#one piece I was so ready to be mush with how much detail there can be but shockingly no

[artioprotection]

I have a lot of trouble reading manga's at times, and it clicked for me the reason it doesn't happen when I read one piece is because Oda simply puts a white highlight around characters and text bubbles so they always pop out from the background. It hurts how simple this is and how much it actually helps me because it stops everything to become line mush when I read

[sxfik]

push and pull

part I | part II

read on ao3 • main masterlist • law school masterlist

summary: during a trial, a lawyer must be ready for anything. they should be able to navigate their way through any sudden obstacles or arguments. but through her time at law school, this is the first time her opponent has used kisses as an argument strategy.

or: joon hwi decides it's time to test how far kang sol's concentration can last. you know, to prepare her for the trial. no other reason.

a/n: aaa this was supposed to be peace is not known to man pt. 2 but i just had to write this today, i could not get the scene out of my head. after this will be peace is not known to man chapter 2 because ✨✨ and then a prompt request that was sent in ! this might be shorter than normal but i did leave room for a possible sequel? anyways, i hope you enjoy this <3

Throughout Kang Sol A's time in rigorous classes and with strict professors, there was one thing that was drilled through her head: be prepared for any argument. As she progressed through the ranks, it was clear that students, as well as prosecutors and lawyers, will use anything and everything at their disposal in order to win. Even if it is the lowest or morally dubious argument, if it wins them the case, they will not be afraid to use it.

Kang Sol was never the brightest student in class. She struggled to pick up the concepts as quickly as her peers; she racked her brain every time she needed to name a criminal code from memory. But if there was anything she was good at, it was preparation.

Her biggest mistake her first semester was not having a battle plan and through the minefield that was fighting against Assemblyman Ko, she felt like she was constantly rushed and underprepared. After her 1L, Kang sol took the time every day to make sure she was prepared for anything that would be an obstacle for her. She's always in class with the needed materials already printed out, her course materials pre-read and she takes extensive notes during her lectures, making sure to get even the smallest details. She wrote down anything that could make the exam easier for her. So, during study groups, she was the go-to person for notes and specifics, despite joon hwi, sol B and ji ho's innate abilities to memorize and grasp the concepts. Her contribution was her thoroughness as well as her tenacity. And maybe, that was what made her so essential to her mock trial team.

The annual justice mock trial was just around the corner, and Sol was not going to be underprepared like last time. Joon hwi, Sol B and she poured over their case files, writing their main argument, rebuttal and summary until they were near perfect. For weeks, they'd spent in the library, reading and researching everything they would possibly need during the trial so they could make their main argument as bulletproof as possible. The three of them were going to win this trial, no matter what they had to do.

That preparedness was what found Sol in her current situation, standing in the empty mock trial courtroom, standing at the defendant's side of the table while Joon Hwi had stood across from her, looking over the prosecutor's argument. Her sense of morality was her biggest blessing and her biggest obstacle in Law School. Her belief in right and wrong, and the proper use of the law, made it almost painful for her to argue the other side. But being the wonderful classmate he was, Joon hwi had offered to help her whenever he could, acting as the devil’s advocate.

Han Joon Hwi. Her beloved classmate and next to Ye-Seul, her best friend. He was there for it all: from defending Yangcrates to protecting her sister from Lee Man Ho to defeating Assemblyman Ko. As Kang sol was sinking from her past two semesters at Hanguk law school, he was the one who kept her afloat. Every night she spent at the library, on the verge of exhaustion, he would be there alongside her making sure she took breaks and took care of herself. Without him, she was sure she wouldn't have been able to pull her health up or make it through her first year.

Joon Hwi had always processed his feelings more inwardly, holding everything in and away from everyone as much as possible. During the worst of his grief last year, he would sneak out into the practice fields, running laps until he was exhausted and his breathing ragged. She picked up on what he was doing, when she saw him dip out of the library a little earlier than everyone else. She had snuck out to follow him and watched him as he would run across the fields, until he'd break into pieces on the field. For a boy who had seen her worst, who had helped everyone gain their strength to fight, it wasn't right that he suffered by himself.

So when she saw him declining into the familiar pain, when he was staring into the memorial of his uncle's donation, the man who had meant everything to him, who had died before he could repent for his sins against the law, she sat by him in silence, until he leaned onto her shoulder. If she could, if it was possible, she felt like absorbing all the pain, the regret and the anger he felt inside until he was alright.

She wasn't sure when the lines blurred between them, but her image of him shifted until she was sure he was so much more than a friend. It was as if he had a new tint of color over him, and suddenly, she found herself thinking of him all the time. Now, every time she'd laugh, she'd turn behind her to make sure he was laughing. For every little thing that happened in her life, he was the only one she craved to share it with. Every smile, every little happiness, she wanted to share it with him. Even if she wasn't feeling well, or doing anything exciting, she wanted his presence by her.

Kang Sol was always eloquent, her mind moving at 10 mph and her words even faster. She never ran out of things to say, not until she met him. With Joon Hwi, she had no way of expressing just how much she wanted him in her life, how much gratitude she had for him. He meant so much more than anything she could describe in words so she forced herself to be content with the bits and pieces she could keep in her life.

Kang Sol cleared her throat, gaining joon hwi's attention from the papers and across the room. "Let's get started?" she asked her, looking up from her papers, and up to him as he nodded.

“As the defendant…” he started, his voice echoing in the empty courtroom, voice firm and strong as he delivered the main argument. Watching joon hwi transform into his full prosecutor mode was startling to watch, his casual demeanor changing into confidence. He transformed into something else entirely, his demeanor intense and his voice sharp as a knife. Watching him concentrate and argue was magnetic and with every passing line, she felt pulled towards him. She could feel the nerves build as she watched him, his voice strong and powerful through the room.

He looked up at her, finishing his argument and it felt like the wind was knocked out of her. Sol wasn't sure if it was the fact that she had to present the argument next or if it was his darkened eyes staring into hers, the awareness spreading through her body, that made her forget how to breathe properly. For a moment, the silence enveloped them, the tension between them taut as a bowstring, despite being so far apart from each other.

"Sol?" His voice interrupted the moment as the pressure built in her chest and her throat stagnated. She cleared her throat again, shaking the gaze off her, before starting her argument. As her eyes and her voice followed the words on the paper, her body and mind were somewhere else entirely, every hair on her body aware of his growing presence, his eyes on her. For someone so hesitant to argue against the side she believed in, she was going strong until she made one grave mistake.

She looked up to him for a moment, and he was standing much closer to her now, his eyes molten as he looked up at her, standing in the middle of the courtroom, and her voice wavered to a stop. She didn’t know when Joon Hwi had moved closer, her body too obsessed with the fact that his eyes were on her to ever notice his movements.

He raised his eyebrow, the ghost of a smirk on his face. "Why are you stopping, Sol-ah?" he asked, his voice much deeper, heavy and sweet like honey. He stepped closer then, and she looked down to the papers in her hand, his gaze burning her with intensity.

She continued on with her argument, as he stepped closer and closer, until he was right in front of her place behind the defendant's desk. She looked up then, confident in herself not to waver as the words on her paper blurred together into mush. But her mind and her mouth was on autopilot, her voice growing smaller and smaller as she parroted the argument from memory, his proximity throwing her off. He moved closer then, leaning in until his face was just a breath away from her. His hands reached up to her face, pushing a strand of hair back behind her ear. She felt her mind stutter and her stomach bundle into knots from him being so close that she could see his eyelashes brush against his cheek as he blinded. Her eyes were glued to him, pulled closer and closer, as he laid his finger at her throat, and traced down to the base of her neck.

She shuddered out a breath then, the feel of just a finger on her skin making her face grow warm and red. she struggled to think, to remember what she was doing before his fingers traced up, up, up, towards her jaw. His hands cupped her face, bringing it closer towards him, as his thumb brushed against her cheek.

"I think-" she paused, trying to catch her breath, "I think my argument ends there."

"You think?" he tilted his head slightly, his eyes taunting and teasing.

"Yes," she breathed out, leaning closer and closer, until her lips met his. His lips were firm and reassuring for a short moment, before she pulled away. But their distance didn't last even a second as she surged forward again, kissing him with everything she had. The papers in her hand dropped to the desk, forgotten, as her hands searched for him, finding purchase in his shirt as she pulled him closer.

His hands shifted then, kissing her deeper, as his hands went to untangle her hair from her ponytail, until her hair was loose around her shoulders. His hands tangled in her hair, pushing her closer to him as his tongue brushed against her lip and she gasped, the feel only accelerating the want, the need for him.

Her mind was foggy as he drew away from her lips and down to her jaw, his frantic kisses addicting as he moved down to her neck. Joon hwi tilted her head with the hand tangled in her hair, as he left open-mouthed kisses down her throat, ones that left her panting and gasping, his mouth bruising the delicate skin of her neck.

"Joon hwi-ah," she shuddered out, as he sucked, her breath coming out in soft puffs, a moan growing at the back of her throat.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The loud noise against the door shocked the two out of the moment, as a voice inquired "Is anyone in there?" The two jumped back then, still holding on to each other as Sol looked at Joon hwi, alarm taking over her body.

Annoyance flooded his features, as he looked towards the door, his lips swollen and red from her ministrations.  He was panting, as he looked back at her, his gaze was heavy on her, and for one charged moment, Kang Sol thought of throwing caution to the wind, to pull him back into her. But he stepped back then, away from her desk, and back to his to gather his files. Sol was glued to her feet then, her hands frozen and unable to process what just happened before her rational mind kicked in, and she rushed to gather her files. She ran her hand through her hair, noticing her disheveled state in the mirror, before gathering her hair into a bun and smoothening out her clothes, trying to put on a pretense that she was perfectly okay, it wasn’t like joon hwi had feverishly kissed her until her mind was completely blank or anything.

There was silence between the two as they exited the courtroom through the back entrance, making sure to leave the room as if nothing ever happened. But before they parted, Joon Hwi grabbed her hand, looking into her eyes for a moment as if to say this isn't over, before the parted ways, leaving Sol to process what went on between them, and how she could ask for more, more, more.

[pastpatientlywaitingforimagines]

Orbit | Spencer Reid x Reader Platonic

Ayyyy this is for @veraiconcos fic writer palooza! I had a ton of fun working on this, check out their post for more details!

Summary: Since joining the BAU you have easily become one of Spencer’s best friends, and he is terrified he is going to lose you. (Gender neutral reader, platonic soulmates). 

Category: Fluff

Warnings: SPOILERS FOR 4x24-5x01. 

Word Count: 1830

As with all of my Galaxy Universe fics, the plot for this fic is fully standalone! If you like this relationship, I have a whole bunch of content that you can find in my  GALAXY MASTERLIST

Spencer Reid didn’t have to be a genius to know he was sporting some abandonment issues. In his defense, though, he had been left by too many prominent people in his life and he was only 27 years old.

Even though he had only known you for a short while, you had easily secured a spot as one of his favorite people. As much as he enjoyed spending time with you and liked that he could be unapologetically himself, it terrified him that he could be so comfortable with you.

He wanted to shut down and shut you out, not let you see the broken pieces left by his father, Elle, and Gideon, but every time he tried you would do something so unapologetically you that it was impossible to stop feeling like the universe had created the two of you for the sole purpose of knowing the other.

It was the twinkle in your eye when you would remind Morgan that you were authorized to carry a larger gun than he was. It was the way you perched on Spencer’s desk while debating the best way to eat an Oreo. It was the pen you always carried that Spencer suspected was for him because you preferred pencil.

You were the one person Spencer felt most relaxed around, and there was still the looming possibility that you could choose to leave.

It wasn’t until the Anthrax case that Spencer realized how much he was afraid of you leaving. When he woke up in the hospital Morgan was the only one there, and your absence was the first thing he noticed. He should have felt grateful that Morgan had chosen to stay and he felt guilty that he was upset about your absence until you showed up with as many jello cups as you could possibly carry.

“Oh good, you’re awake. Red or green?” Your words had been so casual and comfortable, exactly what Spencer needed as Derek filled him in on how the case had ended. You listened quietly from his other side, spooning sugary gelatin into your mouth.

Spencer wanted to tell you then how much he was afraid of you leaving, but he also didn’t want to speak it into existence. He decided to keep his mouth shut about it, let the secret fester in his soul until he figured out a better way to deal with it.

Then you went to Canada.

At first you were on the streets with Derek and Emily while Spencer stayed at the precinct to go over victimology. You called him right after you were done talking to the locals and on your way to meet back up with Morgan and Prentiss.

“I don’t know, Spence. Something about this feels off,” you told him when he asked how it had gone.

“How so?” he trusted your instincts, if you were able to pinpoint your source of uncertainty it could help him nail down the victimology.

“Everyone out here is being hyper vigilant. Nobody’s wandering off on their own, as far as I can tell. I don’t think this is just some guy who killed 10 people. There’s something bigger going on here, we just have to figure out what.”

As a man of science, Spencer was still working out how you knew the things you did from just a gut feeling. He wasn’t surprised when you were right.

Once the team had a better scope of things at the farm, Hotch assigned you and Spencer to learn as much as you could about Lucas Turner. After coming up empty in the house, it was your idea to check the barn. A comfortable, but serious silence fell between you as you found what you were looking for.

You were looking over his shoulder at the crayon drawing he was holding when Hotch came to check in on your findings.

“Hey Hotch,” you called to your unit chief as he started walking away, “do you ever get the feeling that a case isn’t going to end well?” Spencer wondered what cosmic events had to have occurred to give him the pleasure of knowing someone who mirrored his own thoughts so perfectly.

“Keep looking,” Hotch had said sternly before leaving, “this girl needs us.”

“That wasn’t the answer I was hoping for,” you sighed, turning back to the collection of objects in the barn.

“What did you want him to say?”

“Something validating, I guess. Sure, this girl needs us and I’m not saying we won’t find her, but even if she’s alive there’s still what- a hundred victims already dead? A hundred victims with families and lives. A hundred people…”

You were right, Spencer knew that. If he had learned anything while working with you, it was that your gut feelings usually had some merit to them. If you were feeling like this wasn’t going to end well, it probably wasn’t. He wondered if you would stay with the BAU if you were right, and with that came back the creeping fear he had been trying to avoid.

He didn’t have time to dwell on the fact that he hadn’t processed his issues with your abandonment he wasn’t even sure was coming.

You took the Metro home with him, he didn’t have to ask to know that you were too tired to drive and could take the metro back to work once you were better rested.

“Spencer,” you had murmured sleepily from the seat next to him in the almost empty car.

“Hmmm?”

“This might sound really stupid, but do you ever feel like we were meant to be friends?”

Spencer swore his heart skipped a beat. All the mathematical equations in the world couldn’t explain the way you seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.

“There's an old Buddhist saying that when you meet your soulmate, remember that the act to bring you together was 500 years in the making,” he quipped, “but yes. I do.”

“So you think we’re soulmates?” you smirked.

“Assuming one perfect soulmate exists for every person on the planet and you’re in the same age range as your soulmate, there’s still 500 million potential candidates. Mathematically speaking, of course.”

Your eyes sparked at the debate, though your eyelids were still heavy “I thought there was 500 years of prep work behind it though. 500 years is long enough to filter through 500 million. That’s one million a year.”

“If I wasn’t convinced we were soulmates before, your math skills have sealed the deal.”

“Of course they have. I’m smarter than I look,” you boasted.

“Is intelligence something you can determine by appearance?”

“You tell me, genius. I think you look pretty smart.”

“You know, (y/n), I think you’re just as smart as I am,” he told you honestly. You furrowed your brow in confusion.

“Are you kidding? I failed high school Algebra twice.”

“Academic achievement isn’t the only way to measure intelligence,” he reminded you, “the way your brain works is exceptional.”

“Not right now, it isn’t. I feel like mush. Do cases stop hitting this hard once you’ve been doing this for a while?”

“No, my brain feels like mush too.”

“Go home and get some sleep, ok?” you instructed when it was your stop. Spencer waved as you walked away.

He saw you again sooner than he thought, insomnia not allowing him to sleep so he was the first to receive JJ’s call. He took the Metro to your apartment, knocking on the door until you answered. He was surprised at how quickly you were ready to go, knocking your elbow into his as you left your building to go back into work.

“Old habits, I guess,” you shrugged when he brought it up. It ended up being the most casual interaction of your day, another whirlwind of a case happening with the whole team running on not much sleep.

While Spencer stayed with Dr. Barton to go over medical charts, you went to the school with Morgan and JJ to protect Jeffrey. It was irrational, he knew, but he couldn’t help but wish you were still with him to work on building the profile.

He didn’t want to admit it (he wanted the team to focus on the gunned down unsub and Dr. Barton), but he was glad you were the first one by his side when you finally made it back to the doctor’s house. You stayed with him, even when he told the team about Hotch. In fact, you didn’t leave his side the entire ambulance ride and his time at the hospital.

JJ came into his hospital room a few times to update the two of you on Hotch’s situation, and every time he expected you to leave with her but you didn’t. When he was released from the hospital you drove him home, helping him up to his apartment. Once he was settled, you busied yourself making his home more accessible for the injured man.

Spencer felt sort of awkward as you hummed to yourself, and rightly so. You hadn’t spent much time outside of work together and now he was stuck on his couch with limited mobility. All things considered though, he really didn’t want you to go. He didn’t want you to leave his apartment, he didn’t want you to leave the BAU, and he didn’t want you to leave his life like so many other people that he cared about had.

In a stroke of genius, he realized that he had to tell you. He had to open up the possibility for you to stay to figure out if you were going to leave.

“(y/n)?” he called to you as you finished up putting away his clean dishes in the kitchen.

“What’s up?”

“If I asked you to stay, would you?”

There was a moment of silence that Spencer quickly realized was you moving through his small apartment to grab your bag before you happily joined him on the couch, sitting down carefully as to not jostle his leg.

“Of course I would, did you think I was leaving?”

Spencer blushed, “I don’t know… people who I care about have a tendency to leave.” He watched your features soften.

“Spencer,” you started, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving you.”

You didn’t need to clarify further, you both knew the weight your words held and it relieved the tension Spencer had been sporting since the beginning of your friendship like a weighted blanket relieves anxiety.

“Do you want to watch this movie I got from the library about alien abductions in Alaska? I’ve heard it’s super creepy and I didn’t really want to watch it alone anyways.”

Spencer grinned at your suggestion, “there was actually a study that showed that people who claimed to be abducted by aliens were predisposed to sleep paralysis and hypnosis. Should we order some food? When was the last time you ate?”

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

Still The One (Part 5)

Summary: Just when things seem to be calming down, the reader and Dean get some news that things aren’t over yet...

Masterlist

Pairing: Mechanic!Dean x reader

Word Count: 3,600ish

Warnings: language, angst, referenced domestic abuse, minor violence, fluff

______

“So,” said Dean a few hours later. You were settled in bed with your pint of ice cream, wrapped up in one of Dean’s t shirts and a blanket. After the store, he’d made tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner, something nice and warm to fill you up.

“Michael scared me. A lot. I thought I had to be strong all of the time for you to help you recover and...well that wasn’t the best thing for me,” you said.

“Y/N. I can’t guarantee I won’t need you to pick me up some days. But the days where I needed you, where I was a fucking mess and you probably didn’t even know it because I kept it hidden, those days are gone. I have bad days, you have bad days. We take care of each other, it’s that simple,” he said. “No one, and I mean no one, understands what you’re going through more than me. Why do you think I pushed you to go talk to Dr. Porter? I knew you were hurting too.”

“It’s not the same as you,” you said.

“Okay, it’s not but no one’s pain is the same, sweetheart. It doesn’t mean mine’s worse than yours,” he said. You dug at your ice cream a bit before you held up the spoon to him, Dean smiling as he took a bite. You got your own and rested your head on his shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Getting punched hurts way more than I thought it would,” you said. “Everything was just so weird.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone came up with this plan to get you out. We all knew...we didn’t know the exact situation but we knew you needed help. But after Michael dragged me inside and down to the basement, the person I thought I wanted to come save me wasn’t my dad or a cop. It was you, even though I knew logically there was no way you were in the right head space or physically capable of doing it. It was weird.”

“I don’t think it’s weird. The first person I thought of was you. I kept thinking, Y/N’s smart, she’ll figure out I didn’t mean it. She’ll call the police and get me out of this situation somehow. It’s not weird at all,” he said. You hummed and handed him the ice cream, Dean eating for a bit as you dancing your fingers over his chest.

“That’s the first thing you’ve told me about what Michael’s did to you in Texas,” you said.

“Texas was different than the stuff that happened here,” he said.

“I imagine he wasn’t happy.”

“He hurt me some, which obviously you knew. It wasn’t as bad as you were,” he said. 

“You can tell me when you’re ready, Dean. It doesn’t have to be tonight,” you said.

“He had me in that basement, tied up, similar situation to you and he sat in a chair across from me and he talked, for hours. Hours and hours. He wouldn’t shut up,” said Dean. “He talked about you. He knew all about you. He was stalking you. He told me in very, very explicit detail what he was going to do to you if I as so much as took one swing at him. So I did what he asked and sat there quietly. Not even a snarky comment. I couldn’t live with myself is something happened to you. But it happened anyways and it was still my fault. If I’d stayed away from you, you never would have nearly been killed.”

“Dr. Porter made me remember a few things today,” you said, looking up at him. “Whenever you get in a fight, when I get in a fight, we’ve always had each other’s backs. I will always stand up for you. It wasn’t your fault. It isn’t. When it comes to fighting for you, even you can’t stop me.”

“I love you.”

You smiled and he put the ice cream aside, cupping your cheek before he gave you an oh so sweet kiss.

“I thought you weren’t ready to say it.”

“I have been ready to say it since I was five years old and twelve years old and sixteen years old and twenty seven years old, Y/N. I was always so afraid of you running off and leaving me behind,” he said. His hand reached around and found yours, lacing your fingers together. “You are the one thing I’ve never had to be scared of.”

“I love you too,” you said. You leaned up and kissed him. Dean was far more relaxed than you were used to, your heart swelling up that he finally felt safe and loved again. “I love you so much.”

“Don’t go all mushy on me, sweetheart,” he said.

“Too late,” you said, pulling him into a big hug. 

“Alright. You can mush,” he said as he returned it. “We could both do with some.”

Two Weeks Later

“Dean,” you said, walking out to the garage. “Did you leave my…”

He was standing at his tool bench, staring down at an envelope.

“De?”

“I got the mail. Someone put these inside,” said Dean. You walked over and looked down, pictures of you and Dean from the past few weeks laid out. 

“Someone’s watching us,” you said. “The phone thing. They thought maybe Michael had a partner. Did you-“

“What? Partner?”

“They thought maybe-“

“When exactly were you going to tell me about this?” he asked. 

“Dean, I didn’t know. It was up in the air. Sam and our dads are looking into it,” you said.

“While you what, babysit me? You think I’m gonna break if I know there’s still some nut job out there that wants me?” he said, his face in a scowl. “Fuck you.”

“Dean-“

“No. I have a right to know. Keeping me in the dark...screw all of you,” he said as he stormed inside. He went straight to the hall closet and pulled out a backpack, throwing it over his shoulders.

“Where are-“

“Do not lie to me,” said Dean, getting in your face. A flash of hurt crossed it and he spun around. “Everyone’s a fucking liar.”

“De-“ you got out before he was out in the garage and in Baby. You put your hands on the door, Dean glaring at you. “Just let me know you’re safe when you get where you’re going.”

“What do you care?” he said before he was backing out and tearing out of there.

“Cause I love you you big damn idiot,” you said to yourself, running your hands over your face. “Please be safe, Dean.”

“Dean, we need to talk,” you called when you heard the front door open an hour later. You stepped out to the hall when you didn’t hear anything more.

Standing in front of you was Michael.

He shoved you and you fell backwards, taking a deep breath.

“You’re supposed to be in prison. The police-”

“Did you really think I don’t have contingency plans when it comes to Dean? He is mine,” snarled Michael.

“You were shot they said. You-”

“Do you have any idea how much money I come from? There’s always someone to bribe,” he said as he stalked over to you. “I see things are going just peachy around home. You and Dean playing house still or is that finally over?”

“Stay away from him,” you said as you got to your feet.

“Oh, you got this all wrong. You stay away from him or I will finish what I started,” he said.

“We know you have a partner,” you said, Michael narrowing his eyes.

“Good for you,” said Michael, getting in your face, hot air fanning over your face. “Now I know you don’t quite understand and I wouldn’t expect you to. You and I are going on a little trip. Depending on how that trip goes will depend on what happens to you. Understand?”

“Over my dead body,” you said. 

“I didn’t say you had to be a willing participant.”

You woke up groggy in the backseat of a SUV, Michael shoving you awake from where he drove.

“You punched me,” you breathed out, trying to get your bearings from where you sat on the floor.

“Tied you up too,” he said. You sighed and felt your hands and feet bound, closing your eyes for a moment. “Listen. This ain’t personal. I gotta teach Dean there’s consequences to his actions. Now I know he didn’t go and ask you to get him so I’m going to cut him some slack. But I have to show him I’m a man of my word so from now on, he knows.”

“I seriously doubt beating me again will make him like you, psycho,” you said.

“He loves me,” he grit out. “He’s just shy.”

“Sure,” you said. “I bet that’s it, nutjob.”

“Be quiet,” he said. “No more talking.”

About an hour later Michael had pulled off the road onto a dirt one. You were grateful when it’d finally stopped and Michael parked the vehicle.

You swallowed when he opened the door behind you, a piece of tape going over your mouth. He pulled you out and threw you over his shoulder, walking for a bit until he plopped you down on the hard ground. A cabin was in front of you, Michael knocking on the door once before he went back to you.

You narrowed your eyes when a man maybe just a few years older than Michael stepped outside.

“She the girlfriend?” asked the man. “The one that nearly kicked your ass?”

“I was this close to killing her. I would have if you let me,” said Michael. You stared at the other man, the one obviously in charge.

“Well if we’re gonna kill people for falling in love with people we’re not supposed to,” said the man, giving Michael a look. “Excuse my lovestruck brother. He thinks with his heart and not his head when it comes to Dean.”

The man bent down and pulled off the tape, offering you a water bottle you were forced to accept.

“What do you want. You let me see your face,” you said.

“Always a cop’s daughter it seems,” he said. “I’m Lucian. John Winchester ruined our father’s life and eventually took him from us. We, originally, intended to return the act in kind. Until my brother grew...fond of Dean. We came to an agreement and I believe the three of us can do so as well. Stay away from Dean and he lives. You both do. Leave him be and you can go back to your normal life.”

“If I don’t accept,” you said.

“Well...my brother gets jealous as I’m sure you’re well aware by now. Accept or he will tear you apart in front of Dean and the last thing I need is to clean up the mess,” said Lucian.

“He hurts Dean,” you said.

“And I’ve talked to Michael about that. When Dean is reunited with my brother, I’m sure it’ll be rough at first but Dean’s smart. He’ll figure things out quickly just as I’m sure you’re figuring things out very quickly,” said Lucian.

“How do you know I’ll keep my mouth shut,” you said. Lucian looked over at a shed, Michael going over and opening the door. A slightly bruised and unconscious Dean was inside, your eyes wide. 

“Plans change. I will just as quickly kill him as you if I need to. So. Do we have an understanding?”

“Applesauce,” you said. 

“Uh, what?” he asked. You turned back to look at him, Lucian raising an eyebrow. 

“I said go fuck yourself,” you said, curling up into a tight ball. You heard a lot of shouts but no shooting, someone in tactical gear rushing over to you and cutting you free after about thirty seconds. The second you were out you were over to Dean, watching him stir awake and grimace. “Hey.”

“Sounds like it worked,” said Dean with a soft smile. Michael stared over at the two of you, clenching his fists before he was walked away. “My psychopath saved my ass. Not sure how to feel about that one.”

“I guess he draws the line at you winding up dead. I thought you were for a second. This is not how being bait was supposed to go,” you said.

“Glad I woke up again,” said Dean as he got to his feet. You pulled him into a hug, Dean returning. “Did he hurt you?”

“Just a bruise. I’m okay,” you said. “You?”

“Not okay,” he said. “I’ll get there though.”

“Dean,” said your dad as he walked over, pulling you into a hug. “He wants to talk to you.”

“Alright,” said Dean. You went with him to a police car, Michael leaned up against the side of one. “What?”

“Lucian went too far with the stalking and bugging your home and kidnapping you. I-“

“Your brother wanted to kill me. You wanted...your brother I understand. For him, this was revenge. You though, I never will,” said Dean.

“But...I saved you,” said Michael.

“After you changed the plan we all agreed to with the police and kidnapped my girlfriend for real. You hurt her. You never were supposed to do that. She was never supposed to be here. You wanted her here so that you could try to control me. Again. So what the fuck could you possibly try to say to me?”

“I don’t like her,” said Michael. 

“I don’t like you,” said Dean. He pulled back his fist and decked Michael, your dad pushing him back. “He didn’t follow the plan! He tried to get her killed and-“

“And he will go away. Kid, take a walk. Now,” he said. Dean huffed and walked away, Michael glaring at you.

“This is all your fault,” said Michael. “We were fine until you started to talk to him.”

“No, me talking to him was the best thing for him,” you said. You turned away before spinning back around, kneeing him in the groin. “Dick.”

You went over to Dean who was shaking out his fist.

“Forget him,” you said. “He’s nuts.”

“The nutjob told us his brother was planning to get rid of us both,” said Dean. He shut his eyes and let out a deep breath. “He-”

“It doesn’t matter. Michael and his brother are gone and you never have to worry ever again. I promise.”

One Month Later

“Babe? What are you doing?” you asked that night. Dean shut the blinds to the backyard and wandered over to the couch, laying down with his head in your lap. “No one’s out there.”

“Funny feeling is all,” he said. You ran your fingers over his head, Dean curling into you. “I thought life was a nightmare before.”

You didn’t know what to say so you kept your mouth shut and slid down the couch, holding onto him. 

“Sweetheart. It’s not all a nightmare, you know. There’s a pretty damn good part of this that is the only reason I’ve made it this far,” he said.

“No, it’s not the only reason,” you said. “You came to me. You did all that on your own. I couldn’t even…”

“Y/N,” said Dean, sitting up and pulling you into his lap. “It’s not on you to save me from the bad guys.”

“Yeah it is. It’s how this has always worked. Since we were five years old it’s been that way,” you said. “I told you he wouldn’t hurt-”

“He didn’t hurt me. Not really. I know he was going to hurt you and that...that’s what fucked me up this time. Like you said, it’s how it’s always been. But this time...this time, even though I’m still...afraid of him, I was a whole lot more pissed off. He’s not winning. He doesn’t get any more say in my life. I get to pick from now on,” he said.

“Yeah, you do,” you said softly.

“I pick you,” he said, bumping his nose against your own. “Always. You’ve been saving me this whole damn time. I’ll never be able to repay that.”

“You don’t have to, Dean. I do it and I’ll always do it because I love you,” you said. “It’s that simple.”

“I almost asked you to prom,” he said softly. “If I had-”

“Lucian was coming no matter what. There was no stopping this. He’s going away and Michael’s going away and we can move on. You can move on,” you said.

“I still feel stuck,” he said.

“Then let’s get you unstuck. I have a perfect idea for that too.”

“Hm,” you hummed, tucked into Dean’s side the next evening. 

“Cozy?” he asked.

“Yup,” you said, looking up at him. “You?”

“I think a quiet vacation away was exactly what we needed,” he said. “Someplace to relax.”

“Me too. There’s some great fishing spots around. You still like to fish, right?” you asked.

“I still fish,” he chuckled. “Last time I took you we were seventeen and you hated it.”

“I hated it because you were going on and on about Brandi Mullens and I wanted to throttle you. I was so in love with you and you didn’t even know it,” you said.

“Brandi Mullens had nothing on you,” he said. “I only went out with her to make you jealous.”

“Why?” you laughed.

“Teenage boys are stupid, sweetheart,” he giggled. “Ten years ago that was.”

“You better not talk about Brandi Mullens tomorrow,” you smirked. “I might get a little jealous.”

“No, no. Tomorrow I plan on making out with you and gushing over you until you’re blushing while we fish and you pretend to like it because it’s something I enjoy doing,” he said.

“Well I was planning on talking about Calvin Pulver,” you said. Dean sat up and dropped his jaw. You started to giggle and he leaned over top of you. 

“You liked Calvin Pulver? He was a douchebag!” said Dean.

“I know. You hated him. God, I almost went out with him once to try and make you jealous but that was the night of your mom’s car accident,” you said. Dean lay on his side and looked at you, playing with a strand of your hair. “We were so stupid back then.”

“I biked over to your house, rang your doorbell and started bawling my eyes out. I just remember you catching me and dragged me up to your room and you held me,” he said. 

“I knew that night that I loved you, not just a crush, first love kind of way either. Down in your core kind of love. It hurt to see you hurt like that,” you said, stroking his cheek with your thumb. “My dad drove us to the hospital.”

“You stayed with me in that waiting room for days,” said Dean. “You just wouldn’t leave me alone.”

“You and Sam needed someone to fall on while your dad tried to keep it together. I was more than happy to do it,” you said.

“The night I came to your door, the night I got out of there a few months back, I knew if I could get to that door, I’d be alright. I knew you would take care of me again,” he said.

“No more knocking on my door asking for help from now on. Just roll over in bed and I’ll be right here,” you said. He smiled, nuzzling into your hand. “I love you.”

“I love you,” he said. He kissed the tip of your nose, resting his forehead against your own. “So a fun day of fishing and making out is on the schedule for tomorrow then. Any other requests?”

“Sleeping in?” you asked.

“Obviously,” he said. “I have one.”

“Shoot.”

“I want to take you to dinner in town,” he said. “I have been waiting my whole life to take you to dinner and I really don’t want to wait one more day.”

“That sounds perfect, Dean,” you said, smiling when he kissed you. “You doing okay today?”

“For the first time in a long, long time, I’m doing amazing, sweetheart,” he said. You booped his nose with yours, Dean looking at you with a soft look on his face. “Thank you.”

“Never have to thank me, Dean. I got your back, you got my back. It’s how it’s always been.”

“How it always will be, too,” he said. “Always.”

_____

[bloody-britt26]

Raihan’s crush or s/o (whatever you prefer) being from Johto (bc even though he didn’t make the cut, I still adore my Feraligator) hcs? Maybe he has to watch their Pokémon for a couple hours while they do errands or something? Thanks for listening!

Coming right up! Also, I feel you. I just want my babies from previous games to join me in my Galarian adventures. 😢

🐉 Raihan babysitting his crush's pokémon 🐉

• When you announced that you were going to one of your friend's house for dinner, Raihan immediately volunteered to babysit your pokémon for the day.

• He knew that the particular friend you were to visit wasn't highly fond of pokémon, and you were much too respectful of people's boundaries to bring your pokémon along knowing that fact.

• But Raihan also knew that you were uncomfortable with the idea of leaving your precious babies alone with no care or surveillance.

• And so, when your eyes sparkled with joy at Raihan's offer, showering him with heartfelt compliments, he couldn't help but feel his chest swell with pride and happiness. After all, he was completely infatuated with you.

• "You're the absolute best, Rai! I don't know what I would do without you, thank you so much!"

• Raihan was admittedly rather excited to take care of your pokémon. Since you were from Johto, you had some awesome pokémon that weren't native to Galar.

• Plus, this was the perfect opportunity to bond with them.

• He wanted them to approve of him for whenever the day came that he felt brave enough to ask you out.

• He felt that it was important, as he knew that your pokémon were quite protective of you. Especially your Feraligatr.

• When you handed him your three Poké Balls, he couldn't help but think that you were absolutely adorable as you rambled on about their personalities and needs.

• "Okay, so, little Dratini is just a little baby and you're going to need to bottle feed her for dinner. She loves to sleep all bundled up in hoodies. She's also kind of needy when it comes to cuddles. Houndoom shouldn't be a problem, she's pretty calm. Just don't bother her when she's napping, you'll get a flamethrower to the face. Lastly, Feraligatr is the big boss of the team. It might take him a while to warm up to you, but he's a good pokémon, I swear! I'm pretty sure you already know their favourite food, right? We've been out camping together quite often."

• To Raihan, you were acting like a worried mother, and it was making his heart melt. You would be such an amazing mother, he thought.

• When he got to his home, he called out your pokémon. Dratini and Houndoom seemed happy to see him.

• Feraligatr, however, was a different story. He had his arms crossed with a scowl on his features at the sight of the Dragon-type gym leader.

• After all, Feraligatr wasn't blind to the romantic tension between you and Raihan, and Feraligatr has always been rather picky of the people you chose to hang out with.

• Of course, that didn't go unnoticed by Raihan, who chuckled nervously under the big alligator's judgmental gaze. But, Raihan was determined to make Feraligatr see that he was a good man.

• And it all started with Dratini.

• Oh how Raihan nearly turned into a pile of mush when the baby dragon wiggled her way to his leg, cuddling it and making the most adorable little sounds, begging to be picked up.

• And of course, Raihan couldn't say no to a face like that. He scooped the baby up under the watchful glare of your Feraligatr and sat down on his couch.

• Raihan had taken care of plenty of young dragons, but it was a rare opportunity to get to play with a newborn Dratini. And he was having a blast.

• He was speaking in such a soft baby voice to her, tickling her belly and giving her little kisses, which was making Dratini giggle uncontrollably.

• The scene was so sweet that your normally indifferent Houndoom, who was lying in the corner of his living room, had lifted her gaze up with a warm smile on her face.

• Feraligatr was tilting his head, surprised at this gentle and fatherly side of Raihan that he had never really noticed before.

• When Dratini's belly rumbled, Raihan prepared the formula that you had handed him and sat back down, bottle in hand and ready to feed the baby.

• He was so giddy while doing so and of course, Raihan couldn't help but ask his Rotom phone to snap a photo of the moment.

• After being fed, Dratini let out a big yawn, starting to feel sleepy. Raihan had taken off his hoodie, making a bed out of it for Dratini.

• Of course, he took one last picture of the adorable sleeping dragon.

• Raihan had prepared some Spicy Bone Curry for your Houndoom as he knew that it was her favourite.

• Houndoom was asleep. Remembering what you had said prior, Raihan quietly settled the curry near her, making sure to not disturb her.

• Feraligatr, who was still keeping a watchful eye on Raihan, uncrossed his arms at the sight of Raihan's interaction with Houndoom, seemingly becoming less tense. Feraligatr appreciated that Raihan seemed to respect Houndoom's boundaries.

• It was time to befriend Feraligatr.

• "Your turn, big guy! You like Sweet Soft-Boiled Egg Curry, don't you? With extra Mago berries?"

• "I hope it'll be to your liking. But I know my cooking can't compare to your mum's. She really is amazing!"

• And that comment alone lead to Raihan completely gushing about you as he cooked Feraligatr's meal.

• You just drove him insane. He was so madly in love with you. He couldn't stop running his mouth about how your hugs were the best, how your eyes twinkled whenever you spoke about one of your passions, how adorable your laughter was and how your company and touch could melt away any negative thoughts.

• Meanwhile, Feraligatr couldn't help the soft smile on his features. It was then that the pokémon realized that Raihan was a good man, worthy of you.

• Raihan knew you like the back of his hand and Feraligatr could tell just how enamoured Raihan was with you. He knew so many little details about you that not many people could possibly catch onto.

• And so, the biggest victory grin appeared on Raihan's face when your Feraligatr affectionately ruffled his hair before nuzzling him.

• When the day had ended and you swung by Raihan's home to pick up your pokémon, you were happy to see that everybody was in one piece. In fact, Raihan and your darling pokémon were all cuddling.

• Of course, your pokémon all ran to your side when you arrived, attacking you with hugs and kisses.

• You gave Raihan such a sincere smile that he felt his stomach flutter.

• "I can't thank you enough for what you did today, Raihan. I mean it. Is there anything I can do for you?"

• At that moment, Raihan glanced at your Feraligatr. Feraligatr was winking with a slight smirk.

• Raihan had a blush on his cheeks, nervously scratching the back of his head. It was now or never.

• "Well, you can always take me out on a date this weekend, sweetheart."

[opheliawritesxo]

The Greatest Team

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes

Summary: Steve and Bucky have pretty much settled into domestic life perfectly but of course there is one thing that Steve still struggles with - grocery shopping. Although, this time might just convince him that grocery shopping ends with the best surprises known to man-kind.

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: Mentions of general and social anxiety

A/N: again, I originally posted this fic on AO3 but I've decided to post it here for a change. So I swear I'm not taking any work that isn’t mine!

A morning run was Steve’s way of getting up and starting his day in the best way possible. With the serum he was able to go for miles and miles without even breaking a sweat. It was hilarious to him that even though Bucky had a diluted version of the serum he was very much the opposite of Steve. Then again that was Bucky to a T, he’d always been that way even back in the 30’s, he always was the night owl out of the two of them.

           Unlocking the front door to their little apartment in Brooklyn, he couldn’t help but stop and stare at the scene playing out in front of him. Bucky had finally awoken from his beauty sleep and was currently basically inside the fridge grumbling to himself.

“Buck?” He chuckled as he made his way over to the breakfast bar. “You alright there?”

“Everything is out of date Steve, not a single thing is in date. The milk is practically cheese.” He grunted as he threw it into the trash. The blonde just blinked for a moment trying to think of the last time they went shopping for food.

“There has to be something edible in there!” Biting his lip as he peered over Bucky’s shoulder, but the ex-assassin was right. There was nothing edible in their whole fridge.

“We need to go grocery shopping-“ Bucky quickly put his hand up to stop Steve mid whine. “Before you start any of your whining, we’re going. If I hear one complaint outta ya this whole trip it’s gonna be you and that huge paw of yours for two weeks straight. Do I make myself clear?” Everyone always talks about Steve and his ‘Captain America’ voice but in reality, Bucky has always had, what he and his ma used to call, his ‘Steven’ voice. It was mainly used because Steve was a stick thin, everything compromised stubborn punk who wouldn’t listen to reason unless Bucky used the voice. He assumed once Bucky came back into this life that now it was roughly eighty years later, and he had a few inches and many muscles on the man it would no longer work. – he was oh so wrong.

“Fine.” He grumbled. Sliding up behind his boyfriend, he placed his hands on his hips. “Y’know the showers kinda lonely..” he purred, his lips tickling at the others ear.

“Steven. Strike one.” Bucky’s voice was calm, but Steve quickly backed away. So, sex was definitely not getting him out of this god forsaken trip and it also got him his first strike. So much for having a good day.

Steve Rogers has faced every foe, alien, crazy guy with a gun he’s ever come across and won but grocery shopping? Might as well tap out now. Too many people which made his anxiety go haywire, even in a cap and sunglasses everyone always recognized him and tried to take photos of his ass without him noticing. Spoiler alert; he always noticed. There was too much choice in the 21st century. He just wanted some Oreos, why does anyone need 25 flavours, not including the limited-edition ones.

           Bucky seems to have been the one who has adapted to domestic 21st century life the quickest but then again, the former assassin had spent more time out of the ice having to adapt to the world as he came across it for missions.

“Steve what do you want for dinner tonight?” Bucky asked softly, keeping a tight hold of his hand. Squeezing back so the older man knew that he was okay.

“Uh... pasta? I can whip it up pretty quickly if you want?” Shopping was also a difficult task because no one knew when the next mission would fall into their laps. Not only were Bucky and Steve the perfect partners in life, their fans liked to blow up social media with #stuckysightings whenever they were spotted together. They were also the perfect partners in the field. Steve passed the mantle of Captain America over to Sam a few years prior and although he should be retired, he took back the mantle of nomad and has been working with Bucky exclusively for the past year.

“Okay, I think I’ll get us a couple of cartons of that long-life milk stuff.” Bucky muttered to himself as he continued to pick things up and place them in the cart. For a grocery trip this one went surprisingly fast. They were in and out within half an hour which had to be a record for them both. It was a lovely day, so they’d decided to walk the journey what with their superhuman strength carrying four bags was nothing. Being super soldiers, all their senses were heightened which included their hearing.

           In complete sync, both Steve and Bucky stopped at the sound of a soft cry coming from the alleyway. Bucky raced in first going straight to the cry. It was so soft it was unclear what made the noise. “Over here!” Bucky called, having found the source of the noise. Leaving the bags to the side he dropped down next to the brunette who was cooing over something tiny. “Hey little one, s’okay; m’not gonna hurt you.” Bucky said softly. As if that didn’t melt Steve’s heart into pieces.

Pulling himself back, Steve peeked down to see what was in Bucky’s arms. There in the man’s arm was a tiny grey kitten, shaking like a leaf and holding its front left paw into itself. It looked so tiny in Bucky’s large arms, but it didn’t seem frightened by the way it was cuddling into him.

“Hey there buddy.” Steve said softly, gently placing his fingers out in front of him so it could track his movements. When he got the green light, he gently stroked its tiny back.

“We’re gonna need to take it home with us, all the vets are closed.” Steve was so close to bolting home and grabbing the ring he had stashed and proposing to Bucky right this instant by the way his beautiful blue eyes were all concerned and how quiet he was speaking.

“Okay honey, I’ll grab the bags.” Pulling off his jumper he held it out to Bucky so he could carefully bundle the little thing into it. Grabbing the bags, he couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he watched Bucky explain to the little kitten where they were going and what was happening around them. They knew that kids were impractical in their world but maybe a house full of kittens was something to think about for the future.

           Arriving home, Steve was left to unpack as Bucky went straight to the bathroom to give the kitten a bath. In between unpacking, the former Captain America began researching about kittens and what they needed even if they were going to take it to the vet tomorrow. Someone was probably missing the little ball of fluff.

“Steve! It’s a she and she’s pure white!” Bucky called from the bathroom which had Steve racing through to see for himself. Once again, his heart melted into a pile of mush as he saw the pure look of love on Bucky’s face as he gently dried off the little girl.

“Honey I’m gonna pop back to the supermarket quickly and grab a couple of things for her alright?” He said softly, pressing a kiss to the man’s head and of course, he couldn’t resist dropping a small kiss to the kitten’s head which earned him the cutest meow on earth.

After Steve came back from his second trip to the supermarket with all the supplies, he needed to make this little girl at home. He didn’t have the heart to warn Bucky that she might belong to someone and that they couldn’t keep her. She slept soundly through the night in the little bed they’d made for her in between the two of them because after trying to set her in her little bed on the floor next to Bucky’s side she was not having it.

Come morning the two super soldiers were cuddled into this tiny kitten. Waking with a smile on his face, which was a rarity in itself, Steve got up and padded through to the living room. When he saw that the time was 8am he could hardly believe it. Having slept in three hours longer than normal. Grabbing his phone, he made a call to the vet that he’d researched last night to set her up for an appointment before heading back to the bedroom to get some more cuddles with his boy and the little lodger.

When they both entered the vet along with the little kitten in Steve’s jumper, the trio decided they were not a huge fan of the vets. It had the clinical feel of hospitals which they were both adverse too and they could hear the whimpers and barks from the other animals.

“Oh, what a cutie!” The receptionist cooed. “What’s her name?” The two super soldiers looked to each other with a blush.

“Uh, we haven’t named her quite yet.” Bucky muttered. They were very clear about not naming her. Naming something meant you became attached to it.

“That’s quite alright, I’m gonna put her down as ‘cutie’ right now alright? You three just go take a seat over there and we’ll give you a call when we’re ready for you alright?” Nodding the three plodded over to the seats in the corner, Bucky holding onto the little thing for dear life.

“Think we can get Bruce to go get himself another PHD so he can treat this little one?”

“Buck...” Steve sighed, “We talked about this remember? She probably has a home.” He hated saying it especially when the pout slipped onto his loves face. Soon enough they were called to come through. Bucky sat up on the table even though Steve was pretty sure he wasn’t allowed. He kept a hold of the little cutie the whole time and glared murderously at the vet when the little one yelped.

“She’s just got a little sprain, make sure she keeps her weight off it, and it’ll heal in no time.” The vet smiled before logging some details in her database. “Mr Rogers you mentioned about the microchip and she doesn’t have one. I’m pretty sure she was abandoned. With how young she is and where she was found, there’s no record of her.” Bucky’s eyes lit up at the news, looking to Steve with pleading eyes. – Steve never could say no to those eyes.

“What about missions Buck?” The blonde’s voice soft.

“Carol gets to take Goose on missions!”

“Goose is a literal flerken remember? The reason Fury doesn’t have an eye!”

“But that means Alpine would have a friend on missions, Goose wouldn’t let anything happen to her!”

“Alpine?”

“Yeah... named her the minute I picked her up.” Bucky smirked and that’s the moment Steve knew he’d been played. How he even thought for a second that Bucky would let this little girl go, he was dumber than he thought.

           Within twenty minutes she was microchipped, registered as theirs and officially named. Alpine Barnes-Rogers. Her sprain would heal within a couple of weeks and Bucky was right, Goose always looked after Alpine on missions and Alpine herself, as she grew older, was a force to be reckoned with on her own. Alongside her super-soldier dads, they were the greatest team. 

[spaceslimecosplay]

How to Sew YOUR size

Being a cosplayer is challenging for many reasons. Expense and flamboyant designs can be tough to deal with, but even if you go to that sketchy costume site to buy your costume there is one more challenge to face...sizing. As a tall and chubby woman, I’ve always found it nearly impossible to find my size. Even sewing patterns seem to have the problem of making “average” size ranges that don’t fit right. Anyway, the point of this tutorial is to teach you guys how to sew basic patterns to fit you!

NOTICE: If you like to buy sewing patterns and just adjust them to your size, that’s fine too!

Step 1: Break it down now, ya’ll!

The first step to any project is breaking down your outfit. I’ll be using my Litwick cosplay for this. I find it easiest to look at (or create) a reference, then draw it piece by piece on a separate paper. “Okay, so how do I know what is and isn’t a whole piece?” You don’t. Unless you find a very detailed character sheet, the number of pieces is completely up to you.

As you can see, I made views from the front and back. Colors and designs changed while I was sewing this cosplay, but such is art. Also, it really helps to look up similarly shaped clothing online to help you draw a flat of your clothing. Flats are exactly what they sound like, a 2D drawing of clothing. This is where you’ll lay down seams, buttons, and just get a general idea of the shapes you’ll cut out for your outfit.

Step 2: Shapes and Measurements

No matter what size it is, clothing will usually be made up of a few shapes. A size 4 shirt will be made of the exact same shapes as a size 26 shirt of the same type. With this information in mind, break down each article of clothing into basic shapes. The halter top on the top of my dress was made of stretch cotton with 4 shapes: collar, back left, back right, and front. I admit I altered this from a sewing pattern, but we’ll get patterns in a second.

The vertical lines with horizontal marks are seams. This isn’t necessarily a flat as much as it is a diagram, really.

Also, I live by measuring tape. It allows you to go around round objects (like literally anything on your body) without all the hard math! If you don’t have one, I advise either getting one or magically become capable of math. The rest of this tutorial uses measuring tape.

In the fashion world, there are basic areas for measurement. If you’ve ever gone to a tailor, these are the same areas they’ll measure on you to tailor your clothing. This picture will help you locate those areas.

Once you know your sizes and the shapes you’ll be making, you’re ready to start!

Step 3: Making your pattern

You have your reference, your flats, and your measurements. Time to mush them together and splatter them on some paper. I use wrapping paper with a grid pattern. Cheap, easy, maintains better than those cheap toilet paper-like sewing patterns from Joanns.

Always make a mock of your clothing with cheap material that’s similar to your costume fabric. Mock garments allow you to save good fabric and make alterations. 

Patterns are actually a lot easier than they seem. If your neckline is supposed to go (comfortably) around your neck, measure your neck, divide by the amount of pieces you have. I had three pieces for the halter top. Because my front and back pieces were symmetrical, I just cut two pieces and split one down the middle. Why does that matter? It matters because it means I divided my neck circumference by two, then split it into three. If you measure the front piece both of the back pieces, it still adds up into the total of inches around your neck. If it doesn’t? Trim it down or re-math and re-cut.

For your bust and waist, take your bust and waist measurements and alter the shape to those measurements. Commit this to memory, you’ll use this technique for ALL of your measurements (or at least until you learn a more formal technique). Using a ruler, draw a vertical line on your paper that matches the length of your garment. Now create horizontal lines (starting from the middle number of your measurement i.e. 5 inches, line the vertical line up with 3) and draw a line matching the HALVED total of your neck. Measure from your neck to the center of your bust. Draw another horizontal line at the end. Next, use a ruler to draw the shape of your garment. I freehand curves and alter them as I go (HENCE THE MOCK MATERIAL). In general, though, it’s a better idea to use a curved ruler. The point is that you’ll want to hit every end point of your horizontal lines. Depending on your measurements and material, you may have a few curves in your originally straight, blocky, shape. That’s natural.

Now, the bust/waist/hip measurements are a bit...exaggerated, but I wanted to show that it’s perfectly fine to start with the small shape on the bottom and come out with a slightly curvy or straighter pattern.

Depending on your material and pattern, you might need to add darts to make a tighter fit. Darts are triangles or diamond shapes made on a pattern, that act as folds to make a garment more form fitting. You’ll want to test placement of your darts through your mock up. There’s a few places to place darts, but the places I’ve used them are: bust to armpit, stomach, and back.

Step 4: Sew and alter

If you’ve decided to make a mock first (as I so wisely advised) your next step is to sew your pieces together and alter them to fit better. Alterations could include: Adding or subtracting the size of your patterns, adding or releasing darts, planning for zippers/buttons/closures, etc. Once you’re happy with your mock garment, seam rip the pieces apart again and use them to alter your original pattern.

NEVER CHEAT YOURSELF QUALITY TO MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME. If you mess up and you have 3 days left until that convention just go without a costume! I know going to a con without a costume when you’ve worked so hard sounds heinous, but trust me, it’s better to make up for your mistake for a future con than to sew over it and pump something you’re not happy with out.

Ta-da! You have your own pattern to fit your body! Now you can sew up the real thing.

DIsclaimer: I am but a humble space slime. I cannot do more than simple math. I also admit that I have no formal training. This tutorial is how I taught myself to sew my own costumes. It took me years to perfect this technique. It’s a little long winded (probably a lot more steps and alterations than a pro would have), but I decided to put this out there for anyone who wanted to try their hand at sewing. Good luck you guys!

 Pro tip:

The amount of pieces for the garment decide the size of which you cut them. If you have two pieces, a front and a back, divide your measurements by 2. If 4 pieces, divide by 4. ALWAYS ADD IN YOUR SEAM ALLOWANCE (.25 inches)

Pro tips:

If there’s belts and buttons galore on your costume (and you aren’t a COMPLETE perfectionist), just sew them down. Not every belt or button has to be functional.

More or less pieces depend on the effect you’re going for. If you have a few layers of shirts or jackets, it will save time (and you from heatstroke) if you just create the illusion that you’re wearing more than one piece of clothing. You could also create each piece and have that volume of multiple articles of clothing under that jacket. Your choice!

[notebook-13]

Hi!! I liked your Hawks thing and I was wondering if you would say more about his visor?

Sure! I’m not sure if you mean say more about the times when his visor is removed, say more about patterns in how he wears his visor, or talk about his visor as a symbol of something. So, since I’m most interested in fanfic, I’m going to talk more about the first two things and only briefly about thematic stuff.

Like I said in my other post, the thing I pay the most attention to is when it’s removed from his eyes. (The various times I say “remove” or “take off,” what I mean is removed or taken off from his eyes, not necessarily his head.)

This happens when…

Endeavor confronts him post-ceremony about his shenanigans, and Hawks strategically pulls down his visor to persuade Endeavor he sincerely admires him, wants to thank him, and wants to help him.

When the nomu shatters it, and Hawks thinks about how he admires Endeavor, and he thinks the line about how his back isn’t reassuring.

When Hawks watches Endeavor leave Fukuoka, he pushes up the visor and remembers his promise to get his hands dirty if it’ll save people, and then he repeats his line about wanting a world where heroes have time to spare.

And, ofc, when Dabi stomps on him while shouting that sentiment tripped Hawks up after all.

Besides the automatic potential meaningfulness of removing the visor, Horikoshi also gives these moments meaningfulness through his art style: Hawks earnestly looking up at Endeavor while he thanks Endeavor for being reassuring, and Hawks grimly thinking that he’ll make a better world happen at his trademark speed, are both large, detailed panels without backgrounds, putting all the focus on his newly-bared face and eyes. The panel where the nomu shatters his visor is smaller, but it’s given meaningfulness through the slow-motion effect of the nomu’s tentacle approaching Hawks’s face.

So: there’s something important about these moments, and given how dishonest Hawks is, I’m inclined to think that they’re important because they’re honest.

The only transition moment I’m iffy about is this one:

So far, this is the only time Hawks removes his visor by lowering it around his neck instead of raising it to his forehead, and the effect is that he covers his mouth. This post is actually what inspired me to think about Hawks’s visor in the first place, and it points out that Hawks is often drawn with his mouth covered—and even something like his gesture where he zips up his mouth resonates with his position as a spy and secret-keeper for the Commission.

So, I think Hawks may not be all that honest about his feelings for All Might—it could be more complicated than he’s letting on here.

I’m ambivalent about whether the visor has meaning when it’s already in place…I don’t really see a pattern of him being more honest when the visor is off versus on. But I’ve puzzled over it enough that my brain feels like mush when I think about it, so here’s an info dump.

I think I got this all accurate, but hey, I might’ve made a few mistakes.

Times when he wears the visor:

185 - Hero ceremony

185 - Talking with Endeavor post-ceremony

186 - Lunch with Endeavor

187-189 - Nomu fight (until it shatters) (involves flying)

191 - Receiving the spy mission from the HPSC

192 - In off-duty clothing, saying goodbye to Endeavor

199 - Training Tokoyami (involves flying)

231 - Hauling Jeanist around (involves flying)

240 - Applauding the PLF rally (while remembering delivering Jeanist to Dabi)

243-5 Delivering the MLA book to Endeavor (involves flying)

246 - Interacting with the PLF (including Hawks’s internal monologue about being glad that Class 1-A is faster than him)

258 - Every interaction with Twice (“I wanna fly free”)

263-264 - Attacking Twice

Times he doesn’t, by choice:

199 - Post-patrol, when he invites/kidnaps Tokoyami to take him on a night flight (but he wears it while they talk and fly)

231 - When Dabi phone-calls him to assign him the assassination mission (involves leisurely flying)

231 - In off-duty clothing, when he pays Jeanist a visit

240 - He removes it off-screen while greeting people at the PLF rally, sometime between the end of Shigaraki’s speech and before Dabi comes over.

255 - Teaching Twice (when he receives the hint about the hospital and goes “the pieces are in place!”)

Times he doesn’t, by obligation:

190-192 - because it’s broken. He helps Endeavor defeat the nomu, prepares to fight Dabi to save Endeavor, later confronts Dabi about their mutual sabotage, and then visits Endeavor in the hospital.

191 - childhood, didn’t own it yet.

Unclear:

While delivering Jeanist’s body to Dabi, Hawks is strangely faceless, we never get a proper look at him. I think there’s a blurry visor on there, but idk.

So?

My brain is mush again and I don’t have much insight into how Hawks decides whether or not to wear his visor at a particular moment. He wears it where it’s sort of pointless (i.e., indoors) and he wears it when it’s kinda rude (one-on-one meal with Endeavor). Bidding farewell to Endeavor is the closest Hawks comes to being off-duty, but he’s wearing it then, so I don’t think the visor is purely part of his hero costume. He has it off during ch255 while he tutors Twice, but he has it on in ch258 while he tutors Twice—did something change?

I think there could be a weak correlation between the visor and Hawks feeling guilty or nervous. Hawks wears it as much as he can around Endeavor, and once he grows attached to Twice, maybe he starts to wear it around Twice, too. He wears it during the PLF rally while he’s shaken over how formidable the PLF is, but once he acclimates and gets down to work chatting people up for info, he takes it off (off-screen).

It’s also possible that not wearing the visor is a sign that he’s excited. He’s not wearing the visor when he nabs Tokoyami and takes off, he’s excited that Dabi has folded and contacted him again, he gives Jeanist a very special smile, and he could’ve been excited when he was first befriending Twice.

Or there could be a connection with how hard he’s trying to seem sincere. In ch185, he takes off the visor to try to persuade Endeavor that he is sincere (and in this case, is sincere), and maybe after that he’s not so concerned with appearing earnest, so he puts it back on. Wanting to appear truthful could explain why he’s not wearing it while he’s chatting with people at the PLF rally or when he’s initially charming Twice, but it wouldn’t explain why he wears it around the PLF so much in general (other than battle-readiness), or why he wouldn’t wear it while he’s on the phone with Dabi.

…I know it’s not much, sorry. Maybe someone who reads this can come up with a better idea?

I think the most suspicious—and therefore, most potentially meaningful—incidences of him not wearing the visor are when he’s on the phone with Dabi (Hawks is flying, but he has it off) and when he visits Jeanist, which is the only time Hawks voluntarily doesn’t have a visor with him at all. (Did he take public transit to and from Jeanist’s apartment? Or did someone from the HPSC drop him off/pick him up?)

Anyways, my favorite of my three ideas is that he doesn’t wear the visor while he’s excited, so that’s what I’d go for if I were writing him in fanfic. It meshes well with the honesty-gesture of removing the visor.

Misc interesting notes:

When Hawks is flying, he is obliged to wear his visor as protection against high winds. Flying=freedom is generally common, and it’s especially poignant in Hawks’s case since his ability to fly diminishes the more feathers he sends out to save people. So if the visor itself symbolizes something, then I think that “something” is important to his freedom as well as his honesty. He can fly without his visor…but he won’t see where he’s going. (Unless he has a third eyelid.)

Both of his iconic lines about flying, “Those who can fly, should!” and “I wanna fly free,” are spoken while wearing his visor.

Both Twice and Shigaraki wear things on their faces (or in Shigaraki’s case, previously wore). There could be a foiling between the visor and the mask or hand.

It’s also worth considering, who is Hawks’s honesty for when his visor is removed? For the audience? For himself? For whoever he’s in the scene with?

I don’t think Horikoshi has ever drawn Hawks putting his visor on; he’s only shown Hawks taking it off. In the first scene with Endeavor, Hawks replaces his visor off-screen, potentially while Endeavor’s back is turned. He also replaces it off-screen before flying with Tokoyami.

Horikoshi avoids the cliché of “light flashes off the visor to obscure Hawks’s eyes while he’s being deceptive.” because then we would never see hawks’s eyes Instead, when Hawks’s visor obscures his eyes, it’s usually either during comedy or to make him seem menacing. It is interesting that the same technique is used for both amusement and fear.

The only time I’ve noticed Horikoshi use the cliché is in ch245, when Hawks remarks he recommends everyone to read this book because it’s going to be very important going forward.

Edit: Whoops, I forgot to mention! I read an interesting post yesterday that talks about how vision and telling the truth are such integral parts of Hawks’s character that they’re included in his name. Definitely worth considering in relation to his visor.

[seasonofthegeek]

The Sacrifice of Three, Part 2

Dedicated to @miraculouspaon

Parts 1, 2:

Nathalie paced the dark hallway, careful not to slip on the hardwood floor in her fuzzy socks. She should’ve worn her slippers but she’d been too caught up in her thoughts to pay attention to logic. 

She wondered if Jagged could sense her outside his door or if he was too far gone. He’d stopped leaving his room all together, and while Gabriel insisted it was what was safest for them all, it made her uneasy. She’d used the long days in the cabin to study what she could about other supernatural creatures, though the lore on vampires was vague at best. It was smart, she’d decided, after reading yet another contradictory passage on the species. By keeping the details of their existence a mystery, it made it more difficult to figure them out. 

She smiled to herself as she paused in her pacing outside Jagged’s room. It made sense he was a vampire; she couldn’t imagine someone as dramatic and showy as him as anything.

Taking a steadying breath, she pushed open the door and peered into the dark room. Her eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness since they’d been without artificial lights for a month or so now but it still took a moment of adjustment with each new space.

“Jagged? Are you awake?”

There was the faint sound of rustling sheets and Jagged cleared his throat. It was a painful sound. “That you, pet?”

“You’re not doing well,” Nathalie said, venturing further into the room. “How long can you go without blood?”

“Indefinitely, really. Not a pretty picture though. Keep wasting away til–” His words were cut off by a rasping cough. He grimaced and wiped his mouth with a thin hand. “Another week or so and I’ll be little more than bones and skin.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.” She sat on the edge of his bed. Her mouth was set in a thin line of determination. “Can I trust you?”

“Trust me?” he mused. “With what, love?”

She swallowed thickly. “If I let you drink, you won’t take too much, right? Just enough to be okay, to function.”

“Might be too far gone for that,” he warned, grunting in mild pain as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. “You want to give me blood?”

“No.” Nathalie forced herself to stand her ground while her every instinct cried out to run for the door. “But after what you said the other day about the sacrifice, I started studying some of the books and I think you’re right. I think someone means for us to die here during the Solstice.” She swallowed against the bitterness that had filled her mouth. “We were chosen to die and I can’t understand why it was us.”

His eyes sharpened on her. “And you don’t want to let that happen.”

“No.”

“What’s Gabe say about all this? Does he know you’re in here offering your pretty neck?”

“He…he doesn’t know about this.” Her eyes flicked downwards. “But he agrees about the sacrifice. We need to make a plan, the three of us. We’re practically out of food, and the full moon is coming. I can feel it. The two of you won’t survive in here with me. I can’t control myself.”

“I think you should give yourself more credit than that.”

“It’s not about credit; it’s about the facts.”

“I doubt Gabe has reservations about letting me wither away,” Jagged pointed out. “Why not just save yourselves?”

“Gabriel doesn’t want you to die. Not really. He would want you to think that, but…” She trailed off and shook her head. “Do you want this or not?” She held out her hand, wrist up.

“Is that where you want me to drink from, dearest?” Jagged’s voice was low as he shifted closer to her, still on the bed. “Come sit beside me.” His eyes followed her hungrily as she sat on the edge of the bed, back stiff. He brushed her hair behind her ear and relished her shiver. “You trust me this much, love? Don’t know each other very well.”

“We’ve been trapped in here for a while now. I think I might know you better than you think.” Her voice was breathy and she hated herself for it, but she couldn’t deny the nervous excitement surging through her. He could kill her so easily, but she didn’t think he would. He could though.

She’d never realized this was something that did it for her but as Jagged leaned in and brushed his nose against the sensitive skin just below her ear, Nathalie felt like she might explode from anticipation.

“I can drink from your wrist, love,” he replied, voice muffled against her skin, “but might damage the tendons. Your neck would be better.”

“I…wherever you think is best.”

He kissed the soft skin he found there. “I have ideas of what is best, pet, but we’ll save those for another time.”

She shook slightly as he wrapped himself around her like a snake getting ready to strangle its prey. “Is it going to hurt?” she whispered, tilting her head to allow him more access to her neck.

“In the best way,” he promised before he pressed his lips to her throat.

___

Gabriel’s stomach rumbled as he made his way through the dimly lit cabin, the first signs of morning trickling through the windows. He stopped in the kitchen and took in the three cans of unidentifiable mush they had left and sighed heavily as he kept moving past. His instincts were crying out to eat whatever was in the cans, contents be damned, but he needed to be smart. It was all the food he and Nathalie had left and while it was possible he could live off her life energy if he was willing to use that part of himself, she had no other outlet. He wasn’t going to let her starve. He could last a while longer. 

He frowned when he found her bedroom door open and the bed empty. He’d already made his way through all the common rooms and she’d been nowhere to be found. Jagged’s closed door stood like a monolith at the end of the hall. If she was in there, things had possibly gone from bad to worse.

He went back to his room and shifted the mattress to retrieve the wooden stake he’d carved late one night. He slid it into the deep pocket of his robe and returned to Jagged’s door. He took in a steadying breath and pushed it open without a greeting.

“Took you long enough to work up the courage, mate.” Jagged grabbed a shirt from the edge of the bed and pulled it on in a languid manner. He glanced back at his bed where Nathalie was curled on her side, the blankets up over her shoulder. “Don’t worry. She’s just sleeping. Our little wolf is fine.”

Gabriel felt a prickling irritation at Jagged’s possessive words and his hand dipped into his pocket, fingers closing around the stake. “Why is she in here?”

Jagged flashed him a fanged grin. “That not obvious to you, Gabe?”

“Ah, I...I didn’t realize you two were having relations.”

“Relations.” The vampire laughed. “Is that what the kids are calling it these days? She was giving me a bit of blood, that’s all. Not to say I’m not hoping for more later.” He curled his tongue behind his teeth. “And I don’t mean blood.”

Gabriel clenched his jaw. “If you hurt her--”

Jagged’s expression became serious and he shook his head. “I wouldn’t, pet. Can promise you that.” He eyed the other man. “You planning on killing me?”

He blinked and followed the vampire’s gaze down to the stake in his hand. He hadn’t realized he’d lifted it from his pocket. He cleared his throat and returned it to its hiding place. “Not at the moment, I suppose.”

“Good to know you’re prepared and all.”

“Some of us don’t come with our weapons in our mouths.”

Jagged studied him. “But you do, if you’re willing.”

Gabriel turned and walked out of the room without another word.

___

“Gabriel’s angry with me,” Nathalie whispered, curling against Jagged’s side. “He hardly speaks to me, and if he does, it’s in that clipped tone he uses on people he doesn’t like.”

“He’s just adjusting, love. He doesn’t have to be the odd man out, but he’s full of all that pride. Enough to choke a man like him.” Jagged tightened his arm around her. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired. I’m always so tired now.” She closed her eyes and snuggled closer to him. “I’ve been losing track of days.”

“Not much to lose track up, pet. Same beginning and end.”

She hummed low in her throat but the sound extended into a painful whimper.

Jagged shifted enough to look down at her. “Nathalie, love? You okay?”

“Fuck,” she swore in an agonized tone. “Run. Please run.” She screamed as her body bowed away from him. Sickening cracking sounds filled the room and she convulsed, ripping at the sheets.

The vampire fell out of the bed as he pushed himself away and the bedroom door flew open. 

“Get out of here before she kills you, you idiot,” Gabriel yelled, yanking on Jagged’s arm as soon as the other man was in reach. He slammed the door closed and guided Jagged down the hall at a half-run, pulling him into his bedroom.

“Help me move the wardrobe in front of the door,” Gabriel yelled, shoving his shoulder against the piece of heavy wooden furniture. Jagged joined him and they barricaded the door just as it shook on its hinges and a low rumbling growl sounded on the other side. “The bed too, hurry.”

They grunted as they moved the furniture in the room to the door and all the walls shook with the anger of the werewolf on the other side.

“Bloody hell, that happened fast.” Jagged yanked the other man’s arm hard, pulling him into the connected bathroom and slamming the door behind them. He turned the lock for all the good it would do and sank down to the floor to brace his feet against the wood. “She was just talking and then…” He shook his head. “I’ve seen weres change before but never like that. Has it always been that way for her?”

Gabriel sank down to the floor as well and dropped his head to his hands. “It’s never been that fast for her before. She usually can feel it coming and locks herself away in the basement at home. I suppose with the storm and the days melting together, it caught her off guard. I was trying to keep track of the moon though, to be safe.”

“You’re a smarter man than I am then.”

“That was never in question.”

Jagged nodded thoughtfully. “What’s she do at home? Surely she doesn’t just rampage.”

“I built her an isolation chamber and made it as comfortable as I could for her. It’s so painful to hear but she insists we stay away. It took months to convince her to stay at my home during her changes instead of letting her useless pack look after her.”

“They let her kill?” Jagged asked.

“A couple walking home,” he nodded. “Her sponsor ran off and Nathalie’s wolf murdered them right outside their house.”

“Fuck.”

“She was inconsolable for weeks. Tried to turn herself in to the police.”

“Guessing you’re the only reason she didn’t.”

Gabriel pursed his lips. “I used what leverage I could. She’s fond of my son and I told her she was the only one I trusted to help keep him safe. She didn’t want his blood on her hands as well.”

“Dirty. Didn’t know you had it in you,” Jagged smirked. The wolf howled from the hallway and he shuddered. “She’s really gone like this, huh?”  

“I know some keep their consciousness when they shift but she becomes a beast.” Gabriel shook his head. “She hates that part of herself. I’d like to kill the animal who did this to her.”

“Perhaps that’s why you two get along so well. Know what it’s like to deny a part of what you are.”

“Didn’t stop her from running to your open arms, did it?” The other man closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. “She deserves better than either of us.”

“Probably.”

The wolf howled again and there was a painful splintering sound.

“But maybe we’re all exactly what we deserve,” Jagged argued. He turned his head to look at Gabriel, his hair catching on the knob of the cabinet at his back. “You think whoever has been causing this storm somehow caused her to transform so violently?”

“I suppose it’s possible.” He clenched his jaw. “She’s been terrified of this happening while we were trapped here. I’m going to kill whoever’s done this.”

“If they don’t kill us first,” Jagged sighed. He looked over the angst-ridden man across from him. “You love her, don’t you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gabriel snapped.

“I can see how you would. She’s easy to fall for. Smart, sexy, incredibly badass. I think I’m in love with her.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Course I am.” Jagged eyed him. “You got a problem with that?”

“Wouldn’t matter if I did, I suppose.”

“I think she loves you. She worries about you constantly.”

Gabriel’s expression smoothed into blankness. “She’s my assistant. I suppose it’s her job to worry after me.”

“That’s a load of shit and you know it.”

“I had my chance at love and it was amazing and wonderful and I’ll never have that again. You and Nathalie suit each other. Perhaps you’d even be good for her.”

“It must be the starvation causing you to admit something so ludicrous,” Jagged replied in amusement. “And as someone who has the potential to exist forever, I don’t believe in only one love per life, mate. Don’t think you should either.”

Neither one of them spoke again as the night wore on and the rampaging wreckage of the cabin around them finally quieted as the sun rose once more.

Buy me a cherry coke?

[mrneighbourlove]

Evil’s Bane: Ch 6. Yield to Damnation

The village had a little more excitement as the sun set. Outsiders were a commodity here, and another Mortuus from outside who wasn’t mad was a treat. Kenshi sat with Black and Leere, recounting a tale of woe. “My daughter loved to wear a red coat, exploring the forest outside the village. There used to be no real danger. She knew what to do when she saw an animal, so I assumed we’d always be safe, if not imprisoned here. I still don’t know if she’s dead or not.”

Bonegrinder had opted to avoid the villagers for the most part. He had told Black and Leere in very clear tones that the Mortuus were not happy about an Echidnan being here. So, he had chosen a comfy tree to rest for the evening until hell break loose. Black, on the other hand, had been instructed not to leave Leere's side. He listened to Kenshi's story but had no words of comfort.

Leere nodded, as her brain was trying to figure out if she liked the villages ale or not. “That’s terrible Kenshi. Maybe we can find her?” Outside, Bi-Hanzo stomped up to the tree with a group a robed Mortuus. “We request your presence.”

When Bi-Hanzo approached with other Mortuus, Black stood as well as Leere. He still said nothing, just ready to follow the princess. Though, he was still apprehensive in this place. He felt the danger, sensed it.

Leere looked to the window, curious what the Mortuus wanted with Bonegrinder.

"Why?" Bonegrinder did not budge from his tree. "This Anagari figured you would not wish for a 'cowardly' Echidnan to grace your presence."

“You are cowardly, God of Life.”

Leere tensed next to Black. Bi-Hanzo’s tone wasn’t friendly. This could easily turn into a powder keg.

"God of Life?" Bonegrinder actually snickered. "Try again. Let's see, the Lorleidians know him as 'Ba'puu' and his counterpart as 'Zarazu'... what do you call him?"

“We call you Proxamus, Creator to the brother Destroyer.”

"What makes you so sure this snake is who you believe him to be?" Bonegrinder snorted. "After all, an Echidnan couldn't possibly be the host of your beloved deity."

“We are certain. Now you will join us for council. Or we can take you by force.”

"Oh?" Bonegrinder turned to face the group with a leering smile of jagged teeth. "You can try. Please do so. Give him a reason to rip your kind to shreds. He will revel in it."

"Don't tempt him." Black finally spoke, standing in front of Bi-Hanzo. "You do not know what he's capable of."

“You do not know what I am capable of.”

Leere ran out, hating how quick Black almost teleported he was so sneaky. “We don’t want to fight.”

“We don’t want a god who has failed their duties.”

"Failed?" Black repeated, casting a glance at Bonegrinder and then Leere. "What do they mean?"

"Oh yes, do so elaborate." Bonegrinder flicked his tail. "Let this snake guess... Prama did not bow to your every little request so you're pissed at him."

“There has only been one request Prama. To liberate us from our hell.”

Leere stood her ground, not wanting a god to break Bonegrinder’s mind because the snake couldn’t hold it together. “Bi-Hanzo. I’m certain that the one you call Destroyah is the architect of your most recent suffering. Why target Proxamus, even if the god were here?”

"They're looking for someone to blame, tiny princess, so they point their fingers at the monster." Bonegrinder was growing so very tired of this prattle. "Go away. You know nothing."

“We know a god lies trapped in a snake.” Bi-Hanzo ordered the town cultists to surround the tree. With necromantic energy, they focused a pentagram around the tree. “Don’t move. Release the god in you willingly, or suffer.”

"... you think you can take on old Bonegrinder with that pitiful magic?" Bonegrinder... laughed. And Black knew when the snake had that mocking laugh that shit was about to go down. Placing his hand on Leere's shoulder, he morphed them away from the tree, reappearing in the shadows in the clearing. "Don't you know that while he may host Prama, that doesn't mean his magic is limited to just light. Oh, no, no, disgraceful ones, you see, Bonegrinder is a shaman. And where he hails from, a shaman studies all forms of magic." He raised his hands with palms upturned then slammed them down on the tree. "Mother of the Monsters abhors necromancy, but you think Bonegrinder didn't take the chance to learn his enemy's magic to use it against them? So yes, yes, he learned... even this one."

The undead rose from the earth, much like what Leere had summoned before, except more so... malicious. Pieces of the undead stitched together from creatures and people ceased a thousand years ago. The Anagari was enraged at their accusations. These fools knew nothing of his torment and suffering. They knew nothing of Prama's shattered memories and his broken mind. No, they deserved to suffer. "He'll ask once again... do you really want to challenge him?"

"... fuck." Black rarely cursed and was rather eloquent with his words at time, but this was alarming. "He's snapped."

“I do.” Bi-Hanzo raised his hand. With a squeeze of his fist, he pulled back his arm. Every undead’s head popped like a balloon as the air was sucked into their ears and mouth, an explosion of icicles pultruding from its neck. Leere was amazed how much mastery he had over necromancy; that even if one couldn’t control undead, they knew how to quickly dismantle them. What surprised her most, however, was a different magic. When one undead drew too close, Bi-Hanzo held a hand out to grab its head, and the moment his palm made contact, the undead turned sizzled, steam burning the monster into a mushy mess of flesh.

"Childish trick, for sure. You think this is all Bonegrinder knows? Hrm... well, he did give you a warning." The Anagari used his finger to cut through the space and suddenly disappeared into a portal. It was several moments before he reappeared, this time, behind Bi-Hanzo. Holding the man up by his throat, he dug his claws into the man's skin. "Let's see how long this snake has to squeeze before your head goes 'pop'."

Bi-Hanzo took a breath and his body turned into mist, escaping Bonegrinder’s grasp. Solidifying again, he threw a hand forward, freezing Bonegrinder’s lower half to the ground. “Paralyze him.”

As other cultists readied a spell again, Leere lashed out, using shadows to trip them up. “Enough! I agreed to help you! You’re attacking the wrong side.”

“We know that the god hides within.” Lady Jackalen hobbled down on a walking stick. “I will speak to my god! Not a wretched snake.”

The spell was a nuisance he could easily wave away with his magic. Yet, if he used too much, the Anagari would risk drawing attention. Before he traveled here, Prama had warned him against using his full power. It could draw more creatures, or worse, if Destroyer was here, he might appear before them. Lifting the spell, Bonegrinder pivoted on his upper half and slammed his tail into the ring of cultists by spinning. True, he knew magic, but also how to fight dirty. Squeezing his coils around the old hag, he threatened, "Tell them to piss off or you're mush."

“Bonegrinder, holy Din, stop! Listen, you aren’t going to kill any of them. And none of you are going to get to talk to your god. Least not here.”

Bi-Hanzo raised his brow. “Here?”

“I can give you another promise. You can learn the truth in Hyrule, outside of Malus.”

"None will speak to him if Bonegrinder has anything to say about it." The Anagari hissed. "This was a mistake, Leere. He warned you of what resided here and now look. These fools want to speak to Prama, to a god they claimed failed them. And for what purpose? Prama barely recalls creating this earth. He had to relearn; he even knew not of the damn prophecy. Worst of all, he's trapped in this snake!" Bonegrinder was severely agitated and it was really starting to show. "His soul, Bonegrinder's soul, two minds, one body, this is torment!!! And these filthy, child murdering cultists want to speak to him?! Beg them to save him?! Let them all fucking rot! They slaughtered Echidnans and we did nothing to them!!!"

"Master, let's just go back to the underground." Black had to do something or the snake was going to have another episode like he did in Omisha. He had heard all the details from Blue and White. The last thing he wanted was for Bonegrinder to sleep for days on end in this hellish place. "We'll go back through the portal and forget about this day."

Leere felt her heart race with adrenaline at trying to get through the snake’s dense skull. “Bonegrinder. Not every one of these people deserve to die. You can’t paint one colour for an entire race of people!” The sun set, with the sound of an owl muttering in the distance.

"Oh, he cannot, can he?" Bonegrinder sneered. "Isn't that what they have done to his race? Hypocritical, tiny princess, is what he says. Shall he slaughter the adults and save the children? Perhaps he should just have them throw at his tail the ones responsible for hurting his people. Tell him, Leere, tell him, for he'd really like to know just how he is supposed to act when this race is responsible for the death of so many."

"Don't make him target you," Black whispered to Leere under his breath. "He's starting to grow unstable."

“You’re an egomaniac drug kingpin who profits off the suffering of others, don’t you dare think yourself any better. You’re overly sarcastic and rude to everyone you meet. It’s like you enjoy scaring people. Having met other Echidnans I know you’re one of the few, no, the only one who acts upon negative impulses on a whim.” Leere ignored Black, pointing to the houses people stared out at. “Look at their faces. Look at them! You inspire fear! They’re just people Bonegrinder! The Gerudo have just people. The Echidnans have just people. And the Mortuus can be just people.”

"... did he scare you, tiny princess? All those years ago when he found you wandering his tunnels?" Bonegrinder grinded his teeth together, dropping the old hag. "He was kind to you because he could smell it on you. You are innocent of the crimes which were thrust upon you. The magic engraved into your very skin could call forth Chaos itself and he knew that you should have died but he wanted you alive and well because you deserved a chance. You were a child. These people would have wanted you dead." The Anagari snarled. "He likes to scare people, Leere. He wants those who would use drugs, hurt others, or even dare to sell their own kin to a brothel to suffer. He lurks in the darkness to inspire fear and it has served him so very well." He had almost a maniacal laugh. "Would you like to know why Prama didn't stop him? Why he has continued all these years to persist after you and your family? Perhaps he should even tell you of your little niece's upcoming fate if she is to be the host of Kaksa? Hrm? Or will you listen to him for once and not seek out such heartbreaking answers? No? You never listened to him when he warned you not to seek answers from this country. It's in the prophecy, tiny princess." He spoke, "Don't ever laugh as death passes you by, for you might be the next to die. The grim reaper walks beside of thee, she comes for all, for you and me. Darkness and shadows bring nothing but dread, two can keep a secret if one is dead."

“Fear. You wield it like a drug. It consumes you. I should have never met you if that’s how you really think you can change the world.”

"If he was a true 'monster' like these bastards believe, then he would have scared you before he ate---"

Before the air could be still with tension, it exploded with the arrival of a new danger. Something had risen from the lake, running with a sprint. Sixty tiny eyes of vision lead it through the forest, past bushes, scaring a group of fairies, down a path, and into the clearing of the village. A giant bipedal creature broke the argument, grabbing a cultist by the head, and running back into the darkness of the forest. More ran out of the dark, drooling pincers cackling together as they ran towards more prey. Leere immediately drew a scythe, slashing ones head off. Bi-Hanzo blasted a body away, encasing it in ice. “Something new! Villagers, disperse and hide!”

The argument was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the creatures. Bonegrinder groaned aloud, and looked more so annoyed than he did disturbed. "Black. Keep an eye on the bratty princess." The Anagari used his long body to crush, squeeze, and maim several of the fiends. He was an efficient fighter despite being so large.

What made the creatures unique was what their bodies did after being crushed or dismenbered. Oozing slime, they instantly started to regenerate.

"... Bonegrinder? What are these things?" Black had already taken down as many as his master, but was not expecting the enemy to rise once more.

"Creations of Destroyer or Chaos one, he cannot remember." Bonegrinder then summoned a searing hot flame in the palm of his hand. "Burn them."

Bi-Hanzo froze one whole, shattering it into fragments with a kick. “No! They might still form again from ash. Freeze their movements to a stand still.”

Leere didn’t have any ice to use, and it didn’t seem any other Mortuus did either. A scream next to her rang out, and from the corner of her eye she saw Lady Jackalen being swooped up by a bug with wings. It had a straw like appendage on its face, and quickly jabbed it into her head. Leere winced as she watched the woman be drained into a husk. One of the fly creatures came silently for Black from behind. Throwing her knife, she hit it right in the eye, causing it to veer off course.

"Good eye, princess." Black commented as he spun her around and used her feet to whack another demon away from him.

"For the love of Mother..." Bonegrinder cursed under his breath. This situation was not good. There were only a handful of these useless bastards that could use magic. Maybe if he used it, just this once to keep Black and Leere safe... then he'd teleport them out of this hell. Hades was still alive. He could feel it with the magic in his scale that the Lynel consumed. The Anagari could seek him out later. "Don't move." The snake instructed as he placed his hands on the ground. Slowly, the dirt started to turn to quicksand around those fiends, trapping them. One by one, the demons were frozen... and stopped. For now. Turning his attention to Leere and Black, he stated, holding no room for objection. "We are leaving."

“Not without the rest of these people.” Leere didn’t falter, still looking around for more threats ready to spring from the darkness. Worse case was they were still surrounded, and she always prepared for the worst case.

"Either you come willingly or he will drag you with him, princess, don't make him act on it." Black warned Leere. "Besides, he cannot transport all these people through a portal. That kind of magic would drain him. He'd be lucky to take a few at most."

“Then he can use my reserve as well to tap into. I won’t doom these people to damnation.”

"You do recall what happened the last time you gave Bonegrinder some of your magic." Black quirked an eyebrow at the girl. "He was drunk off his scaled tail for a full day."

"These people are already damned." Bonegrinder snorted as the rest of the village went quiet. "They want Prama to come and save them. Don't they realize that their deity can hardly remember who he was? Who Kaksa was? His own brother? He could barely recall some of his creations. He cannot hear prayers or whispers while he is trapped. And yet, they have the gall to call him a coward when he's suffered so." He growled. "This old snake may not like his predicament with Prama, but he does know that this hell isn't Prama's fault."

“Then be the bigger person and help then regardless of what wrongs they did to you! That’s what a hero would do!”

"Hero? Hero?!?! You want to know what being a hero for these bastards all those years ago earned him, Leere?!" Bonegrinder's voice was so loud, it pierced throughout the entire village. "Mother went soft! She asked us to try to save a few of the 'good' Mortuus, just like you want to do! It was a mistake! One that was erased from the history books so we would never again try something so foolish!!!" He slithered closer. Then closer, towering over Leere. "So, good Modoc, wanting to please Mother, be honorable, and try to set an example for our future generations went to save who he could. He opened up his home, kept them safe, kept them warm... and when the monsters came after them?" He hissed. "Ask him, Leere. Ask him what those bastards did."

"Bonegrinder, now is not the time---"

"Shut. Up. Black."

“Your family was killed.” Leere wasn’t even phased. “Because you were tricked. Because your enemies were clever to disguise themselves, right? That why you don’t like letting people you can’t outright control close anymore, right?”

"They had a choice whether to fight with the enemy to slaughter us, or die with us." The Anagari scoffed. "So those who were 'good' turned on the very Echidnans who saved them. And they... they were... slaughtered, Leere. And they were innocents. Much like you."

As the argument was boiling, Jang was checking on the body of Lady Jackalen. Many didn’t like the churches leader when it came to killing those she deemed ‘doomed to sin’, but her wisdom had kept them whole for generations. As he sighed at the loss of life, he glanced down at a movement. Was she alive? How with that ghastly wound?

Peering closer to listen to a heartbeat, Jang’s head exploded with the old woman’s chest when a giant tree stalk of flesh shot upwards into the air. A snarling new version of Lady Jackalen snarled downwards at them. With the mimicry of a pained human scream, leeches shot outwards from its body towards hungry prey to feast on.

Leere couldn’t believe the anomaly she saw as she backed away from the flesh eaters.

Bonegrinder took notice of the infection of demonic energy on the old hag's body. It seemed Destroyer or Chaos one had been busy. This was rather new design. Perhaps he was changing his fiends. Usually, he was more concerned with ripping something apart entirely, not causing slow torment. It hardly bothered the snake. "Fleshlings."

Kenshi ran forward and hacked at every leech that lunged at him, furious his best friend was slain. “JANG!!!”

Bi-Hanzo was ready to freeze the monstrosity apart, when the flesh creature uprooted itself from its just host body. Sickening slender spider legs allowed it to move about. It’s first direction was to flee the village. The village protector scowled behind his mask, his eyes visible with fury, “After it! It must not be allowed to escape this realm alive!”

Following Bi-Hanzo and Kenshi, Leere sliced another leech in half with her scythe, running into the dark forest with them.

"... why does she always run headfirst into danger?" Bonegrinder groaned, watching as Black chased after her. He started to do so himself when he felt it. Sensed it. Every scale on his body twitched. Destroyer... his brother... was very, very close.

The group ran through the dark scenery. Finally, they reached the lake they first met Kenshi and Jang. There, the fleshy abomination was trying to submerge itself in the water. Bi-Hanzo dipped his hand in, freezing the water around it. “Kill it!”

The mimicry of Jackalen bloated it’s flesh up. At a critical mass it barfed a putrid acid, attempting to burn its attackers.

Black managed to yank Kenshi back before the acid burned the fool. Decapitating the creature, Black then resumed his place beside of Leere. He shook the guts off his sword before sheathing it. The Wraith looked unnerved. "I stand by Bonegrinder. We need to go---"

"LEERE!!!!" The Anagari had zoomed through the woods at top speed, and he wore an absolute panicked expression. "KALAKUTA!!!"

Now that got Black's attention. Bonegrinder hardly ever used his given name. This was serious. "What is he yelling about---"

"HE'S HERE!!!"

As Black hopped up to slice the head off, Leere used her blade to cut the body in half, causing it to crash backwards like a falling tree. The husk of Jackalen melted in a smelly goop of flesh into the lake. Leere turned to Bonegrinder, he adrenaline still running from the fight. “Who’s here?!”

This quest would only bring one nightmare after the other. From the lake, the water erupted in a fierce explosion, splashing everywhere. A black shape kept moving upwards, upwards and upwards. Finally, the shape arched forward. The body of a massive serpent shook its titanic head. With sunken eye holes, it looked down at the group of five. Kenshi dropped his sword, put into shock by the sight. “What in oblivion.”

"GET DOWN!!!" Bonegrinder saw the serpent looming over the group, the jaws wide. He could make it, just a little more! He had to be faster. Stretching out his long body, he managed to wrap around Black and Leere... before the serpent striked.

The son of the Destroyer opened wider. Suddenly, the air downwards started to inhale inwards. A second later, every body, leaf and living person was being sucked upwards into its mouth with the force of a tornado. Leere reached out to Bonegrinder, light as a feather as they were reaching their destination of doom. “Bonegrinder!!!”

Black flailed as he was nearly ripped away from his master, but held on tightly to his coils with one arm. He managed to sling his belt around the huge snake as a way to increase his grip. Leere, however, was barely holding on by her finger tips. The Anagari managed to grab her, slamming her into his chest and then coiled in on himself, covering Black and Leere with his body.

Bi-Hanzo and Kenshi flew up with them. When they reached the throat, all three Mortuus screamed as the jaws of the serpent closed. With that, darkness enveloped them, swallowing them whole.

________________________________________________________________

Previous Ch. https://mrneighbourlove.tumblr.com/post/626093697379008512/evils-bane-ch-5-belief-scattered

Next Ch. https://mrneighbourlove.tumblr.com/post/626094887593443328/evils-bane-ch-7-entering-the-tower

[handmadecp]

Leather Journal / sketchbook cover...Finished.

Finally done, what a great little project. I used a 2.5 - 3 mm Veg Tan Leather, I want to make a cover for books of this size shown. It’s an average school sized exercise book. ( to give an idea of size.)

I covered the exercise book in cellophane to keep it dry, then wet the leather enough to bend it easily, I used a rolling pin to gently give me the bend, I didn’t press too hard as I don’t need to make it permanent just yet, just to see where it is so I can see where to put things as I go along such as he pattern for the design, if I know where the bend is..or the ‘spine’ then I can adjust the drawing until it is where I want it.

I used a method I’ve used before, a lot of people who make these use a lot of ‘Maths’ ( ‘Math’ if you’re American lol). I don’t use Mathematics as my brain turns to mush at the mention of it, I just use a thumb and press the leather around the book being covered, this gives an outline, from that I can see how much room I need for stitch lines or the edging design and the final edge of the cover. and it’s well away from the actual book. I then marked along the edge as seen here and cut it.

Next I wanted a design, so I went back to my Giant book of designs as shown here and using ordinary tracing paper I drew the design. Here it’s much larger than I can use but I want to carve the Heck out of this cover because I enjoy it so much, it takes a while to do but the end result...I hope you will agree...is totally worth the time and effort.

I use decoraters paper tape shown here to hold the paper in place...this tape doesnt harm the paper the table or the leather so is ideal...and the rolls are mega cheap.

I wet the leather ..as I’ve explained in other projects..just enough to take the imprint...not enough to soak the tracing paper. I then use a Metal ball point stylus as seen here to go over the picture taking it slow and easy as you can easily miss a bit. or go over lines twice ..which can leave a messy picture. I used to use a pen so I could see where I had already been, which is ok..as long as you don’t go through the paper because it’s tough to get off the leather and lead is even worse so don’t use a pencil. the lead already on the picture is ok as long as it doesn’t go through. I’ve never had an issue as I don’t push that hard...you have been warned lol. This is step one of putting ‘life’ into a boring piece of old leather.

So I make the outline so I can see where it is, mark the edge as stated earlier...

....and cut, simples.

I want there to be enough room to carry a couple of extra thinner books or a book thicker than the one I’m using so I put in 3 books and mark again.

If you enlarge this picture and zoom in you can see the outline I’ve traced ready to cut. Step two of breathing ‘life’ into it.

Here I’ve started the carving of the design into the leather, you shouldn’t get too wrapped up in any minor things like lines cut that miss the drawn line  or you cut a bit wonky as these can all be sorted as the process goes along. I love seing the picture start to come alive, this is step three.

‘

Earlier I rolled the spine bend gently so that I could just see where to lay the design along it, but also to be able to flatten the leather to carve on it.

People who know a lot more than me always recommend that you tape the back of your piece before Tooling as the act of hammering on it will stretch the leather and throw things out of alignement, it may still move slighty but not as much as it would without it.

almost done with the carving.

I’m keeping the excess on the top and bottom untill I have tooled the designs and stamped the edges.

Here the carving is finished.

Here I have re-wet the leather, waited until it is almost back to it’s normal color then used a nice stamp to make the edge design shown here.

Really taking shape now, once the tooling and detailing begins you will start seeing the leather take on a new life, from a hide that looked plain and seemingly no function, to a whole new existence as a beautiful work of art.

Notice the areas already beveled along the dges of the design lines, how they stand out even more now compared to those not yet done.

You see a white glove here, I wear a white glove on big projects because my nails can scrape along the leather and leave tiny gauge marks that won’t come off, this helps prevent that adding a tiny detail that no one but us will ever know happened. Also notice the ‘shot’ bag I use as a weight to prevent the leather wandering whilst I’m tooling.

The section to hold the Book inplace is next for the treatment, I wet it, then using dividers I scored a couple of lines ready to take the edge stamp.

The edge stamping is completed and looks great, note the tape on the back.

Now I decided on mine to decorate the heck out of this piece too. First I made a name tag.

Then I used one of my design tool stamps and being ‘creative’ used it to make a cross picture shown here.

I used the earlier drawing to transfer some flowers and leaves, carved the lines and started tooling.

Bevelling done. detailing will come later.

Here the beveling of the out lines is complete. ready for the back ground.

Here the back ground is filled in using a backgrounder ‘stipling’ tool.

You can see here I’ve started to add the detailing. Every step taking me closer to that finish line and nearer to it’s new life as a stunning to look at and very tactile book cover.

The edges have been cut off by now as once the edge stamp was added they weren’t needed because any stitch lines will be inside that area. note the extra detailing now making leaves come alive ( so to speak ).

All pieces done, detailing finished, ready to dye this baby.

Scary stuff dying with a new color, I haven’t used the Walnut color before and even though I did a tester piece you can never really tell how it will act on the main pieces...but I needn’t have worried.

Got off to a great start..

 and..wow..it came out amazing, the fiebings oil dye did a great job, after adding a coat of dark Brown antique gel and wiping the excess off itlooks like a piece of old antique wooden furniture...which is exactly the look I’m after.

Did I mention earlier I added this decorative stamp to the edge ?? can’t remember.

So good I’m showing it twice hahahahaha.

Here I;m glueing the small ‘card’ slot piece onto the ‘slip’ I then puched stitch holes using a 4mm Stitch iron.

Using a Cobblers hammer to help the glue take hold by light ‘tamping’.

Once glued I used a saddle stitch to attech it more permanently...this bad boy ‘aint going nowhere lol. Again..notice I carried on the edge stamp design.

On the inside edges I used my ‘Craft tool Pro  Edge ‘Rougher’ which works a treat getting it ready to glue in place prior to stitching.

All glued up and readty to stick together with 528 Glue by Evo Stick which I use all the time for most things.

I quickly cut dyed burnished and fitted a small strap to act as a closure with a Line 27 snap stud.

Here you see the strap fitted  to the main body using antique double cap rivets.

After tooling and ding and finishing the inner sleeve I stuck it in place with 528 and added the 4mm stitch holes where needed.

Adding the stitch holes using the 4mm stitch Iron.

Saddle stitching was used on each section to give a stronger hold.

And here we have the final finished Book cover. I think it looks amazing, the Walnut oil dye came out amazing.

The back of the cover. Once done I coated the whole thing in resolene to ‘fix’ the dye, the I added some ‘Effax’ Balm and buffed it to give some water resistance (note I said resistance not ‘proof’. ) then I buffed it up to a nice shine.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the latest project. I think it came out well. if you’d like to own it you can buy it from my Etsy store (HandmadeCP) from tomorrow. I hope I’ve convinced some of you to have a go at these book covers or any of the projects in my archive. Thanks to everyone who follows my little projects I appreciate it. till the next one take care and stay Crafty. Watch this space.

[grandtheftstarship]

Painted Roses (Barista!Jim Kirk x Artist!Fem!Reader) [Request!]

“So, Jim is a barista in a coffe shop /he could be the owner too, but it's not that important / and the reader always goes there but she never drinks coffee just hot chocolate or sometimes tea. She's an artist and she always goes there and sits there for hours just drawing people in her sketchbook. Sometimes she's all covered in paint. /continuing/... And she somehow caught Jims attention and one time she forgets about time and sits there all day, Jim brings her refills time to time maybe some desserts to eat because she kinda forgots... Until Jim tells them that it's closing time, but they start a conversation an they sit there for a litte while longer... ||Sorry for the long ask, if you don't want to do it, it's fine, still love ya! 💕 Have a nice day ❤️” - @rh-girlonfire

I love this request SOOOOOOOOOO much!!! Mainly because I like to think of myself of an artist :) I can never get enough of coffee shop AUs! Please enjoy :) Love you too ❤︎

Also THANK YOU ALL FOR FOLLOWING ME!!! I just reached 100 and even though it’s a small milestone it still means a lot to me :) Thank you all for supporting me and what I love to do! Love you all ❤︎

P.S- I just wanted to let you all know that I see it when you guys comment and reblog! I just can’t respond because this is a secondary blog, so it won’t come up as me :( Just know that I see you, and I appreciate you!!! Every time someone comments or reblogs it makes me so happy :) Did I mention that I love y’all?

Word Count: 2157 Warnings: mega fluff, I’m pretty sure this is my favorite thing I’ve ever written ever, swearing, keep a lookout for the Office reference ;)

Take a shot every time I use the word sometimes lol

You didn’t know when you first started coming to the quaint little coffee shop on the corner of your block, and you didn’t know when you started making a habit out of it. Once or twice a month turned into several times a week, and then suddenly you were there for several hours a day to work on your projects. You found the atmosphere warm and inviting, as opposed to your cramped apartment down the street that you could barely afford.

 Yes, you were a starving artist. But that didn’t make your art any less meaningful. Ever since the first day you had been coming, you had your table. It was the smaller booth in the corner by one of the large windows overlooking the park and the busy street. It was also dotted with paint marks, but the owner didn’t seem to mind. 

It was the barista, though, that caught your eye. Every single day, he was there ready with one of your usuals. You never drank coffee, it was usually tea or hot chocolate. He usually chose for you, but you didn’t mind. Whatever he made tasted delicious. You always ordered ‘for here’, enjoying the cute, white mugs with the pretty art he made with the cream in your hot chocolate or with the honey in your tea. It was different every day, sometimes a flower, or a cute face, and one time he made an elaborate heart with swirls and sprinkles which made you blush as you thanked him. 

On days you were really working hard, you were there from opening to closing now and again, he would bring you refills and sometimes small deserts. You would pull your headphones back and thank him, smiling as he would rub the back of his neck, bashful. You thought it was cute.

In fact, you thought he was cute all the time. On days you weren’t really working on big pieces you would just pull out your sketchbook and draw the people around you, but mainly it was him, dressed in his black apron and a collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. You would draw him from various angles; walking with the serving platters filling both his hands, smiling at a customer, washing things in the sink: rough sketches of him filled many pages in your book. 

Other days, you would decide to paint outside in the park in the morning to get practice with realistic nature, get covered in paint, and then head over to the coffee shop for your afternoon drink. It was on these days that you felt the most insecure since you were in your painting overalls and your old vintage Queen T-shirt underneath and you were covered in various colors and stages of dried paint. There was even paint in your hair or on your face sometimes, and the barista (who, after you finally took notice of his nametag, was named Jim) would kindly point it out to you. You would get red in the face and frantically try to wipe it off, getting more paint on your already paint-splattered hands; it was all just a mess. 

Today was not one of those days, though; today you were working in your sketchbook, doodling and working on drawing people. You came in early, some twenty minutes after they had opened. Jim was there as you walked in, beaming as you walked up to the counter. 

“Hey,” he greeted, pushing a mug full of steaming cocoa up to you. 

You peeled your headphones back to rest on your neck as you pulled out some wrinkled dollar bills. You frowned. You didn’t realize how low you had been getting on money and you knew exactly where it had all been going. Nevertheless, you put a smile on your face and slid the money across the counter to him. 

“Hey,” you returned the hello, lifting the mug from the counter. “What’s my drink of the day today?”

“Well, we just got some new teas in so I thought I fix one up for you,” he replied. “This one is Chamomile Citrus, with three swirls of honey just how you like it.”

You smiled, pink dusting your cheeks. “Thanks, Jim.”

Your blush deepened as his face reddened up at the sound of his name coming from your lips. It was the first time you had ever called him by name, and you felt like he liked it. He did. 

You moved away before he could say anything else, heading over to your table and settling in. You pulled your headphones on and unpacked your backpack, flipping your sketchbook open to the next blank page and getting started. 

                                                    _______________

Jim didn’t know when he first started noticing her. Maybe it was when she first started coming in with paint splattered all over her overalls, maybe it was when he first saw her set out her paints. He didn’t really care, all that mattered was that he noticed her now. 

He had never been so captivated by someone like he was by her, his typical pulled-together demeanor was thrown out the window when she entered the shop and when she smiled all of his insides turned to mush. He didn’t even know her name. 

So, in order to capture her attention, he started writing down her orders for future reference, such as how much whipped cream she liked on her hot cocoa, or how much honey she preferred in her tea. There was one thing he knew for sure; no coffee. 

He figured out that she was pretty lenient when it came to her orders, so he started making them ahead of time. He knew that she would be in almost every day, so he made them when he had a free minute. He even started practicing latte art on other customers’ orders to try and impress her. He felt like she enjoyed it. She did.  

He would never forget the time the flower he meant to do on her hot chocolate one time morphed into a heart that actually looked pretty good so he decided to just go for it. Her face was exactly what he wanted, her cute cheeks turning a soft pink and her thank you coming out a bit quieter. 

He couldn’t deny the fact that he was attracted to her. He had been with plenty of girls, but it was different this time. His palms would get sweaty when he saw her come in and butterflies would spring up in his stomach when she thanked him for whatever thing he had brought her. 

He caught himself staring at her sometimes when hours were slow, noting how her bottom lip got caught in her teeth as she concentrated, and how that one strand of [h/c] hair fell into her eyes every so often and how she would blow it out of her face and keep working. He was mesmerized by it all. The only problem was that he wasn’t exactly sure what to do with those feelings. 

There wasn’t exactly an outlet for him to let them out through and he didn’t want to sleep with other girls, so he kept them in a little jar in the back of his mind. When he lied alone at night in the small apartment above the shop (that the owner, Leonard, had graciously let him stay in), he would let them out and let himself feel in full throttle. Sometimes it was a lot to handle.

He didn’t realize how much he felt for her until she came in only a few minutes after he opened with a large canvas. She didn’t go to the counter right away since her hands were full, so Jim came to her. He set her iced tea on the table out of the way, humming as she thanked him. 

He wiped his sweaty hands on his apron as he walked away, only then understanding what he had gotten himself into.

                                             _______________

You had never been there this long. You barely noticed the time passing as you painted, concentrating hard on the details. You hadn’t even realized that you had started painting the cafe storefront until you started mixing the paint. You decided to just go with it. 

Jim brought you little pastries and refills from time to time, making sure you wouldn’t be disturbed. Even he didn’t disturb you, letting you enjoy your time listening to [your favorite band] and just paint to your little heart’s content.

That was, until closing time rolled around. 

You didn’t know that you had been there for that long until Jim tapped your shoulder and you jumped, like, three feet in the air. 

You yanked back your headphones and smacked him in the arm. 

“You scared me!” you gasped. He chuckled, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

“Sorry, sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you, but...” He waved his arm at the empty floor. 

“Oh...” you sighed in disappointment. You had really wanted to finish your project before the day was over. 

“I mean... if you want to stay I could close up shop and we can talk or something while you finish...?” he asked it like a question and a smile spread across your face at his flustered expression. 

“Sure,” You replied. “You got an aux cord?”

He nodded, leading you behind the counter and letting you plug your phone in and shuffle your playlist. 

“Wanna help me?” he asked, beckoning you over to the counter.

“With what?” you wondered, walking over.

“With the drinks,” he picked up the box of your favorite tea. “Tea sound good?”

You nodded, grinning. He showed you how to mix the two teas together and how he made honey flowers to float on top of the steaming mug before they dissolved into the hot drink. He fixed himself one before shutting off all the lights besides the one above your table and sat in the booth across from you that had gone unused for so long.

Your music played softly in the background as you resumed painting, Jim watching your brush intently. 

You looked up sharply, catching him off guard. “Wanna play A Question Game?”

“A question game?” Jim repeated, bemused.

“Yeah, like where we ask each other random questions to get to know each other better.”

“Is this what you do on all of your first dates?” he smirked. 

“What’s a first date without the basics?” you mirrored his expression. ���You go first.”

“What’s your name?” he questioned.

“[y/n],” you replied, not looking up. “[y/n] [l/n].”

He let your name roll around his mind, liking the feel of it. “Your turn.”

“What’s your last name?” you glanced at him, a smile playing on your lips.

“Kirk,” he responded. “James T. Kirk.”

You looked up quickly. “Your real name is James?”

“What did you think it was?” he chuckled. “Jimothy?”

You laughed, enjoying the reference. Jim’s eyes bore into yours. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh before,” he said, a little quieter. “You should do it more often.”

You sent him a knowing smile. “Next question, Kirk.”

The game went on like that for at least another hour or so, basic questions like favorite colors, birthdays, favorite shows, hometowns, etcetera etcetera. You learned that Jim’s favorite color was purple, his birthday was on March 22, and he was from Rivertown Iowa.

“I think I’m finished,” you said suddenly, wiping your paintbrush off on a paper towel and putting it in the water.

“Oh yeah?” Jim stood. “Let’s see it.”

You propped it up and turned to look at it, pride flooding your senses. 

“Wow,” he breathed. “This is amazing.”

“Thank you,” you said shyly, cleaning up your things and putting them back into your backpack. “Well, I really should be going.”

You started to open your wallet to pay for the food, but Jim stopped you by putting his hand over yours. Heat blew up in your cheeks, as you met his gaze. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, eyes flicking down to the painting. “If you want, you can pay by letting me hang that on the wall.”

You eyes blew open wide. “Seriously? You want my art on your wall?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I really do.”

You stared back into his blue eyes and let him close the distance between you, liking the feeling of his smooth lips against yours. He pulled away first, stomach flipping at the sight of your eyes still closed. They opened slowly and you smiled up at him. 

“Second date?” he asked, leaning his forehead against yours.

You giggled, raising your hand up to boop his nose.

“Mhm,” you hummed, pecking his lips before pulling out of his embrace. You picked up your backpack and slung it over your shoulder, holding your headphones. “See you tomorrow?”

“Same time same place,” he grinned as you smiled and waved as you left, pulling your headphones over your ears and putting your hands in your pockets as you started walking down the street to your apartment. 

Both of you thinking about what a wonderful day you had.

[ironwoman18]

The Worst Third Date Ever part 16

This chapter will have two narrators. One will be from the perspective of the livings and the other from Spencer.

Bolds will be Spencer's narrator.

Normal will be the livings' narrator.

I took this idea from a writer I love. He use different narrators and use different letters. I can't do it here on this page so I will use bold letters to separate them.

Hope you like this one.

A S-Club 7 song said "Have you ever loved and lost somebody, wishing there's a chance to say I'm sorry?"

Chapter 16: Looking for forgiveness.

After JJ's message, Max's mind was not really there with her father. She could not concentrate in the conversation and Don noticed it after some minutes of rambling about things.

"Max? Sweetheart, are you ok?" He touches softly her arm.

"Truthfully, no dad... JJ, Spencer's coworker and best friend, texted me this" she got out her phone and read it "'Hey Max, is JJ. Spence had an accident in a mission. He hit his head pretty hard so please keep an eye on him' now I'm so worry about him" she rubbed her forehead "I have to go to check if he is alright"

"Want me to drive you there?"

"N...no I will be fine, I can do it myself, dad, thank you"

Don could see his daughter was in so much stress and he will not let her go like that "oh no.... Maxine Brenner" she made a face when he used her full name "I will drive you there and help you if something happen to him" she sighed and nodded "now give me the key" she pouted but hand it to him.

"Dad, I'm 37 and you are treating me like a child" she said as they walked to her car.

"Do you think I care Max? You were acting like one so I will treat you like one" they got in the car and he started the car then drove it "he will be alright, he is a strong guy"

"Thank you dad" she was holding back her tears. She had a feeling he was in troubles. She was wishing she was overeating but something tell her she was not.

Spencer walked out of the BAU and into the bullpen. He rubbed his forehead softly. Then he could see Derek, Elle, Hotch and Gideon talking.

He tried to reach them but they disappeared. Then he looked at the other side of the room and there was Garcia. He ran toward her and when he reached her.

"I hit my head and now I'm seeing things" there was not his friend but Section Chief Erin Strauss "Section Chief Strauss?"

"Hello Spencer"

"You're dead" he said looking at her.

She laughed "I am" she said with a smile.

"Does... does that mean that I'm...?"

"No... not necessarily"

"I passed out in my apartment" He remembered scared.

"You have intracranial hemorrhage" she looked at him.

"My brain is shutting down?"

"Parts of it are. Parts of it are struggling to survive"

"Which parts are you?"

"You need help" she led him out to the aisle where the FBI has the pictures of their dead agents.

"What if this is permanent? My mom started out hallucinating" he was looking Strauss picture on the wall. Then turned to her.

"You never displayed any signs of schizophrenia. You know that. This is your journey. Some people see corridors of light, some people see people they love. What you see is up to you"

"You symbolize my guilt, the... dead agents"

"You have to make that decision yourself" she said with a smile then her face turned more somber and serious "you'll be tempted about which way to go" she fixed his tie and put a hand on his chest in a motherly manner "don't be afraid" they both turned to see her picture one more time, when he turned to her, she was gone.

"Six agents blown to pieces" that voice sounded familiar but he couldn't believe it was him. When he turned around he confirmed his worst fears. The reaper was standing right in front of him "damn. You're gonna need a bigger boat. I gotta ask, when they kablam like that, do you have a guy that puts them back together or...? I'm talking to you, doc or it is special agent? Addict? Convict?"

Meanwhile the reaper spoke Spencer could feel his anger growing up "Shut up"

"But I have one more question. How come when I kill people, they're called victims, but when you do it, they're called casualties?" He stood close to him, face to face and continued "dead is dead. Am I right?" Then he turned to the wall and exclaimed "ooh, boy"

Suddenly next to Strauss picture, there was his and he started to laughs in an evil way.

Then the vision moved to the room when they got details of their cases.

While his mind remembered all the details Hotch told them about George Foyet. His body, still on the floor of his apartment, moved his fingers.

He was playing with a pencil as he looked at Foyet "Why are we here? You think this is my hell?"

"Doesn't matter what I think. I'm not in control. This is where you first met me" on the screen behind him appeared a photo of Foyet "Ha. Look at that handsome devil" Spencer turned to look the screen.

"So Strauss was the angel, and you're the devil" Spencer's mind was running analyzing his words.

"I never said that. Just the handsome part"

"Why would I picture you? Hmm? Of all the offenders that..."

"Because I killed that sweet Haley and old Aaron Hotchner was never the same. You got me" memories of everything that happened that day came to him "you know what that means. None of you were. I was the beginning of your end. This Good vs. Evil game is all you know and I'm the best your rattled brain could conjure" while Foyet talked his body on the floor continued moving his fingers.

The traffic was heavy and they had some problems getting to his apartment.

"Damn it..." she whispered as she tried to contact him without lucky.

"Max calm down. Please text your sisters and tell them where we are and also text his coworkers maybe they are closer"

She did it, even with her shaken hands.

When Max and her father arrived to his apartment, both ran upstairs to the apartment twenty-three.

She knocked a few times, and when she could not hear his voice or footsteps, her heart started to beat faster.

"He isn't responding... Oh My God..." she panicked.

"Sweetie calm down... just breathe" she ran her hand into her hair "do you have the key? We can get in"

"N...no yet... he hasn't gave me his apartment key yet" she has tears in her eyes, then she remembered "wait... he has a key under the mat" they both move away and she looked under it to get out the mat and she found it.

Spencer and Foyet walked in his apartment "Well, I hope somebody find you. That big brain's gonna be a blow of mush. What a way to go out, huh?" Foyet looked at him "slow brain bleed. And nobody knows you're here. It's tragic and yet... ironically fitting" Foyet looked at his right and said "Ahh... of course" he looked at the woman sitting on his couch "It was good to see you again, Doc" Foyet patted his shoulder and left. Spencer could not see her face but in his heart he knew he had seemed her.

Her hair was different but he knew who she was as he walked towards her "Maeve, it's you. It's really you"

"It's me" memories of her last minutes came to him.

"Maeve, I'm so sorry" he leaned on his knee and held her hand with tears in his eyes.

"For what?" She asked at him.

"I let you die. I wasn't smart enough or fast enough to save you"

"Stop" they looked in the eyes "do you want to know my deepest darkest secret?"

"Mm-hmm" was all his answer.

"I love nineties rom-drams and rom-coms" they both laughed "the cheesier the better" she laughed more "and my favorite one was about this angel who gave up his immortality because he fell in love with a human. But they only had one day together before she was killed" that made Spencer bite his lip and looked down with tears "I always wondered why that one stuck with me. And then we lived it. Don't you dare be sorry. I have no regrets"

"I miss you" he said still crying softly.

"Gah, I miss you, too. But lucky for us, we have some time together right now"

"I need that"

"You've been holding on to trauma, a lot of it. But what sent you on this journey is something different. You're at a crossroads"

"Can you help me through it?" she nodded.

"But first, I need to tell you something you don't hear enough of... the world is a good place" he was sobbing looking at her "and it's even better with you in it" he smiled at her "you ready?"

"Yeah" they both stand up and were ready to leave that apartment.

Her hand was shaking as she opened the door. On the floor was Spencer, there was some dried blood that got out of his nostril.

"Oh My God!" Max ran toward him followed by her father "baby" she rubbed his chest softly to see if he woke up but nothing, Max leans in and could feel him breathing "he is alive but must faint. D...dad could you...?"

"I am calling sweetie don't worry" he waited a second as his daughter returned to look at her boyfriend "hello... I'm Dominic Brenner, I'm at my daughter's boyfriend, h...he's unconscious on his living room floor... he's breathing but he isn't responding... um... he's an FBI agent... let me check" he puts a hand on the microphone "the paramedics are on their way but she said she needs his license plate number"

"It must be in his messenger bag" she pointed at it.

Dom held it and got it out, then returned to talk to them.

"Please... return to me Spencer" she ran her hands into his hair gently.

They take Spencer to the ambulance and went straight to the hospital. The paramedics let Max go with them and Dom followed them in her red Volkswagen.

In the ambulance he as a seizure they managed to control but they asked the driver to go faster.

"Did he have an accident?" Asked the man after they controlled it.

"Y...yes. h...he hit his head in an FBI mission. I...is he alright?" She said in a husky voice with tears running down her cheeks.

"Ok, that's helpful. He must have a concussion and if he had a seizure, it means he may have an intracranial bleeding" he checked his eyes "yeah he isn't responding. We need to get in the hospital as soon as possible"

Max held his hand tightly and whispering "you can do it Spencer... you can do it"

They arrived to the hospital and Doctor Kawamura took him to a bed in the emergency department as the paramedic explained everything he learned from Max and what he checked on their way there.

"Miss are you his wife?" Asked the doctor.

"N...no I'm his girlfriend" the doctor nodded.

"And does he have family here?" Doctor Kawamura asked.

"H...he has his mother, she's at Brookfield"

"We will need her here but right now we will keep him in the intensive care area where we can help him quickly" she nodded "but I think he will be fine because you found him quite quickly"

"G...good" the doctor patted her shoulder and left her then she turned to hug her father crying softly.

The next morning, all the women of the BAU were passing the hangover when they discovered that Everett Lynch was still alive. And also JJ and Penelope saw their phone was full of texts from Max.

"Oh my..." said JJ when she read the messages "Spence is in the hospital"

"What? Why?" Asked Emily shocked.

"He has an intracranial hemorrhage..." said JJ with tears in her eyes "I should take him to the hospital or to my house to keep an eye on him"

"JJ you didn't know it would happen..." tried to comfort her.

"No... you didn't see when he hit his head... he was pushed back and it must have been hard to caused it" she dropped her phone on the table "I have to go there..."

"No, we will need all the hands we have to find and catch Lynch. Penelope you go with Max. The rest we will need to send agents to protect our loved ones and let's put our efforts into find Lynch. I know our minds are with Spence but we can't risk lose Lynch" JJ has tears but nodded. It was her supervisor's order.

Penelope sent agents to ever family members of the team. She went to the hospital with Anderson to watch over them there. She also took her laptop to help the team.

Spencer and Maeve moved from his apartment to the cemetery, more specific to Gideon's grave.

"Why are we here? I made peace with Gideon dying"

"When's the last time you saw him?"

"12 years, 7 months and 23 days ago"

Maeve opened her mouth in shock at the precision of his calculations "oh..." she laughed "you're not keeping track of disappointments at all" they smiled at that.

"My dad wrote me a note when he left. Gideon did the same thing. He was the one that convinced me to join the team and then he left" he laughed but it was a sad one, with some tears in his eyes "all to believe in happy endings, I just... I'm sad he never got one"

"Oh, no, he got one. He's obsessed with this octopus named Mildred" Maeve started to laughs and Spencer did too "she's a prankster, and he loves hanging out an 8-limbed mollusks, trying to figure out how she became so playful and wise"

He sighed "she evolved"

"Yep. We all have to"

Penelope arrived to the hospital with Diana and two men wearing black suits, when they saw Max with her father there, they walked towards her "hey Max, how is he?" Asked Penelope.

"He's in the IC area... they will move him to another room but he haven't wake up" Diana looked at her.

"Can I see my baby boy?" Max nodded

"Let me tell them you are his mother. They will let you see him" said Max with a controlled voice to not scared the mother of Spencer.

Max called a nurse and informed her that Spencer Reid's mother was there.

Before they walked in Max walked to her "Diana, Spencer fell and he hit his head really hard and he's not conscious"

"Well, let's wake him up. Let's see him"

"No, wait" said Penelope and Max as they try to stop her.

"He'll listen to me. Spencer" Diana walked towards his bed "it's not him. No. No , no, no. This is not my son" said Diana really sure of that, Max looked at her a little confused and so did Penelope but did not same anything, then her eyes fell to his wrist. Where she noted a little star on it and she remembered what happened, he fell when he was a little boy trying to walk on a fence with a broomstick, she started to cry and that made Max and Penelope to also cry "oh, my baby" she rubbed his head and chest "oh, please"

"Why did you fight us?"

"If I die, I'll let down my mom... the team, everybody who depends on me" said Spencer as he looked at Maeve.

"Ohh..." they both sat down "family is resilient and as for strangers, people were hurt before you joined the BAU, and they'll get hurt whenever you leave"

"I guess, I'm stuck"

"More like frozen from grief. Your father's physical absence, your mother's psychological one, me"

"It's paralyzing"

"How do you move through it when you can't move?"

"You go back to the beginning" he looked at her and had some tears then added "I met someone... Max, she and I had been together for a month and twelve days. She is amazing and I think she is my new beginning" he looked at Maeve, she smiled at him and nodded "and I... I grew up telling stories about who I was... son, friend... student, teacher, genius"

"Hero. You seek and gain approval by anyone. It's time to stop"

"What if my brain's bleeding out 'cause there's nothing left for me to do?"

.

.

.

Continue in the next post.

[gorillazgal86]

Book of Love — Give Me Things 3/3

Also available at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19731313/chapters/46974682

The night the Armageddon didn't and Aziraphale stayed the night, an angel and a demon had talked and schemed into the small hours, their plan to switch bodies hatched and finalised in those enchanted hours before dawn, where it's too early to be night, but not yet morning.

"Should we do it now, to make sure it works?" Crowley had whispered, his heart thumping.

"Yes, I suppose we should," Aziraphale's voice was also soft and quiet.

"On three then?" Crowley offered his hand to the angel and held his breath.

"One, two, three . . . . " They said together and then clasped hands, both closing their eyes, preparing for impact.

Crowley would never forget the feeling of the magic taking hold, his mind's eye picturing every inch of the angel, captured in the finest detail from 6,000 years of careful study and a most heartfelt adoration. He felt his body change, grow softer and just a bit shorter. It rushed through his body and left him breathless. When he opened his eyes, he was taken aback to see his own snake-like yellow eyes looking back at him. He tilted his head and studied what was now his mirror image and then brought his hand up to his face, turning it slowly in front of his face, the glint of the gold pinky ring catching the low light of a lamp nearby.

"This is . . . . different," was all Crowley could this to say, but it wasn't his voice.

"Indeed," Aziraphale breathed, taking in the sight of Crowley wearing his body and speaking with his voice.

Aziraphale's hands reached out delicately to touch Crowley's face. "Incredible. . . .it's like looking in a mirror," the angel laughed and despite the fact he was wearing a new face, the way his nose scrunched and his eyes lit up when he laughed were distinctly Aziraphale.

"I look good on you," Crowley smiled.

"You look good on anything, my dear."

They practiced until daybreak how to move and speak and be the other. Watching Aziraphale master the demon's signature saunter was indeed a sight to behold, knees initially trembling and knocking, but after some coaching, finally able to stride nearly as effortlessly as Crowley himself.

"Are you afraid?" Aziraphale had asked as the morning sun began to brighten, signalling it was time to go..

"Only if we've got this wrong . . . . " Crowley said, his eyes looking down. If they had read the cryptic prophecy incorrectly or if their character work slipped, they would surely damn the other . . . destroy him completely. And there would be no opportunity for a last-minute miraculous intervention this time.

"Me too," Aziraphale's hands (or indeed, Crowley's) twisted nervously.

Crowley pulled the angel in to a tight hug, holding onto him, knowing it could very well the be last chance he'd get.

"I trust you." he said.

"I trust you, too," Aziraphale gripped onto him.

They both stood there a moment, breathing the other in, capturing every precious scent and the warmth of two bodies held close. Six thousand years of shared memories danced across both their minds, a stark reminder of what was at stake.

Millenia of unspoken words hung on Crowley's tongue, but he swallowed them like the most bitter of medicine and when they finally broke apart, he offered a pained smile.

"See you on the other side."

They had indeed chosen their faces wisely and Crowley found he did not want everything to return to exactly the way it was. The smell of burning books still lingered in his nose and he still stepped cautiously over the doorway into his office where holy water had destroyed Ligur. The world hadn't ended, but it had certainly changed.

Crowley and Aziraphale had been handed a fresh start, with assurances that Heaven and Hell would leave them to their earthly existence. And Crowley found himself daydreaming about what that could mean exactly. One thing he was sure of, was that he wanted Aziraphale to be in every single moment of it.

There was one particular idea he found himself circling back to, something that wouldn't his and wouldn't be Aziraphale's, but would be their's. And quietly, he began to put the pieces into motion.

"Everything all right? You seem distracted recently," Aziraphale had said to him one evening over wine, the concern evident in his voice.

"Oh, yes, everything is just fine Angel," Crowley smiled.

Aziraphale gave him a look that told Crowley he wasn't convinced. "You know, you can talk to me, if there's anything on your mind."

"I know that and thank you. But honestly, it's nothing, just adjusting to this brave new world. Well, I guess there is one thing, but I need to go away for a week or so, just have a few loose ends to wrap up. When I'm back, what say you to a holiday at the seaside?" Crowley glanced over at the angel, hoping he sounded as cool and collected as he thought he did.

"Oh. I didn't realise you needed to go away for a while," Aziraphale paused and studied his wine carefully for a moment. "A holiday would be nice though," Aziraphale said, the disappointment from Crowley going away on his own evident in his voice.

"It'll fly in, you won't even miss me," Crowley said. He wasn't looking forward to time apart either, but it was for the greater good, he decided. They hadn't spent an evening apart since the world didn't end and he had grown rather accustom to the routine they had gotten into, cooking dinner, drinking wine until Crowley decided he wanted to go to sleep and Aziraphale would read quietly in the chair that had found itself next to Crowley's bed and waking to share breakfast in the morning.

Crowley left the next morning in the Bentley and headed towards East Sussex. He had been scouring property sites since he was safely returned to his own body and he had finally found what he was looking for. In the time between fooling heaven and giving Aziraphale his body back, he had decided that six thousand years was quite enough for a demon to wait and as the bookshop reeked of burning parchment and his flat was likewise tainted. It was time for somewhere new. But it had to be perfect, a place close to London (as Aziraphale would never willingly abandon his bookshop, and Crowley would never dream of asking him to), but could represent their new beginning. He had finally found it, a quaint single-storey cottage with an immaculately preserved thatch roof with enough land to ensure that an angel and a demon could wile away eternity with out interference and was heading out to finalise the purchase. It was a bold move on his part and he knew Aziraphale could still very well tell him no, (he did always go too fast) but he had to try.

Once the keys were in his hands, he made his way back to the cottage to tidy up and ensure it was ready for when he brought Aziraphale to see it. As he stood back and looked over the . . .their cottage, he felt his breath catch and his throat tighten. He wanted to give Aziraphale as close to paradise as a fallen angel could and this was as close as he was likely to get, by his own estimation. A safe, cosy space that was their's to fill. He swiped away at he wetness he felt on his face and breathed deeply.

He then picked up his phone and called Aziraphale. "Hey, i'm heading back into London, I'll be with you soon, get your bag packed."

Aziraphale was dutifully waiting outside the bookshop when the Bentley pulled up. He wore a warm smile that crept into his eyes as he climbed in.

"How was your trip, everything sorted?" Aziraphale asked.

"It was good thanks, yes all sorted. Ready for some rest and relaxation by the seaside?"

"I am! Thank you very much for planning and organising all this, very kind of you."

Crowley shot him a cheeky grin, "I'm not kind."

They chatted as London faded into fields, with Crowley maintaining a speed that didn't cause Aziraphale to grip his fingers into the leather seats. For his part, Crowley was doing his best to remain calm and composed, when he was nearly as nervous as when he had ascended the escalator into heaven. He glanced over at the angel, whose bright blonde hair was catching the sun in such away that he appeared to glow.

When they pulled up the drive to the cottage, Aziraphale's face lit up. "Oh how charming, oh this is just lovely Crowley, just what the doctor ordered!" The front garden was surrounded by a freshly-painted white fence, roses and hydrangeas blooming in the late summer heat. The grounds were scattered with brightly blooming flowers and the scent of lavender caught on the breeze and mixed in with the salty sea air.

"Go have a look around, I'll bring the cases in," Crowley's voice cracked slightly, but he shook it off and watched as Aziraphale made his way around the cottage, with Crowley close behind. The angel cooed as he made his way into each room, classically decorated in whites and greys (perfect as a starting point, Crowley had considered). It was cosy, with only 2 bedrooms, a living room with an open hearth and a large shaker kitchen with an Aga and a log burner.

"Self-catering was an excellent idea, we can certainly relax here!" Aziraphale was bubbling with joy, it was a wonderful spot, Crowley's taste had not disappointed, as usual.

"It's not self-catering, Angel," Crowley said, his hand in his pocket. The cool touch of metal brushing his fingers as he fidgeted with what was inside.

"What do you mean? I don't see a reception for a B&B," Aziraphale said.

Crowley had rehearsed this part a million times (playing both the part of angel and demon in his head). But in this instant, his brain was mush, his heart beating loudly in his ears and his perfectly practiced words escaping him entirely. He took Aziraphale's hand in his, his skin igniting at the contact, gently turned his palm upright and pulled the keys out of his pocket, laying them delicately in Aziraphale's hand.

"It's your's . . or ours . . rather," his words tumbled out awkwardly as he watched Aziraphale's face as his words began to sink in. The angel's expression was unreadable as his fingers slowly curled around the keys and stared unsettlingly at him. Crowley pushed his glasses onto his head, his eyes soft and pleading the angel to understand.

"I . . . I wanted to give you a new life . . . . for us . . . together," His voice was shaking uncontrollable, feeling more vulnerable in that moment than he ever had. "After everything, I want to spend every moment with you, from now until there's nothing left and even after that. I love you, I have loved you as long as I've known you . . . . and I don't want another single minute to pass without you with me," Crowley could feel his ears burning and his tongue felt twisted and too large for mouth.

Aziraphale was quiet, his fingers still closed around the keys and considering Crowley carefully.

"Aziraphale, please say something," Crowley choked.

The angel's face softened and his sky blue eyes fixed on Crowley. He looked every inch the angel he was and Crowley swore if he looked close enough, he could see his snow white wings unfurling behind him.

"I don't know what to say Crowley," Aziraphale looked overwhelmed. Crowley was certain he had gone too far . . . again. Their quiet London routine had been enough surely and he'd gone and hit the accelerator too hard.

But then the angel closed the gap between them, pressing hard against Crowley's lips. Crowley melted in that moment, his arms wrapping tightly, desperately, around Aziraphale, his hands gripping into white fluffy curls. His body lit up as they squeezed as closely together as physics would allow.

"You wily old serpent," Aziraphale said as they slowly broke the kiss. "You planned all this, for me?" he stayed close, his hand cradling Crowley's face, his thumb making a slow line between the sharp cheekbone to the soft plumpness of the demon's damp, swollen lips.

Crowley nodded. "For us."

"You marvellous, remarkable, wonderful, thoughtful creature. I adore you. I could think of nothing I'd like more, than to share this with you," Aziraphale's blue eyes sparkled. "None of this existence is worth living if you're not there."

Crowley felt tears running down his face and tried to brush them away. Aziraphale stilled his hand and pulled him in again.

"I love you, too," he breathed against Crowley's lips, claiming them again.

[broadwaycantdie]

Kid Blink - Newsies Month . Day 30

( blush ) + ( modern ) + ( headcanon story )

warnings: very long

————————————————————————

mush and kid blink have been dating for as long as anyone can remember

they are actually the 2nd longest running couple (spot and race started dating about 3 months before them)

so needless to say, they don’t really do all the “new couple” activities

they are pretty domesticated

most of their nights are spent just cuddling, watching a movie, maybe ordering takeout, and just being together at home

but their anniversary was coming up

so mush got an idea

he wanted to do something for his boyfriend of so many years

blink had no clue of what he was doing

albert actually asked him to hang out which was odd because he knew it was him and mush’s anniversary

mush insisted it was okay and they went out

little to blink’s knowledge, mush told albert to get blink out of the house so he could get everything ready

kid blink was pretty upset all day with albert

he thought mush forgot their anniversary

it’s been so long

how could he just forget?

albert brought blink home (at the requested time of mush)

he hung his head and stared to open the door

when he walked in the whole room was pitch black

which was odd because he thought mush was home, the car was there at least

he called out for his boyfriend but no answer

he saw a faint light coming from the bedroom so he went to walk inside

when he got inside he saw what he never imagined he’d see

the floor was covered in rose petals

candles were lit on the dresser and sidetables

a bag sat in the bed with a note in front of it

“put this on and come into the kitchen. keep the lights off”

he opened the bag and was quickly confused

regardless, blink followed the directions on the note and arrived into the kitchen

he found more candles

and his boyfriend

wearing possibly the worst outfit he’s ever seen

until it hit him

he put the pieces together

his outfit

mush’s

the really bad italian food he smelt when he walked in

the roses

the candles

he even got the decor right

“how did you do this?”

the outfit kid blink put on was an oversized red polo, khaki cargo shorts that went to his knees, and white socks (he would have had nike sneakers on but they don’t like shoes in the house)

mush’s outfit wasn’t much better

he wore dark blue jeans that were way too tight, a skin tight white tank top, a black blazer that didn’t fit right, a bandana, and he had brown flip flops set to the side

the table was set with a tacky red and cream checkered tablecloth, a candle, and 3 roses laying on the side

crappy, cheap pasta sat on both sides of the small table with chairs across from one another

kid blink couldn’t believe it

“you remembered everything?”

“every detail is here”

mush took his hand and kissed it

they took their seats and ate their food

mush explained what he was doing

“our first date was 10 years ago, today, at paulo’s pizza and pasta, probably the worst italian food we’ve ever had. I brought you 3 roses because that’s all I could afford, we wore these horrific outfits, and at the end of the night do you remember what I did?”

“we had our first kiss”

“exactly, so now for our 10 year anniversary, I was thinking I’d do a little more than give you a kiss”

mush got up from his seat and pulled a box out of his pocket

he got down on his knee and took kid blink’s hand

“blink. If I was being honest, I never thought we’d be anything at the start of this date, but when I saw how you smiled so wide at every joke I made, and didn’t laugh when I told you I could only afford 3 roses, and let me ask you questions about your eye, and you let me kiss you on our first date. Yeah, the food was bad and the overall environment sucked, but it didn’t matter because you made me feel better than anyone has ever made me feel. So with all that, louis ‘kid blink’ balletti, would you do me the honor and the privilege of marrying me”

blink couldn’t even speak

tears were welling up

he shook his head and croked out a soft yes

they shared a long kiss and just took in the entire moment

“I can’t believe you proposed to me in this outfit, and I can’t believe I ever thought of marrying anyone else but you”

[inexchangeforyoursoul]

It’s been another month, so it was high fuckin time to finish another chapter... seems like 1.2/month will become the average until completion, huh. Have 95% fluffy critter bullshit. AO3 fanfiction.net

Anyway, I just put the fragments and stuff I've yet to use in another file... it's 28 pages. The chapters from 11 to 20 are 49 pages, and the next chapter is only about halfway done. First 10 were 38 altogether. Um, lol...? (tfw you're verbose and start including the author's notes, too)

And even though I have the map of the Sunny open all the time I’m still not sure how some doors work or even exist,,,,,,,,,,,,, NotLikeThis

19. Garchu~ (aka Hug Trilogy, pt 1)

Kat sits up fresh and ready on this extra bright Wednesday. She's a bit early, the girls are still sleeping or at least lying about. Nestling a bit, she goes cross legged and leans back against the wall.

Today she saw a dream that was... nice, overall. Even had the little surreal touches she knows from her usual ones. First is a vague memory of sitting in class at school... then she was with the man again. The one with the cloak. If it was indeed the same guy, at least; there were heaps of soft, pretty black feathers everywhere, actually. The town she was in made a nice backdrop, being almost snow white. This time she could also see what he looked like beyond being incredibly tall, too: he had fluffy, blonde hair, eyes that had a similar color to Law's, and either some makeup or tattoos on his face. Looked quite peculiar for sure; maybe it's the sheer height and the weird coat choice, but for the brief moment upon arrival, when he had sunglasses on, he reminded her vaguely of that one Shichibukai guy. Well... ex-Shichibukai. Uh... yeah, Doflamingo. Anyway, that aside, she also recalls him wearing an odd hat, and shirt with a pattern... at first it was flowers, but it changed very soon, and they turned into petals, maybe... no, hearts, yes, that's it! And there was smoke coming from under the coat all the time... An odd fellow, but he looked friendly enough.

At some point, a little girl joined; the three of them played in the white sand that the town was suddenly made of. A lot of buildings collapsed as time went by, and children, probably those from the school as most of them were wearing a uniform, joined them. Later came two other people, likely a couple, to take both her and the little girl 'home.' Something about the woman was eerily familiar... but only when she smiled. That surprised her into remembering the scene fairly well. Actually... that's kind of what her own smile looks like. And her actual mother's. No wonder she just accepted being their kid, huh. Oh, and the other, she could swear looked like Law in a lab coat. Except not... no matter how hard she tries to recall details now, she can't remember any face past the blonde man's.

It all ended as they entered the gates to somewhere and this guy smiled in a rather creepy way. She gets the feeling that she's seen that grin before, to be honest. Thinking about it, those gates, too... she's definitely seen that entrance before. Yes, it seemed to be the very same place as the first nightmare, but now that she's gotten a better, well, 'look' at it and what lay beyond...

She scratches away at her not-quite-existent beard; where else could she know it from?

After some consideration, she grabs her bag from beyond the wardrobe and pulls out some paper, her sketching board and a pencil to throw some rough doodles down so she can remember it all later. Because, honestly? She's getting suspicious of these dreams. There's too much... consistency, and the only other kinds of dreams she can vaguely recall also feel foreign or refer to the past few days only. This has been going on since inhabiting this body, and she's inclined to make some assumptions here. Will have to talk this over with Law.

Especially important for now are that gate... and the face of this man; she tries to nail a few features of latter first. The third doodle has the jawline and hair style in place, then she adds some sketchy feathers and a shirt. Having lost a lot of small details to oblivion already, she just jots down the vague position of blue and red spots that were remarkable. Now, as for the structure... a few arbitrary lines, and she's got the basics of both the wall and the gate. It all looks pretty simple, and she's never seen it in person, yet... it's so, so familiar. It's the feeling of having the name of something on the tip of your tongue... except there is no name you can think of. You just know what you know.

“What are you drawing with such a serious expression, Kat?” she can hear Carrot's voice next to her all of a sudden. She must have been watching for a bit.

“Oh, morning... I've had a dream and am trying to make myself remember the stuff,” she replies, getting over the surprise, then turns back to the sketches. “Been a while since I last did this, but I've had some recurring stuff in the past days, so...”

“I envy you,” the girl mumbles, pouting. “I never remember a thing even when it was interesting, and when I do, it's something mundane like taking a walk or training. Although...” Her face saddens a bit; “I get to spend time with people I will never see again, too, I guess.”

“...” Okay, this got depressing fast. “... you okay?”

She stretches out her arms; “Yeah, sorry.”

“If you need a hug or something, just ask.”

The mink's ears shoot skyward. “Hug?”

“You're free to decline. Just saying in case you'll ever want onh---”

“I'm always ready for hugs!! Garchuuu~”

Okay, she's confirmed to be a hugger, Kat thinks to herself as the mink mushes her face against hers while squeezing all the air out of her. Which is kind of great, because she, too, loves hugs; noone's ever been this excited over one, though. Then again she's on the receiving end... and is lowkey infamous for her bear hugs, which people apparently don't like.

“You two sure are lively today,” she can hear Nami yawning in bed, turning to her other side. Five more minutes, please.

“Sorry~” Kat whispers with her leftover breath before being released. This is followed by some back-stretching, and -popping on her side, which feels beyond great after all these days where she just couldn't get Law's joints do the thing. Like, at all. Only his wrists would budge from time to time.

“Gee, you sure are strong... What's garchu supposed to be, by the way?” she asks once her oxygen supplies have been restocked.

Carrot's entire body is nearly vibrating... she's hyped and ready to pounce at the first thing she has to. That hug surely kicked off her day- she's trying to focus that energy into formulating a decent sentence now. “Of course I am! And 'garchu' is, like... it's more of a sound, literally speaking. But it's when you are being cuddly, kind of.” Her nose twitches and she scratches her head. “Which is very often. Iiit's... a mink thing.”

“I can get behind that philosophy,” Kat chuckles, crawling out of the cotton sea at last, and stuffs her things back into the bag where they came from. “Let's pull ourselves together to let the others do the same in peace, shall we.”

The rabbit girl nods, hopping to the wardrobe to get the sweatshirt she's been wearing on and off as it started to get colder. Must be just that range outside when she needs it in one minute, then gets too hot in the next.

As for Kat, -apart from being cold with the tee and all,- she's out with a bit more luggage than usual; if nothing else, noticing the drawing supplies might remind her of this shady dream business. Also, she's in a cuddly mood, and for better or worse she's already comfortable enough in this environment to give out some surprise hugs. Since she's also not one to hold back and Law's body is at least ten times stronger than hers... rest in pieces, mortals.

Her first victim was Usopp right outside, who's been kinda suspicious of her scheme to begin with... and found he was right in doing that. Didn't break anything, or even hurt him, really, but did scare the shit out of him for sure. All of his joints popped at once, making quite a racket, and he made a sound akin to a squeaky toy upon being crushed. And lifted, as is her standard for anyone she can do that with, and boy are her limitations near nonexistent right now. Then came Luffy, who was all for the deal despite his bestie's warnings. He was rather unfazed, but what does one expect from him anyway.

Right before she left for the submarine, the girls have also met their comeuppance; Robin took it like a champ, as did Carrot who was ready for seconds, this time as the recipient. Witnessing her massacre, Nami only agreed to a normal hug; this meant an extra tender one, as Kat only knows extremes in this matter. Realizing there are options, Usopp also insisted on not getting the anaconda treatment in the future.

Needless to say, she was in a great mood when arriving to Law. While her bounciness was a bit too much for his comfort, he only gave her a few suspicious looks when walking out and into the room. Speaking of which, the frequency of his (more than likely) toilet visits has declined. Which is good, for him and her body at least. Kat also noticed that he was rather underdressed whilst in his room and had a sweater ready for whenever he left for the surface; sometimes he'd come back with a glass of water or beer, too. Learned from the initial folly, didn't he... even at the price of more pressing reasons to go to the loo. The efforts put a smile on her face when she first realized- he took better care of that body than her, really. Either way, as she stayed halfway on-task this morning, he didn't really say anything between her arrival and lunch break. Though he was definitely scarcer with words than usual... hm. Noted.

Once having fished out another hoodie (where the hell did Law leave the one from yesterday...?) and being back on the Thousand Sunny for some grub, she also gives a not-too-bone crushing hug to Chopper. Strong little fella or not, she's afraid of hurting him in that tiny form of his. As she's putting him down, she notices Luffy and Carrot staring really intensely... volunteering for another round, aren't they.

As soon as she garchu'd the heck out of them, she also notices Sanji standing in the same spot... he's a follower of the same staring technique, apparently. After half a second of consideration, he also gets a crusher hug. Which earns a... 'reaction' with a side of nosebleed, and, uh...

“... I think he got a rib fracture,” Chopper sighs with exasperation, mild worry, and vague pity. The man is flung over the enlarged reindeer's shoulder as he's being taken to the infirmary for some painkiller and a quick patch-up. Luffy mutters a duck-faced 'Sanji's stupid.'

… oops...? Didn't even get to apologize... Somehow, this seems to be a common problem, though, so at least she doesn't feel that bad about it. Either way, Sanji seems to be accommodating to her frolicking around in this 'new' body. Will have to see how bad this piece of news is.

Kat looks over to her plates of vegetable soup, rice and pork chops. Eating this would feel weird now that she incapacitated the cook. But, she really needs to eat while this training lasts, and is also hungry because of it, so...

“... you still sulking about that, or...?” Carrot mumbles between two bites of a big representative of her namesake she has for dessert as Kat's fiddling with her leftovers in the doorway.

“... yeah.”

“It really is not that big of a deal, you know... Sanji gets to be under Bropper's care over much stupider stuff all the time.” She heard that at one point he almost died over a single nosebleed because he got hugged or something like that... she needs to control herself for a sec here, or else chuckling gets her to join the infirmary team for choking on her lunch.

“I've had the feeling, but... can't really punch my brain for making me feel like this, can I.” Beating up her feelings in fisticuffs would be a really useful ability to have, no lie. She'd probably lose a lot, though.

Carrot hums through a mouthful. “Zat's druu.”

Taking a look outside through the door window, Kat can see the sun shining really bright; she takes one last bite before giving up on the remaining morsels of her food, then makes her way out. As they are the last ones in the kitchen and she prefers to have some company, Carrot follows her.

Today's weather is really nice compared to the last few days. Kat enjoys the warmth with closed eyes, as does her mink companion, nibbling away at the leaves of her carrot. A second later, Chopper comes hoppling down the stairs.

“Oh, you're already done?” Kat is a little surprised, it's been fifteen minutes tops, after all- and he wasn't even coming from the room where she also got patched up a week ago. Everyone is working at light speed here... “Is he, um, alright...?”

“Yep, Sanji's fine,” he in forms her with a sigh; “I did prescribe him a good dose of 'keep out' as far as you and your hugs are concerned, though.”

“Sorry for the trouble, Chopper... I really didn't think I could break bones after all the people who survived without a scratch,” she muses shamefully while sitting down at the top of the staircase.

“Oh, it's fine,” he waves a hoof. “It's one of the things I'm here for, after all.” Household accidents tend to just happen. Especially over here. “Though I don't really understand how it happened, either.”

“I kind of get your confusion... I went easy on you, after all,” the confesses, leaning on her arms.

“Eh? Why that?” he pouts after the initial surprise, putting his hooves on his waist.

She returns the pouty expression; “Because you are small and I don't want to break you?”

“You could just ask me to turn big, you know?” He states with the bother already gone, then lifts his arms skyward. “I'm a pirate, I can take a beating! Hugs are no match for me!”

“Are they?” Kat asks, also lifting her arms.

“One way to find out!” With that, Chopper's already going for it, clinging to her neck.

She lies down dramatically with fake momentum as she's returning the gesture. “Oh no, how vicious...! How could I ever think that I stood a chance?!” The small doctor starts laughing.

“Oh my god, you guys,” Carrot chortles, then starts coughing- the last bits of those leaves did manage to go astray.

“... Kat... you can release me now,” the reindeer voices his opinion after a minute. “You're as cuddly as a mink, really.”

“Why, are you not one?” she asks, lifting him over her.

“Nope, I'm just a regular reindeer,” he informs the girl. “I can talk and stuff because of the Human Human Fruit.”

She blinks. “.... don't laugh... but I thought you were a mink who happened to eat the corresponding Ox-Ox model of all things...”

Chopper does break out in laughter again; calming down a bit, he nods; “Makes sense!” Kat sighs with a smile and crawls up from the floor, putting him down.

Getting over her own little crisis for good, Carrot chimes in: “There wouldn't be much of a difference, would there...”

'None at all,' is what Kat thinks to herself standing up. She can hear some voices approach while doing so; after short eavesdropping it's obviously Bepo and the Romeos. She's only seen them on board of the Sunny once before, though, so if they really are coming over, it's a little out of the ordinary.

“Look at that, we didn't even have to look for him,” Penguin says to himself as the other two become visible as well. He waves as he walks closer to them. “Hey there, girls and little guy!”

“Hi! What's the occasion?” she asks wondering as she goes down the stairs. Chopper follows her.

“We're actually here to ask our fellow doc whether he needs some supplies restocked since we're going shopping in a bit... plus, I'd also be interested in a book I've seen, if it's no bother,” he adds, looking over to Chopper.

“Why'd you have to wake me, though?” Bepo complains, rubbing an eye. He's been having such a nice nap in this weather, too...

“Because we could,” Shachi smiles to himself, then continues while Bepo groans an indignant 'that's mean!!'; “And we'll need help to carry stuff anyway, chill.”

“Actually,” Chopper starts as him an Kat reach the lawn, “apart from some food, we already bought everything last week. Sanji wants to deal with that tomorrow, if you want to wait that long.”

Shachi steps closer as Penguin lets out a thoughtful hum; “Nah, we'll pass, food is not our department. You can ask Fugu about that, but he's got this bug to go out for fresh stuff every day until we gotta stock up for departure.”

Meanwhile Bepo plods closer to the shore, listening to the faded noises of the fair from the dozen rusty and mostly closed-off storehouse's distance. The place has gotten a bit noisier compared to yesterday; as it happens, this was something that won't stop escalating until Saturday night.

“I see... well, which book are you interested in?” He put every single medical book he could find into one place the other day, so finding it shouldn't be an issue.

As Penguin is giving a description of a blue-bound tome concerning the nervous system, Shachi turns to Kat. “Were you guys telling jokes or something earlier? We could hear little Bropper having a blast from a mile away.”

“Kat's giving out hugs by the dozen,” Carrot informs him with a sudden glint in the eye, distracting Penguin and Chopper, too. The girl's ears are not just for show, are they?

Carrot, why… actually, she can work with this. “... yeah, today I'm super cuddly. Do you guys want one?” she asks with the sweetest smile. Even the boys can tell that her expression is just a wee bit too intense and scary for this offer to be any good. But by god, if she doesn't get her revenge now, it's never.

From a bit further behind the mink, Usopp's shout to attest their doubts can be heard: “No, you don't!!”

After weighing the options of funny and resulting work here, Chopper decides to talk them out of this endeavor, too. “... Usopp's right. She just sent Sanji to the sick-bay with fractured ribs.” There were two affected.

Catching that, the sniper's head pops up from behind the railing one floor above them. “No way?! You're lying!”

“I'M NOT LYING!” Chopper turns, screaming back at him.

“Guys, you are no fun,” Carrot pouts. She wanted to see this, man.

“... something tells me... we dodged a bullet, here,” Penguin mumbles under his breath. She broke Sanji... that tanky motherfucker Sanji.

While the others are having their banter, Kat zeroes in onto Bepo sniffling the sweet air that wafts from port, then walks up to him. As he notices her, he utters a little nervous 'ai?'. She spreads her arms.

“Garchu?”

She needs to react quick, as Bepo is already, well, incoming a split second of excited shock later. She's prepared for the worst, but to her surprise? There's no falling over now that she's prepared, in fact, she barely budges. Judging by gravity and the sheer weight, though... she's straight-out carrying him. She can lift a bear. Holy shit. Meanwhile Carrot notices the development and snorts really hard.

“Jesus Christ, what are you guys feeding Law with!?” Kat asks, waltzing backwards to the group with the, uh, baby still in her arms. Everyone seems to be quite amused by the scene; as Shachi starts coughing to hide his near-laughter, she puts the mink down at last.

“You know no fear, do you?” Penguin asks with a bright smile. “There's not a lot you can do when metric tons of marshmallow come at you like that...”

“... I guess I don't,” she muses after a some consideration. The only thing she can think of is her mild fear of heights, snakes, and (specifically flying) wasps that she can plough through after the initial scare or wooziness... and shit like burning to death and drowning would be unnecessarily painful, so she'd rather not go like that. As if she'd have a choice in the matter if that happens, anyway; but there's no point in worrying about that and it's not really fear fear unless you think about it a lot... is it? She doesn't really think about things she cannot change. She's rather at peace with them, though in some cases she probably shouldn't be.

Bepo yawns and mumbles an 'I'm going back to sleep.' Without further hesitation he's already nestling down in a nice corner behind the stairs.

“I see you are amusing yourselves,” Robin notes as she walks out of the kitchen with an empty watering can. Usopp seems to be a little confused for a sec, she must have been up there with him in the garden a minute ago. “Sanji is brewing some coffee, would any of you like some?”

“... actually, I do, too,” says Kat, joining the other raised hands. She can feel her power hugging taking quite a bit out of her... this is not going to last for much longer. And while she's at it, she might as well drink it out here, and maybe, just because she saw Law doing it often... use Bepo as a fluffy thing to lean onto.