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thekisforkeats · 3 years

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The Joys of Fandom, or, how TMA helped me rediscover my love of tea

So among the many (many) good things The Magnus Archives podcast has brought to my life, none has been quite so profound as remembering how much I love making a good cup of tea. I’ve got a whole post about how it’s helped me categorize the anxiety cloud I live with on a constant basis, how it’s gotten me writing again, and writing poetry which I haven’t done in forever, how identifying with so many openly queer boys going through so much crap has helped me figure out that I want to transition.

But.

Tea is the reason we’re here today, because making a pot of tea has become a daily ritual since I started listening to TMA, and it’s been one of those tiny things that’s changed my life profoundly, and I have TMA to thank for this almost entirely.

I did not grow up drinking tea. I am from the Seattle, Washington area, and I’m just old enough Starbucks was a popular local coffee shop when I was a kid. My parents both drank a TON of coffee, my mother basically runs on the stuff, and by the time I was 6 I was drinking coffee too. Tea, growing up, was Lipton, sometimes iced or sometimes not. I didn’t even realize herbal tea was tea. Green tea was a thing one drank at Chinese restaurants. I was not at all informed.

When I got my first job, I would stop at Starbucks during the bus layover (as once does in the Seattle area) and one day in a fit of teenaged desire to be “cool” and “writerly” because I’d seen a tin of “Writer’s Chai” in the store I bought a chai latte. I loved it, and that became my go-to Starbucks drink.

I still didn’t really get tea, but I at least started learning how to boil water in the kettle and waiting for it to actually boil, pouring it over the tea bag, etc. I didn’t put in milk or sugar because I drank coffee black unless it was a latte or a mocha. I would just sort of... boil the water and pour it over and wait a few minutes and drink the tea with the bag still in the mug.

It wasn’t until I moved to Toronto that I sat down and had a good cup of tea. The woman who hosted the social group I was part of had her particular tea-making rituals, and she encouraged me to try it with milk and sugar, and it was... amazing. Life-changing, even. My perseveration drive kicked into full swing and I had to know everything about tea and its history and how to make a proper cup and so on and so forth. I learned all I could from our hostess, and then turned to the internet.

I bought a kettle to make tea at home but my ex wasn’t really supportive of my desire to brew tea on the regular, so loose leaf and teapots and “does the milk go in in cup before or after the tea” had to wait until I moved out and got a place of my own.

Then I moved to Tallahassee.

In Tallahassee, the coffee was atrocious unless it was from a couple of specific places, mostly serving cafe con leche. But I had my own place and my own dishes and I could have a teapot and make tea and nobody could stop me. So I did. Mostly for myself, while I was contemplating things, and it was really nice to sit and stare out at the ridiculously heavy Florida rain--which hit, in Tallahassee, right about 4:15 in the afternoon all summer so perfect for tea time.

I moved back to Seattle with my spouse, and we moved into my mother’s house. For a long while we didn’t have a kitchen of our own and we had small children, so tea wasn’t a thing I did any more. I had leftover coffee (or canned/bottled coffee) for the caffeine fix, but rarely tea. When my grandmother died and we moved into her old apartment we didn’t have a stove, and I despise heating water for tea in the microwave.

So for the better part of a decade, I barely drank any tea at all. I did discover Oi Ocha in this time, which is bottled green tea from Japan, which is amazing and I love it, but again--it was in a bottle. Not a thing I was personally making.

Then I started listening to The Magnus Archives, and I really identified with Martin Blackwood, because of reasons too complicated to get into here. But it inspired me to want to make tea again, and so I started getting K-cup pods, but it just... wasn’t... right. It wasn’t the same. I mean, it was tea, but it wasn’t... tea.

So I went and bought an electric kettle, and a teapot, and a strainer, and ordered regular deliveries of loose leaf tea, and started making tea for myself and my spouse. I developed my own ritual: cold water in the kettle, put hot water into the teapot (so it doesn’t crack), put three scoops of loose leaf in the strainer. Pour out the water in the teapot when the kettle boils, put in the strainer, pour the boiling water over the strainer. Wait four minutes or so, and while you’re waiting put a splash of half-and-half in the tea mugs (milk goes first so it doesn’t scald and we like the taste of half-and-half best). Then pour the tea into the mugs. The mugs are big enough that I take three spoons of sugar and my spouse four, so put all the sugar into the mugs and then increase the entropy (aka stir) until the sugar’s dissolved. Bring the tea out into the living room, enjoy.

The first time I got it all right, and made a good cup of tea, I literally cried, I was so happy. It was like seeing the sun after it had been dark for so long I’d forgotten what the sun looked like.

The thing I have come to realize about what tea means to me is something that Jon says in the trailer for Season 5 of TMA. Martin brings him a cup of “tea” and Jon goes “that’s not tea” and, indeed, it turns out to be some weird skittering thing. The following exchange really crystallized things for me:

Jon: This is no longer a world where you can trust-- Martin: Tea?! Jon: Comfort.

And that was it, right there. Coffee is fuel, for me. Coffee is “Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There.” (Quite literally; part of playing Persona 5 was remembering how much I love trying out new coffee blends.)

Tea, however, is comfort. Tea is slowing down. Tea is caffeine, yes, and therefore focus for my poor ADD/autistic brain, but it’s afternoon focus. It’s contemplation. It’s sitting and breathing in the aroma and thinking about things in a way that isn’t spiraling or catastrophizing. Whether it’s breakfast tea or Earl Grey or green tea, or an herbal like peppermint or chamomile, tea for me is self-care.

Taking those few minutes to get up and go make a pot of tea in the afternoon, to stop the business of the day and just stand there waiting for the kettle to boil, is something I’ve desperately needed. Coffee is easy to sort of make as “fire and forget,” to the point that I’ve gulped down cold or lukewarm coffee I’d forgotten about just because I need the caffeine. Tea, though, if you’re doing it right you have to stand there and wait for the water to boil and wait for the tea to steep. If you walk away to do something else you’ll ruin the whole thing. I completely understand why Martin is running around making tea for everyone in Season 2 all the time, because everything is falling apart in slow motion and it’s a chance to stop, to focus on making the tea, and then to take the time enjoying the tea itself.

Making tea for others also means love to me. I make tea for my spouse alongside myself. I included one of my teenaged children in tea-making for the first time yesterday and my youngest keeps getting the last bit of tea in the pot, and it’s such a joy to see their faces light up. Bringing someone tea means bringing them a mug of love and care. Another reason I identify with Martin--I often don’t know what to say to help someone, so I try to be sure they’re fed and hydrated and cared for. And I, too, had to learn to stop setting myself on fire to keep those people warm. I had to learn to be sure I was fed and hydrated and cared for, so I could care for them. But even now as I get older and wiser and grumpier I still run around making sure everyone’s fed and has had their mug of tea, I just don’t do it at my own expense anymore.

One of my next crochet projects is a tea cozy in the shape of a green owl, in honor of the Magnus Institute owl, because my little tea-making ritual is always going to be connected to TMA in my head. Also I have a “Fifteen Fears” mug and my spouse has a “Magnus Archives” owl symbol mug, so it’s literally just this really intense connection between TMA and tea, for me.

It’s funny how much comfort a horror podcast has given me since I’ve started listening. There are a few fandoms that have profoundly changed me--Star Trek was the first big one, Babylon 5 was the first that directly inspired me, Mass Effect helped me get out of suicidal depression, Persona (specifically Persona 5) inspired me to take responsibility for myself in a way therapy never quite managed.

And here I am with TMA, figuring out how to navigate anxiety and pain and grief in a world that feels like it’s falling apart around my ears. The concept that what we do matters; that right or wrong you should be making a decision instead of just reacting from fear or surprise; that sometimes you screw up and there’s nothing to be done, that “sorry” doesn’t fix everything, that sometimes nothing you do will fix anything and you can’t let that paralyze you... it’s all been necessary, and helpful, and I’ve been terribly grateful.

Thanks to TMA I’m writing again after years of terrible writer’s block. I’m facing my own fears and accepting that despite (because of?) my terrible arachnophobia I’d probably serve the Web if I served anything (although Eye and Lonely would also get a look in--I did say I identified with Martin pretty strongly). I’m recognizing dysphoria and dealing with it after years of trying to deny the elephant in the room.

I’m also making tea again. And for that, I am eternally, profoundly grateful.

#tma #the magnus archives #tea #martin blackwood #tma spoilers #i guess sort of?#i mean just in case #long post #my writing #seriously i cannot overstate how much tea means to me #it's been one of those things i didn't realize i needed until i started doing it again #i will definitely be posting pics of the tea cozy owl as i make it #because it's gonna be adorable af

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stereksecretsanta · 4 years

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Merry Christmas, kevaaronday!

For @kevaaronday. I tried to use all the tropes you liked, though I played a bit with the coffee shop!AU request. It ended up being pretty long, but I hope it pleases. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Read On AO3

*****

Food, Drinks, and Pings

Stiles just wanted to clear things up—he did not work for Hale Corp, and he certainly did not work for said company’s inhouse café, The Family Bean. He was a writer, who just so happened to have been roped into the gig because he was best friends with the soulmate-fiancée of the best friend of one of the sons of the company’s owners.

See, one of Stiles’ best friends from high school was Erica Reyes, blonde, vivacious, and both crazy and powerful enough to castrate someone with her fingernails. She might look like she just stepped off the catwalk, with her hourglass figure, fluffy hair, and red lips, but she had a knack for business that led to a scholarship at a reputable business school. Stiles, on the other hand, took to writing like a duck to water, thanks to his overactive imagination and ability to turn a phrase. He could write anything and so he did—news pieces, articles, blogs, reviews, as well as a modestly famous soulmate series published under a pseudonym.

Erica’s soon-to-be husband and soulmate was Vernon Boyd III, a tall, dark, and delicious drink of chocolate, who was so fit he could bench press a baby elephant without breaking a sweat. He was the perfect picture of seriousness and silence, that Stiles used to wonder how he functioned as Hale Corp’s Director of Operations. After getting to know him better, he realized just how smart and charismatic Boyd really was.

Boyd’s best friend from childhood was Derek Hale, one of the sons from the famous and powerful Hale Family, owners and leaders of the mass media company, Hale Corp.

Stiles knew of the Hale Family, and who didn’t? You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t know the famous family of business tycoons and titans, a family so rich they could buy a person’s soul even. Nor would someone fail to hear about one of the most powerful love stories that rocked the world.

Talia Hale was the eldest child of the main branch of the Hale family and was poised to take over the world. Desmond Fitzgerald, in contrast, was the only child of elderly parents, and they lived at a shabby, squat house with no electricity, scraping by each and every day.

Talia’s father, the late and great Everett Hale, had visited the local community college as part of their charity program. Talia had tagged along, nineteen and already learning the ropes, and had tripped over the custodian who had been on his hands and knees straightening the welcome carpet.

Take a guess who the janitor was.

An accidental brush of skin, the burning of a Mark, and that was it.

Talia and Desmond turned out to be soulmates, and their Marks, her howling wolf and his crescent moon, had become one of the most romantic symbols of their time.

Now, where did Stiles and The Family Bean came in, you ask?

Aside from writing, Stiles knew his way around a kitchen. His mother had passed away when he was seven, and he had grown up with a Sheriff father who only knew the basics. Stiles had to learn how to cook a meal or risk them subsisting on fried everything and endless takeout orders.

So yes, Stiles knew how a kitchen worked. The thing was, Erica didn’t, and had spent high school eating Stiles’ meals and hanging around his kitchen. Nothing soothed her viciousness and temper like one of his desserts.

So whenever Erica was close to breaking someone’s jaw and risking a lawsuit, she’d invite Stiles over and he would come and work his magic at The Family Bean. It wasn’t like it was such a hardship. The place had a gorgeous kitchen, a full pantry, and a really comfy setup with cozy booths and colorful tables and chairs.

It wasn’t only Erica who benefited. Stiles often found inspiration at the tail end of a whisk or in between beating a dough into submission while listening to Erica’s gossip. He had come to depend on her brand of sass whenever he was suffering from writer’s block, or dealing with annoying clients, or avoiding his editor, Danny Mahealani.

It got to the point that Erica had HR make him a permanent guest entry pass—written down for Stiles S, Food Guy—and everyone knew him by name, the security, the delivery boys, the café’s actual employees, and some of Hale Corp’s employees.

That was what he meant by his original statement: He did not work for Hale Corp or The Family Bean. He was just Erica’s food guy and personal chef. Just another title to add to personal punching bag, platonic soulmate, best friend, and partner-in-crime, among others.

Boyd was surprisingly calm about the guy constantly hanging around his soulmate. Then again, no one would choose Stiles’ skinny ass for Boyd’s lusciousness, so Stiles could understand that he wasn’t much of a threat. Erica said that Boyd knew they were a package deal, and it helped that Boyd had been won over by Stiles’ banana bread. Either way, Boyd was cool and didn’t punch Stiles in the face for his and Erica’s weird platonic love affair.

So, in the end, that was Stiles’ life—work, his Dad, Erica, and his other friends.

Then the Hales happened.

It all started on a fine Monday morning with Kira Yukimura. She was pretty and petite, and the goddess who was actually the one in charge of The Family Bean’s kitchen. She wore floral dresses with studded combat boots, and held katana wielding lessons on Saturdays and a kids’ kitchen workshop on Sundays. Stiles adored her.

So when he walked in that day—after spending the entirety of the weekend not writing, because his protagonists, Peter and Wade, were being idiots—only to hear Kira’s cries for help, he was more than happy to tag in.

“I’m not crying.” She glared at him from where she was assembling sandwich orders, her gaze as sharp as her swords.

“But you still need help,” Stiles said. He put his laptop bag in one of the employee lockers, rolled up the sleeves of his red sweater, and put on an apron. “Erica wants to do lunch, but I decided to come in early.”

Kira nodded towards the window. “All right, because I got a purple ticket for you.”

Stiles jumped up. “Ooh, cool! I’ve never handled a purple ticket before!”

Kira gave him a relieved smile. “Well, today’s your lucky day. One of my employees called in sick, another is late, and I’ve got five packed tickets from different departments, three of them being rush orders, not to mention today’s purple ticket is a little too vague. I’m both swamped and stumped.”

“I’ve got your back, K.” Stiles gave her a salute and bounced over to the ticket tacked up on the holder.

Purple tickets were orders sent straight from the Wolf’s Den. It was the codename for the top floors occupied by the Hale Family and their closest associates. Boyd and Erica’s office were there, too. Stiles had only ever seen it through photos. There was a lot of security posted there, as if guarding the gates of heaven.

Anyway, purple tickets meant VVVVIP orders, note the number of ‘very’s. Kira usually handled those, but she obviously needed help now.

“Now, what do the Lords and Ladies want?” Stiles murmured to himself.

The Family Bean:

MH: hot chocolate

CC: pancakes

SHB: waffles

VHB: dirty chai

LH: anything

“You know who’s who?” Kira called out.

“Yep, I got it,” Stiles replied. He learned about this from Erica.

MH was Matthew Hale, the firstborn son and heir to the kingdom. CC was his seven-year-old daughter, who everyone called by her nickname. SHB was five-year-old Spencer, and VHB was his mother Valerie Hale-Barone, the firstborn daughter, second eldest, and the lawyer of the family. LH was Laura Hale, the third eldest and the maverick of the family. She was the only one not directly working for Hale Corp, and was more involved their side projects.

“Purple tickets are usually like that,” Kira said, looking at him with amusement. Stiles realized he had been frowning in confusion. “Despite being insanely rich people, they’re surprisingly not very picky about what they eat. Laura, in particular, will eat anything. It’s just difficult to give them variety or find a balance between upscale and too simple.”

“And now you want me to take a crack at it?” Stiles asked.

“Sure. It’ll be in my name anyway, and I don’t mind if you go wild,” Kira said encouragingly. It made Stiles grin. Most would be horrified at handing over their precious menu to someone who wasn’t a baker, much less someone who wasn’t a legitimate employee. But Kira had always been a rebel.

Under Kira’s guidance, Stiles filled up a purple delivery bag for the Hales. The dirty chai latte was pretty straightforward, though he didn’t know how Kira usually made it, so he went with his own style. He also made a raspberry hot chocolate, strawberry cheesecake pancakes, mixed berry waffles, and, for the anything portion of the ticket, a berry breakfast parfait made of yoghurt and fruits and graham crackers.

“Tastes awesome and looks pretty as a picture too,” Kira said, nibbling on her own waffle as she sat atop the counter, swinging her legs to and fro. Stiles could see a hint of her soulmate Mark under her dress just on the outside of her thigh. “I still believe you should have been a baker rather than a writer.”

Stiles grinned as he hung up his apron. “I’m both, but one pays the bills and the other’s a hobby. It’s surprising how most people would think one’s the other.”

“Kira?” a voice called out.

Kira perked up and immediately slid off the counter. She straightened her skirt and stepped out the door of the kitchen.

“Good morning, Derek,” she greeted.

Stiles peeked out unashamedly through the service window.

Tall, dark, and incredibly handsome, DH or Derek Hale was the middle child of the family. He was the Chief Financial Officer, and was said to be shyer and quieter compared to his more unruly and flashy siblings. It made sense why he was childhood friends with Boyd. The two seemed to share a calm, quiet demeanor.

Stiles had always thought that Derek was quite handsome in an already attractive family, and every once in a while, he would get front row seats—or the view through the service window—to the man in the three-piece suit with the godly shoulder to waist to ass ratio. It was quite inspiring.

“I heard Val and the others had a purple ticket sent down,” Derek was saying to Kira. “I’m on my way up and I thought I’d bring it along and save you a trip.”

“Oh, thanks, Derek. I’ll get it from the back,” Kira replied. “How about you? Do you want anything?”

Derek thought about it. “Just a drink. Anything you want to make me.”

“So long as it’s sweet?” Kira teased, which made the man chuckle.

It was like a bulb lit up in Stiles’ head.

He met Kira at the door when she walked back in, and it said so much about how awesome she was because she immediately said, “Yes, Stiles, you can make whatever you want. I mean, you’ve already tried your hard at the purple ticket. Might as well go all the way.”

“Thanks, K. You’re a goddess.” Stiles bounced off to the machines. He had always liked a challenge.

In the end, Stiles added his specially made ‘very merry berry frappe’ into the bag. He made sure to put it in a cup cozy to hide the purple color. He wasn’t sure if Derek would mind, but it just wouldn’t do for one of the bosses to be seen with a colorful drink. He let Kira whisk the bag away and they watched Derek exit The Family Bean.

“I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave,” Stiles murmured, eyeing the man’s backside.

“I’ll drink to that.” Kira giggled, clinking her extra glass of frappe against his. “And you’re teaching me the recipe by the way.”

“Not on your life.”

It took eight days before Stiles could once again visit The Family Bean. He had had a burst of inspiration following his last visit and had locked himself up in his apartment. His Dad John and his editor Danny were used to these binges, so they had taken turns visiting him to make sure he was alive and eating actual food rather than inhaling takeout, junk food, and soda.

He had sent off the first few chapters to Danny yesterday and had then slept for about eighteen hours, before Erica had barged in to make sure he hadn’t died. She had been pissed at him last week, annoyed that she hadn’t sampled Stiles’ berry-filled menu, but she’d gotten over it and had even brought groceries before dragging Stiles to The Family Bean for some fresh air and free lunch.

And if that wasn’t enough to perk Stiles up, she and Kira proceeded to tell him how well-received his menu was.

“The kids absolutely loved it, and Laura practically licked her parfait cup clean,” Kira said as they sat around the table for lunch. She had prepared honey sesame chicken, egg rolls, and sweet potato salad. She definitely had Stiles beat when it came to savory meals.

“Valerie was surprised that her dirty chai tasted great. She wasn’t biting people’s heads off more than usual,” Erica shared. She was running her fingers idly over her soulmate Mark, the three claw marks that spanned across her forearm.

Stiles felt pleased at the compliment, but he couldn’t help sending Kira an apologetic look. He didn’t want to usurp her clients and her kitchen.

Kira just laughed. “It’s fine. I know it’s due to your magic fingers and secret recipes. Just teach me how you do Valerie’s dirty chai and we’re good.”

“Sure thing, but it’s nothing special” Stiles said. “I did bring dessert, as thanks for letting me play around last time.”

Kira bounced on her seat. “Tomato pie?”

“With extra bacon and jalapeños, just how you like it.” Stiles grinned and showed her the pie, making Kira squeal.

“You gals eat up. I’ll mix us up some lattes, if you want anything,” he offered.

Stiles went to the kitchen to fix up Erica’s usual iced cinnamon honey latte and Kira’s vanilla almond. He was in the middle of finishing them up when he heard voices out at the main area. He recognized Boyd’s low voice and decided to make him a cup of blond roast with soy milk. He paused when he heard unfamiliar voices and took a peek out the service window. He instantly recognized the small group that had joined Kira and Erica.

There was Boyd, who immediately sat down beside Erica and kissed her cheek. His soulmate Mark was obvious, a rose on the back of his left hand. Stiles liked their marks, very beauty and the beast.

Having come in with Boyd was Derek, who looked just as handsome as he always did in a fetching dark blue suit. With him were his younger siblings, twins Cora and Cameron Hale, the artists of the family, who made music and art, played a bevy of instruments, and also drew and painted. Stiles was only two years older than the twins, but they had more talent in their pinkies than Stiles had in his whole body.

The twins’ Marks were one of the most popular, not just because the two were celebrities, but also because they were incredibly visible. Even from a distance, Stiles could see the compass between Cora’s collarbones and the lighthouse that popped up over Cameron’s collar at the left side of his neck.

Suddenly feeling shy, Stiles stayed in the kitchen and watched and listened.

“Nice spread, Kira. Is that for us?” Cameron asked.

“No, you Hales have your own food upstairs,” Kira said. “I heard Wild Flour Italian sent lunch over.”

Cora rolled her eyes. “Jennifer Blake owns that joint. She’s been trying to get us to come over. No doubt she’ll just use it as some sort of advertisement. I’d rather take a bite of this.” She pointed at their table.

“That pie looks good,” Cameron said. “Can I have a bite?”

Stiles saw the gleam in Erica’s eye.

“Go on,” she said. “They’re good.”

Stiles watched as Erica and Kira offered the Hales a slice each. For some reason, he felt anxious to hear about how his food will be received. It had been nice to hear the rave reviews from Kira and Erica, but it was different seeing their reactions in person.

Cora let out yum-yum noises, which buoyed Stiles’ spirit.

“Okay, that’s pretty tasty. I love the caramelized bacon.”

“Wait, is this tomato in pie? Like a tomato pie?” Cameron asked, inspecting his plate. He took a large bite.

Kira bounced on her seat in excitement. “Yes, isn’t it good?”

“Who made this?” Derek asked. He didn’t look displeased, but he didn’t look happy either. He had a really good poker face. It might be good for business, but it was hard for Stiles to interpret. Stiles noted that he kept on eating the pie though.

“My Food Guy,” Erica said with a smug grin.

“Her Food Guy’s the one who made the berry-eautiful purple ticket that received quite the sensational reviews,” Kira added. She glanced at the service window and Stiles knew she saw him hiding there.

“The one who made my drink, too?” Derek asked.

Kira nodded. “The same one.”

“Spence went gaga for those waffles,” Cameron said. “And Mattie couldn’t believe someone got CC to eat fruit.”

A loud ring cut through their conversation and everyone started pulling out phones to check. It was Derek’s.

“Mom’s calling. Time to go,” he said, standing up.

In reply, Cameron started shoving the rest of the pie in his mouth and also popped in a couple of egg rolls.

“Where’s the Food Guy, though?” Cora asked, head turning to the kitchen. Stiles ducked down behind the counter. “If he makes stuff like this, I wanna meet him.”

“You can order a purple ticket if you want, but he’s not here all the time,” Erica said, and Stiles glared at her in his mind.

“He works part-time?” Derek asked.

“Not quite,” Kira said. “He’s—”

They were interrupted once more by a ringing phone, and this time Boyd spoke.

“Talia wants you all upstairs. Now.”

Stiles peeked out again. Cameron attempted to bring the entire pie tin, but settled for polishing his slice off. He then joined Cora in writing up a purple ticket order. After a moment, Derek put an order in too. The Hales left in a hurry and Stiles leaned right out of the service window just as Kira came bouncing towards it.

“There’s the man of the hour,” Boyd said, with a smirk.

Kira giggled. “Order up, Food Guy. You got a purple ticket.”

“I’m so proud.” Erica mockingly wiped a tear away. “Stiles, my Food Guy, charming the Hales off through the power of food.”

“Oh, fuck you all.” Stiles glared, ducking back into the kitchen.

At the last minute, he reached out and grabbed the purple ticket from Kira, ignoring the others’ laughter.

Over the next three weeks, Stiles prepared four more purple tickets. According to Kira, his drinks and desserts had become quite attractive to the Hales, both because of the taste and the mystery.

“At this point, they don’t even want me handling the tickets. They always ask if The Food Guy is around before they send their orders down,” Kira said. This time, she was the one helping Stiles prepare and pack.

The Wolf’s Den was going to be holding meetings nonstop, so Stiles had to prepare a variety of drinks and snacks. It would have been easy if they had simple requests, but the Hales were a mix of eclectic and frustrating.

“I’m glad you’re cool about this, but the Hales are bound to find out that the one making all their desserts isn’t even an employee,” Stiles said, as he added an extra shot of syrup in Laura’s honey and milk iced coffee. Just like her usual orders, she had asked for ‘any drink that’s sweet’ which was such a large ballpark that Stiles wanted to clock someone over the head, maybe her.

“I’m more surprised that you keep making these for free,” Kira said.

Stiles shrugged. “It’s a challenge, and I like challenges.”

“Really, just for the challenge?” Kira asked. “Stiles, Valerie fell in love with your version of her dirty chai. I did it the exact same way you did, but she insists that it tastes different. Same with Cameron’s favorite spiced coconut coffee. Same with all the desserts you made for the kids…”

Her face turned serious. “Don’t you think there’s more to this? Don’t you think it’s a ping—”

“It’s just for fun, Kira. It’s nothing,” Stiles said, heart rabbiting in his chest. He pushed it down firmly. “Plus, it’s surprisingly inspiring for my stories. Right now, I’m writing a new story for my spy series and I’m trying to solve this thing going on between James and Quentin.”

Kira’s face fell but she smiled, if a bit awkwardly. “Ah, well. Whatever you say, Food Guy. I’m just happy I get free labor out of it.”

“So you’re the Food Guy?”

The two of them jumped up in surprise and they turned around to see that someone had come in through the kitchen doors.

“Nathan, hello!” Kira greeted. “We didn’t hear you come in.”

Nathaniel Hale was the youngest of the brood at nineteen, and with his dark hair and piercing blue eyes, he was quite the heartthrob in an already beautiful family. If that wasn’t enough, he was an athlete and a rising star in soccer.

Stiles didn’t really care at the moment, too busy wondering if the kid had heard what Kira had been saying.

Nathan leaned against the counter. “Everyone was arguing over who was going to pick up the ticket this time. I walked out while Laura was arm wrestling with Cam.”

Kira laughed while Stiles looked away, suddenly awkward.

“Uh, that’s cool and all, but I’m not remotely interesting enough to warrant an arm wrestle.”

Nathan shrugged. “Your stuff tastes amazing.” He smiled at Kira. “No offense, Kira. You’re still queen. But you… you’re interesting.” He gave Stiles a look. “You know, I’ve been ordering the same caramel vanilla iced coffee from The Family Bean for years now. You made it once and now everything else tastes different.”

Stiles couldn’t help flinching. Oh yeah. Nathan had definitely heard Kira.

But Nathan turned to Kira, breaking the stare. “Anyway, is the ticket ready? Can I take it up?”

Kira smiled and handed over the bag. “You just want to lord your victory over the others.”

“Of course. That’s what having siblings is all about.” Nathan scoffed, but grinned. “Anyway, thanks.”

Kira smiled. “Enjoy your meal.”

Stiles watched Nathan leave and rubbed his left shoulder. He had a weird feeling about all this.

A single touch was all it took to find someone’s soulmate. However, people couldn’t just go around touching one another. Some did, but there were laws against touching people without their consent. So Nature, in all its wisdom, gave people the capability to locate their soulmates by following a trail.

The best trail was through family members. Take for example one other famous Hale love story, that of Valerie. Her husband, the Italian magnate Piero Barone, was from a family of vintners. During Talia and Desmond’s trip to Italy, they met Piero at a wine tasting event and immediately felt what Mark experts called a ‘ping,’ a connection between them that hinted at the identity of Piero’s soulmate. Piero followed the Hales to America, met the family—all of which gave off similar pings—was finally allowed a Touch Test with Valerie, and the rest was history.

There were other kinds of trails, like what happened between Boyd and Erica. They both attended the same university, though Boyd had graduated several years earlier. However, even without knowing Boyd, Erica inadvertently joined the same groups and organizations that he had, and even lived at the same apartment that he had rented when he had been a student. Then after Erica graduated, she decided to take a year off to travel. Months later, when Boyd went on sabbatical, he ended up following almost the exact same itinerary. They finally met by chance during an alumni event and got to talking, which revealed all of the things they had in common. Before the event was even halfway through, they had done a Touch Test and found their match.

Stiles’ favorite trail story was of his parents’. John and Claudia met when they were children. Having no siblings, they didn’t have the benefit of a family trail, and being young meant there weren’t a lot of experiences that could link them. However, they had always known there was something special about one another. They grew up together, grew apart, and met later on in life. They still didn’t have the same life experiences—she was a librarian, he was a deputy—but the moment they saw one another again, they just knew.

Sometimes people just knew.

“Well, well, well. I didn’t know we were serving twink in the menu.”

Ordinarily, that comment would have had Stiles lashing out with his sharp tongue, but upon looking up, he hesitated. First of all, the other person was clearly drunk and it was only, Stiles checked his watch, three-forty-seven in the afternoon. Second, the other person was none other than the infamous Peter Hale, Talia’s younger brother.

The eternal bachelor, he was called, well known for his many dalliances and relationships. He was also the Hale with the most well-known Mark, not because it was at a visible spot, but mostly because he tended to flaunt the large image of a bird in flight that was across his chest via his tendency of wearing unbuttoned shirts.

In Stiles’ opinion, Peter reminded him of one of his book characters—the rich and powerful Anthony, who, underneath all the bravado, was desperately looking for his soulmate, only to find it in the fair-haired, gentle-hearted Steven, who wouldn’t take his crap. He wondered who Peter’s soulmate was.

“Oh, for god’s sake. Uncle, come back here!”

Stiles looked up to see Derek jogging over to them, looking both pissed and worried at the man leaning against The Family Bean’s pristine counter.

Peter ignored him. “Oh, lay off, Derek. I want a drink, and this twink is going to make me one.”

Derek turned to Stiles. “Peter, do not call—” He paused, dark eyes widening.

Stiles felt his heart jerk in his chest and his left shoulder burn. He felt like he had been hit in the head, so did Derek going by his gaping.

Peter suddenly tilted sideways, interrupting their stare down. Neither Stiles nor Derek were able to catch the man before he ended up sprawled across the counter. The sight of him had Stiles dredging up some semblance of control. He sighed.

“You are very rude, and also very drunk, but because I feel sorry for you, Mr. Hale, I’ll make you a free drink.”

Derek let out a gurgle and then a cough, obviously holding back laughter. Peter propped himself up on wobbly elbows.

“You feel sorry for me? Don’t you know who I am, kid?”

Stiles was both annoyed by Peter and buoyed by Derek’s reaction. It was probably what sharpened his tongue.

“You’re Talia Hale’s younger brother, but between the supposed—ahh, what was it—Big Bad Wolf of Media and this so-called twink, I’m not the one nursing a hangover at this time of the afternoon.”

Stiles shook his head and walked off, ignoring Peter’s angry, garbled words and the sudden chuckle from Derek. The latter made Stiles’ shoulder ache.

Stiles ignored that and prepared a quick takeout bag. He could hear Peter and Derek arguing out on the main area. It was the work of minutes to prepare a quick smoothie and throw in some crackers and fruits. He walked back out and handed the bag to Derek, but then quickly tucked his hands to himself. The other man’s piercing stare was making him sweat.

Peter grabbed his drink and took a gulp of the smoothie, before asking, “What’s your name, kid?”

Stiles rolled his eyes. Not even a thank you. How rude.

“Not a kid, and there’s no need to know my name since you’re just going to forget it.”

Peter smirked lasciviously. “Oh, that mouth on you.”

“I’m also not into geriatrics,” Stiles was quick to bite back.

Peter’s jaw dropped. “Geria—”

Derek suddenly burst into laughter and the sound of it seemed to fill Stiles’ heart and mind, making his face flush and his body warm. Derek smiled at him and Stiles felt warmth bloom in his chest.

Stiles cleared his throat, trying to will the blush away. He rubbed his shoulder. “Well, anyway, I’m happy to help. I’ll tell Kira you guys dropped by. See you around.” He glanced at Peter. “Not you. Drop dead.” He stepped back.

“Wait!” Derek lurched forward, startling Stiles and also Peter, who, true to Stiles’ words, slid off the counter to the floor. They ignored him.

Derek leaned forward over the counter. “I’m sorry if I’m forward, but are you—”

Stiles shook his head vigorously. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”

He ducked back into the kitchen, ignoring Derek’s calls and Peter’s drunken warbling. He leaned against the door and slid down until he could curl up into a ball. He placed a hand over his burning shoulder.

Sometimes people just knew.

Stiles was tempted to stay away from The Family Bean after that. He really wanted to. But it was hard to stay away.

Even harder to stay away from a ping.

Stiles wasn’t stupid enough to let that slip away.

Still, it was hard to face up to it and admit that he had a soulmate.

So for the next two weeks, Stiles stayed away from the front of house, always hiding in the safety of the kitchen. He kept on making purple tickets whenever they came, but he avoided coming out for any reason, especially after Derek started coming by nearly every day. Sometimes he even brought his work over just so that he could stay as long as possible.

It confused Kira and Erica, but they assumed Derek just liked the food. The other Hales also started coming by and many times, Stiles could hear them asking Derek why he was hanging around The Family Bean instead of working in his office. Always, Derek kept mum.

Because as it turned out, Derek hadn’t told anyone about the ping.

In fact, Stiles had a feeling that the only person in the Hale family who knew was Nathan. Maybe because he had already been suspicious of it. Out of all the Hales, he was the only one who didn’t ask Derek about why he kept hanging around the café.

The other one who knew was Boyd.

Derek had been called to a meeting one day, so Stiles had felt it safe to come out and work at one of the booths. He had already fallen so far behind on his writing commitments. After a few minutes, Boyd had dropped by and had joined him. Stiles knew he was typing gibberish on his laptop, but he kept on as an excuse not to look at Boyd, who was looking at him intently.

Finally, he spoke, “Looking back, I guess it wasn’t just your banana bread that won me over.”

Stiles jerked, sending a series of characters across the screen.

Boyd kept on. “I always had a good feeling about you from Erica’s stories, but when we met, that was definitely a ping.”

Stiles bit his lip. “Does Erica know?”

Boyd shook his head. “I love her, but Erica would have thrown a party if she knew.”

Stiles sighed, both in relief and in trepidation for the moment Erica find out.

Boyd studied him. “Derek’s a good guy, you know.”

“I know I got that impression from all the stories you and Erica had of him,” Stiles said. “I always thought it was surprising considering he could afford not to be a nice guy.”

Boyd studied him, making Stiles shift in his seat. “Is that the reason you won’t meet with him? Or do a Touch Test? Because he’s a Hale?”

Stiles almost protested, but he deflated. “…I don’t know.”

Boyd hummed under his breath. “Well, you’ve always played your cards close to the chest when it comes to soulmates, but I know you’ll figure it out.” He stood up. “But you better make it soon. Erica and the rest of the Hales are bound to figure it out.”

Stiles groaned and sank down on his seat.

“Noted.”

The day after that, a still-conflicted Stiles was once again at The Family Bean. Kira had gone up to the Wolf’s Den to deliver the latest purple ticket, so he had to stay and man the counter.

The door let out a little tinkle, and Stiles froze the moment he saw the woman entering the café.

He’d know Talia Hale anywhere.

Stiles almost panicked, but then he remembered that she didn’t know who he was. He took a deep breath.

“Um, good afternoon, Mrs. Hale. What can I get you?”

The woman smiled, quite warm and friendly despite her fierce reputation. “Just some tea, please. And are there any new desserts?”

It had been a moment of weakness, but Stiles had actually brought over some peanut butter stuffed cookies and added it to the purple ticket in the hopes that a certain Hale would like them. He still had a few cookies left, but he wasn’t sure if he should offer them to her.

“I smell cookies,” Talia said pointedly. “I’ll have some of those.”

Stiles gulped. “Ah, we have some peanut butter stuffed cookies. Let me get those for you.”

He swallowed his nerves and served the woman, who took a sip of tea and a bite of the cookie right there on the counter.

She smiled, studying the cookies. “Very tasty.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Stiles smiled politely. He turned away to leave and maybe gather his strength in the privacy of the kitchen.

“When we started hearing about The Food Guy, I admit I was quite intrigued. It’s very rare for someone to grab the attention of my entire family.”

Stiles paused and turned to her.

He should have known.

Stiles nodded stiffly. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

Talia smiled, sharp and knowing. “And you, Food Guy.”

“Any reason for the visit?” Stiles asked, shifting on his feet.

“I wanted to meet you,” Talia said, taking another bite of her cookie.

Stiles frowned. “That’s all?”

“Were you expecting anything else?”

“Uh, well, I…”

Talia shrugged and sipped his tea. “I don’t blame you for any misgivings you might have should you prove to be soulmates with my son. I’m well aware of the reputation of my family. My late father, Everett, embodied the might of the Hale name better than anyone. You should have seen him back in the days.”

Stiles held up his hands. He couldn’t help the feeling that he had to explain.

“It’s not that there’s a problem with Derek or your family. Being a Hale isn’t the problem… not entirely…” he hesitated, but then plunged on, urged by the ping he could feel inside him and the desire to make someone understand. “My mom passed away when I was seven. She was soulmates with my father. He was—I was—we were never the same after.”

A heavy silence fell, and Stiles was both nervous and intrigued. Talia’s face changed. Something in her eyes darkened and she pursed her lips.

“Forgive my sudden melancholy, but I was just reminded of something.” She sipped her tea. “I was reminded of my youth. My father, Peter, and I had never been the same after mother walked away.”

“Walked away?” Stiles was taken aback. It was rare to hear any mention of Talia’s mother, but everyone had chalked it up to grief at her passing. “But you all said she died—”

Talia interrupted him delicately. “People think of Marks as the be all and end all where the only answer is yes. But even soulmates are a choice…”

“Desmond grew up without a penny to his name, so he rejected me as he could only see himself as an embarrassment to the Hale family. My opinionated father had, unfortunately, been a contributing factor to that line of thinking. I grew up with a rather jaded view of Marks and pings, and I had seen his rejection as a challenge and not a privilege. Desmond and I, our story had been tempestuous, quite unlike the romanticizing people had done.”

She finished the last of her tea. “If I may be allowed to request one thing, all I ask is that you make a choice so that Derek can do the same. No one in this family will certainly blame you for it.”

Talia pushed her empty cup and plate towards Stiles, and smiled. “Have a good day, Food Guy.”

Stiles watched Talia walk away.

He had some thinking to do.

Stiles took a deep breath and tried not to crush the boxes in his hands. He was nervous and his left shoulder was throbbing.

“Ready?” Kira asked him. She was carrying the other delivery boxes.

“As I’ll ever be,” Stiles replied.

Kira smiled, both encouraging and proud, and nodded to the guard on duty. The man held open the double doors for them, and Stiles was instantly met with a wall of sound.

“Purple ticket delivery,” Kira called out, leading Stiles inside.

The office was spacious, as it should be if it was going to accommodate all of the Hales, and all of them were there. There was a long table at one end where Talia, Matthew, and Boyd were talking and laughing. Desmond was on one couch, talking to Piero and Erica. Laura and Cora were seated on armchairs and were arguing loudly about something. Peter was egging them on. CC and Spencer, were seated in front of a television at a kids’ play area set up in the corner. Cameron was with them, all of them singing along to whatever cartoon was playing. Derek, Valerie, and Nathan were huddled around a table, looking at blueprints.

“Oh, yes! The food’s here!” Cameron cheered, which sent the children shouting as well.

Kira navigated the area like a champ, while Stiles slowly shuffled after. “You guys ordered a lot. I had to ask for help. This is Stiles.”

Stiles didn’t miss the way Derek’s head suddenly jolted in his direction, nor Talia’s proud smile, nor Erica’s sudden screech of “Stiles!” which had everyone else turning their way. Stiles winced. He was going to get his ass kicked later for not telling Erica about this.

“Well, well…” Peter grinned. “Hello there, twink.”

Stiles shuddered. “Still not into creepy old geezers.”

“Oh, wait, wait! Is he the guy who called you a geriatric?” Laura asked, before shrieking in laughter.

“And the one who said Peter should drop dead,” Cora added, cackling.

Laughter rang around over Peter’s protests, and it made Stiles’ heart stutter. He felt warm all over, like the pings going off in his head were doubly delighted at the Hales. He glanced at Derek, who was smiling warmly.

Stiles winced when he caught Erica’s gaze though. She looked between him and Derek and her eyes widened. But Boyd was suddenly there, hand over her mouth and whispering to her.

Stiles helped Kira take out all of the food and the ravenous Hales were quickly upon them.

“Food Guy’s stuff tastes awesome,” Nathan said, licking his cupcake’s icing. He waggled knowing eyebrows at Stiles, who bit back a grin. Cheeky kid.

“Please pass our compliments to the chef, Kira,” Desmond said, reaching for his drink.

Kira giggled. “You can thank him yourself.” She waved at Stiles with a flourish.

Stiles felt a little like a deer in headlights when all their gazes alighted on him.

“You’re Food Guy?” and other iterations of the exclamation rang around the room.

Stiles flushed. “I’m glad to hear you all like what I’ve been making.”

“Oh, wow! How wonderful!” Piero piped up. “I haven’t felt a ping in such a long time. How nostalgic, don’t you think, dear?” He turned to Valerie.

“That’s a ping?” Matthew asked, confused, before his face cleared and he rubbed his chest. “Oh, hell, this is a ping.”

“Is that the tingly feeling here, Uncle Mattie?” Spencer asked, pointing at his tummy.

Erica finally managed to get out from under Boyd. “Stiles, did you ping with Derek? Is that why you’ve both been hanging around The Family Bean? You’ve both been pining over each other!”

Stiles groaned, while gasps and shouts suddenly rang around the room.

Kira sighed. “Way to ruin it, Erica.”

“You mean I was pinged through a tomato pie?” Cameron was asking, wide-eyed.

Cora started laughing. “Oh my god! Uncle Peter flirted with Derek’s soulmate!”

“That’s Uncle Derek’s soulmate?” CC asked.

“Yes, he is.” Nathan looked like he was immensely enjoying all this, and Stiles was starting to realize that he was a little shit.

Derek stepped towards Stiles. His face was a little red, but he was smiling and Stiles thought he was the handsomest man he had ever seen.

“My family’s a mess. Please ignore them,” Derek said, ignoring the protests from his siblings.

Stiles chuckled. “At least they keep things interesting. It’s just me, my Dad, and her.” He jerked a thumb at Erica.

“Oh, fu—dge you!” Erica said, glancing at the kids. She turned to Boyd. “And I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

Boyd rolled his eyes. “I was giving him space to process things.”

Stiles ignored them and turned to Derek. He only had one chance to do this.

“Ah, sorry, it took a while. I was figuring stuff out, but I thought we should get to know one another first.”

“Of course,” Derek said immediately. He reached out a hand. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you, Stiles.”

Stiles glanced at Talia, who was whispering to her husband. She winked at Stiles.

“Soulmates are a choice.”

Stiles smiled at Derek. He could feel his Mark tingling in anticipation.

“Me too, Derek.”

He reached out and took his hand.

#kevaaronday #stereksanta20 #*fic20 #*gifts20

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allycryz · 4 years

Text

WOL Challenge #7: Want

[Prompt List Here]

[Filled Prompts Here]

Early Shadowbringers spoilers, companion piece of sorts to Day 4: Outrage

Rating: Explicit

Pairings: Nerys x Haurchefant

Summary: Nerys and Haurchefant’s reunion on the first. Sometimes, bodies and minds don’t cooperate and even though you’re horny and can’t keep your hands off your lover.

(Basically–I wanted to write about how things going “wrong” in the bedroom is not an indictment of your relationship. Sometimes there are a million little factors that get in the way.)

They cannot leave Eulmore fast enough.

Neither speaks as they hasten over dirt roads and dry, brittle grass. Gatetown grows smaller and smaller but somehow, the tiered city only looms more. When will they send someone to hunt them? The way those girls in harlequin motley moved–Nerys saw the training in it. Should they need to, that pair can kill. And quickly.

Reason prevails by the third hill along with the chilling memory of the singer. Her patron’s promise of ascension. She’d had an uneasy feeling before and now, after seeing the tame sin eaters in Vauthry’s chamber…

“They don’t kill where others will see,” Nerys says aloud. “Into the sea or fed to their monsters. I think we’ll be alright.”

“...Twelve preserve,” Alphinaud murmurs. “I knew there was something terribly wrong, but I had no real notion. It’s the one place the Exarch hasn’t sent spies.”

“That is telling. About their security and about what could wait inside.”

Alphinaud scrubs a hand over his face. A rare nervous gesture for him, even in front of close friends. He strives to appear cool and calculating in all things. She clasps his shoulder and squeezes. “We’ll figure this out, Alphi. How to help them.”

He huffs a laugh. “Do you know...I actually missed you calling me that.”

“You didn’t like it before? I’m so sorry, I would never have-”

“No, no, please Nerys. I didn’t dislike it so much as...felt it was undignified. But now?” He looks up at her. Smiles. “I’m glad to be with my friend again, and I want her to use it.”

“Alright,” she grins back. Grateful for the spot of warmth after the utter horror behind them. “But if I ever do anything-”

A shadow falls over them.

Nerys’ gaze jerks up as she reaches for her lance. Not a sin eater but something coming from the monstrous cliffs, circling once. Twice. And then it dives down towards them.

Her thighs and calves sing in anticipation, ready to leap. Beside her, Alphinaud murmurs a spell. The dark shape becomes the silhouette of an amaro, becomes a more defined beast, and the rider–

The rider yells something. Unintelligible, and then not. It is her name. It is her name and the voice is–and the rider is–

“Nerys!” He calls again. His blue cape streams behind him as the amaro dives. Unceasing light gleams against his golden armor. To her eye, he looks like a hero summoned out of an ancient tale to offer aid.

“Haurchefant!” She rushes forward and he jumps from his mount, the beast landing seconds later. It’s not clear who touches who first–her arms thrown about his neck, his about her waist. He lifts her off the ground and spins her about, his laughter the purest music to her ears.

Nerys cradles her leather-clad hand against his cheek and kisses him. It has only been weeks for her, but losing him atop everything else had near broken her.

For him, it has been two years. No wonder he kisses her so fiercely, so deeply, the rest of the world falls away. She feels him tremble against her. Tears fall down his cheek.

“My Haurchefant,” she says, wiping beneath his eyes. “I missed you so much.”

“I’ve ached to see you again.” And then he resumes their kiss, crushing her tight against him. It’s possible he will never let her go again. It’s possible she won’t either.

At last he lifts his head and turns to Alphinaud, eyes bright and shining. The young man pointedly watches the ocean with red cheeks. “Good to see you, Alphinaud. It’s been an age.”

“Yes.” Alphinaud clears his throat. “I wasn’t aware you were around?”

“Mm. Playing the diplomat in the settlements above. You can only get there by amaro.” He gestures to his mount. “Luckily, I’m allowed to partner with Yami when I need wings.”

The amaro in question grants them an unimpressed yawn and turns to sniff at the brush and dirt.

“I was only told you were on a covert mission,” says Nerys, arms staying firmly about his waist.

“And so I was. No doubt Eulmore would be displeased to learn of any alliance that doesn’t funnel more bodies their way.”

At that, Nerys shudders. Does he have any idea how right he is? The grim expression says he might. “But you two seemed set out for somewhere. May I offer my aid?”

“We’re for Cracked Shell Beach,” says Alphinuad. “Our rides await us to return to the Crystarium. It is best that we don’t linger here overlong.”

“It’s safe to say we’re not welcome back to Eulmore.” Nerys tries to keep her tone light. Her right hand clenches and then flexes, directing the tension out of her.

“Say no more.” He brushes his lips against her forehead. “To the beach then. Once you debrief, we will catch up.”

“Indeed.” Alphinaud begins walking again. “If you’ll forgive the turn of phrase, it has been an extremely long day for the both of us.”

“Forgiven,” says Haurchefant with a glance at the undying light above. He clicks his tongue and Yami leaves his foraging to stand beside him. Elezen and beast escort them to the shore.

Nerys feels some of the dread and horror eke away as they walk, their hands brushing against one another.

A long day indeed. Their report takes time, weaving the state of Stilltide and Wright into all the details they might remember from Eulmore. The harlequins, the meol, the singer, the entitled lord surrounded by Sin Eaters. Haurchefant is a steady presence at her side, his hand pressed against the small of her back.

Alphinaud’s findings are more limited, having been occupied with the Chais. But with pen and paper he is able to sketch near accurate renditions of the layout and positions of the guards. He recalls the naivete of some servants versus the abject fear he witnessed in the shopkeepers and merchants. Those people were not beholden to individuals with fickle tastes. How many servants had they seen come and go?

“Tomorrow,” says Nerys. “I’ll find Alisaie. As it stands, I need some rest before I leave again.”

“Of course, of course.” The Crystal Exarch nods. “I’ve arranged a suite for you at the Pendants. Pray, go eat and rest. Just tell the Manager your name and he’ll take care of things.”

She nods. “Thank you. Haurchefant, I’ll tell them to expect you?”

“Yes, love.” He kisses her, chaste and gentle before their audience. “I won’t make you wait too long.”

As promised, the Manager brings her to one of the largest suites she has ever seen. Far larger than some apartments in Revenant’s Toll. She must look like a fish, gaping as she does. He smiles and rises to every inch of his considerable height.

“The Exarch asked for my best, dare I assume you like it?”

“I do,” she says, walking over to the long dining table. Nerys could easily host a supper party here. “May I trouble you for the time?”

Her chronometer is wildly out of sync with this timestream. On her way here, the streets had seemed more empty but a city rarely sleeps. A truth both here and the Source.

The Manager glances at his own device. “Fifteen minutes past the eleventh bell. We keep the shutters closed for our new guests but they are free to open them as they like. Can I get you anything?”

“It looks like there is plenty of food and drink for the next few days. Ah, my companion Lord Haurchefant will come through shortly. He’s allowed to know where my room is.”

“Oh! That’s right, he is another from the Exarch’s homeland…” The man looks thoughtful. “Such a nice man, from what I remember. I’ll point him in the right direction.”

Blessedly, he does not linger. Nerys immediately avails herself of the restroom and then strips off her leathers. She is unbelievably parched and feels dirty, despite her mandatory shower at Eulmore. The perfume they provided is still too cloying upon her. First will be another rinse, and then drinking a carafe’s worth of water to make her feel whole again.

It hasn’t been that long for her since she saw him. Not really. They had been separated far longer–during the campaigns in Ala Mhigo and Doma. But that had been different. She knew he was safe in Thanalan, under Urianger’s watchful eye. He had fought during their final push, that harrowing night with Zenos and Shinryu. Even then–it was different knowing he battled alongside Aymeric and Lucia.

But when Maxima returned with him as still and waxen as the others, breathing but unresponsive…

Something broke in her that day, against the Ascian wearing Zenos’ corpse. It was not one thing but likely a host of cracks and fissures from near-constant struggle and battle. But if there was one moment that started the chain reaction...it was seeing Haurchefant trapped in his own body.

Having him back feels like the day after her harrowing experience in The Vault. Letting herself into his room and finding him alive and, if not hale and whole, at least recovering. The relief of it threatens to send her crashing down if she thinks too long on it.

Sometimes, Nerys wonders if there is something wrong with her. One person is not meant to feel this much, to have emotion so fierce it seems to course all through her. Years of learning to keep it below the surface only does so much. It doesn’t stop her from experiencing it.

She steps out of the bathroom in a robe and Haurchefant is there, slicing up an apple at the long dining table. He still wears the golden armor and cape–a design, she realises, is very close to what the Crystarium guard wear. Though she has seen none with that color of plate.

“You could have changed clothes,” she says. “You still can.”

“Ah but…” He rises. “That would have prolonged returning to you. And maybe I want you to see me in my ‘official’ uniform again.”

Nerys walks towards him, taking in the sight, He is always lovely and she suspects he always will be. Fortemps men age extremely well. The ensemble does add a certain...magnificence to him. He might be a prince in such armor, if they still had such titles in Ishgard. “You look amazing. You said you were forming alliances?”

“Mm.” He meets her in the middle of the room, wrapping arms about her. “The dwarves of Tomra are excellent smiths. I thought to impress them with meticulously crafted armor. Different from what I might use to treat with the Night’s Blessed.”

These are all terms she doesn’t know outside of the Exarch’s explanation of where her friends are. He speaks them with such ease, as if he is a son of the First and not a visitor who arrived two years ago.

“Is there anything you can’t do?” She asks, tucking a lock of hair behind his ear.

He smiles. “Oh plenty. For instance, I cannot keep my hands off of you.”

“Good.” She releases his cape from his armor and watches it pool on the ground. “Then don’t.”

Thus permitted, Haurchefant kisses her as fiercely as he did in Kholusia. His armor presses against the fluffy white material of her robe, her exposed skin, and she doesn’t care. It is a welcome prod against her fatigue along with the aching need clenching at her center.

He tilts up her chin and presses a hungry mouth to the underside of her jaw, to her throat. She shivers as his gauntleted hands cradle either side of her neck. Haurchefant knows she cannot abide pressure at her throat stronger than a bite or kiss. Cold metal laying atop her shoulders is different.

Nerys doesn’t know what it means that it’s affecting her so. That can be worked out later. She wants him now.

Haurchefant tosses her belt aside and pushes the robe open and off of her. It lays gathered their feet along with his cape. “Give me a moment, love. I’ll have this armor gone.”

“Don’t bother.” Nerys slides her hands to his belt, finding familiar straps and catches. Armor is armor, most of the time. She’s well-acquainted with removing certain pieces for a fuck after a battle. To her disappointment, he does remove the gauntlets but leaves the rest. In the moment he promised, she frees his cock.

“The bed.” He says, voice urgent. Punctuating it with a harsh, brief kiss. “Go lie down.”

“My lord.” She rushes to cross the room. He is like a shadow, just behind her by a step as she moves. Watches her lay down for him. When he adjusts her–draping her legs over the side of the bed and sliding a pillow beneath her–she is breathless.

Haurchefant is often bossy with her in bed. Including one memorable afternoon in Ala Mhigo, when he tied her to the cot and ordered her to be quiet. (Tent walls are thin, after all). What drives him now is as fierce as she has ever seen, a consuming hunger that rages just below the surface.

Nerys swallows, throat still unbelievably dry. Water will wait till after. Everything can wait till after. Her tongue grazes her cracked lips. “I missed you.”

“You…” He plants his hands on either side of her, his greaves grazing her shins. “I wished for your arrival as often as I dreaded it. I wanted to see you and yet, I did not want to drag you across worlds for another conflict.”

Haurchefant shifts his balance to one arm–the non-dominant hand–and slips his fingers between her legs. She has no idea if the scars from the Vault transferred to this body, though she sees the telltale signs of fatigue. The pain must still-

Nerys sighs as he spreads her folds, two fingers easing into her. “You know...I would cross all rifts to find you.”

“I know.” His lips brush her forehead. “And I know you will face whatever comes and win, as you always do. Even so, would that I could grant you a reprieve.”

“This,” she says, spreading her legs wider. “This is respite. This is what I need.”

He creates such need in her, an ache that demands satisfaction. Especially with the intent look in his eyes, the passion trembling just below the surface. The kind of intense, overwhelming desire that keeps her awake at night until she reaches for her toys.

His touch is direct and purposeful. All the right movements, the right pressure–he remembers it all. Nerys tilts her head back, eyes closing as she sinks into the feel of it. The building in her. A slight cramp forms in her left calf and she lifts that foot to rest on the bed, rocking in motion with his fingers.

It’s there. It’s right there. She just needs to push further in that direction and he’ll have her in pieces.

“Haurchefant.” Nerys lifts her head. “I need you.”

It is as much for him as it for her–he is tense with the force of holding back his passion. Relief crosses his noble brow and he nods, slipping his fingers out of her. The sight of his tongue tasting the slick on them sends a new flutter through her.

“At your service,” he murmurs, wrapping a hand around himself. He takes a moment to find the notch before pressing in, slow at first and then all at once. The angle is...she shifts herself until it feels right, sighing. Draws her other foot up. Turns out her hip more so her bent outer thigh touches the mattress. Better, but...

Still as a cat, he looks down at her. Holding himself in place, unwilling to move though the need in his cerulean gaze is almost painful. “Is this alright?”

Nerys nods. “This is alright. I’m alright. Let me…”

She lifts both feet, resting her ankles on his shoulders before extending her legs. She is tall but so is he, not much further to go. Much better. This is a position she knows and one she always likes. Especially with him in armor like this, fierce and strong and overpowering.

“Go on,” she urges, rocking against him. "Please."

He requires no further coaxing and begins moving inside her. Nerys grips at the sheets, sliding her hips in tandem with him. There. Right there. If he just drives at that spot...

Even his finger on her clit can't distract from the returning cramp. She flexes her foot a few times, annoyed with herself. She has him back and he is a magnificent, golden knight before her; and her body creates obstacles. The growing cottony feel of the inside of her mouth. The warnings of a headache along the too-tight muscles at her nape and temple.

Nerys bats these annoyances out of her brain and sets her focus to him. The thick, hot length of him sliding into her. The gentle and insistent pressure of his thumb. The blazing blue of his eyes as he looks at her like she is a precious treasure.

It's there. She can see the edge of relief.

She can also feel her body refusing to move past this stage, the artful touch at her clit moving from delightful to numbing.

"A moment," Nerys gasps. "Sorry, can we…"

"Anything. Anything." His voice is a near growl in contrast to his words. He seems liable to fall apart at any moment.

"Just-fuck me right now, no hands," she says. Sometimes the nub needs a brief reprieve before she can come.

The hand at her clit disappears, splays instead on the bed beside her head. His hips snap back into motion and she gasps at the jolt of it.

Twelve. She is slick and needy and has wanted this for weeks now. The feel of his heavy cock. The utter surrender to him, a man who owns her soul and heart and-

"Shit!" The cramp blossoms at once into a throbbing, consuming pain. Too much to ignore. "Sorry, sorry, it's not you, my leg-"

Haurchefant trembles above her, leashing his desire. It takes him some time to speak. "Per...perhaps a different position? And I'll remove the armor."

With other men, this is the point she would have carried on and faked her climax. But he would not thank her for such deception. Too empathetic by half, too much of a gentleman.

"Just...put my legs down and finish in me." She says at last, frustration prickling at her eyes and throat. This is their reunion and she can't even-

"My heart." Reverent, gentle, he slides her legs back down. His breath is so ragged. "I can-"

"Please." She adjusts herself against him. "Let me do this for you? You're trembling."

He sighs. There is a faint shudder as he holds himself back. "I am not so green I can't control myself."

"I know. But I'm saying you don't have to." Nerys tightens around him. "Come for me, please."

Haurchefant shudders as her inner walls clench around him, stuttering out a breathy moan. One nod, then he moves in her again. The leg has a brief spasm and for a moment she fears it will be too much-

And then he slides deep into her, shuddering and filling her and gripping the blanket by her head so tight he might rip it. The feel of him falling apart re-kindles some of the heat in her. It is not satisfaction but it is nice, seeing him like this.

Haurchefant kisses her, a mindless, fierce claiming of her mouth. She groans as he stutters inside her with the aftershocks.

"Nerys, dearest…" He whispers like a prayer. The tone and the care in that settles her. The love in his eyes settles her.

The armor does come off. Another time, they’ll figure that out. It was...well it isn’t funny that she’s had sex when both parties were armored but this was beyond them. But it’s a cousin of humor, at least.

And at least she can smile. Keyed up as she is, it is a blessing to feel some contentment about the whole thing. And Haurchefant is gentle as he cleans her up, warm hands soothing over her until she relaxes. Carefully kneading at the interfering calf.

They lie naked in the cool, crisp sheets. Skin against skin, calmer now. Haurchefant slides a hand through her hair. "By the by; I should have said this, the moment I saw you. You look utterly beautiful with this new cut."

Warmth flares in her cheeks and chest. "You like it?"

"Mm. Exceptionally pretty." He kisses the tip of her nose. "Somehow you are the Most Beautiful Lily in Ishgard no matter what you do with it. As well as other countries and worlds, naturally."

"Oh now you're just exaggerating." She kisses his shoulder. Her stomach chooses then to growl, loud and angry.

"...beloved," says Haurchefant, brow creasing. "When last did you eat?"

"Far too long ago," she admits. "I was going to eat and drink but...well, you put your hands on me and that was that."

He sighs and sits up. "I even cut up fruit for you before I became a distraction. Come, let's take care of you."

Nerys slides her arms around him. "I like the sound of that. Do you have to leave the Crystarium again any time soon?"

Haurchefant smiles, eyes a little sad at the notion. “Likely. Let us make the most of this time, ere we must part again.”

“I can do that.” She relaxes in his grip, curling up against his warmth. For the first time that long, interminable day: peace settles upon her.

#seaswolchallenge #nerys eluned #haurchefant greystone #wol x haurchefant #duskwight elezen #duskwight warrior of light #dragoon warrior of light #alphinaud leveilleur #crystal exarch #///////explicit fic #ally writes

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spaceskam · 4 years

Text

our fainted thrill carries on (6/13)

ao3

There were very few good things in life, but this was one of them.

Michael breathed heavily, a smirk on his face despite the fact that his jaw hung open. Alex couldn’t help but think it was the hottest thing he’d ever seen. Their foreheads were met in the middle, Michael’s calloused hands bracing against the wall on either side of Alex’s head as he stayed firmly in his lap. Alex’s hand was stuffed nicely between where their hips met.

“You’re so hot,” Alex told him earnestly, unable to look away even if he wanted to. He didn’t, but there was something about him that was straight-up mesmerizing. Michael just breathed a laugh and chased him for a kiss, all sloppy as he moved his hips a little harder against Alex’s palm.

“Alex.”

Alex smiled against his lips at the sound of his name in his voice, tilting his head to deepen the kiss. He couldn’t get close enough. He moved his free hand down to his ass, tugging him closer and then bending his knees so he’d just have to sit in the crook between his chest and his thighs. Michael grinned.

“Alex,” he said again, sounding a little bit far away. Alex just put his hand on the back of his head, holding him as close as humanly possible. Alex.

Alex.

Alex was unceremoniously taken out of the moment as he opened his eyes not to see Michael perched in his lap, but standing over him and balancing six boxes of teabags. He couldn’t help but frown at the annoying juxtaposition of his dream and his reality. With a groan, he went to pull the blankets over his head to go back to it, but Michael pulled them away.

“We agreed to let me sleep in, leave me alone,” he whined when Michael deprived him of disappearing back into fantasy land.

“Okay, okay, just one question,” Michael said, voice in that loud whisper-tone that wasn’t too uncommon for small children, “Which one of these did you use to make that tea I liked yesterday?”

“The chai,” Alex sighed, “But it’s not gonna taste like that if you make it the way you make regular tea.”

Michael was quiet and, for a second, Alex almost believed he just accepted that and walked away. But, he knew better. After a solid month and a half of being in the same cabin in the woods, Alex had learned that Michael Guerin was basically like having a toddler and he would stand there until he got more information. Alex peeked up at him to see him still standing there, waiting patiently. He sighed again.

“Give me a minute and I’ll come make it for you.”

“Thank you,” Michael said, a gust of his power being used to pull the blankets over Alex and tucking him in. Alex smiled to himself as he closed his eyes again.

He let his mind drift back to the dream. It was the first one he had about him lately, but it was the first one to feel like he could make it happen. That in itself was frustrating. They’d been doing really good at keeping it platonic. Or, at least, platonic-adjacent. They cuddled and whispered sweet nothings in the comfort of the darkness, but it was clear that they weren’t in a good place to have a romantic relationship just yet. Not when Alex’s dad was out of the hospital, they still had no idea who the third head of the trident was, and they were making slow progress on Max. They just had to wait until they could put in the effort.

It was just taking longer than Alex was expecting.

After a bit of waking up slowly, Alex was able to drag himself out of bed. It was Christmas Eve and they had a few plans to go check out a farm that some of the records talked about while they had the free time. Well, not so much free time as just time to kill while they were at a standstill with everything else.

Alex didn’t bother grabbing his prosthetic as he went for his crutches instead, still finding himself shaking off the tingly feeling his dream had left him. He just had to push through until all this was over and then he was going to fucking jump him. It turns out the only thing worse than being unsure of someone’s feelings for you was knowing them and not being able to do anything about it.

“You’re such a baby, I can’t believe you’re making Alex get up early to make you tea.”

“I didn’t make him!”

“I didn’t make him,” Rosa mocked, “Qué pendejo.”

“I can understand you, you know.”

“Good!”

Alex couldn’t help but smile as he made his way to the kitchen and listened to them bicker. Rosa had been staying with them for only a few days at this point considering it took a little more convincing Liz than expected, but she’d already gladly become a thorn in Michael’s side.

“I didn’t realize I was living with children,” Alex said, making his presence known. Both of them looked towards him and then looked back at each other, Rosa having that ‘see, you made him get up’ look on her face.

“Sorry,” Michael said, giving a little smile. He was shirtless and well-rested and gorgeous and Alex had to let himself stare for a moment. He was allowed to stare. He knew that because Michael did nothing but encourage it with smiles and continued to parade around half-naked no matter how cold it got.

“You’re fine,” Alex promised, moving closer on his crutches. He let his eyes linger on his stomach before he pushed past him to get to the small stove. Michael didn’t even try to flex even though he knew he was staring. That alone made Alex’s head swim. How comfortable could they get and still keep their hands to themselves?

“Are you guys having fun eye-fucking at 7 in the morning?” Rosa asked. Alex snorted, shaking his head at her. She was in an oversized flannel that Alex wouldn’t actually be surprised if she stole from Michael, leaning against the washer and watching them with that knowing little smile.

“Could be worse,” Alex decided. Michael made a small, indiscernible noise as he hopped up to sit on the counter beside the sink.

“Yeah, you could actually have to fuck him at 7 in the morning,” Rosa filled in.

“Hey,” Michael scoffed while Alex just laughed.

Alex balanced himself against the counter as he started to boil water, popping a few tea bags in it. He told Michael to pay attention so next time he could do it himself. He tried not to revel too much in the cute little ‘oh’ Michael made when Alex poured a little milk in a saucepan. Yeah, definitely too difficult to keep his hands to himself.

“So, I was gonna ask,” Rosa said as Alex poured the tea into two separate mugs, “That path behind the house, is it safe to run on? Or should I grab a machete to clear it out?”

“It’s safe,” Alex said, pouring the milk evenly before reaching for the cinnamon, “But Michael and I are gonna clear out another one that’s a little less bumpy. The one right now is a lot on my leg, but you might be okay as long as you have good shoes.”

“Okay, well, I don’t have good shoes, so I’ll just walk it,” she said, “I just need something to distract myself.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Alex said, handing them each a mug. Michael gave one to him in turn and he smiled as he recognized the smell of coffee. He mouthed him a thank you before turning back to Rosa. “You gonna walk when we go out to the Long Farm? Because I can give you my Spotify info, give you something to listen to.”

“Yes, please,” Rosa groaned, sipping her tea. Alex nodded, hiding his smile with his mug.

He couldn’t quite pinpoint why he loved having both of them around so much, but he did. Hearing them argue all the time sort of reminded him of childhood, but not quite his. It was like what he saw on TV where the siblings would argue and then help each other at the end of the day. It was borderline wholesome in a way he’d never tell them. For once, his house felt full, but in a way that didn’t make him want to tear his hair out.

They had breakfast together, they had dinner together, they conspired together. Alex would go to work, Michael would go to work, Rosa had taken to renovating the bunker to fit her needs. Things were good. Of course, things were still rocky with Liz even though Alex had spent the last two weeks giving her far too much of his free time. But they were trying. That had to count for something.

Eventually, they finished their drinks and Alex excused himself to go get dressed while Michael agreed to wash the dishes. Alex grabbed his prosthetic and something warm to wear as he headed into the bathroom. It took him a bit longer to get ready than it used to, but he’d gotten accustomed to it. He’d also gotten accustomed to sharing space, not even being shocked when Michael knocked twice before simply letting himself inside.

“Excuse you,” Alex said, not really meaning it as he was nearly completely dressed. He was just in the process of tugging on his sweater over his undershirt.

“I’m not looking,” Michael said, smirking slightly as he obviously did look, he just was just looking through the mirror, “Just need to brush my teeth.”

“Well, so do I,” Alex told him, moving to stand beside him. They smiled to themselves or each other in the mirror as they grabbed their respective toothbrushes.

This. This was what life was about.

“I didn’t get you anything for Christmas.”

“It’s okay, I didn’t get you anything either.”

Michael watched Alex as he drove, feeling a little more than dazed as he did so. Things were in a very strange place in his mind and, if anyone asked, he was showing exceptional self control. It was easily the most self control he’d ever exhibited in his entire life. He was focusing on Max and his mother and Isobel. That was his goal and he was giving it his all. But crawling into bed beside Alex after a long day and being welcome there? It didn’t click as to why he was getting that other than Alex just loving him for some reason.

Which, honestly, was just another thing he didn’t understand.

“You wanna go get a tree after this?” Michael asked, trying not to think too hard about everything. That’s when he got all upset and that was never fun for anyone.

“It’s Christmas Eve,” Alex laughed, glancing over at him, “You wanna go get a tree now?”

“I’ve never really had one of my own before,” Michael said, chewing on his bottom lip as he watched the way Alex’s eyes crinkled up when he smiled, “I didn’t really think about it until now. Have you ever had one?”

“Yeah, when I was a kid. But Christmas was usually hell, honestly. My brothers and I all had to wear matching suits that matched my dad’s and we spent most of it in church. It was just a day I was forced to spend with people who didn’t like me,” Alex admitted, “By the time I was older, I never really wanted to celebrate with any kind of traditions.” Michael couldn’t fathom how he was able to say that so easily. But, in some way, he understood.

“I’ve had a lot of different Christmases,” he said, “Some bad, some okay. My favorite was when I was 20. It was before Max had started at the police academy and before Isobel met Noah, but after Isobel and Max’s parents got them an apartment to share. I spent the night Christmas Eve and we watched Christmas movies until early in the morning.”

“That sounds fun,” Alex mused. Michael shrugged and failed to mention that he got arrested that Christmas day, having gotten a bit too reckless whenever the pair of them went to their grandparents and left him alone. He didn’t actually remember what he did to get arrested, he’d been high as a kite, but he remembered Isobel bitching to him about it. “Maybe we could try to watch some Christmas movies tonight, get in the spirit.”

“Okay,” Michael agreed.

“And,” Alex said, flashing him a smile, “We’ll stop and get a tree for you.”

Michael bit down on his lip to hold back a smile. “Yeah?”

“It’s your first real Christmas, you deserve the best,” Alex teased, his bottom lip protruding in a pout before he laughed it off and focused back on the road.

Alex continued to drive and Michael continued to watch him. Part of him wondered what it would be like if he’d done the right thing years ago and dedicated himself to Alex back when they were in high school. Sure, on some level, he always had been dedicated to Alex, but he’d slept around and pushed him away and fought. What would life have been like if, instead of getting arrested, he’d agreed to write to Alex every day while he was at basic and promised to visit him more than twice when he was stationed elsewhere? Where would they have ended up? Would they be in the same place just with a label?

That’s what he wanted.

But then, as it always did, his mind drifted to other places. If they had kept up a relationship, when would Alex have found out about aliens? Would it still be via his father? Would Michael have told him? Would he have shown him his ship and, when Alex found that piece, would he have given it to him immediately? Would he have found it at all?

And if that happened, would they have ever made it to Caulfield? Would they have gone earlier? Would they have had more information, enough to let his mother out before she died? Could he have known her more?

He only had a few moments with her, but she’d flooded his mind with information. But, even then, it was fractured and only enough so he would know how much she loved him. She didn’t risk showing him any of the negativities, she just made sure he knew she didn’t leave him on purpose and that, if she could’ve, she would’ve spent her life with him. She knew Alex loved him and she didn’t mind. Sometimes, when he thought about it, he thought maybe she loved him too.

“Alex,” Michael piped up as they pulled up to the Long Farm.

“Hm?”

He stared at him for a moment, trying to find his words. He didn’t really know what he wanted to say. He was just thinking about a lot and, well, most of them were better left said somewhere that wasn’t the farm owned by racists.

“Um, you said it was a barn?” he said instead. Alex nodded.

“Yeah. That newspaper we found her picture in had a man named Roy Bronson in it and he happened to work on this farm at the same time of that picture and at the time the Air Force came to scope out the property,” he explained, “The barn was blown up accidentally, but the base of the building was salvageable and they rebuilt it.”

“Cool.”

They climbed out of Alex’s truck and locked the doors, Alex shoving the keys in his back pocket. Michael kept an eye on him as they walked up to the gate and hopped it. He watched Alex, made sure he was stable without actually reaching out to him. He landed just fine.

“So, we find out if she was actually here and then what?” Michael asked as they started making their way towards the old barn.

“Well, then we might need to look in different places. Maybe, once we figure out who the other head of the trident is or find any files on M.V.C. then we can look for more, but,” Alex sighed, “We also might have to just accept that there is a limit to what we can find out. I’m sure there’s no files and I’ve searched for the kid that was in the picture and there’s no trace of him. Will you be okay if we just know she was here for a year and we can’t find out anything else?”

Michael thought about it for a moment. Would he be okay if they reached a point where there was just nothing else he could learn? It was sort of scary to think of, reaching the catalyst of information on his mother. But, then again, he would never be satisfied when it came to her and they both knew it. The only way he would be is if he got to know her on his own, not through secondhand bullshit. That was simply just the only thing he couldn’t have.

The skin of his hand felt tight and it seized up under the bandana, telling him he was clenching it for too long. He shoved it in his pocket.

“I’ll be okay. I have no choice, so,” Michael said, shrugging haphazardly. Alex clapped a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently.

“I’m still gonna do what I can to help,” Alex promised. Michael gave him a little smile and nodded.

“Thank you.”

They both slowed to a stop as they stepped up to the barn, looking up at it. Alex hand slid down his arm and then squeezed his wrist before letting him go. They shared a look before going inside.

The building felt and looked old and unused. But, still, it had an undeniable draw to it. Michael heard Alex breathe in deep which caught his attention.

“Definitely alien,” Alex breathed out. Michael made a noise of confusion, tilting his head.

“How do you know?”

“Smells like rain,” he said, shooting him a smile, “Smells like you.”

Michael shifted a little bit at that, biting on his lip before he looked around instead of unpacking all of that. Maybe Alex did get him a Christmas present and that present was just unresolved sexual tension.

“But clearly it was something big if I can still smell it,” Alex tacked on. Michael cleared his throat.

“So, what, we think they blew up something that was hiding in here?” Michael asked, but quickly stopped himself, “The ship. The ship was here and they blew it up.”

“You think so?” Alex asked, looking slightly concerned. Michael thought that maybe then he should’ve brought up the ship piece since they were talking about it, but he still couldn’t find the words to ask.

“I found a few pieces here whenever I was hunting things down, so it would make sense,” Michael said, “But that would mean they were here, the ship was here‒where was I? Did she just put me in a cave and leave? If they were so comfortable here, why wasn’t I allowed to come out?”

He could feel his irritation slowly but surely build at the idea of being fucking left. Again. Alex took a step towards him, chasing his line of sight.

“That’s not something we can ever get an answer to,” Alex said softly, “But they must’ve had a reason.” Michael blew air from his nose, shaking his head. Alex’s hand touched his jaw gently, eyes searching his face before locking on his. “Breathe.”

Slowly, they did just that. In sync and connected and whole.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Alex broke first, quickly dropping his hand and taking a step away. He stood sideways a little, never fully turning even when Michael gave the man his full attention. He swaggered in without a care, all smiles with a shock of blue hair.

“Who are you?” Michael asked. He huffed a laugh, tilting his head and his eyes drifted to Alex for a moment. Then they stayed there and he spoke to Alex instead of Michael despite the fact that he was the one who asked the question.

“Better question is who are you since I live here and you definitely don’t,” he said, smirking at Alex and his eyes flickering over him. Michael blinked rapidly in confusion. What? “I’m Forrest.”

“Long?” Alex finished, huffing a laugh, “You don’t look like a Long.”

“Best compliment I’ve heard all day,” Forrest, apparently, said, stepping even a little bit closer. Michael took a step closer to Alex and made sure Forrest couldn’t miss it. He eyed him slightly but still gave Alex his attention. “And you are…”

“Alex,” he said, “Manes.”

A flash of recognition crossed Forrest’s face and then he slipped into a pretty prominent smirk.

“And you don’t look like a Manes,” he said. Alex smiled at him, letting him stare and staring right back. Michael didn’t know how to feel about that. “Let me guess, you think aliens were here back in the 40s.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “You sound awfully sure of yourself.”

“Well, because it’s what happened,” Forrest said blatantly. Michael watched him, not trusting him to have a damn worthwhile thing to say. Alex seemed to disagree.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, look at this,” Forrest said, urging them over to one of the posts holding up the ceiling. Names were carved into it. “Roy and Walt were farmhands back then, right, but then there’s two more: Nora and Louise.”

Michael’s mouth went dry and he glanced over at Alex who was watching pretty intensely.

“It’s a height chart,” Alex said.

“Yeah,” Forrest agreed, “So clearly they were family. But there’s no record of women being farmhands here and, honestly, nothing Roy did here would be worthy of an Air Force takedown. He was hiding something, yeah, but not that. Unless it was two refugees.”

“And your first thought is aliens?” Alex said, sounding a lot more incredulous than Michael could’ve mustered. Forrest just smirked and cocked his head to the side. “What happened to the little green man?”

“Nah, that’s not real. Between you and me, aliens are definitely real and on Earth and they look just like us,” Forrest said. Michael felt like his skin was on so tight he was going to burst. “Besides, I got some stuff to prove my theory.”

Michael quickly looked to Alex who just seemed so calm. He watched Alex take a step closer, smiling that flirtatious smile and he looked Forrest up and down with that look that Michael didn’t realize he used on other people. It had Michael wanting to crawl out of his skin.

“Show it to me?”

Forrest licked his lips and eyed Alex again. “Let me go get it.”

Michael waited until Forrest was completely out of sight before he turned to Alex, eyebrows furrowed and not knowing if he should be offended or stressed. Offensive won over.

"What the hell was that?" he asked. Alex rolled his eyes playfully.

"I'm getting information."

"By flirting?" Michael scoffed. Alex gave him a soft smile and reached out his hand, squeezing his bicep.

“Relax,” Aex said softly, “You look hilarious when you’re jealous, by the way.”

“I am not jealous,” Michael stated firmly. Alex let go of his arm and gave him a tight smile, clearly hiding laughter. “I’m not!”

“Tell that to the vein about to pop in your forehead.”

“I just don’t get what the flirting is for,” Michael said, eyeing him, “It makes me feel gross.”

“So, if it’s not jealousy, then it’s homophobia,” Alex said. Michael narrowed his eyes at him which just got Alex to smile right back and lightly thump his finger against Michael’s cheek. So much touching and none of it enough. “Don’t worry, I’m just playing to my strengths.”

“Playing to your‒”

Alex suddenly started walking away and Michael turned to follow him with his line of sight only to see him meet Forrest towards the entrance of the barn. He tried not to feel so personally hurt as he sidled up beside him, his hand touching Forrest’s back as he peered over his shoulder at the little box. Michael knew, objectively, that he was doing that to get information and the only reason he was trying that as an option was because Forrest started it. Alex would’ve never, ever done that otherwise or if anyone else was around. They were alone and he trusted that he had the situation under control, that’s why he was doing it.

But seeing Alex look at someone else like that still made him unreasonably sad.

“It’s not much, but…” Forrest said. Alex looked at him, his lips parted a little and his eyes searching his face. It had Michael feeling like an intruder. He shoved his hand in his pocket again, clenching and unclenching and trying to shake away the feeling of his bones not quite fitting beneath the skin.

“This is so cool,” Alex breathed, reaching over his shoulder into the box. Michael focused on that, on the way his hands filtered through the bullet shells and held one up. “You found all this?”

“Not all of it, but it’s sort of a compilation of a few different generations of Long discoveries,” Forrest explained, shrugging a shoulder and looking over at Alex with slightly red cheeks. That’s when it actually clicked for Michael. It was working. “But this, this I found. It’s Air Force dog tags, I think, and I think you’ll like them.”

Alex’s flirtatious facade faltered as Forrest held up the dog tags, reaching out to hold them in his palm.

“Manes, Eugene III,” Alex read, eyes flickering up to meet Michael’s.

“And, look, it even has a little branding on it. It’s super small, but if you focus, someone carved the letters M.V.C. on it,” Forrest said, smiling. Alex turned back on the charm, tilting his head in his direction to show his thanks.

“Wow,” Alex said, sly as ever as he continued to act like that wasn’t a major fucking deal, “Clearly it was destined for me to end up here then.”

“Yeah,” Forrest breathed, letting Alex pocket the dog tags without another word.

Michael decided then that he was more in love with Alex than he knew what to do with.

“You are fucking briliant!”

Alex smiled, keeping his eyes on the road as Michael laughed and sifted through the box that he’d all but swindled out of the blue-haired Long. Under the bullet casings, there were other tiny little trinkets, things that looked normal to the untrained eye, but so very clearly remnants of something more to them.

“I told you I was playing to my strengths,” Alex laughed back. Michael leaned over the center console, smacking a kiss on the side of his head like that was something they did. Maybe they did.

“Yeah, but it took me way too long you meant that you were stealing shit with charm,” he said as he settled back into the seat.

“Well, then you clearly don’t know me well enough,” Alex teased.

“Bullshit.”

Like promised, they stopped by a small tree farm and bought the cheapest, ugliest one they could find. Alex pointed out that it’d be easy to use it for firewood after Christmas, but he really just enjoyed the way Michael smiled at it with bright eyes. He wasn’t sure if it was genuinely because of the tree or if it was because he was just in a good mood, but it didn’t matter. They strapped in the bed.

When they got home, they climbed out simultaneously and went towards the drunk. Alex dropped the tailgate and started to unstrap the tree. He felt eyes on him the whole time. A quick glance up showed Michael just staring at him with a small little smile.

“What?” he asked.

“I just realized this’ll be my first Christmas without Max since I was 10,” Michael said. Alex froze, not sure how to respond. Michael didn’t look like he was going to break down, he still had that little smile, but that didn’t really mean much. Alex knew better than anyone that breakdowns came in all shapes and sizes. “Iz and I are gonna go see him tomorrow, but, still… It feels weird.”

“Are you gonna be okay?” Alex asked softly. Michael stared at him for a few more minutes, nodding and turning his attention to the tree. He didn’t move to unstrap it. Instead, he hovered a little before taking a step towards Alex.

“It’s also my first Christmas with you,” he said. Alex gave a small smile, unsure if he was allowed to be happy about that with prior context. “You’re my family, Alex. And I’m really happy being here with you every day. You make things easy in a way that I didn’t know we could have before. I’m really grateful for you.”

Alex let his smile show. “I’m grateful for you too.”

“You know you can trust me with anything, right?” Michael whispered, taking another step closer. Alex swallowed as he stared at him, wondering if there was a reason for why he felt the need to say that. His eyes searched his face, but he only saw sincerity. Before he could ask anything, Michael spoke again. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Michael nodded and stepped even closer. Alex couldn’t breathe. It didn’t seem to matter that they slept in the same bed or had a decade of history. This felt like a boundary was being prodded that they hadn’t quite discussed yet. He eyed Michael, trying to get a sense of what he was trying to do.

“Guerin,” Alex said as Michael took another step, placing himself firmly in Alex’s space in a completely different way that he usually did. Alex didn’t want to move away. “What are you doing?”

He blinked once, twice, three times, eyes flickering over Alex’s face before he took a step away and Alex nearly deflated as he remembered how to breathe.

“Thanks for the Christmas present,” Michael said. Alex huffed a laugh, trying to return to normal. His skin was on high alert as it damn-near screamed to be touched. Maybe they could go to bed early.

“What present? I didn’t get you anything.”

“Yeah,” Michael breathed, nodding as he busied himself with letting the tree loose, “You did.”

Alex didn’t know what to say as he used his mind to levitate the tree and slowly bring it inside. Instead of standing dumbfounded, he grabbed the stand and took a grounding breath. This was one hell of a Christmas Eve.

Alex put the box he’d gotten from the Long farm in the safe beneath his bed and checked the cameras a few times before going to help set up the tree. He decided that he could focus on the dog tags and the alien paraphernalia later. This was the first Christmas he’d actually had a proper family to spend it with. Might as well make the most of it.

The doors were all locked tight and secure, making it easy to just listen to Rosa and Michael argue over where to put their make-shift ornaments on the tree while he made a fresh cup of coffee.

“You can’t top the tree with a stuffed animal, Guerin.”

“Okay, so, one, it’s a stuffed jalapeño with a small mustache, not an animal, and two, since when are you the dictator of what tops trees?”

“Because I’m the only top in this situation!”

“What does that have to do with anything?!”

“You aren’t even trying to deny it!”

“Because you changed the subject! The jalapeño stays!”

“Okay. Put it up there and I’ll burn it when you go to sleep.”

“Fine. Compromise. We put this on top.”

Rosa was quiet for a moment before saying, “Works for me.”

Alex traveled back into the living room to see what piece of decor had gotten them to agree only to be slightly horrified to see it was a picture of him and Kyle, hardly 10 years old and holding up a dead deer with blood smeared on their cheeks. The two of them were marveling at it, seeming far too proud of their terrible taste.

“No,” Alex said firmly, “Absolutely not.”

“Come on, Alex,” Michael said.

“Yeah, come on,” Rosa agreed. He looked between the both of them and glared, but couldn’t bring himself to deny them of the one thing they settled on.

“Fine. But we take it down tomorrow night.”

“Deal.”

Alex sat down on the couch and watched them, letting that warm feeling overwhelm him again. He liked this, liked having them in his house. It was hard to explain how, even though it was still decorated to Jim Valenti’s taste save for a few minor alterations, it only now felt like Alex’s. He was no longer borrowing Jim Valenti’s pity cabin. No, instead, this was his.

Later that night, when they crawled into bed after a movie marathon of shitty Christmas movies, he found himself facing Michael Guerin and feeling more calm than he’d been in a long time.

“I didn’t cross a line, did I?” Michael asked carefully. Alex shook his head.

“No. But thank you for checking,” he said. Michael smiled and gave a small nod.

“Working on it.”

Alex was the one to move closer, feeling bold and confident from the day, and placed his head on his chest. Michael’s arms wrapped around him and lips pressed to the top of his head.

“Merry Christmas, Alex.”

“Merry Christmas.”

#malex #malex fic #michael guerin #alex manes #roswell new mexico #my fic #our fainted thrill carries on #late as fuck because i have no understanding of productivity

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thewinedarksea · 5 years

Text

the asked-for coffee shop au.

tw: for the ink mage, who is himself a warning; mild abuse??; overly complicated starbucks orders; the girl, who is little knife, who is also a warning in her own right. my point is they’re all kind of awful, even in the pastel-y iteration of a coffee shop.

“Cinnamon shortbread latte. Three shots of espresso, raspberry whipped cream. Add some chocolate syrup, too, I don’t care how much. Venti.”

The voice is cool and flatly annoyed, rattling off the order with the air of someone who has done it a hundred times before and will do it a hundred times again, but they’d better not have to within the next three seconds or someone’s getting fired.

Not that they’ll have to. The girl writes down the order, accepts the handful of crumpled dollar bills passed wordlessly over the counter, and slides the cup down to the barista. She doesn’t look up, and the customer leaves without speaking again. In her peripheral she watches the long edge of their coat whip across the tiled floor, black and spotted with dust, until it vanishes from her sight, and then goes back to counting down in her head until the end of her shift.

————————

“Caramel macchiato. Almond milk, three shots of espresso, a pump of vanilla syrup. Venti.”

Two days later; same voice, same level annoyance. Same unnecessarily complicated order. It’s interesting enough that the girl deigns to glance up, and comes face to face with one of the prettiest men she’s ever seen: sharp cheekbones and large, dark eyes, framed by sweeping lashes. His hair is gathered into a messy bun, and red ink marks the left side of his face, stretching from the corner of his eye to just above his jaw. There’s a University-issue lanyard dangling around his neck.

He fishes a wad of dollar bills from one of the pockets of his coat; his fingers are long and slender, ink-smudged as the rest of him and cold where they brush against her skin. She takes them. Rings him up. Slides the cup down the counter with a flick of her wrist.

She spends the next few customers stealing glances in his direction as she writes down orders, watching the irritated way his fingers drum across the counter, the faint sneer of disdain as he plucks his drink from her coworker’s hand and stalks off to get a straw.

He sits in one of their corner booths and upends his bag onto the table. Papers fly in a snowstorm across the laminated surface.

Interesting. That’s what he is. The girl likes interesting—it helps stave off the boredom.

————————

His title, as far as she can find after a few hours spent googling ‘ink-covered asshole with no manners,’ is the Ink Mage, and he works in the University’s Theoretical Spellwork department. Some kind of prodigy in his field, concentrating in spell creation and sustainment, with the occasional foray into void studies and runes.

He has a .5 on ratemyprofessor—“for excessive hotness,” reads the sole non-zero rating. “at least you’ll be able to admire his cheekbones as he drives you down the path of suicide.”

Their shop does a steady enough business in University students coming in for caffeinated courage and to have a quiet place to cry for finals; the girl hasn’t seen any in a while, and she supposes now she knows why. That’s one mystery she didn’t care about solved, then.

Idly, she clicks through a few of his published articles, gets distracted by the flame wars he ignites in the comments, and then, bored, wanders off to stare at a wall and not do her chemistry homework.

————————

“Iced caffè americano. One espresso shot. Venti.”

“Vanilla latte. Soy milk, iced, two pumps of chocolate syrup. Venti.”

————————

They fall into a routine. The Ink Mage comes in Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, rattles off a complicated order, and retreats to the corner booth and his piles upon piles of paper where he stays for several hours, scribbling and downing coffee and occasionally swearing violently.

After the fifth visit, she starts bringing his coffee to the booth after he orders it. After the tenth, she starts bringing refills every three hours, and a collection of napkins for him to write on because her manager complains when he starts writing on the walls and her manager’s voice is very, very irking. After the twentieth she settles into the booth across him during her break—she has to shift a stack of essays, all marked with red ink and scorched around the edges—and waits to see what he’ll do.

He ignores her for the entire thirty minutes, and then tells her to bring him a cake pop when she gets up to leave.

————————

Half the time the store can only afford to have one staff member working the counter, which means the girl ends up making a lot of the Ink Mage’s drinks. It’s a lesson in multitasking, and also the ingredients they have stashed in the various drawers and cubby holes.

The first time she fucks up his order he dumps the entire cup over her head. She has to make him a new one, free of charge, and then clean up the spill on the floor, iced mocha dripping down her neck all the while. When her manager yells at her later it’s all she can do to keep from rolling her eyes, or punching her, or setting the store on fire. She settles for staring blankly until she’s dismissed.

Patience. She’s learning it.

————————

“Java chip frappuccino. Five shots of espresso. Do you have a size larger than a venti? Forget it. Just double the order, both ventis. Extra whipped cream. I don’t care how much caramel syrup you add just add some.”

The Ink Mage looks harried: there’s five pens stuck in his bun, two with the caps off, and ink splatters his cheeks and trails down the curve of his neck in a ribbon of black. He’s thinner, too, the planes of his face even more pronounced than usual, and against the pallor of his skin the bruises around his eyes stand out like blood on snow.

Silently, the girl reaches for the cups.

————————

“My students are a bunch of soft, blubbering idiots who couldn’t tell the difference between a summoning rune and a summoner rune if I carved it into their foreheads.”

The girl makes a noise in the back of her throat, less sympathy than acknowledgement, and edges the blueberry scone she’d brought him a bit closer. The Ink Mage ignores it. Honestly, he may not even see it; he’s calmed somewhat with his double order and the refills she’s brought since then, but his eyes are still dark-rimmed, and another pen has made its way into the nest of his hair. Finals, it seems, take their toll even on him.

“No,” the Ink Mage continues, “No, I refuse to handhold a bunch of children through the finer parts of basic runal spellwork and grade their subpar garbage as if it means something, as if they will amount to anything more in their worthless, pathetic lives than to be the absolute dregs of human innovation. Honestly. If these little brats want me to read their drivel the least they could do is type in an interesting font.”

With deliberate care he gathers the entire stack of essays before him and, getting up, tips them into the trash can.

“There,” he says. “Problem solved.” Then he sits back down and picks up the scone. Her scone.

Warmth bubbles in the girl’s stomach and fizzes through her bloodstream. Not happiness, exactly, but maybe satisfaction. Contentment. Knowledge of a job well done.

————————

The days tick past. The register dings, dings again. The girl’s never bored on shift, now; if she’s not seeing the Ink Mage, she’s counting down to his visits, measuring the time in the bland orders and blander customers that fill the time in between.

On her breaks she comes to share the booth with him, bringing pastries and refills of whatever confection he’s ordered that day. Equations and theories and critiques of others’ works radiate out from him as he sits, a gangly black spider in the center of his web. He has no laptop (“useless technological drivel. It can be hacked”) and no pencils (“only idiots and Professor Miller need to erase their work”), and so his work is written on paper or dashed onto napkins in his tiny, cramped scrawl, ink weeping across it all.

The first time she undresses to find ink staining her own arms, she stares at the shower for thirty minutes before she can bear to step beneath the cold spray of water and wash it away.

————————

“Chai tea latte. No foam, skim milk, three pumps of caramel sauce. Venti.”

“Iced coffee. Ten pumps vanilla, five pumps hazelnut, eight pumps caramel, a splash of soy, light ice, double-blended. Venti."

————————

“Latte. Nonfat, two percent foam, three espresso shots, five pumps mocha,” the Ink Mage says on his fiftieth visit, and then, “What do you know about theoretical spellwork?”

She blinks at him. The back of her mind is still scrambling to figure out what the fuck ‘two percent foam’ means and how to make it a reality. “It’s theoretical,” she says after a stretching pause.

“Mm.”

He goes to sit at his usual booth. It feels like she’s failed, and her hands shake so badly she has to remake his drink three times over.

————————

“I read Zhang’s Animus Theory,” she tells him the following visit. The words rush out of her, too loud and too desperate in the hushed, coffee-fragrant air. She bites the inside of her cheek until she tastes blood to keep herself silent.

At her words the Ink Mage pauses, examining her with the level of intensity he typically reserves for judging the artistry of the caramel drizzle on his drinks. The girl has never noticed how blue his eyes are before—not black but indigo, like wet ink, or the deep, velvety centers of the flowers blooming on her windowsill.

“Animus is trash,” he says dismissively, and her heart does something strange and painful in her chest. “Chocolate chip frappuccino. Two pumps of every syrup you have, extra coffee whipped cream. Venti.”

————————

“Li. Whistler. Astre’s an idiot, but their theory is solid. Diaz is annoying, but accurate; Okada’s Synthesis is a good groundwork if you’re trying to break into incantational magics.” The Ink Mage frowns at her over the lip of his refill. “Are you writing this down, girl?”

“I’ll remember.”

She will. It’s his words, she thinks; his coffee order, his insults, the occasional tidbit of information he deigns to share with her, all of them creeping into the soft gray tissue of her brain and nesting there. Like maggots in the carcass of some strange animal, breeding new life.

————————

“Hazelnut macchiato. Four shots of espresso, extra whip, light ice. Venti.”

“Pumpkin spice latte. One shot of espresso, seven pumps pumpkin, light foam, light whip, light caramel drizzle. Venti.”

————————

On his seventy-second visit to the shop the Ink Mage pauses after he orders, frowning across the counter at her.

“Where do you go to school?”

She tells him, and his mouth curls with disgust.

“Transfer. Now.” When she doesn’t respond, merely cocking her head, birdlike, he rolls his eyes. “I need a new lab assistant—mine are useless.”

“I’m failing all of my classes.” There’s no way she can get in—it’s the University, after all. People would kill for a place. People do kill for a place.

The Ink Mage rolls his eyes again, harder. “Lab assistant. Mine.”

A good point, but:

“You don’t even know my name,” she feels compelled to point out.

“And?”

And—

Well. And nothing. And being the Ink Mage’s assistant sounds mildly more interesting than being a barista, and she likes the sound of the word ‘mine’ in his voice: cool, level, lips shaping the ‘m’ and tongue flicking sharp around the ‘e.’

She shrugs, and slides his cup down the counter with the ease of familiarity. “Okay.”

During her break she brings him an orange scone, a day old and slightly stale, and a fresh cup of matcha green tea (iced, heavy on the whipped cream). The booth is awash in papers; she has to shove a few stacks aside so that she can sit, curled up and small, in the seat across from him. Then she breaks out her beaten-up laptop and begins filling out the transfer application.

She skips over all the parts about personal information, statements. The only thing that matters is the name of the Ink Mage, bold and black, across the top of the form.

#this is The Nicest thing i've written for them which tells you something #little knife is: not drowned not broken not vocal chordless. see? Nicest #you asked for it anon!#my writing #misc #misc writing #*

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dramaclover · 4 years

Text

Ending & Thoughts: Legal Mavericks 2020

Initial Thoughts

When the first drama came out, I was one of the few people that wasn’t obsessed with it. I mean it was good and I like the message but I wasn’t as into it as everyone else. The bromance between Vincent & Owen wasn’t that great of a watch. And the cases weren’t as interesting. So when I went into watching the sequel, I didn’t have much expectations. Also cause sequels tend to not be as good, example Line Walker 3 wasn’t the best sequel. But this sequel proved me wrong. It was waaay more enjoyable then the first one.

Plot & Characters

Hope Man (Vincent Wong) is a blind barrister that works together with Gogo Kuk (Owen Cheung) a former police turned private detective & Deen Jie (Sisley Choi) who is Hopes legal executive. Together they solve various cases and uncover the justice behind it. New cast members included Eva Shaw (Kelly Cheung) a rival barrister, Kan Siu Wang (Pail Chun) Hopes former Master that mentored him. Kwok Lam (Jessica Kan) Hopes new apprentice & Kong Bo Chai (Lesley Chiang) an inspector police were both fun new additions to the cast.

For most direct sequels there are very rare instances where I would like the new cast additions. For example The Exorcists Meter 2.0 I hated all the new additions to the cast. But for this sequel, I like all of them - well most. For some people they believe Bo Chai & Kwok Lam were unnecessary but I find that they were a nice comic relief (with the bickering) and Bo Chai was needed since she was a police they were able to solve more cases with her help. Kwok Lam though she was born rich, she has a strong sense of justice & she would even go against her Father to pursue it. Kan Siu Wang shocked me with how he’s not as evil as you’d think. You would think he would be the ultimate boss that Hope needs to defeat but that’s not it. He likes power and money but he also knows there’s fine line between black & white.

Now, here comes my least favourite character which is Eva Shaw. And I’m sure anyone can guess why. Cause she is a Never Wong (Ali Lee) replacement. When I say replacement, I don’t mean she just takes over the empty spot & becomes the mandatory new love interest. No I mean. She is the new Never Wong. She dresses sexily, basically the same attitude & personality, strong sense of justice, falls deeply in love with Hope only to end up with Gogo. Like really? She’s literally a carbon copy. And I’m so disappointed that they decided to go down this route. They even had her dance in the rain with Hope too. Like can’t you be anymore original? Only difference is she doesn’t die. She’s also more annoying cause she’s always changing her mind. One moment she’s on her masters side but then the next moment she’s on Hopes side. Like can you just give a stable standing and stay loyal? Cause I’m exhausted with you going back & forth. She becomes more likeable as the series goes on but it was hard for me to warm up as she was just too similar to Never.

The Cases

The cases were very fun & interesting to watch. The director also has said that these cases are based on real circumstances and brings in the human side. Which rings true. The case of the “Heart Stealer” & “Fast Food Restaurant Refugee Murder” were both cases that brought a tear to my eye. For the former, it was touching to see how a mother would give up her heart just to ensure her son could live the rest of his life with no worries. The helplessness she felt and also knowing how in real life, cases like that could happen. At times like this the rich would win as they have the time & money. A lot of people think that those that always hang around 24 hours food places are gross & homeless. This case shows to not judge someone by their cover. Everyone has a backstory. The bond these group of people had for each other was eye opening. I was so sad when it showed the flashback of them singing & just enjoying each other’s company. You just feel so bad for them. I don’t want to say too much cause I don’t want to spoil to much of this case. The case of the “Silent Witness” & “Beyond Man and Woman” had good plot twists that I did not see coming. On the cover it sounded like boring cases but the background story to it ended up being surprising to watch.

The Romance

A lot of people didn’t like how in the sequel Hope & Yanice Tai (Tracy Chu) relationship became a central storyline despite Yanice passing away in the first. I personally actually liked it & didn’t find it draggy. It could be because I love Tracy as an actress. It could be because I find Hope & Yanice to be an amazing couple with a tragic love story. In this case I just find their story unfinished. As in, I never truly understood why Hope would give up Yanice. He could’ve went with Yanice instead of staying behind in Hong Kong. They’ve been through so much only for him to give it up, it always left a sour taste in my mouth. In this sequel we see him deal with the guilt & anguish to finally letting go and moving on. It also intercepted with another case so it was not random. I thought it was a nice touch for the writers to write in about her developing a tumour in her brain. Because from that she decided to pre- record a message to Hope. So we get to hear her last words & get a final wrap up in the story.

Hope & Deen Jie is odd to me. Like I’m aware that Deen Jie has a crush on him. But in this sequel she was possessive that it was uncomfortable in some parts. Hope has shown over & over again that he has no interest. Yet she’s still stuck on him. Towards the end they have a fall out because she thought Hope had heartlessly kicked her out of his firm & withheld her Fathers illness from her. She finds out later on it was cause of her Fathers order that he did that but she was still bitter. In the end she admits she was angry not cause of her Father but because she had believed he had fallen for Eva. So she was bitter out of jealousy. This part bothered me to no end. They are not dating. She knows he doesn’t like her. He never led her on, from day one he has said he only has Yanice & that he couldn’t move on. So I guess the idea that he has fallen in love again but not with her triggered her pettiness. It got to the point where she battled him in court with her helping a scumbag rapist just to spite him. Like girl, what happened to helping the helpless & doing what’s right? You threw that away for a guy? Like in the end she does the right thing but that was annoying. I would’ve enjoyed the development of Hope & Deen Jie’s love story if they hadn’t made her so petty and possessive. So for me, no I don’t like them together as a couple but enjoyed them more as friends. If anything I thought if Hope couldn’t end up with Yanice, Eva would’ve been nice. But they did a bait & switch. In the beginning they heavily made it seem that Hope would end up with Eva while Deen Jie would end up with Gogo. That was a weird but interesting twist though. I haven’t seen another drama where they would change up the love interest like that.

Gogo has always been a very casual guy so for him to end up with Eva was also odd to me. Eva has a glamorous, mature feel so I don’t find them a matching couple. But opposites attract in this case. I also thought they had no chemistry whatsoever. Eva was never interested in Gogo dispite him always flirting. She only liked Hope, it just looks like she settled for him out of the blue. I actually prefer Gogo with Bo Chai instead. They had better chemistry and he abruptly ended the relationship with Bo Chai that made her never get over him. I hated how he used her love for him to do things as a cop she shouldn’t be doing. They were engaged and he dumped her over the phone while she was trying on wedding dresses. He never ever sincerely apologized for that & he got over her so quickly. So I guess it’s good they didn’t end up together, he doesn’t deserve a good person like her. Bo Chai also never got real closure from it & her character sorta disappears towards the last episode. Gogo was also in a relationship with Never until it ended with her dying. So for him to end up with Eva whose a replica of Never just irks me.

The Good

I throughly loved Paul’s betrayal. And I also liked how instead of making him a full out villain they made him a man that knows a line that should not be crossed. He has helped bad people but in the end he was able to see the difference between good & bad. He sent one of the innocent accused to jail but he was also the one that ultimately set him free. He stole Deen Jie away from Hope but only cause he saw potential in her & knew she had way it takes to be a good barrister. He set up Deen Jie to battle with Hope not to spite him but because he knew doing this would help Deen Jie. So it’s like ultimately he’s not as bad as they portrayed him. In the end Hope even calls him Master again. I thought in the end there would be a huge showdown between Hope and him with the latter ending up in jail or something. So it was great spin to have him coming out as a semi- hero (for helping them patch things up between Hope & Deen Jie). It was unpredictable and enjoyable to see this instead.

The sequel is more case driven and I’m glad cause that’s what it made it more interesting. The first one focused more on Hopes journey to finding himself & rebuilding his relationship with his Father that left him when he turned blind (which I understand). Also talked more about friendship and focused solely on one evil villain. So the first one fell flat for me.

The Bad

I didn’t like how Hope was always in court battling the same people it’s either Eva, his Master and then Walter Wah (Hugo Wong) who is the same character from the first drama. I guess that’s TVBs way of staying in a budget instead of hiring new people to play different barristers.

It was disappointing to see Deen Jie fix her buck tooth & change her appearance so drastically. What I liked about her is how she didn’t care about the way she looked and that the heart is what matters. In the first drama Never had asked her why she doesn’t fix her teeth since she has the money. And she said she didn’t find it necessary & the inside is more important than her appearance. So for her to change the way she looked for Hope was just sighhh. But I guess the writers want the main couple to “look good”. I wonder if they always had Deen Jie become the main love interest in mind when they wrote the first one.

I also did not like how they had a cliffhanger ending. It ends with Deen Jie getting stabbed in the neck & in a coma. And of course Hope slowly coming into terms that he has fallen for Deen Jie. They did it cause they are potentially writing another sequel in collaboration with China. But with Vincent leaving TVB & the lacklustre ratings, I don’t know if it’s gonna happen anymore. But seeing how things turn out Deen Jie will probably end up with amnesia or something cause their love line will not run so smoothly. But if a sequel doesn’t happen, I can just pretend that ending did not happen and that Deen Jie is back working at his firm together solving crimes.

Final Thoughts

Everyone was great but I didn’t find any standouts. Vincent reprisal as a blind barrister is still amazing but I don’t see TVB awarding him Best Actor for the same role twice. Also he didn’t show up to the TVB Anniversary Gala which sorta shows his standing with TVB. Sisley improved for sure but I wouldn’t say she’s Best Actress material yet, it was nice to see her become the antagonist though. Kelly was nice & stable as usual. And Owen Cheung just stayed the same, nothing new was brought to the table at all. And weird enough the bromance between Hope & Gogo wasn’t as fun to watch compared to Al Cappucinos Cheung Sai Lung & Ko Ban. Here they just seemed like good friends instead of “brothers”.

I see a lot of comments about Sisley being a huge standout. And I agree with how much she has improved but I still think she still has a lot to learn. I admit her turn as the antagonist was interesting to watch but it wasn’t as great as they say. She isn’t loud acting anymore that’s for sure. But at the same time TVB is running out of actresses so I wouldn’t mind her winning so quickly.

It was lovely to see Tracy come back in a voice role. The directors had invited her back to film but she rejected the role. I wished she had accepted as it could’ve been her goodbye role since it seems she has no interest in continuing acting. She’s only doing ads & photo shoots as she slowly transitions to becoming a full time lawyer. I wouldn’t say a pity as though she’s a talented actress, becoming a lawyer is more stable. And she got married with her childhood sweetheart. I’m so happy for her but also sad as I will miss her acting. But I can always re-watch Over Run Over.

This was a better sequel then I have seen in years. Line Walker 3: Bull Fight just wasn’t as great compared to this. The Exorcists Meter 2.0 was also a downer. The plot twists in the cases and heartfelt stories made the drama all the more memorable. It’s turning out to be a great year for TVB drama watchers like me. Death by Zero, Brutally Young, Al Cappucino were standouts this year. While this drama, Line Walker 3 & The Witness do not fall far behind.

Side note: but what’s with the characters name? They’re all so strange. Man San Hap full English name Hope Man. I know it’s a play on for justice hero but dang it’s cringy. Then theres Santiago Kuk nicknamed Gogo. Like for real whyyyy. I hate that so much. “Hey Gogo hows it going”. “Gogo, I love you” blergh. Then Never Wong. Are you kidding me? She’s a court judge who chose Never as her nickname? Cherry was fine!! I guess it’s play on for “never wrong” well in this case you were wrong for thinking Never was a good name choice! And they don’t even pronounce the “r” in Never. They say it like “Neva” and it bothers me for no reason. TVB English names tend to always be questionable and I don’t care if they try to play it off as a nickname (Flashbacks to Laughing Gor, Muse, Bingo, Saving, Cash, Fever that’s only to name a few) but this is the first drama where it has this many.

#tvb #tvb drama

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tessatechaitea · 4 years

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Cerebus #18 (1980)

This is the kind of cover that probably kept me thinking this book was too adult for me and that I should just stick to Groo and Elfquest.

In Dave's Swords of Cerebus essay, he explains how he didn't know what the fuck he was doing when he was writing this story and I'll tell you a secret: it fucking shows. He explains how he wrote one idea but realized that idea wasn't going to work and then wrote some other ideas but they weren't going anywhere and then he went back to the first idea and wrote a small novella which still wasn't going to work so then he tried some other idea but couldn't really get anywhere and pretty soon his week that he plans for writing was over and he just had to start drawing one of the scenes. So he picked one and strung it out and then he needed a new scene and took the Lord Julius epilogue and stick that on page 5 and 6. By that time, he sort of had a new idea with the help of his brother-in-law and even though that new idea was pretty lame, what more could he do?! He doesn't admit that his new story is lame; I think he thinks he really pulled one out at the last minute. But it's really kind of lame. I get it though! He's written seventeen previous stories (plus some Cerebus stories that appeared in other magazines) and they were all pretty good and working toward building a portrait of Estarcion and Cerebus and some kind of weird aardvark mystery. He was due to slip up some time! I'm just glad he was honest about how the writing part when all wrong and since he couldn't fall behind on the art, he had to just kind of start drawing and hope for the best. I suppose in that regard, the comic wasn't so bad. It told a coherent story that moves Cerebus' plans for the invasion of Palnu ahead and Dave even gets some funny jokes in. But as far as the extended story goes, not much happens? Cerebus and the T'gitans took over Fluroc by murdering everybody in it and then needed more money for troops and they got more money for troops by conning a merchant that came to town. That's it! That's the whole story! Did we need this story? Probably not! But did we really need any Cerebus story so far? Almost certainly not (with the exception of all the stories that showcased new characters!). But what I really liked about this comic book was the Aardvark Comments section! Things are really getting good finally! It's not just a few nerdy nerds nerding it up for Dave Sim.

I mean, it is some nerdy nerds nerding it up nerdily!

The first letter is what I'm assuming was the introductory or cover letter from Marvel's Jim Shooter when he sent out contracts to prospective employees.

Is this the worst thing Jim Shooter ever wrote? Sadly, it is not.

If you're one of those people who like to describe 95% of everything as "cringe," you'll love Dave Sim's response:

Remember, this was 1980 and "written blackface as hyperbolic response" was probably just something taught in creative writing classes.

Casually whistling past the terrible method of his response the way you simply steer the conversation away from racist tirades every time your grandfather speaks up at Thanksgiving dinner, this feels like the first time Sim really calls out the two big publishers and how they conduct business. It'll become a hallmark of Dave Sim in his crusade for independent publishers. And this sarcastic and also racist response (I can only whistle nonchalantly for so long!) isn't his only response in this Aardvark Comments. But as his first response, I'll assume it's the most closest to how he truly feels about Marvel and DC. In 1980, he's already calling them out on their practice of stealing their employees' intellectual properties. Okay, "stealing." The contract is to make the "stealing" legal so they don't wind up in constant lawsuits and can continue to offer the artists whose creations make them scads of money little to no future compensation on their efforts. Dave Sim could think of no other attack on Marvel than to pretend he's a caricature of a slave. I'm not in disagreement with Dave here and, believe me, in 1980, I almost certainly wouldn't have thought the mintrelesque response was anything but a clever way of making his point. Although I was also 9 in 1980 so I probably would have had to ask an adult why the fuck Dave was writing like that. But as I said, there's more! The next letter is a bit of a response to Dave's crusade against the Big Two Corporations. And from his peers!

I guessed I missed the comments in Issue #15. I'd better go back and see what the Pinis were talking about.

Here's what Dave said in Issue #15's "Aardvark Comment": "Maybe Marvel can turn its corporate back on you. As they never grow tired of explaining, fan sales make up a very small fraction of their profits. They don't think much of your taste in comics, artists, writers or anything else." It's a little hard to parse this comment being that I don't know what was happening in comic books in 1980 concerning the fans and Marvel but doesn't this sound a lot like the Comicsgate argument of today? That Marvel doesn't give a shit about what its "real fans" want? Anyway, back to the Pini's letter. The Pinis' letter reads like Elfquest trying to talk Cerebus out of gutting a merchant. I suppose when you point out that artists and writers working for Marvel and DC are idiots for not publishing their work as an independent, I can see how they might get upset with you. I'm sure Richard and Wendy had a number of discussions with Marv Wolfman where Marv would say things like "I'm not dumb! You're dumb!" or "I'm not a piece of property! You are!" or "I'll show you who's a slave to the man! I'll kill Cyborg!" After that, the Pinis were probably all, "You know what? Criticizing work-for-hire in the comic book arts just isn't worth all these Marv Wolfman tantrums. Let's just bite our tongues." After a couple of letters from some nerd groupies in which Dave laments the target audience of comic books, he responds more in length to the . . . well, wait. Let's first look at his response about his core audience!

I'm offended! I always fix it immediately when a headlight goes out.

I mean, after seventeen issues, "Aardvark Comment" is finally getting interesting! Okay, so now to Sim's actual response to Wendy and Richard Pini.

Dave Sim being serious. Probably.

I'd like to point out the end of this letter in which Dave states fairly plainly the main theme of criticism behind Eee! Tess Ate Chai Tea for nearly a decade: "I just don't happen to think that the system in operation now is the best thing for this medium and that it is not the most conducive way to get the best from the creative talents that exist. Quite the opposite, it seems to encourage half-assed efforts in order to guarantee that you are not surrendering your rights to something of value. And how many of us, Steve Gerber included, could know in advance that our ducks were of any value?" This was as true in 1980 as it is now. It's just that in 1980, it was much harder and a lot more work to retain the rights to your creations through self-publishing. So most comic book writers and artists were doing their best work at DC and Marvel. What other reasonable choice was there? Dave and Deni have discussed multiple times across the last dozen and a half issues how hard self-publishing has been for them. Now imagine a company like Image exists or a place like Kickstarter. Creators now know to save their best ideas for places that will give them full control and full potential earnings on their creations. DC and Marvel can't help but be full of writers doing half-assed jobs with their half-assed ideas and saving their truly monumental and mind-blowing work for Image or another, now more easily accessible independent publishing venture. This was in 1980 and Dave Sim was seeing creators screwed out of future royalties on ideas that wound up making fortunes for the parent companies. Some people accept this as business as usual and would be able to garner no sympathy for a creator stiffed out of royalties. But those people are unimaginative, pitiable, and sad. Something being legal has never in the history of everything been a convincing argument that that something is ethical, moral, or just fucking compassionate. Hopefully this "Aardvark Comment" begins to stir some serious discussion with Cerebus readers because I'm eager to read a lot more of Dave's thoughts about comic book publishing and fandom. Eventually there won't be a whole lot of separation between the comic book and the letters page. I mean, when the author inserts himself into the story as both some sort of omniscient being and also another fictionalized author, it gets hard to separate what you believe from the ideas expressed within the story. Cerebus #18 Rating: B-. That rating was for the lackluster story! The "Aardvark Comment" page gets an A! Oh, and I forgot to mention "The Single Page!" Imagine my surprise when I turned the page and saw this:

Tim Kreider in 1989! (Remember, this is from the 1989 Bi-weekly reprints of the 1980 Cerebus #18.)

You can just see Tim's eventual style in these early characters. The main male character is basically a baby-faced version and immature style of his eventual renditions of himself.

This is from Tim Kreider's book of essays and cartoons, We Learn Nothing.

I can't recommend Tim Kreider's essays and cartoons highly enough. Read his books, We Learn Nothing and I Wrote This Book Because I Love You and maybe search the Internet for a cache of his old cartooning website. You probably won't be disappointed. I say probably because I've learned that a lot of people on the Internet aren't exactly like me like I expect you all to be. Idiots.

#Dave Sim #Cerebus #Tim Kreider

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over-a-new-leaf · 4 years

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self-care 101 (covid-19 period)

Since we’ve rolled round to another May bank holiday, I thought it’d be nice to share some tips with you. As a homebody, and someone who will do absolutely ANYTHING to avoid one specific boring activity, I’ve racked up quite a long list over the past few years. Obviously, I’m no professional - but I find these help. There’s no specific chronological order to these - just pick and choose as you like!

Get out of bed!

Or lie in if you need to. Whatever makes you feel good

Start off the day with some yoga or meditation, or basic stretches

Or pray for a bit if you’re religious

Make your bed: tuck your sheets in, rearrange your pillows, etc.

Brush your hair and tie it up nicely

Pick out a cute outfit - could even be your favourite PJs - and lay it out

Go take a soothing shower, or a bubble bath

Use a bath bomb, get some nice candles if you feel like it

Put on some nice music to relax to

Try out a new hairstyle or style your hair the way you would if you had somewhere to be!

Slap on some makeup, why not? :)

Floss your teeth, or maybe use that teeth whitening formula you never picked up again after using it for the first time

Pick out a recipe for a hair mask or face mask and put it on

Before doing any of these, make sure they suit your hair & skin type

E.g. if you have frizzy and dry hair, use a moisturising and rejuvenating mask vs if you have sleek, straight hair - use a volume-enhancing mask. Same goes for your skin - evaluate whether you have dry skin, oily skin or combination

Stick to the recommended leave in time! It can be extremely difficult to get out later otherwise

Or make your own mask! There’s tons of recipes on YouTube and Google :)

Make yourself a nice breakfast

Breakfast smoothies are amazing! A really simple recipe I use contains a few spoonfuls of oats, handful of fruits (e.g. blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapes), honey / sugar by taste and yogurt.

Or a nice bowl of your favourite cereal

Avocado toast - there are so many different varieties of this online, and I bet you’ll find that you like.

A fruit salad!

Eggs done the way you like

A full English if you’re feeling ambitious

Workout for an hour or so

This doesn’t have to be really equipment intense or challenging if you don’t want it to be

Some YouTubers I recommend: Chloe Ting, Emi Wong, Fitness Blender, MadFit, Blogilates, Yoga with Adrienne, etc.

Don’t over exert yourself. Take longer than the recommended break time between exercises if you need to

Grab a new book, or a book you just enjoy reading

You can browse through Spotify for any playlists to listen to while reading - or use a playlist of songs you like

Listen to some music you like

Or discover some new music using Spotify’s ‘Discover’ feature

Preferably something that lifts your mood!

Pick out a recipe you’ve been meaning to try and just make it!

Dance around the house to some music

This can also be a sort-of-workout!

You can try learning a routine

TikTok dances are so stupidly fun

Maybe get a friend on vid-call and learn a dance with them

Make some TikToks

Or duet some on the app!

Get out a new bottle of wine - it’ll make you feel boujie ;)

Or your drink of choice - I’m not big into alc so I usually love a cool mint lemonade or iced coffee

Sit outside if the weather is nice

Or even if it’s rainy! I particularly love rainy days

Go for a walk around your neighbourhood

Do some grocery shopping! It can be surprisingly fun when you’re in no rush - plus, that’s a task off your future to-do list

Go meet a friend - stand at least 2m away and have a chat

Or text/ call your family / friends

Houseparty is great to use because it’s got games that you can play together if you’re not big on talking

Watch that TV series / movie you’ve been trying to get round to

Play with your pet, if you have one!

Do a cute lil photoshoot

Put on a nice outfit and take some nice pictures using the timer

Pictures with your pet

Or take pictures of your surroundings when outside

Or of the new dish you’ve impulsively made

Grab a pretty notebook

Start a bullet journal

Or a diary!

Do some journalling using journal prompts online

One really simple activity I really like is writing out 3 things that made my day :)

If you’re a poet or writer - write write write!

Maybe take the first step towards starting a blog (like I did last week, aha)

Play a musical instrument

Or pick up something you haven’t played in a while

Try learning some basic chords online

Or just play your favourite music if you’re a professional

Sing along to your music!

Search up some online webinars and virtual events to attend

Lots of professional webinars on LinkedIn, even Facebook at times

Live museum and art gallery tours on Google!

Try some meditation

Headspace is a great freemium app, among others

Use a guided meditation from YouTube

Create a Pinterest account and start making boards

These can be pretty pictures

Or things you’ll have in your future house

Workout routines

Even more self-care recommendations

Sketching

There’s this activity where you put your playlist on shuffle and draw what comes to your mind when you hear each song

Or just search up an image online and draw it

Doodle in your bullet journal / book if you have one

Embroider/ stitch some of your old clothes

Plenty of tutorials online!

You can stitch in some cute images :)

Try a new podcast

There are so many to explore on Spotify under the Podcasts section

Or watch something on YouTube

Learn something new if you feel like it

Pick up a subject area of interest and search it up on YouTube

You’ll get so many results!

Reorganise your house / room

Put on some music to jam along to while doing this!

Vacuum

Or just tidy all those papers off the desk

Reorganise your drawers

Fold your clothes

Dust any surfaces - super satisfying!

Maybe spice up your furniture placement

Try moving things around - be careful not to strain yourself

Do some laundry maybe

Yawn, but can be satisfying once you’ve done it!

Purge your wardrobe of any old clothes

You can donate them to charities

Or sell them on apps like Depop

Do some online shopping

Be careful not to spend too much though! :)

Download a photoprint app and get some pictures printed

There’s a lot of apps that offer you __ amount of free prints with delivery costs - not a bad deal!

You can finally make a photowall / collage

Try some scrapbooking

Get out some old newspapers and magazines and cut out any pictures of words that particularly catch your eye

Make pretty lil collages or spreads with them

Reorganise your digital folders

E.g. bookmarks on Chrome

Saved folders on Insta

Email folders

To Do lists

Give them pretty names so you’re more likely to use them in future

Catch up on some much needed sleep

Afternoon cat naps are actually lovely!

Make yourself some tea or coffee and just sit by the window with some music

Cliché and niche, but makes you feel calmer!

Try some chai recipes online if you’re into relatively milky tea or trying out new recipes

I’m not a big fan of chai ^ which is surprising as an Indian, but my family and friends love it soo

Do something with your family / roommates

Movie night!

Group dinners (even better - themed dinners!)

Or a fine dining wine night (bonus points if you dress up!)

Board games night

Or just games night e.g. charades, Headbandz, Psych (app)

DnD - never tried it but sm people have recommended it!

Make some TikToks

Sit around and chat

This is random but you can make PPTs about things you like and present them to each other - good for shit n giggles :)

Play an old online game e.g. Fireboy and Watergirl!

Create each other in the Sims

Organise some friendly competitions :)

Truth or Dare?

Look at star sign stuff with them - whether you believe or not, it’s an interesting thing to do nonetheless

Do Enneagram tests - extremely interesting and scarily accurate from my personal experience

Experimental cocktails maybe!

Some DIY arts and crafts!

Pitch a tent outside

Or make a pillow fort inside

Speaking of which - pillow fights!

Karaoke night

Or set up your own club - make a playlist, get some strobe lights or turn off the lights and get everyone to switch on their phone flash and just dance around. Get some drinks if you want as well!

Have a BBQ - great to do especially in the afternoons or early evenings!

Have a date night if it’s just the two of you :)

Have a picnic outside

Text someone something nice!

Win-win for the sender and the recipient :)

Great chance to reconnect with someone

Cleanse your devices & social media profiles

Change your profile pictures, bios

Archive / delete some pictures (we’re all guilty of this)

Maybe restart your account if you haven’t used it in too long, have too many random followers or just want to start afresh

Check your phone storage and delete stuff accordingly

Change your wallpaper / theme

Back up old pictures and delete them off your device

And that’s my list for now! I might add to it later if something comes to me but I hope you guys enjoy this! :)

Image credits:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/151574343695926876/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/579627414531062674/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/AQzIfTN5EwSc9JESrIo1l8AQw6cznXq2HLFq_SQk6La00-yL2As1QnY/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/499055202462999051/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/328481366576228467/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/6262886962801682/

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jakegyllenhaalsupportgroup · 5 years

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Jack’s Story

So this is Jack’s Coming Out Story - I as a straight female have obviously never had to go through anything like this at all before so please read this and let me know if I’ve got anything wrong or if anything makes any of you uncomfortable and I’ll be more than happy to change it

From the moment Jack had set eyes on him he had known he was fucked.

He had run into Robert in a cafe a little longer than a week into the term, the two of them having known each other as a result of Freshers week.

“Hey, Jack! How are you?” Robert beamed at the man. Jack adjusted his hat and took Robert’s hand with a smile.

“I’m good thanks, you?”

“Yeah, I’m good - I’m here with my roommate, have you met him?” Robert asked innocently.

“Don’t believe so, no,” Jack said with a shrug.

Robert stepped out of the way and Jack could have sworn he was in a shitty romance film with how everything else seemed to slow down just a little bit upon revealing the other man.

“Jack Twist,” he introduced, swallowing hard and offering his hand. The blond man nodded his head, taking the hand.

“Ennis Del Mar.”

Jack kind of wanted to hate the man from how he made his heart flutter just from one look.

Jack had always known that he wasn’t like the other kids at home. The other boys, more like. But he came from such a conservative town from such old-fashioned parents that he knew there was no chance of him being able to come out back home.

It was part of the reason why he had been so eager to move out of state for university, to get away from the small town and the people with equally small minds.

Back home he had tried to hide his sexuality when people began to get suspicious through dating a girl. Lureen. She was a rider.

Jack had broken up with her after a few months. Well, she had really broken up with him but he always said he was the reason for their split. Which, truthfully, he was. Lureen had cottoned on to the longing looks Jack would give to the other boys in their classes. She had him figured out.

Though she had swore not to tell, knowing that it was an important aspect of Jack’s life that he needed to sort out himself.

Lureen had also met Jack’s parents before and knew exactly what their reaction would be.

But the damage had been done and the rumours surrounding Jack’s sexuality had begun to die down.

Even without the whispers following him everywhere he still had to get away.

///

Jack took every step he could in avoiding Ennis.

Only lately, mind. The past few weeks. Before that, the two of them had been close. Ennis was a dark, brooding man who Robert declared could only be brought to laughter by Jack.

And Jack had been more than willing to keep him laughing.

A part of him had even, genuinely, begun to think that Ennis liked him back in the same way that he liked him.

As soon as he found out about Alma, though, he hated himself for the hope that left a bitter-taste in his mouth now.

“I thought Ennis was coming?” Jake asked, his arm wound around Y/N’s shoulder, holding her to his chest and he kissed her temple lovingly.

Jack hated the jealousy that boiled in his stomach at the sight of such gentle domesticity.

“He is - but I think he’s bringing his girlfriend.” Robert said from the other end of the table where him and Donnie were attempting to talk Lou into taking shots with them.

“His girlfriend?” Jack asked, snapping to attention. Jake and Y/N looked at him in surprise at his sudden question.

Morf frowned just a little at him from his place next to Jerry. Morf’s arm was around his flavour of the week - a man called Ed that the rest of the group liked but Quentin wasn’t so sure about since he had thought Derek was just a really long, misshapen rat and had thought Quentin was playing a joke on him when he tried to explain that a ferret was a real animal, not something made up in Lord of the Rings.

Jack felt another surge of jealousy at that. That Morf was able to be exactly who he was around everyone else without feeling worried about being rejected.

Admittedly, Morf probably would have been the one to talk to about Ennis and Jack’s feelings for him. But there was no way that Jack was going to go through with that.

“Yeah - Alma, I think? He’s been seeing her for a month and a bit now? She’s really nice,” Robert confirmed.

Jack felt his heart drop.

For the two weeks since meeting Alma, Jack had done anything and everything that meant he could avoid seeing her or Ennis again.

///

“Jack, dude, talk to us, yeah?” Jake asked. Edward was stood right behind him, worry clearly written across his face as the two men watched the First Year university student cry on Jake’s doorstep.

“Come inside, Jack. We’ll make you some tea and you can talk to us about it?” Edward suggested. Jack wiped his eyes roughly with his sleeve and nodded.

“Sorry,” he rasped.

“Don’t even worry about it, dude. Go into the living room with Ed and I’ll make us all something to drink, yeah?”

Jack nodded and allowed Edward to lead him gently into Jake’s living room, one hand on his back to push him through.

Jake returned into the room five minutes later with five mugs of tea. Jack had taken off his hat and was running his hands through his hair, visibly stressed and beyond upset.

“I’m sorry to just barge in like this,” he finally said.

“Stop apologising, man. You know my place is basically just a refuge centre at this point,” Jake joked, raising his eyebrows at Edward. “I mean, Ed just comes over here whenever Jamie’s being too loud with a girl.” Jack breathed a shaky sigh.

“Where are the David’s?”

“They’re at astronomy society,” Jake said gently.

“I - uh - I need to tell you two something,” Jack confessed, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Yeah?” Jake probed, leaning towards him a little.

“I - I’ve never told anyone this before,” he said with a wet laugh, sniffing his tears away. Edward placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Take your time, Jack,” Edward said and Jack nodded, taking another deep breath.

“I - uh - I... I like... I... I don’t... like girls,” Jack saw Jake and Edward exchange a look.

“Alright,” Edward said at last. Jack looked at him in surprise.

“Is that... is that it?” Jack asked. Jake chuckled, squeezing Jack’s shoulder.

“You’re still our friend, dude, if that’s what you’re worried about. You’re the same guy you’ve always been and... and nothing’s going to change that, especially not your sexuality,” Jack bit his lip, trying hard not to smile.

“You really mean that?”

“Of course we do,” Edward chuckled. He brought Jack into a short hug. “If you need any support though, Jack, you know where we are. We’ll help you however you need us to,” Jack nodded.

“Thanks,” he breathed. “Could you... maybe not tell the others yet?”

“We wouldn’t take that away from you,” Jake promised.

///

“You want my advice?” Morf asked, raising his eyebrows at Jack.

It had been a slow process but by two weeks after coming out for the first time, all of his closest friends knew he was gay.

Apart from Ennis.

Though Jack wasn’t exactly sure where they stood on the whole ‘friend thing’ anymore anyway.

“Well... you’ve clearly told guys you like them before,” Jack pointed out and Morf chuckled, raising his chai latte to his lips.

“It’s the same as telling girls you like them,” Jack rolled his eyes.

“Funnily enough I haven’t done that either,” he pointed out.

“Who’s the guy?” Morf asked curiously. Jack dropped his gaze to the cafe table. “Is it Ennis?” Jack’s head snapped up and he looked around, wide eyed and worried.

“Keep your fucking voice down!” He hissed and Morf lent back with a smirk on his face.

“I knew it - I’ve known it since that night we met Alma,” he declared.

“Great. Congratu-fucking-lations. I’m so proud of you. Have a gold star,” Jack muttered.

“Ennis likes you too,” Morf said and Jack rolled his eyes.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence but he has a girlfriend. I’m hopeless but I’m not stupid,” Jack spat.

“Have you seen the way Ennis looks at you?” Morf asked gently. Jack looked up and shook his head, swallowing. “I have. You should talk to him. Or try to.” Silence fell over the friends and Jack mulled over Morf’s advice. “And if that fails then I know some great gay bars that no one else will come with me to.”

///

“Robert’s not in,” Ennis said, opening the door to his dorm room, visibly surprised to see Jack on the other side.

“I know. I was just with him.” Jack nodded. “I need to... I need to talk to you.”

“First time in a while,” Ennis pointed out with a wry smile but stepped back to allow Jack to enter into his room.

The only time Jack had ever seen Ennis without his hat was in his dorm room. He thought that it made him look softer, without the hat. A look Jack couldn’t deny he adored on Ennis.

Jack seated himself on Robert’s bed and Ennis sat on his own, opposite Jack.

Jack’s eyes scanned the room and his heart clenched when they landed on the photo of Alma Ennis had on his desk. He tore his eyes away and settled them back on Ennis, who was watching him expectantly.

“I have to tell you something,” Jack admitted.

“Yeah?”

“I... I’m gay,” coming out had gotten easier for Jack the more he had done it. And yet with the way his throat constricted with the words it felt like the first time all over again.

It was even worse waiting for Ennis’ reaction than it had been waiting for Jake and Edward’s.

He knew Ennis came from a town even more conservative than his own.

“Oh... right.” Ennis swallowed, avoiding making eye contact with Jack. “That’s... that’s fine.”

Ennis looked like he was in physical pain as he spoke.

“That’s not all,” Jack admitted with a sigh. Ennis’ eyes widened, panic clear in them.

“That’s not it?”

“No... I’m sorry, Ennis,” Jack whispered. Hot tears built in his eyes.

He couldn’t do this.

But he had to.

“I just... I wanted to let you know that... that if I’ve been acting weird lately around you... around Alma.... it’s... I like you Ennis Del Mar.”

“I’m not gay,” Ennis immediately snapped.

“I know... I just... had to tell you,” Jack’s voice was hoarse and he stood up. “I’ll... I’ll leave,” he decided, seeing Ennis’ stricken face.

Jack was down the hallway towards the stairs, tears threatening to fall when he heard footsteps behind him.

“Jack! Jack wait!” Jack turned at the sound of Ennis’ voice.

He wasn’t given time to respond before it happened.

Ennis’ lips felt better than he had ever imagined.

#courts writings #Jake College Multiverse #Jake Gyllenhaal Cinematic Universe #JGCU #jake gyllenhaal #jake gyllenhaal fanfiction #jake gyllenhaal imagine #jack twist #jack twist fanfiction #jack twist imagine #jack twist x ennis del mar #ennis del mar #edward sheffield #robert graysmith #morf vandewalt

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solangelover · 6 years

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Just a Bit of Coffee

A/N: I’ve been working on this one for a while. Based on this coffee shop AU prompt. I really like this universe I built up, so I think I’m gonna make it a multi-chapter fic! It’ll be my first AU one (with very slow updates) but I’m excited for it :) Anyways, enjoy this first installment!

Read on AO3 or FF.Net or Wattpad

Coffee is a staple for college students. It’s almost a crime to dislike coffee and doing homework in coffee shops. It’s insulting to some people because that means you don’t need the caffeine in coffee to survive college. To others, coffee is an experience, a heavenly one at that. Cecil fell into the latter category. Will, though he was a struggling med student (as all med students were), didn’t like coffee. He was more of a tea person, or you know, a person who got enough sleep to be functional (usually). Unfortunately for him, Cecil was his best friend, meaning Cecil was quite offended that Will disliked coffee and tried to shove it down his throat whenever possible.

“Will, smell this.” Cecil rarely made normal requests to Will, but he was used to it by now. He was leaning across their kitchen counter with his mug outstretched.

Will leaned over and smelled the coffee Cecil had brewed with his new roast. It smelled amazing. “Smells great! What is it?”

Cecil grinned widely. “It’s this chocolate macadamia nut coffee from Hawaii! It is SO GOOD. The smell alone is mouth-watering. Wanna try?”

“Yeah, no thanks. You know I only like the smell. Coffee itself is so bitter, why do you like it? You don’t need any more energy.” Cecil was never lacking energy, but he was also never lacking coffee, so Will couldn’t actually tell what his normal, non-caffeinated self was.

“One day, Will, one day you will fall in love with coffee and you’ll have me to thank. I will gladly take all the credit for it.”

Will just rolled his eyes and went back to his homework. He was swamped, but at least he kind of enjoyed all the medical stuff, though that didn’t make it easy.

“So, whatcha working on?” Cecil asked as he eyed Will’s papers.

“Human anatomy and physiology. I have a lab midterm next week and we have to memorize way too much stuff. I also have a lab report to do for bio, or was it chem? Plus, memorizing med terms for that other class.” Will was reaching his limit. He couldn’t even list off his work to Cecil, his mind already thinking about his other assignments.

Suddenly, the textbook that Will was staring at wasn’t there anymore and Cecil’s face replaced it. He was currently lying on the table Will was working on, looking upside down at Will. “Will, you’re insane. Know what you need?”

“I swear if you say coffee—“

“COFFEE. Seriously, good coffee makes you more alert and focused and you can be more productive in a smaller amount of time. I’m telling you, it’s scientifically proven.” Cecil sat up on the table in front of Will.

“Proven by whom? They ran an experiment?” Will quirked an eyebrow at his energetic friend.

Cecil simply waved his hand aimlessly. “Eh, doesn’t matter, not the point. Okay, this new coffee shop opened up and Lou Ellen is working there. She told me the coffee is good, even for my refined tastes, so we gotta check it out. Let’s go later this afternoon!”

“Why does it have to be ‘we’? Why not just you?” Will tried to discretely pull his textbook back, but Cecil snatched it away at the last moment.

Will let out an exasperated reply as Cecil responded smugly. “Because YOU have lots of work to do and you know the home environment is harder to study in. Studying in coffee shops is the college thing!”

“Yeah, well so is drinking coffee and I don’t do that either. I could just go to the library.”

Cecil rolled his eyes. “Uh, yeah, but that’s boring. Plus, you’d be ditching your best friend and roommate, and that’s not very nice.” Cecil pouted, giving his best puppy dog eyes. To Will, it just looked like he was in pain.

After staring for a bit, Will leaned back and groaned loudly. Cecil knew he had won. “UGH FINE. But you better let me do work there and not just talk forever. And I’m NOT drinking coffee.”

“You say that now, but I’m telling you, you’ll convert one day. And anyways, they have chai lattes there and I’m pretty sure you liked that the last time I got it for you.” Cecil got up and pushed Will’s textbook back towards him. “How about you get that lab report done here and then around 7 we’ll go to the coffee shop? It’s in walking distance, right down the road.”

“Sure. I can do my studying and memorizing, and you can do whatever history majors do. I swear, you’re gonna fail your classes if you don’t do your homework.”

“Yes, MOM.” Cecil dragged his feet as he walked towards their shared bedroom. “I do homework, I just don’t have as much as Doctor Solace over there.”

Will rolled his eyes and went to work on his lab report. He’s glad to have Cecil though. Without him, Will might never leave his apartment except for class.

—

At a little after 7 PM, Cecil and Will were standing in front of Descendants’ Cafe. It was cute. Very aesthetic, very hipster, but it still had this authentic, oldie feel, like it’s been there forever.

“The story of this place alone is cool,” Cecil stated while gazing at the sign. “The ones who built this are actually only a bit older than us. Remember Annabeth Chase?”

Will’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Annabeth? Super smart, dating the captain of the swim team, that Annabeth?”

Cecil grinned. “Of course you’d remember her boyfriend.” Will rolled his eyes as Cecil continued. “That’s the one. So she and Percy are still together, probably going to get married soon. Anyway, they started this place together, along with Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She’s the art student with crazy red curls.” They seemed like an interesting trio to Will. “Each of them is the child of very successful parents. Rachel’s parents are rich business people. Percy’s mom is a famous author while his dad is a world-class surfer. Annabeth’s mother works high up in the government doing top secret stuff and her dad is a history professor at some ivy-league school. Needless to say, they had no need for money, let alone starting up their own business. But, they wanted something that was theirs, not their parents’. And so, this place was born.”

“That’s... incredible. Wow, they must be an awesome team! I wonder how their parents took that.” Will was in awe of their bravery. That’s a huge step Will didn’t think he could take, especially if his parents were against it.

“From what I’ve heard,” Cecil said, “there were many issues and fights at first. Percy’s parents were the first to support them, and they helped convince the others. But, yeah, they really had to fight for this place. And they didn’t accept any financial help from their parents. So, right out of college, they started their business.”

“Wow. Wish I was them.” Will and Cecil walked in to the coffee shop, the door chime signaling their entrance.

“Yeah,” Cecil scoffed. “As if they all weren’t great enough, they had to add to their awesomeness.”

Upon entering, Will was hit with the smell of coffee. It was a good smell to him, even though he knew he didn’t like the taste. The interior decorations were very aesthetic - hanging succulents, bare lightbulbs, dark brown wood paneled floor and countertops. The walls were covered in brightly colored abstract art, not too distracting, but definitely bringing character to the place. Will thought they must’ve been by Rachel, recalling some of her art exhibitions that he had seen. She was really talented, but was always one of those artists who didn’t fit the school mold and was never fully appreciated. Now she could show off all her work, on top of being a proud co-owner of the place.

Cecil grabbed them a table near the back corner, knowing Will did need to do some studying. The table had a tiny succulent, as if the ones hanging everywhere weren’t hipster enough.

“So, what do you feel like drinking? I can order for you, so you can start working. I know, I know,” Cecil began to say when Will looked at him suspiciously. “No coffee. I just wanted to get you out of the apartment. You’re becoming a recluse with the amount of time you spend studying there.”

Will rolled his eyes, he was sure one day they’d roll right out of his head with Cecil around. “You’re so over dramatic. It’s not an unhealthy amount of time, I’d know, I’m the one trying to become a doctor.” Will peered over at the menu, not really sure what anything was. He looked over at Cecil. “Get me something you think I’d like—THAT’S NOT COFFEE. I’m trusting you as my best friend.”

Cecil grinned widely. He loved picking out drinks for others. “Alrighty, prepare to be amazed!” Cecil wiggled his fingers at Will as he sauntered over to the counter. Lou Ellen was at the register and happily chatted with Cecil. Will began pulling out his books.

He was already into memorization mode when Cecil came back and sat down. “Damn, you really waste no time. I don’t even get a little bit of conversation?” Cecil rested his head on his hand and gazed at Will’s books uninterestedly.

Will sighed. “Sure, sorry. So, how was your day?”

“Will, what are we, strangers? Don’t ask me such basic questions. Does our friendship mean nothing to you?” Cecil never lacked drama in everything he did and said. Sometimes, Will wondered why he didn’t major in acting instead.

“Okay, then what do you want to talk about?”

“Eh, I dunno.” Cecil shrugged like he didn’t just make a big deal out of having a conversation.

Will groaned and went back to reading his textbook. “I swear, you make no sense to me. You hurt my brain more than these medical terms do.”

“But you love me anyway.” Cecil grinned, and Will tried his best to suppress a smile. “I’m going to go to the bathroom, can you get the drinks when they’re called? It’ll be my name.”

“Sure thing. What did you get me?” Will asked as Cecil got up.

Cecil winked, “A basic chai latte with two pumps of vanilla and soy milk. I wanted to play it safe this time around. Next time, we’ll be more adventurous.” He turned and walked swiftly away, not giving Will any chance to protest a ‘next time’.

Will looked around the place, admiring the little details. It was definitely hipster at a glance, but a closer look told Will that someone with a good artistic and architectural sense designed the interior. The center column holding up each table looked like a Greek pillar, complete with carvings depicting a scene on the bottom. In fact, the whole place had subtle Greek undertones. There were Greek letters up on the top wall trimming near the ceiling. Even the abstract art on the walls had vague images of temples, thrones, and nature. He couldn’t believe that this place was founded by people only a couple of years older than him. The courage and confidence required to pull off what they did was above Will.

“Cecil!” The barista behind the counter called.

Will got up and took stock of everything on his table – he could never be too paranoid about leaving his stuff unattended. When he turned to the counter and saw two drinks, he also made eye contact with the barista. Will was a pretty social guy, no matter how awkward he felt. Eye contact with a stranger wouldn’t have been a big deal, except that he felt his eyes widen slightly when his brain suddenly shouted CUTE GUY ALERT. He nearly stopped in his tracks, having to force his feet to keep walking as he looked away from the cute barista and back at the two drinks. His brain couldn’t process any emotions, it was too focused on making sure Will kept breathing.

When he finally reached the counter, Will naturally looked up and smiled at the barista as he reached for his drinks. The guy seemed to be around his age, so there was a good chance he was a student at Will’s college.

“Thanks,” Will said, or tried to say. It came out as a whisper, like he suddenly lost his voice. Will cleared his throat and tried again, “Thanks!”

The barista gave a small smile back. Will reached out for the drinks at the same time the barista held out the drinks to him, causing Will’s hands and the drinks to collide sooner than Will had expected. They almost dropped the drinks, but the barista got a grip on them at the last second.

“Sorry!” they both squeaked at the same time. They locked eyes with each other once again, this time a noticeable red tinge on both boys’ cheeks.

The barista quickly looked away and thrust the cups into Will’s hands. “Sorry about that,” he said quietly.

Will blinked, slightly stunned by the boy’s dark brown eyes, and gathered his thoughts together. “Um, no problem. I mean, it’s fine, it was my fault. Not that anything spilled or anything. Uhh, yeah, um, thanks.” Will cleared his throat again, highly self-conscious about his social skills at the moment. He immediately spun around and headed straight back to his table, feeling the blood rush to his face.

Once seated, he breathed out as if he had been holding his breath the whole time. He resisted the urge to look back at the counter, worried that he’d make eye contact again, cause that poor boy to be more uncomfortable, and, if Will was being honest, hurt his chances of at least finding out his name.

Cecil suddenly appeared in front of him. “Will?” He waved his hand in front of Will’s face. “Did the latte taste that bad? Or did you melt your brain with all your medicalness?” He raised an eyebrow as he sat down and grabbed his drink from in front of Will.

Will belatedly noticed that his heart was beating too fast. Maybe he wasn’t breathing again. He physically shook his head as if to jumble his thoughts with the hope that they would fall back into place. “I, uh, I didn’t try the drink yet. I just got them.” Now he glanced over to the front counter. He couldn’t see Cute Barista Boy. He probably scared him to the back room. Or out of the coffee shop entirely.

“Oh, good. I want to see your reaction. Not that you haven’t had this order before, but I just want to have the validation of being your personal drink advisor.”

Cecil’s smug look brought Will back to reality. He rolled his eyes out of habit, replying, “Whatever makes you happy.” Will took a tentative sip, didn’t hate it, took another sip, then set his drink down and got back to work. “It’s good,” he muttered, knowing that Cecil wanted a response while also knowing that that statement would annoy him like crazy.

Will didn’t see it, but he could feel Cecil narrow his eyes in irritation at Will. “So unrefined. You’re lucky you have work to do and I respect you.” He leaned back in his chair and pulled out his phone.

Will didn’t respond. He was trying to focus on his studies while simultaneously regret everything he did in his one interaction with Cute Barista Boy. He was an incredible multitasker.

—

Cecil didn’t pester Will to go back to that coffee shop in the following days. Will almost wished that he would, but his pride would never let him admit that. It’s not like he wanted to go back because his drink tasted good anyway – he knew exactly why that place appealed to him.

Thus, the next Thursday at around 7 PM, Will suggested they go to Descendants’ Café.

“You what?” Cecil’s expression made it seem like Will had just suggested they quit school and join the circus.

“I said, I liked studying there and want to go back.” Will tried to say it as nonchalantly as possible, hoping Cecil would just jump for joy and head out the door.

Instead, Cecil narrowed his eyes suspiciously, presumably trying to figure out if his roommate had suddenly been replaced by an alien. “Solace, I have known you since forever, and not once have you ever, EVER, said that to me. EVER. Like, never ever.”

“Yeah well—”

“EVER.”

Will waited a beat, meeting Cecil’s stare with his own. “Are you done?”

He took Cecil’s silence as an answer. “Hey, it was just a suggestion. We don’t have to go, I have no need for coffee or tiny succulents. The apartment has more than enough space—”

“No no no no no,” Cecil wagged his finger in Will’s face, effectively stopping him. “You don’t get to bait me. Ya hear? We’re going to that café. I’m choosing a new drink for you and you can’t complain because this is your choice.” Cecil went back into suspicious mode. “But I’m watching you, Solace. Aaaaalways watching…” He slowly backed away into their room and shut their door.

Will let out a huff of air. He didn’t know if going back – on the same day and time – was a mistake or not. But he couldn’t get Cute Barista Boy out of his head, so the only logical thing to do was see him again, and maybe even talk to him so he didn’t think Will was just an awkward klutz. Yup, Will nodded to himself, this is indeed the only option.

—

Entering Descendants’ Café for his second time, Will didn’t really pay attention to all the art and architecture, though he pretended to. This time, Will glanced behind the counter to make sure a certain someone was there. This time, Will stayed in line with Cecil so he could ‘get to know some stuff on the menu so he wasn’t so incompetent.’

This time, he would find out Cute Barista Boy’s name.

When they reached the register, Lou Ellen was once again working it. “Hey, Cecil! Hey, Will!” she greeted with a bright smile.

“’Sup, LouE,” Cecil grinned as Lou Ellen reached over and whacked his arm. She hates being called Louie, but Cecil insists spelling it like LouE makes it a legitimate nickname.

Will laughed, “Hi, Lou Ellen. How’s your day been?”

“Pretty average,” she shrugged. “School sucks as usual. And since this place is a bit too new still, we don’t really have a huge crowd. Nice place though, right?”

“Yeah, I like it a lot. Perfect for a coffee shop near a university.” This was easy conversation for Will. Casual, not stressful. He was feeling pretty good.

“Will’s the one who wanted to come back. Can you believe it?” Cecil said incredulously, jabbing his thumb towards Will. “Anyways, I’m taking this opportunity to get him something really good. Maybe this is his first step towards enlightenment.” Cecil tapped his chin as if in deep thought. Will only rolled his eyes.

Will currently didn’t see Cute Barista Boy. He was really hoping that he worked today, otherwise he’d be putting up with Cecil’s coffee craziness for nothing.

Cecil suddenly snapped his fingers. “I got it! How about a caramel macchiato? That’s really sweet, pretty much masks the bitterness of the coffee.” He gave Will a side glance. “Trust me, you’ll like it.”

“Okay, whatever.” Will said a bit distractedly.

“You see this? This is the thanks I get.” Cecil and Lou Ellen’s words faded into the background. Cute Barista Boy came out from the back and Will couldn’t really bring himself to look away. He wanted to get comfortable with looking at him so that he could actually talk to him later. That was the plan, at least. Then Will realized that the boy was way too cute for Will to ever get used to him.

Cute Barista Boy was all dark compared to Will’s light, but in a way that intrigued Will to no end. He had dark hair to go with his deep, brown eyes. He had a black T-shirt and black skinny jeans on under his apron, which unfairly didn’t take away from his look. His skin was a bit pale, but had a light olive tone to it. His fingers were long and deft as he fiddled with the espresso machine. Will was probably about five inches taller than him, but his presence seemed stronger. Or maybe that was just in Will’s eyes.

“Hey, LEB, what’s the drink order? I can start it while you hold up the line.” Will was taken aback by the boy’s voice. It was firmer than he had imagined, though the only time he had actually heard it was in an awkward situation.

Lou Ellen groaned and spun around. “Don’t be dramatic, di Angelo. There’s no one else here, you’re just impatient. And don’t call me LEB!!”

“Or maybe I just enjoy my job that much, LEB” The dark boy smirked as he walked over to get the order. He didn’t look up at either Will or Cecil.

“You’re so annoying.”

“You could always quit.”

When Lou Ellen turned back around, she glared at Cecil, who was barely containing his laughter. “LEB! Hahaha… Because… Your last name…” He couldn’t even get a full sentence out, he was laughing so much.

“This is what you do to me, Nico,” she called over her shoulder.

“You’re welcome,” Nico replied.

“THANK YOU!” Cecil shouted.

Will finished paying and ushered Cecil to the same table they were at last week. Nico di Angelo. Will rolled that name around in his head, trying not to be immediately enthralled with how beautiful it sounded. He shook his head and decided to distract himself with homework. As he pulled out a few textbooks, his name was called.

Will took a deep breath and got up to get their drinks. This is what he’d been waiting for, he could do this. Just have a normal conversation with the guy. Be your normal, friendly self. Who knows, maybe he’s actually a jerk, Will thought to himself, though he didn’t think that would be the case. His friendly banter with Lou Ellen already made him like the boy. If Nico could befriend someone as headstrong and tough as Lou Ellen in the short amount of time they’d been working together, then he had to be something special.

Before he knew it, Will was at the counter. He put on a smile and pretended that he didn’t rehearse this conversation several times over the past week.

“Hi,” Will cleared his throat. “Um, thanks for the drinks.”

Nico nodded, “No prob. Kinda my job, so…”

Will gave a short laugh and continued. “Right. So, you’re friends with Lou Ellen?”

Nico smirked, “Yeah, LEB and I met working here, but I see her around on campus nowadays. You know her?”

“Yeah,” Will affirmed. “I met her through Cecil, the guy over there. Them two together are quite the pair.”

“Ha, I could see a bit of that from just earlier.” The conversation seemed like it was going to end, so Will quickly kept it up.

“So, you go to Olympus University?” Will tried not to sound too hopeful.

“Yeah, second year, but I just transferred in.”

“Cool! I’m also a second year! I’m guessing your major isn’t coffee-ology?” What are you even saying, William, he thought to himself.

Nico chuckled at the horrible joke. “Nah, wasn’t for me. I’m an art student. What about you?”

“I’m a med student. I want to be a doctor someday.”

Nico whistled low. “Medical. That’s hard. Surprised you have time to come here.” He glanced around the place. “Not that it’s too busy. I’m sure that’ll change though. I’ve known the owners for a long time, they’re not quite the type to give up.”

Will smiled at Nico’s faith in them. They must’ve been good friends. “I’m Will, by the way. Will Solace.”

“Nico di Angelo.”

“I know,” Will said. “I mean, um, sorry. About last week. If you remember, of course, you probably don’t because it was, like, a whole week ago. I just, um,” Will was internally cringing at every word coming out of his mouth. “I almost knocked over the drinks. Last week. So, yeah, sorry.” Will was sure his face was completely red by now. He had been doing so well to.

Will turned around to walk shamefully back to his seat when Nico’s voice stopped him. “Oh, I remember.”

Will looked back, “You do?”

“Of course,” Nico grinned. “How could I forget the cute blonde who almost made me drop his drinks?” With that, Nico left the counter and went back to making drinks.

Will stood there for probably a bit too long, stunned and speechless. He forced himself to move and robotically sat back in his seat.

“AHEM,” Cecil cleared his voice loudly, causing Will’s head to snap in his direction. He had a grade A smirk on his face with his eyebrows raised. “So, I now know why you wanted to come back. If your red face and dopey smile is anything to go by.”

Will hadn’t even realized he was smiling, but he didn’t really care all that much. He glanced over to the counter and found brown eyes already looking back at him.

He didn’t know what to make of all this. It had never happened to him before. But Will knew one thing. Coffee was definitely starting to grow on him.

ch.2

#I FIGURED OUT THE KEEP READING LINE #this is my longest one #i like it a lot #coffee shop au #AU #solangelo #solangelo fanfiction #fanfic #solangelo au #will solace #nico di angel #cecil markowitz #lou ellen blackstone #feedback is cool #my wriring #my post #just a bit of coffee #jaboc1 #chapter 1

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putschki1969 · 6 years

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Japan ~ Summer 2018 #1 🎌🗻

Quick introduction: Hello my lovlies!! As most of you might already know, I went to Japan this summer. It was a rather spontaneous decision based on the fact that both Hikaru and Wakana had announced their solo lives. At that point I was suffering from a serious case of Kalafina withdrawal so I felt like I had no choice but to go. I just needed to see them. Also, it was my 30th birthday so I thought I would treat myself. You only turn 30 once, right? On a side note, the timing finally gave me the opportunity to do something I had wanted to do for a few years now. Climb Mount Fuji. o(〃＾▽＾〃)o So yeah, that’s the backstory of my trip. I stayed in Japan from July 30 till August 14 and pretty much my entire trip was dedicated to Kalafina Pilgrimage. Let me tell you this, it was by far the best summer vacation of my life, worth each and every penny! And believe me, there were a LOT of pennies involved XD

Notes: Once again this is coming pretty late but not as late as my previous travel report so that’s a good thing. It took some time to gather my thoughts and put them all into words. This report will be a bit different from the last one since I thought it would be nice to include some travel tips here and there. I guess you could see this as some sort of travel/Kala-guide. Many of my followers have never been to Japan so I guess some general info would be useful to make things easier for you if you ever decide to travel to Japan.

Please note that this is Part 1 of my report. The other parts will follow in the near future (hopefully).

Without further ado, let’s get to it 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

July 29 (Sun) ~ July 30 (Mon)

My flight to Japan was scheduled for Sunday July 29. Finally a direct flight again. I HATE layovers with a passion. As always I couldn’t sleep on the plane so I watched all kinds of movies (Blade Runner 2049, The Greatest Showman, Love Simon, Red Sparrow and La La Land - I really don’t get the love for La La Land o.O). 11 hours later I landed at Narita Airport (8 am the next day JST). The second I stepped out of the plane and walked through that tube thingy that connects planes to the airport I thought I was gonna die, it felt like I had just opened an oven and a blast of heat and steam washed over me. To say it felt like a sauna is an understatement. Thank God the tube was rather short and I was soon insiden the airconditioned Narita Airport. I took my time there since I knew I wouldn’t be able to check into my hotel before 14:00. Got my luggage, got my wi-fi sim card, got my JR Pass, charged my Suica, got some instant Chai from Starbucks (the one that Hikaru had just recommended in a blog post XD), bought some fancy looking writing paper (for my letters to Hikaru and Wakana). So yeah, I basically chilled and caught up on all the stuff that I had missed while I didn’t have internet. Around noon I took the Narita Express to Tokyo. I always take the N’EX because it’s super convenient and fast. The fare is high but it’s covered by the JR Pass. From there it’s just one station on the Yamanote Line to my hotel. When I am in Tokyo I always stay at a business hotel in Kanda. Cheap and convenient. Ugh, the short walk to my hotel was hell. Carrying a backpack, shoving my luggage ahead of me, all of that in the middle of the day with the sun blasting down on me. Thankfully two locals took pity on me (I must have looked like I was about to die XD). They helped me with my luggage and brought me to my hotel. All the way I kept apologising because I honestly didn’t expect them to carry my stuff. I was like, “no, no, don’t do it, I will carry it myself!!” But nope, they were pretty stubborn about it. Ahhhh, everyone is so kind, it always makes me happy to be back in Japan. I guess those are the perks of looking like a small girl, everyone feels the need to help you XD Anyways, I checked in, freshened up and then I did a bit of shopping in Akihabara. Nothing extraordinary, mostly I just looked for second hand Kalafina stuff XD (as I always do) During this trip I didn’t buy a lot though. A couple of singles (One Light and Blaze), the LEs for “After Eden” and “far on the water”, that’s about it. I came across re/oblivious but meh, it was too expensive for my taste, that CD isn’t too high on my priority list at the moment if I am being honest. Anyways, I didn’t do much else that day since I was pretty exhausted from my flight and I definitely needed to rest considering all the things that were lying ahead of me. Before I headed to bed I wrote my letter for Hikaru (thank God I bought a bunch of stationary because I screwed up so often and had to start on a new paper XD) and that’s a wrap for my first day in Tokyo.

❗ Some tips ❗

Try not to travel to Japan in the summer time! Flights are crazy expensive, there are lots of typhoons, most places are brimming over with people (Japanese and tourists alike) and the awful humidity makes you want to kill yourself.

Get a JR Pass if you plan to travel a lot by train/shinkansen (long distance trips). Believe me, it pays off to have one even though the price might seem a bit scary. I like to get to places fast, don’t wanna waste my time by using slow trains or buses. That’s why for me the JR Pass is perfect but it might be different for some of you.

Get a Suica. While the JR Pass is quite convenient, it doesn’t cover any of the metros and other stuff. In most cases you will be able to get around using just JR lines but sometimes it will be much easier to just take the metro or a bus and in these cases a Suica comes in quite handy. You simply charge your card and off you can go.

Get a rental sim card or a portable pocket wi-fi. The first time I went to Japan back in 2014 I didn’t have either of the two and man, I still don’t know how I survived, having no internet sucks. Wi-fi is super important, you can use google maps for orientation, you can always stay in contact with other people. You really shouldn’t travel without it. I recommend sim cards (if your device is unlocked) because the coverage is just much better. Some pocket wi-fis don’t work well in rural areas or underground. Definitely pre-order and don’t get it at the airport (so over-priced there!). I always have my rental delivered to the airport post office. In the past I have used the CDJapan service because it’s super reliable but there are other (cheaper) options I think.

I’d recommend you stay in the Kanda area or close to it: This only goes for people who want to stay in a hotel, if you are wiling to stay in hostels/shared housing the Asakusa area is probably better suited for you. Anyways, this area has a lot of so called business hotels. The rooms are small and basic but really, it’s all you need. And it’s not too expensive. While there are business hotels in other areas, Kanda is just a super convenient location in my opinion. Just one JR station away from Tokyo (down)/Akihabara (up). There’s a direct JR express connection to Shinjuku. Last but not least you have the Metro Ginza Line which connects you to the fancy-schmancy area of Tokyo.

July 31 (Tue) ~ Hikaru Birthday Event

I already posted a pretty extensive report about this day (☞^o^) ☞ HERE! Be sure to check it out if you haven’t already (I have edited it a lot ever since I first posted it). However, there are still a couple of things I didn’t mention there. That day I got my package from Fril with the Keiko Lily Brown blouse and Wakana Candy Stripper sweater I had wanted for a super long time. Too bad it was too hot to wear either of those. Aside from the two clothing items, I also finally got my Harmony magazine and my Hyakka Ryouran key pendants. And of course all the Hikaru merch. Ahhhh! It was a truly glorious Kala-day and I felt like I was being showered with all kinds of Kala-stuff. This was also the start of my Kalafina Pilgrimage (as I like to call it XD). As I have mentioned in my report, my friend Sai and I went to La Maison Kioi. I had already been there during my January trip but it’s such a lovely place that I didn’t mind going again. Still haven’t been to the private room though T_T Such a shame. But it’s on my to-do list. One day I will be in that private room!!! Then we went to Afternoon Tea - Tearoom. It’s the place where Hikaru bought her calpis lassi. We went to the shop in Shibuya Mark City in case any of you wanna go there too. The lassi was okay, nothing spectacular but not too bad. I guess you need to like the taste of calpis. After the live when I got home I immediately had to look for Hi-chan’s blouse. And YAY, I managed to find it super quickly. The price shocked me to be honest. It was almost 100 bucks even though it was already 50% off. At that time I didn’t really wanna buy it because I thought it was too expensive but oh well, I changed my mind XD (but more on that in a later post...)

❗ Some tips ❗

Try using pages like Fril or Zozoused to find old Kalafina fashion items. On my twitter account you can find all my detective discoveries (there’s pretty much nothing else there). You can make awesome deals on those sites. Kala-clothes are super expensive as we all know but when you buy them used, they are MUCH cheaper. The Japanese take a lot of care of their clothes so even their used items will be in great condition.

Try to get to the venue of a Kalafina live as early as possible if you want to buy all the merch. Yes, I know it’s rough and it feels like a waste of time to stand in line for hours on end but believe me, it’s worth it. I have seen many people underestimate the whole lining-up thing. As a reference, we were there at 10 am, the sale started at around 1 pm iirc. It was a small event on a weekday but still, by the time we arrived at the venue there were already around 25 people lining up and afterwards there came a ton more.

Try to bring little souvenirs from your country when you plan to meet up with fellow Kala-fans. Doesn’t have to be much, maybe some small chocolates or something. Everyone will appreciate the gesture and you won’t feel so bad when you receive a ton of stuff from the people around you.

Aug 1 (Wed) ~ Aug 2 (Thu) a.k.a. Mount Fuji Climb

The toughest two days of my trip (my entire life if I am being honest). Ever since 2016 (when Keiko first voiced her wish to climb Mount Fuji) I have had this idea stuck in my head. You know me, I am a crazy-Keiko-fan, she is my idol, my inspiration, literally the love of my life (♥ω♥ ) ~♪ When she said that she wanted to do it I KNEW I had to give it a try too. However, for the longest time I didn’t know if I would ever be able to do it. For one I am basically the least active person on this planet and two, summer is the official climbing season and I had never actually planned to travel to Japan in the summer time. But then all of a sudden the stars aligned and everything fell into place. When I decided to travel to Japan this summer I also decided that I would use the opportunity to climb Mount Fuji. There was no way around it. Plus, I thought it would be a great challenge for my 30th birthday (which was on Aug 2). In preparation I did a lot of cardio and leg strengthening, I also tried to walk AT LEAST 5 km every day for about two months. I met up with Sai at 11 am on Aug 1 (I am so glad I convinced her to come with me - she is a fellow crazy-Keiko-fan XD). We had some lunch at Shinjuku Station (I went for pizza because I thought I could use a lot of energy - and yup, I was right!). Then we took a direct bus to the 5th Station on Mount Fuji where we ate even more food (some overpriced curry). After acclimating for a while we started our hike at around 6 pm. We tried to be all inconspicuous and pretended to be part of a group led by two tour guides. These tours usually cost a lot of money and you can’t just take part in them but I think the tour guides took pity on us because we were all by ourselves (and we are both small so we probably looked like little girls). Or I don’t know, maybe they thought we were annoying gaijins but at any rate, they didn’t tell us to get lost so I guess that’s a good thing. The pace of the group was SUPER slow (which was good because it helped save a lot of energy). I had my issues walking in the group because I can’t stand crowds but it was probably for the best. After about an hour it started to get dark (thank God we all had our head lights because the darkness up there is unbelievably black, you don’t see anything). Soon after it also became freezing. You didn’t notice it when you were walking but whenever we took a break, you could feel the coldness creeping up on you (especially with all the sweat on your body). The entire climb took about 10 hours I would say (much longer than most reports had suggested). Obviously we took some breaks in between but for the most part all we did was climb (at a very slow pace though). Half of the hike we walked together with the group but then they stopped at a hut to rest there. We hadn’t booked a hut so we continued by ourselves but at that point there were so many people on the mountain that you were never alone.

Here comes the embarrassing part. Half-way up I had a full on panic attack. Like literally, I was hyperventilating, I was crying, believe me when I tell you, it wasn’t pretty, I was a mess. Some of the people around us thought I had seriously hurt myself or something but really, it was just me having a meltdown. Quick backstory: I suffer from a serious case of vertigo, I mean sometimes I can’t even walk stairs without getting dizzy. Now for the most part the climb wasn’t too bad. At least until we reached the 7th Station. It was exhausting of course but we had chosen the easiest trail (Yoshida), I was trying my best to always face the mountainside, I never looked down and I had my friend walk between myself and the hillside. But between the 7th and 8th Station the terrain was HORRIBLE: There are lots of steep, jagged-edged rocks. It’s very dangerous (or at least it FELT very dangerous to me). I was frightened to death. I had to use my hands and because I am so small I often had to hoist myself up the HUGE rocks. I was pretty much on my hands and knees for who knows how long. I tried to find the small rocks but sometimes there just wasn’t a way around a big one. The path got narrower as we continued along and there were sections where the ledge of the mountain was barely half a metre away from us! Can you imagine??! HALF A FREAKING METRE! That’s nothing. (*/ω＼*) Sometimes there wasn’t even a rope! Not that a tiny rope would have saved me from falling down (but you get my point!). You couldn’t really see anything, you just saw the blackness next to you. I tried to focus on myself and the person in front of me. And I held onto the mountain as best as I could. This is where being in a group came in handy. Because I was surrounded by people, I was literally FORCED to continue, I couldn’t just stop. This was honestly the scariest and most physically demanding thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. And then when we were taking a short break at one of the huts, I was having my crazy breakdown. I don’t know why it happened at that point, maybe because I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Or maybe I was scared of what would still happen. No idea, but I was close to giving up. I am so grateful to Sai for being by my side, she provided so much support and comforted me. I tried to think of Keiko and how I was doing this because of HER. Somehow, it helped a lot, keeping her in mind provided me with lots of strength. I am not a religious person but I guess this comes close to what people feel when they ask for a little aid from God...(sorry, this might sound blasphemous to religious people but I think it really was like that. It was like having a comforting presence around me that guided me ahead). Oh well, slowly but surely I managed to calm down and then the tour guide said that these had been the scariest parts and the rest of the hike wouldn’t be as bad. What a relief!! Soon after the group took shelter in a hut while we continued onwards. I really wanted to see the sunrise. The final parts were tough, I am not gonna lie. There were so many people that the trail got congested, the terrain was steep again and the summit felt like an eternity away. Then FINALLY at around 3 or 4 am (I don’t reallly know anymore) we reached the top. Sai and I fell into each other’s arms. We cried, we celebrated. We had done it!! ( •̀ᄇ• ́)ﻭ✧ All thanks to Keiko!!! BANZAI!! We found ourselves a nice place and waited for the sun to rise. At this point we were freezing and exhausted so the sunrise didn’t feel as epic as I had expected (or maybe my expectations were too high). It also started to get a bit cloudy so the clouds obstructed the view. But still, mind-blowing experience.

We warmed ourselves up a bit in one of the huts, had some breakfast (or at least Sai did, I just had a coffee - was still feeling a bit off due to my panic attack) and checked out the crater. Then it was time to make our way down. Thankfully you are taking a different trail than the one up. The way down is basically the trail the bulldozers use to transport stuff up and down the mountain. The road is slightly steep but nowhere near as steep as the way up. It’s also not as narrow so you don’t feel like you are falling off the mountain any second. What makes it difficult though is the slippery gravel. You have to be really careful not to slip. Walking downhill is also really hard on the knees and feet so we were in quite some pain. Once again it took longer than expected. I think we walked for about five hours in total until we reached the 5th Station. We took a lot of breaks though and listened to Kalafina. It felt amazing and eased our pain. The further we went down the hotter it got. [I am really surprised I didn’t get sick after the whole thing, so many temperature changes, so much freezing, so much sweating, so much physical exertion and sleep deprivation...I am really proud my body made it through all of that XD] Unfortunately we missed the bus we had reserved for 11 am but thankfully that wasn’t a huge issue because we managed to get seats on a later bus at around 1 pm I think. At around 3 pm we arrived at Shinjuku Bus Terminal and were hit by the Tokyo humidity. The air was so nice and crisp up on the mountain (even on the 5th Station)!! It was a huge shock to be back in the oven that is Tokyo. The plan was to go back to my hotel to freshen up a little and then have some celebratory dinner together. That’s when I had my second breakdown. The hotel staff wouldn’t let Sai come up to my room. I mean, I know the rules, single bedrooms don’t allow visitors but hell, we looked like shit and we hadn’t slept and we were dirty and sweaty and we really just wanted to freshen up a little. I thought they would understand...but they didn’t ...I felt horrible about that because things weren’t going according to plan. I didn’t know what to do, I certainly wasn’t going to leave Sai waiting in the lobby while I freshened up. So yeah, I was just sad and frustrated and exhausted which led to a ton of crying. Once again Sai was the one to provide comfort. We eventually decided to just go have dinner in our current attire. To hell with dirt and sweat. We went to Akihabara, found ourselves a nice Shabushabu place and stuffed ourselves with a ton of meat XD Too bad I forgot to take pictures, it truly was a wonderful meal! We really needed all that meat to recharge our batteries. Then we parted ways and I went back to my hotel. After getting all the dirt and sweat off me I called my family because everyone wanted to talk to me, it was my birthday after all. Then I fell into bed and had a nice refreshing sleep. All in all it was an “interesting” and eye-opening experience, probably the most scary yet exciting thing I ever did. I feel proud of what we achieved during these two days and I will forever treasure the memories. Kalafina has influenced my life like nothing else. They have made me become a better person, a stronger person. This experience has made that very apparent. Without my love for Keiko I wouldn’t have been able to do this. She really inspires me every day and I felt so incredibly close to her while I was up on that mountain. Combined with my nail appointment the next day, this was probably the closest I ever felt to her. It was like a soothing balm after not having heard anything from Keiko in such a long time. Last but not least, I gained an amazing friend. Sharing this experience with Sai felt special, it’s almost like there is a bond between us now.

❗ Some tips ❗

Take Mount Fuji seriously! I think I really did, I prepared myself thoroughly but still, I wasn’t 100% prepared for the experience. So yeah, do not underestimate the climb! People often say it’s an easy climb but that’s not true. It’s certainly not the Everest but it IS a challenge. At some point or another the altitude WILL get to you and the temperature changes are not to be taken lightly. Plus, you have to be in good physical shape.

Good shoes are key.

Bring lots of clothes. It gets VERY cold at night (the temperatures can drop below 0°C). Ski wear is often recommened. Definitely some layers. A hat, a scarf, some gloves and of course a head light. Also, some oxygen in case you suffer from altitude sickness (it’s sold on the huts).

Hydration is actually overrated. If you walk at a slow place (like we did) you won’t need a lot of water. At least we didn’t. So it’s best not to burden yourself with unnecessary weight. I would say a small bottle is enough, no need to bring 3 litres or whatever. It might be different if you walk during the day since you are constantly under the sun.

Even on the easiest trail (Yoshida) there are very dangerous parts so be careful and take things slowly. And be mindful of people behind you!

Decide whether you want to climb at night or during daytime (or both). We decided on a night climb without staying at a hut. This is physically demanding and not many people recommend it but you save a lot of money and time. Hiking during the day and taking shelter at a hut during the night might sound like a good idea but there are downsides to it. First of all, you are constantly under the sun. Secondly, the night at the hut will cost you A LOT and it will make your entire trip a lot longer. Plus, it is most likely not as re-energising as you might think because you will not get proper rest due to all the people around you. Lastly, there are still a couple of hours of night climbing left if you want to see the sunrise. So yeah, that’s why I decided against a day climb.

Expect to pay around 10 bucks to be able to hike up Mount Fuji. It’s some sort of mandatory donation. Also bring lots of 100 yen coins with you because you will need those to use the various bathrooms (which are quite horrible and have no running water so you better mentally prepare yourself for that).

Reserve your bus seats in advance but give yourself PLENTY of time. A one-way bus ticket costs around 20 bucks.

Aug 3 (Fri) ~ Nail appointment at ROI Salon

I didn’t do anything that day except go to my nail appointment (I was still exhausted but surprisingly not in a lot of pain. YAY!). (☞^o^) ☞ HERE’s my thorough report of my experience. Be sure to check it out. I fangirl a lot and I have since edited it quite a bit XD As I have mentioned above, my climb and this appointment have made me feel super close to Keiko. I don’t know how to explain it but I felt a connection. Plus, hearing that Keiko is doing fine, that she is finally getting some well deserved rest, it made me happy. I never had my doubts that Keiko was doing fine but to actually hear it felt nice. So yeah, the first few days of my trip were filled with Kalafina Love. During the Birthday Event I felt like an intimate connection was formed between Hikaru and myself and even though I didn’t actually get to meet or see Keiko, I DID feel close to her. （´・｀）♡ So many wonderful experiences in such a short little time! Absolute PERFECTION.

❗ Some tips ❗

A reservation HAS to be made in advance! You can do it online!

In your reservation you should mention that you are a Kalafina fan (just so both Keiko and Megumi get the option to change their appointments if they want to - in case Keiko’s appointment aligns with yours)

Be reserved and respectful, DO NOT PRY for information! If information is shared willingly with you that’s totally fine but don’t be the one to initiate anything. Don’t be that creepy stalker fan

All right, that’s it for Part 1...Thanks to everyone who made it to the very end of this post!! (*＾▽＾)／ I know it was a lot. In Part 2 I will talk about my Hikaru Pilgrimage in Toyama.

#kalafina #personal #travel guide #japan summer 2018 #mount fuji #japan #tokyo #wakana #keiko #hikaru #hikaru birthday event #long post #long text post #picture heavy #keiko nails #part 1

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slaymyglo · 6 years

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20 Self Care Tips

20 self-care tips

Welcome back glo gang for everyone that is new here hi my name is Mickhailia and I am a blogger and for everyone that’s been rocking with me heyyyyy I love you so much and thank you for supporting me as much as I support you. Today Im going to be talking about selfcare and just basically things that we can do at home or even out of the home to take care of ourselves mentally, physically and emotionally. Self-care is so important to me because I feel like once you feel good inside your body and once your body is healthy and cared for and then there are no limits to the things that you can do, the things that you can imagine and the things that you can accomplish once you feel good inside your body because energy is from the inside out and if you have that energy then the skies the limit.

No I won’t be putting in here and telling you guys to go to the spa and take a $90 facial or a $50 body massage. Self care can be the smallest things, giving your self a pedicure or doing a deep conditioning treatment or trying a new facemask.

So here’s a list of 30 things that you can do that doesn’t require you spending a lot of money and still make you feel good about yourself.

A diy spa day

Grab some Epson salt and I scented candle fill your bathtub with warm water and a few drops of lavender oil and have a spa day

2. Make yourself a playlist

When I make myself playlists actually feel a sense of accomplishment because when I go back and listen to the music that I put in the playlist it’s very reflective of what I was going through at that time and so is shows growth since then and now. Making yourself a playlist can be happy, sad, productive or reflective it is able to give off whatever energy that you want from that music.

3. Brew yourself a cup of tea

I love teas and tried so many of them and I wish that one day I will be able to try them all. Teas have so many purposes there are teas for relaxation, teas that help your mind, teas that help your skin and just your overall good health to show you how much of a tea drinker I am I have a subscription with myTeabox it’s basically a monthly box that get sent to my house with a selection of teas and you get to try them see the health benefits and it’s just a really nice thing to expect in the mail every month. They have black teas, white teas, green teas chai teas or long tees and a lot more it cost approximately C$28 plus $10 and some change for shipping and the other one that I recently tried is amoda tea it’s $18 a month free shipping.

4. Do a deep conditioning treatment on your hair

Not only will this benefit your hair but it will feel good in yourself that you were doing something that will help you and that alone subconsciously makes you happy just get a steam cap an avacado and some honey mix it together and there you go.

5. Read a good book

Honestly I must say personally I’m not a fan of reading but when I do read and I find that perfect book it’s so satisfying and I feel so empowered to have read that book and if you aren’t a big reader and you are still interested in literature then listen to audiobooks trust me it makes a difference. Basically all it is is an audio version of the book that you wish to read so plug in your headphones and listen to someone else read the book to you.

6. Make yourself a smoothie/fruit bowl. if you have an extra 10 minutes to spare in the morning before you head off to work or to school or wherever your day may lead you make yourself a smoothie or a fruit bowl doesn’t have to be anything fancy you can just get some strawberries a few grapes a few cherries and some slices of apples put in a bowl in there you go or you can use all those ingredients and just throw it into your blender and there you go have a smoothie.

7. Drink 1 L of water

I honestly was one of those people that are like “are you serious drink water to be healthy?” but listening to those instructions and drinking water has significantly helped me to be more healthier not only in like my physical health but to make me feel good mentally and to have a clear mind so please drink your water guys.

8. Take five minutes to reflect at the end of every day

It’s so important to reflect on your day and how it went, what you could’ve done to make your day better, things that were a success and to give yourself credit for those successes because then and only then well we learn how to appreciate things in life and how to forgive ourselves for the things that don’t go well from that we will grow and become better individuals.

9.Create a journal entry at the end of the week

The 10-year-old me would be so proud because that’s all she invested her time in to write things in her diary and to live this television fantasy of having a Book of crushes and a book of untold secrets the girls she doesn’t like and the girls that are her BFFs. Having a journal isn’t childish or Petty. Journals can help you to cope with whatever situation you’re going through, it can be a reminder of the things that you’ve done and accomplished successfully, it can be a resting place for the things that you wish to not say to anybody it can also be a friend believe it or not. You can be comfortable with knowing that you’re letting your thoughts out in the open but not to a conscious mind

. 10. Go for a morning walk

This doesn’t have to be an every day routine because I know some people schedules are crazy busy but maybe on a Saturday morning when there’s not much to do before you eat breakfast and get about your day just take 15 minutes to go for a walk, taking that fresh air let out all the bad toxins everything that happened in the previous week just let it out you’re by yourself and bills trust with and yourself also it is a great physical activity to help having a healther life,take a bottle water with you just in case you get a little bit tired or you just need to have some water.

11. Grow a plant

This can be very therapeutic for some people seeing something around you is what’s uplifting to people it also teaches responsibility and how to care because if you don’t water the plant then you know what happens.

12. Create routines

Some people like to live their lives unplanned and spontaneous Lee which is fine and that’s OK if that’s how you progress and how you see yourself moving forward by doing things out of the blue and spontaneously because I for one do that sometimes but having a routine for certain things that you do a skin care routine morning routine the homework routine whatever it may be as long as you find something that works for you and that will continue to work for you then stick to it and make it your personal routine. It could be a three-step guideline of the things that help you to study or it could be a list of things that you do in order in the morning before you get ready for work or school or could even be a route that you take to the grocery store whatever it is write it down and make it your routine it will help you to feel organized it will help you when your mind feels cluttered and you feel confused make yourself a routine.

13. Take pictures

I for one loves scrolling down my Tumblr page full of sunsets and very cosy pictures and if this is something that’s therapeutic for you then maybe you should start taking the photographs if you go out to the park at say 6 PM and you see the sun going down and it looks beautiful to you, take a picture of it you can look back at it and say wow this was a beautiful sunset or you can post it and split someone else say that it’s a beautiful sunset. Whatever it is that inspires you or whatever give you vision then take a picture of it.

14. Sing a song

I’ve always been a musical person I’ve always loved to sing always loved the express whatever I was feeling through Music and it has always helped me. If you’re sad if you’re happy if you’re excited if you’re angry whatever type of emotion you’re feeling inside there will always always be a song that can help you express that to turn away from those feelings or to help build on those feelings. I have a Spotify and SoundCloud account and they are the most used apps on my phone and that’s no joke because I’m constantly playing music constantly trying to find new music and expanding my music taste.

15. Do a DIY project

If you need something to keep you busy or if you are genuinely a person who likes doing a whole projects or you just need something to do for fun go on Pinterest find a great project to do. It doesn’t have to be anything strenuous on the list this is what you want you can find projects that don’t require you to leave your house and products that you can use materials from around your house so that you don’t have to go to buy anything but if you do then that’s OK and make sure it’s not expensive and just craft away.

16. Create goals

When I say create goals I don’t mean to plan the next five years of your life lol. Just simple plans of how your going to get through your day

17. Redecorate your room

I really me feel like a whole new girl when my room looks new and I will move things around and my dresser isn’t in the same place it was the night before and my bed is to the window like that brings me a lot of self satisfaction and it just looks nice like you make me feel like I did something good just read decorate your room it doesn’t need to be anything huge like what I do but I could just literally mean that you hang the new art piece somewhere else like you know like you put your dresser to the opposite wall than it was before just to have something ne

18. Take a nap

Omggg girl! Let me tell you about those after school power naps doors are heavenly. At some point I feel like those little power naps after school is better than a good nights rest and if you have a little bit of spare time and you can take one of these power nap after school knobs after work naps trust me you will be refreshed

19. Unplug from social media for a couple hours

I know this might sound a little bit tough to those who can’t go a day or a couple hours without social media and I completely understand that because I believe that I’m the same as well but it’s possible.

I really do think I can admit that I’m addicted to my phone and it’s not a good thing but it is what it is but I feel like these days I’ve been able to give myself a couple hours to be away from it and really just use those couple hours that I’m not on my phone to reflect his social media it has its pros and it’s cons yes you get to see Wyatt the shade room is posting at 3 PM and yes you get to see what is happening in the news and what lip kit Callie Jenner’s about to launch bought it becomes addicting and it takes away time from doing real things in the real world. The negative sides the social media is that we become so sucked into this world of virtuality that we forget that we live on earth and that we live in a real society.

20. Write down and memorize inspirational quotes for when u are feeling down.

When someone is upset it becomes very difficult for them to think of all the wonderful things that they did and the things that they accomplished but it’s so easy for them to think of all the bad things that are happening around them. Which is why inspirational quotes kind address keep you in the right frame of mind and remind you that things happen in life goes on

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