#part twenty three

[fishnets-fingers]

Six Months - Part Twenty Three

Summary - Layla desperately needs a vacation and her Aunt and Uncle come to her rescue. So, at twenty two, she packs her bag and jets off to America. Harry took a break from education and is now a full fledged content creator on OnlyFans. At twenty, he makes more money than almost all of his friends. What ensues when these two meet and realise the windows in their rooms face each other? How will paper airplanes bring them closer together?

PAIRING - camboy!harry x indian!oc

a/n - happy happy birthday @0oolookitsme​! this is such a special part and i hope it’s a good birthday surprise! thank you for loving the story and layla and harry as much as i do! as always, like and reblog. feed back is not only appreciated but much welcome. happy reading!

Word Count - 10.3 k

Warnings - so much fluff, a dash of angst, allusions to smut.

Masterpost (find previous parts here)

Harry’s comfortably buried under the pillow, the duvet snaked around his body, with one of his feet poking out the corner. Sleep always found him easy, but sleeping on Layla’s bed guarantees him a good night's sleep; something to do with the mattress toppers is what she chalked it up to when he’d told her but he thinks it has to do with the space being so inexplicably hers. He particularly melts into slumber with the way her scent cocoons around him, the way he has to roll over and nudge his feet between her perpetual ice cold ‘feetsies,’ the way he can watch the steady rise and fall of her chest, the way she softly snores after a particularly long day of being hunched over the canvas she was painting. All these things made his insides feel fizzy, like he was an agitated soda can waiting to explode with joy. So yes, snoozing in her bed resulted in a comfortable restful night’s sleep. But for some reason he feels like this was the longest time he’d slept in a while. 

He feels a cold hand on his bicep, gently shaking him, and a soft groggy voice follows, “Harry?”

He manages a grunt, face scrunching as the icy fingers now grips his arm, shaking him incessantly.

“Babe, wake up.” Her voice is hoarse, like she hadn’t used it a lot. 

“Yeah… I’m up,” he replies, voice deep from slumber. 

He blinks to a sight he’s sure he’ll be going to commit to memory and play it back. Layla in one of her panties, his white Kiss T-shirt, mussed up hair falling down to her waist, smiling down on him with a steaming mug in her hand. Her face is puffy and blotchy - no doubt from sleeping on her stomach for a long time. Best wake up call, he thinks as images of being woken up by her wet kisses trailing down the slope of his neck flash in his mind. No, second best wake up call, he decides as the warmth rushes to his face. 

“Good morning,” she beams at him, sitting down at the edge of the bed as her fingers move angst the prickly five o’clock shadow against his jaw. 

“Morning, sweet girl.” He pushes himself upright using his arms, leaning forward to plant a kiss on her cheek. “What’s all this?” He asks. 

“Your morning coffee,” she replies, bringing the mug in between the two. “And,” she tilts her head to the side and his gaze  follows to find a bowl of oatmeal topped with berries and apple slices, scrambled eggs and a glass of water on a wooden table. “Breakfast in bed.”

“And what did I do to get my breakfast to come to me?” He grabs the ceramic mug from her, blowing on the dark liquid to cool it down. 

“Nothing,” she shrugs. “Just felt like doing it.” 

“How lucky am I?” He smiles, fluttering his eyelids dramatically. 

Layla lets out a hearty giggle. “Don’t go thanking your lucky stars yet, earth boy. I still don’t know how to work the fancy coffee machine.”

“How can one fuck up black coffee?” He laughs, taking a sip from the mug, grimacing immediately. “Lails,” he coughs, “Did you add sugar in this?”

“What? Are you not supposed to?” 

“No!” He exclaims, setting the mug aside on the bedside table. 

“Well jeez! You like drinking that every morning? Dude, that tasted like ass before all that sugar.”

“Hey!” He pinches her sides playfully, making her swat his hands away. 

“I’ll never understand coffee,” she shakes her head. “Maybe a sip of this would help,” she picks up the glass next to his oatmeal. “Uncle left tender coconut water in the fridge for the two of us. But know that if I made filter coffee right now, I would have knocked your socks off.”

“I don’t doubt it. Thanks for breakfast, by the way.”

“No problem. The breakfast was to just butter you up,” she admits with a coy smile.

“For?” He arches his brow.

“I’ll tell you later.” She says, getting up and making her way to the door. “But wash up and meet me downstairs. Aunty will be back from work soon and then we’re going to the salon with your mum.”

“What time is it?” He asks. 

“Half past ten. We’re the only ones home.” She tells him.

“Can’t be…” He turns around to find his phone and figure out why his alarm didn’t go off. 

“I turned your alarm off. It bloody woke me up at five in the morning,” she rolls her eyes. “You need a day off from running for your shoulder.”

“I didn’t run yesterday,” he defends himself. 

“We still went on a walk.” She reminds him. “Plus, I’ve got a great lazy day planned for us.”

////

“I thought you guys were going to get facials done?” Harry asks, stepping into Layla’s bathroom. She had a makeshift spa set up with fluffy towels, a scented candle, and colourful tubs of skincare. 

“We are,” she replies, coming up behind him with a brass cup on top of a white hand towel. “You and Uncle refused to come get facials with us-“

He moves out of her way, so she can set it on the counter. “I don’t think I need it. My skin looks good from just using your skincare. And Vasanth laughed when you sugg-“

“Don’t be fooled by that.” Layla interrupts. “He acts like salons are a scam. He refused to go get a facial before his wedding because he thought he was too cool. He bought those facial kits two days before his reception and begged me to give him a facial. I bet my ass he’s gonna come knocking on my door for a sheet mask at least tonight.” She cocks her head to the wooden stool she’d dragged from the master bathroom. 

Harry sits down. “So, I’m getting a spa day because you think I might have certain inhibitions to walk into a salon?”

“Nope. I’m pampering you for the burn you suffered at the carnival yesterday,” she laughs. 

“Oh please! We both know that shot was a fluke,” he argues. 

“It wasn’t! I’ve got the skills,” she insists, sticking her tongue out at him. 

“What skills?” He asks her exasperatedly, throwing his hands up. 

“Hello! All the hours I put into Call of Duty. It must have rubbed off on me in real life.” She clasps her fingers together, sticking out her middle and index at him, bringing it to her eyes as she pretends to shoot him. Blowing out the tips of her fingers like one would a gun in old cowboy movies. 

“You can’t be serious!” He rolls his eyes. “Baby, that’s so stupid.”

“Says the idiot who’s car now houses the giant stuffed bunny I won,” she arches her brow at him.  

“Shut up,” he sticks his tongue out at her. “Those games are rigged, you know,” he adds, hoping to discount her win.

Despite her boyfriend's attempts to try and gloss over her victory, Layla finds herself smiling - the kind that makes her dimple dip into her cheek. “So what you’re saying is that you weren’t strong enough for the high striker?”

“No!” Harry replies quickly. “I won that fair and square! I am a man of wit and brawn!” 

Layla laughs. “Whatever you say, Hercules,” she dismisses, leaning forward to press a kiss to his temple. “Alright, I have two facial kits. Do you want the fruit enzyme or the pearl one?”

Harry regards the boxes on the counter, like he knew the organic chemistry behind it. Prior to Layla all he did was moisturise and now he had managed to swipe all of her tubes and tubs that were nice smelling. His skin was a lot softer, the tingly red goopy masque that Layla pipettes onto his face every week got rid of all the blackheads on his nose. His forehead was a lot less angry, with the red zits only popping up occasionally but disappearing as fast as it came. So, he really didn’t think he needed any one of the boxes but it was appealing to kick back and let her dote on him. After all, she deemed it to be his lazy day. “The fruit one,” he answers.

“Did you just pick the colourful box?” Layla chuckles when he gives her a sheepish smile as she runs a comb through his hair to work the knots.“Can’t believe you cut your hair,” she complains, running her fingers through the shorter brown locks. When he’d turned up to her Aunt’s flower braiding ceremony with trimmed hair, it made her bottom lip visibly jut out in a pout.

“It was getting long and difficult to style.” It was. Harry’s hair coiled around the nape of his neck and it made him look shaggy. “You’re just whining ‘coz you don’t have a lot to grab onto when I’m eating you out,” he smiles up at her salaciously.

Warmth flushes across Layla’s chest, rising up to her cheeks and the tops of her ears. He really did have a filthy mouth. “It’s not just that,” she admits. “Your curls are gone,” she states. The short cut - especially after styling - made his hair look straight, almost like the stylist had a vengeance to get rid of them. There was still a dusting of curls left behind near his ears and it was incredibly cute when they peaked out of whatever beanie he was wearing. She can’t wait until they grow back and coil again and she was going to do everything in her power to make them sprout faster.

“What’s that?” Harry asks, as Layla reaches for the small brass bowl with a sap green liquid. 

“Oil. Aunty’s hair and mine have been falling off in clumps lately, so we called grandmum and asked for her hair oil recipe. Is that okay? It’s ayurvedic.”

“Yeah. Was this your ploy all along? Trick me into growing my hair out faster?”

She chuckles. “No, actually. I was just giving you a head massage.”

“What have you got up your sleeve, Lails?”

“Nothing. Now just shut your eyes and prepare to relax.”

She gently scoops out the oil, mindful to not spill it on the floor, and works her blunt nails in small circles on his scalp. He moans quietly, and it makes her chuckle as she puts a shower cap on him. Step one: complete, she smiles. 

Harry likes getting a facial, he decides. He has not got one before but he concludes that this is the best. His girlfriend’s soft touch as she lathers up his face with a cleanser, the soft bristles of the brush that paint his skin with a thick orange paste, and he got to lean back against her chest. All made a content sigh escape from him. 

Their trip to the autumn carnival was a ball of fun. They got there after lunch and went around playing loads of games. Layla won the shooting game and ended up picking a humongous bunny plushie - one that the two could not tote around, resulting Harry to jog to the parking lot and throw it in the backseat of his car. Harry tried his luck at ring toss, skee ball, and bottle toss, only to lose every time. He pouted the whole time they walked around the fair, because he deemed it unfair that his girlfriend won and refused to give him the bunny as consolation. Layla pestered him to buy them a turkey leg, which she spat it out right after taking a sizable bite because it was ‘so fucking disgusting that even cavemen would choose to die to starvation than to eat a turkey leg.’ He ended up eating the whole thing, while she stuck to a corn cob. They ended up taking lots of pictures and even waited for an hour to get on the ferris wheel. When Harry leaned over to give her a kiss at the top, the structure creaked making their pod unsteady causing Layla to panic shove him back into his spot. He almost peed his pants laughing when Layla walked face first into her reflection - after proclaiming she had a penchant for this - while they were trying to find their way out of the mirror maze. She gave him the silent treatment and shot him dirty looks the rest of the evening until he’d bought her a cotton candy that was twice as big as her face. Layla learnt that toddlers had a better grasp of eating cotton candy compared to her boyfriend, whose mouth, nose and cheeks grew stickier and pinker with each passing minute. Just as they were about to leave she’d convinced him to try out the high striker. Even if Harry was reluctant to lose again, her sugary kiss convinced him to give it a shot and he did, using a little of his body weight and most of the gravitational pull to drop the hammer into the designated red pedal. The red light meter grew higher and higher, causing him to throw his hands up high in sweet victory, pulling his girlfriend in for a bone crushing hug - spinning her around - muttering how he had ‘science and muscle on his side,’ smearing all the sticky sugary pink treat onto her face. Layla picked out matching key chains as the prize - a clay polymer of two peas in a pod, a nod to his favourite vegetable. The key chain now held his car keys and Layla had slotted it into her house key fob.

He’s pulled back to the now, when he feels a warm washcloth wipe off the enzyme mask that was sitting on his face for twenty minutes. “There,” Layla says, stepping back. “Now, before we hop into the shower, I want you to rate this experience.” She steps back, leaning against the sink.

“Five out of five,” he answers earnestly, opening his eyes to watch her telltale evil grin spread across the entirety of her face. “Oh no,” he mutters. 

“Oh yes!” She beams. Opening a drawer, pulling out a spool of white thread, “Since I’ve given you an ace of an experience, you’re gonna help me with threading my eyebrows by being my dummy.” Harry watches her pull out ten inches of thread, bite it, knot the end to make a loop as she winds one hand around to create tension in the middle.

“No! No no. You buttered me up for this?!? No way. Piss off,” he leans backwards and shoves her hands.

“Come on,” she whines. “I’ll just thread the extras. It’s not like I’m gonna shape it. I need to practise.” 

“I’ve seen you thread your face before. What practice?” He grabs onto her hands - clutching them close to his chest, halting her advances. 

“Yeah for my moustache and the hairs on my chin! Not my eyebrows! It’s so bushy. Come on, please.”

“You’re going to the salon. Get it done there.”

“I’m not trusting anyone to thread my eyebrows but the parlour Aunty back home. She’s the only one who gets it right. Anyone who’s not desi is not gonna touch my eyebrows. Let me just practice on you, so I can try and do mine. I tried to thread my eyebrows a few years ago and ended up pulling out the hair from the arch and I can’t afford to fuck up with the wedding festivities starting tomorrow,” she reasons.

“And I’m the guinea pig that could stand to lose a bloody eyebrow?”

“You won’t lose an eyebrow,” she chuckles. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

“No way! Here I was thinking you wanted to pamper me but you were trying to get me all putty in your hands, so you can rip out the hairs of my brow.”

“Please,” she tries again, jutting her bottom lip out, blinking rapidly to get a film of tears over her eyes, voice honey smooth.

“No,” Harry says firmly, closing his eyes to not fall for her glassy doe eyed trick. Her loud sigh makes him open up just in time to see her bottom lip quiver. “Anything but my eyebrows, baby,” he concedes. Fuck she is persuasive. 

“Fine,” she huffs out, wiggling her trapped hands. “Let me pluck out the three hairs that sprout from your mole at least,” she pokes the mole at the corner of his mouth.

“I do not have hair growi- Fuck off, dickhead.”

“You just said ‘anything but the eyebrows,’” she quotes, drawling out her voice to mimic his accent. 

“What are you? A lawyer? Using my own words against me,” he shakes his head. “Fine, anything but threading. I’m game for anything but threading.”

“Anything?”

“Anything,” he confirms. 

“Then… Maybe take me to this seafood restaurant?” She proposes, looking into his eyes expectantly.

“Deal. I’ll take you on a date to this restaurant. That’s it?”

“That’s it. All I want is the Cioppino.”

“We’ll go next week and make a whole day out of it.” She claps, abandoning the thread. “Deal?” She stretches out her pinky.

“Deal! Can’t wait,” says as he loops his pinky with hers and brings it  to his lips.

“We can make a whole day out of it.” She declares, walking over to the glass partition and turning on the rainfall shower head for hot water. “I bet I can call ahead and get us on those boats that take people to the sea to taste fresh oysters. We can laze around the beach for the rest of the day and I’ll make a reservation at Seabird in the evening.”

All of what she’s saying sounds very rehearsed, Harry’s eyebrows knit together and his eyes narrow. The place they were staying was landlocked; far far away from the nearest beach. “Lails, where’s Seabird?”

“In Wilmington,” she answers, with a giggle. 

Wilmington, a two and a half hour drive from Apex. A journey that Harry would have made her drive. He’d been driving her around the bloody country, and it’s only fair that she drove him around too. Ever since she told him that she was licensed to drive around multiple countries, in Vermont, he’d told her that they were gonna tag team for longer road trips. Of course, he’d drive her to and fro in a heartbeat but with each passing instance he found himself enjoying the role of a passenger princess - shovelling snacks into their mouths, curating playlists for their journey, fondling her thighs and chuckling at the sheer unwavering concentration she mustered while driving. And it was the experience he would have got while driving to the restaurant if not for her cornering him into this deal.

“Hey you conned me! This was your plan all along, wasn’t it?” He accuses, standing up straight with his hands on his hips. Although his gaze was accusatory, the smile that tugs the corner of his lips was one of pride by being outwitted by his girl.

“No backsies!” She lets out a gleeful laugh, stripping off her clothes beckoning him to follow.

////

“Hey, come on in,” Vasanth greets Anne and Harry, stepping aside to let him in. “Abi’s almost done getting ready. You guys need anything before we head over? Water?” It was still dark outside, with the first few rays breaking over the horizon.

“We’re good. Never got dressed this early for a wedding event in my life,” Anne chuckles, smoothing down the fabric of her floral shirt. “Does it always happen this early?”

“Yeah. The பந்தக்கால் முகூர்த்தம் (Pandakaal Muhurtham) usually takes place at dawn. We woke up at three in the morning to get the house set up for mine.”

Harry beelines towards the stairs in his aqua trousers and his white shirt mumbling about checking to see if Layla was ready.

“Harry.” Vasanth calls out. “Layla’s in the family room. She isn’t coming today.”

‘Why?” He asks, hand on the bannister as he steps down.

“She’s ill. Allergies,” he explains.

“Oh no. I didn’t know she was allergic to anything. Is she alright?” Anne enquires.

“Miss. Genius thought it would be a grand idea to get some persimmons from the tree in the backyard in the dead of the night-”

“She’s allergic to persimmons?” Harry asks.

“No. She’s allergic to the gypsy moth caterpillar. They’re pretty rampant in fall, which is why I zipped her up in my biggest jacket I could find everytime she stepped out of the house.” He points to the Tide jacket that was hung on the coat hook. “I think it fell on her when she was picking the fruit and she barged into our room wheezing and claiming that she was dizzy.”

“Oh dear. Let me go check up on her,” Anne says, giving her coat to Harry, marching towards the room. 

Layla is on her side, hands tucked under her cheek, breathing stuttering as she intently watches a show on her laptop - that was whirring like it was going to launch into space - with AirPods in her ear. Her lower half was swaddled in a fuzzy red blanket and her camisole showed them the red welts all over her shoulder with small irregular bumps that decorated her skin. 

“Sweetheart,” Anne coos, sitting on the coffee table. 

Layla smiles up at her, tugging off her AirPods as she reaches over to hit the spacebar - pausing her show. “Good morning. You look really nice!”

“Thank you, Layla. How are you feeling? Do you have any trouble breathing now?” She inquires - caressing her hair - from the whistle sounds she makes when she inhales.

“Nope. Just itchy,” her eyes flit to her splotchy skin on her forearm; she can feel Harry’s gaze - who’s hovering behind her - bore into the back of her skull.

“Did you go to the emergency room?”

“No. I bought my meds with me. I took an antihistamine, applied calamide on my skin. Wheezing has gone down considerably and I have my inhalers right here if it flares up again.”

“You came prepared?” Anne chuckles.

“Yeah. It’ll clear up by the afternoon. That’s what usually happens; I used to get them of-”

“You’ve been super allergic to them your whole life and you still haven’t learnt your lesson,” Vasanth scolds her.

“What lesson?” She coughs out.

“Do not go near trees, especially when it gets dark. Everytime-”

“Vasanth,” Abi chides in, walking into the room with a green linen saree, smelling like the jasmine that she’s pinned in her braid. “She’s sick. Don’t scold her.”

‘But she-,” her husband starts.

“Yelling at her is not going to get her better.” She tells him. “Nice pants, Harry.”

“Thanks,” he mumbles, smiling at her.

“Nandhini Aunty called. I think we’re running behind,” she informs them. “You’re gonna be alright alone, kutti?”

“Uh huh. You guys go have fun,” Layla shoos them away. 

“Okay. Call if you need anything okay,” Vasanth reminds her, bending down to kiss her hair. Layla nods.

The party makes their way to the front door, shuffling on their coats when they hear her call out, “எனக்கு காலை உணவை கொண்டு வர மறக்காதே, சித்தப்பா! (Don’t forget to bring me back breakfast, Uncle!)”

“ உனக்கு எதுவும் இல்லை! (None for you!) You’ll only get food after you drink the Neem juice!”

“Yuck!” She grimaces in disgust, making them all laugh. “I’m not doing that!”

“We’ll see about that when I get back. Get some sleep!” Vasanth shouts back. He grips on the door handle about to shut it when he sees Harry hesitate at the threshold, toying with his socks. Abi and Anne have already made their way across the street. “Everything okay?”

“Um no. I think-,” he stammers, running his hand through his hair. “I’m gonna stay with her. You guys go ahead.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Fair warning, her allergy meds knock her into a comatose state and the one time she couldn’t sleep because the house was noisy she picked a fight with my dad - who had the TV on - and bit him.”

“Really?” His eyebrows raise up.

“Yep. She turns into a rabid dog if she’s not left alone to sleep. She still threatens to bite me if I wake her up before the alarm. I think it’s best to leave her be. Don’t tell me I didn’t give you a heads up.”

“I think I can handle her,” he replies, cockily making Vasanth shrug before closing the door. 

////

Forty five minutes. It only took forty five minutes for Harry to want to eat his own words. Handling her was something he’s not sure how to do anymore. His original plan was to lull her to sleep, so she was less likely to be cranky but he did not expect her to swing in the opposite direction. The minute Layla heard him walk back, she buried herself under the blankets - refusing to come out. She announced to him with firm conviction that she was not going to fall asleep until Vasanth, Anne, and Abi got home and filled her in on all the details that happened across the street. He’d tried everything with her: he was stern to which she responded back by blowing a blaring raspberry at him, she whined like a brat when he tried to slot himself on the couch, she managed to quickly swipe her AirPods and her laptop from the coffee table when he’d made his way to the kitchen to make her some chamomile tea, and most of all she dismissed him with one word answers when he proposed that he’ll drive her to a lake if she turns off her show and listen to him.

And that brings him to now, forty five minutes later with a child coffee cup in hand, hunched over the end of the couch on his knees, a loud sigh escaping his mouth when he sees that the upright figure of his girlfriend cocooned in the blanket. She is so bloody stubborn, he thinks wordlessly tugging on the corner of the fleece fabric. She quickly tucks it under her thigh, mumbling underneath her breath about wanting to watch Neeya Naana in peace. 

“Layla,” he groans out, placing the mug on the table next to the thermometer. “What’s the debate topic this episode?” He asks. He’s watched an episode or two with her when they were vegging out on the couch. Layla had told him that the show helps break her bubble of privilege by giving her a glimpse into the opinions of the general public. And most of the time Harry sees her watching, eyes wide mumbling about how bloody backwards everyone is. 

“Housemaids versus Employers. It’s not not even a debate anymore; they’re just yelling at each other and the moderator is trying to shut them up.”

“Can I watch with you?”

“No,” she responds after a few beats, with a shake of her head. 

“Why not?”

“Go to Nandhini Aunty’s house, Harry.”

“I’m not gonna leave you! Baby, what’s wrong? I just want to take care of you. You were there when I was sick, why can’t I do the same?” He implores, gently placing a hand on her thigh, caressing the fleece of the blanket.

“It’s just allergies. It’ll go in a few hours-”

“Layla,” he cuts her off. “It doesn’t matter. Just let me under the blanket?” He pleads, giving a reassuring squeeze to her thigh.

Layla takes in a loud breath in. “I look hideous,” she admits quietly. “I have welts all over my skin. My face looks like a bumpy road. I don’t want you to look at me like this. You’ll laugh.”

Harry can’t help but laugh, making her pinch the skin on the back of his hand in response. “Ow!” He snatches his hand from her, rubbing over the spot. “I’m sorry. You’re being ridiculous, Lails. Do you really think I would laugh?”

“No,” she whispers. “What if you look at me now and just can’t get hard… like ever.”

“That’s preposterous. I get hard every time I think of you. Like sometimes I see you walk into my room with a smile on your face and boom - instant semi,” he admits, tugging the corner of the bed sheet, and slipping his hand in.

She giggles. “Your love boners,” she recalls, her hand clasping Harry’s that sneaks in, enjoying his warmth.

“Plus, I’ve sneezed on you - like a properly disgusting snotty sneeze and you’ve seen me pee! You still have sex with me,” he reminds her.

“That’s true! I’ve seen you pee like seven times now.”

“Just let me in, baby. I’ll close my eyes. Would that help?”

“No. I’m being silly again. Sorry.” She closes her laptop shut, and tugs her bed sheet off her with a big sigh, letting it pool on her lap.

Harry immediately helps her place her bulky old laptop on the ottoman along with her AirPods. She smiles down at him, and Harry can’t help cup her splotchy cheeks. She was warm, like she was running a slight temperature, her face was pink - with the calamide spread all over. Ruddy welts everywhere except for her nose and lips. The angry red bumps continued all over her neck, chest and down her arms. Her breaths were still accompanied by a faint whistle and all her hair was pulled into a messy bun, away from her skin.

“What on earth made you think that three in the bloody morning was a good time to eat persimmons?”

“I don’t know. I was thirsty and my water bottle wasn’t on the nightstand, so I came downstairs to get it from the kitchen and the tree caught my eye. I figured why not have a snack and you know I’ve never tasted persimmons before and Uncle had been holding me off from the tree until they got ripe.. So I figured why not?”

“And when did the fuzzy worm fall on you?” 

“I picked three and there was a really big ripe fruit high up, so I set my phone’s flashlight down and jumped to get it and ended up knocking it from the branch. It fell on my face,” she frowns. “I thought nothing would happen since every time those fuckers triggered my allergies it was back home and they were native species but I guess all the fuzz of caterpillars don’t agree with me.”

He can’t help but let out a boyish giggle at the thought of her itty bitty frame jumping up and down in the dead of the night trying to get a fruit. “This is why you should stay away from worms. They’re absolutely vile.”

“Hey! Just because I’m allergic to one particular demonic worm does not mean you can hate all of them. They’re so cute and slimy when they crawl around.”

“Whatever. Make bad choices and love on worms and snails.” He shakes his head, muttering under his breath, “Freak.”

“Hey!”

“Did you enjoy the persimmon at least?”

“No! They were so disappointing! Not worth all this at all,” she explains, scratching down her collarbone.

“No itching,” Harry reminds her, prying her fingers away from her irritated skin. 

“But it’s scratchy,” she complains. 

“I know.” He coos, kissing her hand. “Come on, scoot over,” he tells her, stripping down to his underwear.

“What are you doing?”

“Giving you a cuddle?”

“Go put on some trousers. Don’t want them coming home with you in your tighty whities.” She snorts out a laugh, pointing at his underpants.

“Nice to see that all your dickhead skills are intact despite your illness. He flips his middle finger to her, making her bark out a louder wheezy laugh. 

“I just folded a pair of your shorts and hoodie in my closet.” 

Harry quickly bounds up the staircase  and slips on his olive green hoodie and his black running shorts. By the time he gets downstairs, Layla’s already shuffled to the end of the couch, looking up at him with big bleary eyes. He hastily settles on the cushions, pulling the blanket around them, slotting his legs between hers while bringing her close to his chest.  That’s all it takes for Layla’s eyes to flutter close, reveling in the feeling of his fingers rub soothing circles on her scalp.

////

Abi wanders into Ganesan's kitchen to get a break from all the ruckus in the living room. She needed to get away from the ruckus. At first the conversation was flowing and easy between the guests as the women waited for their turn with the henna artist. She was sandwiched between the Ganesan’s dog and her husband, talking to the guests about their trips to India - about the new buildings erected and new hangout spots in Chennai as Jeans played in a muted volume. But as the women started trickling away, the conversation turned more mind-numbing, the TV switched to the sport channel that broadcasts cricket highlights from ten years ago, and somehow the conversation turned a corner to alligator hunting from the bride’s uncle from Florida. Vasanth mentioned that he and Layla ate some alligator on their trip to New Orleans and the people immediately went into all the gory detail of skinning the reptile and she did not want her breakfast to make its way up.

While the rest of the house was clean and meticulously decorated with fresh flowers and paper lanterns for the mehendi ceremony. But the kitchen was a mess. There were plastic bags everywhere, food containers out in the open, the sink was overflowing with glasses and dishes, a trail of food wrappers dotted its way from the pantry. The kitchen counter was transformed into a makeshift station with an ineffectual assembly line of Aunties making goodie bags for the guests to take home.

“Do you guys need any help?” 

“Yes, kanna,” Nandhini smiles. “Can you put some chocolate in each bag?”

“Here, you go,” an older lady politely hands her a box of Ferraro Rochers, and Abi gets into action.

“How far along are you?” The older lady asks, her curly hair frames her face and the grey strands provide a stark contrast against her deep skin tone.

“Five and a half months. Baby is due in the first week of March.”

“Abi’s all set to get a promotion at work in the New Year,” Nandhini adds, patting her back. 

“It’s nice that the women nowadays get to do it all,” an old grandmother adds, who wasn’t really contributing much but more so supervising the assembly line.

“Sometimes, I wonder how different my life would be like if I wasn’t made to discontinue college to get married,” the curly haired woman muses.

“Do you regret your life choices?” Another woman asks, who was standing across from them.

“I don’t regret my children or my husband but sometimes I wonder what life would have been like had I finished college. Maybe I too would be a working mother like Abi.”

“It’s not too late now, Aunty, you can sign up for some classes. There are some great certification courses online,” Abi tells her.

“Yeah but my brain is not brand new like it was before,” she chuckles, making the group laugh.

“I’m glad I stayed at home. I couldn’t not bring myself to leave my children in a creche,” Nandhini Aunty says.

“To each their own.” The grandmother gives the ladies a crinkly smile. “But it is nice that the young girls get a chance to establish themselves before marriage.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Nandhini says.

“What makes you say that?” Abi asks.

“I was reading this interview from a famous divorce lawyer back home and she credits the rising divorce rates to women being allowed to have their own careers and build lives before marrying. Think about it, say someone gets married at thirty. The young girl already has a fully developed belief system, she has a good savings put away, she starts spending how she wants and it’s very hard for them to compromise and bend to the life she is building with her husband.” Nandhini explains. “You know, because they will be set in their ways, it’s so much more likely for both of them to have massive egos and fights leading to a separation. Which is why I think women should get married soon.”

“Doesn’t that apply to men as they age too?” Abi asks.

“But boys are going to be boys. Can’t expect them to be mature. Which is why, Abi, I want you to talk to Layla about marriage - start seeding the idea, you know? I talked to your mother-in-law during the flower braiding ceremony and she was asking me if I knew of any good matches for Layla.”

“But she’s-” Abi starts.

“I think Layla and Ashwin would make a great pair. They are looking for brides for him. He’s in tech in San Francisco. He earns six figures. He’ll be able to handle her spunky personality. This is his mother,” Nandhini points to the curly haired woman she was conversing with.

Abi stares dumbfounded at the women in front of her cradling her baby bump, not knowing how to respond. Nandhini Aunty has backed her against a corner by having Ashwin’s mother also present in the conversation. She hates it. She hates Nandhini Aunty for being sneaky and crafting this exact moment. She hates that she essentially walked into this conversation. She also hates the fact that this is how the woman was raised and she’s trying to do a good thing - at least from her perspective.

“I’ve told her lots about Layla and from what she’s seen today, she likes her.” Nandhini continues. “Talk to your family about it and don’t let a good opportunity slip by.”

“I really appreciate it, Aunty, but we aren’t really looking for anyone at the moment. Plus, she’s seeing Har-”

“It’s a lapse in her judgement. She’s just seeking out new experiences. She is having fun now but what will happen when she gets more mature? She will want to settle down with someone similar - someone from her own culture. We should be the ones to guide her away from bad decisions,” Nandhini tells her, halting the conversation about Harry.

Abi chuckles. “Even if that is the case in the future, her number one goal right now is to get into a good PhD program. She’s only turning twenty three next month and she just started her first adult job this week. We're also starting to discuss the idea of marriage and hopefully find someone before it’s too late, you know how it is - good matches are hard to come by and I’m sure that’s why her grandmother is spreading around the word. Just not immediately,” she tells the women, shooting apologetic smiles at Ashwin’s mother, who nods along with the rest of the women.

“What program is Layla applying to?” Ashwin’s mother asks Abi. The conversation smoothly moves into the women’s children’s experiences with applying to grad schools until Anne informs Abi that she’s done and it’s her turn with the henna artist. 

////

One of the best things about getting your mehendi done was the feeling of the sharp plastic cone tip tickling the palm of your hand for hours, depending on the design. Layla certainly didn’t make the henna artist's job easy by giving her a neatly folded A4 sheet with the sketch of the design she designed. But the artist beamed -  when she unfolded the sheet of paper with an apologetic smile - as she was rubbing a few drops of eucalyptus oil on her palm to prep her skin. She has been sitting with the artist for an hour now, chatting with the henna artist about all the designs she had done on her clients so far. Anne and Abi were deep in conversation with their palm outstretched in front of a table fan, aiding in the drying process. 

“Lails,” Harry calls out, wandering into the living room to where she’s sitting on a round cushion on the floor. The backdrop was one with netted pink and bright yellow netted fabric draped all over with colourful paper lanterns hanging from the fairy lights strung above.

“Hmm?” She turns around to find him sauntering next to her clad in his monotone ivory kurta set. It was criminal how good he looked with the plunging v neckline, that exposed the slight dusting of his chest hair with his swallows peeping through on either side and the chain that glimmered around his neck. Her eyes can’t help wander down to how the gathering at the bottom of his pants only accentuated his graceful legs. The pale skin only accentuated the tan of his skin, making his jade eyes and raven tattoos.

“Can I drop my camera with you? Vasanth and I are heading over to Raleigh in a couple of minutes.”

“Where are you two going?” She asks and Harry Harry has to resist the urge to pinch her cheeks. Her allergies had subsided last evening, but there were still patches of pink on her face. She opted to not wear makeup - other than lipgloss and bindi - to the event to help her skin breathe and soothe before she had to glam up for the sangeeth and the kalyanam (ceremony). It didn’t matter to Harry because he had never seen someone so radiant in her flowy mint green anarkali, jhumkas dangling from her ear, her bangles tinkling as she pushed her hair behind her shoulders. The same bangles that were tucked away in his pocket when she sat down with the henna artist.

“He didn’t say but we’re picking up Earl along the way too.” He kneels down next to her, finally getting a peak at the drawing on her palms that the artist was doing her final touches on. “Wait- are those…,” he tilts his head, trying to get a better view.

“Elephants. Lots and lots of elephants!” She exclaims in a toothy smile that carves out the dimple on her left cheek. “How awesome is this!?!”

“It’s so pretty!” He carefully lifts her forearm - the one that was finished - to inspect the intricate line work. 

“Of course it’s pretty. Elephants tend to have that effect on people.”

“Especially you - wait, my phone’s buzzing,” he tells her, putting her hand down to rest on her knee before fishing it out of his pocket. “It’s Vasanth. I gotta go.”

“Itch my nose before you leave, please?”

He chuckles, going to scratch the tip of her nose. “Oh, and Abi,” he says, making her turn to face him.

“Vasanth told me to tell you that he has the cotton balls soaking in sugar water with lemon juice in the fridge for the three of you.” He waves to her and his mother and heads out.

“You’ve trained him well,” Layla laughs.

////

“Layla, wait up.” Ashwin calls out, jogging over to the Sathish’s driveway.

Layla, Abi, and Anne had bid their goodbyes to the wedding party at the Ganesan’s and had made their way across the road to their house. It was a chilly afternoon, especially with the frigid winds blowing up her gown. Indian wear – especially occasion wear - was not designed with colder temperatures in mind. All she wanted to do is head back to her room and turn on the portable space heater near her bed. “I’ll be a minute,” she tells Anne and Abi, as they go into the house through the opened garage.

“Hey, what’s up?” She asks, holding her arms up in front of her, cognizant to not smear the henna on her fancy clothing.

“I didn’t know you owned a camera,” he notes, gaze moving down to the camera that was hanging around her neck. 

“It’s Harry’s,” she tells him. “Everything okay?” 

“Yep yep. I have something for you and in hindsight I should have given it before you sat down for the mehendi,” he tells her, tugging his sweater.

“Yeah, I can’t really hold anything right now. Although, you can just put it there,” he points to the shelf in the garage, where Vasanth keeps his tools. “I can get it later when I’ve rubbed all of this off,” she nods to her hand. 

“Okay,” he nods, patting his pocket to fish out the object.

“What is it?” She asks. 

“Remember when we were talking about toys on our way to the jewelry store?”

She nods.

“I asked my cousin who was flying from Colombo to get these,” he tells her, opening his palm to reveal a small aluminium tube and a short plastic straw.

“Plastic bubbles!” She gasps. “They still make these?!?”

“Yup. I had forgotten all about them until you brought it up in the car.”

“Thank you so much, Ashwin. This is the sweetest. I would give you a hug if I could.”

He laughs. “Yeah, don’t fancy getting henna stains all over my clothes.” He walks over putting it on the shelf.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” She trails behind him.

“Yeah.”

“Do you, um - This is going to sound stupid. But, um, do you do this with everyone?”

“Sorry?”

“Get thoughtful gifts. Offer to take them places. Maybe you’re a wonderful person who’s kind and is just friendly but I’d just like to make sure that we’re on the same page. I’m sorry if this comes across as rude but I think what I’m asking - Well trying to ask, I’m doing such a shitty job of it is-”

“Yes.” He tells her quietly, feeling his heart thud in his ears, fingers busy picking out a phantom thread from his sweater. “I think I might have a crush on you.”

“Oh.” His confession stuns her. “Why?”

This makes Ashwin laugh. “What do you mean why?”

“No, I mean. We met ten days ago. You don’t know me.”

“I feel like I do know you, to a certain extent at least. It wasn’t like some instant crush or anything. Nandhini Aunty started talking about you to me after we first met and she er… she told me your family was looking for a groom and she was on my ass to get married. She was telling me how we would make a great couple and - you look disappointed,” he notes.

“I’m not. Just finish your story.”

“My mom was also looking for girls and you were pretty cool with basketball, golf, and video games… I liked you and Nandhini Aunty pushed me to talk to you and the more we interacted I thought ‘why not her,’ so under her instructions I started to woo you,” he admits, looking down at the floor. “The more she said that we would make a great couple, the more I believed.”

“Wooed me?” She chuckles. “Let me get this straight, you bought me stuff and are nice to me because your Aunty told you to?”

“No no. I mean I’m not gonna say it was all her. I wanted to, too. She just influenced my choices.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Layla shakes her head, blowing out a long breath. “Actually I do. If you really know me, you’d also know that I’m only twenty two and I’m not done studying. I don’t want to get married to you or to anyone. Would you wanna be ‘wooed’ at twenty two for a lifelong commitment? Plus, I’m dating someone. Harry. Did that get lost in translation or something?”

“Oh. You’re only twenty two.” Ashwin steps back. “I didn’t know you and Harry were a thing. I really didn’t, I swear. Nandhini Aunty told me you two were friends. I’m sorry. I do admit I was a bit jealous that you barely considered my invites to hang out in favour of him but I thought of him as your friend. If I had known he was your boyfriend, I wouldn’t have asked you out. I would never want to put anyone in such a position. I didn’t know you were not interested. From what I was told, it seemed like you were open to it. I really am sorry. I crossed so many boundaries. I just got sucked into the whole marriage spiel with the wedding and all.”

Layla stands quietly for a few minutes. Had she been that blind to not know that someone was expressing interest in her. Harry was weirdly right, she thinks. He wasn’t being jealous for no reason, he did pick up on Ashwin’s hints and she just thought it was him being irrational and upset because she was speaking to another man. Fuck. I owe him an apology. She feels terrible that Harry went through all that - unearthing insecurities - when she could have stopped it all. But a little part of her was glad it happened because she didn’t know the complexities of his relationship with his father and she felt a lot closer to him after that night. 

“Did I lead you on?” She asks.

“No. I’m sorry about this whole thing. It’s just a giant misunderstanding.”

“It is. For the record, my interest is with the portals for PhD applications. They open in a few days-”

“Hey, I get it. You don’t have to explain anything. I’m sorry about all of this but for mostly, making you uncomfortable in any way-”

“You didn’t,” she let him know, with a smile. “Hey, besides I get it, Aunties try to talk us into a lot of shit.”

“Agreed. I do carry some blame in the mess here but I hope we can be friends. I would hate for you not to come over for the movie night because of this.”

“I’ll be there with Harry. Will Pooja be there?” Layla barely got to see Pooja today because she had to be there at the venue to oversee decorations with her father. Her lack of presence was a gaping hole for Layla today, who was looking forward to seeing her decked up in the brightest of yellow clothes. 

“Of course. They are on their way home actually. She’s the last person and then the henna artists leave. She was the one who picked out Love Today.”

“I can’t wait to watch. I saw a sneak peak on YouTube and I had flashbacks to Amma (mum) yelling at me for constantly being on my phone.”

“I know right! Raadika is doing such a good job with her mother characters. See you two tonight.”

“See you.” She waves to him as she walks out of the garage. “Thank you for the plastic bubble!”

////

“You are surprisingly good at that,” Layla announces, with a mouthful of her lentil salad, watching him perfectly flick the pebble onto the body of water.

“Why is that surprising?” He questions, cocking his head to the side. The pebbles skips on the water four times, before sinking, leaving a path of concentric ripples in wake of an otherwise still sight.

“You’re so clumsy otherwise,” she shrugs, scraping the remaining contents of sprouted lentils onto her spoon for the final mouthful wishing she had access to raw mango like she did back home. That would have made her breakfast a million times better.

“Hey, I haven’t bumped into anything today,” he chuckles.

“Yet. It’s only seven in the morning. You’ve got lots of time,” she teases, making him spin around to face her with his hands on his hips.

Beautiful, wasn’t enough of a word to capture the sight in front of Layla. The distant silhouette of barren trees lined up on the hazy horizon in a stark contrast of dark. The sun was making its ascent up the distant woody lining, making the sky bleed a vibrant yellow. The yellow that was slowly growing over the dark violet of the night's residue. The pink rimmed clouds were now faintly disappearing as a brighter colour weaves its way into the expanse of the atmosphere. The water slowly stills again becoming an unobstructed reflection of the beauty of the cosmos. It’s almost like the water knew that it needed to capture the beauty it experienced every day and so, it became a mirror - telling the refracted light and photon of its allure. But that wasn’t it at all. What would have been another scenery of daybreak becomes something that is inexplicably Layla’s because of the boy standing at the edge of the shore. It’s almost empyrean in his black trousers - that had somehow ended up with a smudge of dried paint, a ringer t-shirt, and an unbuttoned Gucci cardigan. He’s looking down at her with a faux cross look that he can muster but his resplendent dimples always give him away. 

He’s keeping his promise of driving her to Lake Jordan for a breakfast picnic in exchange for her complacency when her allergy flared up. And here they are two days later, Layla is sitting on a blanket in his solar system themed jumper and yoga pants with a thick comforter wrapped around her to protect herself from the cold. “Come sit with me,” she nods to the spot next to her by the scrunched up foil - the one that he abandoned leaving behind morsels of the bagel egg sandwich she threw together earlier. 

He walks back over to her, slotting himself behind her, draping the comforter over his shoulders and cradling her against his chest, so she’s wrapped too. “It’s a bit nippy today,” he notes, resting his chin on top of her head.

“Hmm,” she sighs in contentment, leaning her head back against the slope of his shoulder.

“Are you having a good time?” He asks.

“Hmm.”

“Thank you for breakfast.”

“Hmm.”

“Your mehendi stains pretty dark. I love your design.”

“Hmm.”

“It makes your hands smell nice too. Not that I’m sniffing your hands or anything.”

“Hmm.”

“You’re not listening to me, are you?”

“Hmm.”

He smiles, tilting down to give her a kiss on the messy bun she’s pulled her hair up in. “I liked your outfit yesterday,” he tells her, rocking her from side to side. “Especially your hair. I didn’t get why you made such a big deal about my haircut but when I saw you with shoulder length hair I almost felt this pang in my chest. I love running my fingers through the length of your hair, it’s very calming. I mean it’s not like I can’t do it now but - anyway what I’m trying to say is that as much as I miss your old look. I love your new look just as much, if not more. It’s gonna take some getting use to. But it does make your cheeks super chubby.” He playfully pinches the apples of her flushed cheek.

When Layla went to the salon with Anne and Abi, she spontaneously decided to chop off her hair. She was getting tired of it. There was so much of it and it was all over her face and it was falling in clumps with the sudden change in weather. It made her nervous, in a lot of ways her hair was her security blanket, so instead of doing something drastic. She settled on getting two subtle layers with wispy bottleneck bangs. She immediately regretted the decision when she saw her hair on the floor of the salon. Several inches of her hair that ran all the way down to her waist, now sat right under her collarbone but the heart that Harry had replied with as a response to the picture she sent gave her a semblance of ease. 

“Hmm.”

“What?” He chuckles. “Are you sleepy? Not very talkative.”

She doesn’t reply, instead she tilts her head up from the crook of his neck to gaze at the sharp line of his jaw, and the moles on his neck - right next to the vein that bulges out when he sings, lifts or cranes his head. She can’t help the dopey smile that spreads across her face at the sight of his double chin and the crease of his smile line and the craters of his dimples.

“Layla, you’re staring,” he points with a matching loopy grin. He looks down at her with heavy lidded eyes and notices her fingers clasping the tiny elephant pendant around her neck as she moves it side to side.

“I’m sure this is all romantic in your head,” he says, giving her a loving squeeze. “And it would have been the same for me too but all those slasher movies you made me watch has me thinking that you’re gonna stab me with a screwdriver any second now.”

She lets out a sweet peal of laughter, melting into his chest planting a wet peck on the side of his neck as his cheeks grow a tinge of pink at the admission. “I’m not thinking of murdering you, babe. Far from it actually. I was trying to string together a speech.”

“Speech? For what?”

“You. From the minute I got into the car. I’ve been trying to come up with something perfect but I’m nowhere done, so there’s no way for me to know if it’s all rambly-”

“Let’s hear it then.”

“What?’

“Let’s hear it. You’re not gonna know it’s perfect until you practice, so go on,” he encourages her.

“Okay.” She exhales slowly, the hand that was not fiddling her necklace, weaves itself on top of his hand. “It doesn’t make sense. None of it does. The more I think about it, the more befuddled it gets. I’m not supposed to be here. Like I’m not supposed to be here with you. I’m supposed to be in Singapore. I had the whole trip meticulously planned to the hour. I was going to visit all the places my grandparents went to when they lived in Singapore. They spent the first five years of their marriage there. Appa (Dad) was born there. I was going to put together a scrapbook or make a vlog showing them how much the city has changed since they left but… you know what happened. I ended up on a flight here a few months after. To this quiet suburb in small town USA that I didn’t know existed before my Aunt and Uncle started building their house.

“And I know you think it’s fate and the whole notion of being tied together into a coherent tapestry and it makes sense to you because you read poetry and watch sappy movies and love love. But I can’t fathom the idea of our initials written in the stars, and our atoms colliding because of prophecy - almost like this was meant to happen. Intricately calculated by time itself. It doesn’t make sense to think that the universe itself erupted in ultraviolet chaos when we first locked eyes, like a raging multicolor of sound and colour to symbolise something grandeur. So, I cannot wrap my head around the world rupturing and fragmenting for us.”

Harry’s quiet. His mind is running a mile a minute about the possibility of what direction this conversation was headed. Deep down he knows there’s nothing to worry because she’s burrowing in his embrace. But he takes in her words slowly processing the weight and intent behind each and everyone of them. Layla turns around to face him, sitting on her knees, looping her hands around his neck and pulling his forehead down to hers as his hands perch on the small of her back. They stay like that for a while basking in the stillness of the environment juxtaposed by the lively birdsong until she backs away to look into his eyes.  

“But I do know this,” she continues, giving him a bashful smile that melts away the weight of the world from his bones. “I know the universe is expanding and the only sun that we know is one day going to collapse in itself. I know that we are all hurtling towards our impending doom with each passing second. I understand the brain. I can make sense of liking the feeling of my freshly shaved legs against the sheets, going back to watch Winnie the Pooh when things don’t work out, singing along obnoxiously to ABBA, or my fondness for snails and elephants. It’s a cocktail of endorphins - dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin. I know the grass isn’t waiting for my footsteps. I know flowers don’t bloom for me. I can make sense of a lot of things.

“And I know I was scared that saying it out loud will make it real and you’ve been very patient but I’m ready to be vulnerable for you, with you. I know that every time you go on tangents and talk about clouds, seashells, the weather, my fondness for you grows. I’ve been fond of you ever since I ran into you at the park and you talked to me about sea monkeys on the way home. I admire that you want to help the planet and how hard you worked on your college essay. I can always count on you to draw me a warm bath, tuck my hair behind my ears, look at me like I’m the prettiest in the room, to squeeze my fingers while crossing the road, bake me treats when I demand, and hold me close when I need you to. These things make sense to me. And even if I don’t understand a lot of how we came to be, I'm absolutely certain about the fact that I love you.”

 Layla lets out a short sigh of relief, shoulders slumping down, heart slowing its thumps against her rib cage as she hunches over to get closer to him. “I fucking love you, Harry Edward Styles and that is one thing that the universe can be sure of.”

He’s still and Layla can’t make out anything as she searches his face. Maybe I broke him, she worries her bottom lip. A few moments pass by but waiting makes it seem like an eternity. She sniffles from the icy wind that blows over, watching his eyes glass over and the faintest twitch of his cheek.

“Har, say someth-”

A toothy smile breaks across his face, one that highlights his bunny teeth and carves out dimples on his cheek as his face flushes with colour. He pulls her close, hands coming to cup her warm cheeks as he mutters, “Perfect. Absolutely perfect.”

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK SO FAR!    

[laniidae-passerine]

I made my post about Dean Highbottom and then as I was writing my tags realised that his Hunger Games counterpart is Haymitch. and now my head is in my hands and I don’t think I’ll ever recover

[megumi-fm]

.

[quicksilversquared]

I need the rest of the week to calm down because it's only Tuesday and I am already tired enough to just want to walk straight into a wall and give up for the week.

[puppyeared]

save me old flipnote studio MVs.......

[skysmadness]

no fucking idea of what's going on with me what do you Mean i miss voltron

[ambitions-of-an-eccedentesiast]

oops, all hands

Next->

<-Previous

[petricorah]

in the end, she drew this instead

[the-silver-peahen-residence]

||An Officer's Corruption part Twenty-three||

Hello there dears, Peahen mom here and it's time for another chapter to this one. And yes, this might be the longest mini series I've written with my amazing friend of course demon mun. So, I hope you like.

If you wish to see how or where everything is going, you can follow up on the chapters down below.

||Previous Chapters 1-7||((Click here))

((Previous chapters 8-13)) (Click here))

||Previous chapters 14-20)) ((Click here))

Part Twenty one ((NSFW Warning))

Part Twenty two ((NSFW Warning))

((Your reading part twenty three))

||OVA Chapters 1-7|| ((Written by my amazing friend demon mun)) (Click here))

||Warning||

~Drug use will be spoken of and told of in this

~Relaxing moment for some parts

~Dark theme/mention of Self harm and su**** attempt will be present in this. This is a heavy warning if you read this chapter, it will be dark on a part so just a heads up.

||Drabble Summary||

Another day is here in T prison seeing the prisoners were out eating some breakfast in the main grand hall. The wardens were keeping watch for now but what adventures will be present today? And during the warden's video meeting? Also, what information will be found during Sai's investigation? Read to find out.

||Guests in Drabble||

Ira"Kali" Vin-Shia, Ink Vanguard, Kinie Ger, and Rave"Oblivion" Daitengu and anyone else mention belongs to my amazing Rp partner @demon-blood-youths Also Kisho belongs to her but is from the side blog @chunibyo-x-sorcerer

Jinx Violet and Yuuka Nakano are my OC's and belong to me. Yuji Itadori, Megumi fushiguro, and Yuji Itadori is from Jujutsu Kaisen but is also a muse I rp as. Same with Terry McGinnis and Maxine(Black cat) also is from batman beyond but also here due to being muses.

((Note: Their will be grammar mistakes and errors in this drabble as others have this warning. But like I state before, this is written for fun. So I hope you like it and my friend too. And again, a part in this chapter will involve something dark and heavy so please don't read if this triggers you. With that, I hope you Enjoy.))

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another morning as come at T prison, seeing that all the inmates have went through roll call and was now eating breakfast. Most were either chatting to their 'buddies' or 'next door neighbor' as the morning goes alone. Warden Kinie Ger along with the officers were keeping a close eye on them even the main ones that was eating at their tables.

Officer Vanguard was keeping a eye on the Six claws seeing them eating breakfast or having a light conversation.

Officer Vin-Shia was keeping her eyes on the inmates but she was wondering if Rex already got his food for this morning. Or do they even let him out during this time? Well, given his status, maybe not. They did have a reason for keeping him away from the other inmates so she wouldn't question Warden Kinie's ways.

And for Officer Violet, she was keeping a eye on Inmate Yuji who was eating breakfast with his two friends Kisho and Megumi who were talking about something to see Megumi shaking his head and Kisho laughing a bit.

Honestly, this morning was not too bad right now and the inmates were behaving for once. Maybe this morning wouldn't be so bad. For now, they keep a eye out before one officer goes to Kinie to get her attention.

"Miss Ger?" she blinks hearing this but turns her head to look at him.

"What is it officer? "she asked.

"A meeting is being held in two minutes with the other wardens from their prisons. It seems they are ready for the daily meeting." he said.

"......Hmmmm, Understood. I'll be there shortly in my office. "she sees him nod, turning to walk off.

"Hey, you three." she sees Jinx, Kali, and Ink look at her. "I have to attend a meeting with the other wardens right now. I assume you three can take care of the noon patrol later when the inmates head out for training?" she asked.

"Of course! You can count on us!" Ink and Jinx said happily but Kali growls to bonk them on the head.

"STOP DOING THAT!"

"OW!"

"......" Kinie sighs with eyes closed but she reopens them to look at the three. "Just..try to be sure nothing else happens while I'm in the meeting. Understand?" she said seeing the three nod.

"Oh and here.." She shows two folders as she hands one to Ink and the other to Jinx.

"Uhhhh what is this warden Kinie?" Ink asked opening the folder and looks. It shows a paper letter that reads the follow.

"By order of the Warden, the six claws shall be attending classes to improve their skills if needed before being released on patrol. If one has not completed for their GED they will have that chance too. Will be in effect in two days from now."

Jinx's own reads:

"Approval for Yuji Itadori and his two inmate friends Megumi fushiguro and Kisho Hashimoto to be moved to a bigger cell. This will take effect immediately by the afternoon. Their cell will be private and away from the other inmates."

Both Ink and Jinx looks to the letters but at one another to smile happy. It was approved and written right on paper to confirm it!

"Alright, I'm heading off. But if something happens let me know right away..." with a nod from the three, she turns to head to her office for the daily video meeting call. She wonders if their reports are better than last year but she'll know sooner or later.

"Good and if something happens let me know right away..." with a nod from the three, she turns to head to her office for the daily video meeting call. She wonders if their reports are better than last year but she'll know sooner or later.

"I didn't know Warden Kinie did those types of meetings. Do you think it's something serious?" Jinx asked the two.

"It might be. Given from what happened a while back, that's something." Kali grumbles.

"True but we won't know since it's between wardens only. I'm sure it's nothing bad.." Ink said while Kinie walks off. However, Midoriya noticed Kinie walking off but his green eyes looks then looks down. Now where could she be going off too? He might not know but this got Atsushi to look at him.

"You alright Midoriya?"

"Hmm? I'm alright Atsushi don't worry. Just thinking about something is all." he said eating his breakfast with a smile. Ren, Rin, Denji, and Bakugo looks to him wondering what was up before they saw Ink keeping watch with the other two though she was still freaking precious.

~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~~~~~

"You want me to do what now?" Terry looks to Officer Narong while he was drinking some hot coffee given to him by the officer. Sai was looking at him but drinking something as well to help him focus this morning. Even after the phone call with Oblivion.

"You heard me. I wanted to ask if you could help me gather information about someone named Yuuka Nakano. I know or get the feeling you have inner information where us officers can't get. Maybe if you can, you might be able to help me out with that." He sees Terry taking a sip of his coffee trying to think about it. However, he lowers the cup to sigh.

"Depends on the information. What type of info are you looking for? Background checks? Life history? Criminal records? Personal info that's under lock and key? Medical records?" he said seeing Sai blink but he thinks about that.

"Hold on, how did you-"

"As you would say, I have my ways Officer Narong. So, depending on what you need..what is it?" he asked.

"........." Sai was thinking about it but he closed his eyes. What would he go first? What info would help get them a head start? For that time, he opens his eyes to look at him.

"I guess starting with drug use and medical use in her history. Maybe something involving her path during that time?" he asked but Terry looks to him then thinks.

"So drug dealers I take it? That's something not common..hold on." he reaches to try something before checking something on the computer that Sai had in this office. He begins to type before he checks seeing the screen darken a little making Sai blink.

"What are you-"

"Just a moment.....Cat should be hacking in so we can get her to check."

Wait. Cat?

Within a moment, the screen glitched, showing a hidden room but someone was there hard at work. Dark skinned woman with dark pink short hair. She had a black t-shirt on but was chewing on some bubble gum while looking at something.

'What's up Terry? Need something?' the woman asked but he chuckled to look.

"Still busy as you are Cat?"

'As I always should be. Eh? How are you even able to let me hack through this? I thought the police-'

"Don't worry. The place I'm in has a strong protection CDI so you should be fine. But if they tired to figure out someone hacked into their mainframe they won't know it's you."

'...True..'

"Terry, who is she?"

"Oh right. Officer Narong, Meet Black Cat. She's my partner in crime and my best hacker. She's able to hack into anything and get any information anyone can think of. She's pretty good at her job since none can keep up with her. Not even the police can find darker hidden files like she can...." he said as Cat smiled.

'That sounds like your being a flirt Terry...'

"I'm being nice silly. That's all. Anyway, I was hoping you can help us out here.....we need some information involving someone." he said hearing her typing.

'Sure, who's the name?' she asked.

"What was her name?" Terry asked Sai.

"Oh right....Yuuka Nakano was her name." he said as Cat heard this and begins typing. She looks through her computer screen while looking at the information.

'Hmmm..Yuuka..Nakano...' Cat said typing in her name before hitting Enter. In a moment, she got some data pulled up but she blinks to whistle.

'Wow; she's done a lot of shit hasn't she? Even from the drug medic record. Damn..'

"What you got Cat?" Terry asked as she was typing again.

'A lot of messed up shit if that's one way to say it. I mean, these records are pretty dark to say the least. I'm shocked she's not over dosed with this much pumped into her for so long.' she said.

"Hold on, what do you mean by that?" Sai asked but Cat heard the bubble pop to check something else.

'Here, I'll send it to you both so you can see for yourself....' she said hitting enter. Right away, a few emails were sent but they open up after a while. It shows folders involving data or info about Yuuka.

"This is a lot of information Cat."

'Yeah but the info is again pretty dark. You might be in this for a while..' she said. Sai blinks hearing this but Terry moves the mouse and clicks on one file. It opens showing a info sheet of her when she used to be in UA. It's a older file.

UA student file

Name: Yuuka Nakano

Hero name: Nightshade

Gender: Female

Quirk: Pyro-Toxikinesis (Able to make toxic flames and split them up using fire and posion)

Class: 1-A

Notes: Yuuka is a promising student that's willing to help anyone and become a hero like her parents. She's well known in the school while doing well in classes and being helped with her quirk. So far, studies have been doing well so far. Right now, she is progressing well in 1-A class.

"Okay, that don't sound too bad though." Sai said looking at the file.

'Not right now. This was a file when she was in that school. However, click the next one. It gets a bit darker.' Cat warns as Terry did that. The next file was a bit different.

UA Student file

Name: Yuuka Nakano

Status: Was kidnapped/gone missing

Information: After a failed mission, the classmates in 1-A has been told that Yuuka Nakano a.k.a Nightshade had been kidnapped on Friday of May. We were told of the situation given to us and has sent a look out team to find her. The search began today. We hope to find her.

((Update on search))

No update yet but still looking for her. We pray that she is found soon.

((Update on Search #2))

Still nothing. We have had to get other heroes to do a look out for her. Given no information to what might have happened. Her family is already begging for someone to find her. No records shown so far about it.

((Update on search #24))

Days have passed so far but no luck. We fear for the worst but we have not stopped looking for her yet. She has to be alive still. Given the information we have, it seems we are going to have to address this as either a different case.

Terry and Sai blinks reading this. So she was kidnapped that day though, she must have been gone for a while or longer. As they keep reading they check the next one.

((Update on Search #235))

Finally after a few months or so, we found her. She was located near the riverside but she looked like a mess. She even seems a bit sick. We took her in and got her treated at the hospital though we were given notes from the doctor to tell us about her status.

'Yeah, she was kidnapped for a long while but it explains a bit.' Cat said to the two.

"Though, it don't explain the drugs Cat." Terry said.

'I know..you have to open the next file for that one. It's a list of the drugs she was given at the time. And again, it's a long list...you usually find these drugs in the black market.' she said.

Wait, Black market?

Sai looks seeing the list that Terry clicked on showing it. A long list of not known drugs were seen. Shots, needles, and pills of many uknown drugs were listed here and was given to Yuuka during her time of being kidnapped.

"Geez..."

".........."

'Though, their is a updated medical note from the school and the doctor.' Cat said sending that. The note reads as follows.

Doctor's note: Even if we treated Miss Nakano from what happened she's not as stable. We tired to help her during treatment but she tends to snap at us and attack with her quirk. We had to bind her down on the medic bed to insure we can treat her. Most of my nurses were poisoned by her quirk. Others knocked out or badly burned. However, she was treated that next day or for a while. We had to monitor her behavior and see what types of drugs were injected into her.

When getting the results back, it was..shocking. So many was given to her it's almost like she became addicted to it. Lucky she didn't but if they kept given her the drugs then it was a strong possible answer. Though, their was some slight healed bruising on her. Maybe she was forced to do something while being kidnapped? We are unsure but will keep a eye on her.

"So she was forced to do something..but what could that be?" Sai said. "Even with all these drugs, she would have overdosed." he mutters.

"True but it seems something must have happened or her quirk must have done something." Terry said looking at the info before seeing something else.

'Oh no, it just gets worse boys...keep reading..' she said sending another one. 'This is when she was back in school..'

((UA student info))

Name Yuuka Nakano

Age: 21

Gender: Female

Status: Student?

Info: After Nakano has returned back to class she seemed a bit off now. After the incident of being kidnapped, she tends to be distracted in class. Scratching and muttering to herself. Even if she is a bit more violent if others try to touch her, she still wishes to be a hero. We worry for her future after that but it must have scarred her badly right after. We are unsure if she will be able to continue with this.

((Update#2))

Status: Unknown/Removed from 1-A till further noticed for her protection

Info: We had a little mishap today from a couple missions from the following weeks and months. Yuuka's quirk has gotten a bit out of control due to the violent nature she has shown. Even if her heart still says she wishes to be a hero, the people fear for her. She's already threatened to poison innocent people that was seen as villians in Yuuka's eyes. Many used to see her as a innocent young woman but most fear her now due to her quirk and disturbing behavior. But now some have made allegations that they seen her when doing criminal activity. We are unsure about this information but will keep looking into this.

For now, shes being quarantined for safety of the public and herself.

((Update #3))

Status: Hero status changed to Dangerous Vigilante

After trying to stabilize her and quarantine her, Yuu has gotten worse. We got word that she's been doing things on her own but given the fact she's acted dangerous towards criminals and some innocent people. Because of this, the people has demanded she get some better treatment. We had no choice but to remove her from UA for her safety and the public. That lead to more violent activity from Nakano till we had no choice but to arrest her. We found out she took down a villain but heavily poisoned him to be killed. She then tried attacking the police only to get tazed and handcuffed.

From that night, Nightshade or Yuuka Nakano was no longer a hero and we prey she gets the help she needs. She was to be sent to prison for her safety and others.

Now both Terry and Sai were silent at this. What the hell? Cat sighed to look but she had her arms crossed. 'Oh and just to let you know, that's just the beginning. Theirs more disturbing things in her files so..you both might be reading for a while. Their is info about the black market in there and the owner of the guy who made the drugs and kidnapped her too I believe....' Cat said.

Now Sai was concerned. Just what the hell happened to Yuuka?

~~~~~~~~Meanwhile at Roosevelt Island~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oblivion was leaving the office but sighed having her eyes closed. She runs her fingers through her hair but hopes that Yuuka was alright. Whatever Sai could find will help her know a bit more about her. What happened and what changed her to what she is now.

During this time, she was going to get some water and something to eat when hearing Luna speaking to two officers.

"Guys, you both doing okay?" she asked.

"No worries were fine." Damien said with his arms crossed seeing the others Ming, Maxine, Trevor, and Swan agreeing.

"Alright. Though, has anything happened?" she asked.

"No, we haven't checked on her yet. We assume she's resting right now." Maxine said but he keeps his arms crossed feeling his boyfriend Trevor near him.

"Well, she might be up after last night. I'll go and see if she's alright or at least soon. I heard the goo was gone so the room was not quarantine anymore."

Well, that's good to hear. Maybe Oblivion can check on her this morning to see how she was. She walks over to see the others going about their duties. "Hey Luna, is that true? Is she.."

"Hey Oblivion. Yeah, I got word that the toxic goo is gone so we can check on her if you like." she said as she nods. She wanted to see how she was and hope she was alright. So, the two walks over to Yuuka's holding cell. However, when getting there, they saw some officers speaking to themselves while working. They get to the door seeing the sign was removed so it was safe!

"I'll go and check on her. Is that fine?" Oblivion asked seeing Luna nod.

"Of course." she said smiling. Nodding her head, Oblivion goes to open the door heading inside. It seems everything was alright now but she looks ahead seeing the cell.

"Hey, Yuuka? I wanted to come and check on you..I hope your alright this morning-" she sstarted to say but stops from what she saw. Yuuka didn't respond to her. In fact, she was standing up in her cell looking at the window there. She was holding something up in her hand but from what Oblivion saw.....wait........she saw something else and the smell lingering in the air. It smelled like copper? Hold on..

'I..Is that blood?....hold on, what did she..' Oblivion looks to see that Yuuka was holding something but getting a better look, it was that a glass shard from the window given the light breeze that blew.

"!?!"

'I can't do this anymore..it hurts too much. No matter how many damn times I tried cutting it out. It won't come out. I'll just have to dig deeper to get them out! I want them out..I want them to get it out!!!!' she thought about to stab her own throat ready to spill her blood.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

Yuuka tenses hearing the shout turning around but saw Oblivion. Before speaking she tries to bring it down only stabbing her hand.

"STOP THAT!" Oblivion rushes to open her cell door but quickly grabs the glass shard from Yuuka who struggles trying to get it back from her.

"Give it back to me! I have to get these things out of me! Give it back!" she shouted about to poison her but Oblivion held her down while feeling her struggling.

"GIVE IT BACK YOU FUCKING-"

"ENOUGH ALREADY!" Oblivion said now furious that she would go that low but held her down while Yuu struggles. "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING!? WERE YOU SERIOUSLY PLANNING ON KILLING YOURSELF!?"

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU CARE!? YOU POLICE DON'T GIVE A SHIT! YOU ALL NEVER DID! YOUR THE REASON I'M LIKE THIS!!! YOU DAMN POLICE OFFICERS DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ANYONE ELSE BUT YOURSELVES! YOU NEVER WERE THERE YOU WERE ALL AGAINST ME!!! EVEN WITH MY QUIRK!!!" Yuu shouted but she tries now burning Oblivion but she felt Yuu kick her back crashing against the wall as Yuu panted shaking. Tears were seen running down her cheeks.

"You fucking officers don't give a shit! So why do you fucking care now!? Even being through so fucking much..NOW YOU CARE!? THEN WHAT OF THE FUCKING DRUGS!? THE SHOTS!! WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT SHOW!!" she said about to throw a fire ball at her but Oblivion ducks but grabs Yuu's wrists. "!?"

"You need to stop this!"

"Let go of me!" she shouted angry at her but Oblivion didn't want to do this only to close her eyes.

"You need to calm down or I'll have to be forced to make you!" she said not wanting to.

"Let me the fuck go!" she said and yet Oblivion looked at her as she struggles again only for her to keep holding her wrists tight. Sparks of electricity shows from her hands.

"I can't...and please forgive me for this." she said before shocking Yuuka. She screams out in pain wincing from the strong shock but Oblivion only sees her shaking before she kept up with the shock then stops. Oblivion looks at her slowly but Yuu was twitching now before she winced. Smoke was seen coming off of Yuu's body as she stood there.

"............" As Yuu stood there, she slowly looks to her but Oblivion wonders what was wrong. Was she going to speak. And being right, Oblivion heard her speak.

"I..I'm s..sorry..I'm sorry..I d..didn't mean t..to do any of t..that. It was j..just so painful..it still..*begins crying* H..Hurts..It hurts.." she mutters now showing more tears that her eyes were dimmed out or dulled.

Before Oblivon tries to ask, she sees her fall that Oblivion catches her quickly. She looks to be knocked out but she got a better view on her. Cuts. Deep cuts from that glass shard were seen and she seems to have made them deep.

"Yuu......" she mutters before the door opens but Luna shows.

"What the hell happened!?"

"Yuuka was trying to....I can't say but you can guess from the blood right? "she said but Luna saw the blood and the cuts she made.

"......Come on, we can take her to the medic room." Luna said as Oblivion carefully picks Yuuka up so follow her.

A few moments later, Oblivion and Luna were standing outside the room seeing Swan healing her as she was laying on the medic bed being treated. Though, Oblivion grips her arms not wanting to do that. Or to say a last resort. She wanted to stop Yuu for hurting others but she didn't want her to hurt herself.

"...Geez, i didn't know she would go that far to do that." Luna said but she was worried too.

"......I don't know how long she's been even doing that. I have a guess it's been a while since she's done it?" she asked but Luna sighed.

"I guess. Even so, that might be due to something. Maybe something happened that drove her down that way. It's sad to see. I just hope.....we can at least help her.." Luna said but Oblivion had a feeling it was due to either drugs, manipulation, or worse. She only grits her teeth angry for the ones that put her through this but seeing Yuu's tired weak expression she looked hurt and alone. It wasn't right. For now, both would wait till she would be let out again...for right now, Oblivion needed to watch her till getting news.

That's when Swan comes out but Oblivion saw. She stood up to look at her. "How is she?"

"Stable. The cuts were not as bad but they were badly deep. Judging by how they looked, she must have made them last night."

"........"

"However, I cleaned and wrapped them up so she just needs rest right now. If you wish, you can go in and be with her till she wakes up." she said.

Oblivion looks quiet to her but nods. "That would be fine." With a nod, Swan leads Oblivion in the room but she saw Yuu resting up. She goes to sit down on a chair looking to her. She seems really weak but she looks quiet while doing so.

"......." For now, Oblivion hopes Sai and the other helps in finding out more about this. Or if the ones that did this to her were around because she would make them pay.

[todayisafridaynight]

I’m fairly new to the fandom, but I do have a question if you can answer it! Why do people ship Daigo with Aoki / Masato? I tried looking to see if they’ve interacted before, but couldn’t find anything! Sorry for asking I’m just </3 dumb AND I LOVE YOUR ART OF THEM!!! Nerd looking ahhhhhh

hi ! welcome to the community i hope you're having a lovely time so far and ty for enjoyin my stuff :) no need for apologies it's a very fair question to have :]

i cant speak for everyone (all. ten people into masadai anyway) but Personally To Me i just think the idea of them together is very funny. thats quite literally it im afraid..

[prototypelq]

I have slayed the bastard.

Now, I will make Barioth extermination my crusade. I want my entire house built out of Barioth parts. Ugly horrible rags with head everywhere. Silverware from it's fangs. Bath out of it's back scales. I will hunt every. Single. Damn. Barioth In Existence.

[fishnets-fingers]

⭐️ SNEAK PEAK ⭐️

Six Months - Part Twenty Three

…..

Harry’s comfortably buried under the pillow, the duvet snaked around his body, with one of his feet poking out the corner. Sleep always found him easy, but sleeping on Layla’s bed guarantees him a good night's sleep; something to do with the mattress toppers is what she chalked it up to when he’d told her but he thinks it has to do with the space being so inexplicably hers. He particularly melts into slumber with the way her scent cocoons around him, the way he has to roll over and nudge his feet between her perpetual ice cold ‘feetsies,’ the way he can watch the steady rise and fall of her chest, the way she softly snores after a particularly long day of being hunched over the canvas she was painting. All these things made his insides feel fizzy, like he was an agitated soda can waiting to pop with joy. So yes, snoozing in her bed resulted in a comfortable restful night’s sleep. But for some reason he feels like this was the longest time he’d slept in a while.

He feels a cold hand on his bicep, gently shaking him, and a soft groggy voice follows, “Harry?”

……

MASTERPOST

@0oolookitsme @sunandherflores

[dismalzelenka]

.

[panspy]

hmmmmmm.................vent post under tags...... feel free to give advice or dont¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[bonetrousledbones]

it can be so easy to get me into fanworks tbh if i ever get a hint of papyrus angst i rush onto it like blood in the water

[e-louise-bates]

I am almost done with the semester and I am on deadline with an editing project and the final projects for my classes are creeping up and ALL I want to do is write Whitney & Davies Book 4.

Instead I am putting together a career map (for a freshman ILS class, which seems excessive, frankly--most of us haven't been doing the library thing long enough to even KNOW yet what type of a library/information science career we'd want (I mean, yes, I do, but that's because I'm a 41yo who has already discovered what I love about library work and now am getting the degree to legitimize my ability to do it)), debating between doing my final English paper on Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf compared with his translation of The Aeneid Book 6, or on Heaney's Beowulf compared with JRR Tolkien's The Two Towers, wondering suspiciously what the final essay questions for ILS will be given the disorganization of the class so far, and frantically trying to get my brain in a good headspace for this developmental edit for my best client.

It's been a long semester, and these last couple of weeks are going to be the longest yet.