#then slept until 6 and then went back to sleep until 8 which is a LIE IN GODDAMN!!!

[enhanced-operatives-division]

Sometimes I remember I can draw whatever I want then....yeah...

[capricornlevi]

inevitability- nanami x f!reader

tags: friends to lovers, salaryman!nanami, breeding, unprotected sex, fingering, missionary, mating press, creampie, mild cumplay

cw: alcohol (all sex sober & consensual!), pregnancy mentions, rough but v v consensual sex, reader and nanami are both in their late 20s/early 30s

word count: 5.3k

a/n: in which your decide with your good friend of many years that it's time to get you pregnant <3 this has been festering in my brain and i know it's pretty different than what i usually write but ! here it is! ahh! sounds of me screaming!

//

"this is weird, y'know?" you blurt out, watching as nanami hangs up his jacket by your front door before settling down beside you on the couch. he keeps a respectful distance, resting his hands on his broad thighs and smoothing down the fabric of his slacks, clearly nervous. "this is very, very weird. like, weird at levels i don't think people have achieved before."

"i know," nanami replies diplomatically, as if he could be anything but excruciatingly aware of how unconventional this is. "are you having second thoughts? because i completely understand --"

you shake your head abruptly. "no, no, just ... thinking aloud, i guess. just getting used to this, because it's really ... um ..."

"weird?" nanami offers helpfully, and you turn to nod.

"weird."

because what else do you call agreeing to have a baby with your platonic friend of 10 years?

you first met nanami on the second day of college and knew right away he'd be a good dad, even back when having kids wasn't even a consideration for you. it was obvious; he was already a good dad back then, with how he looked out for his underclassmen even as he progressed through his degree. how he stayed sober when he knew people would be going overboard, not sleeping until you texted him to confirm you'd gotten home safe after a party.

he helped you study at the weekends and, in return, you provided him with a discount at the local cafe where you worked. through this time spent knocking back americanos and proofing each other's work, you grew close.

even with all his responsibility and good sense contrasting your exuberance and recklessness, you found yourself enjoying being with him. and he could be funny, too, delivering sharp and witty quips when you least expected it.

you became inseparable. insufferable, some would call it; the matching-halloween-costume type of insufferable, a borderline codependent but obliviously happy friendship that can only be fostered on a college campus.

then right after college, when you had dived straight into your quarter-life crisis and dyed your hair every colour under the sun, got piercings in too many places, slept with questionable people and dated some even worse, nanami had gotten himself a decent, impressive, well-paying job. it was a job that had him wearing tailored suits at 23, paired with fancy glasses that cost more than your rent, and you'd laughed at him, at how serious he looked. but you also worried at how the bags under his eyes grew deeper and darker, how the amused lilt to his voice started to dissipate as time went on.

his 9 to 5 turned to an 8 to 6, and then he was working weekends and skipping movie nights, missing out on meeting new boyfriends of yours, fading into the periphery of your life with you unable to do anything about it.

as with all relationships in your twenties, it was hard to stay in touch. the higher he climbed up the career ladder, the further you grew apart.

soon, it was only on holidays or birthdays when you both would reach out, cordial and civil but achingly unfamiliar.

then, on your twenty-ninth birthday, drunk at a bar and having taken a couple minutes away from your raucous friend group, you had stepped outside to grab some fresh air only to walk head-on into nanami's firm chest.

you had spluttered apologies, lifting your head to see who you had headbutted, only to find your old friend looking down at you with an amused look on his face.

and just like that, things picked up where they left off. you spent the night talking, catching up over drinks and laughter.

with a tone that was only half-teasing, you had asked him what brought him out tonight -- it was hard enough to get him to come out for drinks when you were both in college, much less now with his big fancy job.

but he had laughed in that gentle, airy way you'd heard a thousand times, explaining that he had been out socialising with clients who had just left minutes before. he was just on his way out before running into you.

perfect timing. painfully perfect.

you stayed talking until last call, making exhilarated promises to get in touch the next day.

and to your surprise, you both actually stuck to that.

in the ten months since then, you've met up every sunday for breakfast at your favourite cafe. over lattes and freshly baked croissants, you fill each other in on the details of the half-decade spent apart. he had a serious girlfriend, serious to the point of moving in together, but she'd gotten spooked and left him last summer to go travelling. he was hurt, obviously, but understood her perspective in that annoyingly calm, measured way that is just part of his nature.

and on your end -- despite the drunken circumstances in which you'd been reacquainted, which is all part of moderation, after all -- you've actually calmed down considerably since your early twenties.

you have your own apartment. you have a rescue cat you care for immensely, even when he tries wriggling out of your arms to go stare out the window at passing cyclists. you have a retirement fund, started yoga, learned to bake your own bread.

you're not boring, you still have fun and let off steam whenever you can, but you're having the sort of revelations about life that nanami seems to have had years ago.

fun is good. fun is important. but it can't be everything, because then it starts to come at a cost.

truthfully, the birth of your nephew is what prompted you to make some changes. you didn't want to show up to babysit hungover. you wanted to have funds to hand in order to treat him to little toys and sweets when your sister allowed it, and soon found yourself amazed at how his little face lit up every time he saw you.

it made you grow up, and fast.

in the course of your cafe hangouts, you had mentioned your nephew to nanami. showed pictures of the boy's pudgy little hands reaching for the camera, told stories of how he could tell the difference between new episodes of Bluey versus reruns, and how he's changed your entire life without even realising.

soon, talk about your nephew turned to general musings about your own future.

then one night, when you decided to switch your meetup location from the cafe to a cocktail bar, you shared something that you had barely admitted to yourself.

you wanted to have a kid.

this realisation wasn't borne from some crisis about entering a new decade, it wasn't something forced on you by others or general societal pressure. it was something that grew organically, inspired by the honour of watching your little nephew grow up.

to your surprise, nanami didn't scoff or dismiss you. you figured he'd have rolled his eyes, laughing off your confession since you weren't in a committed relationship.

instead, he expressed similar sentiments, but for slightly different reasons.

"i'm sick of work being my whole life," he had mused quickly, sipping an old fashioned with a funny look in his eye. "it was only when we started hanging out again that i realised how much of my life I've wasted at a place that wouldn't care if i lived or died."

"do i need to be worried about you having the type of rebellious streak the rest of us went through ten years ago?" you asked, smiling and fidgeting with one of your rings without thinking.

he waved off your suggestion with a fond roll of his eyes. "i'm not impulsively quitting or anything, don't worry. just want to take a step back, i suppose, or find something with shorter hours. i just think there's more to life than endless hours slaving behind a desk."

you toasted to that sentiment, knocking back the last of your cosmo.

nanami continued, watching you set your empty glass back down with a soft grin on his lips. "the whole family, kids thing ... i get it, you know? it makes sense."

"yeah?" you pried carefully, interested to see where this is going.

"i'd be lying if i said i didn't think about it, too. i have a nest egg saved up which means i'd be able to take time off to help with a kid, to actually be there to see them grow up. and it's not that i want to have one just because i think i need to -- i think i'd be decent at it, y'know? the whole parenting thing."

you obviously agreed. you'd thought the same for a while now, and getting reacquainted with the man has only spurred on those thoughts.

he really would be perfect.

the issue wasn't discussed further that night, but it was brought up again at coffee the following sunday, then at the bakery the week after that, and before long, it was your birthday again.

after a massive party with all your friends and family -- and a little too much wine -- nanami had stayed behind to help you clean up, because of course he would, and you got to talking again, got to revisiting that topic that had been at the back of both of your minds.

you can't remember the exact wording of the discussion or how many bottles of prosecco fuelled the conversation, but what you do know is that when you sobered up, you didn't regret agreeing to it.

you were gonna have a kid together.

you and nanami.

coparenting.

as outlandish an idea as it might seme on the surface, when looking at it a little deeper, it made sense to you. this wasn't decided on a whim. this was something that had momentum building behind it for months and months, perhaps even years, without you even realising.

when meeting up for coffee the following week, you both gave each other an out. said there'd be no big deal if things were called off. but neither one of you took it, despite laughing for what felt like hours about how bizarre it all felt.

still, no sign of backing out.

which brings you to tonight, the agreed-upon date of when you'd start trying.

nanami had suggested using artificial fertility methods if that made you more comfortable, but you politely turned him down, thinking it unnecessary. he wasn't a stranger -- plus, you'd be lying if you said he wasn't objectively attractive -- so if he had no objections to trying things the old-fashioned way, then you didn't either.

and he obviously didn't mind too much since he's now here on your couch, folding his arms and then unfolding them as he waited for you to make the first move.

he looks good, despite all the nerves. he's filled out over the years, though he was always strong, with every muscle in his body well-defined and perfectly proportional. his hair is still blond but with the faintest specks of grey, his skin brighter and more well-rested than that night you got reacquainted.

his deep brown eyes stay fixed on you and your skin heats as his gaze traces over you.

"do you want me to kiss you?" you break the silence, the words tumble messily from your mouth.

he looks taken aback, as if this was something he'd vaguely considered but never thought would actually happen.

"do ... do you want to?"

his earnestness has you smiling, cutting through the tension, and you meet his eyes properly for the first time since he arrived tonight. he always has this way of making you feel comfortable, his presence alone is like an embrace that calms the racing thoughts that constantly occupy your mind.

it's only now that you're close, so close, you realise that maybe you really do want to --

"i wouldn't suggest it otherwise," you murmur softly as if your heart isn't hammering against your ribcage, shifting nearer to him on the couch but keeping that last bridge of distance for him to close.

his tongue swipes over his lower lip, almost subconsciously demonstrating his wishes as his line of sight drifts down to your mouth. he nods then, dipping his head, only a couple inches of space between you now.

"yeah -- yeah, okay."

you can see how his pupils dilate as you reach out to slip his glasses off, setting them down on the coffee table, cupping his face in your hands.

he returns your smile at that gesture, just the slightest hint of nerves in his eyes that disappear when he finally decides to press your lips to yours.

his lips are softer than you imagined ... though until this very moment, you hadn't even realised that this was something you had imagined.

he lets you set the rhythm but doesn't shy away; he meets your movements, your energy at every kiss, letting you stop for a moment to adjust yourself as things progress.

this should feel weird, right? you should have some lingering feeling of awkwardness at making out with your best friend, at taking his hand in yours and setting it down on your thigh to show you want him to touch you?

this was supposed to be a relatively unromantic event, after all. it wasn't meant to be the start of anything. though it was never clinical or unemotional -- you're technically starting a family together, after all, if an entirely unconventional one -- you never foresaw it going down like this.

this feels like something that was meant to happen.

he pulls back ever-so-slightly, lips still grazing against yours as he asks softly, "this okay?"

you nod by way of answer, not wanting to waste another second not kissing him. nanami captures your lips with his again, and with renewed enthusiasm, slips his tongue into your mouth, probing gently and barely hiding the low rumble of a groan deep in his throat.

all thoughts of propriety start to fade into the ether. his hand on your thigh burns hot, shifting up and down the exposed skin. you'd worn a nice dress for the evening, unsure of the dress code for an event as strange as this, but you find yourself grateful for choosing something that fell so far above the knee.

his hands are rougher than his lips but not in an unpleasant way. you figure it's from his only out-of-work hobby that doesn't consist of hanging out with you; his renovation group. nanami is part of a volunteer organisation that helps build and renovate houses for those in need -- as if he couldn't get any more painfully perfect, obviously.

you stay like that for a few more minutes, exploring these new sensations and becoming increasingly more aware of the ball of anticipation burning in your lower stomach. everywhere he touches you feels warm, every soft nip against your lips feels electric.

then, against every instinct in your body, you force yourself to pause to take a few steadying breaths. nanami responds in the same way, pulling his hands back to his own thighs, adjusting his stance on the couch.

he's hard, you can see as much from the awkward way he shuffles in his seat. not to mention the bulge very obviously visible in the front of his slacks -- just seeing it fills you with want, with the need to touch and be touched.

this is moving more fluidly than you had expected, arriving at each decision without a second thought. in that vein, you decide to ask:

"want to head to the bedroom?", hoping you don't sound as desperate as you're feeling. "if you're ready -"

"yes," he responds before you've even finished your sentence. you feel grateful that the eagerness is not one-sided as you get to your feet, taking nanami by the hand to pull him up with you.

when you've reached your room and the door is shut behind you, revealing the modest set up of your freshly-made bed and a single scented candle -- any more than that felt a little too forced, too awkward -- you marvel at the feeling of nanami's hands on your hips, somehow gentle and firm at the same time, manoeuvring you onto the bed with a pre-rehearsed confidence that never verges on forceful.

your head hasn't even hit the pillow before he's kissing you again like he's starving for it. it's messy this time, the gentle exploration from before giving way to something more primal and urgent.

you have to remind yourself that this is your nanami you're kissing. the nanami who was there for you through the most painful college breakups. the nanami who knows your coffee order, who helped zip up the back of your graduation dress.

but now, with his tongue against yours and the stiffness pressing against your stomach, all you can think is why you didn't do this sooner?

just as you're about to combust underneath him, he pulls back, balancing himself on an elbow as his eyes flick down to see how your dress is bunched at the top of your thighs. he closes his eyes, his breaths ragged and unsteady.

"i don't know how--" he whispers, tongue gliding over his kiss-slick lips, "how ... technical you might want to go about this."

you let out a little laugh, craning your neck to kiss his jawline so he knows it's not at his expense.

"i never really thought about the technicalities, but it doesn't have to be too clinical, or anything. i know you, you know me. we can just ... have sex."

"have sex," he repeats slowly, eyes open again, the hint of a grin on his face.

"yeah, have sex!" you answer with a chuckle. "or is there another way you'd like me to phrase it?"

he laughs then too, looking at you again as he shakes his head softly.

"what?" you press him with a mock indignance. "it's rude to laugh at my suggestion, actually. i felt it was pretty accurate."

"i'm not laughing at you," he says gently, lips still curved upwards. "just ... i must have pictured you saying those words a thousand times, and i never thought it -- it's just funny to hear out loud, is all."

it takes you a second to fully comprehend the words as they wash over you.

you'd be ignorant to say that the realisation never dawned on you, but it was something you thought was a relic of your college years. he had blushed a few times too many whenever the topic of sex came up at parties, had a hint of jealousy in his voice when giving advice about one particular ex-boyfriend. at your apartment complex's winter party in senior year, you can tell he was thinking about kissing you.

but that was when you were young and naive, inexperienced with life, and the thought of this nanami desiring you, of picturing you in his life, of imagining what you'd look like spread out underneath him like this --

you lift your head and grab his shirt collar, yanking him in for another kiss. when he's settled back against you, your hands weave down to unbutton his shirt. you feel him smile against your lips as he starts to unzip your dress in return.

you're a mess of limbs as items of clothing get strewn across your bedroom carpet. before long, it's all skin-on-skin, the heat of his body pressed against yours before he grabs your waist and flips you over until you're straddling him.

you feel the length of him pressed against your stomach, hot and painfully hard, but from the way he cups his hand against your neck and starts to kiss your throat, you know he's not going to rush this.

just as you gasp out his name as his teeth nip against your pulse point, he brings his other hand to the apex of your thighs, fingertips resting just over your pubic bone, barely brushing against the sensitive skin.

"want me to touch you?" he mumbles quietly against your throat, the way his breath fans over you making you shiver.

you nod pitifully, hips canting towards him, but he doesn't budge.

"need you to say it," he says low, quiet, thumb shifting down by the millimetre, "need to know how much you want it."

"i want it," you gasp, the arch of your back deepening the closer he gets to your aching core, all concerns about appearing desperate evaporating with every press of his lips to your skin. "i want it, kento, p- please touch me."

nanami obliges, fingertips trailing down until his thumb is brushing over your clit. he slides his hand lower, fingers slipping through your damp lips, and then uses your own wetness to start rubbing you in earnest.

any form of articulate thought slips from your mind, replaced with only those that can get you more of this -- nanami's fingers playing with your clit, the other hand possessively resting at your nape, his cock pressed between you with precum beading at the tip.

you want it in your mouth. you want it inside you, and as you go to shift your hips, nanami shifts his back.

"want to see what you look like when you come first," he says, slipping his middle and ring finger inside you as if to prove he's going about it the right way.

and he really is, because after only a few strokes of his fingers, your vision is getting hazy. you've never been this turned on so quickly before, never felt this desperate, all-consuming urge -- but then again, you've never had a man look at you like this before now either.

you try to focus on the sensation of his fingers stretching you open, his thumb still stroking your clit in the perfect rhythm, but your mind wanders to the thick cock pressed up against you. you want to rub against him, let him fill you up, make him feel good too --

but looking at his face now, pupils blown and lower lip raw from biting down on it, you can tell this is as much for him as it is for you.

less than a minute later it hits you, the explosion of warmth radiates out to every cell in your body, rendering you a boneless mess in nanami's arms.

he holds you as the aftershock subsides, strong arms keeping you steady even when your legs feel as though they've turned to jelly. when you feel capable of supporting yourself, you slide ungracefully from where you were perched on his thighs and fall back against your pillows, head spinning blissfully.

nanami leans down next to you and kisses your forehead, whispering words of praise that fill you with a strange sensation you can't quite place.

"want to take a break?" he ask after a few moments have passed, "or if you're tired, we can try again later --"

"no," you cut him off, turning your head to look at him directly, face splitting into a smile through the post-orgasm haze. "i just need a second is all, i still -- if you want to --"

"i do."

and so to ease yourself back into it, you kiss him slowly, intimately, bodies gently intertwining as he shifts closer to you on the bed. you guide his hands to your chest, gasping as his thumb circles a nipple.

"you're just ... beautiful in a way i don't really have words for," he mumbles, watching you squirm pleasurably under him.

"nanami kento lost for words? a first time for everything," you manage to quip through it all, earning a pinch of the other nipple that turns your laugh into a moan.

"we've plenty more firsts to get through tonight."

at that, nanami shifts halfway down the mattress and gets to his knees, hands gripping your thighs as he spreads them open. he takes his cock in his hand and slowly drags the head through your folds, up and down but not yet penetrating you, appreciating how you're almost sucking him in, the eager way you pull back your legs to accommodate him.

he stays like that for a minute. every time you think he's about to sink in, he holds himself back as if transfixed by the obscene sounds that come from playing with your pussy, of using you to stroke himself off.

he looks to be on the verge of a choice, like his brain is fighting between two options: taking you slow and gentle like you deserve, or sinking in and fucked into you desperately, filling you up until he knows he's bred you, that you're his and only his.

you soon glean that he wants you to actually say it out loud, wants to hear those words he's fantasised about for so long.

"fuck me, kento."

now utterly unable to hold off any longer, he heeds your request, lining up and thrusting inside you in one fluid motion.

it's a pleasant stretch; he's still careful to let you adjust to his size but you're soon relishing the feeling of being so full, and the fucked-out grin on your face spurs him on.

his hips shift back inch by inch until he's almost fully pulled out, letting out a low groan as he sinks back in again, and at that, he knows he's a goner, completely lost to the feeling of his entire length buried inside you.

this is nanami at his most possessive, fucking into you as you're caged in by his strong arms, your knees now pulled back as far as they'll go. the skin on the back of your thighs is raw from your nails digging into them but you don't care, single-minded in your aim to keep the head of his cock brushing against that perfect spot inside you.

your shoulder blades press into your soft pillows as you try to keep from writhing too much, wanting with all of your might to avoid upsetting this perfect rhythm.

above you, nanami's perfect cheekbones are flushed, his brows knit tightly together, your silky walls wrapping tight around his cock in a way that's driving him to the brink sooner than he'd like. against all better judgment, he slows down just slightly, allowing himself to indulge in the sensation.

"you take my cock so well, y'know that?" he mumbles in between quiet grunts, "with that pretty look on your face when i fill you up... you're trying to kill me, i swear to god."

you both laugh breathlessly before yours breaks off in a moan, slurring his name as he speeds up subconsciously. he presses his lips to every inch of your neck, jaw, collarbone, thrusts unrelenting but never too much.

if you weren't already aware of how soaked you are, the slick sounds of his cock sliding in and out of you provide more than enough proof, melding with the soft squeak of your bedsprings to just about cut through the muffled sound of your moans.

your body now guided more by instinct than intention, you slip your hand down to where your hips are pressed together, two fingers circling the swollen bud of your clit. the angle of his ruts means his cock grazes your fingertips as he pulls out, the desperate rubbing of your hand between your legs spurring him on.

"still want me to come inside you?" he says then, strands of hair coming loose, sticking to his forehead, "want me to fill you up?"

you nod feebly -- the answer clearly not sufficient in itself, since he leans in, pressing his forehead to yours as he meets you for a wet, messy kiss. continuing his question with his lips still touching yours, he asks;

"want me to take care of you? want to be my pretty wife, hm, wanna -- fuck -- wanna be mine, yeah?"

you slur something unintelligible, focusing on the second orgasm gathering quick and hot in your core. you lose your grip on your thighs and fumble to pull your legs back up.

nanami helps to hike your legs back up -- but not in their original position. instead, he guides them until your ankles rest on his shoulders, and after taking just a second to press a kiss to your calf, he sinks back to the hilt. feeling him bottom out, your vision nearly goes white; this new angle allows him to slide in so deep it's practically splitting you open, so deep you can tell he's serious about breeding you.

somehow, the sensation remains just shy of too much -- it's not too much of a stretch or causing too much sensitivity -- it's more than you've ever taken but you honestly feel you could stay like this forever, taking nanami's cock like you were made for it, with him looking down at you with a mixture of reverence and pure lust.

you want him like this for the rest of your life.

"i'm gonna need you to answer, cos I'm pretty close," he half-pleads as if reading your mind, his voice deep and strained, firm chest heaving as the thrusts get messier and less coordinated.

though your mind is near-blank and your lungs feel they can't get enough air, you manage to mumble a "fuck, yes. want -- want you to come inside, kento ... please."

that last word tips him over with you following almost immediately after, clenching around his cock as you feel him pulsing inside you, feeling more full than you've ever felt in your life. his head tips back as he cums, moaning beautiful praise you can just about make out, strands of sentences about you being the only one he wants taking his come, about how he's going to keep fucking you full for as long as it takes.

sparks of electricity reverberate through your body, hips pushing against his as you ride out your orgasm, pretty little whimpers harmonising with nanami's continued praise.

you stay like that for what seems like forever, basking in the wave of pleasure that's just swept you away effortlessly.

everything is just ... warm. purely and blissfully warm. the warmth of his hands still gripping your legs, the warmth of your own breath fanning over your sweaty chest, the warmth between your legs that starts to dribble down the backs of your thighs when nanami pulls out.

for good measure, nanami uses two fingers to push some of his come back inside, grinning as aftershocks pulse around the digits.

you lower your tired legs to rest on the mattress, thighs aching from being bent practically in half, but it's easy to disregard any physical exhaustion when you feel this level of contentment.

nanami's arms are soon wrapped around you, pulling you to rest on top of his chest where you spend some moments of perfect silence.

you can hear his heart beating in his chest, skipping a beat when you angle your head up to meet his gaze again.

"well?" you ask, a smile imbued in your words. "still lost for words?"

"just thinking about how every second of this was worth waiting for," he replies without missing a beat, eyes crinkling at the corners as he watches how his answer flusters you.

with one hand behind his head as he rests of the pillow and the other wrapped around your shoulders, nanami looks more relaxed than you've maybe ever seen him.

this is a man who looked on the verge of a nervous breakdown when you reconnected less than a year ago; he's almost unrecognisable now, the dark circles under his eyes have faded, his face filling out a bit more, the smile on his face entirely genuine.

and in this moment you feel a burst of clarity, a sudden realisation that's eluded you since that first night you met in college.

maybe -- just maybe -- you're as good an influence on him as he is on you.

[imbored1201]

Their Thief

Master list

Summary: Wanda and Nat notice their clothes have been disappearing, little did they know their culprit was their newly girlfriend

Pairing: Wandanat x reader

Word Count: 1,060

Warnings: Nightmares, overall just fluff       

Wanda and Nat had asked you to be their girlfriend 2 months ago, you guys were taking it slow since none of you have ever been in a poly relationship so you still slept in your own room unless you had a nightmare or you fell asleep on their bed during movie night. 

It started when Nat had given you the hoodie she was wearing underneath her leather jacket since you were shivering while taking a walk through the park. You were usually an anxious person and paranoid everywhere you went but when you put on her hoodie, her scent calmed you and made you feel safe. You never gave Nat her hoodie back, but she either didn’t notice or didn’t seem to care.

What made you steal their clothes was when you had woken up from a nightmare, you rushed to their room crying and shaking. You didn’t bother knocking and stormed in making them jump up in surprise ready to fight the intruder. “Y/N” Wanda said in relief but frowned as she saw you shaking. “Baby, what happened?” She asked as she pulled you into her arms. “Nightmare” you mumbled as you hid in her neck. 

“Honey, you're soaked” Wanda commented as she felt how sweaty your shirt was. You heard Nat rummaging through their drawers and she came up to you holding out Wanda’s shirt you always saw her wearing during training and her shorts. “Go get changed sweetheart” Nat said as she guided you to their bathroom. “Do you need help?” She asked, making you shake your head. 

You got changed breathing in Wanda’s and Nat’s scent combined. It made you feel calm, and you walked out with a little smile. “Feeling better?” Nat asked you as she wiped your sweaty forehead with a rag. You nodded and hugged her. “Let’s get some sleep, hun” Wanda said as she patted the spot next to her. You got in and cuddled up to her and Nat got in from behind you to spoon you. 

You woke up to an empty bed and sat up. As you got up, you noticed a note on the nightstand and grabbed it, ‘We went out for a run sweetheart, I left you breakfast in the kitchen, love Wanda’ you smiled at the note and pocketed it. You then saw Nat’s hoodie on top of the dresser. It was a Captain America hoodie which she rarely wore since Tony got salty every time she did. You quickly grabbed it and left the room. 

It became tradition after that, if you fell asleep on their bed it was easier considering they both woke up way earlier than you. The downside of falling asleep on their bed was you couldn’t fall asleep in their clothes. You always woke up around 12:30 unless you had a mission and sometimes over 12:30 to the point Nat has to drag you out of bed while they woke up pretty early, Nat like 6 am and Wanda 8 am since she loved making breakfast and wanted it to be ready for Nat when she finished training and for you before you started training even if it’s already cold by then. 

You washed the clothes and put them back when they went on missions when the clothes didn’t smell like them anymore, switching them out for clothes that actually smelled like them. They noticed how their clothes kept disappearing and reappearing but they didn’t really think anything of it. 

It was one of those mornings where you slept in until after 12:30, Wanda and Nat just came back from the store, Nat was complaining about how she couldn’t find her favorite hoodie, Wanda shook her head at Nat’s nonsense and noticed the breakfast she left you was untouched. They searched for you and knocked on your door. You didn’t wake up, so they went in. There you were fast asleep, Wanda smiled and sat down next to your sleeping body and brushed back the hair that was in your face and shook you awake.

You groaned at that and stirred, Wanda smiled as your eyes opened and you looked at her confused. “Wands” you mumbled sleepily and confused, “Good morning, or should I say good afternoon sleepy head” Wanda smirked playfully as you groaned and pulled the covers over your head fully. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t sleep last night” Nat frowned as she sat by your feet. “Why didn’t you wake us?” She rubbed your leg, “I didn’t want to bother you guys” “darling, you're never a bother” she said as she stood up to get you clothes. 

Your eyes closed again, comforted by the presence of Wanda on your bed, she gently pulled back the covers from your face and shook you again. You ignored it but once you heard your closet being opened you jumped up, that startled Wanda. You blushed as Nat pulled out her shield hoodie. “This is the hoodie I was talking about Wanda” Nat smirked as you buried your head in Wanda’s chest out of embarrassment. “Look, the shirt you were looking for too” Nat took out the shirt and continued to pull out their clothes.

“What is this detka?” Wanda asked as she lifted your chin up to see your face. “I like to sleep in them” you pushed the covers off you and exposed that you were wearing one of Wanda’s t-shirts. She laughed softly and kissed your forehead commenting on how adorable you were. “Your scent calms me” you said, blushing at the pile of clothes in Nat’s arms. “You could have just asked sweetheart” Nat said as she threw the clothes on your bed. “I was going to give them back. They don’t smell like you guys anymore” they laughed as you got up.

“I need to go train” you mumbled, scratching your head. “Nope. Get ready and eat first” Wanda said sternly, you pouted but nodded and went into the bathroom with the clothes Nat picked out for you while Wanda and Nat took their clothes back and got some new clothes that had their scent and put them in your closet. 

Now you wore their clothes around the tower and when you went out, of course some of the team teased you for it considering you stopped wearing your own clothes but one glare from Wanda and Nat shut them up. 

[raccoonsrummagerostrum]

So, I just read your Chizome fic, and I was wondering. . .

Could you Maybe do a Yautja x Chiropractor reader? I'm talking like, big, strong, beefy Y/N, and their Yaitja complains of some joint hurting, or Y/N hears one of their joints pop, and just whips around, and preceeds to crack every joint in their body.

Yautja X ChiropractorS/O

Yautja x GN! Chiropractor reader

Word count: 796

Warnings: Back cracking, descriptions of anatomy, medical terminology

Summary: Your lover refuses to encourage your bone cracking until one night they can no longer put up with their stiff back

A/N: Thanks for the request! I really enjoyed writing this, and it was fun to speculate on yautja anatomy. I did however end up wandering onto parts of the internet that I may not have supposed to have been on… oh well!

You had a talent at work. No matter who you worked on, or what the case may be, you were always able to provide just the right amount of pressure to get the adjustment. From the smallest of grannies, to the buffest of body builders; you could do it all. You tried to demonstrate this to your lover, you wanted the challenge, but they did not. Vehemently refusing when you demonstrated yourself. 

You tried to persuade them by showing them what it was like to have their back adjusted by getting on the floor and cracking your own. You crossed one leg over your body, grabbed your thigh and gently twisted. A few soft, yet sharp cracks emanated from your spine. Your lover shrieked and picked you up, holding you gently as they rushed to find their helmet. On the way you tried to explain that that was what was supposed to happen. But they did not calm down until they had used their helmet to scan you for injuries. Of which, obviously, there were none. 

--

One night they returned from a hunt, having suffered a blow to their back. Thanks to the advanced medicine on their clan ship, their skin was healed, but their back was still stiff. Once again you offered to help, and once again they continued to refuse. That was until they couldn't get to sleep. They usually slept so easily with you but tonight, because of their back, they just couldn’t. Offering one more time, and promising that an adjustment would make them feel better, they finally relented. 

You instructed them to lay on their stomach with their arms at their sides. Pushing their dreads out of the way you gazed at the vast expanse of their back. They were by far the buffest you had ever had the pleasure to work on. As you ran your hands up and down their spine you felt out their anatomy. Yautja were surprisingly similar to humans, but also strikingly different. You could have easily spent all night studying their body, but you had a job to do. 

You started at the top of their pelvis, close to where their injury was. You gently rocked their thick spine back and forth, pushing down on the muscles on either side. Adding more and more pressure until it was just right. A dull thud came out of your lover's spine, as they let out a loud yelp only to settle back down very quickly. 

“Feels good, doesn't it?” you said, failing to stop the cocky smile from spreading across your face. All you got was a curt chuffle in response. Continuing you felt up their back adjusting as you went, L1 and 2, T7 and 8, T5 and 6, T3 and 4. Their transverse processes were larger than humans, and their spinous processes were larger and more pronounced. Almost giving them a ridge up their back. The sound of their back cracking was dull, but loud almost like a punch. Making it to their cervical spine you had them flip over. They laid their head in your lap, the elongated shape of their skull making the position a little awkward. Still you continued, reaching over their face and placing your hands on either side of their jaw bone. You supported the sides of their head with your thighs. Now you instructed their breathing. In and out. As they exhaled you twisted your whole body just to do the same to their head and neck. A series of cracks came in a slow succession as you adjusted their entire neck in one direction. 

Your lover's eyes bulged out of their skull at the sinsation, but once again settled quickly. Once more you instructed their breathing and moved their head and neck in the other direction. At last you laid them straight and released their head. For a moment they just breathed. In that silence you wondered if you had even managed to do anything. Slowly they sat back up, and turned toward you. Once their face came back into view you could see it. Their eyebrow ridge was relaxed, their mandibles were loose, and their shoulders were down. They pulled you into their arms and squeezed you with renewed strength. 

From then on they would frequently ask for adjustments, and in exchange they allowed you to study their anatomy. They also brought you medical texts from yautja physicians to study. You were even able to speak to a yautja physician and teach her some of the techniques you had used on your lover. 

You try not to tell your lover I told you so too often, but they do have to admit that allowing you to work on them was one of the better decisions they’ve made. 

[thenextdawn-temporarilyclosed]

One of Your Kind (Ch. 5)

Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 8 | Ch. 9 | Ch. 10

Word count: 5.2K

Summary: Jenna is getting very flirty with you and you notice that on several occasions, only you try to ignore everything until your friends decided to set something up…

Warnings: maybe a little bit of angst? Otherwise nothing really

Pairing: Jenna Ortega X Fem!Reader

———

November 2021

A couple weeks passed since your fight with Tim, but you didn’t want to see it like that. You wanted to see it as two weeks passed since you opened up with Jenna, since she slept in your bed as you both cuddled, that’s how you wanted to see it. Jenna had made it her personal goal to make you feel better, to make you trust people again and to just… be happy. She wanted to see you happy, she wanted to spend time with you. It started off small: at the start she would come in your trailer or you would go in hers, you’d play games or talk about anything or even watch movies together, actively avoiding horror movies as she knew you didn’t like them, you were more into fantasy and sci-fi and she took a liking to those genres too, and it often happened that you’d fall asleep in her bed, snuggled up to her. Even if she was the one in your trailer, you both snuggled up to each other and you’d always fall asleep first.

You never knew that Jenna purposely stayed awake longer to just watch you sleep and play with your hair, sometimes even tracing your skin with her fingers - she was glad you always slept soundly. You looked so relaxed whenever she was around and she noticed that, your face muscles were always tense at work, unlike how they are when you’re around her. You looked peaceful around her and she loved that. She loved how you felt safe whenever you were in her proximity. But you were too innocent, too innocent to realize that she was looking at you differently, too innocent to realized that maybe - just maybe - Jenna had feelings for you. However, you were still, just best friends.

You were indeed happier thanks to her but you had no doubts about that. You had been trying to reach out to her for a year and now that you spent the majority of your time with her, you were happy. You were slowly feeling better and starting to open up to people again, though only Jenna knew your actual experiences, only she knew how you truly felt and she was glad she did, because she was there whenever you had those small break downs, she was there when you were scared to lose your job. Slowly but surely you started hanging out with everyone else again. They had questions but you dodged them thanks to Jenna’s help, she always wanted to protect you and you couldn’t be more grateful to have met her and even though you were quiet at first, soon enough you were really good friends with them: you were back at laughing, back at joking. You were the girl you used to be when you first met Jenna and you barely knew any english.

Once again, it was thanks to Jenna’s help that you went back at work. You talked with Tim and you both apologized to each other and as a director under his teachings you were becoming as precise and as meticulous as he was, which is why most of the times he gave you the job of combing Jenna’s bangs. He was so obsessed with it, he needed each strand of hair to be in a particular place and he trusted you to just know what was gonna work for the episode and this morning that’s exactly what you were doing. As Jenna was sitting in a chair after getting her hair braided you were trying to find the right position to comb her bangs. If you knelt down she was too up high, if you stood up she was too low, if you bent down your back hurt… however you were trying to do your best.

“Wouldn’t it be best if you sat on my legs? I can see you’re having a hard time” Jenna said, and you gulped nervously as you tried to hide it with a giggle. “Nah don’t worry I can still work with this” you said and she scoffed. “Oh come on! We’ve known each other long enough. Plus you’ll get a better view and a more comfortable angle to work from” you eventually gave in and sat on her legs straddling her, you were nervous and she sensed that, but why were you nervous? You were doing your job, and she was your friend. Right?. Jenna’s hands found their place on your thigh which only incremented your nervousness, a pink shade appeared on your cheeks but she ignored it. Ha! She made you nervous. she could basically hear your fast heartbeat and As much as she enjoyed that, she also needed to calm you down and she did so by moving her head repeatedly and messing up your work, causing you to laugh at the faces she made as you definitely did calm down “stop it! Come in I need to get this done” you laughed and she did too, but she continued on moving her head from side to side, making it impossible for you to get the job done but you didn’t care, you were having fun.

That was until you noticed it was getting late and Jenna soon needed to be on set. Without thinking of it you very gently grabbed her chin, making her stop her movements as she looked at you and you did the same, her eyes moving from your eyes to your lip and for a brief second you did the same. Silence filled the room for a while, your hand stil having a hold of her chin as you looked at each other, slowly leaning closer to her until the door was opened and Emma stormed in. You quickly stood up and off of her as Jenna removed her hands from your thighs only to place them in her own lap. “Hey Jen you need to-“ Emma stopped talking when she saw you get off of Jenna, having briefly seen that you were sitting in her lap. “Did I interrupt something?” Your reply came quicker than expected “no not at all” you said laughing nervously. “Hmmm. Okay. Jen you’re needed on set” Emma said before leaving the room and you sighed of relief before turning back to Jenna, none of you saying anything for a while as you went back to work on her bangs, this time standing up. Only after a couple minutes you noticed Jenna smiling slightly at you.

“Why are you smiling?” You asked her and she slightly shook her head as to not ruin your work. “Nothing, you just look cute, all focused on me” you blushed brighter than earlier, this time trying to hide the smile. Oh god, was she flirting? Yes, she was flirting and you were falling straight into her trap. “Come on let’s get you on set” you said, avoiding her attempt at flirting but Jenna smiled anyway, she was the reason you were nervous, - a happy kind of nervous indeed - and she was going to take advantage of it. Of course Tim was more than happy with the way you combed her bangs, if only he knew how long it took you to make it this right.

You and Jenna never talked about what would have happened if Emma hadn’t come in the room and you were still acting the same way with each other, she was as flirty as ever, but you’d often take it as a joke. You didn’t think she liked you, maybe she didn’t and you were there deluding yourself of what could be if she did like you, would you a be a happy couple? Would she want to make it public? And would she hurt you? This is what you were mostly scared of. You were scared of betrayal, you were scared of being abandoned again. Maybe this is also why you never replied to her attempts at flirting. However, Thanksgiving was soon, very soon. In Italy there’s no such thing and you had never celebrated it in America either so this would be very, very new for you. Everyone was making such a big deal out of it and you didn’t know why, it was just a lunch with a turkey in the middle of the table… right?

They were going to celebrate it on set too, and of course you were invited too. In some ways it reminded you of the huge Christmas dinner with the whole family everyone has in Italy. You missed your home country in some ways, but not because of your family. No, you hated them. However, when the day came you were all having lunch on set, you had a restaurant prepare you all the food and take it on set so you didn’t have to move to go to a restaurant and of course, you were late. The night before you had gone to bed late because you were watching a movie and you forgot to set your alarm so you had to prepare in less than five minutes and head to the lunch. When you arrived, everyone had already arrived “I’m sorry for being late” you said and caught your breath, you had ran there. “Over here!” You turned to where Jenna was calling you from. “I saved you a seat next to me”

It was a pretty normal lunch, you were sitting next to Jenna and you were both amongst the rest of the cast. You were the youngest amongst the recording crew so most of the free time you had you spent it with the cast. As much time as it took you, you enjoyed their presence and they enjoyed yours. Once again, or maybe we should say like always, Jenna was flirting with you. “Girls you would make a really cute couple, you know that right?” Emma said. You were really good friends with her too, so she could afford the confidence she had with you, but her comment made you blush. “W-What? No we’re just really good friends.” You said as you drank a sip of your water, trying not to choke at Emma’s next comment. “Yeah mhm. You’re always in each other’s trailers and you know what I always say about couples? “And they were roommates” which you are basically and I’m never wrong” you sunk in your chair after having almost chocked, and you failed to notice the blush that had settled on Jenna’s cheeks too.

It was a really nice lunch and you ate A LOT. But after the lunch, like all the time Jenna invited you to her trailer. Recently you’d help her revise her lines, so you thought that this is what you two were going to do today as well. “God my back hurts a lot” Jenna said, grunting slightly as she bent to put her purse down. “Is it because of the stunts?” You asked her, and she nodded, sitting on her bed “we told you to get a stunt double… you’re not used to all this, you should have expected to get back pains” you said, still standing awkwardly in her trailer as you heard her chuckle “you sound like my mom” that made you laugh and shake your head. “Do you need a back massage? I’m pretty good at that” Jenna looked at you with pleading eyes and you smiled, taking your jacket off having understood what she wanted “take off your shirt and lay down on hour stomach” you turned around as she did so, and when she said she was ready you walked over to her, climbing on the bed and straddling her lower back.

As soon as you started massaging her you felt how tense her muscles were, and you heard her grunt of pain first, which turned to relief. You started from her lower back where her ditches of venus were. “This feels amazing…” she nearly whispered, she had her eyes closed and a small smile on her face, her head resting on her arms. The more you went up the more she relaxed and you had to move her long hair out of the way. At some point though she reached her hand back to unhook her bra, and you could say you panicked. “W-what are you doing?” Jenna could feel you had gotten tense. “Relax… I just unhooked my bra. I’m just giving you some more space” she said, “I’m not stripping off, we’re not there… yet.” As she giggled after her own comment, you gulped nervously and resumed with your massages. To say you wanted to bend down and kiss her bare skin was an understatement, and you really refrained from doing so.

The rest of the massage you were both quiet, and only when you were finished did you notice that Jenna had fallen asleep. You smiled and gently climbed off of her, hooking her bra again very gently, as you looked at her. She had been filming a lot recently and she looked exhausted. The freckles on her nose and cheeks even more visible when she wasn’t wearing make up, and you moved a strand of hair behind her eat to give her a better look, god was she stunning. You hesitantly leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, only to see her smile slightly, making you smile as well. “Sleep well Jen” you whispered and pulled the covers on top of her before going back to your own trailer.

December 2021

Christmas was near and you couldn’t wait to spend it with your friends. These past years you didn’t like Christmas but this year you were really excited, you knew it was hugely celebrated in America and even if now you were in Romania and they didn’t celebrate it like you guys do, you had ordered a Christmas tree from Amazon as well as some Christmas decorations to put up in your trailer and around set. In Italy it’s a tradition to put up Christmas decorations on the 8th of December and you were going to do the same thing here and you couldn’t be happier. You woke up earlier than everyone else, so that when they woke up they would see what you did. Useless to say that the cast was very happy with what they saw, you could see all their jaws drop. However, the “grownups” weren’t as happy.

“You need to get this stuff off of everything” director of the cameras said, and you pouted “oh come on! It’s Christmas” you said and he only scoffed “make everything disappear within ten minutes” he insisted “but-“ “now, (Y/N). We need to start filming” you sighed “gee, the grinch has a better Christmas spirit than you” you said, and without looking at the cast you climbed on the ladder to start with the higher up things, only… the ladder wasn’t as stable as you thought and you lost your balance, taking a really bad fall as your head hit the ground, though luckily you didn’t pass out “(Y/N)!” You heard someone yell, and by the time you sat up you saw everyone around you look worried. Well at least you thought so. Your vision was blurred, you saw double and even your hearing was confused: everyone was speaking and asking you questions but you couldn’t make out what they were saying. “Guys I don’t- I don’t understand what you’re asking me” you said and rubbed your head where you hit it, you were loosing some blood but it wasn’t much.

“What happened?” You asked as you tried to stand up. “No no no don’t stand up” Jenna said but you couldn’t understand any of it. However she was late, because you had already stood up but you lost your balance again. Luckily people were around you and made you sit back down. “Guys I’m fine” you kept saying, their voices sounded all mixed together and you couldn’t make out their faces, but you were sure Jenna was there. “How many fingers do you see?” Jenna said, holding out two fingers. hers was the only voice you understood. “Uh five? I don’t know” you said as you held your head and grunted. The next thing you knew you were in an ambulance, being taken to the hospital with Jenna coming with you. The whole situation was all a distant memory and you barely remembered it had happened when you got back from your trance state. “Ouch that hurts-“ you said as you felt the pain in the back of your head, it was bandaged and you had a couple stitches.

Only a few seconds later you realized you were at the hospital, and Jenna was there. Wait, wasn’t Jenna supposed to be filming? “What happened?” You asked as you sat up, looking at Jenna. She looked extremely worried, leg moving up and down at a speed as she fiddled with her own fingers. She was still in her Wednesday clothes for set. “You fell and hit your head,” Jenna started. “You scared us, (Y/N). You couldn’t stand up straight, you didn’t understand what we were saying, your vision was confused, I was scared” well, you had no recognition of all of this, you blinked twice and Jenna looked at you with glossy eyes as if you were seriously injured “it’s alright Jen, I’m okay now” you tried to reassure her and she nodded “I know… you just scared me big time” you looked at her again “want a hug?” You said with a smile, opening your arms for her. She seemed hesitant at first, but before any tears could leave her eyes she moved in your arms and a shaky breath escaped her lips as you held her tight. “I’m okay”

You left the hospital that same afternoon as you were better, and as you got back to the trailers you remembered why you had took that fall. You were asked to take the Christmas decorations off, and because of that all your happiness for Christmas vanished. “Are you gonna come to Percy’s trailer to play some Uno?” Jenna asked you with a smile, which you gave in return, only a smaller one. “I think I’ll go back to my trailer. In italy we put up the Christmas tree today and I want to do it. Those idiots already ruined the Christmas atmosphere, I at least want to have a Christmas tree in my trailer, you know?” Jenna looked at you with a small smile and a look of admiration, maybe even love- no definitely not love but it was different than any other time. “Why are you looking at me like that?” You giggled “I know it’s childish but it’s important to me” you said and waited for an answer “no it’s not childish at all, I admire that,” there it was, admiration. “Tell you what, I’ll come help you later tonight, okay?” She said. The thought of that made you happy, and you smiled brightly “see you later then!”

You definitely had your hopes up because she did not show up. You had left a few Christmas decoration for her to put on the tree including the star that goes on top, but she didn’t come and she didn’t even send you a text warning you, and to say you were a little bit sad was enough, though you didn’t blame her, she was probably really tired… but at least you expected a text. You had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for her only for her to not show up. That day you didn’t talk to her the whole day even if she had tried multiple times to apologize. “(Y/N) I’m sorry okay?” She said for the thousand time, following you back to your trailer “will you listen to me!?” She said and you finally turned to look at her, leaving her speechless for a short moment. “I’m sorry. It was late, I was tired. I didn’t even know what time it was and when I noticed, I had to go to sleep because my alarm would have rang two hours later. You get that right?” You sighed and nodded, looking down “I do get that, I don’t blame you for that. It’s just that I was waiting for you, I had left you a few decorations to put up and you didn’t show up, you didn’t even send a text… I’m just sad, that’s it” you said and shrugged

She apologized again and you replied with “it’s okay, I put them up this morning so the it’s fully decorated now” You saw her nod after that, and then move her eyes to the ground. Now she felt guilty. It was only a week later when you found yourself in a very, very awkward situation with Jenna. Emma and the others had been confabulating something and you knew it, they were looking at you and you would give them confused glares, and you didn’t know that but they were looking at Jenna, too. Were they maybe trying to set you up on a date with her? “Hey (Y/N), can you come here real quick?” Emma called for you, and you were anxious of what was waiting for you. “STOP!” You stopped dead in your tracks. “Stay there, don’t move” she said and then proceeded to call Jenna too. “What’s the meaning of this?” You said, only for your voice to be cut off by Emma’s voice calling for Jenna, and she walked over to where you were and stopped next to you. “Perfect!” Emma said, almost jumping of excitement. “Now look up” you gave her a glare before looking up.

Mistletoe.

Oh no you thought, this is bad. This is way worst than what you had anticipated, this was worst than a set up date, you had expected anything but some mistletoe, now you had to straight up kiss her. “You can’t be serious right now” you brought a hand up to your face, perhaps to hide the blush that had made its way in your cheeks and neck, you didn’t dare to look at Jenna, but she was looking down shyly too, bangs covering her eyes as she tried to suppress her smile, until you had what you thought was a brilliant idea. You stepped away from under the mistletoe, just one step. “Well I’m not under the mistletoe now so we can’t…-“ you were quickly interrupted when Jenna grabbed your arm, to prevent you from moving any further away from her as she pulled you in close, arms linked around your waist as yours automatically found place on her shoulders “… kiss…” you whispered, now that both your faces were inches away from each other.

You could feel her hesitant hot breath against your own lips that were parted ever so slightly, her eyes moving very quickly from your right eye, your left one and then your lips, creating some sort of triangle shape. Now that you were this close you felt your breath falter, heart hammering against your chest and you were so scared that it was going to come out of it if you didn’t calm down, however how could you? How could you calm down when Jenna was looking at you with nothing but love in her eyes? Her arms tightened their grip around your waist to bring you closer to her and only then you thought, oh how ethereal she looks. She looks like an angel, a goddess and any kind of positive affirmation you could come up with. “J-Jen…” you whispered nervously, you were really tense in her arms but she wasted no time in taking care of that when she leaned in to place her soft lips on yours. The beating of your heart only increases as you finally relaxed and gave in to the almost foreign feeling, everything else became background noises, eyes closing and your hand hesitantly moved from Jenna’s shoulder to her neck and then cheek reciprocating the kiss that felt so intense, yet so soft, and both foreign and familiar at the same time. You have no idea how long she has been wanting to do this for, and she hummed against your lips at the realization that this was finally happening. You could feel her smile against your lips and at some point you even moved forward for more.

Though when you pulled back from each other, as you saw her smile you felt… you felt scared. Scared that whatever happened with your ex could happen again. Scared she was going to hurt you, abandon you, talk bullshit about you and you didn’t want that, you couldn’t have that. If it happened again you would fall back into that depression Jenna found you in when you met again here in Romania, and in that case she would be the one that got you both out and back in it. You wanted her, you really wanted her. That’s what your heart kept telling you but your head wanted otherwise. This time you decided to follow your head, even if you knew that this would probably be the worst decision of your life. “I’m sorry I- I have to go” you said and pulled away from her embrace as you used the back of your sleeve to wipe the single tear that had rolled down your cheek “(Y/N) wait-“ Jenna called but you completely ignored her and ran to your trailer.

You considered yourself lucky, because the next day everyone would be flying back home to spend Christmas with their families and you really, really didn’t want to talk with Jenna, you were too scared. However that day she sent you lots of texts and called you multiple times, but you never replied to any of them. You even closed your trailer windows so she couldn’t come look inside and you had locked your door, but that didn’t prevent Jenna to come try and talk to you, and that’s exactly what she did. “(Y/N) why are you ignoring my calls?” She called softly, she sounded worried, but you were too scared to face her right now. “Look I don’t know what happened after that kiss that made you want to run away but really, I’m sorry and I want to help, please let me help” she begged and for a short moment you felt a soft noise, Jenna had laid her head against the door “I don’t want it to ruin anything. If you want we can forget it ever happened, what do you think?” No, you didn’t want to forget it, you wanted to do it again but you couldn’t. Oh how you wanted to just hold her and kiss her… however you said nothing. “Please…” it sounded more like a cry coming from her and once again you didn’t reply, and soon enough you heard her sigh and then walk away.

That same night, Jenna came again at your door, and you recognized that it was her just from the knocks, three like usual. “I bought you some food, it’ll be out here in a bag if you want it… there are also some plane tickets inside… if you ever want to come spend it with me and my family, I don’t want you to be alone here for Christmas so if you’re coming just text me okay? I lo-“ she stopped mid sentence. Please don’t say it, please don’t say it… “I’ll miss you for these two weeks” you sighed of relief. You did want to hear those words coming from her but on the other hand you knew that if you heard them, you would fall at her knees.

You didn’t have to hear those words.

On December 30 at midnight you took your first flight that would take you to Los Angeles. You had calculated how much it would take you to get there and if the flights were on time you would arrive at her house at 7.30 pm of December 31. You didn’t text her, deciding to make this a surprise… you had given up, you ended up following your heart as always. This time it felt different, Jenna was different. You knew she was the one and you couldn’t lose her.

Your second flight was late and you were freaking out. You needed to get to LA, get a bouquet of roses and get to her house in less than two hours or you wouldn’t make it to her house before midnight stroke, so for the first time in your life you decided to use your “famous person” privilege and get a private Jet, which was faster and comfier and at 11.50 pm you were in front of her door, the beautiful bouquet in your arms. There was music in the house, you knew she wouldn’t hear the bell ring, so you called her on the phone. “(Y/N)? How are you?” She asked, and you avoided her question “I’m here, open the door” Jenna went quiet, confusion all over your her face and her relatives questioned what it was about. “What do you mean?” “The door, dumbass” you giggled “I’m in front of your house and it’s freezing, just let me in” within seconds Jenna hung up the call and rushed to the door to open it.

As soon as she saw you, she gave you a bright smile and a confused look, then she saw the flowers, which you handed to her. “What’s the meaning of… this?” She said, gesturing to the flowers. “I didn’t like how our last talk ended… but it was my fault” you were definitely nervous but for now Jenna decided not to question that. “I wanted to end the year on a good note… and start the new year in an even better one” you said and took a step closer to her, she didn’t know what to say, she was just glad you were here.. and she definitely wasn’t expecting what was going to come next, because you pulled her in from her waist, (roles reversed from the first time you kissed) and a couple seconds before midnight stroke, you pulled her in for another kiss. This time it felt even better than the first one you had shared. In some ways it felt desperate, it even felt relaxed and soft. As one hand of yours stayed on her waist, the other one went to cup her cheek, caressing it with your thumb as fireworks started exploding around you, both literally and figuratively. The new year had just started and people were celebrating it with their loved ones and for the first time, you were doing the same.

You smiled in the kiss and when you both pulled back - still being only inches away from each other - you continued cupping her cheek, looking at her with love and lust in your eyes as you saw the colors of the fireworks reflect on her skin, and she looked at you the same way you looked at her.

“Happy new year, (Y/N)”

“Happy new year Jen”

A/N: WOAH this was definitely a rollercoaster of emotions, this was definitely my longest chapter posted and It’s probably the best chapter I’ve written so far 😭😭

Tags: @idkjustliving2 @tundra1029 @engenelxver @rainbow-love4ever @gimaximoff @smromanoff @wol-fica @lum13 @eviekensington @i984

[fryingpan1234567]

Batboys ships feat. the morning after New Years (happy 2023 everyone!!)

~ ”Ughhh…” Dick Grayson took half the covers with him when he fell out of the bed, sore and completely hungover.

Because of this, Wally was forced to actually move and look over the edge at him.

“What the shit was that for?” he grumped. His condition wasn’t much better. He yanked the covers back, but Dick didn’t move.

He groaned. “M’ skull has a heartbeat…” he mumbled into the carpet.

Wally huffed in solidarity. “That speedster alcohol works. Remind me to thank and then punch Cisco later.”

“What, you’re leaving the house today?” Dick joked, finally managing to crawl back up into bed. Thankfully, the windows were closed, and they could probably go back to sleep. He faceplanted into Wally’s chest. “Shtay.”

“Yeah, yeah.” There was a serene pause. Not even the dog was up. “If you puke on me, I’m breaking up with you.”

“I would nev- maybe we should go to the bathroom.”

“GET OFF!”

~ Lian knew her dads were going to be hungover the morning after. She did not count on taking care of and reverse-parenting the shit out of them, though. It was sort of validating.

“Li, I’m buying you the fucking Wonka factory after this,” Roy groaned, half hanging out of the bed.

“You’re my favorite child,” Jason agreed, (barely) catching the water bottle she tossed him.

Lian grinned, leaning against the bed. “Don’t repay me in chocolate, repay me in solo patrol time!”

“Don’t push your luck,” Roy grumbled, taking the bottle Jay passed over.

“I’ll make you Nutella sandwiches for lunch.”

“I hate that you know my weakness.”

~

When Tim woke up, the house was quiet.

Normally he’s not the first one up anyways. The Manor always had the sound of training, yelling, busy hallways. Unless it was early enough, anyways.

Kon’s arm was draped over his chest, and he was still snoring peacefully.

“Kon,” Tim whispered, poking at his bicep. “Conner, we’re up first.”

Conner mumbled something like, “You’re up first. I’m asleep.”

Tim sighed, tracing patterns on his boyfriend’s arm. More sleep didn’t sound too bad, although late nights weren’t an excuse. Late nights were every night.

Still. It was New Years last night. He figured no one would be up until at least nine, which was the latest anyone usually slept in the Manor.

“Turn your brain off,” Kon hummed. “I can feel you thinking. It’s distracting.”

“I thought you were asleep,” Tim teased, lolling his head over to check the actual time.

Oh. Oh, no.

Tim sat bolt upright in bed, startling Kon off of him.

“What-?” he started to say in a panic, but Tim cut him off.

“FUCK,” he yelped. “It’s one in the afternoon!”

~

Despite Drake’s shouting, Damian had managed to sleep in- and that never happened.

He lay staring at the door, a blush spreading across his face as memories from the night before replayed.

“Dami!” Admittedly, the Kryptonian had only found him because he’d paused to watch the countdown in Gotham’s city square. He couldn’t say he was mad, although he was maybe a bit ashamed someone had caught him lacking.

“Kent,” Damian greeted. He hated the butterflies that swarmed his stomach. He hoped it didn’t show in his voice.

“Can I sit?” Jon said obliviously. Damian gestured to the ledge beside him, where they could see the big billboard. Thirty seconds.

Dami glanced at him after a few moments of silence. “Why are you in Gotham?”

Jon shrugged. “Conner’s here. And maybe I wanted to see you.”

Twenty seconds. “Me?”

“Yeah… unless- if you don’t-“

“Jon.” Damian was startled into using his first name. He hesitantly laid a gloved hand on Jon’s. “I like to see you too, if it comforts you.”

Jon smiled. “Well, then- the countdown’s starting!”

10.

9.

8.

Jon hopped up to his feet, pulling Dami with him by the hand. When they were standing, he didn’t let go.

7.

6.

Damian tried to ignore the short distance between them. He could feel the heat radiating from him.

5.

4.

When Jon leaned in, he may or may not have given Dami a heart attack.

3.

2.

1.

He kissed him, right as the first fireworks went off and the crowd screamed.

Movement in the bed next to him scared him so bad he fell out of it.

There was a knife in Damian’s hand before he recognized the person there.

Jon was looking at him, pretty eyes half-lidded, with a sleepy smile. Dami tried not to melt.

“Tryna kill me already, Sunshine?” he mumbled, still buried in the covers. “After one date, too. Am I that bad at kissing?”

“I-“ Dami dropped the knife, mostly in shock. “No. No, of course not. To both questions.”

Jon hummed. “Well maybe you should stop trying to stab me and do it again.”

He did. For a long time. Father didn’t need to know why he never left his room that day.

~ can you tell who my favorite is lol

[yujo-nishimura]

The Escape - Part 32

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14 - Part 15 - Part 16 - Part 17 - Part 18 - Part 19 - Part 20 - Part 21 - Part 22 - Part 23 - Part 24 - Part 25 - Part 26 - Part 27 - Part 28 - Part 29 - Part 30 - Part 31

Warning: angst, emotional abuse, loneliness, despair - as a writer I would say here is the big plot twist and after that everything will get better (hopefully)... :)

That night you had the worst nightmares you have had in a while. After crying yourself to sleep you saw Buggy in your dreams, the small Buggy as you had first met him, sitting together with Gaimon, holding a glass, smiling at you, his face friendly and full of innocence. You wanted to go over to him, you wanted to sit with your friends and laugh and drink and enjoy the good times you always had together. While you trying to reach him, stretching out your hand, his body turned into wax, his face a sad grimace. He tried to move his lips, but everything was inaudible. You called out for him, wanting to run towards him, but something is holding you back. As you looked down to your feet you can see quick sand, slowly swallowing your feet, reaching now all the way up to your knees. The sand is hot, you cannot move, you start to lose sight of Buggy. Feeling desperate, knowing if you could have told him only one thing, this one thing - you could have escaped the quicksand and also rescued your captain from the wax. 

Panting and gasping for air you wake up, immediately sitting up, pressing your palm to your anxious heart, trying to calm it down. You should have told Buggy that you love him. You had so many chances. The first time he forcefully shut you up, being afraid of hearing these words from you. The second time you had no courage. There was no third time. And now it was too late. You tried to slow down your breath and think of what to do next. You had spent the last days in self pity and despair. You did not believe that Buggy had really abandoned you and sold you to a mighty warlord for a handful of berries. There was something else about this story which was fishy. If this was his plan all along why did he not give you to the marines in the first place? They probably would have even paid a better bounty than a criminal like Crocodile. And why would he think you would just stay here in this desert city and live with a chain-smoking devil fruit eater? 

You looked around in your room, not seeing any chance to escape. The windows were sealed with iron bars, the door always locked. You laid back in your pillows and sighed loudly. You knew what to do - you would have to use your charisma and charm once more to finally play along and get out of this palace. And then you would have a chance to meet your former captain again. Would you tear him to pieces for past grievances, or would you be overwhelmed by an intense desire to kiss him passionately? In this moment, you found yourself unsure of which path to take, uncertain of what would be the most appropriate response.

Until the morning you were laying awake in your bed, your mind full of thoughts of revenge and determination. Before dawn, you got up, went into the bathroom and take a long and soothing bath. You decided to use the finest shampoos Crocodile has provided you with and you even found some makeup to enhance your natural beauty. For someone who had been abducted and hadn't slept much you actually looked great. As you came out of the bathroom you went to the closet, taking out one of the most beautiful dancer costumes embroidered with pearls and stones. As you gazed into the mirror, a bittersweet nostalgia washed over you. Reflected back was an image of a lady, no longer adorned with the trappings of a pirate's life - maybe this was the life you had actually longed for?

Seizing a book from the nearby shelf, you swiftly tore out a piece of paper from its first page. With a sense of urgency, you etched a message onto the paper before carefully tucking it into the pocket of your skirt, ensuring its safekeeping. As if he would have predicted your timing, the door opened and Crocodile entered your room carefully, unsure in which state he would find you in. You sat on the chair next to the window, holding the book you just had grabbed, pretending you were reading and awaiting his arrival. It was the first time he saw you in the clothes he had chosen for you and on top of that you were not in your bed, but bathed and dressed sitting on a chair.

 “Good morning!”, you greeted him with a smile. You were determined to make you both feel better by showing kindness.  “Good morning…”, he hesitated, hearing you saying this for the first time as well.  Slowly walking towards you, his face was blurred in confusion.  “Feeling better, eh?”, he asks, putting the tray in front of you on the little table next to your chair.  “Much better. Thank you for breakfast.”, you put the book down, making sure he won't see the first page being ripped out. 

Not knowing how to handle your kindness, just like Buggy, Crocodile turned around on his heel. 

“Wait, don't you want to eat with me? I am tired of eating alone..”, you asked him carefully, making sure your voice doesn't sound too demanding. 

“I already ate. Maybe later..”, his short answer left you a bit disappointed and without further ado he left the room and you alone again. A heavy sigh escaped your lips, carrying with it a mix of frustration and resignation. You had made an effort to accommodate his desires, to align your actions with his expectations. Yet, it seemed that your attempt had backfired, leaving you questioning the complexities of your relationship.

You spent the day reading, trying to distract yourself. Every time the sadness seemed to overwhelm you, you took a pen and started writing on some pages of the book letters to Buggy. But as time passed, frustration welled up within you. The letters, filled with raw vulnerability and unspoken yearning, felt somehow inadequate. They failed to capture the depth of your emotions or bridge the gap between you and Buggy. You also felt just mad at him. In a surge of exasperation, you tore the pages apart, crumpling them into a ball before casting them beneath your pillow.

Crocodile came back around lunch time, bringing you another meal at midday for the first time since he had captured you. This time he carried two trays, both full of fruit, meat, rice, even a bottle of wine and two beautifully crafted crystal glasses. “Lets have lunch together!”, he proposed and you were relieved he seemed to have understood your good intentions. Without taking his coat off, he sat down next to you on a chair, facing the window, the trays placed in front of you. He offered you wine without saying a word and you happily nodded, knowing this would take the edge and your nervousness off. As you both started drinking and eating in silence, the sun of Alabasta shone through the window, lightening up your meal and his face. He was still looking at you with suspicion, his forehead slightly wrinkled. You knew you would need to talk to him to make him trust you more. 

“Thank you for giving me the chance to talk to Buggy last night. I have to admit I was sad at first…” 

Crocodile paused mid-meal, his gaze fixed upon you, intrigue etched across his features. He appeared genuinely interested in what you had to say, inviting you to continue sharing your thoughts.

“But I understand now that he was after my bounty all along. He just saw me as something easy he could use and get rid off again..” 

The warlord fell silent, giving you the chance to share your feelings with him. You could see his face was more at ease now, the presence of wine had also contributed to his eased demeanor.

“I just thought… that I would be more for Captain Buggy than just a simple crew member..”

“Is that so?”, Crocodile took another sip of wine before he lit his cigar. You can feel his eyes now wandering all over your body. You are taking another sip of the wine, trying your best to stay in the role. 

"Yes, I thought... I mean, after we shared some nights together," you began, your voice trailing off slightly as you broached the sensitive topic.

Crocodile's voice rose a notch as he interjected, his curiosity piqued by your statement. The subtle shift in his tone did not escape your notice, and it brought a smile to your lips. His eyes betrayed a mixture of confusion and something deeper—an unmistakable desire.

You met his gaze with an air of candor, fully aware of the effect your words were having on him. The room seemed to crackle with anticipation as you continued. “So, he didn't treat you right?” “No, he did not offer me a beautiful room with so many books like you do now. A private bath. A spacious bed with luxurious sheets. And all these beautiful clothes…!”, you let your hands gently slide down over your clothed shoulders and your slightly exposed décolte. You can hear him clearing his throat and taking another bigger sip of wine. He has almost finished his whole glass in one gulp. 

You think of the beautiful green dress Buggy had bought you. The dress you haven't worn yet, the dress you loved so much, which was so much more elegant and sophisticated than the cheap dancers clothes hanging in this closet of yours in your little prison cell. You decided at that moment to not only tear Buggy to pieces but also steal your dress back. 

“Well, this is all yours and you can have even more. If you join forces with me, I can buy you whatever your heart desires.”, Crocodiles voice called you back into your grim reality.

“Anything I want?”

“Anything.”, he repeats and empties the wine bottle into his glass without offering you more. 

You sit back and smile at him. 

“Can you take me for a walk? I am dying in here out of boredom. I want to see the town of Alabasta!”

He suddenly gets up, the cigar gleaming angrily in his mouth. 

“You can go out later. It is still too early for you.” 

“But…!”

"Let's discuss this later!" he repeated firmly, seizing both trays and hastening towards the door.

Caught off guard, you found yourself unable to react as he swiftly exited the room, leaving you behind. Your voice, a mere whisper, escaped silently, "Shit!"

Crocodile never returned, not even for dinner, leaving you with yet another day of receiving only two meals. Surprisingly, this arrangement suited your current state of mind. Frustration simmered within you, fueled by the frustration he presented and the exhausting effort required to maintain the facade. In truth, you were looking forward to an evening spent in solitude, allowing your thoughts to wander freely, particularly towards Buggy.

Caught in a tumultuous whirlwind of conflicting emotions, you found yourself trapped between disbelief and the painful realization that he had indeed betrayed you—a despicable pirate who had forsaken you for the allure of some cheap berries. The few moments when you had called him out on his behavior and he had defended himself as “I am a pirate, you cannot think highly of me..” was something you remembered now as you were sitting on your bed.

In a fit of frustration, you tore at the fabric of your skirt, rending it into tattered pieces. The desire for him still burned within you, despite the pain he had caused. Closing your eyes, you envisioned his handsome face, his defined cheekbones, his penetrating gaze, the red nose, and the smudged clown makeup. Vivid memories of his intense presence flooded your senses—the way his eyes glinted with desire, the sound of his voice as he moaned softly. The overwhelming rush of emotions threatened to engulf you entirely.

Overwhelmed by the weight of your emotions, you rose abruptly, a scream tearing from your throat. The torn fabric of the skirt scattered on the floor as you unleashed your agony, your voice reverberating against the walls. Frustration turned into fury as you struck the bookshelf, causing books to tumble to the ground, their pages rustling in protest.

Exhausted from the cathartic release of your screams, you sank to your knees, cradling yourself in your own arms. Rocking back and forth, tears streamed down your face, you were exhausted. In that moment, you allowed yourself to surrender to the overwhelming vulnerability that had been building within you.

You were so strong all day, it was okay to be weak now and give in to your feelings. Tomorrow was another day… 

[abshsuxhbab]

I have lost a part of myself, and I don’t know if I will ever get it back.

I hated being a teenager. I found school infinitely draining, with all of its social expectations. The pressure to look totally put together and made up at 8 o’clock in the morning. The pressure of maintaining academic perfection tied to my back, weighing me down wherever I went and whatever I did. The judgmental eyes of my peers if I were ever to let my mask of teenage normality slip just for a moment.

I hated school. I left sixth form a whole 6 months ago, yet I am still exhausted and recovering from the pressure. When you look at my grades, a clean AAA at A-level, it appears that I did well in school. But I don’t know who I am anymore. I lost a part of myself.

When I was 12, I began rolling my skirt up to fit in with the other girls in my year, when I used to prefer trousers. I realize now that this is a rite of passage for teenage girls, albeit a devastating one. I wore my hair down even though I hated the way it felt against the back of my neck, especially in summer. I wore mascara, which smudged throughout the day, and I never slept early enough, because I wanted to put off waking up for school the next morning and having to do it all again.

When I was 13 I was sent to the doctors for anxiety. They prescribed me a pill and told me to sleep more, take a bath and wear fluffy socks. When this didn’t work, they prescribed me another pill. This sort of thing continued throughout the entirety of my teenage years, until now, when I go to the doctor to try another pill, to see if the next pill will solve my problems, and they tell me I have no more pills left to try.

When I was 14 my makeup got heavier. I cut my hair. I skipped lunch at school because I didn’t want to be seen eating, even though everyone else was. I just didn’t see that at the time, through the lens of my disorder. I wanted to shrink. I wanted to become invisible. Because I didn’t want to be there; I hated school.

When I was 15 I started smoking cigarettes consistently. I thought it was cool because my friends did it, so if I did too it would make me normal. And it numbed things for me a bit. I discovered that, funnily enough, smoking just so happened to be addictive. When lockdown happened in 2020, I became perhaps the sickest version of myself. I was lost. Maybe this is the moment where I lost myself, or I lost a part of myself. I don’t remember. I started dying my hair around then.

I am far better now, really. I work at a coffee shop at a new town I moved to, and I am happier there than I ever was in school. I did well in school but I don’t know who I am or what I want to do anymore. I lost a part of myself and I want to find it again.

[pbandjesse]

I know I say a lot of the time how bad my allergies are but they are particularly bad today. And it sucks because I was doing so good all day! But for the last 6 hours I have felt like I was dying. I can't breathe properly. My eyes burn. I keep closing the one completely because it hurts to open. I am so uncomfortable.

But today wasn't even bad. I had a really good morning. I slept alright. Falling asleep pretty quickly. And after having sort of a rough time because I was so sore and exhausted from work, it was nice to be able to sleep easy.

I remember James leaving for work. Giving me a kiss. And then I actually woke up at. 8. An hour before my alarm. And I felt good. That was really nice.

I took a little time to just lay in bed and get up slowly. But then I was awake and had energy and I didn't want to waste it.

I went and got dressed. I felt so cute and good about myself. I was in a great head space. I went downstairs and James had made really good cornbread so I had that for breakfast. And headed upstairs to start working on my tasks.

I decided I wanted to reorganize the way our bedroom is laid out. While I feel like the way we had it for the last two months has been nice, I felt like since I was taking off the closet doors I could actually try different layouts. And just play with the space.

I had to start with organizing though. I went through the closet after taking off the doors. Taking everything that was on hangers and putting it on the bed. I took out the IKEA shelf that I keep shoes on and decided that I would clear out one of the drawers under the bed for shoe storage. And then move the shelf to the small room. This worked out really good.

In making a drawer open for the shoes I had to move all my sweaters. And since it's going to be warm I just took all but a handful of my sweaters to put in a storage bag.

I would then organize our pajamas drawer, giving us both our own. I was on a roll.

I then felt like everything was in a good place and could start moving the bed. I should have thought slightly more about logistics because I did not consider that the room is narrow and the desk should have been moved out of the room.

Plus the carpet makes it incredibly difficult to move the bed. So I would throw all of the bedding into the hallway and took the drawers out and eventually took the mattress off completely.

As I was slowly sliding the bed I ran into some problems. When the bottom of the frame just started falling apart. I cracked it in spaces and I was getting very very frustrated. I kept trying to move the desk and eventually just disassemble the bottom half of the end and moving it went fine after that. But it was touch and go for a while.

I was a few hours into this project. Moving stuff around. Because of how I had put things in the hall I was kind of trapped until I got it all put away. So I just focused and did what had to be done.

I spent some time putting the bed back together. This would seem to be going well. And I loved how it looked. There is so much space!! I'm thrilled. And it was so fun resetting up my desk in the opposite corner and moving some art around. And once we have the wallpaper up I have some of the art I took down to hang back up. It was very exciting.

I would take a little lunch break. I had a Celeste pizza which was fine. I ate it on the new open floor space and was doing good. Once I finished hanging my necklaces back up I would move to the small guest room to work in there.

I would take two of the three storage bags we have and used one for pillows and one for blankets. I would then go through and actually fold all of my sweaters and sweatshirts to go in the last bag. It was really nice to get everything out away.

I remade the bed in there. And decorated the shelf formally from my closet. And it looks so good there so I'm thrilled.

I would sort the laundry and when that was done I went to have another snack. I had nachos and dips and was having a really nice day. I was listening to a long video and just going. I would jump into packing next.

And this was excellent. I got all my clothes nearly packed and am very happy with it. And our visas got approved so that was very exciting. It's almost time for our trip!! One week to go!

I felt like it was at a good stopping place. There was more I could do but I didn't need to at that moment. I had moved all of our chargers and things seemed good. So I would lay down and try to nap for an hour before James came home.

This did not go well. Almost as soon as I got in the bed the slats collapsed and then the bottom of the bedframe fell apart again. I was very disoriented and confused and couldn't get it and was in the mind of sleep time and was not having fun!!! I texted James and they were like. We will fix it it is okay.

So I went to the living room to try and lay down but this did not let me sleep. The wind outside was to loud. But I rested and tried to be positive.

Around 430 I got a second wind and went to tackle the bed. And I did. It isn't perfect. But it was back together. I put new hardware and longer screws. It's not completely fit together in one spot but I think it'll hold. I couldn't get the slats by myself though so that would have to wait for James.

When James got home they had to run to do a thing online real quick but then would come back and help me finish the bed. We remade it together after and we just sat together so I could tell them all the thing I did and then they told me about their day. They laughed at me for moving all the furniture by myself. But they also understand why I do it. Made me feel seen.

I requested we go through the packing inventory I made and we could check things off that I had packed. And this was extra fun for me and there are a handful of things to still pack. Like my tablet and makeup. But overall it's done and that feels really good. I am very excited to travel. Even if 20 hours of flight is scary.

James would make us breakfast for dinner and it was so good. Just excellent hash browns and an omelette. But during this time my allergies were getting worse and worse. And I was feeling very weak and bad.

The food helped. But even with multiple allergy meds I still was struggling to breathe. Eventually the sun went down, after laying together watching TikToks for a while, I decided to take a bath. And that is where I am now. And I think I'm slightly better. I can open both eyes now. But I am very ready to go and lay down.

Tomorrow I have some tasks to do for my outside commitments. The market I'm doing next weekend and my workshop series. And then I'm heading to the museum towards the end of the day to make some print examples. It is supposed to be warm tomorrow and I am excited about that.

I hope you all have a really good night. And sleep well. I hope you don't have allergies. Good night everyone!

[foretnoires]

ayahina drabble | airplane [TG week: Day 6]

warning: lowercase

note: y/n’s pov - which is boz (boss), english is not my first language, i’m trying my best, enjoy 🤗 

p/s: not me finally came up with an idea after @weektg​ had ended like, days ago 💀 for a person who actually came to new york city and found that the vibes hit different, especially at night, so i think ayahina will be a good choice for this 😝

❝ love comes incidentally. ❞ 

HONEYMOON IN NEW YORK

08/20xx

dear diary,

1. my husband and i couldn’t sit together on the flight, i was so sad. all because of staying up late last night and the late arrival at the airport this morning, so we couldn't check-in in time. luckily, when i got on the plane, i changed seats with another girl, and i got to sit with my husband!!!

2. i had to admit that the girl was kind and pretty. she had such a cute smile, i asked her name only to find out that her name was hinami fueguchi, going back to new york to continue her studies.

3. after about two hours of flying, i was so bored, the movie i was watching with my husband sucked, but he was still watching it intently, so i decided to sleep, but before i slept, i saw a very romantic scene, just like in a movie! the girl hinami i just met was sleeping with her head on the shoulder of the person next to her. he seemed confused at first, but he probably didn't have the heart to wake her up so he continued to sit like that. oh so romantic.

4. when hinami woke up, she realized what happened and hurriedly apologized to the person next to her. he said it was okay, but he smiled brightly. so i overheard their conversation. i dragged my husband in to listen to it too.

5. the boy next to her was ayato kirishima, also a japanese exchange student. the two of them talked a lot, mainly about their hobbies and studying etc. heh, i could feel love budding. was it because of boz me here to match you two? kkkk.

6. my husband told me i was crazy, i didn’t care. so unromantic of him. i continued to observe the two sitting above. the distance between the two was getting closer and closer. their elbows touched.

7. ayato started showing hinami pictures on his phone. i didn't know which picture they were talking about? family photos? ayato's picture? i was so curious.

8. wow i've never seen a love story as sweet as this. i remember the time when i went through so many ups and downs with my husband to get married. at first, we were like cats and dogs. but these two, just on one flight, already matched well. maybe they should get married tomorrow 😂 ah, ayato told hinami to sleep, and let hinami rest on his shoulder to sleep.

9. i couldn’t sleep because i was afraid of missing 0.1 seconds of this sweet couple. when hinami was sleeping, ayato even covered her with a blanket. haha reminds me of a few times my husband did the same to me. only 1 hour left until the arrival, would the story end well or not?

10. FINALLY THE PLANE LANDED, AYATO AND HINAMI GOT OFF THE PLANE THEN WENT INSIDE THE AIRPORT TOGETHER. THEY EVEN HELD HANDS. my husband and i were like two stalkers who cling to them. the two of them took the bus together. so boz, the matchmaker, finally succeeded! HINAMI FUEGUCHI IS AYATO KIRISHIMA’S.

10(+1). my husband kept saying that i don't care about him at all. it's also because he's not as cute as the other two. well, i'll love him more when we reached our hotel.

[ollieofthebeholder]

to find promise of peace (and the solace of rest): a TMA fanfic

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] || Also on AO3.

Chapter 9: June 2016

Jon surfaced slowly from sleep, somewhat disorientated. It was darker than he was used to—even with his curtains drawn, there was usually some ambient light getting in—and the bed didn’t feel right. The blankets didn’t quite smell right, either. Not unpleasant, in fact rather comforting, but just…not right. He shifted to turn over and heard a sharp creak that made him freeze for a moment.

Suddenly, he remembered. He was in the Archives. He’d been badly affected by Jane Prentiss’ statement, heaven only knew why, and needed to lie down for a few. It had still been a bit before the usual end of the day, so Martin had ushered him into the storage room and assured him—oh, God, Martin.

Jon fumbled for his phone and held the screen close to his face. It was late—not just past closing time, but well and truly into the night. A snatch for his glasses confirmed that it was half-eleven, and a quick scan of the room revealed no Martin. Which meant he had probably tried to find somewhere else to sleep so as not to disturb Jon.

Guilt gnawed at him. He’d been staying later and later, but he didn’t usually sleep when he did, or if he did he usually passed out at his desk. Since he’d given Martin the cot and let him start staying in the Archives, Jon hadn’t touched it. And yet, here he was, lying down on it late enough that Martin was either trying to sleep somewhere else…or not sleeping at all.

Or worse. Panic replaced guilt as it occurred to Jon that something could have happened, that Martin wasn’t in here because the worms had got him and Jon had slept through it. He’d like to think he wouldn’t have, but he’d been so worn out…

He all but fell out of the cot, scrambled to his feet, and slid into his shoes before moving as quickly and quietly as he could out the door.

The Archives were dark and silent…or nearly silent. Jon was about to call out for Martin when he froze, straining to hear a sound. It was a voice—a gentle, warm, plaintive voice, singing something about the souls of the dead and remembering the fallen, the notes seeming to wrap around the shelves like a caress.

Jon knew that voice. He’d heard it before, nights he’d stayed late tucked in a corner of the library finishing his research and later on nights when he’d sneaked back in to listen for it. Tim, who’d heard it too, had always sworn the library was haunted by the ghost of a fisherman; Jon wasn’t sure how much he believed that, but he’d come to think of the voice as the Library Ghost anyway. For some reason, it always made him feel…safe. Comforted. He’d tried slipping up to the library a couple of times since becoming the Head Archivist, in the hopes that the voice would ease the knot of tension and stress he carried almost constantly these days, but there’d been nothing. It was like the ghost was gone.

And yet, here it was. In the Archives. Singing a song Jon didn’t know but felt soothed by.

He stood where he was until the last note faded away, then moved cautiously into the Archives proper. Somehow, he’d never noticed just how dark it got. It was strange that he wasn’t as jumpy or twitchy as usual, but that was the effect the Library Ghost had always had on him. It meant more than comfort—it meant security, safety. If the ghost was singing in the Archives, it must mean everything was okay. For now, anyway. Jon clicked on his torch and went looking.

It didn’t take him long to find Martin. He was sitting up against the little cluster of desks where the assistants sat, his back pressed against it and his knees drawn up to his chest, facing the dark, ominous rows of shelving. His eyes were closed, and even with the light of the torch, Jon could see the tracks of tears streaking down his cheeks. Something twisted in Jon’s chest. He didn’t know if Martin was upset or scared or if the ghost didn’t give him the same feelings of safety it did Jon, but whatever it was, he was faced with a deep and abiding urge to fix it, to make things better. Which, honestly, scared him worse than almost anything he’d dealt with in his life.

His instinct was to be brusque and snappy about it, but he stopped himself. Instead, he simply came closer and said quietly, “Martin?”

If he was honest, he’d expected Martin to jump, to hit his head, and to stammer. He was not prepared for the quiet, subdued, “Hey, Jon.”

Jon angled the torch away from them, but pointed at the ground—he didn’t want to look at the shelves—and slid awkwardly to the floor next to Martin. “Are you all right?”

“Fine.” Martin scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand quickly. “Sorry if I woke you up, I—”

“No, no, you’re fine,” Jon assured him quickly. “I was simply…done sleeping, I suppose. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take your cot.”

“It’s your cot,” Martin pointed out.

“Technically I think it’s Archives property. I was just using it. Anyway, I told you to sleep on it, and here I was lying down on it well into the night.”

“It’s fine. Not like I was sleeping anyway.” Martin glanced at him sideways, then looked away. “Feeling better?”

Jon considered the question from all angles. “Somewhat. Although that’s possibly less to do with the…er, nap…and more to do with the ghost.”

This time the sideways glance lasted longer. “The what?”

“Oh, come on, you must have heard it just now,” Jon said, gesturing towards the shelves. “The singing. It’s…actually, you worked in the library before you came down here, you must have heard it there after hours. A clear, pure voice singing sea shanties and that sort of thing. Tim claims it’s a fisherman of some kind, but I seriously doubt that. What would the ghost of a fisherman be doing in the Institute library?” He pondered for a moment. “Unless it came in attached to one of the books. Rare, I suppose, but it could happen. Perhaps a book the person was particularly fond of in life, or one that had some sort of significance to him. Not a Leitner, certainly, as I’m fairly sure those are destroyed as soon as they’re found, but…” He trailed off, realizing he’d been rambling, and cleared his throat to stop himself from apologizing. “Anyway, I don’t think Tim has ever actually seen this ‘ghost,’ let alone spoken to it, so it could be of anyone. But surely you must know it. It—I haven’t heard it up there since I took the Head Archivist position, but just now, when I came out to make sure you were all right…” He gestured vaguely with the hand not holding the torch.

Martin was quiet for a few breaths. Finally, he said, “How often did you…hear it?”

“Quite often. I—when I was first working for the Institute, I’d get caught up in my research and forget the time, so I’d often have to hurry out. Later I went back on purpose to listen,” Jon admitted, feeling his cheeks heat up. “It’s…comforting, somehow. A bit odd to say, maybe, given the topics of some of the songs, but there’s something about that voice that always makes me feel safe.” He paused, but when Martin didn’t respond, he found himself continuing. “I was worrying about you, actually. When I first—you weren’t back there and I saw how late it was and, well, at first I was upset with myself for taking your bed, and then I started worrying that something had happened to you and I’d slept through it. But I came out and I heard my—the ghost singing, and I-I knew, somehow, that it meant everything was all right. Not the least because it was here instead of in the library, so—well, I suppose that’s proof it’s not tied to one of the books.” He glanced sideways at Martin and tried for a teasing Tim-style smile. “Maybe it followed you.”

Martin let out a soft laugh that…didn’t sound particularly amused, but wasn’t particularly bitter either. “It didn’t follow me, Jon. It is me. I mean—” He sighed. “There was never a ghost in the library. That was me. I usually got stuck shelving the books at the end of the day, so I was always the last one to leave, and…I didn’t mind, really, because I had some time on my own without people…dogging my steps or criticizing everything I did or finding a thousand unreasonable tasks for me to do on top of what I was already doing. But I’d sing shanties while I worked.”

Jon turned fully to face Martin, astonished. Martin wasn’t looking at him, was staring straight ahead into the darkness, and Jon couldn’t have said if he was lost in thought or avoiding Jon’s eye. “That was you? I—I had no idea you sang.”

“Yeah, well…” Martin shrugged one shoulder. “Not exactly something useful to what we do, is it? And I-I don’t do it so often these days.”

“Not everything needs to have a purpose, Martin.” Jon almost pressed his shoulder to Martin’s, but stopped himself just in time. “So what was that you were singing a moment ago? I don’t think I know that one.”

“Um, it’s called ‘Bones in the Ocean.’ Not really a proper shanty, per se, it was written by a band a couple years ago, but it sort of fits.” Martin paused. “I don’t know why I was singing it just now.”

“There could be any number of reasons,” Jon said. “Perhaps it was just stuck in your head.”

“Yeah, but…” Martin shook his head. “Never mind.”

They sat in silence for a while. Jon was surprised at how…comfortable it felt. It wasn’t just that he knew Martin was the “ghost” (he wondered what Tim would have to say when he found out)—it was also that, well, it was Martin. They’d spent a decent amount of time together since Martin had moved into the Archives, and they’d built up something of a working relationship. Jon might even venture to call them friends, the line between boss and underling being significantly blurred down here. Martin had come to mean comfort in a lot of ways, and this just seemed like a natural continuation of that.

When he thought about it that way, Martin being the ghost made perfect sense.

Jon wondered if they were good enough friends that Martin would give him an honest answer if he asked what was bothering him. He’d been…off in the last month or so, ever since Melanie King’s visit, and Jon wondered if there was a connection. Before he could speak up, though, Martin broke the silence. “Did you have a favorite song? That the, ah, ‘ghost’ sang?”

Jon couldn’t help but smile at the slightly teasing note in Martin’s voice. “Now that you mention it, yes. There’s one…I-I’m afraid I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s got a chorus in another language. The verses are something about…someone waiting for a lover to return?”

“Oh, ‘The Boatman,’ sure.” Martin took a deep breath and began to sing.

It was in fact the song Jon was thinking of, and the voice captivated him just like it always did. Somehow, knowing that it was Martin singing made it…better. Jon couldn’t explain it. Nor could he explain why he found himself closing his eyes and leaning against Martin’s shoulder.

Nor why Martin let him.

[alexagirlie]

Kinktober Day 9 - A/B/O

Please let me know if you want to be added to my taglist! You can also check out more Dune Kinktober prompt fills over at @dunefandomevents

Kinktober Day 9 - Alt 7: A/B/O Pairing: Paul Atreides/Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Duncan Idaho makes a cameo) Words: 626

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8

Paul ignored the weird feeling he had upon waking up that morning. He passed it off as lack of sleep due to missing his lover while he was away on a mission for the Freman. 

They had made an alliance with a nearby sietch, and their leader Stilgar, as part of fostering a more positive relationship with the local population. Duncan would go out for days at a time leaving Paul to sleep alone. 

The night before had been plagued with chaotic and confusing dreams and not-dreams. So he had woken up just feeling off but went about his day as normal. 

As the day progressed he started to feel worse and worse and by early afternoon he was starting to feel hot and feverish. It took until dinner time for Paul to realize what was wrong. 

He was going into heat early and it was coming on fast.

Paul arranged for fresh linens and meals to be sent to his rooms and he excused himself to prepare for this unforeseen event.

Paul's heats had always been regular before the twins were born but since giving birth they had been unpredictable and inconvenient. His last heat had been almost a week late, then came on hard and fast leaving him incapacitated for 3 days.

Duncan wasn't scheduled to be back to the fortress until the next morning and Paul knew he would not be able to last until then. He would need a knot well before that point.

With that in mind Paul left a message with one of his guards to summon the next best thing to having Duncan with him.

His husband.

Paul didn't have to wait long until his husband arrived and he arrived in the same fashion he always did.

Feyd-Rautha swung the door open so hard that it banged against the wall and he strode into the room confidently and with the cockiest fucking smirk on his face. 

Paul really enjoyed wiping that smirk off his husband's face as Feyd takes in the sight of Paul laying back on his bed, naked, cock hard and legs spread.

"Fuck pretty boy, that desperate for my knot already?"

Paul hated how much he liked the way Feyd talked to him in private. In public his husband was surprisingly polite, Paul had been very surprised to learn this fact after their wedding night. 

In private though he had the filthiest mouth and often talked the entire time they slept together. It turned Paul on so much. Today though, today he didn't need the extra help to be in the mood. He was already leaking slick and was ready to move on to the fucking.

Paul rolled over onto his hands and knees and turned to look at Feyd over his shoulder.

"Shut up and fuck me."

Paul could feel the slick running down his thigh and he wiggled his ass as a little extra incentive

He could feel the bed dip between his thighs and his husband's hand ran up his back and hooked over his shoulders.

"Hold on babe."

Feyd fucked Paul for hours, he wouldn't give Paul his knot, no matter how much Paul begged him. Just fucked him and fucked him, bringing him to orgasm after orgasm until both Paul and the sheets below him were wet and ruined.

Only then did Feyd decide to give Paul his knot, he filled him just the way Paul needed and calmed the heat which had been roaring in his veins.

They laid there, tied together, sweaty and sated, when a noise pulled Paul's attention to the still open doorway. 

Duncan stood just inside the room, watching Paul and Feyd with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. 

"Had a good night my boy?"

Tags @softhecreator @almostg @gatoenlaciudad

[jmflowers]

Week of shoots

“Day 5” I managed to sleep on and off until about 2pm, so I felt much better heading into night two of the shoot. I had to pick people up downtown again, which was an hour drive from my place in Saturday traffic, so I left at about 3pm. Managed to get everyone to location for the 5pm call time.

Almost immediately, I was sent off on driving duties to pick up a few things, and then to grab one of the actors from a train station. By the time I was back, most of the set was dressed and lighting was nearly done, so shooting started shortly after.

The first half of the night felt painful, though. Imagine that phrase “too many cooks in the kitchen” but it’s a film set and they’re directors. No one had a clear vision and it just made for confusion, which had all of the actors antsy - especially the child actor whose first ever night shoot this was. We were aiming for lunch at 11pm, but at about 10:45pm they sent the actors back to holding to warm up and the creative team all stepped outside to argue “in private”. The rest of us who were not vital unless they were rolling slipped downstairs to holding and just hung out for the longest lunch I’ve ever been part of on a set - it was after midnight before we jumped back in. And, of course, the child actor had fallen asleep in the car during that time and we had to wake her back up.

So, there was the production at like 1am - all of us standing around in an abandoned convenience store, eating expired junk food and breathing in a ton of dust, watching as an 8 year old was being coaxed awake for a scene as she cried, “I don’t want to be here, I just want to go home.” And then her mom found packs of slime on the shelf, offered her one, and kiddo woke right back up to kill every. single. take. During a fight sequence, might I add. We had to wrap her by 4am, so her death scene coverage was shot and she was out of there by 3:45am.

Crazy.

There wasn’t much to do technically between takes and the DP only needed a spotter for camera movements a couple of times (one of which included me shoved back beside a bookcase, trying to hide from being in the shot when she whipped around), so I spent most of the time catering to the actors. It was cold in the building, since the heat wasn’t on, so I took their coats every time we were about to roll and then slipped them back on them each time we cut and reset to a new shot. Thank goodness I still had my set blankets in my car from my own shoots earlier in the week, as one of them ended up being best for wrapping up our child actor like a burrito without needing to care about if it was getting fake blood on it. One of the actors ended up hugging me goodbye before she left and they both thanked me profusely for taking care of them, which felt good. I think that’s the part of set I enjoy the most - just being able to help people. There’s such a humanness to watching someone perform at the top of their abilities in a setting like that and then to see them turn around and find comfort in a jacket or a bottle of water or a joke. It’s fun to be part of that, whether it’s with actors or creators.

We wrapped officially at about 5am and headed out shortly after putting everything away that we’d made a mess of. Said goodbyes to everyone - including the audio recordist that I’d worked with on another shoot last spring. I had to drive 4 people home, so we headed back into the city and I got everyone to their doorsteps before heading back to my own city. Pulled into my drive shortly before 7am and promptly showered off a lot of dirt before crashing into bed.

Day 6 was all about sleeping, for the most part, and just getting myself back off the nocturnal schedule. Slept until about 4:30pm, ate, went for a walk, watched a livestream concert, and was back in bed by about 10pm (trying to convince myself that I didn’t need to stay up all night again). Back to regular life and 8am classes the morning after, because that’s the way it goes.

All in all, I had a blast. It feels like hanging with friends when it’s a small crew and a lower budget. We talk about life and make jokes and mix up weird food concoctions in the middle of the night (like an oat milk and expired Kit Kat “hot chocolate” I tried to make in the microwave to warm up…). Mostly it’s all about eating Welch’s fruit snacks and making a movie. Can’t wait to see the finished product.

[dybdahltravels2022]

We safe and sound in Crete...

August 13, 2022

We are in Crete after a LONG travel day - safe and sound.  

Usually we begin our long travels across oceans in the evening and while sleeping on the plane - in steerage- is not exactly comfortable - it works... (better for me than Mark.) This time was different and we left Detroit yesterday late afternoon and 8 hours later we were in Frankfurt, Germany where it was 6:00 AM Frankfurt time - but our bodies were still living  on Eastern Standard Time and it was just midnight.  Our next flight to Irekleion, Crete was not until 6 hours later and another time zone away so after a 3 hour flight, we arrived in Crete - at 4:00 PM their time but 1:00 AM in our time.   We had had masks on for 25 hours at this point. We didn't know - at this point that we had 2 more hours with our little protectors...

Kepler soldiered through - although I was prepared to choke him out on the last leg of the flight if he didn’t put away the games and close his very bloodshot eyes.  I slept some on the first leg and Mark slept not at all.  The 6 hour layover was grueling and Mark was able to take a couple of catnaps - while sitting up -  but neither Kepler nor I tried it.  I slept most of the second leg but I didn’t monitor my companions sleeping practices. (Turns out that everyone slept "some.")

A word about of flight from Detroit.  Before we got on the plane there was this little girl - maybe 3 - who was showing her stuff - screaming to high heaven when she didn’t get her way. It was quite unbelievable and I would have spanked her cute little self - long before she got to the airport - but that does sound judgie- doesn’t it?  So, I’m letting it go.  We all had our fingers crossed that she and her parents who apparently had never crossed her before - would be on a different flight - but NOPE.  I will say her endurance for screaming and crying was noteworthy and she had some sympathy criers on board as well.  We have never experienced such a cacophony!!!   I was sooooooo happy not be her parents and not to be her - such a miserable little girl - AND that I had noise cancelling headphones.  Kepler did not as he was using his earbuds - so he could give you more details - none good.  Kepler also sat in the aisle seat across from Mark’s aisle seat - but he shared his row with a four-year-old little boy dreaming of being a gymnast (we guessed) who jumped and kicked and yelled most of the flight.  That flight would not win awards for well-behaved children!!

Crete is spectacular and filled with history!!!  We did have a SNAFU with the luggage - which took more than an hour to show up - and that screwed our car rental up as well.  So after much waiting around and a few “bite your head off” remarks between the old married couple, we discovered that the rental car I had reserved was gone and we just went to Avis and paid twice what we were planning to pay.  Oh well - it is just money….

Finally, 24 hours after we left for the airport in Detroit - we settled into our expensive rental car and headed to our resort.  Google Maps didn’t quite know where the check in offices were - but we finally figured it out.  Kepler did a great job navigating and while we wanted to stop many times along the way - we wanted to check in to our condo and have dinner more - so we journeyed on.  The views were AMAZING - what is not to like about mountains and beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea.

We finally found the check-in office - but it did require Mark to back up a very steep and twisty road.  Our condo is amazing  - it doesn’t hurt that we have our own private plunge pool….

We took a brief look around the resort and headed to dinner.  We  - of course - opted for outside and THIS is what we saw as we settled in a table for a wonderful Greek dinner.

Territory-wise the entire country of Greece is about 1/2 the size of Michigan and the population of Michigan and Greece is dangerously close.

Crete is the biggest Greek island but there are 226 other Greek islands that are inhabited yearlong.  There are more than 6,000 islands in total but - like the Great Lakes  - that changes with the level of the sea. Greece has more coastline that any country on the planet and I’m chomping to learn more about this amazing place.

But NOT tonight. It is great to be in Crete with Mark and Kepler!.

Good night!

[namuneulbo]

week one hundred and thirty six

monday i woke up in turku. i slept really bad but i got some sleep at least and i wasn't as anxious as expected which was nice. i walked into town and went shopping for snacks to bring home and then i sat at a coffee shop for a few hours while having a second breakfast and watching two episodes of succession. i've gotten really into it. i think i watched like around 6-8 episodes that day alone probably, mind you they're one hour long.

afterwards i did more shopping. i went looking for more specific things i've been meaning to get, like contour and powder. i haven't used those before with my makeup. haven't felt the need to until recently. i feel like sometimes my makeup would look more put together with contour and because my base has been looking a little rough, i want to try and fix it with powder. if anything, powder will be useful to just fix oily spots throughout the day. i got more boring stuff too. an adapter for my phone charger and melatonin because i'm almost out of my current one. melatonin is way cheaper in finland. i honestly don't know if melatonin does that much but even if it's placebo, placebo is still a real thing that exists so if it helps me calm down when anxious or help me sleep better when i need to, i'll be fine paying for that.

had the meeting with the bank and it went smoothly. then i tried looking for a banana clip. i found out about those recently and i think those will be revolutionary for me as someone who's terrible at putting my hair in a claw clip. i couldn't find one though. i went to hesburger for dinner, of course, my finnish pride. watched succession in there and then left to go to a nerd store.

almost as soon as i walked in someone looked at me kind of weird. i didn't think too much of it but i noticed they like... peeked at me around the shelf. i was genuinely thinking like "oh my fucking god, here we go. now the incel weeb is gonna walk up to me and say some weird shit about boku no pico or some shit," BUT FEAR NOT! after they took a peek at me again from the other side of the board game section i saw them say something and i took off my headphones and they were like: "i like your shirt!". way nicer outcome. i had borrowed my sister's my chemical romance hoodie but good thing i love my chemical romance too. i thanked them and then they were like "what's your favorite song if you can't say helena?". i mean... hey! i get the bit but don't worry, boy, i wouldn't have said helena anyways. i was like "hm, i like drowning lessons and my way home is through you (which took awkwardly long to pronounce correctly, so many words in one title)... what's yours?". they seemed a little caught off guard i think haha. they said it was i'm not okay (i promise). solid choice. solid choice. then they continued like "oh my god, did you see everyone freaking out about them maybe having a comeback and doing a concert?" and i was like "yeah! i did!". i hadn't or... so i think? i'm confused. i understood it as mcr5 but that was ages ago or am i super slow? i mentioned that i saw them when they played in stockholm a few years ago and i was like "yeah, i even have tattoos!" and showed off my knees through the holes in my jeans. they made my day <3

went back to the port. watched succession. had a shitty sandwich before bedtime and boom woke up tuesday. slept surprisingly well. no interruptions which is rare for me. i didn't know what time we would be in land though and ended up waking up a bit too late so i had to stress out of the room. got home at like... 8 am. long day of nothingness in front of me. it was epic.

i however caught a cold. i had a bit of a sore throat on tuesday evening but now i have a full-blown one MIXED with pre-menstrual symptoms. it's rough. like my entire body was already sore from the cold. chill out, man.

i have just rested really since then. i picked up a package on wednesday since i had to go to the store and get pepsi anyways. i'm telling you, soft drinks are so nice with a sore throat. it was so bad i felt sick just drinking water because of how weird it felt in my throat. hot tea and soft drinks forever!

it was a sellpy package, by the way. i ordered some stuff and it all ended up being really cute and fit really well. i got quite a lot. i got a leopard print v-neck blouse, a red velvet top, a black mesh top, a satin pajama set, two bracelets and some cups for my pencils and markers.

now, i will continue watching cities: skylines videos and long for the steam summer sale so i can buy the base game so i can buy dlc. bye for now <3

sotw: charli xcx - guess

[umichenginabroad]

Week 3: Exploring Ireland and More!

Hello, hello! It’s Declan McGrath once again to update you all on what has been going on since I last updated you all on my summer at UCD program. Strap in cause a lot happened this week.

When I last posted I was on a bus with my group of friends to the Cliffs of Moher next to a crying baby, trying to get some sleep. I did not end up getting much sleep. However! The Cliffs of Moher were absolutely beautiful. The tour group that we were apart gave us about an hour and a half to explore the cliffside and the views were absolutely stunning! The sun was shining for the most part at the beginning so we were able to take some amazing photographs. We got to see where parts of various movies were filmed here. My favorite was the spot they used for the Cliffs of Insanity from The Princess Bride. Once again, words fail to describe how beautiful this place was but hopefully these pictures will suffice!

After the Cliffs of Moher, the tour bus took us to a small pub to get some food and we stopped at a crag called Ballyryan. This little outcropping of rocks on the east side of the coast of Ireland was covered in grass and little flowers. It was really pretty but nowhere near as amazing as the Cliffs of Moher. 

Then it was off to Galway! Galway is an incredibly beautiful city with so many cool shops to browse and restaurants to eat at. Unfortunately, we only had about an hour to explore the city (most of which my group spent looking for a bathroom) so we did not get to do as much exploration as we would have liked. However, one of the places we were able to stop at was the Galway Cathedral. This absolutely massive cathedral was breathtaking. It was beautifully decorated with intricate stone details and beautiful stained glass windows. Highly recommend making a stop in Galway and exploring the city as much as you can!

We left UCD campus at around 6 AM and finally got back to the dorms at around 8 PM. Safe to say we were all absolutely exhausted. We decided to have a chill rest of the night and met up with some friends that had not joined us for the trip and played cards and other games. We stayed up pretty late as Monday was a bank holiday in Ireland so we had the day off from classes. The next morning, the exhaustion from a nearly 14 hour day trip finally caught up with me. I am going to be completely honest, I did pretty much nothing that day. I slept in until noon and lounged around. It was amazing. Just what I needed to recuperate from the weekend.

Tuesday we started classes back up again! We continued with more physics and a history lecture in the morning and then in the afternoon we took a class trip to the National Library of Ireland! The history lecture had been about a Gaelic revival that had taken place within Ireland in the late 19th and early 20th century. A major part of this revival was an author named WB Yeats. Yeats was an Irish poet and writer that played a massive role in establishing a distinct Irish literary tradition and won a Nobel Prize in 1923. A large part of the library was dedicated to an exhibit about Yeats. He is an incredibly interesting figure and I highly recommend googling him if you get the chance!

Wednesday and Thursday went by pretty quickly. We did not have any field trips these days, just more lectures and labs. Honestly, it was pretty nice. We were all still a bit exhausted from the Cliffs of Moher and needed a bit of rest before the weekend. Speaking of which! This weekend the group I had traveled to the Cliffs of Moher with (other than two other people) took a whirlwind trip to London this weekend! We had found tickets for a round trip were pretty cheap if we left Dublin late Friday night and came back from London incredibly early so we decided that there was no time like the present to live our lives so we booked the tickets! After our classes on Friday we took the shuttle to Dublin Airport and caught our flight. The flight was only about an hour long but we arrived in London pretty late. After landing we had to rush to catch the Stansted Express train to catch a connecting train in the London Underground and check into our hostel for the night. Things went pretty smoothly, we caught our train and checked into our hostel at around 1 AM and settled down for the night, only to be woken up by a fire alarm going off at 3 AM (y'all this was a rough night I am not gonna lie but it was sooo worth it!).

In the morning, we got some breakfast and caught one of the famous red double-decker buses to go see the Tower of London! This castle was absolutely beautiful and chock-full of history! We got to see the Crown Jewels at the castle (though photography is strictly prohibited so no photos, sorry!) as well as various historic places such as the White Tower and the square where many people were executed, including Queen Anne Boelyn. After the Tower we walked across the London Bridge (another amazing sight) and stopped in at a small street market to get some lunch. The food was absolutely amazing there for pretty cheap which was awesome. 

Next we walked to the Globe Theatre where Shakespeare had originally put on his plays (well the site at least, the actual theater had long burned down and been rebuilt). It was so cool to see such a historic site (only further enhanced by one of my friends deciding to do an impromptu performance of a monologue she did for a production of Taming of the Shrew in high school)! Walking a bit farther we came across the Eye! This absolutely massive Ferris wheel sits just across the River Thames from Big Ben. Both icons were jaw dropping just from their pure scale and were amazing to see! 

Continuing on we got to see Buckingham Palace in all of its glory. I am honestly running out of synonyms for “beautiful”, “stunning”, and “awesome” so let’s just say that the palace and the giant statue in front of it were all of those words and more! I can see why the palace is known all over the world. We wanted to see the changing of the guards but had to continue on to get to the British Museum before it closed.

The Museum was so cool! We only had about 45 minutes to explore the area before the Museum shut down and I spent most of my time in the Roman Empire section and also a really cool section about timepieces throughout history. I just managed to catch a glimpse of the Rosetta Stone before the whole museum shut down! The British Museum was amazing and I highly recommend making a stop here if you are ever in London (especially because the tickets are also free)!

We had been walking for about 13 hours at this point and decided we should try and get some sleep even though it was only 9 PM because we had to be up at 3 AM to catch a 4 AM train back to the airport. It was so stressful waking up that early and rushing as quickly as possible to get ready and catch a train but the rest of the trip more than made up for it! I would definitely recommend doing a whirlwind trip like this if you ever participate in a study abroad program where international travel is really cheap! The memories I made on this trip are gonna last me a lifetime (and are also now immortalized here on this blog)!

Now I am back in Dublin, having just awoken from a nap and now pounding away on my keyboard, trying to capture all that I had seen this weekend in a few words and a couple of pictures in this little blog. I hope that I have done a good job recounting all that happened this weekend because it was one of the best weekends of my life! Until next time!