached before you’d even had a chance to talk yourself out of it, before you’d even realised what was happening. 

It’s just a crush, you tell yourself. 

The three of you turn your attention to the door when there’s a knock, Hotch’s voice calling out from the other side. 

“I’ll get it!” You throw your toast back onto your plate, shooting up from your chair. Emily scoffs watching you scramble from the table, her downturned head shaking. 

Hotch freezes when you open the door, expecting to see McCall, but he’s greeted by your bright eyes instead. He smiles and offers a quiet ‘Hi’, his face softening and you respond the same, both of you standing by the door, sharing a quiet moment with your friends just behind you. 

His eyes look glassy when they gaze back at you, his usual warmth is there but there’s something else, something different. You can find it in the way the tension in his shoulders dissipates , or the way his cheeks blush just slightly. 

Emily clears her throat pointedly, standing behind your couch, and it rips you both from your stupor. You chuckle and step aside to allow him to come in, his hand brushing yours as he enters. Your shiver doesn’t go unnoticed by Emily, who watches with narrow eyes from afar. 

“You want some breakfast? There’s more than enough,” you ask.

“Thank you, I’m fine.” He responds almost instinctually. McCall thanks you for breakfast and starts to make his way out but Hotch stops him, handing him the keys to the car and motions outside. 

“I’ll start the car.” McCall mutters.

Hotch turns back to you and straightens out his tie over his shirt. “Can we talk?” He asks, clearing his throat.

Emily slowly slinks away into your bedroom, and your eyes meet Hotch’s. The air changes suddenly so you turn your attention to the kitchen in an attempt to ease some of the tension, wrapping a doughnut in some parchment paper while he speaks. You figure he maybe sensed something the other night and this would be his attempt at letting you down easy. You swallow when there’s a long pause, the atmosphere thick. 

“I wanted you to hear it from me, but Emily told me about your ex. Jordan?” Your head whips back around to face him, trying your best to hide the surprise in your face. 

“Oh?” You swallow. 

This is worse. 

“Yeah. It’s none of my business and I probably should’ve told you the other night, but I just wanted you to know that we’re on our way to see him now. We need to question him. It’s a standard thing, just to see if he’s seen or heard anything.” He’s apparently hyper-focused on a spot on his shoe suddenly because he refuses to meet your eyeline. 

You chew on the inside of your cheek. “Oh. Okay. Well thanks for letting me know.” This is embarrassing. Jordan was a mistake you’d made, a sleazy, gross mistake. 

Shit.

You turn back around to pour some coffee into a mug, your cheeks burning. What would they even have to talk about? Jordan’s going to open his big mouth about how the two of you hooked up again, you think. It wouldn’t take long for Hotch to realise that it happened right after he’d begged you to let him in after you’d visited Quantico. 

But why do you care? 

It’s none of his business, he’s right. 

Still. 

The people you surround yourself with and all of that, you wouldn’t want him to think less of you. 

And you don’t want him to think you’re not available. 

He’s not available, you idiot. 

He waits for you to look back at him but when he sees you engrossed with whatever it is you’re doing, he takes that as his answer and decides to quietly exit. He’s almost out of the door when you turn back around, to see him dragging his feet. 

“Wait. Here.” You hand him the coffee and doughnut with a smile, your fingers brushing again. 

“Hey, for the record. Jordan can be,” you pause. You didn’t want to disparage anybody but you needed him to know. “Difficult? Intense? Look, all you need to know is that he was a mistake I made and - I just.” You sigh. “I don’t want you to think any less of me.” You shrug. 

He meets your eyeline this time. “What? Why would I think any less of you? I would never.” He says firmly. 

He’s right. He could never. 

“I know, still.” You can barely stop the words before they come up. “Your opinion means a lot to me.” 

He softens. No - melts, at this, a smile making its way onto his face. He wants to reach out and cup your face, wants to feel your embrace again. 

“Me too.” He whispers. 

McCall sounds the horn from below, both of you flinching at the noise and dissolving into awkward laughter. He holds up the doughnut and thanks you for breakfast.

Emily emerges smugly from your room almost as soon as Hotch leaves, her arms crossed. She wears another shit-eating grin on her face, half teasing and half questioning, finally concluding what she’d suspected from day one. She goes to open her mouth but you stop her, holding up your finger. 

“Not a word.” You warn her. 

———

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[plaidbooks]

Nyquil

A/N: This is just a short, mostly fluff piece, in which Rafael Barba takes care of a sick reader. Based on true events (note: please take medications as prescribed)

Tags: briefest mention of rape, cold medication (and taking too much of it, though not an overdose)

You groaned as you woke up, rolling over and slowly opening your eyes. You felt a soreness in your throat that wasn’t there the night before, and one nostril was clogged. No, you thought, refusing to even acknowledge how your body may or may not be feeling. You rolled over to look at the empty spot beside you; Rafael, your boyfriend, had already left for the day. You groaned again as you got out of bed, dragging your feet to the bathroom. You looked in the mirror, but your eyes caught the bright orange sticky note stuck to the glass.

Hope you have a wonderful day. See you for dinner - Love Raf

You smiled, butterflies in your stomach. You’d been dating for months now, and he left these notes often, but they still made you fall a little more in love with him every time.

Eyes now focusing on your reflection, you winced; you looked exactly how you had felt when you woke up. Maybe a shower would help. You showered quickly, enjoying the warm water on your skin, letting the warmth awaken you. The steam was even able to help unclog your nose, though your throat was still hurting, your head still not feeling right. But you knew that you were already running a little late, and you needed to get going. Before you left the apartment, though, you grabbed the little package of DayQuil, cursing yourself, seeing it as an admission of weakness; if you didn’t let yourself acknowledge your illness, then you wouldn’t be sick! 

You made it to precinct 16, coffee in hand, apology to your boss, Lieutenant Olivia Benson, on your lips. She waved you off; you were very rarely late, and you always had a legit reason. Thankfully, she didn’t ask for one today, because the only excuse you had was maybe coming down with something.

The day seemed to drag on and on, and you felt no better as the hours stretched. Eventually, it came up that there was to be a stake out that night.

“[Y/L/N], Carisi, you two take tonight. Rollins, Fin, you two will take the second shift in the morning,” Olivia ordered.  Your heart sank; a whole night? Feeling like this?

“Sure thing, Lieu,” Sonny replied, shooting you a goofy smile and thumbs up. He wasn’t quite the new guy anymore, but sometimes, he still acted like it. If you were feeling normal, you would’ve smiled and rolled your eyes playfully at him. But now you just sat there, silently thankful you grabbed the DayQuil earlier. You took out your phone and sent a text to Rafael, telling him not to wait up for you. At least it was a Friday, and you’d be off all weekend, after this one night.

*****************

“So, what did this guy do again?” you asked, huddled in the passenger seat, sipping at your coffee for warmth.

Sonny was watching the apartment that housed the man you were tasked in staking out, watching for any signs of life. “He raped his wife, and is now trying to threaten her to keep her from testifying.”

You nodded, sighing. You glanced at the clock. It read 3:40am. Got another hour and 20 minutes until Fin and Rollins switched with you two. You had taken another round of DayQuil at midnight, and it was already wearing off. There was no more denying it; you were definitely coming down with a cold. You only hoped that you wouldn’t be getting Sonny sick. Your plan for the weekend was to try and sleep it off; you had some severe NyQuil at home, something you’d never tried before. You weren’t much on medication, especially liquids, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

You were nodding off in your seat when there was a knock on your window. You were so out of it, you didn’t even jump. Turning, you could see Rollins outside the car door. You shuffled out, letting Rollins take your seat, Sonny switching with Fin on the other side.

“Need a ride?” Sonny asked once you were out of sight of the apartment.

“Blease,” you replied, your nose now completely clogged, making the word come out weird. Sonny cocked his brow at you, but didn’t bring it up as he drove you home.

***************

You put your key in the door, unlocking it, and pushing your way in. You felt yourself descend into sickness with every step you took as you shuffled into the living room, unwilling to shed your jacket--you were suddenly freezing and you wrapped the garment around yourself tighter. You walked over to the couch and fell face-first onto the cushions

“Cariño?” you heard Rafael call from the kitchen. You didn’t even notice he was awake; your senses were completely clouded at this point. You grunted, the cushions muffling your voice. You heard his hurried footsteps as he came over to you.

“Are you okay, mi amor?” he asked, crouching down by your head. You turned to face him. His bright green eyes were full of concern, and he placed a comforting hand on your back, rubbing soft circles there.

“I think I’m sick,” you muttered. “I feel like shit.”

He gave your face one more look before he stood, heading for the kitchen. “Let me get you some ginger ale, and then I’ll make you some of my Mami’s famous soup; you’ll feel better instantly.”

You smiled despite yourself; god you loved this man. “I’ll take the ginger ale. But right now, I think I’m just going to have some NyQuil and try and sleep. I’ve been up for almost 24 hours. Can you make me soup when I wake up?”

Rafael was back instantly, ginger ale in his hand. “Of course. Let’s get you to bed.” He helped you stand, then led you to your shared bedroom.

“I don’t want to get you sick,” you protested as he started to help you undress.

He smirked at that. “Don’t worry, Cariño. I don’t get sick.” Now that you thought about it, you had never seen the man sick before. It was true that you, too, rarely got sick, but to never be sick?

“Lucky,” you huffed. He chuckled before helping you climb into bed, tucking you in. He went to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, grabbed the NyQuil, then poured a cap-full for you. You drank it, trying not to gag on the gross taste, drinking the ginger ale after words.

“Sleep, baby. I’m off today; call me if you need me, okay?” he said, leaning in to kiss your forehead. You smiled, resting your head on the soft pillows, while he went back out of the room. 

You laid there, comfortable except for the illness in your head, congesting your nose, making your throat sore. But sleep never came for you. After an hour, you decided to try and take another cap-full of the disgusting cold medicine. Nothing. After yet another hour, you took a third cap-full, praying for some sort of sleep. Finally, darkness overtook you.

You woke up, groggy, unaware of your surroundings, with a terrible pain in your stomach. It felt like you hadn’t eaten in days. Suddenly remembering the cold medicine, you whipped to look at the clock, wondering how long you could’ve slept to be this hungry. You were stunned to see that only 2 hours had passed.

Maybe I’ve slept a whole day? you thought. But Rafael would’ve woken you...right? After waiting for another painful cramp to subside, you climbed out of bed. You shuffled out of the room, somewhere between sick, hungry, and floating through space. You could hear running water; Rafael was taking a shower in the guest bathroom, probably trying to not wake you. Same day, then.

You made your way to the kitchen, hoping to find something easy to eat, but all you could think of was soup--probably because Rafael had mentioned it. Though, he hadn’t started it, yet, since he didn’t know when to expect you. No worries, you thought, I’ll just make some shitty ramen. You grabbed a pot, filled it with water, and started the stove. Once the water was boiling, you put the noodles in, stirring it. Suddenly, your vision went black. You blinked a few times, but your vision didn’t return. In your drug-induced state, this didn’t seem particularly alarming; you simply sat on the ground, knees pulled up to your chest, arms wrapped around them as you waited for your vision to return.

Slowly, your eyesight returned to you. You blinked, making sure it wasn’t going away again, before you stood and continued cooking your noodles.

“[Y/N]! What the hell are you doing up?” Rafael was in the entrance to the kitchen, wearing only sweatpants, his hair still damp from his shower.

“Hungry,” you murmured back, stirring in the flavor packet. There must’ve been something weird in your voice, because he came over, turned off the stove, and led you away, out of the kitchen, and to the couch.

“Sit,” he commanded. “Stay.” He disappeared and you sat there, staring at the carpeted floor, not quite remembering how you got there or what you were waiting for.

Rafael came back, a bowl in his hands. He handed it to you, and you looked inside at the noodles you had been cooking. Remembering your hunger, you went to take a bite before he stopped you.

“It’s probably hot,” he cautioned, that concern never leaving his expression. He took the bowl from you, and you let out a sad whimper at the loss of food. Instead, he twirled the fork in the noodles, collecting a small amount, and blew on them before holding the fork out to you. He fed you like this until the bowl was empty, blowing on every fork-full.

“Feel better?” he asked, a small smile tugging on his lips, but that concern still deep within his green eyes.

You nodded. “I think I’m going to try and sleep again.” You stood up and he was instantly beside you, leading you back to bed. This time, however, he climbed in bed with you, pulling your body close to his.

“I’m going to make sure you stay here longer than 2 hours this time,” he explained, wrapping his arms around you protectively. You didn’t mind, melting into his touch, his warmth. He kissed your shoulder, his lips warm even through the fabric of your nightshirt. You were asleep before you could even reply.

[harrysgloves]

Let Your Hair Down (chapter xix)

Get caught up with the Let Your Hair Down Masterlist!

word count: 1,524

story summary: Harry gets more than he bargains for when he falls not only for you but your little girl as well.

chapter summary: Time for ice cream and an important talk.

warnings: Language/fluffy things

a/n: I needed cuteness before the shit show starts. xx

>>><<<

When your tired puffy eyes finally opened again from your nap the first thing you saw were those soft green eyes staring at you.

"Is this the part where you murder me?" You smiled, thinking back to the time you had been caught staring at him in his sleep. Throwing his own words back at him, making his beautiful wide dimple smile come slowly across his face.

"Shut up." He laughed pulling you into him, kissing you so softly it melted your heart. Any fear you had of things being awkward between you two fading from your mind.

He was acting so normal. Like you hadn't just told a secret you'd been holding onto for close to 6 years. It made the fact you confided in him so much easier.

"Ice cream?" He asked when he pulled back from the kiss making you smile and nod. He jumped out of bed, grabbing his phone and putting it in his pants pocket when you rolled over stretching out your arms and legs. Taking your time getting out of bed.

"Didn't you come here to actually work?" You asked, laying on your stomach, hands under the pillow on his side of the bed.

"Wanna spend time with you and Thea." He walked around the room, looking for his wallet that he somehow always managed to misplace. You rolled your eyes burying your head into his pillow, knowing it was going to take a while before he was ready to go.

"Come on." He whined impatient that you were already taking so long to get up.

"Maybe I'll just stay here. You and Thea can get ice cream." You said into the pillow the words muffled by all the feather and foam.

You weren't expecting the harsh smack on your ass. Making you jump before rolling around to glare at the now smiling Harry. His tongue coming out to lick his bottom lip before biting it with those perfect teeth.

"What the fuck?" You glared harder. The smug smile on him growing bigger by the second.

"Thought y'liked being spanked, darlin'." He shrugged, looking oh so innocent. You reached behind you gripping onto the pillow behind your head and chucking it at his stupid face.

"Gonna show you like being spanked." You mumbled getting out of the bed with a huff. Walking over to Harry who was now holding onto the pillow you threw at him. Smiling down at you, holding in his laughter at your annoyed face.

You started to reach around to get him back but he blocked your hand with his pillow. His lips rolling in mouth when you looked back up at him.

"Ya didn't think I was going to let you get me, did ya?"

"You have to turn around at some point, Harold." You narrowed your eyes at him before turning around to go get clothes out of the closet. His hand smacking your bum again.

"Harry!" You shrieked turning around, slapping away his hand.

"Y'make it too easy, love." He said through laughs.

By the time you and Harry made it out of your hotel room you both were walking sideways facing each other. Not trusting the other one even for a second.

You had to pick out your outfit facing away from the closet. The shirt you eventually pulled out definitely wasn't your first choice but it would have to work since Harry refused to leave the room to let you turn around to actually face the closet to see what you were grabbing at. He smiled the whole time, taunting you to turn around, telling you he wouldn't do it again but you weren't falling for his tricks.

So now you two looked like a bunch of idiots, stumbling through the hotel hallways. Your asses pressed against opposite walls. Your eyes narrowing at him when you approached Mitch and Sarah's door.

"Go ahead and knock." You smiled brightly at him, waiting anxiously for him to turn around.

"Not fallin' fo' that." He shook his head making you huff.

"Well, I'm not knocking."

"Guess we're waitin' 'ere then." He shrugged, smug smile firmly in place as he leaned against the wall. His eyes studying the hallway ceiling, hands tapping on the wall.

You sighed, shaking your head, moving towards the door but quickly going back to the safety of your wall when he pushed off his own wall.

Luckily, the door to Mitch and Sarah's room swung open. Sarah standing there giving you both a weird look. Her eyebrows raised as she judged you two for being so weird.

"Is this a weird sex thing?" She asked, making you both laugh.

"No way." You shook your head but Harry looked at you, raising his one eyebrow, that annoying knowing look on his face.

Thea ran from inside Mitch and Sarah's room out to the hallway. Hugging your waist tightly. Your hand running through her hair as you hugged her back.

"Missed you." She said before running over to give Harry his own hug. He smiled softly bending down to hug her back. Picking her up when he stood back up.

"Wanna get ice cream?" He asked and she immediately shook her head yes. Her addiction to sugar was a little too out of control, you could see the excitement in her eyes at being able to have a treat you hardly ever gave her.

The three of you walked down the street toward the ice cream shop that was around the corner from your hotel. Thea in the middle of you two holding onto both your hands.

"Can we do the swing?" She asked, shaking both your guys hands back and forth.

Harry nodded before counting down. You both lifting her up on the count of three and her jumping in the air to swing by her hands in between you two. Her smiling, laughing giggle made your own smile come across your face as you looked to Harry. He always looked so happy around you two that it seemed unreal. His smile was always wide and his eyes were always the brightest you'd ever seen.

He fit so perfectly into both of your lives. Made you both so happy.

You and Thea both got a very unhealthy amount of ice cream. Her's plain chocolate and your's strawberry. Harry decided to be a party pooper and get shaved ice which looked disappointing and gross but you didn't judge him too harshly.

The three of you sitting out in the sun as you ate your food. The sun warming your skin as you basically inhaled your ice cream. Harry smiling at you and Thea each taking a taste of the other flavors.

"Harry?" Thea got his attention once you had gotten all the ice cream off her face with a napkin.

"Yes sunshine?" He smiled, looking over towards her but you could tell whatever she was going to ask made her slightly uncomfortable. She shifted around in her seat looking like she was debating if she should ask what she wanted to or not.

"Can you be my new daddy?" Her question made your breath catch in your throat. Your eyes wide at the fact she had actually asked that. His face falling before looking over to you to answer her, swallowing thickly, not knowing at all what to say as his response.

"Baby, you have a daddy." You said from beside her. Your hand reaching out and resting overtop of her but she pushed it away. Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at the table.

"But he's mean." She sighed out. Breaking your heart. You knew she had probably caught on to more than she ever let on. Most kids usually did but you tried your hardest to save all the fighting until she was in bed.

Now you were wondering how many nights she was awake listening to the screaming matches going on in your living room while she was too scared to come out of her room.

"Sweetheart." Harry finally breaking the silence taking Thea's small hands in his, grabbing both your attentions. He smiled softly at her, brushing her hair out of her face.

"I can't be yer daddy 'cause y'already have one but I can be yer Harry and I promise that's better."

Thea contemplated what he said while you tried your best to not cry from how sweet he was being. You bit your lip as you looked at them both. Your heart swelling with so many feelings but mostly just one.

How much you loved him.

"Okay. You can be my Harry." Thea said, finally, making him smile as she went back to eating her ice cream so happily like she didn't just ask a huge question.

His eyes finally moving back across the table to yours. His hand reaching across the table to take yours, squeezing it lightly as you tried to pull yourself together.

You squeezed his hand back as you looked at him. Maybe you couldn't say the words yet but you knew he could tell how you felt when his soft smile came across his face at your actions.

[lovelikedestiny]

Under the surface

Booker fills one mug with coffee for himself and adds a shot from his flask. Nile doesn't comment on it, because they all have their problems. “What did you do, Joe? Did you try to make pancakes again?” 

After a mission Nicky is angry and the team doesn't know why. With the only brain cell of the group it is up to Nile to set them straight.

Extract:

But it is just a question of time until it comes to an eruption and as Nile enters the kitchen one morning Joe at her heels, she is convinced that the moment has come.

Two mugs of coffee are on the table: one with cream and sugar for Nile, the other one black but with a lot of sugar for Joe. The latter is for a real morning grouch who needs at least three mugs of coffee and the double amount of sugar to wake up entirely.

Nile sits and inhales the scent of the coffee, Joe clasps his mug like a saving anchor and Nicky who is always the first of them awake, curses in Italian.

Even though Joe looks like a zombie, he automatically shifts a little on his chair to face Nicky, because he never swears while he cooks. The kitchen is Nicky's palace, his temple, cooking has a meditating effect on him, but this effect is missing today. “'re you 'kay, my heart?” Joe asks his mug mumbling, his voice sleepy and hoarse.

Nicky pauses from abusing something in a pan, waving a fork aggressively in their direction and makes a movement with his head where Nile can't tell whether it's a nod or a shake. “It could be a great morning, but this fucking scrambled eggs refuse to get the right consistency! Is it too much to ask that these damn animal products look like normal scrambled eggs and not like stupid abominations of a sponge!”

Definitely more alert Joe turns his attention from his coffee to Nicky and Nile holds her breath, because a yelling Nicky is funny and alarming at the same time.

“Nicolo-” Joe starts, dark eyes wide and amazed – why is Joe amazed by that?

Nicky hurls the fork in the sink and puts the pan back on the stove with a crashing sound. “AND THIS BACON IS A FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! I fried it at medium temperature so it could have the perfect crunch, but these BASTARDS are now too crispy!”

While Nicky keeps muttering about the destroyed breakfast and insulting the eggs and bacon, Joe leans slowly towards her, eyes still fixed on his soulmate. “Is it weird that I am turned on by this?”

Nile grimaces. “Eww, that is gross!” And it explains why Joe is totally amazed by Nicky's performance.

“My love, although you are very hot right now with your eyes gleaming like that and your beautiful, tensed body-” Nile coughs a second gross, Joe pays no attention to that. “- it is just breakfast and I am sure that these eggs and the bacon taste like heaven. Because you made them.”

“It is not just breakfast! Cooking is like art!” Nicky protests outraged and then he curses in Italian and Arabic, and Nile loses the thread, she's never heard Nicky swear that much.

“I am whose son? I didn't quite get the part. If my mother laid with a pig, what-?” Joe asks, brows furrowed in concentration.

“Fuck you!” Nicky snarls and rushes into the living room, leaving a stunned Nile and a confused Joe in the kitchen.

“Nicolo, I would rather fuck you”,” Joe calls after him without hesitation and Nile chokes on her coffee. Even here she can hear Nicky's unfriendly snort. “Or you fuck me, if you like,” Joe continues shamelessly.

The answer is the slam of a door and Nile uses the seconds of silence to take another sip of coffee before Joe can go on with saying things about their intimate privacy – for her own safety.

And she is damn right.

“Maybe I should've offered him to fuck me first, instead the other way round,” Joe mumbles to himself and Nile stands up abruptly, forcing the older warrior to look at her, one eyebrow raised in question.

“Seriously, stop talking about your sex life! It is disturbing and I haven't had enough coffee to hear you say the word 'fuck' that often.”

“Nicky used the word, too,” Joe says mildly defensively.

“Because he is angry and not in a sexual context like you did,” Nile makes clear and takes a look at the food Nicky insulted. It looks just fine, and she picks a piece of bacon and eats it, enjoying the salty flavor.

“I wonder why he is upset. Maybe it's because I laughed during our love making last night. But he was so beautiful and divine with his tousled hair on the pillow and-”

“JOE!”

The man raises his hands in surrender and buries his nose in his coffee, clearly offended by Nile's refusal to hear more about his and Nicky's adventures behind closed doors. Fortunately, Booker's appearance spares her from explaining to Joe why not everybody is keen on learning more about their intimacy.

“I just met Nicky outside and he said, he would go for a walk.” Booker's gaze lingers between Nile standing at the stove eating bacon from the pan and Joe inhaling his coffee and trying to be one of the living again. “What happened?”

“He is angry,” Joe informs him and shuts his mouth after Nile shoots him a warning look to avoid another questionable assumption.

Booker fills one mug with coffee for himself and adds a shot from his flask. Nile doesn't comment on it, because they all have their problems. “What did you do, Joe? Did you try to make pancakes again?”

Joe gasps in shock. “What? No! I swore to him I would never do it again and I keep my promises.”

Read more on AO3 ;)

[sprnklersplashes]

work-love balance (rejanis one shot)

There are a number of reasons Regina wishes she didn’t have this job.

For one, the uniform is gross. And yeah the uniform is just an apron but it’s a gross apron. It’s navy, that’s all that needs to be said about it. Second, she’s realised she hates dealing with people. Not all people, there are a few that are okay, but some people are just so, so hard. And since she’s already on her second warning from her manager, she can’t tell someone to shove it whenever they snap their fingers at her, or don’t say thank you, or refuse to tip. She just has to swallow her pride, paint a smile on her face and complain when it’s quiet. Thirdly, it’s coming up to Christmas now which means she has to deal with Mariah Carey being played on a constant loop or six hours straight and not even Jolly St Nick himself could put up with that.

And fourth and most important; it eats into her Janis time.

Senior year is hard for both of them, especially now with finals coming up and work starting on their college applications. Janis is swamped with artwork, her hands constantly covered in paint, and Regina can barely breathe with all the assignments she has to get done. Where weekends were once for movie nights and coffee dates are now booked through with studying and projects and their conversations happening almost completely through the phone. They kept themselves busy enough earlier, with Regina’s lacrosse and Janis’ various extracurriculars, but now it seems that neither one can fit the other into their schedule. And believe it when they say they’re trying.

“Okay,” Janis sighs. They sit at an empty cafeteria table, a soft silence about the room at this early hour. Since the only time they see each other is in school, they agreed to come in early to try to work some sort of plan out. Regina was fine with it because she’d have been up anyway, Janis on the other hand was a little harder to persuade. A little begging, a lot of pleading, and a promise of a coffee on her swung it in the end. “Okay, so Monday is out, you have lacrosse training. Tuesday I have to study for my biology final. What about Wednesday?”

“I can’t,” she sighs. “Group project to work on. And then job-work after that. Thursday?”

“The talent show has their tech rehearsal. And they need the whole team down there.” Janis takes a long drink of her coffee, a scowl etched onto her face. Regina knows Janis loves doing the techy stuff for the school shows, and she outdoes herself every year, but she simply wishes that this year she’d have skipped it. Regardless of how good it looks on the college application. “Friday night?”

“More lacrosse practice,” Regina grumbles. “And I’m working.”

“Saturday and Sunday?”

“Work, work, work. Both in the school and the job.” Her head falls onto her arms, a low groan emitting from her and shaking the table. She feels Janis’ hand on her back making soft, reassuring pats and it makes her feel a little better, especially with her girlfriend mutters “there, there” in a half-joking, half-serious way that only Janis could pull off. A smile curls on her mouth, even if it’s muted by the rest of her frustrations.

“I just miss you,” she says, her head back up. “I miss how things used to be with us. You know…” She grins slyly, her finger tracing across the table until it reaches Janis’. “You and me. My room. Laptop between us.” Her fingers slowly interlink with Janis’ and she watches as the faintest hint of a blush creeps across her girlfriend’s cheeks. “Your head on my shoulder… us sharing the same blanket.”

“Stop,” she says softly, her voice so close to a plea. “You’re making me nostalgic.” She lets out a wistful sigh then, her thumb rubbing the back of Regina’s hand and sending goosebumps up her arms. “I miss you too. I mean who else is going to stop me from going crazy?”

“Thought that was Damian’s job.”

“Damian’s job is to keep me crazy.” She winks then and now it’s Regina’s turn to blush. “Your job is to keep me crazy.”

“My mistake,” she chuckles. Janis lifts her hand and presses a kiss to her fingers, her eyes never leaving hers, telling her she’s forgiven.

There’s a sort of breathless excitement she’s started feeling since dating Janis, and it comes in the small moments like this. Those moments have been so few and far between recently that Regina’s almost forgotten what that felt like, but here it is. The way her heart picks up just slightly, the way her veins seem to hum beneath her skin, the little soft feeling that unfurls in her stomach, all making her feel good-really, truly good-for the first time in a long, long time.

It doesn’t last long though, the bell ringing rudely and cutting into their alone time, and so they head off together, pinkie fingers linked, both hoping that somehow, they’ll find more time this week. She knows that it’s not likely, but if her relationship with Janis has taught Regina anything, it’s that miracles can happen. Sometimes they just need a little push.

Regina spies her opportunity for a ‘little push’ on Friday night. As per usual, the mall is absolutely packed with Christmas shoppers-parents buying for kids, teens getting Secret Santas and young men trying desperately to find a good gift for a girl who probably expects a ring. The mall is utterly flooded with people everywhere you look and that means that the line for Regina’s little milkshake shop is at least a mile long. She’s not been here an hour and both she and her colleague, a little wisp of a thing named Clara, both have headaches from the amount of screaming children and her cheeks sting from the smile plastered on her face. She’s been keeping score since she got here and so far there’s been three assholes telling them to hurry up and two Karens chastising her for her lack of customer service skills.

She wishes so badly she didn’t need this job, otherwise she’d flip each and every one of them off. Or, she would if she could remember their faces, but as she takes orders and turns around they all blend into one, and she doesn��t see them again until she’s shouted “small Skittles shake!” for the third time and the owner finally, finally comes forwards.

So all in all, she’s exhausted.

“Seriously,” she pants when she line dies down. “Who the heck wants milkshakes in December? Or ice cream? Why do we still sell that.”

“The kids,” Clara explains with a vague wave. “You know… kids like ice cream. And parents just want to shut them up.”

“Reminds me why I’m never having kids,” she scoffs and Clara actually laughs at that. She’s not so bad, not at all. She’s good fun and she’s nice, which is all you could want in a work buddy.

They serve the last few customers, and Regina wonders if she’ll actually be able to take a break, run down to the food court and get herself a sandwich, only to look up and find the manager appearing in front of them, carrying two cardboard boxes on his shoulder.

“You said you were running out of cones?” he asks.

“Did we?” She turns and looks and yep, their supply of cones has dwindled to almost nothing at all. Clara must have find a second, if even, to send him a text. “Oh yeah, thanks.”

“How have things been over here?”

“Well we’re alive,” Regina sighs. “Barely, but we’re alive. We made a lot of money if that’s what you’re interested in.”

“Oh, sounds good,” he says. “And Regina… you’re good to close up shop?”

“Yes I am,” she says through gritted teeth. He nods at that and gives her a brief, clipped thank you before asking her for the delivery receipts and heading on his merry way, back to his comfy office and his comfy office chair while they remain on their feet for the next few hours, serving customer after customer until they collapse. And then, with Clara leaving soon (she deserves it after all), Regina’s left to shut down all by herself…

Hang on. Lightbulb moment.

“Clara.” She grabs the other girl by the shoulder, her eyes wide and a smile tugging on the corners of her lips. “Can you hold the fort down while I go on my break?”

The girl hasn’t even finished saying ‘sure’ before Regina is gone, flying down the halls and pushing past people as fast her legs can carry her, her months of lacrosse training finally being useful. She makes a quick pitstop at the foodcourt and grabs herself some dinner before sitting down at an empty table and whipping her phone out, mistyping the number twice in her excitement.

Janis picks up on the second ring and that’s still not fast enough.

“Regina?”

“Hey,” she says through a mouthful of noodles, a small prick of anxiety in her gut. “Okay, so what are you doing tonight?”

“Um, nothing I guess,” she says. “Homework, art, watching Netflix. Why?”

“Because I have an idea,” she begins. “For us.”

“Oh do share.”

“It’s a surprise.” She can practically see Janis’ face falling. She hates surprises, and that’s what makes this fun. “I just need you to trust me on this.”

“Okay… I trust you,” she says in the least-convincing voice Regina has ever heard.

“Perfect,” she says. “Just get here late and hang around until 9 okay?”

“9? The mall closes at 9.”

“9:15 actually.” She wolfs down some more noodles. “Just be subtle when you get in here, okay? Be sneaky.”

“And then you’ll reveal to me your mysterious plan?”

“I promise.” She hears Janis laughing then and oh what that sound does to her heart.

“Okay. I better get some studying done then before I get there.”

“And I need to finish my food. Oh and Janis-” she interjects. “Bring your laptop. And your charger. Just in case, you know?”

And it’s the long, confused ‘okay’ from Janis that makes this all so worthwhile.

The mall is practically deserted when Regina switches off the sign and gets out the brush and pan. Normally the clean-up process is painfully slow, what with the dozens of things that need doing and Regina feeling utterly drained by the end of the night. But tonight she’s found a source of energy she didn’t know she had, one that has everything to do with her girlfriend, and she wipes down surfaces and brushes the floors in double quick time and throws things in the fridge with no rhyme or reason. She sprints out to the dumpster with the trash and back again in less than ten seconds, determined that nothing and no-one cuts into her time with Janis. She’s so focussed on her mental to-do list that she doesn’t even notice a person coming up behind her, not until she hears those dreaded words-

“Hi can I get a large Reese’s milkshake?”

Oh for the love of-

But her rant is stopped entirely when she turns and sees only Janis, chuckling on the opposite side of the counter, hair slightly damp and her backpack on her shoulders, a self-satisfied gleam in her eyes.

“Asshole,” she sighs. “That’s what you are. An absolute asshole.” She waves her hand. “Come on in, asshole.”

“Oh someone’s been busy,” she comments. “You know, I did get a little worried when I didn’t receive one snapchat from you about how much you hate the closing shift.”

“Oh shut up.” She checks that the coast is clear and then pulls down the shutter, with them still inside. Thankfully she had the foresight to slip the stepstool underneath it, preventing them from being shut in completely, but Janis’ eyebrows still shoot up, her mouth hanging half-open in a silent scream of oh my god my girlfriend’s finally lost it.

“Regina…” she begins. “Please look me in the eyes and tell me you are not locking me in a milkshake store with you. Please, tell me that.”

“Don’t worry,” she says. “I’m not locking us in. What I am doing is having an amazing idea for a date night.”

“Which is…” Regina gestures around them.

“Look around,” she says. “We’re alone. We have all the ice cream we can eat. We have sparkly lights. And you have your laptop, so we can whack on something cute. Or something dark if you’re into it.” She shrugs. “I thought if my job interrupts our dates, maybe we could have a date at work.”

For two seconds, maybe less, a cold fear washes over her as she waits for Janis’ reaction. Maybe this is too far, maybe she already had plans, maybe she doesn’t want to sit on a dirty floor with her.

Or maybe, she’s throwing her arms around her and the force of her body is throwing them back. Maybe she’s giggling into her shoulder and rocking the two of them gently, her smile brighter than any of the lights and sweeter than any of the candy around them.

“This is amazing,” she whispers. “You’re amazing. Maddening and possibly crazy, but amazing.”

She kisses her then and Regina wonders how she can still get butterflies in her stomach, even now.

They sit down on the floor, using their jackets as impromptu blankets, and Regina grabs some ice cream from the freezer, settling on Rocky Road after some deliberation, while Janis opens up her laptop. The heat from the computer contrasts with the coldness of the ice cream, both balanced across their legs, and it’s an odd sensation to say the least, but Regina doesn’t care.  They keep the ice cream close by and the toppings even closer; Janis has already covered her servings in chocolate sauce, and of course, rainbow sprinkles. The opening credits of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before play onscreen, which Janis swears she only watches because Regina likes it so much, but she’s heard the muffled squeals behind her hand. She knows how she feels and one day she’ll get her to admit it.

But for now she just leans her head on Janis’ shoulder and snuggles into her. Janis presses a kiss to her head, slow and soft and so precious and Regina concludes that if they get trapped in here overnight, it won’t be so bad. Not if there’s Janis.

[watchathon]

Halloween Special: Coraline

In case you’re finding this post just by browsing the tags I’ve used for this post, this is the Watchathon, a blog where I watch something and make a blog post where I write down my thoughts as I watch. Each new thought starts with a hyphen and a bolded first word.

- Like so.

Today, I’m celebrating Halloween with my favorite spooky movie: Coraline! 

I realize that it’s not actually a Halloween movie, and I’m hoping to do actually Halloween-themed movies in the future, but when I had the idea to do a Halloween special post, this was the movie that first came to mind.

It’s scary, funny, gorgeously animated, but I’m sure I’ll be getting more into that during the post proper. With that said, here are my thoughts on Coraline:

- Even the studio logos and opening credits for this movie have an unsettling vibe, with both the visuals and the background music.

- And that’s before we’ve even gotten into the scene of the doll being transformed slowly into a doll of Coraline by mysterious stick limbs.

- I know that when I move, I’d love to be greeted by the sight of a man doing yoga on the rooftop.

- Nice introduction to Coraline when we see her pull a stick off of a bush and use it like a dowsing rod. Really sets up her character as a kid who’s not averse to the weird. The kind of kid who might, say, make several trips through a mystical hole in her room that brings her to button-eyed “better” versions of her parents and neighbors.

- And here we see Wyborne “Wybie” Lovat, Coraline’s closest-thing-to-a-friend in her new town. He’s more logically-minded, able to tell that Coraline’s dowsing rod is poison oak, and even analyzing Coraline’s name (after he’s corrected that it’s not Caroline.)

- I like the transition from Coraline holding her ear to the well, to her washing her hands in the kitchen sink.

- And here we see that the Coraline doll from the beginning of the movie made its way to the trunk of Wybie’s grandma. Which is scary, as well as bizarre from Coraline’s perspective. You move into a new house, and it turns out your landlady (who doesn’t normally allow kids) owned a doll that looks suspiciously similar to you, including your outfit.

- I like the music during this scene of Coraline exploring her new house. It’s so serene and calm.

- Coraline just killed the bugs in the shower with her bare hands... Not much I can really say about that except: “Gross...”

- I know all too well the feeling Coraline’s dad has when his writing is erased. I said this is a scary movie, here’s the scariest dang thing. *shivers*

- The entrance into the Other World is the perfect blend of creepy, and beckoning, with the music and cool colors.

- As well as the first appearance of the Other Mother. There’s the buttons for eyes, and the very fact that she’s an identical copy of Coraline’s real mom in everything but the eyes, making her scary on simply the conceptual level. 

But she’s so much nicer to Coraline than her real-world counterpart, not to mention that she cooks much nicer-looking meals than Coraline’s dad, and resides in a nicer version of Coraline’s house.

- And then there’s the Other Father, introducing himself to Coraline with a nice peppy song about her. The lyrics are filled with foreshadowing, but it’s not like Coraline was going to dig that deep into it. Why would she? The Other World is giving her the family life she wishes she could have in the real world.

- I’d say that Coraline shouldn’t accept food from strangers, but I mean, it’s her parents. But not really her parents, it’s her Other Parents. But they seem to know her like they are her parents. But they don’t actually know her, because they’re not her parents. But they are alternate versions of her parents. But... Oh dear, I’ve gone cross-eyed...

- And the Other World is even complete with a way for her to talk to her old friends from Michigan! Granted, they’re not actually her friends, but they are exact copies of... Nope! Not jumping down that rabbit hole again.

- Coraline gets confirmation that the Other World was real when she wakes up to find that her poison oak has completely disappeared, without a trace. I remember when I first watched this movie, I was afraid it would turn out to be all just a dream, but this confirms right off the bat that the Other World isn’t just in Coraline’s head.

- I like that we’re getting introductions to Coraline’s neighbors, starting with the Amazing Bobinsky, who’s working on a mouse circus. And also misunderstands Coraline’s name to be Caroline.

- And Coraline gets her first warning about the dark secrets of the Other World from said mouse circus. Plus, as a bonus, the mice get her name right on the first try without needing to be corrected.

- Next up is Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, the former also getting Coraline’s name wrong.

- You’ve heard of crazy cat ladies, now get ready for crazy dog ladies who stuff all their dogs when they die!

- Second warning about the danger of the Other World, from Miss Spink reading Coraline’s tea leaves.

- One thing I never really noticed before: The cat’s already showing a personality of his own right now, even when he’s just Wybie’s cat friend who’s not technically owned by Wybie.

- Seems Coraline’s starting to grow fond of Wybie, thinking of him as a friend instead of the annoying kid who lives somewhere near her house.

- Looks like Other Mother is really trying to push the idea that the Other World is better than the real world, what with how she insists that the Other Father is the Better Father.

- The garden arranged into a picture of Coraline is so beautiful. And so impressive when you remember that this is a stop-motion movie, and that portrait had to be actually built for its few seconds of screen time.

- Another thing that the Other Mother offers to Coraline as a benefit of the Other World: A version of Wybie that’ll listen to her, that won’t change the subject to slugs or whatever.

- Plus a version of Bobinsky that not only gets Coraline’s name right, but trains his mouse circus to spell it out. It’s like the Other World is “fixing” all the things that bugged Coraline about her life in the real world.

- And all that temptation looks like it’s working. When Coraline’s mom buys her the same grey uniforms the rest of her school will be wearing, Coraline only responds that the other mother would buy her a better uniform.

- Looks like the cat’s kind of suspicious of the Other World when he sees Coraline crawling inside.

- And the cat’s the only living thing from the real world other than Coraline to come into the Other World. Or, well, the only still-living thing...

- The third warning about the dangers of the Other World comes from the cat, also the first warning given directly to her instead of secondhand or via tea leaves.

- This movie can be creepy in a lot of ways even before Coraline’s life is in danger. For example, one of tne of the “good” things in the Other World is Other Miss Spink and Other Miss Forcible’s skin peeling away to reveal that underneath they’re actually young beautiful women.

- Not everything in the Other World is just the Other Mother’s puppet. She created Other Wybie, but he’s still clearly concerned for Coraline, and needs to be implicitly ordered to keep up the cheery facade.

- And here’s the big wham scene where it starts to get real spooky: The Other Parents saying that they’ll need to sew buttons into Coraline’s eyes if Coraline wants to stay in their world and keep all the things she likes better about it. Luckily, Coraline’s smart enough to refuse and immediately decide she never wants to return.

- The Other Mother might not have total control over everything in the Other World, but she clearly wants to make it so she does. Denying Other Father the ability to speak, and as we’ll see later she’s sewn Other Wybie’s face into a permanent smile that he can’t ever move.

- “Mothers don’t eat... daughters.” “I don’t know. How do you taste?” The cat might not be on the Other Mother’s side, but he can be creepy, even if it seems like he’s just messing with Coraline.

-  - I like that the cat’s here to serve as a companion from the real world to Coraline, consistently on her side even after the Other World shows its true colors. In this case, he kills a circus mouse that was sounding an alarm. Meanwhile that idea didn’t even occur to Coraline, who probably figured it was just circus practice.

- “Good kitty.” You’re darn right!

- Oh, dang, I thought that the Other Mother’s monster transformation came later than this.

- I heard somewhere that in the book, the Other Mother just looks like this monstrous form off the bat. I have to wonder, then, why Coraline was so trusting of her. Maybe it was just a really good dinner she cooked?

- Here we see that Coraline isn’t the first little kid that the Other Mother lured to her world so she could take their eyes and keep there forever. Their ghosts still reside in the Other World, unable to rest in peace or even remember their own names, but able to give Coraline her final warning so she doesn’t share their fates.

- It’s so creepy to see Other Wybie’s face with his mouth sewn into a permanent smile. But even with that, and with his eyes being only buttons, it’s easy to see that he’s desperate to save Coraline from this world.

- Other Wybie even sacrifices his life for Coraline.

- As I said before, Wybie is more logically minded than Coraline. So, really, it only makes sense that he’d hear Coraline talk about the Other World and arrive to the conclusion that she’s crazy.

- It always brings tears to my eyes, seeing Coraline sleeping in bed with pretend versions of her parents made from the pillows and sheets.

- At least the cat’s still there for Coraline.

- The charming colors of the tunnel to the Other World have even turned to a dull grey. It’s like a visual representation of how the Other Mother has given up on luring Coraline into staying, and has moved onto the idea of forcing her to stay, even eating the only key that allows travel between worlds.

- You can tell how much Coraline doesn’t want to say that she’ll let the Other Mother sew buttons in her eyes if she loses. But she has no choice; the Other Mother wouldn’t agree to the game unless there was something she could win.

- It’s both creepy and sad to see the Other Father, forced into attacking Coraline and keeping the eye from her.

- It’s cool how Coraline used Other Spink and Forcible’s bat-dogs against them. Also unsettling like everything in this part of the movie, but really cool and clever.

- Other Father and Other Spink/Forcible were transformed into corrupted versions of themselves. Other Bobinsky? Erased and replaced with a horde of rats that had his voice come out of them.

- Again, good kitty. Even when Coraline thinks she’s lost the game, the cat’s there to lend a hand.

- Coraline even thinks of the cat as a friend!

- But the cat’s not Coraline’s only ally. The ghost of one of the other children advises Coraline to be clever, all too aware that the Other Mother wouldn’t keep her word.

- You’ve heard of throwing your SO, now get ready for throwing your stray cat friend who became one of your only allies in the Other World where your parents are trapped as well as the ghosts of children who came before you! *gasps for breath*

- The Other Mother’s now given up on any pretense of being Coraline’s mother, having gone full monster. But given how she still has that hairdo? I’ve got to imagine that she’s still not quite displaying her true form.

- It’s so sweet to see Coraline interacting with the cat. Even outside of the Other World they’re still friends.

- I understand why people are upset why they changed the climax from Coraline’s clever gambit to a battle with the Other Mother’s hand (and Wybie helping), but I think this works well for a movie adaptation. I haven’t read the book, so I could be wrong, but just from seeing the movie, I think this climax is good.

- I love this ending with Coraline and her neighbors having a garden party, Bobinsky even helping plant some berries. It’s so cathartic after all the trouble Coraline’s been through.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

To reiterate: This is my absolute favorite spooky movie! And my first pick when it comes to movies fit for the season.

The first Laika movie I watched was Kubo and The Two Strings, in theaters. Then I went back and watched Paranorman to celebrate Halloween. Then I watched Missing Link when that came out in theaters.

Coraline came last out of all the Laika movies I’ve seen, but it may well be my favorite, with its lovable characters, amazing music, and gorgeous animation.

It has just the right amount of scare for me, as someone who’s not generally fond of horror. And as a PG movie, it leans more towards scary and unsettling aesthetic than jumpscares or blood/gore, another thing that makes this just right for me.

This is the perfect kinda movie for the season, and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a spooky movie to watch tonight, on future Halloweens, or just whenever you’re in the mood for something creepy.

[jubilantwriter]

Heart Shaped like Sea Glass

(First)  (Previous)  (Next)  (AO3)

Part 8 - Reflected like Sunlight Against the Waves

Summary:  Getting the human to do what needs to be done is harder than Daniel realizes.  But each part of the process takes steps.  And he’s willing to put forth the effort, so long as it gets him the results he needs, however long it takes.

// // // // //

It's not often that the sun comes out.  But it's very often that it disappears back behind the clouds without a single word.  Routine returns without another word.  And not another word is mentioned as they settle back into fish and silence and the ever lingering darkness that follows with the changing of the seasons.

Daniel finds that he doesn't enjoy the silence that much anymore.  But words are hard to coax out.  Hard to lure out when he's scrabbling for a purchase as the human stares at him blankly from where he resides.  He doesn't know too much about humans.  Doesn't really want to get too close to them.

(A lie and a half.)

But now he's starting to... feel a little concerned.  No, not worried, of course not.  But he's a little concerned.  Because the sun, or what little of the sun he used to see, is dipping down below the horizon faster and faster.  There's a chill in the air that he can finally feel.  A warning.  He watches as the gulls around him begin to dwindle in number, their little eyes looking at him with a mild curiosity as he remains.  A whisper draws his attention, but he pays the sea no mind.  It's been awfully calm lately, strangely calm.  But he doesn't have time to question the sea and why it decides to whisper instead of yell.  There's more important things to consider.

For instance, if Daniel makes his seasonal trip to the warmer waters, where other humans are more likely to be easier meals, would the human here still be alive for him to feed when he returns?

Will the human remember to feed himself?

Will the human be able to care for himself?

Difficult, difficult questions that should not be questions.

On one hand, he could perhaps ask the selkie for a favor.  Her little human lover could be of help.  Maybe feed the human while he's away.  He can even suggest which winter fishes to feed the human in order to satisfy his nearly nonexistent palette.  And because she's a selkie, she's less than likely to show herself around the human.  

But... she's also a selkie.  A selkie who finds humans such curious creatures, despite her natural instinct suggesting she stay the fuck away from them.  No no, it seems more so that her friendly nature wins out every time, and that's what keeps her from completely leaving her lover behind.  Not only that, but her playful nature would make her endearing, which would make her convincing.  Maybe she'd even convince the human to crave life instead of death!  Awful, really.

No.  He cannot depend on the selkie for help.  She'd never leave him alone if he asked her lover to call her for help.  And the old fool would oblige, because of course he would.  Years and years of obsessing over eating the human managed to endear the siren to the old fisherman, when the old man should have felt fear instead.  Daniel groans and rubs at his face.  Humans make no sense.  They should be fearing him - a siren!  He's their natural predator.  But of course not.  He has one old fisherman that waves to him when he sits on his rock, and another human that practically begs for Daniel to eat him.  An involuntary shudder shakes his feathers, and he finds himself fluffing himself out to better keep himself warm.

The weather is growing colder.  And that means he has to leave soon.  Which means...

Which means he needs to convince the human to take care of himself while he's gone.

He stands up, wings spread wide as he dashes across the waves and beats his wings for added momentum.  Even as his feet touches the sand, he keeps up his pace and aims for the door.  Just as he's about to tackle the door with the full force of his body, the door opens.

Goddammit.

A loud grunt greets him as he and the human crash and tumble onto the ground.  Daniel squawks in shock as he pulls away from the tangle of limbs he finds himself in.  The human takes longer to sit up, groaning as he rubs his head and shoots a half-assed glare at Daniel.

"Really?"  Annoyed words leave the human as he continues to sit in place.  "You got tired of kicking my door in, so now you wanna start slamming into me instead?"

"I didn't know you were going to open the door!"  Daniel points at the empty bed and glares back.  "Normally, I have to struggle to get your ass up and about!  What made you suddenly decide to get up now?!"  

"Well, I heard you coming and thought, 'Gee, maybe I should just invite him in instead of letting him break my door,' and what do I get for trying to be polite?  An aching back and a puffed out siren."

Daniel grumbles as he tries to relax, pulling his wings back close to his body.  "I didn't ask you to open the door."

"Yeah, well, I shoulda realized that sirens don't have manners."

"I have manners!"

"In a manner of speaking."  The human ignores his outraged cry and stands up to stretch.  Looking around, the human tilts his head to the side and blinks slowly.  "What?  No fish?"

"No."  Daniel gets up and dusts himself off as he remembers why he came here in the first place.  "I can't keep feeding you like this.  You need to take care of yourself."

"Stellar idea."  The human turns on his heel and begins crawling back into his bed.  "I'm going to take care of myself by never waking up."

Irritation creeps through Daniel as he clears his throat.  It's not his favorite thing to do, but it's the only thing that works.  "You can't keep doing this-"  He hesitates for a moment, realizing he doesn't even know the human's name.  However, the gentle tone and higher pitch is enough to get the human to freeze in place.  "I wish you'd take care of yourself...  It makes me so sad seeing you like this."

"Dave..."  The human slowly turns to Daniel, tears in his eyes.  "Davey."  

Their eyes meet for a moment.  The smell of heartbreak grows stronger by the minute, and Daniel heaves a sigh through his nose as he drops the voice.  "He'd want you to take care of yourself."

"Y... no, why do you care?"

"I can't be around to feed you all the time."  He crosses his arms as the human sits on his bed.  The brunette's head droops as he focuses his gaze on the wooden floor.  "You need to start feeding yourself.  Or at least, attempt to care for yourself.  Maybe that will change your attitude enough to make me want to eat you."  

"I do want to get eaten."

"Then fucking eat.  Or do I need to teach you how to do that too?"

"No, absolutely not."  The human's face scrunches up as he thinks.  "Do sirens do that thing that birds do to feed their babies?  Davey told me once that they uhhh, digest food and then spit it back up into their kids' mouths."

"I can show you, it's quite easy actually-"

"Nononononono, absolutely NOT."  He stands up quickly and waves his hands in front of him.  "You already tried to shove worms into my mouth, I do NOT need bird spit up in my mouth instead!"

"It's actually more complex than that.  Look, it's easier if I just show you-"

"Hey, how about we start working on that 'feeding myself' thing, yeah?  Instead of you puking up your last meal to 'show me' or whatever."

"I was going to show you one of these days, since you insist on acting like a little chick."  Daniel smirks as the human gags.  "Little chicky food for the little chicky baby."

"Gross!"

"I'll be happy to resort to it if you insist on making me continue to feed you."

"I'd rather eat the worms, thanks."

"How about I get some right now, just so you have the chance?"

"No, keep your dirty worms to yourself."  As the human continues to cringe, Daniel takes a closer look around the one-roomed shack.  The fisherman uses a fishing pole or whatever to catch his meals.  He looks around and spies nothing of the sort.  Actually, the more he looks around, the more he realizes that the human simply has... nothing.  There's a bowl or two, sure, the roasting sticks, some logs of wood that the human must have dragged from somewhere, a single plate, a knife that's duller than his talons, and old, drying fish scales littering the floor.

There's nothing in here.  Nothing but a bed and a human and a sad excuse of a living space.  Even Daniel's cave looks more luxurious than this travesty!

"...How did you feed yourself before I came here?"

"Uhh."  The human looks around at his empty shack and shrugs.  "I traded most of my things away."

"...Why?"

"I didn't have a use for them anymore."  The brunette rubs his arm slowly, as if the reality of his home begins to dawn on him.  "I mean, I kept a few bare essentials.  But I was considering trading the bowls for something too before you came here.  I don't have money.  Everything I arrived with is gone to someone else.  And..."  He shrugs as he looks at Daniel.  "It's not like I had anything worth keeping."

(A painful thought tries to surface, but Daniel shoves it down.  Not here.  Not now.  He doesn't want to... relate.)

"So," he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, "you have nothing to get you more food.  No tools, no money, nothing of worth."

The human hesitates.  "Well..."  He kneels beside his bed and carefully pulls out an object.

An... instrument?  Daniel's seen those before, on ships that would pass by in the warmer waters.  He's never seen one so up close before.  The human strokes the instrument gently, refusing to look up as he gazes at it almost wistfully.

The scent of rot almost... lightens as he sighs.

"This belonged to Davey.  It's the only thing I have left."

"Can you play it?"

"What?"  The human looks up in surprise as Daniel settles down in front of him.

"I said, can you play it?"

"I-"  He glances between the instrument and Daniel as the blonde focuses his attention on the instrument in front of him.  It looks to have... many strings on it.  He loses count after the tenth or so string.  But the body of the instrument reminds him of a drop of water, and that's enough to have him tilting his head in interest.

"Play it?"

"I don't uh, I don't know how."

"Unbelievable.  Fingers are wasted on you."

"You have fingers too!"

"Yes, with talons."  He flexes his hands out in front of the human to emphasize his point.  "I can't make music with my hands like you humans can.  Only with my voice."  A little bit of bitterness enters his voice as his wings slowly curl around his sides.  "My songs would be perfect with a bit of instrumental backing."

"You really care about your songs being perfect."

"Of course!"  He puffs his chest out proudly as he smirks at the human.  "It's how I lure desperate idiots like you to become my meals."

(And it's how he passes the time.  How he fills the emptiness all around him with something.  Fills the air with nonsensical noise so that he doesn't feel alone.  Drowns out the ocean's cries and the faint whispers from his memories.  It's all he has.  It's all he's ever had.)

"Well, you're not wrong."  The human idly plucks at the strings, plucking the siren's interest in turn.  "But I honestly don't know how to play this."

"Just do what you're doing.  It doesn't have to make sense."  Daniel just wants to hear something new for once.  A little nonsense doesn't hurt, after all.

"...Sure."

The human plucks at the strings, strums a bit, before returning to random plucking.  Musical notes jumble together in a strange pattern as the brunette gets a feel for the instrument.  It's nothing special.  It's nothing interesting.  But it's something relaxing.  Daniel sighs softly as he watches the human's fingers wander the many strings on the instrument, closing his eyes as he listens to the idle noise.

"...Davey used to play me songs all the time."

Daniel keeps his eyes closed as he nods along.  "Mmm."

"He'd always come up with new songs.  Most of the time, they were just silly tunes about whatever he saw that day.  Like the trees swaying in the wind.  Or the stars sparkling at night.  Sometimes, he'd make songs at our friend's behest.  Something like, 'Gwen isn't your mother, so stop asking her to fix your clothes for you'.  That one was always one of my favorites."

"Mmhm."  

"He loved the hell out of this thing.  Said it was the best gift I'd ever given him.  Well, second to best gift."  

Daniel opens his eyes wordlessly as he focuses on the human's sad smile.

"My very best gift to him was my love, or so he said."

"...What about you?"

"Hm?"  The human stops plucking at the strings to focus on Daniel.

"What did he give you in return for your gifts?"

"...His smiles.  His laughter."  The human's eyes grow watery, but not a single tear sheds as Daniel watches.  "I loved seeing him happy.  I'd do anything to see him shine brighter than the sun and the stars.  I thought that I wouldn't need anything else in the world.  Just him, and his sweet, bright smiles."  

They both look down at the instrument held tenderly in the human's hands.  Bright smiles and happy laughter are long gone now, Daniel thinks.  But the memories remain.  So maybe, not all is lost.  The instrument, despite how the loss of its owner still affects him, garners positive emotions from the human.  He smells less like rot, which is good.  But nothing else comes from him.  No sweet scent of happiness, no fragrant scent of wistfulness.  Nothing but rot, though the scent is a little weaker than usual.

So.  It's a start.

"Keep the instrument."

"What?"  The human looks up at him with shock.  Daniel rolls his eyes as he continues.

"Keep the instrument.  It obviously will give you something to do in this empty excuse of a shack."

"I guess but-"  The brunette looks around at the noticeable lack of food.  "I don't have anything else to trade."

"So then, what?  You're going to trade away your beloved's beloved instrument?"

The human hugs it closer to his chest.  "...I refuse."

"Good."  Daniel stands up with a grin and heads towards the door.  "At least you have some semblance of life in you.  That'll make you tastier to devour."

"But what about the food?"

"I'll just catch fish until you figure something out."  He shrugs as he pauses by the door, a thought returning to him as he studies the human still seated with the instrument.  "By the by, what the hell is your name?"

The human squints at him suspiciously.  "Why do you want to know?"

"To perfect my song, obviously."  He rolls his eyes.  "Makes it more personal, more intimate.  More believable.  I thought you wanted to drown in your delusions just a little bit more?  If I make my songs more palatable to you, then maybe you can finally experience the ounce of joy needed to make me consider eating you."

"My name-"  The human cuts himself off, frowning as he looks away from Daniel.  He considers a little bit too long as Daniel snaps from where he stands.

"Well?  What's your name?  Or do you not have one?"

"I have one," he says calmly, not looking at Daniel, "but I'd rather not give it to you."

"Why the hell not?"

"I don't want you to grow attached."  The human glances at Daniel before returning his attention to the instrument.  "It'd be harder for you to eat me if you know my name, right?  I wouldn't be another nameless human you want to eat.  I'd be that guy you know, that guy who's name you'll say everyday like it's commonplace.  You'll get attached, and then you'll reconsider making good on your promise to eat me.  Better for us both if you don't know it."

He blinks.  Once.  Twice.  Dumbfounded, almost.  He didn’t think he’d be rejected being told a name.  His chest twists into knots as his fist trembles by his side.

Daniel swallows hard as he glares at the human's head.

"Fine."

(He's not disappointed.  He's not.)

The human flinches at his hard reply, but before he can get another word out, Daniel races out towards the sea.

He hears the ocean whisper, but he ignores it in favor of diving into the waves.  And for once, the ocean welcomes him with a pitying embrace.

Pathetic, he thinks, as he lets himself sink.  How truly pathetic.

[awkwardpenguinproductions]

Stealth Chapter 1: The Prank

Part 5 of the Dragon of the Yuyan

Read on AO3 | Series Masterpost

The first time is because of a prank.

It’s Zuko’s second summer in Pouhai, his first as a cadet Yuyan Archer. Chihese Squad is strolling down the main drag of the closest colony town, on 48-hour leave for the Summer Solstice. It’s the first time that Zuko’s been out of the Stronghold for anything other than training since his arrival, the first time he’s been in an actual town since he was kicked out of the Caldera. The sights and sounds and smells are overwhelming, but not nearly as much as the crowds.

There are so many people at this festival. Which, okay, the Summer Solstice is basically the event of the Fire Nation calendar, being the longest day of the year and the day Agni granted firebending to the Dragons, so obviously everyone is going to want to join in the festivities, but Zuko can't remember having been around this many people ever.

Kai never lets go of his hand as he drags Zuko from food stall to musician to puppet show. There are firebending displays, and stalls full of crafts and decorations for sale. Everyone around is dressed in their best robes, and everything is a profusion of shades of red and yellow and black.

Zuko pulls Kai to a stop in front of a booth displaying stuffed cloth animals, and they spend a while petting them and poking each other with soft cloth beaks and snouts and flippers and quizzing each other on the hand-language signs for them. One such creature, a turtle-duckling with creamy tan markings and a brilliant green shell, seems to call to Zuko, and he picks it up and runs his fingertips gently over its head. It fits perfectly in his hand, just the right size to slip into a rucksack and not take up too much space, and for the first time in over a year his chest tightens and his eyes burn with the force of his longing for home and his mother's garden and the turtle-duck pond. Without even thinking, he cuddles the turtle-duckling to himself and turns to Kai.

Nice, Kai complements him with a large grin. You gonna get it?

Zuko nods, and turns to the booth's proprietor, holding out the turtle-duck and giving the man his best puma kitten eyes.

"Take it easy with those eyes, kid," he laughs. "Normally the plushes that size are ten copper, but I'll let ya have it for five. Solstice spirit and all."

Zuko grins and hands over the five copper coins. They bow to each other with the Flame, and then Zuko and Kai head off to meet up with the rest of the squad for dinner, the turtle-duck firmly clasped against Zuko's chest.

They catch up to Hiroki, Mika, and Jiyoti sitting in a square filled with tables and ringed with food booths. All three have cups of Solstice punch, a deep red drink made with coconut arrack and red wine. Kai attempts to swipe Jiyoti's cup, but she easily slaps his hand away.

Go get your own, leech, she commands, ignoring his pout.

Me too? Zuko asks.

No. Hiroki's fingers and thumb snap shut in a sharp emphatic movement as he frowns deeply at Zuko. You're too young.

This is strong stuff, Zuko, Mika signs with more gentleness, her expression sympathetic but firm. Maybe in a couple of years.

What did you get? Jiyoti asks, peering at the turtle-duck plush perched on Zuko's head. Zuko graciously allows the subject change, brushing off the tabletop in front of him and placing the turtle-duck on it. His face heats a little bit, because he's nearly fifteen, too old for stuffed toys, but Jiyoti's eyes are sparkling as she asks permission to pet it, and Mika has a soft, indulgent smile on her face like he's done something cute, and even Hiroki's smirk is gentle and warm as he leans back in his seat and nurses his cup.

At that moment, Zheng and his cronies, twins Shiori and Takeshi, pass by their table. Zheng takes one look at Zuko's turtle-duck and sneers. Aw, does the little baby street-rat need someone to cuddle with? He signs, making a gross kissy-face like he's talking to an infant. Maybe the Commander should've sent you to an orphanage with the other unwanted colony spawn. At least there you'd have fit in with the other brats.

Shut up and get lost, Zheng! Kai snaps out, gritting his teeth in a silent snarl at the older private.

Zheng smirks and raises his hands to continue signing, but Hiroki turns and pins the younger man with a glare. I believe you were on your way, Private? He signs slowly and clearly, as though Zheng is stupid and barely able to comprehend hand-speech. Zheng's jaw clenches, but he's not stupid enough to try anything against a Captain, and he storms off with a huff, the twins following in his wake.

Zuko hugs the turtle-duck to his chest and stares down at its eyes, embroidered in shiny black silk thread. He really is entirely too old for toys, and has been for years, but the thought of giving up his new companion is too much to contemplate. Aside from his dagger from Uncle, it's his only link to his life Before. Life Before had been hard, and lonely, and painful, but there had been good things, too, like Uncle's tearoom, Mom's garden, and the turtle-ducks in the pond. Life Now is so much better, even with idiots like Zheng bugging him, but he still sometimes misses those good things from Before.

Someone pokes Zuko in the shoulder, and he looks up to see Kai grinning at him. So what're you going to name it? The older boy asks, gently rubbing the turtle-duck's head with a fingertip.

Zuko looks at the brilliant green cloth of the turtle-duck's shell, and thinks of the brilliant green leaves that some of the food vendors wrap meat and fish in before grilling, and spells out P-a-n-d-a-n.

The squad finishes their drinks, and Zuko and Kai have a quick rice-cake eating contest which ends in a tie when the rice-cake seller refuses to give them any more. They stroll through the festival together, and Mika and Hiroki take turns grabbing Kai's collar to prevent him from running off after whatever happens to catch his eye. They find an excellent spot to watch the Lion-Turtle and Dragon dances, and Zuko's face hurts with all of his grinning. Pandan the Turtle-Duck is tucked securely under his collar where he can see the dances as well.

After the festival fireworks finish echoing over the town, the squad wanders its way back towards the Stronghold, riding the flow of humanity away from the main drag of the town. Very quickly the crushing press of so many people rubs Zuko's last nerve, and he grabs Kai and drags him over next to a closing stall to wait out the crowds. They amuse themselves (and the stall's owner who watches them with an air of tolerant bemusement) by trying on masks and trying to scare each other.

Hey Danger Noodle, check this out! Kai signs, and holds up a mask painted with blue lacquer and dominated by a wide creepy grin edged with sharp-looking tusks.

Wow, that's so creepy looking! Zuko exclaims, taking the mask from Kai and holding it up to his face. Kai's eyes go wide, and then narrow in a sly grin.

Spirits, I wouldn't want to meet this thing somewhere dark and spooky.

Zuko knows that look, and answers it with his own narrow-eyed glare. What are you thinking?

Kai shrugs, leaning nonchalantly against the stall. I don't know, I just think it would be kind of hilarious if Zheng were to have an… encounter… with the spirit of this mask.

Zuko holds the mask and considers it. He's widely acknowledged to be the best shadow-walker in the Troop (a lifetime of avoiding Azula will do that), and honestly, he owes Zheng a good scare for all of the bullshit the older private says to him.

Zuko and Kai smirk at each other. Zuko pays for the mask and slips it under his tunic, and they head back to the Stronghold. Hiroki scolds them for getting separated from the rest of the squad, then sends them off to get cleaned up for bed. He and Kai share the ofuro and make their plan.

Zuko dresses in the charcoal-colored tunic and trousers he'd brought to the bathing room, fastening them loosely as sleeping clothes. After waiting a few hours for Banli Squad to go on guard duty, Zuko slips out of bed and back to the bathroom, where he dons the mask and adjusts his clothes to make them more snug for shadow-walking. Kai meets him in the bathroom and gives him an impressed thumbs up.

Awesome! He signs. Zheng's going to freak out. Might want to tie your hair back, though.

Zuko's hair now just brushes his shoulders, still shorter than it was Before, but not by much. His phoenix plume had been cut and his entire head shaved after the Agni Kai, partly to make treating the burn easier, and partly to display exactly how far from favor he'd fallen. It doesn’t grow anymore where the burn has destroyed the roots, but Zuko knows how to tie it back so that his uneven hairline and shriveled ear are covered, and does so while Kai holds his mask. He replaces the mask, and Kai nods in satisfaction.

I listened in on the patrol route brief, he signs, hands quick and eyes bright with eagerness. Zheng’s by himself.

Any idea where he is now? Zuko asks. He has to exaggerate his body language a bit to make up for the facial expressions that are hidden by the mask.

Kai shrugs, the gesture imitated by Zuko, and together they creep out of the bathroom to hunt down their quarry.

They find Zheng slumped half asleep behind some crates near the storerooms. The setup could not be more perfect.

Kai tiptoes away as Zuko crouches in the shadows on the other side of the crates, and then starts fiddling with the lock on one of the storerooms. The sounds reach Zheng, who rouses with an annoyed grunt. The older private stomps towards the storeroom to investigate, and Kai has plenty of time to slip away into the shadows. Zuko matches his own silent footsteps to Zheng’s ridiculous komodo-rhino stomps, following close behind.

Zheng holds up his lantern and examines the lock before snorting in derision. Zuko braces himself.

Zheng turns around.

The positively girly screech Zheng lets out makes Zuko grin like a madman under his mask. Zheng stumbles back, and as soon as he’s out of the small circle of light produced by the lantern Zuko turns on his heel and bounds soundlessly over to where Kai is shaking from the effort of holding back his giggles. They tap their fists together and watch Zheng attempt to explain himself to the regular guards who came running at his shriek.

Zuko scares Zheng again on the innermost wall-walk, hanging upside down from the roof of a guard pavilion. And again in that one dark service corridor everyone hates. And again behind the catapult shed. Zheng shrieks every single time, and Zuko and Kai delight in watching him having to defend himself to the increasingly impatient guards with hands that tremble a little more with each encounter. By the end of Banli Squad’s guard shift, Zheng is a walking ball of shattered nerves, and Zuko and Kai are in bed and “asleep” when the older private staggers into the dorm.

The next morning, Zuko and Kai hide their grins as Zheng is forced to endure the regular guards teasing about his “haunting” by a “blue spirit”. Zheng tries to insist that he’d at least once managed to draw a weapon on the ghost, but this is only true in the sense that he’d had a knife in his hand but had dropped it when the alleged spirit had caused him to trip and fall into a manure pile near the rhino stables, and the guards are quick to point this out to raucous laughter. Zheng continues to attempt to defend his honor, but the roasting continues and increases in force until the archer finally storms out of the mess hall in a humiliated fury.

Zuko and Kai smirk at each other, and tap their fists together under the table. Mission accomplished.

That is the first time.

Previous | Next

[levi-robbed-my-tea-cupboard]

Rating: Teen And Up

Relationships: Hange/Levi, pure pre-Levihan

Words: 2176

Additional Tags: as Levi would say - shitload of them

Summary: Levi wakes up from a nap at the airport to discover someone’s pressed to him and won’t let go.

Written for Levihan Eggschange 2020 organised by @levihanweek ♥

Happy reading to my giftee and I only hope they will be able to find it ^_^

You can also read the fic under the cut, but if you have no problem with ao3 I recommend reading there cause I edit with ao3 in mind and it probably looks better there ;>

Stranger Snuggle

Everything was against him.

The burn in his thighs, the late sunshine blinding his eyes, the dirt on the streets making his smart shoes slide with every second step, the wheels of his suitcase, surly damned by now as he was pulling them after himself through all the curbs, his breath heavy when he suddenly stopped, knowing he wouldn’t make it on time. Everything. Fuck!

Levi kicked the automatic door moving apart in what must have been slow motion, because no fucking way it was their average speed. A security guard took a step in his direction but Levi’s one pissed glance made him stop and he entered the airport unbothered.

Holly fucking shit!

He came just in time to see his flight disappear from the departures board and the anti-burglar blinds go down in most of the stores, accompanying his misfortune. Taking deep breaths to calm down a little he went to the coffee shop in the middle of the hall, in which two workers were still hanging around, and glanced yearningly at the empty food display. At least he’d get himself something warm to drink, he thought, before the coffee shop staff informed him they had already cleaned everything and were as good as closed.

Fucking perfect.

Hungry, thirsty, exhausted from running and even more annoyed then a while ago, Levi sat on the nearest couch, clearly belonging to the coffee shop, and gave the workers another glare, making sure none of them would dare to protest. He took out his laptop and, cursing the too slow airport Wi-Fi everything he had in his rich shit-talking inventory, he booked the nearest flight home. The price was another thing to put him down, knowing he wouldn’t get a refund, not after spectacularly messing up his task. His next flight was at five in the morning, so in eight hours.

Eight hours for which Levi wouldn’t dare to go to the hotel by the airport because, one, he wouldn’t give himself a single credit he wouldn’t oversleep and miss yet another flight, and two, after wasting so much money on a flight alone he kinda shouldn’t be spending more, not yet.

So yep, he was going to wait there the six hours or so before he’d be able to check in, get rid of his luggage and eat something in the departure longue, since everything in the open space closed. Had he already though how fucked up things were?

It wasn’t fine but he tried to convince himself it was and not to think about coming work late and sleep deprived, straight from the plane, and alone. Fucking co-workers who not only didn’t show up to their meeting the scheduled time but didn’t show up at all, fuck them! He tried to ignore his empty stomach and the chill on his skin that he felt once he rested a little after his run. The little bit of sweat cooled him unpleasantly. The burn in his things was almost imperceptible as he was sitting, but the tired muscles were slowly sabotaging him and lulling his brain to give them a rest and sleep. Just fall asleep on the soft coach, which Levi was refusing to do, and the thought of all the people before him that must have been sitting there, sleeping maybe, half of them probably just as gross as he felt at the moment, was doing a great job in keeping him sober.

The crowds were thinning with time passing, as only a few planes were leaving at night, and the noise turned into a nearly silence, with the buzz of ventilation somewhere at the side of Levi’s consciousness, ASMR-like almost, and…

……zzZZ

Levi thought that his pillow felt weirdly scratchy tonight. As if it wasn’t his pillow but one of the cushions from…

Oh, no.

He jerked up, remembering where he was and that sleeping there was absolutely unacceptable. Or rather he tried to jerk up, because there was something heavy pressing him to the side of the coach. Something hard and, to give it justice, probably being what kept him warm, because he didn’t feel the chilliness anymore.

Levi opened his eyes, expecting to see the hall crowded and someone, just like him, accidentally falling asleep next to him, but no. Except for a few people whose silhouettes he could notice on the far away, uncomfortable chairs, and probably the security guards luring somewhere in the dark, it was almost empty! So why, the fuck, someone decided to treat him like a human pillow rather than sit… Well, anywhere else.

“Tsk.” Levi snorted and tried to push the person apart, but instead they murmured something in their sleep and… Did they just slipped an arm behind his back? Ugh! Levi tried to wriggle a little, but all it caused was making the other one clutch closer, as if they were afraid their only source of warmth was going to escape.

Resigned, Levi looked around himself, noticing what in the dimmed light seemed to be a particularly used up and over-packed backpack with what should be an illegal amount of pins. Would they even be allowed into a plane with those? He took a look at the person by his side, now literally hugging him, which, while annoying him, was making him warmish and sleepy again. But the closer look was exactly what he needed to wake his normal reactions just a little bit, and he started to realise this was not good.

The backpacker kept half of his hair in a messy ponytail, the other half was almost covering their face, only a prominent nose was sticking out from the kind of greasy strands of hair. Yuk! Looking further down their body, which Levi couldn’t decide whether was female or male, he saw a giant, knitted sweater reaching half their tight, skinny jeans and…

Aaaaaaaah! There was a hole in their sock!

“Hey! Wake up!” He couldn’t take it anymore, seriously, the hole was too disturbing. “Come one, you filthy sleepyhead, I’m not a free mattress, shit!” Levi eventually managed to push them away, making them fall onto the other side of the coach, and he could see the front of their sweater that they were pressing to him looked like it had a particularly close contact with mud. Or something even worse.

Being pushed onto their back must have woken them up, because they yawned heavily and stretched.

“Is it morning already?” They asked, and Levi thought, judging from their voice rather than the slim build, that it was a woman. Because whom was he to judge people by their body build, nevermind that thought actually…

“No. But you’ve fallen asleep on me of all people, and I was concerned.” Levi said.

The woman looked at him as if Levi’s words didn’t make much sense and Levi saw the biggest, shiniest eyes he’d ever seen. Which was another thought he’d rather not have... Luckily for him, or maybe not so luckily, he was too tired to decide, the sight lasted only a glimpse, because she squinted.

“Where are my glasses?” She murmured, palpating through the coach.

Levi didn’t answer to that, more and more irritated with every passing second and slowly coming to the sober realisation that he’d been just chosen by this crazy, dirty backpacker. Maybe she didn’t stink, by judging by her looks she hadn’t seen a shower for a while now either. Disgusting. And who knew what else was on her mind, and what she was hiding in the backpack.

Eventually she found the glasses somewhere behind her and looked at him again, this time focused.

“You look annoyed.” She said. As if it was his fault. As if he was the weird one here, damn it!

“What a surprise.” Levi hissed, grabbed his suitcase and went to the other side of the coffee shop, the broken wheels creaking behind him. He could swear the weirdo was staring after him.

He barely sit on another coach when the woman came after him and sat, to Levi’s please on a separate armchair.

“What do you want?” He asked.

“Are you mad at me?” She asked back, as if it wasn’t absolutely obvious.

“Of course not, why would I be?” He said. Maybe it was his voice that he’d been told many times wasn’t the best to carry over his emotions, or the woman was just so dumb, because she seemed unaffected by his sarcasm.

“Good.” She said. “I was afraid you were.” She leaned to her backpack, causing in Levi an instant agitation, but when she opened it she took out… A thermos? She put in on a table between them and searched deeper, this time taking out two cups, and handing Levi one of them once she filled them. “I brought tea.” This, obviously, drew Levi’s attention.

Whatever was in his cup, it didn’t smell like tea. It didn’t smell like anything he could think of and he looked sceptically at the weird woman, but she took a big sip and smiled, so he decided to risk a sip too. It was hot, fruity, sweet and disgusting, but having nothing in his mouth since lunch he decided he shouldn’t complain. They were sipping for a while in silence when Levi’s empty stomach made a particularly loud noise and he felt hotness on his face, because this sounded more like…

“Oh, I have food too!” The woman said, because that was how weird hippie people were, Levi thought, and didn’t have power to protest when she offered him half of her sandwich that, unlike the disgusting crime against tea, was fine. He ate it in silence, still not sure how he ended up in this situation, and feeling awkward as he didn’t know what to say other than “thanks”. But the woman didn’t seem bothered, packed the thermos and cups back, and smiled.

“So…” she said “…when’s out next flight?”

The fuck what? If Levi was still sipping the gross tea, he’d choke.

“Our next flight?” Or rather just: “Next flight?”

“Yeah?” The woman said, looking at him the same way she did the first time, without glasses. “We missed the first one, didn’t we?”

“We?”

We?

We!

And that lead him to the terrible realisation.

“Are you Hange then?”

“Yes?” She said, now looking really concerned, as if Levi was particularly stupid. “Wait a minute.” She said, and her eyes widened, the clearly indication that up until this moment she’d been convinced Levi knew who she was. “You didn’t recognise me.” She said.

“How the fuck could I recognize you if it’s the first time I see you? You didn’t show up to the meeting!” He heard his own voice slightly going up. The fuck? The shit was happening here?!

“I had to do something before leaving, I thought you’d wait for me, sorry.” Hange said, not sounding sorry for slightest.

“You thought I’d wait for you three hours?”

“Well…”

“Forget it. How did you know how I looked like anyway?” He asked, because that, if anything, was concerning. She shouldn’t have.

“I searched it.” Hange shrugged, as if it was the most ordinary thing in the word. She searched him. No matter how little he was supposed to know about her, he started getting an idea anyway. There must have been a reason she wasn’t just flying on her own and Levi was probably just the closest to fucking up he’d ever been. Absolutely fucking fantastic!

He took out his laptop again to buy another ticket for Hange for the same flight and he could feel her eyes on himself while he was clicking, as if she was trying to decide something.

“So when you woke up next to me you must have thought I was a complete stranger!” She said eventually.

“Yes.” He said slowly.

"And that I was some kind of a weird psycho."

"Yes." Levi repeated, not sure what the was was for.

Hange chuckled.

“I’m glad you don’t think that anymore.”

Levi mover his eyes from the screen to her.

“And what makes you think I don’t?” He asked, and rose an eyebrow. “Because normal people usually molest those they see for the first time to show they’re what? Friendly?”

“I didn’t molest you!” Hange protested, but her outrage was made up.

“Oh, no. No! You only trapped me in my sleep and didn’t want to let go. That’s a completely different thing! Thanks for making me realise!”

“Don’t be so dramatic! We’re assigned to each other for three years, you’d have to get used to it anyway. I had to do that to make sure you wouldn’t go somewhere when I was sleeping, what’s the big deal?”

Levi looked at her sceptically.

“I’m not paid to be your pillow.” It’s gonna be long three years, he didn’t say out loud.

“And?”

“You could at least wash your hair! When was the last time you did that?”

“Does that matter?” She asked, confused. “Cause I don’t think I remember.”

Three very, very long years…

[tightaroundthewebshooter]

love everything you do

Frank Castle/Amy Bendix

nff. 1.1k. no warnings. title and lyric from Training Wheels by Melanie Martinez. 

read on ao3

(please note that Amys age has never been mentioned in either the comics or the show. I’ve made her 19 based on Giorgia Whighams age when filming) 

_____________________

        (when you call me fucking dumb for the stupid shit i do)

Frank likes Amy. Likes her enough to let her stay with him, once all that nasty business with the Schultzes was finished. She’s sweet, a little sassy, with an odd sense of humor, but easy to get along with once they found common ground. But Lord Almighty she could be a fucking brat.

It starts small, a couple of weeks after they start living together, with her barging in at 2 am while he’s trying to sleep, flipping him off when he tells her to be quiet. that's not too bad, but it grows from there. She starts insulting him, yelling at him, leaving her messes for him to pick, eating his food, and snooping in his stuff. Her mood swings are horrendous, no rhyme or reason to them, he can never tell when she’s going to be nice or when she’s going to be a bitch. But the worst part is that she starts staying out later and later, refusing to answer his texts asking if she’s okay, forcing him to stay awake to make sure she comes home safe. Because he’s fucking worried about her.

It comes to a head weeks later, in the cold early morning. She hands him a cup of hot coffee and he thinks maybe today will be a good day, and then she looks him dead in the eye and tells him she spit in it. It’s not that terrible, but it’s gross, and inappropriate, and as far as he’s aware he did nothing to deserve it, and so he finally snaps.

“Why are you such a fucking cunt?” he growls, and she suddenly looks so upset he feels like he’s the one who did something wrong. He stops feeling bad when she starts hitting him. She’s knocking the coffee out of his hand and onto the floor, pounding onto his chest and yelling at him for what he called her. It doesn’t actually hurt, but it’s annoying and stupid and he’s fucking tired, so he grabs her wrists in his hand and pushes her away, much harder than he meant too, so her back hits the kitchen counter and he sees all the fight leave her body and tears well up in her eyes. Shit.

Before he can even try to apologize she’s lurching forward to hug him, burying her face in his chest as she starts to sob. The sudden change in mood is confusing, but he puts his arms around her and pets her hair in an attempt to soothe her. That just makes her cry harder, shaking in his arms, and Frank just doesn’t know what to do.

“I’m - I’m sorry! I’m sorry, please, I just wanted you to pay attention to me.” she sobs, and Frank is at a loss for words. He had thought they were getting along great, but he hadn’t thought about how Amy might be more sensitive than him, a little needier. He really does feel bad now, thinking about all the times he came home just to lock himself in his room and pass out, ignoring Amys offers of food, or to stitch him up.

“Fuck, kid, don’t cry. I’m not mad at you, I’m sorry too.” it’s hard for him to apologize, but it’s apparently the right thing to do, because Amys loud sobs slowly turn into quiet sniffles and she pulls back to stare up at him with wide, wet eyes. She opens her mouth to speak, shuts it just as quickly, and he can almost see the gears moving in her head as she leans up on her toes and-

Kisses him. It’s wet and off-centered and fast, but it’s definitely a kiss.

She pulls back quickly, but she doesn’t leave, just looks up at him, expectantly waiting for his reaction, eyes still shiny from tears. He hates himself for wanting to kiss her back, hates himself because he can’t say he’s never thought of her like this before. She looks so young, and she is. 19, still a teenager, she shouldn’t want this, and Frank shouldn’t be indulging her.

He kisses her back anyway, tells himself it’s for her, to make her happy, but it’s for him too.

He lets her set the pace, lets her deepen the kiss, and slip her tongue in his mouth, and press even closer to him. She has to pull back for air eventually, lips shiny and cheeks red, and Frank is so hard he’s lightheaded. He ignores it, grabs her by the back of her thighs, lifts her up and urges her to wrap her legs around him, and then makes his way to the couch, gently laying her down.

Her hands shake as she helps him get her shorts off, but they’re pretty steady when she grabs his hair and pulls his head between her legs. He goes happily, uses his hands to hold her open, and gets to work. She’s already wet, almost dripping, so he goes right to tasting her, licking in as far as he can until he hears her moan, before moving to her clit, switching between lapping at her and gently sucking, not letting up until she starts to babble and squirm around.

She’s close, so he slides two fingers into her, curling them up to hit her g-spot, sucking harder on her clit while he does it, and it’s only a few seconds before shes coming, thighs squeezing around his head and cunt bearing down on his fingers.

The moment she relaxes he’s pushing himself up and unzipping his pants, grunting in relief when he gets his cock out. Amy looks like she’s about to fall asleep, but he grabs her hand and guides it to his cock anyways, showing her how to squeeze and twist her hand to bring him off.

She catches on quick, and when he tells her he’s close she pushes her shirt up and angles his cock to her belly, and he comes so hard his vision goes white.

By the time his breath is caught and his sight is back to normal Amy is asleep underneath him, shirt still pushed up and stomach covered in his cum. They need to talk about this, soon, but Amy looks more relaxed than she has in weeks, and he’s tired too, from the fight and the fuck, so he carefully lowers himself on top of her, and lets himself rest with his face tucked against her neck. The guilt is starting to creep in, but he forces it down, telling himself that the only thing that matters is Amy being happy. They’ll work it out.

[need-a-fugue]

We Grow Together (18)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Tessa Sullivan (OFC)

Chapter Summary: A romantic getaway goes just a wee bit awry…

Summary: Relationships can be tough, especially when one person is a recovering-from-being-brainwashed-and-tortured former assassin and the other is an overworked mutant scientist. But hey, every couple has their struggles. Right?

Tony’s house is absolutely amazing. Of course, it’s far more than just another getaway spot for the billionaire. It’s the first of several planned (extremely) high-end villas in one of the most sought-after tourist destinations in the world. “He’s actually going to start a resort,” Tessa hums in awe as they enter the ocean-side palace.

“That is correct,” says a voice coming from… somewhere. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” the slightly accented voice goes on after noticing the startled response from Bucky. Tessa is too busy exploring her new surroundings to pay much attention to the computerized creation. Besides, she talks to Friday so much that having a voice in the walls somehow seems completely normal to her. “My name is Nisa.”

Bucky grunts in response. “Makes sense,” he mutters. “When in Rome…”

“Oh, you are not in Rome, sir. You are in Baa Atoll, the Maldives.”

“Thank you,” he deadpans as he finds the master suite and drops off their luggage.

“You’re welcome. Would you like to know a bit about the area?”

In unison, both Bucky and Tessa respond… he with an adamant “No,” and she with an excited, “Yes, please.”

“Perhaps I’ll give you some time to settle into the villa first,” Nisa suggests. “Your chef will arrive at six to prepare your first meal.” Chef, Tessa mouths to Bucky, a look of pure joy on her face. “Until then, you have the villa and surrounding beach to yourselves. Please do let me know if there’s anything I can assist you with.”

“Thank you, Nisa!” Tessa flops down on the king-size bed, splaying her arms and legs out as far as they’ll go. “It’s huge,” she breathes out, turning to roll over onto her stomach. She looks over at Bucky, who’s standing nervously in the doorway, and wiggles her eyebrows at him. “Wanna take it for a spin?”

“It doesn’t make you nervous at all? All of the… tech? The disembodied voices?” He pushes off the doorframe and moves to the side of the bed.

She army crawls over to him and reaches her hands around to grab onto his upper thighs. “Nope,” she says, tugging at him.

He lays his hands on her shoulders to steady himself, seemingly unfazed by her attempts to get him into the bed. His eyes ping suspiciously around the room. “I feel like Stark could be watching us.”

“Ugh,” she lets out dramatically, dropping her hold on him and sitting up onto her knees. “That’s gross.” She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him in for a long, deep kiss. When she releases him and sits back on her heels, she can see that his face is only a teeny bit more relaxed. She rolls her eyes. “Tony’s a lot of things. But he’s not a voyeur.” She scoots to the edge of the bed and jumps up. “His life is far too exciting for him to care about what other people do with theirs.”

“Where are you going?” He spins around to follow her as she glides through the double glass doors. Just outside of the bedroom is a large deck that overlooks the ocean. At the edge of the deck, built into the steep rock face is an infinity pool surrounded by the most beautiful tropical garden.

“I’m dead,” she states, standing stark still in the center of the deck. “I’ve died and gone to Heaven.”

She turns around and takes in Bucky’s expression. He’s gazing out over the serene blue waters, the bright white beach that lies below. He doesn’t seem quite as awestruck as she is, but his face is noticeably more relaxed, and intrigued. He shifts his gaze to her and his face softens even further, a genuine smile taking over. “We should probably go for a swim,” he states simply, a glimmer in his eye.

Tessa takes no time at all stripping down, flipping her flats off and launching them across the deck as she shimmies out of her pants. She doesn’t bother to undo the buttons on her linen shirt, opting instead to yank it off along with the tight tank top underneath. But she somehow gets caught in the two shirts and Bucky has to come rescue her.

He’s laughing like a maniac as he helps to peel the clothing off of her. In the process, some of her hair gets stuck between the metal plates of his palm and she screeches in pain. That only makes him laugh harder. “Hold on,” he says, somewhat out of breath. “Just give me a sec.” And he works the clump of hair loose with his right hand.

Once she’s free, she shakes out her hair and reaches around to undo her bra. “You’re still dressed,” she chides him, noting that he hasn’t so much as removed his shoes.

“Yeah, well, I was going to go inside and change. I didn’t realize we brought bathing suits for nothing.”

She tosses him her bra and shimmies out of her panties. “You heard the disembodied voice. We have the whole place to ourselves.” She cocks a single brow at him and puts her hands on her naked hips. “There are no clothes needed in Heaven,” she says. “So I plan to stay naked all day.”

He breathes out deeply, wide smirk on his face. “I have never loved you more than I do right now,” he says before quickly shedding his shoes and running full force at her. She squeals with surprise as he grabs her and leaps into the pool.

They spend the next several hours either in the pool or right beside it, laughing, kissing, talking, and baking in the sun. They lose all track of time until Nisa calls out to them to tell them that their dinner is ready and waiting in out on the front terrace. Tessa throws on a T-shirt and nothing else. And Bucky can barely focus on anything but that fact… until he actually takes a bite of the food.

“Oh my God,” Tessa moans out, mouth full. “I feel so bad eating this, but it’s soooo good.” She looks over at him and sees a similar look of delight on his face.

“Is it the fact that it still has a face that makes it so much better than other fish?”

“It’s staring at me,” she says, tearing into it with her fork. “But I can’t stop.”

It may well be the best meal either of them has ever eaten.

They head back to the pool after and watch the sun set from matching lounge chairs. Just as Bucky’s about to drift off, he hears the creak of the chair and feels the weight of his girl in his lap. She squeezes her knees tight around his hips and leans down to nibble at his neck. “Wake up,” she whispers in his ear as her fingers lazily drift around his waistband. He grins and sighs contentedly, but doesn’t open his eyes. “I’m naked again,” she singsongs, sitting back on her heels.

He brings both of his hands up to the small of her back and slowly blinks his eyes open. The moon is very nearly full and almost every star is visible in the sky. But all he can see is the beauty sitting before him, her skin luminescent in the moonlight. He runs his fingertips delicately up her sides and tenderly cups each breast. But he makes no move to sit upright, or to speak, or to do anything other than silently gaze up at her.

“What, baby?” she asks with a small frown. “What’s wrong?”

He shakes his head and lets out a little laugh. “Absolutely nothing in the world,” he tells her before wrapping her up in his arms and carrying her inside.

000

The rest of their trip is… less than ideal.

They begin Day 2 by waking to crisp, warm sunshine beaming in through the glass doors. Another day in paradise. They decide to start the day with a shower. Together. But the huge rain shower is freshly minted with the smoothest of granite, and the moment that Bucky makes a move to hike Tessa up around his hips, his heel slides out from under him. They both go down. Hard. Bucky splits the back of his head open on the corner of the built-in bench and bleeds everywhere.

“Just stop,” Tessa tells him as he tries to stand back up. “Wait.” She hurriedly tries to scurry over him to get out of the shower and grab some towels. But her feet fly out from under her as well and she drops a knee into Bucky’s gut, knocking the wind out of him.

By the time she manages to get him into bed, the bathroom looks like a murder scene. He refuses any sort of medical treatment – it’ll heal on its own – so she quickly dresses the wound with some gauze from the first aid kit that Nisa directed them to, and positions a towel behind his head in case the dressing starts to weep.

Tessa spends the next hour and a half scrubbing the bathroom. Bucky spends the rest of the day lying in bed, watching as the ceiling spins above him.

That night he starts to feel better, so they take dinner out on the terrace again. It’s amazing and delicious and absolutely perfect. And it seems that their shit day is about to become just another sad, silly memory. Bucky’s already joking about how the worst part was her knobby knee collapsing his diaphragm.

At the dinner table, Tessa embarks on a journey of self-discovery. First, she unearths a new favorite food.

“How have you never had mango?” Bucky asks her.

“I don’t know,” she replies with cheeks full of the sweet, succulent fruit. “But I’m never gonna stop eating it.”

Just a few short minutes later, she makes another discovery – she’s deathly allergic to mango.

They spend the next several hours at the closest hospital. It is not the nice tourist hospital where westerners are treated like the rich near-royalty they often are. This is the place the locals go, and poor locals at that. Neither of them are at all convinced that they’ll make it out of there without a raging staph infection. By the time they finally get back to the villa, it’s almost sunrise and Tessa has so much Benadryl in her system that Bucky has to carry her to bed.

Day 3 consists of Tessa, still somewhat puffy, tossing and turning and scratching at hives while Bucky hangs out by the pool. He falls asleep in the mid-afternoon sun, his metal arm uncovered as it lies beside him on the wooden lounge chair. No big deal. Until he shifts in his sleep and rolls over onto the arm, giving himself a massive second-degree burn across his torso.

Day 4 starts out with Tessa demanding that they get out and do something fun. “Let’s go snorkeling!” she tries.

But Bucky hates the water. Well, he hates the idea of being under the water. Ever since Steve almost drown at Coney Island and he went in after him and got sucked out by a riptide. So… “No. No way in hell.”

The compromise, it seems, is to sit on the beach together all afternoon, silently stewing.

The moment they arrive back at the villa, Nisa tells Tessa that she’s had several phone calls and texts come in from New York. “It’s Claire,” she tells Bucky, as though mentioning the name of her assistant is enough to explain why she has to spend the next four hours combing through some sort of statistical analysis of something on her laptop.

And how is it that the laptop is even here? “I thought I took that out of your bag,” he says, watching her from the doorway to the sitting room. His arms are folded over his chest, his face drawn and pinched.

“You did,” she responds shortly. “Which was rude.” She looks back up at him, takes in his almost threatening posture, and lets out a long, frustrated sigh. “I repacked it,” she says simply, turning her focus to her work.

They do not eat dinner together on the terrace that night.

Day 5, the final day, begins with Bucky waking to find the bed empty, save a note that says simply, Went for a swim. He heads to the far end of the deck that overlooks the beach below, and he sees her lazily floating on her back about thirty feet out. Every so often she rolls over and freestyles against the current for several minutes before pausing to catch her breath and bask in the early morning sun. Then she lets go again and floats closer to the shore. He watches her intently. Observes how relaxed she seems as she lets the ocean guide her, falling back against the waiting water so it can pull her back to where she started. Then, all at once, she’s at it again, fighting the tide, straining to move forward, struggling to get… somewhere.

He shakes his head and lets out a strange, small laugh. “You and me both, babe,” he mutters under his breath. “You and me both.”

[pixieungerstories]

Mistaken World Bonus - 2

Part 1

Feeder Orc, or someone like him, watched me eat my lunch.  And my dinner.  And every meal after that until, eight meals later we were back to beige.

He watched me not eat that one again.  He stormed over and shouted, “Eat!”

I jumped, dropped my tray, looked at him in horror, then tried to run away.  

He caught me before I had made it more than a couple of steps.

I just went limp as a bunch more of them came over and had a chat I didn’t understand.   In the end, he dumped me on the ground next to my spilled meal.  “Pick up,” someone snarled.

I tried to scoop as much of the goop back onto the tray as I could.  If they made me eat it anyway, it wasn’t going to be at all improved by the extra playground dirt.

Once again, I was herded into the school, only this time, we went to one of the classrooms on the second floor.

There were a bunch of orcs sitting around a table.  Their uniforms were nicer and they all had a bit of grey in their hair.  One of them sighed as he stood up and came over to take my tray.

“If you are refusing to eat in an attempt to get better food, it won’t work,” he said in a surprisingly unaccented voice.

I stared at him for a moment, then shook my head.  “I didn’t ask for better food.  It’s just that I can’t eat this meal.  Normally, I just pass it along to someone else who needs it, but the others are afraid to take it now.”

The old guy glared at me, “You need it.  Your meals are balanced to meet all your dietary needs.  You need to eat all of them for that to work.”

I swallowed and looked down at my one size fits no one stretchy shoes.  “I can’t,” I whispered.  “I eat all the others, but this one make me sick.  I break out in a rash and feel gross for a whole day after eating it.”

He frowned, then he snatched the tray from my hands took three huge strides and dumped it into a garbage can in the corner.  Then he waved me out.  I turned to leave, but the one who had brought me was blocking the door.  He had a hurried conversation with the old guy.  Someone at the table chimed in.  There was a quick but heated conversation, then my guide lead me back to the cafeteria.  He got his tray of prime rib and took me over to sit at the same table with what were probably the same group.

“Are these your friends?” I asked.

“No,” he snorted, even as one of them, said, “Yes.”

“Oh,”  I didn’t know what else to say.  I hadn’t realized that they all spoke English or maybe it was just these ones.

I waited politely for the guy to eat his lunch, but instead, he pushed it towards me.  I stared up at him in shock.  “Why are you feeding me?” I whispered.

“So you eat,” he replied.

I didn’t know what to say to that.  I picked up the bun and carefully ripped off a piece to eat.  “But you need to eat too.”

That caused a ripple of amusement.  Then someone at the end of the table got up, got an empty tray from the line.  He brought it over and put a slab of meat on it then slid it towards me.  Someone else intercepted it and added some of their carrots.  The next guy added all of his zucchini.  My host took the tray, to much protest.

“For her,” the first guy snarled.

I swallowed and very still.  I had to force my voice to be even when I asked, “Why are you feeding me?”

They echoed my stillness.  The silence went on too long and became suffocating.  Finally, the first one repeated, “So you eat?”

I couldn’t tell if that was a question because he wasn’t sure it was the right answer or if it was because he thought it was so obvious he didn’t know how I didn’t understand that.  I carefully set the bun on the new tray in front of me.

Everyone frowned.  I fought to stay still.

OK, then, time to see if I was clever or dead.

“You are all a lot bigger than me,” I said softly.  They nodded.  “You are all too close and I feel like prey.”

There was a long moment of nothing.  I looked up into four confused faces.  The one at the end rumbled out something I couldn’t understand and suddenly they are all leaning back from me.

OK.  That was a good sign.

“I would like to go back to the other humans now.”

Nothing.

I pressed my lips together and thought hard.  “Humans are a herd species.  We do better in groups.  Putting us alone in rooms was used as torture.”  They were still all watching me.  “I want to go back to my group now.”

“Eat first.”

I looked up at the one sitting on my left who was insisting on feeding me, “What’s your name?”

Now he winced, “You can’t say my name.”

“Oh.”  There didn’t seem to be anything else to say to that.   I picked up the bun again and fidgeted with it.

The one who had seemed to have translated my earlier statement about feeling like prey, spoke again, “Chest wrong shape to say names.  He is -” then he name a noise like an elephant rumble.

I stared at him long enough that he ducked his head, either embarrassed or doing a credible impression of being embarrassed.  That left me wondering how many of their mannerisms were their own and how many they were parrotting from watching us.

I put a piece of bun in my mouth and chewed thoughtfully.  “You are right.  I can’t make that sound.  I can’t say that name.”

They all relaxed a little.  That had to be a real response right?  Could you fake muscle tension - well, yes, of course you could.  That was what actors did all the time.  But it seemed more likely that they were fighters tensing for a battle than actors performing a role.

Except they weren’t human, so how would I know?

I finished the bun and repeated, “I would like to go back to be with the others now.”

The one across the table for me asked, in very garbled English, “Oo refoos fud fra us?”

I had to translate that then think about it.  “Obviously, I can’t.  If I refuse to eat the food you provide, I have no way to feed myself.”  The tension came back at that.  “I don’t like leaving the safety of the herd.”

“You gave food to mother,” the guy at the end of the table said softly.

I frowned and tried to remember what he was talking about, “I don’t … I don’t know what you mean.”

The guy on my left said, “You can’t eat food so you give to other human.  Mother.”

“Oh.  Yeah.  I didn’t know you knew she was expecting.”

They all nodded slowly.

I awkwardly picked up a chunk of cooked carrot with my fingers.  “I wish you had names I could learn.  It would be easier if you weren’t all -”  I stopped.  ‘Nameless monsters’ was not the phrase to use in this situation, neither, I suspect, was ‘the same.’  For the life of me, quite possibly in the most literal way, I could not figure out how to finish that sentence.

They were watching me expectantly.

I just sagged and dropped my eyeline to the table.

“Give us names,” the speaker at the end said.

“What?”

There was a general nodding from this small group.

“Names you can say,” guy on my left agreed.

I looked around and realized the cafeteria was mostly cleared out.  This whole thing was getting more and more uncomfortable.  I licked my lips nervously.  “Naming people is a big responsibility,” I countered.

That made them a lot more attentive.  It didn’t help me relax at all.

“I wouldn’t want to rush that and make bad choices.”

They all nodded solemnly.

“It would be easier if I was back with my people and had some time to think about it.”

“Not eaten food yet,” Lefty pointed out.

“Neither have you,” I countered.

Everyone except for Lefty snickered.  He grinned at me and popped a whole chunk of prime rib into his mouth.

I concentrated on eating my carrots and zucchini.

The talker on the end of the table growled something at Lefty, who promptly dumped another slice of meat on my tray where the carrots had been.  OK.  Well, the honesty thing hadn’t gotten me killed yet.

“Why did you do that?” I asked.

“You do not have to accept my gifts,” talker explained, “but you should still have some meat.  You will eat food from him, so now you have some.”

That was not comforting.  “What did I just agree to by accepting food from you?” I asked.

That caused a flurry of talking that I did not understand, but the general consensus seemed to be ‘nothing.’

“OK,” I said hesitantly.  “I am going to take you at your word that this food does come with strings -” shit! Could they even understand that idiom?  Looking up the answer seemed to be no.  “That you aren’t going to make me pay for this food later,”  I finished lamely.

Understanding dawned.  The talker at the end got it first.  Lefty was next, then mumbler across from me and the silent one only understood after someone translated it for him.

When they all were watching me expectantly waiting for me to continue, I added, “I’m not leaving the beef because of you, personally.  I can’t eat it without a knife to cut it into smaller pieces.”

That started a huge discussion that I was no part of.  It stopped immediately when I touched Lefty’s arm and suddenly they were all staring at my hand.  I snatched it away and mumbled a frightened, “Sorry!”

No one said anything.

“Please,” I begged. “Please just let me go back to the others.”

They all immediately stood up and lead me out.  Three slices of very nice beef left abandoned on the tray.  I felt a little sick at the waste but was so relieved when we reached the exit to the school yard, that I bolted back for the tent city.

The next time it was beige food, I didn’t even bother getting in line.  I stayed in my tent instead.  The following meal, I was pulled out of the tray return line by one of the smaller orcs and brought through the school to an upstairs classroom to face and older guy who could have been the orc that threw out my lunch the last time I was here.  He was sitting at a conference table covered in randomly shaped things that I didn’t have any hope of recognizing.

“You refused to eat again,” he said, not even looking up from what he was doing.

“Nope!” I answered promptly.  “I just finished eating my … whatever that was like a good girl.  You don’t have to worry about me.”

Now he looked up and glared at me.  Well, shit.  I knew it wasn’t going to work, but I had to at least try.  I coughed, looked down and shifted uncomfortably.

He sighed, then said something I didn’t understand.  The one who had brought me picked up a small recliner and positioned it across the table from the old guy.  Once I was seated, he left and the old guy started to speak.

“I reviewed the surveillance from the last time you were here.  You repeatedly asked to leave and were not assisted in that. Do you wish for the ones that did that to be punished?”

I gaped at him.  When he spoke again, I realized his lips didn’t match the sound of his voice. Did he have some sort of translator?  How did that even work? Oblivious to my thoughts, he continued,  “We have learned to ask humans before disturbing their social contacts.  You have a propensity for self harm otherwise.”

There was a lot to unravel in that statement, starting with “I’m not sure if they count as social contacts, but I don’t want them punished for trying to help me.”

He nodded, or at least bobbed his head. His eyes never left mine.  That was more creepy than I can even begin to explain.  I shivered a little and tried to get that under control.  “I am told that you only refuse one meal and you are consistent about which one that is,” he continued.  

I nodded.

“Explain that to me.”

I took a deep breath, “I don’t know why, but after I eat that one, I feel sick.  I don’t want to be sick so I have stopped eating that.”

He cracked his knuckles without breaking eye contact.  I looked down at my hands clenched in my lap.

“It is unwise to put your enemy in your blind spot.  How do you not know that?”

I shrugged without looking up.  “If you want me dead, there isn’t a damned thing I can do about it.  What is the point in seeing death coming?”

The silence was ringing.

“You think I would kill you?”

I didn’t really know what to say to that. “I am very aware that you could,” I finally whispered.  When I looked up he was still watching me, but now he was rubbing the skin at the base of his tusk.

“We can not provide special food for humans who refuse to eat.”

“I know. You already told me that.  If you have surveillance then you must know I have never asked for special food.  All I ever did was avoid the food that makes me sick.”

“You aren’t getting enough nutrition to lose the calories every eight meals.”

“Oh.”  I thought about that as I picked at my clothes.  I was wearing what was basically a prison uniform, the same as every other human in the camp.  We were all slowly losing weight since we arrived.  It was slow enough that it was hard to notice, but it was happening.  “I’m not sure what you want me to do about that.”  I thought some more.  “You said you were trying to avoid causing me to self harm, but the only thing I can change in this situation is to die faster.”

He didn’t say anything to that.  Finally, I looked up.  He was still staring at me.  “Can I go now?  Or is there anything else you wanted to tell me?”

“I want you to explain to the medic how the food is making you sick.  Then you can return to the others.”

I nodded.  He went back to whatever he was doing.  Someone stepped out of my blind spot, making me jump.  I was led through the school to another classroom.  This one had a wall knocked through to make the room bigger.  There were orc sized beds.  One orc was pointing a light at another who was laying down.

My guide spoke with the standing orc, who replied and pointed to one of the chairs.  I sat and waited.  These chairs were nowhere nearly as comfortable. Eventually, the one with the light came over and I tried to explain allergies to him.  It took hours and he kept pressing strange things to the inside of my wrist.  

Finally, he nodded and I was taken back outside.  It was full dark by then.  There weren’t any yard lights or street lights and the moon wasn’t full enough to really see by.  I took a couple of hesitant steps forward, but when the door closed, I was plunged into darkness.  I stood very still and waited for my eyes to adjust.  It took me a long time to find my tent.

[shounenkitsune]

Cake One Shot Sick Fic

Reposted from fanfiction.net, but I feel like I wanna move everything over here bc I prefer tumblr.

Vocaloid fanfic, but tbh they might as well be OC’s bc nothing in the story is relevant to them being Vocaloids XD

Rin stretched out on the floor, trying to get a better look at her painting. She'd already put a lot of water on it. She had to be careful with her next moves, because the paper wouldn't accept much more water here soon. She needed to blend more black into the background, but there was already so much in there, that the rest of it seemed to look like blobs of blue rather than that cool galaxy look. She frowned. Maybe there was another dark color she could use to add depth?

Len released a rather obnoxious belch from his side of the room. He was lying on his back with his eyes closed, one hand resting lightly on his stomach. Rin glanced up at him, then immediately went back to her painting. It wasn't really unusual for him to do that. He was a teenage boy after all. Not that he wasn't respectful, just that he felt comfortable enough around his sister and she didn't mind it, so he didn't feel the need to be so proper and polite. He usually said excuse me afterwards though, but it wasn't such a big deal. Rin didn't care either way.

Rin grabbed a purple watercolor pencil and began shading heavily around the black. She needed it to be prominent, that way she didn't have to use a lot of water to blend it. She heard another large belch as she dipped her brush into the cup of water on the floor in front of her. She brushed it off again and began painting. This happened several times, all of which she ignored, until she started hearing his stomach gurgling all the way on the other side of the room. She looked up at him curiously.

"What's going on?" she asked. Len opened one eye to look at her, then closed it. He muffled another belch.

"What do you mean?" he asked back, not sure what she was talking about. He belched again.

"That," she said. She propped her elbow up on the floor and rested her chin on her hand. "Why are you so gassy? Did you eat too much or something?" Len didn't reply. Most likely he wasn't expecting that answer and got embarrassed. He didn't mind burping in front of her, so long as she didn't draw attention to it.

After not getting an answer for several seconds, she tried again. "Does your stomach hurt? You okay?" Len sighed, knowing he would have to answer her eventually. He didn't particularly like discussing this topic, however.

"I'm fine," he mumbled. He forced down a belch from entering his throat by swallowing. "Must've just been something I ate…"

Rin pursed her lips and furrowed her eyebrows. There was something he wasn't telling her. Len peeked at her with one eye, then opened both eyes once he saw the face she was making. "What?" he asked defensively. Rin squinted her eyes. Len stared back, waiting for her to do something. This went on for a while until Rin blinked and shook her head. She looked back up at her brother, who looked very, very confused. She furrowed her brows again.

"What did you eat today?" she asked. Len was on a diet. Well, technically he was always on some sort of diet. He had marching band, track, cross country, and dance, so he absolutely needed to be fit in order to keep up with the activity. He was pretty good about his home workouts, which was basically just a run every night before bed. He showered in the morning, which was kinda gross, because that meant he went to bed all sweaty, but that's another reason why they had their own sides of the room. But aside from the workouts, he really had a poor will to avoid unhealthy foods he wasn't supposed to have. It wasn't such a bad thing, since he didn't do it very often, and it's also not healthy to completely deny a kid unhealthy foods or desserts while he has to watch everyone around him enjoy them. The only issue is that he kinda binges on junk food from time to time. Knowing Len, he probably did something like chug a 2 liter, or eat a whole box of pizza rolls.

Again, Len took a while to answer. He knew she was gonna chew him out like always, because she was his "diet coach" (which she appointed herself), and he really just wanted to lie down for a while and relax.

He let out a heavy sigh. "Cake," he replied curtly. Rin wasn't surprised. But it made her think for a moment. Eating a singular piece of cake wouldn't make you that gassy.

"How much cake?" she asked. Again, a long pause. Rin expected the worst at that point.

"A cake," he said. Rin furrowed her brows in confusion.

"What do you mean "a cake"?" she asked, then realized what he meant and widened her eyes. "You ate an entire cake!?" she shouted. Len nodded, refusing to open his eyes and look at her. Rin was shocked that he could eat a whole cake by himself. Where did they even get a cake? Rin looked down at Len's stomach, something she hadn't really paid much attention to, and realized that the more she looked, the more she could see how bloated he was. He definitely ate a lot of something.

"How big was it?" she asked. Len held up his hands about a foot apart, then moved them to the side perpendicular to where he first hand them, only closer together, making an imaginary rectangle about one foot by six inches.

"What the actual fuck, Len," she said. Len shrugged. At least she wasn't yelling at him to go for a run. Rin looked at him, concerned. "Are you okay though? I mean, do you think you're gonna puke or something?" Len opened his eyes and looked at her, surprised that she even thought about that. Normally she just told him to do some sort of workout, usually jokingly, sometimes seriously.

"Yeah, I'm alright," he said. "I'm a little nauseous, but I don't think I'm actually gonna throw up." Rin nodded once and chewed her bottom lip nervously, looking over his body. He looked like he was okay, but Rin was actually worried about him this time. I mean for Pete's sake, he ate an entire freaking cake!

Rin stood up and walked over to his side of the room, stopping by his bed. She pulled up his shirt, to which Len didn't object. He even moved his hand out of the way to let her pull it all the way off his stomach. She put her hand on his belly and immediately felt the sloshing and gurgling going on in there, his stomach kicking into overdrive to try and break down that massive lump of food. She rested it there for a moment before slowly dragging her palm across the smooth surface of his skin, making a circular motion. She felt him tense up, then slowly relax and melt into her touch. She rubbed his belly for a while. When they were little, their grandparents used to do this when they had an upset stomach. Normally it was Len who had the tummy ache, since he was the one obsessed with food, so Rin watched a lot of the time. She started doing it herself at around maybe ten. The first time she did it, Len had no idea what she was doing and it got...very awkward to say the least. But now he doesn't mind. He actually rather enjoys it. Belly rubs are really relaxing, and they really do help with the pain of an upset stomach.

Len closed his eyes, the slow motion of Rin's hand lulling him to sleep. He let out another belch and his eyes popped open again, caught off guard by himself, not even feeling it before it happened. Rin could feel it though. His stomach rumbled again, the air bubbles making their way up towards the belly button. She took two fingers and gently pressed them into his stomach just beneath his belly button, rubbing in a circle, but not moving in a wide circumference. Len's stomach gurgled loudly, bubbling angrily. Len flinched. That gurgle had upset his stomach more and he felt a sharp stab of pain where Rin's fingers were. He almost grabbed her hand and pulled it away, but he started to feel better as the air made its way up. He could feel warmth rising up towards his throat. For a moment he waited for the belch, but then leaped forward and made a mad dash out of their room, leaving Rin standing there beside his bed, dazed.

The bathroom was upstairs, so he ran into the kitchen, dropping to his knees in front of the large trash can. He retched violently, coughing and sputtering as the warmth moved up into his throat. He could now feel the burning pain of the stomach acid in the back of his throat. He retched again and vomited into the trash can, coughing and struggling to breathe.

Len's mom was sitting at the kitchen table playing a game of cards by herself while reading an ebook on her tablet. She was surprised when someone suddenly raced into the room and dropped to the floor in front of the trash can. It took her a moment to realize what was going on and who it was. She stood up and briskly walked over him.

"Len? Hey hey hey, are you okay?" She put her hand on his back and pulled his hair out of his face while he puked. She looked into the trash can and became worried. His vomit was a muted pink color, and it was very liquidy. What did he eat? Or maybe it was blood mixed in with his stomach contents…

His mom rubbed his back and waited for him to finish before asking any more questions. He wouldn't be able to answer them until he was done anyway. After a while, the retching died down a bit. He started letting out low belches instead, with a little bit of retching mixed in. Thinking he was almost done, his mom pat his back and looked him in the eye. He looked tired.

"You alright, baby?" she asked. Len thickly swallowed, then spit into the trash can. Some saliva stayed on his bottom lip though, creating a small string that started to drip down into the trash can. He spat again to get rid of it, but it wouldn't budge. He tried again, but coughed harshly and groaned. He nodded softly, no longer looking at his mom. He still felt really nauseous, and he knew he wasn't done, but he felt a lot better now that his stomach was empty.

His mom put her hand on his forehead, feeling for a fever. He felt normal. She furrowed her brows and pursed her lips, a trait she very noticeably passed onto her daughter. Maybe he ran too hard and made himself sick? The treadmill was upstairs though, so he should have ran into the bathroom, not all the way downstairs into the kitchen.

"You think you're almost done?" she asked. Len mouth breathed for a few seconds, trying to catch his breath. He wanted to be done, but his stomach still felt hot, and it was swishing and gurgling. He shrugged, the motion upsetting his belly more.

"Ohh," he moaned softly. "It still hurts." He was about to take a breath in when he suddenly lurched forward and belched up another string of vomit. He coughed softly, almost as if he was crying. His mom got worried and looked to check. His eyes were watering, but he didn't look like he was actually crying. His nose wasn't red or anything, and he looked more tired than in pain. A few seconds passed before he retched again. That felt like it might be the last of it though. He hurled one more time before his stomach felt empty. He could hardly breathe when he was finished.

His mom pat his back a few times and waited for him to say something or get up. She didn't want to bug him with questions or make him feel pressured to be done quickly. He tended to get embarrassed whenever he got sick. He always wanted to be alone. He surely didn't want her to be there right next to him while he threw up.

"Ohh...I feel better," he mumbled, closing his eyes. He let out a deep sigh and relaxed, leaning back into his mom. He let his head rest heavily on her chest. His mom pulled him up into her lap and pressed her cheek on the top of his head.

"What happened, baby?" she asked in a sweet voice. "Do you feel sick? Did you eat something bad?" It wasn't like him to just randomly throw up.

"I'm okay," was his reply. He was too exhausted to explain any further. He lied there in his mom's lap for a while, trying to catch his breath and get some energy back. His mom asked him more questions.

"Were you feeling bad this morning?"

That just happened to be Tuesday, a school day. The kids had been home for about an hour or so. She wondered if he'd gone to school feeling sick. It wouldn't have been the first time. He liked to hide it for some reason. She could feel him shaking his head, however.

"No," he mumbled. He didn't feel like answering her questions. He wanted to go back to his room and lie down. He felt better getting that out of his stomach, but he still felt awful. "Mom, I'm tired. Can I go back to my room?" His mom bit her bottom lip after hearing that. She didn't want to just send him to his room without knowing why he suddenly got sick.

"Yeah, okay," she said. She rubbed his back a few times, then helped him to his feet. She would check on him later. Maybe he would feel more up to talking then. She led him down the hall to the twins' room. Rin was sitting on his bed, sketchbook in her hands. She looked up at them as they entered.

"Hey, you doing alright?" she asked her brother. She could hear him from their room. Len nodded, his eyes half closed. He was sleepy before he got sick. He was even more tired after his abdominal muscles forced out everything in his stomach.

Rin moved off of his bed so he could lie down. He got in bed and dug himself under the covers. He curled up into a ball, cradling his knees to his chest with one hand tucked between his stomach and his legs, holding his stomach.

Rin frowned and sat down beside her sick brother. He may be an idiot for being so reckless, but she still felt bad for him. She slowly rubbed his arm up and down in a soothing manner. Len whimpered and squeezed his eyes shut, curling in even tighter on himself. God, his stomach was killing him. He didn't think he would get this sick from eating a simple cake. Despite the cake no longer being in his system, his stomach still gurgled and groaned uncomfortably. He muffled a few belches into his pillow.

"Do you want some water or anything?" Rin asked softly. "Any medicine?" She felt helpless just watching him suffer.

Len could hardly bring himself to speak. His throat was so dry and cracked from all the stomach acid. "Water…" he croaked out. Rin nodded, even though he couldn't see her face. She went to the kitchen to get him a glass of water. Her mom stopped her before she could open the cupboard.

"Rinny?" she called out to her. Rin turned around to face her mother.

"Hm?" she replied, turning back to get a glass down from one of the shelves. Her mother looked at her worriedly.

"Have you seen your brother recently?" she asked. Rin slowly looked back at her and nodded, frowning. Her mother bit her lip, concerned.

"Yeah," she mumbled. "He had an upset stomach, so I tried to give him a belly rub to make him feel better, but then he ran away all of the sudden." She saw the look on her mother's face and could only guess what happened when he was gone. "I assume he threw up?" Her mother nodded.

"He was pretty upset when I last saw him," she added. "He looked like he was in a lot of pain. I didn't know what to do, so I asked him if he needed anything, and he said some water would be nice." Remembering that he needed the water, Rin hurriedly filled the glass with ice and water and started to make her way back to their room. Her mother stopped her again.

"Did he tell you anything about why he's feeling bad?" she asked. "He was pretty drained after he threw up, so he didn't really explain anything to me about what was going on." Rin nodded.

"Yeah, he uh…" she shook her head and laughed at him in pity. "He told me he ate an entire cake. I'm sure he's learned his lesson about portion control, though." Her mother sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"What am I gonna do with him…" she mumbled. Rin shrugged and went back to their room to deliver the water to him. Surprisingly, he had fallen asleep in the short time she took to get it for him. She sighed and set the glass on the nightstand beside his bed. Taking a seat next to him, she leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on his forehead before ruffling his hair lightly.

"You're such a dummy, Lenny…" she mumbled to herself, then lied down next to him, spooning him. Len tossed a little in his sleep, whimpering to himself. Rin hushed him and rubbed his arm up and down. Eventually he relaxed from his fitful sleep and fell into a deeper dream state. Rin was beginning to feel tired as well. She ended up falling asleep next to him, keeping him warm while he recovered from his bad decisions. Hopefully he had learned his lesson.

[wheremyscalesslither]

The Glowfish Adventure

In January 2016 my family decided to get a "low maintenance" pet for my nephew's 4-5th birthday... somehow they decided fish fit the bill. I rallied against it so hard because I knew inevitably no one would provide the care needed for a fish tank. Between the water changes, and feeding, and making sure the habitat was actually suitable for the inhabitants, I knew my family wouldn't keep up.

Literally a month later I was caring for the fish. My family wasnt willing to provide the care above, but also refused to get rid of them, so I bitterly took the lead. Bitterly, because fish were dumb and boring, amirite? But ESPECIALLY GLOWFISH.

No, not because they are "tattooed/dyed" (they are bred for their coloration) or because theyre GMO (the food you eat is GMO). But because in my head Glowfish were the pinnacle of gross capitalism: pushing the fad of owning a living animal for decoration.

Still yet, I was not going to let animals suffer.

TA-DA. The first fish tank. Okay actually the first fish tank had fake plants. Real plants were my first move as the caretaker. I went to the local aquarium shop and asked them to give me the easiest plants. They gave me:

water wisteria

Water sprite

Elodea anacharis

Echinodorus "red flame"

And at a random trip to petsmart I got an anubius nana for too much money 🤷‍♀️

And why yes, that is a grand total of 2 tetra glowfish in a 20 gallon because the other 4 died during what I learned was a "fish in cycle" 😬 I wasnt very fish savvy yet so I wasnt aware of what a cycle was let alone that you need constant water changes to not kill fish.

With a lot of help from @jayce-space and other great people (but mostly I bothered jayce-space) i started to slowly upgrade the tetra tank. Oh and the plants grew!!

Look at that healthy school of fish. And the questionably healthy plants. The only plants that survived the first tank were the wisteria, red flame sword, a sprig of elodea, and the anubias nana. Elodea died pretty quick afterward though, and the water Sprite became uprooted so my mom threw it out thinking it was garbage 😂 still one of the biggest WTF moments for me in animal keeping. "Mom you dont think twice about the tank why did you throw those plants away randomly" she still doesnt know hahaha

Onwards,

A year passed and I decided I *actually* enjoyed keeping aquariums, so much so that for my birthday I begged my parents to let me get the tetras a tank that was better suited for them.

And thusly the 40B gallon was born!

Oh man look at that aquascaping 👌👌👌 I branched out to more plants. I got 2 more swords (Echinodorus "ozelot" and Apongeton crispus), some dwarf sag, and planted the wisteria, anubias, and red flame sword into the 40B. those cholla were soooo aesthetically pleasing. Dont mind the rocks, they're weighing the driftwood down.

From January to September I added a ton more species of plants and more tetras: black skirt and white skirt- 2 more "normal" colors.

The new additions of plants are: Hydrocotyle leucocephala, Hygrophila corymbosa, Amazon swords

Eventually the cholla decompoosed too much and the bottom of the aquarium was ALWAYS dirty so I switched it out for some spider wood. One new plant species was added: staurogyne repens

Here is the tetra tank January 2018, 2 years into taking over the care of the tank.

By September 2018, someone gifted me a 55 gallon which was initially intended to be a salt water tank. After discovering just how much more careful and vigilant you have to be with salt water aquariums, as well as the hefty price tag, I made it into a bioactive enclosure for a snake. Which I got bored of and turned into an upgrade for the tetras 😊

Oh boy those plants look sparse in such a long tank. What survived, might you ask?? Not quite the variety I had hoped for, though some of the plants from my original purchase survived:

Echinodorus "red flame" *first plant 😃

Water wisteria *clones of the first plant!

Anubias nana *first plant!

Echinodorus "ozelot"

Amazon swords

Apongeton crispus (though it melted and has never been the same since)

Hydrophilia corymbosa

A sprig of dwarf sag

A sprig of staurogyne repens

I later added java moss to make moss "trees"

Adding pressurized co2 was game changer. Plants EXPLODED. I'm 10000% committed to using co2 in aquariums. Holy cow it makes a difference.

Sadly I dont have a comparison to this January In a photo, just a video.

But heres a photo from March!

Along the way I got water Sprite again and java ferns. I also had a brief interest in shrimp (actually I LOVE them) so I added amano and ghost shrimp. I have also added platies and my nephews' betta fish after watching very very closely. Honestly at this point, the fish tank is no longer a tetra tank. It's mostly a platy tank. And they've done an excellent job of stocking it for me 😑

More recently, I switched to a better diffuser and the plants got even crazier! Here's a photo from 1-2 days ago after 2 weeks on the new diffuser:

I was literally pulling plants out by the handful to fill in my dad's 57 gallon tank.

Some plants got transferred:

Echinodorus "red flame," (she is arguably my favorite plant) Not only has she survived this long, but she outgrew the 55 gallon to the extent her leaves were sprouting out of the water and dying. I moved her into my dad's ridiculously shaped 57 gallon. That's her standing proudly on the left:

java moss trees got moved. The height of this tank suits them better and looks less crowded

One of the 2 Amazon swords

I cloned my original java moss, and it is now 7 separate plants- 3 of the smaller ones are in this 57 gal.

A very large sprig of water wisteria and a large clump of water sprite

A few dwarf sag

The elodea came from a science project at school, and they gave me all the snails and elodea from it :)

I also had some duckweed introduced from the snails and elodea so RIP me.

And finally, the tetra tank today:

It got a nice old trim and pull of plants even after I took some for my dad's tank. Now I need to add the hardscaping back in. And I'm really itching to get new plants and more glowfish tetras!!

Heres the final attendance sheet:

Fauna:

glowfish tetra

Glowfish shark

Black skirt tetra

White skirt tetra

Blue platies

Rando Pond snails

One nerite snail

3 amano shrimp

1 ghost shrimp

Flora:

Echinodorus "ozelot"

Amazon sword

Anubias nana

Java fern

Water sprite

Water wisteria

Dwarf sag

Some reddish plant I forgot the name of 🤔

Bacopa caroliana

Some other bacopa species 🤷‍♀️

Its funny to think back to the first experiences I had with aquariums and realize how far I've come.

So what's next?

What's next is my uncle is building me a frame for the 135 gallon tank my parents bought. The tetra and platies will likely be going right in there with all the plants :)

wish me luck!