#the orange dogs and black cats I didn't do last time

[angiestown]

I did these once before and posted them, but I did the faces a bit different and did a couple new designs

[silversiren1101]

OC Tag Post

Tagged by @camelliagwerm - thank you so much! I'll be doing Mino for this because my brain is mush lately.

Tagging @turbulentpumpkin43 @dmagedgoods @transprincecaspian @baneschosen @spyridonya @amatres and however else!

NAME: Minovae Arranger

NICKNAME: Mino, Minnow, Little Linnorn, Hell Raptor, Hell's Raptor

GENDER: Cis Woman (She/Her) but also shapeshifter.

STAR SIGN: The Pack (Cosmic Caravan)

HEIGHT: 4'10 to 5'2 (Gradually shifts between both)

ORIENTATION: Pansexual demiromantic

NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY: Taldan (Chelaxian)

FAVOURITE FRUIT: Oranges, and citruses in general. I see Westcrown as very Venetian and Cheliax has some Italian influence in general, so I see Mino as being a big fan of oranges and lemons and very bright citrus flavors!

FAVOURITE SEASON: Summer. She doesn't deal well with the cold.

FAVOURITE FLOWER: Wildflowers and great natural meadows brimming with flowers. Something about the natural wildness of it all yet peaceful harmony brings her reassuring comfort and joy.

FAVOURITE SCENT: Coffee - reminds her of living in the barracks as just yet another soldier. Sea air - reminds her of the harbors of Westcrown and home.

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Coffee! Usually taken black but she will put some cream and sugar as a little treat sometimes.

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 6-8. She wakes up very early.

DOGS OR CATS: Cats. She loves them both equally but she does not have the time to take care of a dog.

DREAM TRIP: Korvosa for Crab Fest, ideally if it happens to land on her birthday.

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: If it's cold/winter, as many as she can get. Otherwise, just the one. She's used to living a sparse life with little comfort as a Hellknight.

RANDOM FACT: She originally stole her last name, taking it from an elderly woman that'd been kind to her as an orphan and let her help out around her store. Miss Arangier, pronounced "A-ran-ji-eh', in fantasy French, as she'd hailed from what would be the region of Galt (hadn't seceded yet). When asked to write a surname on her Hellknight records, she panicked and wrote down "Arangier" instead, knowing the woman wouldn't have been mad... unfortunately misspelling it. Her assigned instructor read it aloud as "A-ran-GIR' and she just didn't correct him, figuring it was a new name and a new life.

[the-fiction-witch]

Voice of an Angel

Media The Queens Gambit

Character Benny Watts

Couple Benny Watts X Reader

Rating Adorable

Concept Singer

I sat at the table two coffees deep into my day, I wasn't even half way through my game yet replaying with myself as usual, I didn't bother with a clock as I wanted to focus on my play without the restraint of time. The apartment was cold and damp as rain was battering the city, gray clouds hung low, Only the lamp by my chair to illuminate the room, I kept my bare feet off the floor as I focused on my game. Admittedly it was taking me a lot longer than usual but I kept getting distracted. 

I know she wasn't doing it intentionally, honestly I doubt she even realised I could hear her.

The glass door to the bedroom opened a mere crack just enough that at the table I could peek inside, her lamp on low beside the bed causing a fire like orange glow that often flickered cause shadows to dance across the apartment floor through the frosted window. I stopped my game again resting my elbow on the table and my chin on my hand watching her for a moment.

She sat perched on the beds corner a few items cascaded across the sheets, her small mirror sat on the chest of draws pulled as close to her as possible, she had been doing her nails causing the unmistakable smell of nail varnish to wash across the apartment, but now she worked on her make up slowing adding various colours and shadows to her face thought all her little brushes, much like a grand artist builds images of trees and flowers. All the while she sang.

Lowly and softly as she worked.

I felt… beyond lucky to hear her. 

She sounded like an angel, or a siren. 

The sort of voice you'd walk off a cliff for, I didn't get to hear her very often as she was so aware of herself, and so shy that she would always stop herself once she found out I was listening to her. 

But for a few brief moments I could just sit and listen. 

She worked away as she sweetly sang until she dropped her brush off the table and as she picked it up she noticed me looking

"Oooh-" she jumped turning as red as a rose "sorry Benny" 

I chuckled "you have nothing to be sorry about, I like listening to you"

"You don't have to be nice" she says returning to her work

"I don't. Luckily I have only compliments"

"That's what you always say"

"Because it's true." I told her "I could listen to you forever"

She smiled a little and as soon as she was done with her make up she fixed her hair one last time getting up and readjusting her little dark black dress and slipping on her small silver locket 

"How do I look?" She asks nervously fiddling with her dress 

I couldn't help my smile getting up to give her a cuddle and a little kiss "you look beautiful" 

"It's not too much?"

"Not at all. You need to make a good impression it's good to be memorable honey" I told her 

"If you're sure benny" she nods grabbing her bag and getting all her little things she needed I could tell she was fearful adding little things to her bag to delay her leaving

"Hun, your pacing again"

"Maybe I just shouldn't go, knowone wants to hear me sing"

"Y/n" I sighed "they wouldn't have asked you to come for an audition if they didn't want to hear you sing" I told her "and even if they don't, I'll always want to hear you sing." I told her stroking her chin and give her a kiss. "Hey, where's that smile?" I asked and she blushed but smiled "there we are. Beautiful"

"Okay, I'll be back soon"

"Take you time" I told her "good luck honey" I smiled kissing her head 

"Thank you benny" she smiled before she headed off out, so I made myself another coffee and returned to my game I did my best to just focus on the chess even if admittedly I was a little nervous for her heading out all by herself but I did hope it went well for her, I lost track of time in my game as usual until I saw the door open to y/n returning home. She sat her bag down hiding her face behind her hair so I got up and carefully approached her as you would a street cat or large dog 

“So?” I asked gently “How’d it go?” 

When she picked her head up it was clear she had been crying her eyeliner run down her face causing deep black tears down her face she shook her head, I did my best not to sigh or seem disappointed as that would only make her feel worse so I pulled her into my chest letting her wipe away her little tears on my shirt rubbing up and down her back and kissing her head “it’s okay, maybe it just wasn’t meant to be. Hey come on we can have ice cream and get tucked into bed okay?”

“Okay” she nods 

I waited around for a few minutes outside the little bar watching cars go back and forth on the old cracked streets, the rain still plundering the city, the sweet glow across the city from the neon signs. I waited a little while more as I didn’t want to be spotted. After a good while I headed into the bar and taking a seat far enough back grabbing myself a blue ribbon. As soon as the music stopped I excitedly turned to see the stage in the corner of the bar, it was empty for a few moments before y/n walked up nervously to the small mic for a moment silence flooded the bar until the music started and she sang, I couldn’t help my smile and almost tearing up watching her so nervously but sing so beautifully. 

I sat in bed with my book often glancing to y/n with her own book too “Y/n?”

“Yes benny?”

“Are you okay?”

“I think so” she nods 

I smiled and put my book down wrapping my arms around her and nuzzling into her chest she smiled putting her book down and hugging me too “Sing to me” 

“Humm?”

“Sing to me sweetheart”

“Really?”

“Yeah, sign me to sleep”

“Alright” she giggled stroking my hair as she began to softly sing. I sighed happily, relaxing hearing her sweet voice to let me drift off to sleep.

I fixed the hotel room curtains back where they should be, and I went to the small uncomfortable bed laying back looking at the ceiling, I knew I’d struggle to sleep, I always do when I’m away from my own bed. But at least I had something, I grabbed my bag and slot the tape into the small player that I sat by the bed and attached the headphones into it so I could lay down with them on, letting the tape play listening to the grainy badly recorded sound of her sweet voice, I smiled cuddling my pillow listening to her voice as I drifted off to sleep. 

[hislittleraincloud]

Sigh.

I had to explain why Afterburn hasn't been finished yet, so I'll repeat part of how I responded to this really awesome (I mean that...I love all my fans 😭) fan, but here with harsher lang because I have hate for this fucking bitch who hasn't even given me a "Thank you" for anything and has just fucking ghosted me after she got out the last time:

1. The Junkie Neighbor and The Cat. Her fucking going in and out of rehab fucked up my creative process because I had to take care of the cat and her apartment every night for long stretches at a time. I've posted pics of kitty, and will post the last one I think I'll ever take with him (😭😭😭😭😭 I raised him from a kitten) under the cut. This bitch was supposed to be my friend, but she has fucking...problems with herself and her personality disorder. I have zero idea why she hasn't responded and I don't even know where the fuck she is. So if she's reading (I think she knows of this blog), the YOU'RE FUCKING WELCOME, BITCH. And what you're doing right now is fucked up.

2. My 17yo dog is on his last legs. I've written how he's had seizures, but I haven't written how his barking after a seizure can get me a noise complaint from my shitty building manager, so that shit makes me anxious. I hand feed him, I help him get water the same way Peter Griffin helped Old Brian in that cutaway:

I wrap my boy's pills in gummies, not PB and beef 💀

LOL Except I don't have to push his tongue into the water like that. And I have to do it every...day...when he's awake. This is a disruption in my creative process too, because I REALLY wanted to pass out around 4PM today to be able to map and write all night but couldn't because he just would not settle. Dogs with dementia are like people with dementia, but less propensity towards violence when you try to help them (at least my old dogs are...they're small dogs and don't have any teeth left).

I didn't even mention my own health problems, in my explanation about how Afterburn's creation got messed. I've got Stage 4 CKD (kidney disease) and only 1 working kidney (lost the other to cancer in 2016). My kidney issues began when I was in France in 1986 and they failed on me because I ended up having HSP (and the strange nature of HSP and the possibility of certain vaccinations bringing on HSP in a few people has left me practically defenseless against COVID). Another HSP flare up would literally kill me (because there would likely be kidney involvement, and since I only have one left...the first time was Hell on Earth, I was pissing and shitting blood — stool is black when that happens...and my urine was bright red — and my parents thought I was gonna die), but I've been masking since January 2020 and have no intention of unmasking.

Having one kidney leaves me utterly exhausted to do any simple thing, so most of my energy goes to taking care of my boy/my girls. I'm on BP meds, PTSD meds, and pain meds (for chronic pain; I suffered through childhood arthritis that just ended up continuing into my adulthood), and when the Big Pharma pain meds don't work, I use cannabis. I don't really talk about or complain about it as explicitly as I am now bc it's tiring to explain over and over again why I'm a useless sack of 💩. I worked a "normal job" until I couldn't anymore; I am physically disabled.

Besides my seniors, the one other bright spot in my life is the baby. I have an Ask that wants more pics of her (I got it shortly after I posted her "Lookit me, I'm Jenna Ortega 🤓🤓🤓" glasses pic LOL), and I was going to do a whole post on her but I'll just slip a pic or two under the cut with the others.

I'll stop yapping and do that. Dogs under the cut.

This is my life now:

And before anyone gets on me about "HE NEEDS WET FOOD!", he gets wet food, but he likes his dry food. I try to spray it with water for a bit of moisture, but if I spray it too much, he won't eat it.

The orange on his face is pasta sauce (he likes licking cans...and he gets what he wants).🫠 It's sometimes hard to clean. He is always wearing pajamas (he has 6 different ones) and his elephant hoodie (he's got 3 of the same, so I can switch them out). Weird story but...one time several years ago I got him a simple elephant costume (the hood had the trunk, the body was thin jersey material but it also had 4 plush legs and a tail 🤣) and he LOVED it so much that he basically wore it out. He would get sad when it wasn't on him and excited when I would hold it up after it dried/after washing. He's fkn weird, okay? So I looked online to see if I could find another one but instead found the elephant hoodie. It doesn't have legs or a tail, but it has the trunk and it's soft and he likes it as well. Having him clothed really helps when I need to hoist him up onto the couch or help him drink. He doesn't have loose skin and even if he did, I wouldn't want to grab onto skin. It's my job to make him as comfortable as possible, not to hurt him.

Now this little (17yo as well) old lady here:

I inherited her from a nasty (racist) old bat who died right before the pandemic. Bat had CKD as well, but she went into kidney failure at some point after she wouldn't listen to me about fixing her diet (she had uncontrolled diabetes too...her blood sugar was over 400 at one point when I was visiting her at her physical rehab with the dog 😨).

She is blind, but even before she went blind, she was freaky about being handled when she didn't used to be. She can't walk outside because she gets disoriented, so she uses the pee pad set up I have for the seniors. I do love her like my own, as she is my own now (my last screenplay actually features a dog just like her). She was part of the same dog group as my boy in the rescue that I worked at...my other boy from the same rescue passed in 2021 and devastated me. His passing led me to find this little baby here:

She only wears jammies when it's cold in here.

I had never gotten a puppy before, but I was in a really dark place when my other boy died. I was seriously contemplating taking myself out too (God knows I have enough drugs here to do so). But I channeled my grief into cleaning up this place and finding another pomchi/chion (we were never sure what he was, but I think he might've been part Papillon because of his ears/fur/tail)...and I found one, albeit chocolate instead of white. I've had her since she was 8 weeks and a day, and thank the gods that she's the sweetest and pretty low maintenance. I raised her on Harry Potter 1 and 2 and Victoria Stilwell videos, and she somehow picked up what good behavior is vs. bad behavior from the Stilwell videos 😶. She used to howl at Harry Potter during the Neville scenes and the Quidditch matches (and the Mandrakes scene). I didn't want to raise her on Potter, but I chose it because it was kid's thing and as soon as I put it on her eyes were glued to the TV. She also likes Stranger Things and is okay with Wednesday. She's spoiled af, so she's got toys from all of those (she ate off the legs of her fave Harry Potter plush, adores her Eleven squeaky toy, and loves her Enid plush...yes, the Kid Robot one that came in a set with Wednesday and Bianca, the latter of which I kept for myself because it's fkn Bianca).

Anyway. That's what's up with me. I have no one here to help me anymore, so it's just me and the dogs. If I fkn die, no one will find my body for days unless one of the dogs starts barking, and the baby doesn't normally bark (she wheeks like a guinea pig). I will likely ask one of the ficwives if they would be willing to at least know my notes for Afterburn in case something does happen to me. They know the general trajectory of the story for Afterburn 2, so they already know what happens with Wenovan, but they don't know the details of the whole (the Goodmen, Joseph Crackstone & Goody, OG Nightshades (Morticia, Gomez, Larissa, Chancellor, Vincent, Mina (the Twins' mother), Francoise, Osamu (Yoko's father), the Petropoluses, and Grandmama Addams (the oldest living "local" Nightshade)) story. I've yet to decide on a few other Elder Nightshades, but I've got ideas. The Nightshades and Wednesday's power as one are a BIG focus of Afterburn 2, so maybe now you get my irritance at the fkn show deleting 2/3 of them.

My boy's sleeping now so I guess I ought to sleep too, otherwise he'll wake up when I'm about to sleep and THAT fucks me up even more.

ETA: Forgot the pic of the cat.

My buddy, Prince (the name he was given when he was born, so ✨I✨ kept it, but his weirdo mom named him "Tennessee Tuxedo"). Wow, Tennessee... I just now realized that.... To me he will always be Prince Ovaltine of Meowcatsia, a cat who adored playing tag with me. 💔💔💔💔💔

[lighthousegod]

WHAT IS MY CAT

Hey, so I have a Cat Question (or more like a Cat Request, really) and was hoping the science (??) side of tumblr, or cat identifying side of tumblr, or something like that, could help?

So, I got my cat Mikey (Michelangelo Mayhem Apollo *last name*) in January of 2022. The vets estimated she was about 3 months old. She was found by a family friend we met through my grandma, who is a manager at a vet clinic herself. Unfortunately, her areas of expertise are horses and dogs, so she could only help so much. I'm looking to find out what breeds Mikey may have in her.

Physically, Mikey has only gotten stranger (and cuter, ofc) as she's gotten older. She is a looong cat. She's got longer legs than my roommates' male cat at 1 year old. Her tail is much longer than other cats I've been around too, about the length of her torso. Despite that, she's not very big. She's skinny, and pretty small compared to our medium sized male cat back home.

She's also got big ears. I thought she'd grow into them, but they still look kinda big compared to our other cats. They even have the slightest hint of a tuft coming off the ends, but I think that's more likely to be her long-ish fur.

That's another thing- her fur. I say long-ISH because it's not quite domestic-long-hair-long. The vet called her a domestic medium hair, which I didn't know was a thing. She's a calico, with half of her face being black, the other (right) side being orange, and a cute white strip down her nose leading to her white chin and chest. Her fur pattern is pretty regular for a calico, but that's not even the weird part-

Her fur is CRAZY soft. Like, for the longest I thought my fluffy grey and white tabby, Loki, was the softest I'd ever felt, but she takes the cake over any of mine, or my friends, or any alley cats I've had the pleasure of petting. The best I can describe it is like- you know when kittens are real little? Their coats aren't fully grown in and their fur is almost like down on a baby duck or smth- all fuzzy and soft as a cloud and sticking out everywhere. It's like that, even as she's grown a little, all the time. It lays down mostly now, and looks more silky than downy, but the softness is still there. Still, it's not all that thick. My roommates short hair is so much denser, where as Mike's hair seems so light. I've even had other cat owner friends comment on it, wondering why she was so soft ("but silky? Like, not fuzzy. Loki is fuzzy, but she's silky. Its weird")

Jumping back to bone structure and how long she is, though, she's got a long face, too. Not quite like a Siamese or Oriental breed, her nose is much longer than any of my other cats. My dad says her face looks like a lizard or a dragon, while my other cat's face is like a racoon (Idk man he's weird). Either way, she does have a sort of long, more harsh bone leading to her nose that reminds me of those two breeds I mentioned before, and they do also have long limbs and ears, but she just looks too different from them for that to be all she is. She is definitely a mix.

(If you read this far, here's a pic. Sorry for holding out on you.)

Now, let us discuss Michael's... strange... attitude.

She is a sweetheart. And when I say that, I really mean it. She's very vocal, and greets me every time I open my door. She purrs all the time, even when she's just looking at me. I love her so so so much god.

She is also insane. She yells a LOT. She never (or rather hasn't??) Grown out of that high pitched kitten meow even though she's over a year old. I think she just likes talking. I know Orientals are also known for being super vocal, so maybe that's got something to do with it, but there's more to it. She still acts like a kitten, running around SO much more than my other cats. Her "zoomies" are frequent, and while she isn't attacking my feet under the covers constantly anymore (my first 6 months with her were hell and I have the scars to prove it), she IS still PARKOURING OFF OF WALLS??? AND SHE'S ONLY GETTING BETTER AT IT. I swear she gets both feet on there, catapulting herself off like. On x games mode for real.

But yeah, she still acts like a kitten, mostly. Still looks like one a bit. I have a sneaking suspicion she could be a slow maturing breed, or at least a mix of one with something else, but I'm not sure what breed that would be.

Also, important note: she acts like a dog. She "talks" like one, plays fetch like one (she taught herself), and her romping with other cats really does just seem more like puppy play. She trots around like a little horse too, which isn't that important but it's very cute. And she's just so smart. Like I said, taught herself fetch (which isn't as uncommon as you may think, apparently), and can even PLAY GAMES that she MAKES UP.

Once, when I was at my first university, my dad came up to visit. I wanted to show him she could fetch as she'd just learned recently, and when I threw it she excitedly chased it and... brought it back to my dad instead of me. So, okay, fine, she just doesn't wanna play with me. Be that way. Except, the next time she brought it to me. And then to dad, and then to me again. And it became clear she was doing that on purpose. But soon, she broke the pattern, and picked dad over me again. I assumed we were all done and pretended I wasn't betrayed, but NO. She then proceeded to bring it back twice in a row to ME, and then to him twice, and the me again. Like, I know that's not that impressive. But my other cats don't even know what to do with their toys besides bat them around. It was big for a little kitten to be making up games and shit. Maybe she's just extra creative, idk, but it was wild. She still fetches to this day, until her balls all unraveled and she can get a new one.

Anyway, she's just. Such a weirdo. She's terrified of the car (it makes her carsick, but it didn't when she was younger), and she's scared of outside despite her curiosity(the lady who found her lived pretty remote. I got her because I thought she was affectionate and calm. Turns out she was just sick, and actually is insane! But very affectionate still. My mom has a theory that she fears going outside because she was sick and alone in the cold woods for a while as a baby.)

Alright. I think that's it? Idk I'm long-winded as hell and I'm sorry for that. But I hope someone may know some breeds who are known for her physical traits, and maybe these personality traits as well? We'll see. So anyway, thanks for meeting Mikey! Feel free to call her any iteration of Michael (Myers, Afton, Jackson, B. Jackson, Jordan, whatever floats your boat.)

Here's some more pics :)

[petzel]

15 questions, 15 mutuals

tagged by: @yellowjckets THANK U I LOVE UUUU!!!!

1. are you named after anyone?

nope! well, actually one of my middle names is my grandpa's name, so i'm named for my grandpa!

2. when was the last time you cried?

last night, because cam bought me a necklace at target that hit me in a very emotionally vulnerable spot. i cry just about every single day though (i am a weeper from a long line of weepers and all that)

3. do you have kids?

i do not, but cam and i desperately want them. we are currently planning for one about 5 yrs 🫣 which is frightening but also very exciting. we're crazy too, like we already have a lot of baby clothes and cam's mom is handing down her cloth diapers and stuff. all very exciting!

4. do you use sarcasm a lot?

i don't, but i am someone who struggles to understand sarcasm haha so i also struggle to use it properly.

5. what sports do you play/have you played?

i have never played sports lol. i wanted to play hockey very badly as a child (and still now), but it's expensive so i couldn't. i was told i should do track & field (specifically shotput) but i didn't want to. now i have a mild interest in dogsports, haha. i like LGRA, dock diving, rally o, and treibball.

6. what's the first thing you notice about people?

i agree with emmy about vibes, i feel like the first thing i notice is whether someone like. SEEMS nice or not.

7. what is your eye color?

like a t15/t17 on that 1998 eye color chart thing

8. scary movies or happy endings?

oh i loveee scary movies. i actually love both but horror is forever my angel

9. any special talents?

ehhh i have near limitless patience and have a decent beginner's mind? don't really think those are special talents, but hey. i can also touch my nose to my tongue i guess haha

10. where were you born?

my hometown is ann arbor, michigan. love that place forever and ever.

11. what are your hobbies?

drawing, cooking, (doing hw is not a hobby but i was in college for 4 semesters in a row and had no time for anything), dog training, photography (analog & digital), reading poetry, listening to the radio, spending time with my husband.

12. do you have pets?

yes! i have a 15 year old orange cat named buggy, and a 1 year old black and white spaniel mix named winston!

13. how tall are you?

5'4 🤫

14. favorite subject?

in grade school it was english and history, but in college, i loveee any of my classes that are actually about my major, fish & wildlife. i loved my lab last fall semester, and i'm really excited for horticulture lab this fall.

15. dream job?

mannnn who knows. i currently work at a botanical garden, which is good enough for me in the meantime! i'd like maybe some sort of labwork about birds, bc i liked working in the fish lab so much, but i also really enjoy my current staff team and i like more public facing work, so it's very up in the air rn.

TAGGING: @pepprs @centralpark1981 @romansmartini @dubwoofer @starw1sh @spelldealer @riskrov @snartled @evilsufjanstevens - all with absolutely zero pressure, i just see you all in my notifs and love you dearly be well dear mutuals

[three--rings]

So I have a problem.

My youngest cat is traumatized.

One night last week about midnight I was carrying some dirty cups to the kitchen when I found....a fucking snake stretched out across my kitchen floor.

A small snake, about 12 inches long, very skinny. But a snake. It wasn't moving, so I thought maybe it was dead. Maybe one of my four cats had already dispatched it.

But I'm not GREAT with snakes, so I woke my snoring husband up. He was not thrilled, being fast asleep and also still fucking high.

"I don't know what to do?" he complained. "I'm asleep and high!"

"Yeah well I don't know what to do either, that's why I woke you up."

We determined that it wasn't dead. Meanwhile we'd attracted cat attention and my giant black cat who spent his kittenhood outside and has actually killed a mouse before, was batting at it, while Rita, the aforementioned youngest, crouched and watched. The snake started hissing and striking at the cats so we got them out of the way.

Eventually we got a yardstick and a cat litter bucket and got the snake to go in the bucket so we could carry it outside and dump it. I did some research and I'm pretty sure it was a baby ratsnake, which is the only kind of snake I've seen on our property before. Not dangerous at all.

No idea how it got in, but it was really small so, who knows.

Anyway, the problem now is that...Rita is clearly still FREAKED OUT.

Every since then she's been sniffing around in every corner and staring under furniture. At first she kept freaking me out, thinking there were more snakes in the laundry pile or whatever. But no, she's really just suddenly super scared of everything.

She walks slowly, crouched down, peering carefully everywhere. It's been almost a week and she's not getting any more confident. It's like she was just never aware that something like THAT was possible in the house and now her world is shattered.

I'm pretty confident she wasn't hurt by the snake. She didn't act injured and it was striking at Shadow, the opposite direction from her. But something about it really has her spooked.

I've always thought she was really confident, considering how she acts towards other cats, i.e. that she should rule them. She is quick to hiss and swat, but gets over it quickly and doesn't hold a grudge. She wants to be friends with everyone.

She's about a year and a half old, and we got her when she was probably 6 weeks old, after her mother was unfortunately violently killed by a dog in front of her. So maybe this is bringing back kittenhood trauma? (She lived with her mom in someone's backyard and their neighbor's dog got out and killed her mom. Then she was given to us to take care of because we had kitten raising experience)

Anyway, I'm a little concerned actually. I figured it would pass in a couple days, but it's only getting worse if anything. She also seems easily startled.

She's our smartest cat so I guess she might remember this for a long time, unlike our goldfish brain orange boy. Hopefully when snakes continue to not appear (fingers fucking crossed) she chills out.

[pinkandgreenarepurpleandyellow]

Presenting the project that made me heterophobic:

Yep! I am the dork that painted the masks of our current five boys over the course of three-four days (easier to space than six would be and lets face it, I do not care for kurlzz). I chose the Notes from the Underground masks because I've realized that it's the album that most of my favorite songs thus far come from. I quickly began regretting my decision at the point where I realized exactly how limited my paint options were and how many cool colors I would need. More details for each mask below (going bottom to top).

Danny's mask looks almost nothing like the actual one mostly because I painted the circles first and did not realize the mask was more angular than I initially thought. I also had no gold, so we've got a lovely yellow mixed with tan for the base color. The bullets are rough but also smaller than you'd think and a basic brush set from Michaels does not, as I have learned, have super tiny brushes, so I did the best I could on the casings. I am proud of the fact that I tried to make the rust work as best as I could, and if you look really closely, you can even see the mesh in the eyes (looks a little clearer on the left eye). The smirk is present on the right side and I do think it's decently recognizable.

This one made me cry. Any criticism of the fire around the eyes will be met with the response to suck dick because, to be quite frank, I challenge anyone to do better at 1 am and remain disturbingly proud of them. I'm kinda sad that my green (mixed from blue and yellow, because my budget is two pennies and all previous supplies) dried up early cause I was hoping to get more of the Louis Vuitton-style details, but still pretty damn good. I think the pyramid and the canisters turned out nice. Also, a little bit of a cat-eye shape for the eyeholes and the fire, but that was deliberate and I will not be ashamed of it in my moment of pride (I will undoubtedly feel the shame within five minutes of posting, but that is a problem for future me).

A fun an interesting fact is that this is the second time I've done this particular mask of J3T, and both times I have realized I love doing the butterfly. It's super fun because as long as we get the basic swirls in, it's alright if they don't match length perfectly. The cracks are slightly off because the very first ones were free-handed, but I did my best to get the rest of them proper, and they even work to form the nose. Apparently the orange looks more yellow than I thought.

This one was a welcome relief after crying over the detailing of J-Dog's mask. Again, no metallic colors, so our silver is grey. The little black lines are there to add texture to the edges (as it turns out, none of my brushes added it in a sufficiently noticeable way), and this one looks the cleanest imo.

Last but not least, Charlie's bandanna (sunglasses painted over because, as it turns out, I continue to suck at painting and drawing glasses). The buildings are likely not accurate to the actual picture, but my reference photo did not show the actual city on the bandana so I just did some buildings, a fancy lil' LA and we're calling it an artistic interpretation. Also, check out that S. Coolest S I will ever draw in my life, got it right on the first try.

Anyways sorry that I didn't post this sooner cause I technically finished all of this yesterday evening, I have a flight soon so I am typing this up at 4:30 am at the airport.

(Tagging @vampswillhurtyou and @cutelittlenightmarethings cause both of you said you were interested and I have no idea whether or not this will show up in the main tags.)

Final pic to show what it looks like at a slight distance and with other object to provide scale. Note the paint palette thingy having 3 shades of grey in it because, again, shoestring budget and persistence substitute everything for us.

[hdawg1995]

Get to know me!

I GOT TAGGED IN A THING! I don't remember the last time that happened! Tagged by: @haelleno Share your wall paper:

its a pixel art i made titled over and over.

Last song you listened to: From Now On We're Enemies. Its a mood and also just makes me feel better on days where I feel too stressed from the nothing I did.

Currently Reading: I'm not gonna lie, i'm currently reading all the non shippy RE fanfics that have sprung up because of the RE4 remake AND a YA book called The Black Dragon Codex. a lot of books haven't been able to draw me in (even this one didn't get my attention right way, i only bought it and started reading it cause its a extension of a fantasy encyclopedia i read as a kid) which really sucks cause i miss reading.

Last Movie: I think it was Glass Onion. Watched it with my mom but she had a hard time paying attention so i spent most of the movie explaining things than enjoying it or following along with the mystery.

What Are You Wearing Right Now: Red Wings shirt number 365 and some running pants. my PJs basicily.

How Tall Are You: i'm 5 foot nothing and some times i'm mad about it but most of the time i'm just glad i don't have to duck into a car or dodge tree branches.

Piercings/Tattoos: they're the same answer so i lumped them together. No. Never gonna happen. I think they're dope on other people but I wouldn't want them.

Glasses/Contacts?: Yup! for most of my life actually! my current pair are blue metal frames that tint blue in the sun. bonus: they have that yellow/blue light layer so looking at screens doesn't hurt my eyes, and i'm told it makes the whites of my eyes tinted blue.

Last Drink: a cold pepsi. nothing special, was just the pop that was in the fridge today.

Last Show: Ghosts (the 2022 version). I watch it with my mom every week, we're having a good time with it and although its mostly second hand embarrassment I like that it puts it on it's head every now and then.

Last Thing You Ate: Dinner! box pasta and some shredded chicken. I wanted to try one of the recipes i found on here but i didn't have most of the stuff i needed.

Favorite Color: Orange! If its orange i'm going to love it and its bright and warm. Runner up colors are blue and green.

Current Obsession: Resident Evil. A friend of mine is playing the remake and i've been watching him stream! and of course the fanfics (although the RE fandom is drinking their horny juice so there isn't actually a lot for me to read at the moment).

Unrelated Obsession: I have been writing little ficlits of my WoL oc being friends with Thancred Waters from ff14 and nothing will stop me from writing about how they are buds.

Any Pets: sadly no. Had a dog who died in 2020 (she was 14 if my math is right). right now closest thing to a pet I have are the three stray cats who use the backyard as a in between since its the only yard without a dog.

Do You Have A Crush On Anyone?: I've given up on perusing crushes. I still have them but I've accepted i'm better off ignoring it than acknowledging it. honestly thought about ignoring this question but i've made it this far!

Favorite fictional character: Thats a long list i'm afraid, so i'll list the same number of characters Haelleno listed. Tomix (DF) Thancred (ff14) Liger Zero (Zoids) Leon Kennedy (RE) Yosuke hanamura (P4) and Arata (Digimon: Cyber Sleuth).

Tag Someone: no :3

[rhizomehaunt]

eeee thanks @yellghoul ily ˙ᵕ˙

1. picrew game

my hair is getting dangerously mullet-ish in the back (but not in the good kind of way) as I'm growing it out but this is pretty close. I live in soft and oversized clothes and especially a big black hoodie my girlfriend got from working on the set of POWER BOOK II: GHOST.

2. shuffle my on repeat playlist and post the first 10 tracks

1/ Too Close, Sir Chloe

2/ Flowers (Demo), Miley Cyrus

3/ Tisched Off, Bartees Strange

4/ Freakin’ Out on the Interstate, Briston Maroney

5/ To be honest, Christine and the Queens

6/ la chute (piano), Jean-Michel Blais

7/ Rät, Penelope Scott

8/ A Place To Lie, Art School Girlfriend

9/ Younger & Dumber, Indigo De Souza

10/ After The Earthquake, Alvvays

Honestly not a terrible overview of my listening habits, but there's definitely more classical that didn't make the cut asjsfhsfj.

3. this questionnaire:

Tea, coffee, or soda?

Coffee, black, several cups a day.

Dogs or cats?

cats always and forever <3

Can you play any instrument?

I haven't played piano in years but am hoping to get a keyboard and start again! I'm shit at sight reading but used to be good at chords and playing by ear. 

What's your sun sign?

gemini (chaos)

First song lyrics that pops into your head?

And you got a lot on your mind / And your heart, it looks just like mine / There's no use in wasting your time, anymore

Do you have any tattoos?

I have three and want many more. a tattoo of a drawing I did of the chair in my grandpa's studio on my wrist, an ambiguous flower and two hands clasped by it on my upper arm, and then a big warped text piece wrapped around my entire right thigh reading the sweeteness of you carrying yesterdays feelings to tomorrow beyond what i knew before

Favorite place you've travelled?

Paris, because I took myself there for three weeks as I was breaking up with a terrible ex, amid a complete collapse of everything, and it was the first time I left the country, first time in my entire life I wasn't scraping by, and I did it alone, on my own, and just read and walked the entire time. I became friends with the local orange seller by the apartment I stayed, got asked out at the Louvre by a chef from Argentina while I drew an old man who was drawing a painting who I later spoke to in broken French (and he clasped my hand and cheered me on), made a friend at a bookstore who was writing her masters thesis on the same author I wrote my undergrad thesis on and we ended up having lunch and she gave me some of her old books, and also started talking with another solo traveler from South Korea who's a brilliant artist and musician at Musée de l'Orangerie and we wandered around and then met up for lunch the next day and are still in touch. 

What's the last movie you've watched?

The Muse

What languages do you speak?

English and some very poor French

Do you have any hobbies?

I suppose baking?? It’s hard to distinguish what’s a hobby and what’s routine. I don’t really think of anything I do as a hobby any more, but that’s probably bc I’m always trying to do a million things. 

You can hang out with one fictional character for an hour, who do you choose?

Camilla Hect, beloved. 

these are always so fun, i'm tagging @zuko and @baezel2<3

[temperedsims]

Chapter 4: Trouble-making Trio

"Shut it, Last Place." Sasuke snapped. "Oh yeah, Sasuke?! You want a piece of me?" Naruto stepped forward, hands balling into fists. "Naruto! I said cut it out already!" Sakura lunged forward punching him square in the stomach "Urgh Sakura," Naruto whined, falling to his knees clutching his stomach. Kakashi who had just arrived to the classroom and had saw the whole thing, sighed.  Maybe it was his fault for being late to class, but it couldn't be helped. A cat had crossed his path so he had to go the long way around. It was orange, not black but he didn't think the fur colour really mattered when it came to superstitions. "You three..." He said looking at Naruto bent over with tears in his eyes, Sakura, her arms crossed, nose in the air and Sasuke hand on his hip, annoyance written all over his face.  "...see me after class. Everyone in you seats." It wasn't the first time he though he should quit being a teacher. He would have been better off in a band or something. Right Obito? He thought of his oldest friend while taking a seat at his desk. The lesson went by in a blur and Kakashi tried not to lose heart about his teaching methods, since barely any of his students had paid attention to what he was saying. Shikamaru had slept through the entire lesson, Choji had sat in the back eating nervously from his snacks, hidden behind the textbook, Ino had spent the entire lesson texting on her flip phone and painting her nails behind her textbook, unaware that Kakashi could hear the tap tap of her flip phones buttons. Hinata had been focusing, but as usual she didn't dare lift her head up from her textbook, nor did she ask any questions. Sakura had answered everything and did most of the talking. Shino had sat quitely in the front drawing some bug, Kiba had stared out the window not doubt daydreaming about heroes. Kakashi was just happy he left his dog at home for once. Sasuke and Naruto spent the whole lesson glaring at each other. Kakashi sighed as the bell rung, chalk in hand, homework written on the blackboard that he wasn't sure anyone beside Sakura would do. He was definitely not getting paid enough for this.

[casspurrjoybell-17]

Hart and Hunter - Chapter 1 - Part 1

*Warning Adult Content*

Julian Hart

My feet pound the pavement and splash through puddles as I run in hot pursuit.

Orange-toned streetlamps flicker and cast ominous shadows on the rain-washed streets and a full moon peeks through the clouds of an unusually wet September sky.

Ahead, my quarry darts to the left, disappearing down an alleyway between two old brick-faced buildings.

I fly around the corner, expecting to be within arm's reach of my target and draw up short.

The alley stretches long, dark and deserted before me.

A streetlamp flickers and goes out and I curse the outdated infrastructure of this town, it's great for tourism but sucks when you're chasing a thief at two am.

Chest heaving, I scan the blackness and see a dumpster about halfway down, the only place an average-sized person carrying a backpack might hide.

Cautiously, I approach.

Then it occurs to me, what will I do if the guy I'm chasing is actually behind it?

Maybe I could take him, then again, maybe not.

Deciding that discretion is the better part of valor, I will myself Unseen.

Being part Fae has its perks.

Cautiously, I approach the dumpster, my senses sharper than a cat's as I draw near, sight, sound, smell, taste and touch all expanded well beyond human range.

Details stand out like the edges of broken glass, sounds ring like bells in my ears and scents confront me like the flickering images of an old-school film-strip.

Fortunately, the world is fairly quiet at this time of night but there's still plenty to hear, the thump of music in a nearby nightclub, water dripping in metal drains, the quiet rumble of midnight traffic, a dog barking in the distance somewhere.

Brought to a halt by the almost painful assault, I squinch my eyes shut and do my best to block out everything beyond the confines of the alleyway.

After a few deep breaths, my focus returns but so does my doubt.

Four hours into the second night of a long stakeout, Dane and I had caught our guy red-handed.

Excited by the chase, we'd taken off in pursuit but the thief proved fleet of foot.

We'd split up... Dane circling to cut him off while I drove him on and now there was no sign of my more combat-ready partner.

It occurs to me that the thief could be armed, being Fae doesn't make me bulletproof and the super-healing werewolf trick belongs to Dane.

On the other hand, I've been itching for some action and I'm always telling Dane I can handle myself.

Time to prove it.

I take another deep breath, steel myself, creep forward and leap around the side of the dumpster with a somewhat high-pitched shout, hoping to take the thief by surprise.

There's no one there... Shit.

With my focus broken, my disguise flickers and I'm visible once more.

Swearing under my breath, I scan the alleyway again but it's definitely deserted.

Long and narrow, its walls are the backs of two old buildings housing a number of small businesses.

There are several emergency exits and back doors along its length but I'd bet my last dollar every one of them is locked.

Still, I'd been on the thief's heels, there's no way he could have reached the other end of the alley that fast.

'He's being chased by a werewolf and a Fae, Julian' I remind myself.

'Why shouldn't he be the Flash?'

Swearing again, I sprint for the end of the alley... with all the time I've wasted sneaking up on dumpsters, the thief won't have needed superpower to have gotten away... round the corner and promptly collide with six-and-half-feet of solid muscle.

"Whoa," Dane says, catching my arms to keep me from falling on my ass.

"You okay?"

"Yes, fine," I gasp.

"Did you see which way he went?"

"No. Didn't you?"

I shake my head.

"I lost him."

"How? You were right on his tail."

"I dunno."

I catch my breath as the excitement of the chase fades.

"What took you so long?"

"I tried to take a shortcut but ran into a bunch of people coming out of that nightclub on Third. Had to walk. Pretty sure someone saw me running and called the cops, anyway. We better call it a night and get out of here."

Unhappily, I scan the darkened streets but he's right, our quarry got away and there's no sense hanging around.

"Fuck," I grumble, as we make our way back up the alley, retracing my steps.

"We were so close."

He tugs on his ropy dread-lock hair as he does when agitated and sighs.

"Yeah. Woulda been a nice clean end to the case, as far as we're concerned, thief caught red-handed, no more break-ins. Now we better split before we're the ones who get caught."

"You used to be a cop," I remind him unnecessarily.

"I thought they were your friends."

"Not all of 'em and there were a lot of retirements last year. Half the force probably joined after I left. Even some I'd have called a friend in the past might hassle us now, just for the hell of it. Can't even blame 'em, time was I hated private dicks just as much."

I snort.

"I thought you loved all kinds of dicks."

He smacks my ass playfully.

"Nope. Only yours."

I roll my eyes but before I can come up with a good comeback, we reach the end of the alleyway and I pause, distracted once more by its length.

"What is it?" Dane asks, following the direction of my gaze.

"Just thinking this guy must be a real track star."

He shrugs.

"You'd be surprised how fast people can run when motivated, especially by a fear of being caught. The predator's instinct is undeniable but the prey's is ten times as strong."

"Tell me about it," I mumble.

He rubs a hand between my shoulder blades and I suppress a shiver, I know that fear too well.

A year ago, I'd been forced to serve as 'prey' in a ritual hunt, chased by a deranged Shifter and a bunch of power-hungry Wolves.

Dane had saved me in the end but I hadn't escaped unscathed.

I'm over it now... mostly.

As my Mate, my brush with death may have affected Dane more.

We've had plenty of work since we started 'Hunter & Hart Investigations' but I know he's turned work down, too.

He keeps away from anything violent or dangerous or rather, he keeps it away from me.

I don't mind, to be honest but it's nice to see some action at last.

We continue on down the otherwise deserted streets to the spot where he'd left his car.

The battered old Ford Explorer has just come into view when a patrol car turns at the next intersection and cruises towards us at an ominously slow speed.

Dane swears and pulls out his wallet, ready to show his ID in case whoever's behind the wheel doesn't recognize him.

The car comes to a stop opposite us in the street, the reflections on the black windows obscuring the interior as effectively as a two-way mirror.

The longer nothing happens, the more nervous I get and I shift a little closer to Dane's side... as if my scrawny ass could shield him from harm.

He's an Alpha in the world of Wolves and Fae but we inhabit the human world, too and it's just as dangerous.

He'd told me his former boss, Chief Laura Coleridge, ran a tight ship with a good crew but that there were bad apples in every barrel.

I knew what he meant and excused the mixed metaphor.

We wait, neither of us daring to move and then the driver's side window rolls down and a familiar face leers at us.

"Gotcha," Detective Erikson says, wearing a shit-eating grin and Dane bristles even as the tension dissipates.

"That isn't remotely funny, Erickson," he says.

"And you know it."

"Eh?" Erickson shrugs and looks between us.

"What the hell you two doing out here, anyway? Not poking your noses where they don't belong, I hope."

I scowl.

Erickson is gay but deeply closeted.

He resents the fact Dane's openness hadn't affected his career as much as it might have and resents him more for leaving that career behind.

Meanwhile, he resents me for rejecting his past advances, which were cringe-worthy and persistent.

I don't like him very much.

Remembering what Dane had said about people coming out of a nightclub, I slip my arm around his waist and mold myself against him, adopting what I hope is a provocative pose.

"We're just out for some fun," I say, lisping a little as I lean into the stereotype.

"What are you doing here, Detective? They got you on the night beat, huh? Who'd you piss off this time?"

As expected, that gets him and he narrows his eyes at me as his self-satisfied smirk vanishes.

[survey--s]

687.

Do you remember much from high school?  I do when prompted but I never think about it otherwise.

Where would you go for the ultimate honeymoon? We went to Scotland for ours which was lovely, but if we had an unlimited budget and no dog, we would have gone to Canada or something similar for a month.

Can you access the roof of the building you live in?  Yeah, the bathroom is in an extension and you can get on the roof there. You can get to the rest with a ladder but it's all sloped so you couldn't do much lol.

Do you know anyone who has a strong accent that is hard to understand?  Hahah, my in-laws fall into that category. They have really strong local accents and at first I couldn't understand a word they said - now it's normal though and I don't struggle at all.

If you had to get a tattoo tomorrow, what would you get? A pawprint or little black cat in memory of Layla.

What was the last podcast you listened to? Do you listen to it regularly?  I think it's called the Missing? I don't really listen to it regularly but they did an episode on Andrew Gosden that I wanted to check out.It was pretty good and I listened to a few more afterwards.

Are you more of an optimist or a pessimist, and why do you think this is?  It really depends on the circumstances.

When was the last time you moved houses?  I moved in with Mike six ? years ago, I think.

Have you ever held a gun? Did you fire it? No.

Do you like simple questions or deep questions that make you think?  It depends on my mood and energy levels, but generally I prefer ones that require more than one word but that aren't too intense.

How long have you been using Bzoink? I've never used it.

When was the last time you threw up? Why were you sick?  A couple of weeks ago. I had an awful bug/virus thing and had to call off work.

Are you on a first-name basis with your boss? (or last boss if unemployed)  I'm my own boss, but I've never worked in a job where I didn't refer to my bosses by their first name.

What brand is your laptop or computer?  Asus.

Would you ever wear a bright orange shirt?  I had to for work once, it was hideous and so unflattering, haha. I'd never wear one voluntarily though!

What was the last thing you wrote in a word document? I have no idea, probably something work-related years ago.

Who do you miss and what do you miss about them?  I don't miss anyone right now.

What were the best and worst costumes you’ve ever worn?  I've never worn costumes for anything that wasn't mandatory.

Do you know anybody who is gay and married?  Yeah, two of my friends got married earlier in the year actually.

What did you last take painkillers for?  Headache.

Are there any hobbies you want to get back into?  Horse riding, but there's nowhere near here that does lessons anymore and I can't really afford it anyway.

Have you ever shared a home with a friend? Yeah, for several years on and off. I now live with my husband.

What’s the craziest or weirdest place you’ve ever slept?  I have no idea. A trampoline, maybe?

What did you have for lunch today and who made it?  It's only 10.20am. I have no idea what I'm having but I'll be making it myself.

Do you believe in anything supernatural like ghosts or ghouls? Nope.

How many hours of sleep did you get last night?  Not enough. It took me ages to get to sleep as I kept coughing and then Mike woke me up at 5am and I couldn't get back to sleep.

Are you allergic to anything? How did you find out?  Yeah, aspirin. It made me vomit. And I can't take codeine either.

What’s your favourite Thai dish?  It's probably not authentic but the Thai place near my parents' house does the most amazing sweet and sour pork with coconut rice.

Do you have any alarms set? What time and what for?  No. Today was a snow day so my alarm was off and I don't know what's happening tomorrow yet as my car is still stuck, lol.

What are you going to do when this survey is over?  Look for another one.

Have you ever been on a date with someone you met online? How was it? Yeah. It went pretty well as we're now married, lol.

What colour is the rug in your living area?  Various shades of red and grey.

Do you call it a couch, sofa, lounge or something else entirely?  Sofa, but when I was growing up it was couch.

Who is your favourite character on Friends?  Chandler. That make me sad now :(

When was the last time you used a pair of headphones and what for?  I don't even know where my headphones are, so I couldn't tell you.

Describe the temperature of the area you’re in right now.  The house is warm but outside there's still loads of snow on the ground and you can barely walk anywhere without skidding.

Who was the last very physically attractive person you saw?  My husband.

Have you ever had teppanyaki?  I have no idea what that is.

How long does it take you to get ready before you go somewhere?  It depends what I'm doing and whether I need to shower etc. or not.

Do you find it difficult to get rid of material possessions?  No.

What sort of games do you like to play? I'm not really a game person.

What was the last candy you ate?  Dairy Milk Fruit and Nut.

Have you ever been hit in the face? What’s the story? Yes. An ex was a violent dickhead.

Do you know anyone who is deaf?  Not fully deaf, but both in-laws have hearing loss and I went to school with someone who was 80% deaf in one ear.

Name one thing on your bucket list.  I don't have one, really.

[wordcharming]

The Descent

Welp, the unthinkable just happened—I slipped on a banana peel and fell into well. It's not as terrifying as it sounds down here though.

On the slow-motion descent, my body felt light as a feather and was thrust into the well casing which was covered in Willy Wonka's lickable wallpaper. Did I sample some? You better believe it—tart orange gave my tongue a tingle, sour lime had my cherry-red lips puckering and sweet corn filled me with intoxication. After what felt like 10 minutes, a most delicate landing left me on the padded ground.

As I took in my surroundings I noticed seven tunnels, each illuminated by its own hue of ROYGBIV. To my surprise an invisible New Orleans jazz band started to play (from the Y tunnel I think) and an obese man in a periwinkle tutu, sequined cyan leotard, opaque tights and pointe shoes floated down from the path I'd just traveled—left then right, hovering here and there to sample the delectable wallpaper. My eyes followed like those of a Kit-Cat clock.

The man wore the longest rainbow false eyelashes I'd ever seen, and they complemented his bulging emerald eyes and shimmering fuchsia shadow beneath pencil-thin black eyebrows. Twinkling with copious amounts of body glitter, he began to pass wind to the tune of "Rhythm is a Dancer." I kept on staring, mouth agape, until the tooting faded into more of a soon-to-be-deflated balloon sound.

Upon catching my eye, he was red-faced. "Heavens! ...Whoopsie... Excusez moi. ...hello, darling, I'm Roy G Biv. You didn't tell me you were coming! I'm so embarrassed. I didn't even have time to clean."

"Um, uh, do we know each other?" I replied.

"Well, yes and no. No in the sense that you haven't met me in real life but yes because you dreamt me up last night. You don't remember your dream?!"

"Nope, sure don't."

"Well that's neither here nor there. But since you decided to come we might as well celebrate. Follow me!"

He flitted through the Y tunnel, as "When the Saints Go Marching In" crescendoed, and I followed. With each uncertain step I took, chunks of Roy's costume glitter snowed upon my head so that by the time we reached the party room I too resembled someone who belonged onstage.

I shook my head as if I were a dog fresh out the bathtub and stepped inside when the room came into full view.

It was brightly lit in shades of yellow and felt like a fantasy land complete with a multicolored checkered floor, rotating disco ball and clowns on roller skates doing tricks on the adjacent wooden dance floor. I couldn't believe my eyes. To the left of the room was a DJ booth where a mime was spinning vinyl, and to the rear a long empty table that appeared to seat at least 50.

Roy fluttered over to the table, and with the snap of his fingers he summoned a cornucopia of decorations. There was a balloon-printed tablecloth, confetti strewn about, a party hat and golden goblet at each place setting, scattered noiseblowers, heaping bowls of ice cream, platters of donuts and in the middle a large three-tier cake with sparklers on top.

"How in the—" but before the question left my mouth, Roy had shouted, "Attention, attention!" which caused a rollerskating clown collision. With the scratch of a record, Mr. DJing mime made an exaggerated O face and then cradled his cheeks in his hands. All eyes were on Roy as he continued.

"Thank you my precious clownies," and with a nod toward the DJ booth, "Mixmaster Mime." "Tonight we're going to party because it just happens to be everyone's unbirthday! Come now, gather 'round the table so we can celebrate."

By the time everyone sat down the jazz band seemed to emerge from the hall into our room.

I stared at my reflection in the golden goblet which spoke to me in an ominous tone, "Should've worn your hiking shoes." Shifting my gaze from left to right I realized no one else could see what I was seeing. They were all too busy gorging themselves on desserts.

Without even thinking I bee-lined for the DJ booth where I'm standing right now tapping the microphone and telling this story. "Is this thing on?"

[sasukyss]

Here we go

List of all my animals (dead and alive)

Ok, in gonna divide this into sections depending on the species of the animals, cause I had a fuckton of them.

CATS

1. Marie (dead): she was ginger and white and I think she might of been our first cat? Idk I don't really remember but I do know that we picked her up off the street lol.

2. Beauty (alive): she's our oldest animal! She's white and we've had her for around 10 years and we got her from our plumbers.

3. Milly (dead): she was Beauties daughter, she was a tabby cat. Milly only died a few years ago, she was also one of our longest living animals. Fun fact about her, she got shot and lost feeling in her tail but she lived! She died of feline leukemia lol

4. Molly (dead): Milly's sister, she was also tabby but with darker colouring, I think she got poisoned by one of our neighbours. She was sweet

5. Spider (???): one of Milly's litter of kittens, he was a dark tabby colour and he hated my entire family and he ran away the moment he could

6. Tiger (???): another one of Milly's, he was like Spider but lighter in colouring. He also hated us and ran away.

7. Ariel (???): part of Milly's litter, I named her Ariel cause she had a ginger bit on her head lmao. She hated my entire family and also ran away

8. Lucky (dead): he was my trans cat!! He wasn't really part of Milly's litter cause we found him when he was a newborn in the rubbish, but Milly happened to be feeding the kittens and she took him. He was ginger and white.

9. Angel Milk (???): she was black and white and we only had for a bit and then we dropped her off at this house cause we couldn't look after her and then we never saw her again.

10. Hope (dead): we found her in another village when she was a kitten, sadly she was a carrier of feline leukemia so she died of it and also gave it to my other cat who died a few years later. Hope was white with random patches of tabby fur everywhere

11. Buttercup (dead): A SWEETHEART. She was tabby with super long fur and she was sweet and she had two kittens and I loved her a lot

12. Guppy (dead): one of Buttercups litter, he was super long and he had long dark tabby fur.

13. Kevin (dead): Guppy's brother, he was my neighbours cat and I think he only died a few years ago. He had the same fur and colour as his brother.

14. Biscuit (???): He was ginger and one of my favourite cats, super sweet and I loved him a whole lot

15. Mopsy (dead): we got him along with his sister from our school when he was a kitten. He was super big and had dark tabby fur.

16. Roberta (alive): HOMOPHOBIC BITCH. She's so grumpy and I hate her, I actually have photos of her so here

17. Arya (alive): gay ass cat. We thought he was a girl at first cause he was so pretty but turns out he's a dude and hes super gay

18. Arnold (alive): my beloved, I love you sm. He's great and I'd die for him. He's also bisexy

19. Lucy (alive): BABY PLS COME HOME. She's not dead but she's in England with my brothers, I miss you 💔 here's a pic of her assaulting her child

20. Lucy's litter of kittens whose names I only remember two of so here's a photo of them (all alive minus 1):

DOGS

1. Rocket (dead): stupid and dumb. He was small and was light brown with darker colours on his snout and legs.

2. Daphne (dead): my beloved, you may have been dumb as shit but you cared and thats what counts. She was super scruffy and she was black with light brown on her snout and belly.

3. Daphnes first litter of puppies that was like 6 and idk what happened to any of them cause my mom gave them away at my school and these kids just took them home and I nev r saw any of them again.

4. Fred (alive): we called her Fred cause we thought she was a dude but suprise, she wasn't and she had 13 puppies cause my dad dumped her in this village in the mountains and we found her again cause my uncle bought a house there and we had to check on it. Oh yeah she was also coloured like a Dalmatian lol.

5. Marbles (dead): honestly I don't remember where we got him all I know is that we had him and his brother when they were puppies and one day we found him dead. He was white with brown patches.

6. Domino (alive): my neighbours took him in, he was Marbles brother and he grew up to be fucking huge. Hes white with brown patches.

7. Goldy (alive): part of Daphnes second litter of puppies, Daphne had like 7 but one got killed by Fred who had her puppies at the same time. Yes I was there and saw her with it in her mouth. It wasn't fun. She's called Goldy cause she had blonde fur lmao

8. Tinkerbell (dead): looked like a Yorky but longer and scruffier, she could jump super high and she got run over by my neighbour

9. May (dead): she didn't last long, she was white and was a puppy and she also got ran over by my neighbour

10. Annabelle (alive): she looks like a rat, she's from this litter of puppies we found near one of our neighbours houses, shes white with black patches.

11. Toby (dead): he was brown and big and he would always break out of the dog house. He got hit by a car and it broke his spine so they had to put him down.

HAMSTERS

We had two generations of them, the first batch had babies and thats how we figured out that if you touch baby hamsters their mother will eat them cause she doesn't recognize their scent. So in total 8 hamsters (gen. 1 and 2) and some like 6 babies.

FISH

We had a fucktonnn, and they'd die every few months so we'd got back to this festival where we got them. I think the ones we had the longest was one of mine (Aurora) and one of my brothers (Stitch).

CHICKENS

Ok so we had three gens of them

Gen 1: I don't remember a lot but ik the rooster was called Scooby-Doo (my younger brothers choice). Also they got killed by this thing called a genet that Fred ended up killing

Gen 2: again idkkk, ik they were black and they hated these other chickens we had. Also they ate baby mice

Gen 3: they were this single rooster and these two chickens, the rooster kept getting beat up by the ducks so we had to move him away. Just so you know chickens don't die pretty.

DUCKS

Yes we had fucking ducks, cause my brothers a dumbass and wanted some for a reason

Roberto (alive): idkk ik hes the one that actually lived and we need up giving him to one of my mom's friends.

Roberta (dead): idk what happened to this one I didn't really care tbh.

RABBITS

Snowy (dead): ok so we called Snowy sumo rabbit cause she was fucking huge and albino. Also funny story, but we thought Snowy was a dude so we would get her other rabbits but she ended up killing them all, so we eventually figured out Snowy was a girl so we got her a dude rabbit, and yeah she got pregnant but she also killed the dude rabbit, so yeah...

She had like two litters of them and they all died lol.

Carrots (dead): I miss you 💔 super great, even if she didn't like anyone. She also had kid rabbits and these ones actually lived. Also she was orange so that's why we called her carrots.

Thumper (dead):, he was a dwarf rabbit, he was black and white and he was the father of these other two rabbits we had.

Bruce (alive): idk why he's called Bruce, I thinks he's black and white but I don't remember

Jean (alive): again, idk about the name. This one's white and brown I think.

BIRDS

Ok so we had one budgie which we called Peanut and I don't remember what happened to him, and then we had two lovebirds and I'm pretty sure we named one after my uncle cause the bird was bald like him. Yes they are both dead.

[fortunatelyhauntedblackcherry]

Moonshine - A Beetlejuice Fanfiction 14

Warning: cussing, slight mention of the death of an asshole ex

The sisters all went to get some rest after the long night, but Beetlejuice had other plans. He had so much built up energy that he terrorized the neighborhood 'till the late morning, then teleported back to the house, still wiping his happy-teary eyes.

He appeared in a green puff of smoke right behind Rei, who was clearly cooking something in the kitchen. Even though she dressed up properly in highwaisted denim shorts and a kawaii pastelpink tank top, and did her makeup, her baggy eyes showed that she haven't slept a minute. He peaked over her shoulder.

- HI THERE! - he shouted, which made Rei drop the ladle she was holding, spilling batter all over the counter.

- JESUS TAPDANCING CHRIST!!! - she widened her eyes, held her chest and breathed out. - Crap dude, you scared the living shit outta me. - Beej flashed a wide smile at Rei while doing a little fist pump and hopped on the counter's clean part.

- What can I say, I'm a demon, get used to being jumpscared, doll. - he said with a theatrical shrug. Rei rolled her eyes, grabbed a dish towel and wiped off the counter. Beetlejuice watched excitedly as she opened up the waffle maker, slided the cooked waffles out onto a plate, then after yawning, loaded it back up. Beej tilted his head sideways. - I wouldn't mind if you'd throw one of those yummylooking thingies in my way, sugar.

Rei fixed her glasses and raised an eyebrow at BJ.

- Aren't ya... You know... Kind of undead? - the demon pulled one side of his upper lip up.

- Yeah, so?

- So you wouldn't have to eat? - Beej threw his head back and groaned.

- I don't HAVE to, but I LOVE to. - he looked back at Rei and shrugged with his hands held up. - I dunno, it makes me feel... - he sighed with a smile. - ...alive.

For a couple of minutes, Beetlejuice just watched as Rei made breakfast. He was pulled out of daydreaming by the sound of hissing. Sofía came into the kitchen, holding Minerva in her arms. The cat hissed and groaned at Beej, who, as a response, just put his stripey snakelike tongue out. He looked at Sofía who still seemed to be furious. He started to dangle his feet and flashed the cutest smile he could.

- Sofía, sugarpuffs, may I say you look absolutely stunning on this fine morning of...

- Cut it, demon. - she said with dead eyes. The smile on BJ's face froze off. - You'll achieve nothing with flattery. - she set the cat down on the floor, then got back up and pointed at the demon. - Plus. I don't like you. - Beej put his hands on his hips.

- Well then go and fuck yourself!

Sofía rolled her eyes and went to the refrigerator. Minerva sat down before Beetlejuice on the floor, watching him with hauntingly thin pupils and perked up ears. But at least she didn't hiss anymore. Rei looked at her sister's way.

- Hey I'm pretty thirsty, would ya, Miss Grumpy, check if we have any orange juice left? - Sof reached into the fridge, got the bottle out, shaked it, removed the cap, and drank every last drop of orange juice. After this, she put the bottle down and flashed a meaningful look at Rei.

- No, we’re all out.

- I have a lot of questions, first of all, how dare you? - Sofía didn't answer, just grabbed a yogurt out of the fridge and exited the kitchen. Beej looked after her with puckered up lips, then looked at Rei questionably.

- Is she always this abominable? - Rei shrugged.

- She's just pissed at the three of us now so no, not always... But a lot of times. You're gonna get used to it though.

Beetlejuice laid back, put his hands under his head and floated next to Rei.

- I'm getting bored, so be a doll and tell me, where's my favourite little baby rook? I wanna tell her how my daily hauntings went, she's gonna LOVE it. - Rei pointed to the back door without looking up from the waffles.

- Outside, in the conservatory. Since we couldn't sleep, we fixed the glass panel Matthias broke. Now she's talking with her mom on the phone. - Beetlejuice started to float towards the door but Rei grabbed his jacket. - Stopstopstop, bring her this. And make sure she eats it. - and handed him a plate full of waffles, and a bottle of Nutella.

- What, why? - Rei sighed, put down the Nutella on the middle counter and pulled her hair back.

- Look, Beetlejuice, that's your name, right? - the demon nodded with enthusiasm. It was SO NICE hearing his name from a breather's mouth, not his own. - Okay so, Beetlejuice, just so you know, Ari has a very bad habit. When she's feeling down, she just won't eat. And that makes her hangry. And that makes her insufferable. And you don't want that. - she shook her head. - You NEVER want that. But comfort food always makes her want to eat, so... - she raised her arms and shrugged. - Here I am! Being a best sister/bestie, making her fuckin comfort food for breakfast. - Beetlejuice put his legs on the ground and grabbed the plate out of Rei's hand.

- Okay, I'll bring it to her... - he snickered and reached for the Nutella. - ...you slavemaster you. - he headed out but in the archway, he turned back and looked at Rei with a light smile. His green hair turned glowy a bit and his tips got a shy white shade. - Hey Rei? - the girl stepped back from the waffle maker and looked at him. Beej pulled his shoulders up and bit his lower lip. - Thanks for letting me stay.

Rei smiled widely and looked at the ground, blushing.

- Well, am I a hero? Really can't say, but... yes. - BJ laughed then blew raspberries. Rei gestured with her hand in the winter garden's direction. - Besides, Ari doesn't make friends easily, and it was nice to see that there's someone who gets her and genuinely laughs with her... Even though they're not a human. - BJ was still smiling, biting down on his lower lips. And were those slight pinkish streaks? - So I didn't have a choice, really. But yeah, you're welcome. - she went back to making waffles but quickly stepped back to face the demon. - By the way, she will totally act like she's alright but, let's face it, she's a mess. - A hot mess, thought Beetlejuice. - So be a nice emotional support demon boy please. - BJ's smile turned into a frown.

- What? Most of the time I even suck at being a proper demon... and now you want me to be a nice demon? - Rei snapped with her tongue.

- Did I stutter? Be brave enough to suck at something new. - she made a shooing gesture. - Now shoo before the waffles get cold.

When Beej arrived at the conservatory, happily floating while munching on a bug he catched earlier, Ari was sitting on the stairs, facing the inside of the garden with a sleeping Sirius in her lap. She had a red dropped-shouldered top on, which had the image of a running cherry bomb on it. She also wore comfy black knee-high trousers and fluffy red slippers with devilhorns on it. She was having a call.

- Ay no me digas! - she exclaimed with a huge hand gesture. She sounded so enthusiastic. - Is that true? Ahhh I can't wait to see mis primos favoritos! I miss those little rascals so much already! - Beetlejuice stepped behind Ari, leaned closer to her ear and whispered in the raspiest voice he could produce:

- BOO. - Ari turned around with a smile to face the demon, and scruffed his hair. Beetlejuice's hair's tips turned into a light pink shade. Ari pulled it a bit towards herself to see it better but Beetlejuice snapped his teeth towards her hand. She let out a tiny laugh.

- Sorry Mom, I gotta go now. A friend came over. - she stopped for a second, listening to the answer while smiling. Beetlejuice crouched down to her level. Sirius stood up, sniffed around the demon and wrinkled up his nose. Beej petted his head. The dog lifted his head up, licked his hand, then turned around and headed towards his dogbed to sleep a bit more. Ari wrapped a lock of her hair on her index finger. - Yeah. - she all of a sudden shook her head. - No mamá! NO?! - she faceplamed herself, then made the impression of peeling her face off. Beetlejuice let out a loud laugh. - Yepp he's weird like me. - she laughed and held her phone away from her face. She gazed at the demon with a sarcastic look on her face. - My mom asks if you're handsome or not. - she held the phone closer to Beej and did the hand gesture of talking.

- I'm devilishly handsome, Miss Rodríguez. - Ari gasped. She mouthed "Did ya remember my family name?" to which Beej nodded happily. Ari put the phone back to her ear. Her mom said something that made her roll her eyes. Hard.

- Okay that's WAY too much Mamá I'M HANGING UUUUPPP. - she sighed. - Sí, sí, sí. Give abuelita mi besos y bendiciones, okay? I love ya. - she sent kisses. - Bye, bye, BYYYEEE. - she put her phone away. Then with glistening eyes, looked at her demon buddy. - How was your dawn of haunting? - she cupped his face in her hands which made him kind of melt. At least his eyes looked like that. - TELL. ME. EVERYTHING.

- The. BEST. - he took a deep breath (even though he didn't need to) as Ari released his cheeks and planted the biggest smile on his face. - You know the house down the road? With the pretty pond and shit? - Ari nodded as her eyes started to wander around BJ's figure. - Well, a couple lives there with their kids and...

- OH MY GOD MILLENNIUM FALCON WAFFLES!!! - interrupted Ari and snatched the plate out of the demon's hand. Beetlejuice blinked fast with annoyance in his golden eyes.

- I thought interrupting was my thing. - the girl rived the Nutella from Beetlejuice's hand. He gasped and held his chest in a theatrical way. - Wow. Ya rude.

- Shut up Beej and tell me what you did to those poor kids. - the demon lifted one of his eyebrows with a cheeky halfsmile. Ari gasped and held his mouth. - Shit can I call ya that? - she definitely started to panic based on the stuttering. - I'm sorry it just came out, it's okay if you don't like it, I mean if you don't like nicknames I understand just...

Beej interrupted her with a gurgling laugh which made his head fall back. His vertebrae were cracking like an old door. He held Ari's shoulder with one hand and squeezed her cheeks together with the other. He locked his gaze in the girl's.

- If I don't like something, I'll ring a bell. - he pulled the girl closer to him by her cheeks. He lowered his voice, tilted his head a bit, pulled a smirk and some hooded eye action. His face was only a few centimeters away from Ari's. - But I'd like the best if you'd call me... Daddy. - Did... Did she just stare at my lips?

- You wish. - she said in a cooky tone. BJ laughed and let her go.

During the next hour or so, Beetlejuice and Ari talked and laughed their asses off while the demon was floating around. Beej showed Ari what he did last night, for example how he took off his head and rolled it under one of the kids' bed. Or how he hid in the wardrobe of the other child, then when he was falling asleep, he pulled his lower jaw down and let his tongue wander out of the closet, making him scream out in a half-asleep delirium. Ari tried so hard not to think about the kinky uses of a tongue like that... But she failed so miserably. She turned red as a tomato. She stood up and went to one of her cupboards of herbs to distract Beej from her face. He quickly stood up as well and stepped behind her. He was still talking while Ari was looking around in the cupboard, searching for her herb-book. Gods he sounded so happy. Ari glanced sideways with a smile. The demon's golden eyes were full of life, of freed up energy and...

- WAIT, you wear eyeliner?! - asked Ari, interrupting BJ in discussing whether he should scare the old couple living down the road just a little, or whether he should scare them to death. He crossed his arms before his chest and his smile quickly turned sour.

- Well, I like it. - he sounded defensive all of a sudden. Like he got bullied because of this before, thought Ari. - I know it's a bit wobbly but I LIKE IT and that's...

- Bug, eyeliner makes every guy hot AF. - stated Ari, making BJ surprised. He shook his head in disbelief, which made Ari giggle. - Yeah it's wobbly a bit but it looks awesome anyways! - she put the herbs down and stepped closer to Beej. He almost stepped back but Ari held him by his suspenders and pulled him closer. Her eyes twinkled as she took stock of BJ's makeup. - I think slightly metallic purple or dark green would suit your face. - Beej had the biggest, horniest smile spread out on his face.

- So basically what you're saying is that you think I'm sexy? - Ari let go of the demon's suspenders go and shaked her blushing off with a laugh. Beetlejuice blew raspberries at her since he didn't get an answer.

Ari got back to dealing with her herbs. She took a big cleaver and a chopping board out of the cupboard. Beej stepped behind her and put his head on her shoulder.

- Whatchya doin'? - Ari shrugged.

- Boring mortal stuff. - BJ clicked his tongue and rolled his golden eyes.

- Come on now, I'm not usually interested in boring mortal stuff, but this involves a cleaver so it can't be THAT boring. - Ari looked sideways, spotting BJ's puppy eyes. She snorted. Beej pouted his lower lip. - Pleeeeeaaase.

Ari smiled lightly. Nearly nobody was interested in her home remedies, not counting her family from her mother's side and her sisters, of course. So hearing someone new genuinely being interested in what she was working on, made her feel warm and appreciated. She lifted up the big, leather covered black book, which had pretty golden cornflowers painted on the cover. It had a ton of bookmarks and notes sticking out of it; some were stained, time made some yellow, some were colorful and bright and fairly new.

- I haven't slept, only 2 hours since yesterday and my body can't function with that much. But, you see, my mind is still hectic, which keeps me up, but I NEED to sleep to work properly. - Beej nodded. - So I'm making myself a nice pot of sedative, nightmare-repelling tea. - the demon nodded again. Ari's eyes wandered around his hair: now it had a fairly light green shade, with light pink and yellow tips. What do these colors mean?!

- And what do you need that for? - he pointed at the book Ari was still holding. She opened it up and started to turn the pages over.

- It's my family's herb book. It's easier to work from a recipe, I don't mess up anything like this. - she flipped a page and touched the next one. It had an extruded purple flower glued to the page. - Only a couple pages survived from the original book, but I can proudly say that some of our recipes date back to the 17th century, some are even older. - she sighed. - What I'd give to own the original copy... - she lifted the book up and hugged it. - It's nice to use the knowledge of my ancestors, it's like holding their hands. - her face turned foggy for a bit. - Even after what happened to them.

- What happened? - asked Beetlejuice while looking at the book.

- The Inquisition. Back in the 1600's in Cataluña, many of my family members were burnt at the stakes. They were thought to be witches, bringer of sickness and bad harvest. - she snorted. Loathing was audible while she talked. Beej pinched her cheek and flashed a toothy grin.

- So, you follow their path! - Ari let out a weird laugh, turned around, still holding the book, and leaned against the cupboard, smiling at the demon's slight remark. She flipped through some pages then pointed at a coffee-stained recipe.

- THAT'S IT! That's what I was looking for. - she pulled her hair back and smiled nostalgically. - Anise hyssop for defeating fear, bergamot for a good night's sleep, buckwheat because of high vitamin and mineral content, californian poppy for my anxiety, sage for basically everything, granadilla flower for calming nervousness and against bad dreams, chamomile and lavender for flavour and chillsies. - she hugged the book once again and breathed in heavily, with a smile on her face. - It's gonna be so good with honey. - Beej leaned against the cupboard as well and scratched his stubble.

- Just... Leave the sage out. - Ari raised an eyebrow.

- Why?

Beetlejuice let out a loud, aversive sigh and looked sideways at Ari while pushing his hair back.

- I bet ya know they say it repels demons. - Ari nodded slowly, disbelief in her eyes. - Yeah, shit works.

Beej made a face so disgusted it made Ari burst out with laughter. He put his palm on the top of her head and pushed her away. She elbowed his side in return.

- Okay, okay, then sage stays out of the mixture. - she said, still smiling like an idiot, and pointed at the other cupboard. - Wanna help me find my dried herbs? - Beej shrugged with a sarcastic face.

- Yeah, sure, ask the dyslexic demon to look for labeled magic herbs.

While Beej was searching through Ari's a hundred and twenty frickin tiny glass vials, for a slight second Ari checked her demon buddy out from the corner of her eye. She flashed an evil smile as a devilish thought planted itself into her mind.

- Hey, Beej, can I ask ya something? - Beetlejuice looked out from behind the other cabinet.

- Sure. - Ari's smile turned even more maleficent. Beetlejuice exactly knew what that naughty smile meant. Shit, he made that face at least a thousand times a day.

- Aren't you a little short to be a demon? - Beej gasped, held his chest, then when Ari started laughing at him sticking his stripey tongue out like a snake, he said in the most angelic tone he could produce:

- Says the oversized toddler! - Ari opened up her arms, mimicking something huge.

- But aren't you supposed to be a big, flaming entity? - Beej stepped before Ari with a similar smile on his face then lifted her up by her armpits... which she seemingly hated, based on the angry pre-schooler impression on her face. Although, the thought of "shit, he's strong... WAIT, NO, THAT'S NOT HOT, FUCK, BRAIN, NO... Okay act angry that should solve ya problem... You hoe." passed her mind.

- Aren't you supposed to be with your parents, my sweet, tiny, chubby cheeky child? - while talking, Beej summoned 2 more arms, pinched the girl's cheeks with them and did smooching sounds.

- Imma so punch you in the throat. - said Ari with the maddest tone she could. Beej raised an eyebrow and changed to a crooked, husky, even kind of horny tone.

- You had your chance when I kissed ya, but ya didn't. - Ari smirked.

- You call that a kiss?

Beetlejuice dropped Ari. He turned around, all 4 hands in the air, looking so irritated that even the tips of his hair turned into a slight reddish shade.

- EXCUSE ME?! - he pointed at Ari, who was still sitting on the ground, stroking her hurt bottom. - NO, EXCUSE YOU! HOW DARE YOU?!?!? - he popped his tongue, then went to the plate of waffles smothered in Nutella. - You know what? - he pointed at the girl again with one hand, put 2 on his hips, and grabbed a waffle with the fourth. - No more waffles for you. - he said as he bit into the Millennium Falcon. As he swallowed the bite, his eyes got wide and his additional 2 hands disappeared. An expression of wander and astonishment found its way to his face. - OHMYGOD THIS IS HEAVENLY!!! - he said in an amazed tone, then quickly changed back to his normal. I'm a badass demon, I shouldn't show emotions. - Ironically. - he stack his index finger into the bottle full of chocolatey nougaty hazelnut cream. - What is this shit?

Ari looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a weird little smile, not understanding her buddy's fuss about the delicacy. She shrugged.

- Nutella... Never heard of it? - Beej rolled his eyes and grunted.

- Babe, this house was uninhabited for at least 25 years. And the last people who lived here were between 90 and coffin-break years old. And that was in the late 80's. - he licked the paste off his finger and changed to a more seductive tone. - Lower your expectations about me. I might look young and devilishly handsome but I'm so new to these modern shits. - Ari rolled her eyes and stood up. Horny bastard.

- Okay, grandpa. - Beej stack his tongue out but Ari just pushed him in a childish way. - Gimme a bite too, I'm still starving. - she said as she reached for the plate Beej was now holding.

She took a bite out of a waffle, then put it back and started chopping up her dried herbs. She was almost done with the chopping and the piece of Millennium Falcon when she noticed that BJ was literally staring at her face with a cheeky halfsmile. His eyes were wandering around her lips.

- What are ya lookin' at? - she asked abruptly. Beej shrugged a bit and pointed at her canines as she took a last bite from the waffle.

- I like the teeth. - Ari smiled widely. She put down the cleaver and tapped her teeth with her long, black, spiderwebbed nail on her pointing finger.

- Thanks, they're fake porcelain caps. - she pointed at Beej's smile. - I like your double canines too! They look so badass. - Beej's hair turned into a weird mixture of light pink, shy white and bright green. He started to play with his fingers and looked down at his shoes. He bit his lower lip with a flattered smile. Ari leaned closer. - Am I crazy, or just like your hair and your eyes, those can change too? - Beej lifted his head up and pulled his hair back. He scratched his scrag as his teeth changed into a bear trap-esque, sharklike weirdness. Ari jumped back and screamed while covering her mouth in excitement. - OHMYGOD THAT'S SO HARDCORE! - she stepped back to Beej and tapped his teeth. - WOOOOOWZAH! - she grabbed the demon's shoulders and shaked him a bit. - You are the most awesome person I've ever seen. - she stepped back and crossed her heart with her nail. - Swear on my black gooey heart.

Beej changed his teeth back into "normal", but he was still scratching his scruff and was looking down. He was obviously taken aback. It looked liked he had never been genuinely complimented before.

- Well... Thanks... - he stuttered as he turned more pink. Ari looked at the ground too, blushing and smiling shyly as she said the next words:

- You know, I'm glad we winded up at your haunted house. If you wouldn't have been here, all three of us would be dead by now. Nobody else would have been able to stop my crazy ex. So... Yeah. - she sighed and bent down to peak at Beej's eyes. They found each other easily. They both smiled with bitten lips. - Thanks for killing him. - Beej cleared his throat to quickly regain his composure. He put his hands in his pockets.

- Ey, I got you. You know I do. That's what undead best friends are for.

After a couple minutes of awkward silence, Ari grabbed her chopped up herbs and pointed at the kitchen with her other hand.

- I'll boil these up quickly. Wanna watch The Nightmare Before Christmas in my room while I dose off to sleep? - Beetlejuice's eyes lit up as he nodded.

- Sure... Let me grab my snack. - he snapped and with that, the Nutella appeared in his hand. His devilish smile didn't tell nothing good about his intentions. Ari laughed lightly and reached for the bottle.

- Hey, come on, that's my Nutella! Give it back! - as soon as she almost reached the bottle, Beetlejuice started to float with a laugh, just out of Ari's reach. - HEY COME ON, THAT'S CHEATING!!! - she jumped up but Beej floated higher. - GIVE MY STUFF BACK!!! - Beej layed on his back while floating out of the winter garden, eating the paste with his fingers.

- If you don't pay your bio-exorcist, you will get repossessed! - Ari jumped after him one more time, then stomped angrily.

- This fuckin' demon, I swear to Ra... - she looked at her puppy, who was looking after the floating demon. - Hey, Sirius! - he peaked his ears up. - CATCH!