#lui; i'll bring color to your world

[variouscolors-old]

"Don't leave me here, Ukkomon...!"

He whined again. He was running from more of those big, evil Digimon with those black rings, again. The swarm of Flymon surrounded him as he tried to run and hide.

But it was pointless.

He felt that he was an easy target with that eye. Ukkomon should have thought about the consequences before doing something so reckless!

@indentedheartner / @digitalworid

[variouscolors]

@limitlesspossibilities:

"Oh, I still like burgers. I think they're delicious! Just maybe not... when you eat twenty at once..." He's not going to touch another burger for a long time.

"It's ok, I think my problem was... My mom used to assume I liked them and shoved a ton of hamburger steaks down my throat."

"At first... they tasted good, but when you get it at every single meal, it tastes countless times because of the conditions your family has lived through..."

"They start to give you a bad taste in your mouth. I can't like them. They remind me… The terrible things I've been put through."

"But..."

"... French fries and chicken nuggets are fine. Just make sure you don't eat too much of those to not get tired of them. Moderate portions are the best way to avoid developing an aversion to food and other things, I guess.

[jsprnt]

Americano PT. 5 | Jude Bellingham x Reader

What happens if two individuals who absolutely despise each other are forced to interact after unforeseen events occur?

A/N: pff, this was a long one, enjoy babes. A heads up in advance, I’ll be taking a break in the first week of April due to my exams 🫶

W/C: 4.558

part four

"Come in here and bring your laundry hamper!"

"Just a second, dad!"

I jump out of bed, leaving my phone on the other end of it, and grab the pink hamper. I hold onto the handles tightly as I make my way out of my room.

I see him standing over the washing machine in the laundry room. I enter quickly, the both of us starting to sort out the dirty clothes and putting them in the machine accordingly.

"Did you finish packing?" My dad asks, glancing at me before grabbing the laundry detergent and fabric softener out of the cabinet above me.

"Yeah, just a couple basic things. It's like a 2-3 day trip."

He pours the blue liquid into the cap, checking the measurements before pouring it into the designated compartment. Doing the same thing with the fabric softener.

"Really? No fancy dress or anything?"

I look up from the washing machine, a sheepish smile forming on my face. I watch him shake his head in disbelief, a smile on his face as he turns the machine on.

"When I sent you abroad- I thought your aunt would raise you exactly like I would. But I forgot she probably raised you to love dressing up like her. You know, she used to terrorize me in my own room growing up, only because I had bigger windows and thus better lighting for when she did her makeup.." He shakes his head, chuckle leaving him as he reminisces.

I laugh at him, the smile on my face bigger now.

"I think packing something proper is very important. It worked out pretty well last Saturday when we went for dessert in Girona."

"Just stay safe when going out. It's a dangerous world, honey." He says, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I purse my lips at his words, remembering what had happened just a couple nights ago. He didn't know about the entire debacle, but since it was already dealt with, I didn't see a reason to bring it up.

"When are you getting up?"

"Not super early, like around eight? The match isn't until Tuesday, so no early flight."

"You know, it's almost twelve, right? Go to bed already, and don't go on your phone." He tuts, scolding me and pushing me towards my room.

"Alright, I'll go to bed."

"Goodnight, I love you." He says, kissing my forehead before he makes his way down the stairs.

"Love you too!" I shout as I watch him walk away while I stand in front of my bedroom door. The silence of the house surrounding me when I’m left alone.

The team had finally wrapped up training for the day. We had arrived in Napels that morning, and they had trained hard until late in the afternoon.

This left us with some free time for the rest of the day, until we had to prepare for the match tomorrow.

"You've been doing your makeup for about 40 minutes now." I hear Luis complain, lying flat on his back on top of my bed.

"I could be meeting my future Italian husband out there! Come on, let me look cute for tonight."

I darken up my eye makeup, coloring my waterline with a black pencil to contrast my white dress.

I then drench my face in setting spray, fanning it dry with a random brochure, I found on the nightstand.

"Besides, you're wrinkling your clothes, stand up. I can't have you looking bummy! What if you find yourself a pretty lady?" I wink, struggling to hold back a laugh at the unimpressed expression he sends me.

I finally stand up from the chair, smoothing down my dress in front of the mirror, and adjust the slit a little.

"We can go now!"

"Are you drinking?"

"No, not feeling it tonight." I mutter, eyeing the delicious-sounding food on the menu.

I look up, watching Luis flip through the menu.

"I'm going to order a pizza."

"Why pizza?" He asks, looking at me.

"We are practically in the birthplace of pizza. Are you judging me?" I ask, raising a brow at him.

"Just get it, I'm not judging you.." He raises his hands as if to surrender.

"You're so mean when you're hungry." He mumbles, closing his menu.

"Just appreciate the fact that I dragged you here. Look at how beautiful the view is.

I turn, admiring the view behind the glass panels of the restaurant. The Vesuvius mountain and the water are absolutely breathtaking, especially right now during sunset.

He sighs at me in agreement, looking around to find a waiter for us to finally order our food.

I watch him order for the both of us, getting distracted by the view, and turn towards him when the waiter leaves.

"If you get hammered, I'll leave you here.."

"So, now you want to find an Italian girlfriend?" I ask Luis bewildered, watching him walk - no stumble in front of me.

The drinks he ordered were good, so good he felt inclined to ordered multiple of them. I didn't keep count, but he definitely had more than his limit, which made him the drunk mess he was right now.

"Of course, you're my best friend. We should each find a person to marry!" He slurs, walking towards the docks.

I sigh deeply, looking down at my heels, before jogging up to him, clutching onto his shirt tightly.

"You're going to fall into the water!" I shout, trying to hold him back from the edge, but he shouts in protest.

"It's fine, maybe one of these hot people will save me from drowning."

Oh my god

I look up to where he's pointing, seeing a group of people on an expensive-looking catamaran. I'm way too distracted to realize my grip on Luis has loosened, and watch him leave. I see him greet the partying people loudly. I close my eyes in embarrassment, wanting to jump into the water out of shame.

Who even parties on a random Monday evening?

I surprisingly hear someone shout something in what sounds like Italian. I turn my head, eyes searching as I turn my attention to the person.

My eyes meet the eyes of a tall, brown-eyed, beautifully sun-kissed man. His blue linen shirt halfway unbuttoned.

He looked like, and definitely is trouble.

I hear him say something again, and my eyes widen when they go back to Luis, who looks like he's having the time of his life with two girls.

"English?" I hear the beautiful stranger ask.

I nod, watching him walk towards the dock and then, interestingly enough, reach for my hand.

I would never leave Luis alone on this boat full of strangers. Therefore, I reluctantly grab the guy's hand as he pulls me onto the boat.

"Hi?" I greet, raising a brow. Quickly smoothing my dress down.

"Hello, and your name is?" He asks, eyes roaming up and down my body, definitely checking me out. The Aussie accent practically melting me on the spot, making it difficult for my jaw to stay closed.

He was the definition of trouble.

But I needed to get my mess of a friend off this damn boat and leave.

"y/n, yours?" I ask, pretending to be more interested than I am, sneakily glancing at Luis.

"I'm Chris. You're not from here, are you?"

Obviously not

"No, I'm actually from Valencia."

A white lie, he didn't have to know anything about me.

"Valencia, Spain? What are you and your friend doing here?"

"Visiting, for fun." I lie again, giving him a smile.

"Really? Having fun so far?" He smiles, his pearly white teeth blinding me.

"Yeah, a lot of fun." I reply, my brows raising in fake interest.

I watch him chuckle, his plump lips curling up. His arm going up to run a hand through his blonde locks.

"Care for a drink, then?"

As beautiful as this man was, I wasn't naive enough to accept a drink from him. Especially, since we were in a totally different country.

"I'm fine, actually. I'm leaving tomorrow, so I'm trying to not drink as much."

"Oh, you probably came to watch the Champions League game then?"

Got me, kind of.

I immediately pull a sour face, pretending to be disgusted.

"Of course not, I have better things to do than attend a Real Madrid match. If it wasn't for Valencia, I'd be for Barcelona anyway.."

That one physically hurt to say.

"Oh- don't get mad now." He teases, putting his hands up, his smile getting wider.

I had to leave hastily, at least before this man got me into his bed.

"You're fine. I'm just trying to get my friend and leave. You alright with that?"

"Let me get your number first. Don't think I'll forget you after tonight." He says, handing me his phone.

I was curving the man left and right, and he still wanted my number?

"I don't really give out my number. But I can give you my Instagram handle?"

"That's fine." He says, clicking on his Instagram.

I watch his screen, my eyes accidentally catching the number of girls on his explore page.

No way, this man was looking for something serious.

"Oh, I'll type it in. If that's alright?" I say, reaching for his phone. He nods, handing me the device.

I quickly type in my username, pressing follow.

To snoop a little further, I go back to the explore page, seeing more ass and boobs than I had prepared for. Pretending to be unfazed as I clear the Instagram tab and hand his phone back to him.

I mean, their bodies were amazing, but why the hell was he following them?

"That's it. Here you go. My phone is dead, so I'll talk to you later?" I say, fidgeting with my handbag. My social battery was dying even faster than normal tonight. 

I watch him nod, his eyes on me, as I immediately make my way to Luis, who's now sitting with a random girl.

"Hi, sorry to interrupt, but we have to leave."

I grab onto Luis' arm, using all my strength to get him up. Noticing the amount of shot glasses and empty beer bottles in front of them.

How the hell did he manage to do that so fast?

Idiot.

"Wait, do you want his Instagram?" I ask the girl. She hesitates before nodding looking at us confused.

"Okay, well, let me spell it for you."

I spell his username quickly, turning away.

"Yes, that's it. We're not a thing, by the way- he's my brother. Bye!"

Another lie, but maybe it would help him in the long run.

"Let's go, come on." I groan, dragging Luis back to the hotel.

It was doable until he started leaning his body on me, making me slump partially. My heels beginning to hurt my feet more than ever.

After a good ten minutes of struggling, we finally enter the elevator of the hotel, his body weight starts to pile on me. Arriving at our correct floor I drag him out, a huge sigh of relief leaving my lips as I recognize some of our Real Madrid players.

"Help." I mumble, watching some of them recognize the fact that I was half-suffocating.

I watch Antonio, Aurélien, and Jude, of all people, walk towards us, getting drunk and passed out Luis off of me.

"Thank you." I sigh, fixing myself, watching Antonio comically throw Luis onto one of the seats there.

"What happened to him?" I hear Brahim say as I try to catch my breath and I readjust my grip on my bag.

"Long story."

"Let's put him to bed first." Antonio says, making me nod. All of our eyes moving to a passed-out Luis.

"So, he got into a random boat?" Federico asks, looking at me.

I nod, trying to hold back a laugh while I drink my water. The cardigan I had retrieved from my room keeping me warm as we sat in the sky lounge.

"I would've partied." I look up at Cama, shaking my head.

"They were strangers, come on! But- one guy did approach me." I say, sending him a smug look.

"So you had some fun!"

"Look, he was cute. He offered me a drink, but I refused."

"That's it? Come on..”

"Why are you all up in my business?" I joke, being half-serious, hearing some of them laugh.

I finish my cup of water, beginning to stand up from my seat.

"It's getting late, I'm going up to my room. Don’t make it late, you guys need to rest well!" I say, waving after they send me off with kind words.

I press the elevator button, crossing my arms as I wait for it to arrive. The doors open a few seconds later, and I step in. I raise my head in surprise when I see an arm hold the doors open. Surprise turns into irritation when I notice Jude step in.

"Why did you follow me?" I ask, playing with the clasp on my bag.

"You know, not everything is about you." He mutters, a fed-up expression on his face. I sigh, closing my eyes in impatience, as I lean against the elevator wall.

The elevator makes a noise, and I check the floor number, getting out, hearing him follow me.

I start rummaging through my handbag for my room-key. Finally, fishing it out as we walk up to our respective rooms.

I arrive at my door, hearing Jude walk up to his own, his room interestingly enough being across from mine.

I go to scan my card but freeze, realizing my door is open by a small sliver.

"Why is my door open?" I mumble to myself, trying to subdue my instant panic.

"What?" I hear, seeing Jude walk up to me from the corner of my eye. His eyes darting in between me and the door.

"You left it open, probably." He responds, not an ounce of concern in his voice.

"You think?"

"Yeah, since you're so good with doors-"

"Okay, stop right there." I mutter, pushing the door open further. I flick the light on, looking around cautiously.

I hear him scoff at my behavior, and I turn around to look at him.

"Can you check the room?" I ask, trying to sound as nice as possible.

"No." He deadpans, giving me a bored look.

I hold back a string of cuss words, stepping into the room as he stands at the doorway.

"Stay here at least, before I get murdered."

"Would be a sight." He mutters, voice laced with humor. Though, I found it difficult to see this situation as funny.

"You're not funny. Are you aware of that?" I ask, punching into the curtains to check if anyone's hiding behind them.

"Find anything, detective?"

"Shut up." I whisper, going to open the bathroom door, hesitating for a moment.

Adrenaline starts pumping through my veins. I try to take deep breaths to prepare for a fight.

"What if someone's actually here?" I whisper, my eyes wide, as I turn to look at Jude.

I watch his expression harden, his jaw tensing as he looks at me.

"What do you mean?!" I hear Jude whisper back. His voice is hushed and more low than usual.

I take off both of my heels, ready to bash the possible intruder’s head in with my heels.

"Call security." I whisper, preparing to fight. I watch him take out his phone, before he raises his head again. His expression darkens for a moment before it changes into something- else...

"What are you doing, idiot? Come here." He says, and I can almost make out a vein popping out of his forehead.

All of the sudden, he makes his way over to me, grabbing my wrist and dragging me out of my room. Shutting the heavy door behind me, his hands coming up to my shoulders.

"What is wrong with you? You don't even know if they're with a weapon or anything!" He shouts in a hushed voice, his Brum accent more prominent than ever.

I continue staring at him, my lips parting in realization.

Damn, I was such a shallow thinker in times of crisis.

My mind turns blank, not acknowledging Jude's presence anymore. I can only hear him sigh and mumble something as security from both the club and hotel arrive at my room.

"Could you take her somewhere else, sir?” I hear someone say, feeling my wrist being pulled abruptly by Jude.

I follow him blindly, but I try to look back at my room. Wanting to see if someone would actually appear out of my room.

"Don't look." I hear, looking in front of me again as I’m brought into the hotel room across from mine. Nicer and bigger, definitely his.

"Sit down." He orders, pulling my wrist again and making me sit on one of the cushioned chairs.

I oblige without protest, too dazed to react in a snarky way. The silence in the room feels like hours when only being about ten minutes. It is finally cut off as Jude's phone starts ringing loudly.

I hear him speak for a few minutes before he hangs up. I watch him walk towards me as he sits in the chair next to me.

"No one was there, they checked the cameras as well. You left the door open."

I cringe, realizing my own initial mistake. A shudder runs through me as he explains.

"Oh, great!" I mumble sarcastically, feeling embarrassed, fidgeting with the fabric of my dress. Only now realizing I was barefoot, my heels probably fell out of my grasp when he pulled me out of the room.

I get up when he finishes explaining, walking up to the door. Pulling my soft cardigan closer to soothe myself.

"Where are you going?" I hear Jude ask. I turn and look back at him.

"Back to my room." I say, suddenly feeling the day's exhaustion take effect. My vision becoming blurry as I feel an ache make its way to my head.

This day alone probably took five years off my lifespan.

I hear him sigh as he walks up to me. Feeling him put his hand on my right shoulder.

"What?" I ask, looking him up and down. Trying to shrug his hand off of my shoulder.

I watch his jaw tense again, his grip on my shoulder getting tighter, though, not getting to the point of hurting.

I open my mouth to speak again, as he doesn't bother to answer my question. Unfortunately, I’m stopped by a sharp pain shooting through my head.

I groan in pain, placing my hands on my temples as I squeeze my eyes shut.

"What's wrong?" I hear him whisper, his other hand making its way to my left shoulder.

"I'm fine..." I dismiss, taking his hands off my shoulders. I reach for the door handle, pulling it down and stepping out of the room.

I tap my card against the sensor hurriedly and open my door, turning to see his door across the hallway already shut.

"Doesn't even care to watch me go inside." I mutter, ridding myself of my clothes and taking a much-needed shower. Trying to wash off all my stress and embarrassment.

When I'm done, I make a beeline to my bed, closing my eyes and forcing myself to sleep. I shift and turn, groaning in frustration as I turn my pillow around for the nth time.

It's like my sleep was robbed of me within minutes. My thoughts keeping me up. I check the time, realizing it was almost two in the morning.

I begin getting fully paranoid, my stupid brain making up the craziest scenarios imaginable.

I bury my face deeper into my pillow, forcing my brain to shut up. Finally, managing to fall asleep, too tired to keep my anxious walls up.

"You look like a truck ran you over."

"Shut up." I snarl replying to Jude. Trying to ignore him further as I continue eating my food, Luis sitting across from me at the breakfast buffet.

I had gotten maybe five hours of sleep. My three layers of concealer weren’t doing its job today. It had creased within minutes of application.

I roll my eyes as he sits at the table next to us, probably to annoy me further.

“Someone get this weirdo away from me..” I say loudly, closing my eyes in prayer.

I hear Jude scoff, following it up with a laugh.

"Were you born insufferable, or do you practice in the mirror before going to bed?" I ask, poking at my food.

I hear him chuckle again, which makes my blood boil even more. I glance at Luis, seeing a grin forming on his face.

"You too?"

I had told him everything that had happened last night, him feeling embarrassed but finding it hilarious at the same time.

He did promise he'd make it up to me.

"Don't forget how I dragged your ass from the dock to the hotel. I could've easily left you there."

I threaten, looking at Luis as I shove another spoonful of food in my mouth.

I see Jude open his mouth, but I stop him with a hand as my phone rings. My dad calling me right at the perfect moment.

"Oops, sorry, too busy for whatever you want to say."

I realize how immature I sound, but I digress. I get up and answer the call. Chatting to my dad about the past few days.

I signal for Luis to stop filming, patting his back to commend him for his hard work after the final whistle is blown. A nice 3-2 putting us on top of the table.

"They played really well."

I hum, posting the last social media post and turning to him.

"Right, if they keep playing like this, we'll definitely end up at the top of table C for sure."

"We'll go far. That's without question."

We make our way inside, trying to rush to get inside on time.

"Hugo is saying to interview both Frederico and Jude." I mutter, rereading the text message.

"That's fine, let's just wait here until they're ready." He says, both of us waiting in front of the changing room as they pile inside. Tired expressions on all of their faces.

"By the way, have you seen this one guy that's working here? He's so cute for you." I hear Luis say, looking up at him confused.

"Which one?" I ask, fidgeting with the cable of the camera.

"I'll show you when I see him." He says, and I give him a look.

"He better be cute, since you're making me wait."

"Alright, that's it." I announce, looking at Jude. Finally wrapping up his interview.

"Thank you." He mutters, with less attitude this time. Probably way too tired to have a petty fight with me. I wasn't disappointed with that, to be honest. I couldn't stand speaking to him anymore.

"See you on the bus, man." I hear Jude say, giving Luis a handshake as he begins walking away. My eyes follow him, piercing into his back.

"See, that's the guy I was talking about." I hear Luis say, my head snapping towards the direction he was looking at.

"Which one-" I begin, shamelessly looking at the guy.

"What? No, are you serious?" I ask, appalled by the person he’s shipping me with.

"Yeah, he's cute for you." He mutters, giving me a smirk.

"You might be hungover still. Let's just get into the bus, please."

We pack our equipment up, starting to walk towards the team buses. Successfully helping fellow staff with the multiple suitcases and bags and stepping up into the vehicle.

We greet the players we make eye contact with, the both of us walking along the occupied seats until we finally find two empty ones next to each other.

"I'm tired..." I mumble, leaning my back against the seat, closing my eyes as I get comfortable. Leaving my phone on my lap.

"I can see that." I hear Luis reply, and I open one of my eyes to give him an offended look.

"How sweet of you." I reply, trying to take a quick fifteen-minute nap. Running around for more than two hours with five hours of sleep was not for the weak.

I was part of the weak.

I hear the sound of a notification, surprised it could be heard through all of the chatter and banter of everyone in the bus.

"Was that your phone?" I ask, leaning my head against the window.

"No, it was yours." Luis answers.

"Can you read it for me? You know my password."

I feel my phone being removed from my lap, a second of silence from Luis before he starts laughing uncontrollably.

"What?" I ask, getting curious.

What could be that funny?

"It's a DM from a Chris on Instagram."

"Who the fuck is Chris?" I ask, finally opening my eyes to take my phone back. My eyes roaming around the screen, reading a short message with a 'view once’ photo.

"Thought you repped Valencia?"

I read the message out loud, looking back at Luis, confused. Then I look at the profile picture.

"Oh my god! It's the guys from the boat!" I shout, embarrassed when I realize I was being louder than necessary.

"The one you talked about?"

"Yeah- wait, what do you think the photo is?" I ask, starting to feel squirmy.

"A dick pic." I hear Luis whisper.

"Who got a dick pic?"

I hear someone ask, looking at the row behind me. Jude peeking his head in between our headrests.

"Not you, so mind your own business.." I reply, moving my phone out of his view and returning to my conversation with Luis. Ignoring the daggers he’s sending me with his piercing gaze.

"No way, gross. He looked desperate, but no way."

"Well, click on it."

"No, now I'm scared. Why would you even bring that up?"

"Just squint."

I huff, leaning back against the widow, squinting as I press on the photo.

"Oh-" I exclaim, taking a deep, relieved breath.

Thankfully, it’s not an explicit picture, but a photo of me at the stadium we were just at, prematch to be specific. From the angle, you could tell the photo was taken from the stands.

"Wait- what the fuck? He was there? Ew, why did he take a photo of me?” I say, showing Luis the screen.

I watch his mouth fall open. He reaches over, taking my phone from me and screenshots the photo.

"That's why he sent that message. You lied to him about yourself, right?"

"Of course I did!" I say, snatching the phone from his hand.

"What do I say?" I ask, looking at him with a questioning look.

"Do you even want to speak to him?"

"Well- I'm bored?" I give him a grin, his arm coming to push me.

“I can’t stop you, but you said he looked like trouble, so ignore him..." He advises, squeezing my arm.

I nod at his words, taking them in. I swipe to press the mute button on the chat, and turn my phone off.

[miistical]

week nine - latin america p. 2

And here's part two! I greatly enjoyed these stories more than last week's. The themes that are prevalent in this week's list are more to my interest and each of the writers do them great justice. Also, I've said this before and I'll say it again: Julio Cortázar, I am going to kiss you for writing "Bestiary".

Week nine's readings are: Jorge Luis Borges' "The Aleph" Julio Cortázar's "Bestiary" Luisa Valenzuela's "I'm Your Horse in the Night"

This week we're dealing with perception. Each story is focused on how they see the world or, in some cases, what they believe the world is showing them. Is what happening real? Or is it all in the narrator's head? And, if it is all just in their mind, does it make what they're seeing, what they believe, any less real?

"The Aleph" by Jorge Luis Borges is a part of a larger collection of short stories that deal with themes of dreams, labyrinths, chance, infinity, archives, and mirrors—and boy does this story deliver on that. Firstly, our narrator is a truly insufferable man who was so obsessed with a woman in life that after her death he continually bugs her cousin Carlos as if to somehow prove he was important enough to her to stay in touch with her family (even though he actively dislikes said cousin). While this alone is decent ground to treat in the theme of perception - how the narrator believes his relationship with both the woman and her surviving family, his own relationship with his artistic skills versus others, etc. - that's not all. "The Aleph" is named such due to a real (or perhaps imaginary?) aleph in Carlos' house. He swears by it, that all the universe opens up to him, and when the narrator swings by to see it for himself, he sees the same. Yet, he does not let himself truly bask in the experience; instead, his jealousy and disdain for Carlos colors his reaction and he pretends that he saw nothing at all. How he perceived himself and Carlos ruined any spiritual connection that he could have made and, at the end, he is left still a petty man while Carlos' experiences with the aleph impacted his artistic skill enough to win a national prize.

My favorite of this bunch, as I said at the top, is Julio Cortázar's "Bestiary". Considered as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, it's no wonder why this story is as good as it is. The narrator, Isabel, is a young girl sent off to live with family friends (her playmate Nino, his father, mother, and uncle along with their housekeeper and a roaming tiger) for the summer. She creates little bestiaries and plays with the insects in the gardens of the home, but this is mirrored in how she writes unsent letters back home of the behaviors of everyone in the house. Everything is a beast, here. As she slowly watches and documents the habits of all the bugs she's collected, she notices how everyone in the house inhibits some of the same characteristics; the reader and Isabel both don't like what they start to see. The sad, damp atmosphere Isabel notices clings tighter as the days pass by. The perception here is how Isabel slots things together, equating ants and praying mantises to how Nino's mother Rema flinches away from her husband's brother. She overhears Nino's father call his brother a bastard, brings the uncle a drink instead of letting Rema do it—watches as her bugs eat each other to survive. By the end, Isabel is trusted to let everyone know where in the house the roaming tiger is, and the uncle does not question her when she tells him it's in his office. She's lying, of course; she knows he'll head to the library to get work done instead and run directly into the tiger there. Isabel knows that bigger insects pray on smaller ones, but should there be enough ants even a praying mantis can die. Rema gives Isabel a hug and Isabel releases her bestiary back into the garden—her experiments are complete.

It's really hard to follow "Bestiary" in my mind, I'm afraid. Thankfully, Luisa Valenzuela's "I'm Your Horse in the Night" is a very different beast. Written by a post-Latin American Boom author, this short story (as many of her stories were) is in direct opposition to the 1970s Argentinean dictatorship. The theme of perception is strange here as nothing is actually what it seems. The story is about the lovers Chiquita and Beto, the letter of which the government is looking for. After spending the night together, Beto is gone in the morning and, after a quick phone call with a friend, Chiquita finds the police at her doorstep looking for Beto. Yet, there is a very good possibility that none of this happened. For one, Chiquita and Beto aren't even their real names, just nicknames they gave to each other. Secondly, Chiquita herself isn't so sure if Beto was ever actually there or if it was all a dream; everything had seemed so vivid, yet if Beto was actually on the run from the government, why would he be in the country let alone at the house of his known lover? And Chiquita is known as the phone call was faked - it was never a close friend, but rather someone pretending to be to get Chiquita to accidentally give up where Beto was. Truly, the only thing real is the very end, where Chiquita is trapped in prison—yet, even if it would save her, she never tells anyone about her night, whether real or fake. It's the last thing she had of the man she loved, of how he felt and sounded, and relinquishing that part of him was just too much.

The perception of other people and of life itself can be tricky. It colors your experience with everything and everyone you interact with—jealousy can make you petty and blind to the beauty of the world, patterns in behaviors can open your eyes to see what's hiding in plain sight, and even dreams can become real enough if you hide them away in yourself. Each story this week was a pleasure to read as all the narrators had something they clung to so tightly that nothing was going to take it from them.

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Rui has been working at this small business since he graduated from High School. It was a small cafe which was owned by his cousin’s fiancée. At least it helped him to get enough budget for his own studies and his own apartment.

No one dared to ask about his right eye, and went they had… He would immediately use the same ‘automated’ responses – “I hurt my eye when I was a kid, please don’t ask me for details. I don’t remember well what happened.” – and pray that the subject was changed by something else.

Now that Ukkomon was back and with him again, he had convinced the owner to let the digimon work with him at the cafe. At least to learn more about humans and the partner digimon around.

One day, Rui was minding his business at the cafe shop when someone got inside:

“Welcome,”

That person seemed familiar though…?

"...Ichijouji-kun?"

@notsobubbly

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"Ho Ho Ho"

"Merry Christmas."

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"..."

"Were Daisuke-kun and Inoue-san always like that?"

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"GET WAFFLED IDIOT" [to whoever gets in the way 😔]

Send "GET WAFFLED IDIOT" to throw a f*cking waffle at my muse at full speed!

"The wha--"

THWAP.

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"Hey everyone, it's TIME."

"It's"

"Rui's Birthday once again!!"

"If you don't give him a 'happy birthday'..."

"I'll be sad!"

"And maybe pull your feet under your bed while you're asleep!"

"Ukkomon, I told you to not do that ever again."

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight~"

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[ slow dance ] -[daikeru or dairui, ur pick]

[Different ways to hug someone - list]

[ slow dance ] a type of hug where both partners are incredibly close to one another and sway to some music

Rui is not an excellent dancer, but he clearly enjoyed learning a bit of everything for his own survival. And since Miyako invited him and the others for a dancing party he… He got this strange request from Daisuke.

“Slow dance, huh…” The boy mused, “Slow dance is… a little trickier for me because I… I never danced with someone before. But I watched videos on the internet teaching how to.”

But for what reason, though? Again, he just felt it could be useful someday… This is what you do when you reduce your physical contact with other people due to the fear of everyone discovering your digi-eye.

“... Ok,” he took a deep breath, “Place your left arm on the top of my right arm, put the hand on my shoulder. I’ll try to guide you.”

He put his right arm beneath Daisuke’s armpit and hand on Dai’s back, gently and kindly.

Ukkomon just played the slow ballad while he and V-mon watched the boys dance practice.

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[ SLEEP ]

REASONS TO TACKLE

[ SLEEP ]: sender tackles the receiver on top of a bed in order to insist that they get some sleep.

"I'm not tired... I can keep watching the camp...!"

He lied, he was just yawning. Rui had offered to keep watching the surroundings, but he was really starting to feel sleepy.

"Ukkomon could appear... At any... Instant...!" A second yawn, and then someone was so done of Rui acting cool that he just...

" 'GET-SOME-SLEEP' BOMBER!!"

"W-WHAT?!"

... tackled the other boy.

They made a LOUD noise and woke up the rest of the group. When Miyako and the others came out to check what had happened, they only saw Daisuke lying on top of Rui as if he was a heavy blanket.

"A-ACK, G-GET OFF ME..!!" Rui screamed "OK OK, I WILL GO TAKE A NAP NOW!!"

"Hehe, good!" he got off the other, rolling to the side.

" . . . 💧" the group was not sure what had happened, but no one was surprised.

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[ ARCADE ]

IDEAS FOR A DATE!

[ ARCADE ]: the sender and receiver decide to visit an arcade together for a date.

"... I never came here before but... There's... a ton of... stuff here and...? They have an arcade area--"

"..."

"Is that that blue hedgehog from the video games!?"

※ Rui never had seen a mascot outfit in person, apparently. ※ Also he never owned a console game before.

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[ ROLLER ]

IDEAS FOR A DATE!

[ ROLLER ]: the sender and receiver put their roller-blades on and hit the rinks together.

"Uh... Do you think it's safe for someone who has an injured eye to go skate rolling because..."

"I might get hurt if you don't guide me."

"Okay then, I'll hold your hand!" Daisuke chuckled.

"H-hold my hand...?"

"I'll be your right eye! Except not literally..."

"No, no, I get it... Uh... So..." he took a deep breath, "A-are you sure you can skate roll? I've never seen you..."

"It can't be that hard, can it?"

"..."

"JUUUUUUUUUUST KIDDING HAHA, I CAN DO IT!"

V-mon and Ukkomon just watched from a distance:

"Well, Daisuke's a walking mess, so get ready to use that first aid kit the others asked me to keep around because... Yeah. Brace yourself."

"What do you mean?" Ukkomon tilted his head, "It can't be that bad, can it?"

>CRASH!!<

Ukkomon and V-mon turned back to their partners, only to see both of them dunked in a dumpster.

"A-aaah, Rui!!" Ukkomon went to rescue the stupid boyfriends.

"See, I told you so," V-mon shrugged.

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[  BATTLE  ]

“𝙄 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐" 𝙋𝙍𝙊𝙈𝙋𝙏𝙎.

[  BATTLE  ]:     as they prepare to go on a dangerous mission, sender shares a final moment with the receiver, and tells them they love them, just as they head out to fight.

"W-what." "Why do you need to go now?! Why do you have to fight??"

Rui is not a fighter type, and Ukkomon cannot evolve normally like the other digimon he knows. If Ukkomon can evolve, it might be something a little worrying (and... ahem, big) for him, since the last time he saw Ukkomon evolve was into... Something that ALMOST caused a huge headache for everyone.

"You taught me to sit and talk," Rui continued, holding Daisuke's arm gently but firmly, "can't you just talk to them instead? I don't want to see you or anyone else get hurt!"

He hated the concept of Digimon battles. He hated the concept of having to protect and save the world. Doesn't he trust in Daisuke's own strength? No, he does trust Daisuke. But he's terribly afraid of losing Daisuke right now.

"Please don't g--"

"I've already decided, Rui!" Daisuke broke his silence, his voice strong and serious, filled with determination and passion, "I have to go, I have to protect everyone, to protect you. I hate to sit and watch, so I'm going!"

"D-Daisuke-kun--"

"I have to go there and make them hear me out, so that's why I'm fighting! To make them listen to us. Because I am so tired of watching these punks hurt innocent people...!"

"..."

"If anything happens to you, if they hurt you... I will regret it for the rest of my life! So I can't let that happen!"

"..." Rui's silence was worrying, unfortunately. He just kept looking at Daisuke with a sad look and squeezed the other's arm.

"I love you Rui. That's why I'd rather risk myself to protect you."

"...?!!"

That made him lose his grip on Daisuke's arm, stunned. Daisuke's serious gaze met his and he realized now… How cool this boy is. Daisuke smiled, a soft, warm smile, and patted Rui on the head.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be back, I promise."

"..."

"We don't fight because we like to destroy things. We're the opposite of those guys. We fight to protect the things and people we love. So it's worth the risk!"

"..."

"Don't ya agree?"

Rui smiled this time, and nodded his head in silence.

"Now that's the Rui I know and love!" Daisuke chuckled, "I'll be back, and when I'm back, I'll give you enough time just for us, okay?"

Rui definitely blushed again from what Daisuke just said, and when he finally got his brain back to normal… Daisuke just left on XV-mon and went to the battle to meet the other five kids.

"...He... he really said he loves you?" Ukkomon broke the silence, blinking. The digimon was speechless.

"What, are you jealous?" Rui teased him, playfully.

"Of course I'm not...!!"

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"I don't need to tell anyone that I'm the first person to form a partnership with a digimon, it doesn't seem those people know what they can and cannot do."

"They... Are dangerous servants, but I don't want them to fight to death either. I don't like the fighting part. That weird guy and those other kids just make things worse for everyone.

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[C’MON]

[BEACH / POOL STARTERS]

[C’MON] - sender drags/talks the receiver into the water with them

"Daisuke-kun I don't think I can do that... I can't see very well, remember?"

Oh yes, the fact that he has an injured eye makes things a bit more difficult. Still, he was anxious to go to an ophthalmologist and see if he had indeed lost the sight in his right eye, or if there was anything he could do to get it back.

"You can go, I'll stay here and wait you come back."

He wavered, and stepped back.

"..."

"Maybe we can just walk near the water, but that's all I can do."