#train museums please visit them i beg

[locomotive-idiot]

You want a train picture?

HOW ABOUT THREE?

i will gracefully accept this as a late christmas gift this is wonderful

[wheredafandomat]

The tale of the two Roses 🌹

A/N: Based off of a request from the lovely @lokiprompts - hope you like 💚💚

Italics ~ Flashback of the story

Walking through London, Georgia was eager to visit the new exhibit in the British Museum. As soon as the tickets were available, she ensured she bought one. This exhibit wasn’t one to miss.

Walking through the grand halls, she was greeted by the lady who would take her and the other visitors on the tour. She let her fingers run over the things she was allowed to touch. She looked at each exhibit in wonderment until finally they got to the star of the show. The two roses.

She gasped at the beauty of them. They were identical. Their scarlet petals were still intact. They were a mystery. A bewitching, stunning, elegant mystery. Similar looks of awe crossed the other visitors eyes.

“How, how are these still intact?” Someone asked which earned a knowing smile from the tour guide

“There is a legend about the roses, to understand it, we have to go back in time”

“Back in time?”

“Metaphorically of course” she laughed walking to the front of the group to begin retelling the story “There once was a prince, he was very perceptive—”

Loki was very perceptive. He noticed everything. It wasn’t something he meant to do on purpose but he just did. That’s why it hurt so much when y/n began withdrawing from him. He noticed it straight away. She trained with him less, spoke to him less and was less intimate with him. Sometimes he’d find her in the training room when it was late at night. She didn’t realise she’d woken him when she’d sneak from the bed but she did. It broke his heart feeling y/n becoming more and more introverted around him. She wasn’t like this with the rest of the team so why was she like this with him. This happened for a few weeks until one night Loki decided to confront her.

Walking into the training room in the middle of the night, Loki watched y/n as she bested a punchbag.

“My love”

“Shit, Loki you scared me” y/n said jumping in shock

“What are you doing? It’s the middle of the night, why aren’t you in bed?” He enquired

“I couldn’t sleep” she stated turning from Loki back to the punchbag

“Every night this past month it seems” he said becoming irritated with her dismissiveness

“Hmm” he murmured wrapping her fists

“Y/n talk to me” he demanded walking towards her

“Loki, I don’t think this is working” she said turning to face him

“What?” He said just above a whisper

“It’s not you Loki it’s me” she said trying to keep her voice even and quickly wiping the tears that escaped her

“You’re crying” he said replacing her hand on her cheek with his

“Loki please go I can’t do this anymore” she pleaded as tears streamed down her face

“Tell me what it is I’ve done and I’ll fix it y/n I can fix this” he begged sniffling trying to stifle his own tears

“You haven’t done anything Loki” she assured

“Then wha—”

“It’s me”

“You?”

She reached up cupped his cheek and looked him in the eyes

“It’s me. Look at me Loki really look”

“I am y/n and all I can see is my pulchritudinous, gorgeous beloved”

“Loki, I- I’m mortal. I’ll age and die Loki and you’ll still be you. Young, attractive, alive, it’s unfair for me to do that to you. Abandon you. I can’t I won’t” she said with more energy

“Mortality, the curse of the midgardians” Loki uttered looking to the floor whilst y/n observed him.

They were silent for a while until y/n spoke

“Loki, talk to me what is it?”

“I’m ready” he said looking back into her eyes

“Ready?” She questioned

He put both hands on her cheeks and smiled through the tears that were adorning his

“Y/n, you are my sálufélagi. I want to grow old with you y/n. I’m ready now”

“No” she said stepping away from him “Loki you can’t”

“Remember what I told you that night, I meant it y/n. There is nothing in the nines I wouldn’t do for you. I love you with every fibre of my being and I want to do this”

“Give up your immortality, no Loki this is madness” she cautioned

“Well I’m mad” he laughed lowering his lips to hers and kissing her

Kissing him back, y/n felt herself feeling overwhelmingly loved. She knew Loki loved her, he told her everyday but this, giving up what he is for her, this was unmanageable.

Loki and y/n came up with a plan. He did want to truly grow old with her, but he also created a failsafe for the both of them incase they grew old together and realised one lifetime wasn’t enough. He conjured two roses, identical to one another and placed his immortality in the thorns. One simple prick would suffice and bring them back to the ages they were now.

“Did they? Did they grow old together?” Georgia asked with tears in her eyes from the story

“They did indeed” the tour guide replied before feeling an arm wrap around her waist. Looking up she smiled.

After the tour, Georgia remained behind to speak privately with the tour guide. The tour guide was sitting at a table with the man that held her earlier. They were laughing and gazing longingly into each others eyes. Obviously they were in love.

“Excuse me” Georgia said timidly approaching the pair

“Loki stop” the tour guide said pushing him away from her as he tried to kiss her. “Sorry hi yes how can I help you?” She said turning to Georgia.

“Did you just call him Loki?” Georgia questioned

Loki smiled at Georgia as she looked down at the tour guides name tag

Y/N

“One lifetime wasn’t enough” Y/N smiled looking back at Loki

[ppangjae]

Song for a Little Sparrow | Jaehyun

SUMMARY. As a burnt out painter, you packed one suitcase and flew a one-way trip to Paris in hopes of finding your passion again. In the city of love, the last thing you expected was to bump into a man who doesn’t believe in love. But you do, and you find yourself showing him the wonders of love and falling in love. Just don’t fall in love with him.

or: “How can you not believe in love and think it’s stupid when you’re in Paris, the city of love?”

GENRE. strangers to lovers!au | poet!jaehyun | rich!jaehyun | painter!reader | fluff | angst 

WORD COUNT. 13.7k+ words (BIG OOF)

playlist. howl’s moving castle | song for a little sparrow by patricia kaas | loose by daniel caesar | we find love by daniel caesar 

author’s note. yall she is finally here. oof. this is unedited, so please keep that in mind if you ever come across a typo! also, i just wanted to say thank you for 1k! happy reading~

“You’re going to regret doing this!”

But you don’t.

Your father’s voice echoes through your head as you’re stepping out on the balcony of your hotel room to get a good look of the Eiffel Tower that’s located a couple of blocks away. A soft, happy sigh escapes your lips as you bask in the sunlight that’s hitting your skin. You bring up your fresh mug of coffee to your lips to take a sip.

Your father thinks you’re many things, one of them being absolutely crazy. The look of sheer panic and shock on his face as you walked out of the house with nothing but one suitcase and a one-way plane ticket to Paris remains etched in your mind. You wish you could draw it out and frame it just to put it up in your room for inspiration. Now that you think about it, you are crazy. You’re crazy and impulsive. It’s not normal for you to pack your things and leave the city months after your successful art exhibition. What’s normal is that you should be sitting in your art room, painting on canvas for your next, upcoming art exhibition that everyone is waiting for. But the view of the Eiffel Tower and the atmosphere of love surrounding you is just too hard to resist. And no, you don’t regret doing this.

You might. 

But you’ll worry about that later.

“Why are you calling me so early in the morning?”

You let out a snort. Jungwoo’s pixelated face appears on your screen when he flips to the front camera of his phone. “Good morning to you too.”

“Holy shit, why is it so bright?” He squints his eyes that are blinded by the sunrise that you’re showing him with your phone’s camera. It takes him two seconds to realize it. “Why the fuck are you in Paris?”

“Vacation.” You flash him an innocent smile. But it’s a smile he knows so well. “I’m here for vacation—”

“You and I both know that you are not in Paris for vacation.” He cuts you off.

“Fine. I’m burnt out.”

“But—”

“And bored,” you add, cutting him off. “Which is why I’m in Paris.”

“I wish I was rich enough to fly to Paris just because I felt bored.” He scoffs, sitting up in his bed. “Why did you call me again? Wait, does your father know that you’re in Paris?”

“Yes, he knows.” You answer his second question. As for his first question.. “I called you because I can’t choose which art museum I should go to.”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? It’s three in the morning, Y/N—”

“The Louvre, Petit Palais, or Musée d’Orsay?” 

He falls silent for a brief moment. You take this as a chance to take another sip of your coffee that’s run cold. You wince, placing your mug of coffee onto the patio table. 

“The Louvre.”

“Nice choice.” You smile. “Musée d’Orsay it is.”

“I’m seriously going to kill you when you come back,” he lets out a string of curses. “Why’d you even ask me in the first place?”

“Sleep tight, love.”

He scoffs. He falls back against his bed. “Fuck you.”

And he hangs up without saying goodbye.

“Keep the change.”

The ticket vendor looks utterly speechless by his presence. He can tell by the way the coins clink together from the nervous shaking of her hands. She stares at him for a second longer before smiling sheepishly. She retreats her hand and places the coins back into the cash register.

“Enjoy your visit, Mr. Jeong.”

He gives her a timid smile before venturing off into the art museum. It’s normal to see people doing double-takes on him whenever he’s in the same room as them. He’s used to being distracted and losing his train of thought when someone lightly nudges him with a notepad and pen. But ever since he landed in Paris, he’s gotten a ton of looks and a ton of autograph requests from different people and he’s not sure what to feel or how to react.

He finds himself walking into Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s exhibition. The room is somewhat empty, with an old couple admiring the Dance at Bougival and a couple of teenagers taking pictures of the art. He spots a familiar painting at the far end of the room. He’s drawn to it with his feet having a mind of its own, leading him to the painting. 

Dance in the Country. His eyes scan the picture. His eyes stop on the unidentified woman watching the couple dance from the background. She must have a story, he thinks to himself, before his thoughts are cut short when—

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but are you Jeong Jaehyun, by any chance?” 

He tears his gaze from the painting to meet eyes with a young woman. She looks like a student. As he’s nodding his head, her eyes light up and she immediately rummages through her bag to pull out his best-selling book. Along with a copy of his book, she pulls out a permanent marker. 

“I love your work!” She exclaims. “It’s such a huge coincidence bumping into you at an art museum. Wow. I can’t believe it.”

Adorable. He gives her a warm smile as he gently takes the book and marker from her small hands. He takes the cap off the marker with his teeth. While holding the cap in between his teeth, he makes his signature on the front cover of his book. The young woman looks up at him with admiration. Once he signs the book, he hands her the book and places the cap back onto the marker. 

“Wow. Thank you so much! I won’t disturb you any longer.” She smiles. She looks starstruck. “I hope you enjoy your stay here in Paris and I look forward to your next book!”

He chuckles. “Thank you. It was nice to meet you.”

The young lady sends him a small wave before joining her group of friends. As she reaches up to them, they start teasing her for being such a shy baby. His face softens. He shifts his focus back to the painting in front of him. But as he’s turning to look back at the painting, he notices a figure standing beside him from the corner of his eye.

He glances to his left to see a woman who looks somewhat around his age. She’s wearing a long strap dress that flows all the way down to her ankles. Underneath the dress, she’s wearing a white t-shirt. Her long, wavy hair stops just a couple of inches below her shoulders with strands framing her face. He turns back to look at the painting.

“Why do you think there’s a woman hiding in the background of the painting?”

The voice makes you snap out of your gaze. You find yourself looking to your right to meet eyes with a handsome stranger. It takes you a couple of seconds for you to realize who’s standing right beside you. It’s Jeong Jaehyun, the best-selling poet. He’s looking back at you with an innocent gaze that you decide not to identify him as a poet whose work you admire and whose work you religiously read, but as a stranger.

You take one more look at the painting. Dance in the Country. You’ve always been intrigued by the artwork, specifically at the hidden woman watching the dancing couple in the background.

You purse your lips into a tight line. “I think she’s in love with him. That’s why she’s looking at them like that and remaining hidden.”

He folds his arms and tilts his head in confusion. “You think she’s in love with him?”

You’re still a bit taken aback that the Jeong Jaehyun is standing beside you in an art museum in Paris.

“Yes.” You simply answer his question.

He squints his eyes as he falls deep in thought. “I beg to differ.”

“You don’t think she’s in love with him?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t believe in love.”

What? Did you hear that right? “Sorry?”

“I don’t believe in love.” He repeats himself. “Actually, I think love is stupid—”

“Then why are you here?” You blurt out in shock. It comes out rudely and you expect him to feel insulted, but instead, he smirks at you. “How can you not believe in love and think love is stupid when you’re in Paris, the city of love?”

“You have a point. Why exactly am I here?” He thinks aloud. 

You blink. What an odd guy. Is he really a poet? A best-selling poet? Is he really the man who wrote the books you’ve read? 

“I’d love to hear you argument on how love isn’t real and how love is stupid.”

“I don’t think it needs an explanation.” He shrugs his shoulders. “It is what it is—”

“Damn, who hurt you?” You chuckle. 

He has a grin playing across his lips. “If you believe in love so much, then why don’t you prove it to me?”

“How do I know that you’re not a murderer plotting my death?” You raise an eyebrow suspiciously. 

“Wait, not to be cocky but,” his eyebrows furrow. “You don’t know who I am?” 

You lie. “Should I know who you are?”

You know who he is. You know exactly who he is. He’s Jeong Jaehyun—

“Then that’s all the more reason as to why you should prove me wrong.” He grins. “Prove to me that love is real and that love isn’t stupid.”

“Fine.” You squint your eyes. You let out a huff of breath. “I will. I will prove you wrong, Mr. Stranger.”

He’s completely amused by you. In fact, he’s more amused at the fact that you’re trusting him so easily.

“Where shall we start?” He asks.

You scoff. His grin is immediately wiped off his face.

“Well, you’ve already started. You started the moment you got here, in Paris.”

“I have? Prove it to me.”

“Paris is the city of love! That’s more than enough of a reason as to why love exists and why love isn’t stupid.”

He squints his eyes at you before breaking out into a grin. “I think you’ll need more than that to prove me wrong.”

“I—”

“I’m Jaehyun.” He extends his hand out for you to shake. You raise an eyebrow at him, hesitating to shake his hand, but you do it anyway. His hands are soft. “And do you trust me enough to say that I’m not going to murder you but ask you to grab coffee with me instead?”

It takes you a couple of seconds to realize that you’re still shaking hands. You snap out of it, gently pulling your hand away from his. You fold your arms.

“I’m sure there’s got to be a catch.”

He tilts his head. “Well, you are going to prove to me that love is real and love isn’t stupid, right? Let me thank you in advance by getting you a cup of coffee.”

You smirk.

“Fine.”

“Great—”

“But you’re paying.”

This is going to be a long day.

“You didn’t introduce yourself to me, stranger.”

You find yourselves sitting out on a patio, waiting for your cups of coffee. You tear your gaze away from a couple taking a picture in front of the museum. Sitting right across from you, your eyes meet Jaehyun’s. 

“I’m Y/N.” You chuckle. “Nothing special.”

He fiddles with the teaspoon on the table. “You don’t sound like you’re from here.”

You smile. “It’s because I’m not.”

“Vacation?”

You point at him. “Bingo.”

“Nice.” He nods his head.

Right on time, your orders arrive at the table. He ordered himself an iced Americano and you got yourself a cup of cappuccino. He takes a quick sip.

“You don’t sound like you’re from here either,” you add. 

“It’s because I’m not.” He copies you.

“Vacation?”

The both of you share a look before bursting out into laughter. He points at you. “Bingo.”

There’s a sudden urge of curiosity that ignites within you. Why is the famous poet, Jeong Jaehyun, in Paris for vacation? Is he currently writing a book? Has he lost inspiration? Is that why he’s here in Paris, to reignite the inspiration he lost since his last published book? 

There are a ton of questions running through your mind but it’s funny how if that is the case, you could say you’re in the same boat as him. Why are you in Paris for vacation? Are you currently working on your next exhibition? Did you lose inspiration? Is that why you’re here in Paris, to reignite the inspiration you lost since your last successful art exhibit?

There’s a reason why you bought yourself a one-way plane ticket to Paris with no intentions of flying back for a couple of weeks. You’re in Paris because you lost inspiration and not because you’re working on your next exhibition. After your last art exhibit, you found yourself spiralling into a mess and meeting a familiar friend you didn’t plan on reuniting with; artist’s block. 

It was like you suddenly forgot how to pick up a paintbrush. 

And that in of itself, is a huge nightmare you wish would never become the end of your career that had just started.

“What do you do for a living?” He asks. You look at him until he clears his throat. “You don’t need to answer if you don’t want to—”

“I’m a painter,” you reply. You smirk. “What kind of question is that? Are we out on a blind date or something? I don’t remember meeting you on Tinder.”

He folds his arms and leans against his chair. “You’re a painter? Like, you paint on canvas?”

“I was expecting more of an enthusiastic reaction or even better, a look of surprise.” You pout. You let out a sigh. “But yes, sorry to disappoint, I’m a painter. I pick up a paintbrush and I make strokes on canvas. That’s what I do for a living.”

He grabs his iced Americano to take another sip before slamming it down onto the table. “I’m sure you’re very talented. You should show me a couple of your paintings. Even better, why don’t you paint me like—”

“Like one of my French girls?” You cut him off.

“You probably get that a lot, huh?”

“I get that a shit ton of times that I am this close to throwing up.”

He chuckles. “God, I feel like throwing up whenever I see a couple out on the street. Like those two over there.”

You follow his line of sight. It falls upon the same couple who are still taking pictures in front of the museum. How long does it take to get a decent picture? You look back at Jaehyun.

“They’re in love. Leave them alone.”

“Yeah, I’ll definitely leave them alone.” He huffs out a breath. 

“Stop being such a con artist, I’m sure you’ve been in love before.” 

“I have—”

“And it was a nice feeling, right?”

“It was more so disappointing.”

Jaehyun looks at you as you suddenly clasp your hands together. The sudden movement slightly shakes the table, causing some of your drink to spill out of the mug. His eyebrows raise. You look at him with bright eyes and you beam.

“I have an idea.”

“What’s your idea?”

You smile. “I know how to prove you wrong.”

“And how are you going to prove me wrong, Y/N?”

“How long are you going to be here for?” You question. 

He folds his arms. “Two weeks. I’m flying back home in two weeks.”

“Perfect!” You exclaim. “Two weeks is all I need.”

“What tricks are you hiding up your sleeve?”

“I’m going to take you out on dates for two weeks.” You explain your plan that you’ve suddenly come up with on the spot. “And on those dates, I’ll prove to you that love exists.”

“And you expect this to work?”

You nod your head. “One hundred percent.”

“How do you know for sure?” He squints his eyes at you.

“If you don’t feel some sort of way after going out on dates with me, then love isn’t real. But if you do feel some sort of way, then love is real.” You explain.

“So, basically, if I fall in love with you, love is real. But if I don’t fall in love with you, then love isn’t real?”

“Perfect!” You exclaim.

“So, your goal is to make me fall in love with you?” He laughs.

“Yes, but at the same time, no.” You try to make things clear.

“Is that even possible?”

“It’s possible!” 

He looks at you as if you’ve gone insane. He’s slowly starting to regret striking up a conversation with you at the museum. He’s slowly starting to regret taking you out for a cup of coffee. He’s slowly starting to regret arguing that love isn’t real and that love is stupid—

You smile.

“It’s possible. Just don’t fall in love with me.”

“It’s seven in the morning—”

“I know.” 

It is seven in the morning when Jaehyun is bombarded with new text notifications, urging him to get out of bed. He almost mistakenly picks up his pocket journal instead of his phone that’s dinging every two seconds. Scattered across the marble floors of his luxury hotel are crumpled up pieces of paper with horrible drafts of his poetry. He should probably clean that up before the housekeepers come in to vacuum the space. 

“You’re really persistent on proving me wrong, huh?”

He can hear you grinning on the other line of the phone call. “I smell victory already. Now, get your ass out of bed. We’re going out on your first date.”

“We’re already going out on my first date?” Jaehyun smirks. “Shouldn’t we get to know each other first?”

You deadpan, rolling on the balls of your feet as you wait for the bus to arrive. There are two things you learned about Jeong Jaehyun for the past twenty-four hours you’ve encountered him. Flirty. You’re not sure if being a poet means you’re automatically a hopeless romantic or someone who’s incredibly great at flirting, but just by his eyes and the way he interacts with people show how flirty he can be. Charming. Jeong Jaehyun has an aura that he carries around with him whenever he’s out in public. He has a unique charm that draws people to him like a magnet. You consider yourself one of those people, now that you’re waiting for a bus that leads you to the address of his hotel.

“You know my name, isn’t that already enough?” 

“How do I know that you’re not a murderer plotting my death?” He copies you and it makes you let out a scowl.

“If I was a murderer, I would’ve had you murdered by now.” He giggles and you find yourself smiling.

“What should I wear to this date, Y/N?” He teases.

The bus arrives. It takes you a couple of seconds to answer his question. You finally get the chance to answer his question when you take a seat next to the window. “You should wear something comfortable.”

“Like pajamas?”

“Alright, not too comfortable.” You laugh.

“Are you on the way? Are you picking me up in a luxury car?” He opens the closet to skim through his limited amount of clothing that he brought with him. His hands stop when they reach a loose white t-shirt. He takes it off the hanger along with a pair of jeans and a leather belt. 

“What do you take me for? A millionaire?” 

“More like a billionaire.” 

“Shut up.”

Half an hour later, you find yourself standing in front of Hôtel de Crillon. You’re staring at the luxury hotel with your mouth slightly hanging open in awe. As a bus drives past you, your eyes trail down towards the entrance and your eyes meet with a familiar pair.

“Hello there,” you flash him a warm smile.

He shoves his hands into his pockets. He tilts his head at you. “Are you not going to compliment how good I look in my outfit?”

You’re rolling your eyes for the nth time. “You look great—”

“Great but not handsome?”

You frown. “Don’t push it.”

The closer he gets to you, the more nervous you get. You’re not sure why you’re the one feeling nervous when he should be the one feeling jittery. As he approaches you, he boldly throws an arm over your shoulder. He looks down at you. As you slowly look up to meet his gaze, you find your heart skipping a beat too many. He doesn’t look great, he looks charming—

“You look beautiful on this fine day, Y/N. Shall we get going to our date location?”

“How romantic. For a first date, that is.”

Jaehyun peers up at the view in front of him until his trance is disrupted by a little girl on a bike that zooms past him. A soft smile spreads across his lips as he scans the area. The Luxembourg Palace stands right in front of him along with a fountain filled with scattered play boats for kids and a wide grass field that’s perfect for picnic dates. 

“Do you like it?”

He glances at you. “I love it.”

“Great!” You exclaim. “We should probably find a spot underneath a tree to have our small picnic.”

He looks down at the medium-sized bag slung over your shoulder. He feels slightly guilty for letting you carry around what seems like a heavy bag on the trip to the garden. “I was wondering why you brought that bag with you.”

You look up at him with bright eyes. It blinds him. “Well, now you know.”

As the both of you are walking across the grass field to sit underneath a tree, you are stopped by a man around your age. He’s holding a film camera in one hand and his phone in the other. You look at him for a brief moment before your eyes land on a beautiful woman sitting on a picnic blanket behind him. 

“Excuse me,” the man hesitantly says, making Jaehyun stop in his tracks. Jaehyun quirks an eyebrow questioningly, prompting the man to continue. “Do you mind taking a picture of my girlfriend and I? I have a film camera and my phone. I’ll teach you how to use the film camera.”

Jaehyun turns to look at you as if he’s asking you for permission. “I—”

“Sure!” You exclaim, letting out a soft giggle. 

“Oh, thank you so much.” You both hear a shy voice say from behind the man. The woman whom you now identify as the man’s girlfriend, gives you both a shy wave before her cheeks flush pink.

“Do you want photos taken on both the film camera and the phone?” You question.

The man nods his head. “Yes, please. Do you know how to operate the film camera?”

“Fortunately, I do.” You chuckle, gesturing the both of them to get ready for the picture. 

Jaehyun’s awkwardly standing next to you, watching you interact with the couple. He’s never felt so awkward in his entire life. He finds himself looking at you as you’re taking a photo of the couple with the phone first.

“Alright, get comfortable with each other. Yes! That’s perfect!” You say with a warm smile. Jaehyun diverts his gaze towards the couple. They’re sitting next to each other with the man’s arm thrown over his girlfriend’s shoulder. “Alright, one, two, three, smile!”

On the count of three, the woman sneakily pecks her boyfriend’s cheek. He’s caught off guard with his eyes slightly widening in surprise. You let out a giggle as it’s all caught on camera. Jaehyun slowly feels entertained by what’s happening right in front of him. 

“I’ll take one more picture for good measure,” you insist. The couple smiles and you take another picture on the phone before switching to the film camera. “Alright, I’m switching to this camera now.”

Jaehyun watches the couple get ready to pose for the next picture. They’re both looking at each other with gazes that Jaehyun just can’t seem to explain. He’s never had someone look at him like that, where someone would look at him with eyes full of love and admiration. There’s a small space in his heart that hopes he could experience something like this, if not, something similar. 

“Alright, one, two, three!” You take the picture on the film camera. “Wow, I think these are going to turn out beautifully. The two of you are such a beautiful couple.”

The man gets up to get his phone and film camera from you. “Oh, thank you so much.”

“How long have you guys been together?” Jaehyun finds himself asking out of nowhere.

You look at him, surprised that he’s interested in their relationship. The man looks at his girlfriend and smiles. “We’ve been together for a year and two months.”

“Wow, so you guys just celebrated your first anniversary together?” You question and they both flush a bright red. They nod their heads. “You’re a lovely couple. I hope you guys stay together! You both look deeply in love with each other.”

“I hope so, too.” The man says softly. He looks down at his phone. “Would you like me to take a picture of the two of you lovebirds?”

You and Jaehyun glance at each other. You’re the first one to tear your gaze away from him. “I—There’s no need to, we wouldn’t want to bother you—”

“You’re not bothering us at all! We can take a picture for you, just as a thank you for taking time out of your date to take a picture of us.” The woman reassures you.

It’s your turn to look at Jaehyun as if you’re asking him for permission. You can’t seem to read his expression and so you look back at the man. “I think we’ll be okay, thank you for the offer, though—”

“We’d love to!” Jaehyun cuts you off and you look at him with surprise. 

You’re not sure what to say or do but Jaehyun’s already pulling out his phone and handing it to the man. As the man is preparing to take the picture, you and Jaehyun awkwardly stand next to each other. It’s evident that the both of you are either acquaintances, friends, or a new couple who are still awkward with each other. There’s no in between.

“Alright, I’m taking a picture on three.” The man reminds you. 

One, Jaehyun looks down at you. You’re fiddling with your fingers. He can tell there are gears turning in your head. Meanwhile, you’re too busy staring straight ahead, not sure if you should lean closer to Jaehyun or if you’re standing from the right distance. Should you tilt your head towards him? No, that would look awkward. 

Two, Jaehyun feels his arm itch. He’s not sure if he should wrap his arm around your waist or over your shoulder. But as the man is counting to three to take the picture, he can’t help but notice how three seconds seems like three painfully long minutes.

Three, Jaehyun does it. He throws his arm over your shoulder and pulls you close to him. You’re caught off guard. As he pulls you close, you find yourself bumping into his side. Your eyes are widened with surprise. The man and his girlfriend let out a squeal.

As the man is handing back Jaehyun his phone, he grins at the both of you. “How long have you guys been together?”

Jaehyun clears his throat. The both of you share a look before he breaks out into a smirk.

“We’ve actually just started dating.”

“What you did today was impressive.”

You and Jaehyun are strolling down the streets of Paris after spending most of your day at Luxembourg Gardens. Montmartre just seems more romantic in the evening with all the fairy lights lit up and with the endless photo ops perfect for couples. Although your first date with Jaehyun is almost over, there’s something within you that wishes that the date would be longer. Little did you know that Jaehyun wishes the same thing too.

You find yourselves standing in front of an ice cream parlour. The both of you share a look.

“Wanna go grab some ice cream before I drop you off at your hotel?” Jaehyun insists.

You smile. “I’d love that.”

And so the both of you step inside the ice cream parlour. There’s a large menu filled with a variety of ice cream flavours. Although there are many new and unique flavours to choose from, your eyes light up at the sight of your favourite flavour.

“What can I get for the lovely couple?”

You both glance at the ice cream vendor before replying in unison, “Pistachio, please.”

Jaehyun looks at you with surprise. You look unfazed as you’re digging through your purse to pay for the both of you. He’s not sure why his heart skips a beat just by the fact that the both of you love pistachio ice cream. It’s almost as if you both had a telepathic moment. 

“Let me pay—”

You stop him from pulling out his wallet. Your hand is placed over his and he feels the sudden urge to hold your hand. “I’ll pay. I already have my cash out.”

“But—”

“Jaehyun.” 

He raises his hands up in defense. “Fine, if you say so.”

The both of you step out of the ice cream parlour with two scoops of pistachio ice cream on a cone. You’re busy gushing over how delicious it is while Jaehyun stops in his tracks at the sight of a huge billboard sitting on top of a building. You haven’t noticed Jaehyun’s sudden absence beside you until you’re about to ask him what he thinks of the ice cream.

“Jaehyun—Jaehyun?”

Jaehyun’s eyes are fixated on the large billboard. You follow his gaze which lands on a billboard of an advertisement. It’s an advertisement for a ballet show. Your mouth opens slightly agape at the sight of a beautiful ballet dancer on the billboard. You tear your gaze from the billboard to look at him. 

You’ve seen that look before. It’s a look where there are stars shining in your eyes, where your smile is soft yet sincere, where you look like a fool… a hopeless fool. 

“I think I know where to take you for our second date.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Where?”

He points up at the billboard. “Tomorrow night. You and me. I’ll pay for the tickets. I hope you like ballet.”

You fold your arms before pointing at the billboard, specifically at the ballet dancer. “You find her really pretty, don’t you? You have a crush on her, don’t you?”

He blows a raspberry. “I don’t—”

“You do.” You let out a soft gasp.

He gives you a look. “I don’t—”

“Your ice cream is melting.” 

You’re handing him a napkin to wipe the ice cream that’s melted down the side of his hand. As he’s wiping the ice cream, he lets out a sigh. “I don’t.”

You shrug your shoulders. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you did. I’d honestly have a crush on her too. Besides, it’s not bad to have crushes. Having crushes are normal.”

“Define crush.”

As you’re coming up with your own definition of crush, you find yourselves arriving in front of your hotel. You frown. “Let’s save that conversation for another date.”

He nods his head at the door. “You should get going. I should also get going, Y/N. It was a long day. I enjoyed spending it with you.”

A smile slowly starts to spread across your lips. “Me too. Text me when you get to your hotel safely!”

He waves at you before starting to walk away. You’re just about to step inside the hotel building until you have the sudden urge to—

“Jaehyun!”

He slows down and turns around to look at you. “Yeah?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

What was a small smile on his face turned into a bright one. He’s beaming at you before nodding his head. You swear you could feel your heart pounding in your chest.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Oh boy, this isn’t good.

This isn’t good at all.

And you do see him.

In fact, you see him waiting for you outside of the Théâtre du Châtelet with tickets in his hands. You hand the taxi driver your cash payment and tell him to keep the change before you hop out. As you hop out of the car, your eyes meet his and his blank face transforms into a look of familiarity. 

“Hey, you.” You smile.

“Hey,” he returns a smile. “Shall we head inside? The show is going to start in about fifteen minutes.”

The show starts just a couple of minutes after the both of you get settled in your seats. The lights turn off before they start flickering on and off. As the lights turn on, they focus on a ballet dancer that starts to dance across the stage. She looks beautiful, she looks familiar, she’s the ballet dancer—

“Sunjung.” You hear Jaehyun whisper underneath his breath.

You glance at him. He has that same look on his face from yesterday. There are stars shining in his eyes. His smile is soft… yet sincere. He looks like a hopeless fool. That look means one thing.

He’s in love with her. You know that look all too well. He looks at her as if she’s his entire world. He looks at her with such admiration that it makes your heart ache. You’re not sure if your heart is aching for him or for you. 

You look away from him just before your stare ponders longer than it should. On stage, a male ballet dancer joins her and the song changes to—

“Song for the little sparrow,” you say softly, a gasp getting caught in your throat. 

You and Jaehyun meet eyes. 

It was all starting to make sense to you. You can read Jaehyun like a book, from front to back. 

The reason why Jeong Jaehyun is in Paris is because he’s chasing after the woman he’s in love with, who so happens to be a woman named Sunjung. Jeong Jaehyun is not here for vacation, he’s here because of her. But the more you look at Sunjung and her partner that dances with her on stage, the more you focus on the loving gaze she gives her partner. Sunjung isn’t in love with Jaehyun. Jaehyun flew all the way to Paris to chase after a woman he’s in love with, who happens to be in love with someone else. 

And you’re just someone he randomly chose to accompany him on this journey. You’re just someone he randomly chose to be there for him when he faces the one thing he knows he’ll regret experiencing; rejection.

And you’ve never felt heartbroken for someone your entire life.

“Jaehyun! I can’t believe you’re here!”

If you thought she looked beautiful on stage, she looked perfect up close. Sunjung pulls Jaehyun in for an embrace before pulling away to look at you. You flash her a small smile. Sunjung’s dance partner, extends his hand out for Jaehyun to shake.

“This is Seonghwa,” Sunjung introduces her partner. Her partner looks just as charming as she is. He looks incredibly tall while standing next to her. “He’s my dance partner that I’ve been telling you all about.”

Jaehyun smiles. When you look at him, you can tell that he’s hurting on the inside. “I’m glad I can finally put a name to your face, Seonghwa. Congratulations to the both of you, the show was amazing.”

You gently nudge Jaehyun. He looks at you questioningly. “Introduce me.”

“Ah,” Jaehyun mumbles sheepishly. “This is Y/N, a friend of mine.”

“Nice to meet you, Y/N.” Sunjung beams at you. “I hope you enjoyed the show. I was wondering why Jaehyun brought a beautiful lady along with him.”

“The show was beautiful,” you say as you let out a breath. 

Seonghwa’s eyes dart between the two of you. “Are you guys dating or something?”

You and Jaehyun look at each other. Jaehyun fakes a cough, shaking his head. “No, we’re not dating. We’re just friends.”

Ouch. Why did that hurt? You didn’t think it would hurt.

Sunjung stares at the both of you. She pouts. “I was hoping you guys were dating. You guys look adorable together! I honestly thought you were going to introduce me to your new girlfriend, Jaehyun.”

Ouch. Was that supposed to hurt too? 

You let out an uneasy laugh. “Sorry to disappoint. We’re just friends. Right, Jaehyun?”

Jaehyun doesn’t answer. You look up at him and the smile on your face is wiped off. 

He looks heartbroken. He looks at her with a longing gaze. It’s a look with many unsaid words. He breaks out into a small smile that doesn’t reach his ears. He blinks and bites his lip. You’ve never experienced rejection, but after seeing him get indirectly rejected, you feel like you’ve experienced it too. There’s a sudden urge to hug him, comfort him, reassure him that things will turn out fine. But you’re not sure how because you don’t think you’re in the right place to do so. You’re sure him and Sunjung have a long, memorable history of friendship that’s irreplaceable. And so you stay silent.

And in the midst of your silence, you swear you can hear his heart shattering into pieces.

He lets out a soft chuckle. “Right. We’re just friends.”

Ever since the both of you left the theatre, you haven’t spoken a single word to each other. You’re trying to find the right words to say to him, but you don’t know him enough to know the right way of comforting him. You’re sure he has a lot of things on his mind, specifically about Sunjung. 

All you could do is look at him with a waiting gaze, as if you’re expecting some sort of explanation. He doesn’t say anything and you respect it by continuing to walk back to your hotel in silence. 

When you’re a couple of metres away from your hotel, he lets out a sigh. “Sunjung’s a long-time friend of mine.” 

You slowly nod your head. “I kind of figured you’ve been friends for a long time.”

He looks quite heartbroken just by the mention of her name. You wonder what happened between the two of them, but at the same time, you didn’t want to force him into talking about something he’s uncomfortable with. He gestures towards your hotel. “We’re here. You should head inside before it gets chilly outside. Good night, Y/N.”

He takes your silence as his cue to leave. As he’s walking away, you can’t seem to stop yourself from saying, “You’re in love with her.”

He stops in his tracks. He looks over his shoulder. 

You repeat yourself. “You’re in love with Sunjung.”

He shoves his hands into his pockets and shrugs his shoulders. “How would you know that? I don’t believe in love. Love is stupid. Love doesn’t exist.”

“Your eyes don’t seem to know how to lie, Jaehyun.”

His head hangs low. “You got me. I’m stupidly in love with my best friend. Unfortunately.”

“If you’re in love with her,” you begin with your eyebrows furrowing. “Why don’t you believe in love?”

He smiles. 

“Let’s save that conversation for another date.”

The next time you see Jaehyun, it’s a Sunday evening. He has one more week left before he flies back home. It’s been three days since you last saw him in his heartbroken state. You figured he took three days off to recollect his thoughts and to let the fact that he had just gotten friendzoned by his best friend sink in. 

But the next time you see Jaehyun, it’s a Sunday evening and he looks much better. You see him standing outside of your hotel building from your balcony. He’s wearing a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, as if he had just woken up from a nap and decided to pay you a visit. 

“Let’s go out on our third date.”

And you do. You find yourself putting on a hoodie the same colour as his before heading downstairs to meet up with him. When you meet up with him, you can’t help but notice how happier he looks. His smile looks genuine. 

“Hey, you.”

He chuckles. “Let’s get going before the sun sets.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“Champ de Mars.” He shrugs his shoulders.

You pout. “I was expecting you to tell me it was a surprise.”

“Disappointed?”

You find yourself interlocking arms with him before laughing. “Just a little.”

When you arrive, Jaehyun finds the perfect spot with the perfect view of the Eiffel Tower in front of you. He lays out a blanket for the both of you to sit on and pulls out the takeout trays of food from the paper bag. You’re too busy taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower to notice that everything’s already set up. You glance down to find him already sitting down. He pats the empty spot beside him and you take a seat.

After taking a couple more pictures, you place your phone back into your pocket. He throws his arm over your shoulder and you look at him with surprise. “Jaehyun?”

He looks back at you. “Yeah?”

“What are you doing?” 

The both of you are staring at each other until he takes his arm off your shoulder. He scratches the back of his neck and smiles sheepishly. “Sorry.”

You let out a snort. “I’m just kidding.”

He wraps his arm around your waist instead, catching you off guard. But you pay no attention to it. 

There’s something about you that he admires. It must be the fact that you understand him. It must be the fact that you can read his mind. It must be the fact that you’re not diving into his love life or being too nosey about his feelings for Sunjung and deciding to let him explain everything when he’s comfortable. But it could also be because you look beautiful sitting next to him like this. It could also be the fact that you willingly took a risk and spent your time with him, a complete stranger. 

“I’m in love with Sunjung.” He begins. 

You look up at him. “Are we having that conversation now?”

He laughs. “Can we?”

“We can, if you’re comfortable with that.” You purse your lips into a tight line. 

“Sunjung and I are best friends. We’ve been best friends for the longest time. In fact, I’ve been her best friend that’s been chasing after her for as long as I can remember.” He explains. “But she’s in love with someone else.”

“Is that why you don’t believe in love?” You ask.

He slowly nods his head. “I guess it’s the fear of rejection that makes me believe that love doesn’t exist.”

“But if love doesn’t exist, then rejection shouldn’t exist either.” You had a point. “Being in love with someone could make you the happiest person on the entire planet, but it could also ruin you through rejection.”

“You have a point.” He sighs. “I flew all the way to Paris just to chase after her. The more I try to chase after her and the more I try to make her mine, the more I start to believe that I know nothing about love and that it doesn’t exist.”

“Really?” You ask.

“Really.” He mumbles. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Now that I’m hearing this, I think I’m starting to believe that if there was one person who believes in love with all his heart, it would be you.” You answer. “You’re just being swayed by the fact that the woman you’re in love with doesn’t love you back. Rejection is the only reason why you don’t believe in love. But I think you should embrace rejection because it’ll only make you a better person. In fact, rejection will make you a person who anticipates the next opportunity to fall in love again, but with another person.”

“Do you think so?” He whispers.

You raise an eyebrow. “About what?”

“Do you think I’ll ever fall in love again, after Sunjung?” He asks.

You place your hand on top of his before nodding your head. 

“Love happens with the right person at the right time. I’m more than sure that you’ll fall in love again, you just have to allow your heart to do it.”

Jaehyun falls against his bed and lets out a sigh. He’s looking up at the ceiling of his room. Suddenly, he pulls out his phone and goes through his photos. He starts swiping for a particular picture until he finds it. A smile begins to spread across his lips. It’s the photo of you and him at Luxembourg Gardens. He has his arm wrapped around you and you’re looking at the camera with slightly widened eyes. Your cheeks heat up while his ears redden.

“Hey, Jaehyun?”

He hears you call out his name after he dropped you off at your hotel room. He’s waiting for the elevator to arrive. He looks at you. You’re poking your head through the door. “Yeah?”

You bite back a smile that threatens to form on your lips. “I just wanted to let you know that if it weren’t for Sunjung and your feelings for her, I’d definitely fall in love with you. Sunjung is clearly missing out on someone she doesn’t deserve.”

The elevator arrives and he’s too distracted by your words to even notice the elevator doors opening. He scratches the back of his neck. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Y/N. Goodnight.”

You smile. “Goodnight, Jaehyun.”

Before he steps into the elevator, he tries to talk to you before you close the door. “Hey, Y/N?”

You look at him questioningly. “Yeah?”

“I just wanted to let you know that if I wasn’t in love with Sunjung, I’d definitely fall in love with you too.”

Five days left until Jaehyun flies back to Seoul. He has five days left to spend with you. It’s funny how he’s deciding to spend those five days with you and not with Sunjung. But it’s not like he really had a choice because you’d always insist on going out on another date.

“Golden hour?”

You’re grabbing his hand and running down the sidewalks of Paris. He looks down at your hands. You’re too busy looking down at your phone for the map directions to even notice that you absent-mindedly grabbed his hand. “Yes! Golden hour! Apparently, the best time to do it is during golden hour!”

“Where are we going?” He questions.

“The Seine!”

He pouts. “I was kind of expecting you to say that it’ll be a surprise.”

You laugh and it’s such a beautiful sound to his ears. You look at him from over your shoulder. “Disappointed?”

He shakes his head. “Not at all.”

Ever since you made what seems like a subtle love confession to Jaehyun last night, you couldn’t help but notice a huge weight being lifted off your shoulders. The image of his warm smile when he heard your words remains etched in your mind. You know that this won’t end how you want it to be, but you’re fine with it. You’d rather let your heart fall in love than cage it up with huge walls. Besides, you’re in the city of love, why would you hold yourself back?

It takes half an hour for the both of you to arrive at the Seine. There’s a ton of couples gathered at the Seine, most of them lining up at the booth to pick up their tickets. Luckily for you, you had booked your tickets in advance. You’re just about to tell Jaehyun something until you catch him looking at the river in awe. The sun is starting to set, making everything more romantic. 

“Wow.” He breathes out.

You smile proudly. “I know. Let’s lineup so we can get a good spot on the cruise.”

The cruise occurs every hour during its busiest times. You and Jaehyun decide to stick around on the lower level of the boat. As the boat is starting to move across the river, you find yourself taking a seat on one of the benches. 

“This is amazing,” he says softly.

“I did a pretty good job with this, don’t you think?” He nods his head.

He gets up from the bench and walks towards the railings. You’re too busy staring at his back profile, admiring the view right in front of you. His skin is glowing from the sun that’s shining down on him. Your mind finds itself taking a picture. You’re smiling brightly.

As you join him, you place your hands on the railings. He turns to you. “Hey, you never told me how long you’ll be here for.”

You glance at him. “Because I myself, don’t know how long I’ll be here for.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” you sigh. “Let’s just say I packed my things and bought a one-way ticket to Paris. I decided that when I feel like I’m ready to fly back home, then I’ll buy my plane ticket.”

“This might come off rude but I’m just curious,” he chuckles. “Are you really here in Paris for vacation?”

You smile and shake your head. “I’m not. I flew to Paris to escape.”

“Escape from what?”

“From my reality.” You answer. “Well, I’m more so escaping from my father. Just like my father, I’m a painter. He has high expectations of me and it’s extremely difficult to live up to his standards.”

“I’m sure your work is amazing, though.” He mumbles.

You giggle. “My last art exhibit was a huge success. But I didn’t expect getting burnt out a couple of months later. It was like I forgot how to pick up a paintbrush. I decided I needed to take a break. My father wasn’t happy to hear that.”

“And so you flew out to Paris?”

You point at him. “Bingo. I packed a suitcase and I told him I was flying out to Paris. I will never forget the look on his face. It was priceless. I’m sure I’ll be in huge trouble when I fly back.”

“Are you ready to fly back, though?” He asks.

It takes a while for you to come up with an answer. But when you do, you find yourself nodding.

“I think I’m ready. I was bound to go back home, anyways.”

This is the downside of meeting someone in a country you don’t live in. It’s all fun and games when meeting someone new, but the worst is knowing the fact that the both of you will eventually separate, where one will have to go back home and the other is left behind. 

But in this case, you met someone in Paris who doesn’t live in Paris. You fell in love with Paris and the stranger you befriended. It’ll be all fun and games until you both realize that you’ll eventually separate, where the both of you go back home.

And you guess you both realized that now.

Three more days until Jaehyun flies back home. Three more days to spend with you. You both find yourselves spending an afternoon at the Sainte-Chapelle. Underneath the stained glass, you both stand next to each other with your shoulders brushing against each other. 

You steal a glance at Jaehyun. 

You’re in love with him. You’ve fallen in love with him. But you know he’s in love with someone else. And that’s okay. It was bound to happen anyways. But even though you knew it was bound to happen, it still hurt. Just a little bit.

He catches you staring at him and he smirks. “Why are you staring at me?”

You shake your head. “Nothing.”

“I want to get married here.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Really?”

He hums in reply. “Really.”

You chuckle. “Am I invited to your wedding?”

There’s a part of him that wishes you didn’t ask such a question. He swore he imagined seeing you walk down the aisle, not as his guest sitting in the congregation. The thought of it terrifies him.

“Of course.” He chuckles. “You’re an honorary guest.”

You find yourself smiling. “That sounds nice to hear.”

He lets out a frustrated sigh. It catches you off guard. As you look up at him questioningly, you watch his shoulders slump. “I wish I fell in love with you instead. I wish I met you before Sunjung. Maybe things would have turned different.”

You tear your gaze away from him. “Things would have definitely turned out differently.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

It all feels bittersweet. “How so?”

“Because if you fell in love with me instead and if you had met me before Sunjung, I would have fallen in love with you in a heartbeat, just like how I’ve fallen in love with you now.”

Two days before Jaehyun flies back home. Little did he know you had already packed your things. You’re ready to fly back home. You think it’s time to go back home. But you knew that you couldn’t just leave him without a farewell. With your flight near midnight, you decide to spend your last day in Paris with him. 

You spend the afternoon at Pont des Arts. Along the bridge are an endless amount of locks on its railings. It’s weird how you’re both holding hands like a couple. 

“Where do you think we can get a lock?”

You snort. “Are you trying to be cheesy? Why do we need a lock?”

He gestures towards the locks on the railings of the bridge. “So that we can do this together.”

“But we’re not dating,” you remind him. 

“But you’re in love with me.” He says softly and you roll your eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes at me.”

“We don’t need to do this. The person you should be doing this with is Sunjung.”

“Can we just forget about Sunjung for today?” He asks. “We’re getting a lock.”

And you both do. The lock comes with two keys, one for you and the other for him. You’re both standing near the railings, trying to find an empty spot to put the lock on. Everything feels like a mixture of bittersweetness and cheesiness, but you both do it anyway. 

“Couples usually write their initials on the lock, put it on the railing, and then throw the keys to the lock into the water.” Jaehyun explains.

You snort. “Funny how you told me how you didn’t believe in love when we first met and yet here you are, telling me all about a romantic practice couples usually do.”

The lock is secured in its place. He looks at you as he prepares to throw his key into the water. He chucks the key out into the water and turns towards you as he waits for you to throw yours in. You don’t. He looks at you confusedly.

“Why aren’t you throwing yours into the water?”

“I think I should be asking you why you threw yours into the water, sir.” You fold your arms. 

“Love happens with the right person at the right time.” He recalls what you had said to him one night. “I threw mine into the water because I know that love will happen when I meet you again at the right time. I’ll just have to allow my heart to do it.”

You flash him a sad smile. “I can’t wait until that time comes.”

“Me too.”

You look towards the water before throwing your key. 

Someday.

That time will come.

Someday.

“Hey, Jaehyun?” 

“Yeah?”

You hesitate. “I’m flying home tonight.”

His smile vanishes from his face. “Tonight?”

You nod. “Tonight.”

He avoids your gaze. “We should probably get you back to your hotel, then, huh?”

As much as you hate telling him, you knew that he had to know. He doesn’t look upset, surprisingly. It’s probably because he knew that things would end like this. It was expected. He just didn’t expect it to happen sooner than he thought.

When you arrive at your hotel, the sun has already set. Jaehyun helps you with your suitcases as you bring it down to the hotel lobby. As your taxi arrives, he helps you put your things into the trunk of the car. When everything’s set to go, the both of you stand there awkwardly, looking at each other.

“I guess this is it.”

“Yeah.” You say softly.

“You have my number, right?” He asks.

You nod. “I do. Nothing to worry.”

“Text me when you land.” He says. 

“I will,” you reassure him. “Take care of yourself, alright?”

“I’ll try.” He chuckles.

Jaehyun doesn’t know what came over him but he can’t seem to stop himself from grabbing your cheeks and pulling you in for a kiss. You’re caught off guard with your eyes widening in shock. His lips feel soft and plump, so irresistible that you pull him closer. He deepens the kiss and you swore you felt his tongue lightly graze yours. Your heart wants it to last longer but you will yourself to pull away. 

You bite your lip. “Uh—I’ll see you around?”

He looks just as surprised as you are. “I’ll—yeah, I’ll see you around.”

You give him a timid wave before hopping into the car. As you buckle in your seat, you roll down the windows to see Jaehyun still standing there, waiting to send you off. “Jaehyun?”

“Yeah?”

“I hope you and Sunjung end up together. You deserve to be loved.”

And he looks at you with a look you can’t seem to read. You roll the windows back up and the car starts to drive off. You turn around to see Jaehyun waving at you. You wave back, mustering up a smile. When Jaehyun’s figure gets smaller and smaller, you turn back around to face the front. You bite back a sob.

You knew it would hurt.

You knew it would end this way.

But you still allowed yourself to get hurt.

“Ma’am?” You snap out of your thoughts.

The taxi driver is offering you a box of Kleenex tissues. “Yes?”

“It looks like you need it.”

And you sure did.

“Welcome home—”

Your father cuts himself off when he hears you slam your bedroom door shut. He frowns, glancing at your suitcase that you lazily left by the door. He walks towards your suitcases to bring them into the living room until he spots your plane ticket.

He slowly picks it up. “Paris? Of all places, why Paris?”

The longer he stares at it, the more he starts to put things together.

Five months later…

BREAKING NEWS: Best-selling poet, Jeong Jaehyun, officially engaged to long-time friend and ballet dancer, Kim Sunjung

You wish it was a joke. 

But it isn’t.

“Holy shit, you look like a fucking mess.”

“I know.”

Jungwoo stands at the door with a bag filled with canned beer. When you had called him to come over for a beer night, he didn’t expect to show up to see a brokenhearted friend moping in front of a TV screen. He takes a seat next to you on the couch and starts to take out the cans of beer. He’s placing them onto the coffee table, taking a look at you every now and then to make sure you’re doing alright. But you’re clearly not. You’re not alright.

“So, when were you planning on telling me that you fell in love with a stranger in Paris?”

You let out a bitter chuckle. “Was it that obvious?”

“What? That you fell in love in Paris?” He asks. You hum in reply. “Well, while you were in Paris, I was expecting you to call me during your vacation but you didn’t. I didn’t hear from you for two weeks, what did you want me to expect?”

“Never fall in love, especially in Paris.” You sigh, wiping your tears. You grab a can of beer and pry it open. You take your first sip of the night before wincing. 

He points at the screen. “You do have extremely good taste, though. Jeong Jaehyun? The flavour is incredibly immaculate.”

“I should probably get my mind off of it,” you whisper. “Or should I say, get my mind off of him.”

He snorts. “And how are you going to do that? By painting?”

“Yeah,” you mumble. “By doing exactly that.”

“Well, shit, I thought you were going to say no.” Jungwoo lets out a light-hearted laugh that rings in your ears. “But I think that would be a good idea. It’ll get your mind off of him. You never know, it might even help you move on.”

“Is it bad that I don’t want to move on?” You think aloud. 

“Well, yes and no.” Jungwoo answers your thoughts. “It really depends on the situation.”

“How?”

He surprisingly finishes his first can of beer and moves on to his second. “From how heartbroken you are over him, I like to think that you’re both right for each other. You just both met the right people at the wrong time.”

“You think I met the right person at the wrong time?”

He nods. “Exactly so.”

It’s been five months since you last saw Jaehyun. It’s been five months since you last heard from him too. No text. No phone call. No nothing. Whatever happened between the two of you in Paris remains a memory that will forever be etched in your mind. You’re not sure if you could say the same thing for him. 

You wonder if he’s doing alright. You wonder if he’s happy that he finally captured Sunjung’s heart. You wonder if he’s been eating his meals. You wonder if he’s getting enough sleep. Because you aren’t. You aren’t doing alright. You haven’t been eating your meals. You haven’t been getting enough sleep. And yet, it hurts even more knowing that he’s probably not even thinking about you. You probably don’t even cross his mind.

The news reporter on the TV screen continues to report the evening news. Your ears perk up at the sound of his name.

“Jeong Jaehyun will be holding a book signing for his new poetry book, Right Person, Wrong time, at the city’s biggest bookstore this Saturday at noon.”

It’s a huge mistake to be here. 

But you are. You’re holding Jaehyun’s new poetry book in your arms as you’re walking towards the end of the line. Jungwoo’s voice echoes in your mind, telling you that this is a bad idea, but you’re stubborn. The line up shortens as more and more books are being signed by him. You find yourself a couple of metres near the table. You stand up on your tip-toes to get a good look of him. When you finally spot him, you let out a gasp. Your eyes start to water.

He hasn’t changed. He still looks the same. He just looks more tired. His smile reaches his ears. He looks happy. It makes your heart ache. You wish you were happy as him. But between the two of you, you felt like you were the only one left behind. He’s chasing his own happiness and here you are, left behind, trying to find what’s left between the both of you.

“What’s your name?” Jaehyun asks the teenager.

The teenager smiles. “Mina.”

He’s signing the teenager’s book. “You look familiar.”

“I do? I think it’s because I bumped into you in Paris a few months back. You were at the Musée d’Orsay!” The teenager exclaims. 

Jaehyun’s hand stops writing. He slowly looks up at her. “Paris? Musée d’Orsay?”

“Yes! I asked for your autograph. You were looking at one of the artworks from Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s exhibition.” The teenager tries to recall her memory. “I think you were looking at Dance in the Country.”

Jaehyun smiles wider. “I remember you! Wow, what a small world.”

She giggles. “Yes, what a small world we live in.”

He closes the book and pushes it towards her. “I’m glad to see you again. I hope you take care! Thank you for coming to my book signing.”

“Thank you,” she says sheepishly. “Congratulations on your engagement, too!”

He thanks her and just as she starts to leave, he begins to welcome the next person in line. But right when he flashes the next reader a smile, his eyes meet yours. His smile is immediately wiped off of his face. You’re looking back at him in shock.

You bite your lip. You’re the first one to look away. 

Indeed, this is a bad idea. This is a huge mistake. You find yourself stepping out of your line and looking for the exit. When you find the exit, your walking starts to speed up. 

Jaehyun places his pen down and he’s immediately getting up from his chair. He watches you as you walk towards the exit. “Sorry, give me one second.”

He’s stepping down from the stage and everyone’s looking at him as he tries to chase after you. He’s pushing past people who are looking around the bookstore. Right when he steps outside of the bookstore, he looks left and right, in hopes of finding you.

But he doesn’t. 

He scratches the back of his head. He swore he saw you. He looked into your eyes. He was so sure of it.

You try to catch your breath. When you do, you look behind a brick wall to see Jaehyun walking back into the bookstore. He scratches the back of his head. You sigh with relief.

Four months later…

“Please welcome, my daughter and pride, Y/N!”

The sound of clapping echoes throughout the exhibition room as you join your father on the small stage. He pulls you into a tight embrace. A couple of weeks after you flew back home from Paris, your father seemed to be less strict with you. He let you work at your own pace and stopped restricting you from living your life to the fullest. As a result, nine months later, you complete your second art exhibit in your career. And the turn out? Successful.

“Good evening, everyone.” You greet the large group of visitors. “First off, I wanted to thank you for taking time out of your busy day to visit this exhibition. It means a lot to me.”

Everyone is intently listening to you and you grow nervous from the attention. You look at your father for reassurance. He gestures you to continue. You look back at everyone.

“After my first successful art exhibit, I got burnt out. I packed a suitcase and flew a one-way trip to Paris in hopes of finding inspiration again. Little did I know, things turned out much differently than I expected.” You let out a chuckle. “This art exhibit is special because it highlights most of the memories I made in Paris with a stranger I met.”

You feel your father place his hand on your shoulder. You look at him with teary eyes. 

“I don’t want to hold you all back from seeing the art and so, I present to you, my second art exhibit, Song for a Little Sparrow. Enjoy.”

As you watch everyone start to wander off to different paintings, you head towards one of the table stands to grab yourself a glass of wine. You needed some alcohol in your system. You join Jungwoo at one of the tables. He starts clapping for you as you approach him.

“Congratulations,” he smiles.

You fist-bump him. “Thanks.”

“You chose Song for a Little Sparrow over Wrong person, Right Time?” He asks.

“And what about it?” You take a sip of your wine. 

“Do you think you met Jaehyun at the right time?” Jungwoo questions.

You slowly nod your head after much thought. “He’s getting married with someone he’s in love with. He’s the wrong person who came at the right time. I was burnt out, he was chasing the love of his life. We both met each other at the right time. Look what came out of it. He’s getting married and I managed to get my creativity flowing again.”

He swirls the wine in his glass. “But are you still in love with him?”

You stare at him. “It wouldn’t matter, anyways. He’s getting married. Thus, wrong person, right time.”

“What if I told you that I just saw him walk into the exhibit?” 

“Stop joking around—”

“I’m not—”

“You are.” You cut him off. Your eyes scan the exhibit. “I can’t see him. I don’t see him. You’re joking. Stop joking around—”

“He’s right there—”

“Where?!” You exclaim.

“I’m just joking.”

You down your glass of wine before letting out a scowl. He’s laughing his ass off. “Fuck you.”

“Love you too,” he sends you a flying kiss. “I’m going to go mingle with some visitors. You never know, I might just meet the love of my life tonight.”

“I hope you don’t.”

“Do you really? Because if you do, you might have to spend the rest of your life with me—”

You fake a gag. “Yeah, please, go mingle. I’d rather spend the rest of my life with a house filled with puppies than spend it with you.”

He pretends to look offended. “I’m hurt. Anyways, see you later, love.”

You grin. “Go get em’, tiger.” 

As he’s a couple of metres away, he turns back around to shout at you. “Don’t get too tipsy!”

“One ticket please.”

“Sorry, sir, the exhibition is closing in about half an hour. We’re not taking anymore visitors—”

Jaehyun takes off his shades and the ticket vendor clamps his mouth shut. What seems like the manager pushes him aside and looks at Jaehyun for a brief moment. “That’s quite unfortunate. When are you opening tomorrow?”

The manager clears his throat. “Well, we can give you a ticket for the remaining half hour, Mr. Jeong. It’ll be discounted. You can also choose to come back tomorrow, instead.”

Jaehyun purses his lips into a tight line. “Is the artist present at the exhibit?”

“Yes, Mr. Jeong.”

He smiles. “Then I’ll take the discounted ticket, please and thank you.”

The manager is scurrying to print an admission ticket. Jaehyun can’t help but look at him with amusement. There sure are some perks like these when you’re a best-selling author. As the manager is handing him his ticket, he thanks them and rushes towards the art exhibit down the hallway before time runs out. From behind him, the manager and the ticket vendor are beginning to close up the entrance gates to the art museum.

Jaehyun stops in front of the doors to the exhibit room to catch his breath. When he saw a billboard with your name and the date of your art exhibit plastered all over it, he did not hesitate to make a trip to the art museum on it’s first day of viewing to the public. 

His feet drag him into the room. There’s not much people left in the exhibit room because it’s almost closing time. There are a couple of people looking at the art, him included. 

He’s making the last half hour worth his time by stopping to look at each painting carefully. The first painting he looks at is a painting of a couple standing in front of a familiar museum. It’s a couple taking a picture in front of the Musée d’Orsay. His eyes flutter shut as he reminisces a memory from the back of his mind.

“What do you do for a living? You don’t need to answer if you don’t want to—”

“I’m a painter. What kind of question is that? Are we out on a blind date or something? I don’t remember meeting you on tinder.”

“You’re a painter? Like, you paint on canvas?”

“I was expecting more of an enthusiastic reaction or even better, a look of surprise. But yes, sorry to disappoint, I’m a painter. I pick up a paintbrush and I make strokes on canvas. That’s what I do for a living.”

“I’m sure you’re very talented. You should show me a couple of your paintings. Even better, why don’t you paint me like—”

“Like one of my French girls?”

“You probably get that a lot, huh?”

“I get that a shit ton of times that I am this close to throwing up.”

“God, I feel like throwing up whenever I see a couple out on the street. Like those two over there.”

“They’re in love. Leave them alone.”

“Yeah, I’ll definitely leave them alone.”

“Stop being such a con artist, I’m sure you’ve been in love before.”

“I have—”

“And it was a nice feeling, right?”

“It was more so disappointing.”

He lets out a soft chuckle as he opens his eyes again. Before he moves onto the next painting, he can hear your bubbly laugh echoing through his mind.

“I’m going to take you out on dates for two weeks. And on those dates, I’ll prove to you that love exists.”

“And you expect this to work?”

“One hundred percent.”

“How do you know for sure?” 

“If you don’t feel some sort of way after going out on dates with me, then love isn’t real. But if you do feel some sort of way, then love is real.” 

“So, basically, if I fall in love with you, love is real. But if I don’t fall in love with you, then love isn’t real?”

“Perfect!” 

“So, your goal is to make me fall in love with you?” 

“Yes, but at the same time, no.” 

“Is that even possible?”

“It’s possible. Just don’t fall in love with me.”

He moves onto the next painting. It’s a painting of the Luxembourg Palace. A smile is slowly starting to spread across his lips.

“How long have you guys been together?”

“We’ve actually just started dating.”

The next painting is a painting of what seems to be Sunjung and Seonghwa. It’s a painting of them dancing across the stage in the theatre. He glances down at his fourth finger that’s missing a wedding ring. 

“You’re in love with her.”

“How would you know that? I don’t believe in love. Love is stupid. Love doesn’t exist.”

“Your eyes don’t seem to know how to lie, Jaehyun.”

“You got me. I’m stupidly in love with my best friend. Unfortunately.”

“If you’re in love with her, why don’t you believe in love?”

The painting he looks at next is a painting of a picnic at the Champ de Mars. Sitting in the middle of the painting is the Eiffel Tower. He assumes that it’s a painting of your view from the picnic you both had.

“Do you think so?”

“About what?”

“Do you think I’ll ever fall in love again, after Sunjung?” 

“Love happens with the right person at the right time. I’m more than sure that you’ll fall in love again, you just have to allow your heart to do it.”

He finds himself taking more time to look at the last two paintings. He stands in front of a painting of the purple stained glass at the Sainte-Chapelle. He leans towards the painting to get a closer look. He chuckles when he sees that you painted the both of you as a reflection in the glass. 

“I wish I fell in love with you instead. I wish I met you before Sunjung. Maybe things would have turned different.”

“Things would have definitely turned out differently.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

“How so?”

“Because if you fell in love with me instead and if you had met me before Sunjung, I would have fallen in love with you in a heartbeat, just like how I’ve fallen in love with you now.”

When he moves onto the last painting, he feels a gasp getting caught in his throat. It’s a painting of someone he knows all too well. It’s a painting of him. It’s a painting of him standing near the railings of the cruise at the Seine river. It’s your view of him from behind. 

He’s sure he’s in love with you.

He’s so sure of it.

“It’s beautiful, huh?” He snaps out of it. It’s a familiar voice.

His head snaps to his left. You’re standing right next to him. You’re already looking at him when he glances at you. He can’t seem to find a word to say, especially when you’re standing right in front of him. He’s not sure what to say when you flash him a warm smile that holds so much meaning.

“Hi,” he breathes out.

You giggle. “Hi, there.”

“C-Congratulations on your exhibit,” he manages to blurt out.

You blush. “Thanks. Congratulations on your book too. I read it actually, and I really enjoyed it.”

He clears his throat, pointing towards the painting in front of the both of you. “Is this me?”

You snort. “Who else would it be?”

“I feel honoured.” He mumbles.

You glance down at your wristwatch. “Well, I hate to say this but it’s closing time.”

“Already?”

You nod. “We wouldn’t want to keep anybody from going home to their families, right?”

“Ah, you’re right.” He lets out a sheepish laugh. 

You purse your lips into a line and pat his shoulder. “It was nice seeing you, Jaehyun. I hope you’re doing well and taking care of yourself. Thank you for dropping by, it means so much to me. I’ll get going. My father’s waiting for me.”

Jaehyun furrows his eyebrows in confusion. You’re starting to walk away from him. He doesn’t want to lose you again. Why are you walking away from him?

You slow down in your tracks before turning around again. His eyebrows raise. “Jaehyun?”

“Yeah?”

“Congratulations on your engagement.” You smile. “It’s nice to see that you finally got a hold of Sunjung. Tell her I said hi—”

He shakes his head. “I called off the engagement. We’re not getting married.”

“Huh?” That’s all that manages to slip from your lips. “What did you just say?”

“I called off the engagement? We’re not getting married?” He repeats himself and it all comes out as a question. 

“Why would you do that?” You look at him as if he’s crazy. “You literally chased Sunjung all the way to Paris and after getting engaged with her, you called the engagement off? Are you in your right mind?”

“I called it off because of this.” He gestures towards all the paintings in the exhibit. “I called it off because of you, because of my feelings for you.”

“You’re not making any sense, Jaehyun—”

“When I published Right Person, Wrong Time, Sunjung kept asking me if it was about her, if all the poems I wrote were about her.” He explains. “I couldn’t just tell her that they were about you, not when we were engaged. I wrote those poems during the two weeks I was with you in Paris.”

“They were about me?”

“We fought a lot after the engagement. I was starting to believe that the Sunjung I fell in love with was different to the Sunjung I got engaged to.” He continues to explain. “And then I thought, was this all just a mind game? Did I do all of this and fall in love with Sunjung only for things to turn out like this?”

“Jaehyun—”

“And then I remembered the things you said to me back in Paris. At that very moment, it came down to whether I should choose the woman I’m in love with or the woman who’s in love with me.” He cuts you off. “I decided to call off the engagement. Sunjung is the definition of the wrong person at the wrong time.”

“I—”

“Love happens with the right person at the right time.” He reminds you. “I knew that allowing my heart to fall in love again with the right person at the right time would happen and I knew that the right person would be you. But I was scared. I was terrified. It has already been seven months since I last saw or spoken to you.”

“I’m still mad at you for that, but just a little—”

“And then yesterday, I saw a billboard with an advertisement for your art exhibition and I thought, fuck it, I’ll go because I wanted to see you.” He sighs. “And that brings me here.”

“Are you happy to be here?”

“I’m more than happy to be here.” He sighs happily. “Just seeing you makes me happy.”

You bite your lip. “How could you be so sure that I’m still in love with you? What if I’m not?”

“If you’re not, then that’s fine. If I could spend the rest of my life waiting, I would. I know that there will be the perfect time, the right time for the two of us because I know you’re the right person for me.” 

You smile. “Then I guess, this is the right time and moment.”

“Shit, is it really?”

You burst out into laughter. “Yes, Jaehyun. I’m still in love with you. I don’t think there was ever a time where I wasn’t.”

“God, I want to kiss you.”

“Do it. I dare you.”

He’s rushing over towards you and once he has his hands wrapped around your waist, the moment is ruined when there’s a security guard knocking on one of the doors to the exhibit room. The both of you pull away like two repelling magnets.

“Sorry, it’s closing time. I’m going to have to ask you to leave the museum. Thank you.”

“The paint is surprisingly cold.”

“Stay still!”

Jaehyun straightens his posture as he feels the cold paint brushing against his back. You’re making a couple of strokes on his back before leaning away to adjust your glasses on your nose bridge. Jaehyun looks over his shoulder and lets out a low chuckle. You raise an eyebrow.

“What are you looking at, doofus?”

“You have paint on your nose.”

You gasp. “Where? Can you get it off for me?”

He shakes his head with a teasing grin. “I don’t want to. You look cute like that anyways.”

“You little shit—”

“Woah, woah, woah, what’s going on in here?”

“Jungwoo, get out! You’re interrupting my creative process!”

tag list! @lanadreamie​ 

author’s note. thank you so much for reading! i hope you enjoyed it!

[zevlors-tail]

Shinsou x Reader x Deku Zoo HC’s

Pairing: Poly ShinDeku x Reader/Shinsou x Reader x Izuku

Description: A day trip to the zoo with Reader!

Warnings: Established poly relationship, otherwise none. Maybe tooth rotting fluff.

A/N: First and foremost! Both boys and the Reader are in an established poly relationship, are Pro!Heroes, and are aged 21+. Bet y’all can’t guess where I went today lol. Today had hella Shinsou vibes, and of course I will forever love the green ball of sunshine that is Izuku Midoriya, so this happened. Enjoy!

A Day At The Zoo

-It’s so rare that the three of you ever end up with the same day off together, so most of the time you have to plan ahead if you want to have outings or adventures, the zoo included!

-It was Deku’s idea first. Well, not idea per se; he just suggested it in passing and you hopped on that train of thought so freaking fast! A whole day spent looking at cute animals with your cute boyfriends? Um, yes please!

-Shinsou had never been to the zoo before, so he didn’t really understand the hype at first. What exactly was the point in visiting animals other than cats? Especially when you can’t pet or hold them? But if it made you and Izuku happy, then who was he to say no?

-Izuku recommended a zoo that was a little bit farther away than your local one, but it had so much more than the typical barnyard animals at yours. He’d gone a few times himself for fundraisers and meetings but you and Shinsou had never been there before.

-So the three of you planned out a day in advance, took the day off from your respective places of work, and thus, the adventure began!

-You talked about it for weeks beforehand, right up until you were parked at the front gates. “Are you guys excited? Because I am SO excited! I’m gonna pet the goats, and the stingrays, and the sharks, and look at all the birds, and take so many pictures-!”

-The first thing you spot is the giant monarch butterfly chilling on the flowers outside of the front gates, so you already know it’s gonna be a good day. You already have your camera whipped out to take a pic.

-Izuku thinks it’s the cutest thing, and Shinsou is literally taking a picture of you taking a photo of the butterfly. The butterfly might be photogenic, but honestly, he thinks you’re the real work of art here.

-The three of you pay and no sooner than when the receipt was in Shinsou’s hand were you running off to the first exhibit, both boys trying to keep up with your pace so they didn’t lose you.

-The first exhibit had some arctic animals like polar bears and seals, which you watched for a while with a content smile on your face. The bears were up and playing around with a dented bucket and a huge rubber ball, and you got some really cool pictures of them. Izuku even managed to get a video of a seal gliding through their underwater tunnel.

-Once again Shinsou is taking pictures of you taking pictures of the animals, because he thinks it’s absolutely adorable. He has this little smirk on his face as he watches you from the camera lens. Although he has to admit, the polar bears are super cute. 

-You keep bouncing around from exhibit to exhibit. One moment the boys are watching the wolves with you, and the next, you’ve wandered over to the giraffes by yourself. Shinsou briefly wonders if they should invest in one of those backpacks with a leash for you.

-Eh, they can just use Izuku’s arms instead. At some point in the day, you’re not really sure when, Izuku just resulted in wrapping his arms around you and holding you while you’re looking at exhibits to keep you from running off. He likes to rest his chin on your head and listen to you gush about how cute the animals are.

-And when you’re walking from place to place, you can bet he’s immediately reaching for your hand to lace his fingers in yours. You end up in between him and Shinsou who also wants to hold hands with you.

-You point out all the animals, even the ones that aren’t a part of the zoo, and the boys think it’s endearing. “Awe, look at this dove over here in it’s nest! Isn’t it so cute!?”

-”Y/N, I don’t think-” He’s being good-natured about it and laughing because he finds it sweet, but Izuku can’t finish his sentence because Hitoshi is slapping a hand over his mouth.

-”Just let them be. It’s precious.”

-”Hello, Mr. Squirrel!” You probably name all of the local ducks and geese walking around, too.

-Eventually you guys make it to the aviary, and you start to explore all the bird exhibits.

-Shinsou, immediately: “It’s so loud in here.”

-Izuku seems to know little random bits of information on the birds, and really enjoys watching them fly around.

-”Shinsou,” you beg him, “can you take my picture next to this giant bird!?”

-He perks up a little after that. Also, he already took your picture. He’s super sneaky and really good at taking pics while you’re not looking. Some of the best photos he has of you and Izuku are candids he took without you knowing. Nothing terrible; they’re all literally still shots of your smiles, your eyes, or just of the two of you doing routine things. His whole camera roll is full of you and Izuku.

-After the birds, you come to the penguin exhibit.

-Penguins just so happen to be Izuku’s favorite animal at the zoo. He loves how they waddle around without a care in the world, and he thinks their black and white patterns are just so unique!

-Definitely embarrasses Shinsou by imitating the penguin walk. He’s a goofball with the two of you, you know he would! And you’re right there with him, following him around with your hands at your sides as you waddle behind him. 

-”I don’t know them,” Shinsou jokes with the people next to you. But he loves you both, you can tell by the way he’s smiling. He thinks it’s cute how the two of you act like this together...in a dorky way, but still.

-Finally, you guys get to the aquarium. The moment you step through the door, Shinsou is practically mesmerized by the fish. He’s never seen so many before; there’s so many colors and shapes and sizes...

-He feels peaceful while he’s watching them swim around.

-You like all the really weird fish. Izuku likes the tropical ones with all the crazy colors, and Shinsou...

-He loves the moon jellies. The second he stepped in front of that tank, he was gone. You and Izuku just watch him for a moment as he relaxes his shoulders and stares into purple tinted waters, totally serene and carefree.

-Izuku takes a 2 minute long video of him bc the moment is just so precious. RIP anyone else who wanted to look at the jellyfish today, bc Shinsou’s literally been there for like 10 minutes now

-Shinsou decides he really likes the zoo after that. Every other exhibit is much more enjoyable and he’s in such a better mood. Not that he was in a bad mood when he first got there, it’s just that he didn’t see the point in all of it at first. 

-Izuku also spends a while looking at the sea turtles, which happen to be his second favorite animal.

-You guys spent the most amount of time in the aquarium no thanks to Hitoshi, but you did manage to make it to the museum before it closed for the afternoon as well.

-Izu reads all the plaques out loud to the two of you and tells you all about the animals and displays. Some of them are interactive, and you can’t help yourself from pressing every single button and listening to the noises and information it gives you.

-There’s a section in the museum where you can pet stingrays. You had never done something like that before, and neither had the boys, so the three of you decided to give it a go.

-It was so soft.

-Stingrays feel like wet velvet, almost. 

-Izuku decides he’s done so he just ends up taking pictures of you and Shinsou. But soon you’re done too so you grab Hitoshi to leave, however-

-You and Izuku are walking away and suddenly: “Uh, Y/N? Wasn’t Shinsou with you?” “No, I thought he was with you?” “Where’s our boyfriend!?”

-You turn back around and he’s still there petting the stingrays. He’s SO fascinated, please don’t make him leave. He’s having the time of his life! It melts both of your rapidly beating hearts (you know, from the mini heart attack you had bc your other third was missing for a second).

-You both let him stay there for however long he wants, and when he reluctantly leaves (finally), you make your way to the giant gift shop at the end of the zoo.

-You guys buy so much stuff it’s not even funny. Partly because as Pros, you have the money to spend, and partly because you want to support the zoo so you can come back. They always appreciate business and donations.

-Speaking of donations, Izuku whips out his checkbook and makes a huge donation to a cause for sea turtles. The zoo is super thankful and you couldn’t be more proud. 

-You’re sure that if there was fund for jellyfish, Shinsou would be donating too.

-You all end up buying each other a plush of your fav animals; Izu gets a penguin, Shinsou gets a jellyfish, and you get your favorite animal too.

-You may or may not have bought a shirt as well... It has the zoo’s museum name on it along with some really cute animals.

-All in all a really great day! 

Bonus Content:

-Shinsou wants to book another trip as soon as you all are back home. He loves the zoo now and he wants to go, like, all of the time.

-You and Izu have caught him watching jellyfish videos on youtube on more than one occasion. He finds them relaxing and can’t wait to go see the real thing again.

[jojo-reader-hell]

Joseph Joestar x Reader

(No one asked for this but here it is.)

“Hello sir. I’d like a ring please.”

This had to have been the twenty third or twenty fourth time you’d rehearsed this very line. How hard was it to get the words out of your mouth? Well, considering the circumstances, pretty damn hard...

You paced the outside of the jeweler’s shop like a lion in a puny circus cage. It wasn’t common for you to do the proposing, you’d gotten this lecture from the museum director plenty of times, but you were also the only female paleontologist in The American Museum of Natural History, when have you ever done anything that was expected of you? When have you ever let anyone dictate what you should and shouldn’t do? You were ready to face the backlash, the judgements, the strange looks when you intended to run to the justice of the peace arm in arm with a man who was six foot four, burly, the grandson of a wealthy socialite, and had nary a brain cell to save his life.

“I’m not strange.” You muttered to yourself lowly.

Proposing to the man you loved wasn’t any stranger than him proposing to you, even if you both were only eighteen. Not anymore strange than your penchant for wearing men’s clothes because they were easier to navigate when putting together centuries dead creatures, or your tendency for your facial powder to be comprised of dirt instead of the familiar beauty puff with vanishing cream.

That didn’t matter, none of it mattered, you insisted this, because Joseph Joestar had told you before he left New York that he loved you for you. He told you so many times he loved you. And of course you believed everything he said, because you trusted him fully. How did you trust him? Well to answer that question you’d have to ask how do fools fall in love? There wasn’t any rhyme or reason to the ardent love you felt, call it a foolish love at first sight, but you didn’t care one bit. There were only two things you were certain of: fossil identification and the fact that you were deeply in love with that hot headed Brit.

You asked many times before about your futures together, eager to know if you were to expect him to take a knee for you and ask for your hand (how quaint and like a Jane Austen novel that sounded, to take your hand, it was unlike Joseph but it made you think of him), but he insisted that he wasn’t the marrying type.

“I’m not one for commitments.” He’d grin sheepishly. “But don’t worry, I’ll always come back to you no matter what. You know how I feel about you and only you. Would you be a good button and wait for me?”

And you would. Every single time he asked. You’d wait patiently for him, forever and always, despite the fact that he didn’t want to marry you. You were his button. It’s what good buttons do, wait forever... Under a piece of furniture or in a crevice, they wait ever so patiently for their beloved owners to come and reclaim them. But it didn’t make his rejection any less hurtful. The first time you heard him say he loved you but didn’t want marriage with you, it broke your heart. It broke your heart all the other times you heard it too, even in your closeness there was always bitterness despite the heat of the moment.

But this time was going to be different. Maybe... you thought, maybe it wasn’t that he didn’t like you or was afraid of a commitment. Maybe it was something more shameful to him... Maybe... Maybe it was because he was just exactly like you? Afraid of the expense because he didn’t have anything besides his grandmother’s money, and wanted to provide for you himself like you wanted to be able to provide for him. Maybe he was afraid you wouldn’t want to be seen outside of closed museum doors with such a bumbling oaf, or maybe he was afraid of the expectation that came with marriage: that he’d have to become a father. You knew as well as not being the marrying type, he wasn’t exactly fond of children either, and hell, you weren’t exactly chomping at the bit to get pregnant either...

But none of the maybe matters anymore, you thought as you finally worked up enough nerve to enter the shop, none of it matters because I’m going to tell Jojo I can’t spend another minute without him. I’m going to tell him he’s not just a lover, he’s the love of my life and I want to lay my very heart and soul at his feet for him to have and to hold forever.

You didn’t have enough money for anything more than a simple band, that happens when you spend the majority of your life writing grant letters begging for scraps from whatever wealthy eccentric wanted to fund a dig. There was always only just enough to sponsor the dig with bare essentials, never anything substantial left to pay you a decent wage. You’d probably make more money waiting tables at the museum cafe. Yet the ring you chose... even you had to admit you wouldn’t have minded having it for yourself. It was of a sterling silver that sparkled in the light and that captured your gaze because not only was it beautiful, the jeweler didn’t question you when you told him it was for your boyfriend. He only smiled and said it was a proper decoration for those who wanted high class taste, probably assuming that you both had never seen something so fine. While you didn’t appreciate the insinuations of your poverty, you knew it was perfect for Joseph despite its modesty.

“Sterling silver is very durable, stronger than gold. It will last him a lifetime.” he assured you. “No matter what happens to his hands, rest assured the ring will come out of it looking as fine as the day you saw it in the display case.”

Durable, lasted a lifetime, just as fine as the day you saw it, you thanked the man silently as you stored these words and phrases carefully into your heart for the moment you’d pull out the tiny box for your Jojo. You wouldn’t get down on a knee obviously, but your rephrasing of words wouldn’t hold any doubt for the question you wished to pose to him. You already had an idea that you started muttering to yourself the minute you exited the shop:

Joseph Joestar (you’d start with his full name: he always pays attention when you use his full name), something something like this ring, my love for you will last a lifetime... something something heart and soul at the feet bit, maybe something about how like this ring, no matter what may happen to the both of you, your love will be just as strong as the day you first met him in the case... wait what? No. Joseph Joestar, my love for you is like feet- ... what?? No!

Hmm... you’d have to work on that speech for sure. But to be fair, you were a paleontologist, not a poet. Sometimes you’d mispronounce difficult words Joseph was raised hearing (you’d never heard them used in sentences before, only read them in books), and he’d tease you for weeks about it. Or you’d mix up words in your sentences, blushing profusely because your mind worked faster than your mouth and you always had so much to say and never enough people willing to listen.

At least there was plenty of time to consider what you wanted to say. There was nothing left to do but wait for him to come and visit again. Joseph told you before he left that he shouldn’t be gone more than a few weeks “just to take care of a few things”, what these things were he never told you. Maybe he thought you’d explode if he told you what was going on in his life? Who knew? Unfortunately he like many of your colleagues underestimated what you could handle. You knew how to steel your heart against most things, an acquired talent years in the making from working such a thankless profession.

But how does one steel their heart against expectations? Unless you spend your life steeped in pessimism, there will always be an expectation waiting to be fulfilled, and there was also the lingering danger that the expectations would be dashed to the floor like fine china, shattering on impact. Or like chipping away at newly discovered and fragile fossilized bone, trying to contain the excitement of being able to put it on display for children and adults to marvel at, only for the damned thing to crumble to dust even though you’ve tried your hardest to be careful and contain the shaking in your fingers.

Weeks turned into months, and you still hadn’t seen him make an appearance through your office doors in the museum. Every day you’d arrive at the museum early in the mornings to ask if anyone had come by to see you, the minute the director said no you only dug your heels in and worked a fourteen hour day in the hopes that Joseph would come. You never went out to eat lunch anymore, choosing instead to take your only meal of the day in the company of the tyrannosaur you’d helped to excavate, climbing into the enclosure that protected the bronze cast of the original and sitting by its feet. Never once from this spot did you relax your vigil. Instead your eyes remained trained on the doors to the museum, hoping that one day you’d have a chance to see that hulking, dim witted brunette waltz in like he’d just bought out the deed to the museum.

He never came. That didn’t deter you. You carried the ring box with you everywhere you went, crammed into your desk or bulging in your pants pockets. Rain or shine it was ready to make its proposal. You kept touching the box so incessantly there were worn spots where anyone could see you’d been worrying it with your fingertips. Never once did you open it, wanting to keep the inside of the ring pristine and without fingerprints to mar its beauty. It was only a matter of time, you kept telling yourself this on the days it would be too gloomy for visitors to distract yourself with. These days, like today, you’d sit in your office staring at whatever specimen you’d had laid out on the work bench (today you were scraping dust off coprolite with an old tooth brush). Sometimes you’d start to cry, a sinking feeling settling in your stomach that made you wonder if Joseph would ever come back to you like he said he would. Sometimes you’d beat yourself up for your obedience, your obstinate nature that made you look like a dog waiting on a side street for a master that would never come. It was only a matter of time, you tried to tell yourself... And land sake’s, the bones in the museum had more patience!

You just had to wait... wait for the day he’d come to you and tell you with that snarky little whisper in your ear...

“Did you miss me too much?”

The sound of his voice jolts you out of your thoughts, you jump so high it’s almost criminal, landing comically out of your chair and onto the floor where you can see in your delirium that the ring box has toppled over somewhere and rolled. Immediately your first thought is about the ring, not Joseph, and thank the lord he’s too busy doubled over laughing at you to notice you panicking and looking everywhere on the ground for it.

“Bahahahahahahaha! You’re as skittish as ever! Look, you’ve even ripped the seat of your pants there where you fell!” He howls with laughter, you know he’s looking at you foolishly searching on the floor with your ass in the air and you can’t even react in your typical angry way.

Your heart is pounding too hard in your chest, uncomfortably tight as you try to find the ring box and remember all the things you’d planned to say to him once you saw him. But the words escape you, they fly away like birds escaping from a cage leaving you groping the air trying to catch them. You can’t say anything at all, Joseph is here. He’s right there and you can’t seem to say a word of what you’re feeling.

Joseph is here.

Joseph is here...

“Joseph is here!”

You blurt out the words like a child that’s been waiting for their parent to come home from work. One of many things that Joseph loves about you is the youth hiding inside the dusty outer shell of an academic. You throw yourself into his arms, wrapping around his neck like a scarf as you have to jump on tip toe to be able to reach up and give him a kiss...

And he suddenly puts a gloved hand to your mouth, your lips pressing against his palm which feels unnaturally hard.

“Ah ah ah!” He grins. “We can’t do that anymore button, I’m a married man now!”

“...?!”

It’s like a car accident. The brakes screech in your mind. The weight of his words slam into you, like how a 1939 Plymouth coupe going 85 miles per hour might mow down some pedestrian jaywalking on Broadway. It feels like you’ve been thrown into the air from the impact. The wind is knocked out of your lungs. There’s a ringing in your ears that drowns out everything, you can’t even hear what Joseph is saying anymore because there’s suddenly this busty blonde shaking your hand and looking as though she’s not sure who to cling to, you or Joseph, who’s still talking even though you can’t hear him not a bit because of all that ringing...

You see a gold band on her finger, bedazzled with diamonds so big they’d make the Hope Diamond look like cheap costume jewelry. There’s a band on Joseph’s finger as well, solid gold and rather plain but the likes of which would make the Sterling silver band turn to rust.

Vaguely, you’re aware of the pain. You think it’s from the car accident, but then you realize that there is no car accident. There’s no wreckage. There’s no driver. You’re not laying on the asphalt.

The pain is in your chest. Your heart... after a while you realize you’re in pain and the reason you can’t hear anything they’re saying is because your heart is broken. It was a sudden occurrence, a split second life change that was akin to a car crash, but not the mercy of one. All that waiting. All the words you wanted to tell him. Could it have saved you if you had told him when you were on the floor to shut up, to listen to you? Or would it have embarrassed you all the more to lay your heart and soul at his feet when his pretty new wife would probably be standing there the whole time?

What could you have done, you thought, as you continued to stand there and let Joseph and his new wife talk incessantly at you about everything that had happened to lead them to this moment. You noticed after a while of willful deafness that from the angle you were standing at, you could see where the ring box had fallen when you knocked it over.

It reminded you of the time you lost a button on your old coat, and Joseph had given you a hard time because you were too stubborn to give up the search until you found it by moving a bookshelf. That’s how he’d given you your nickname after all, he called you button because you told him very seriously you didn’t want to leave your poor button all alone on the cold floor, like it was a living thing that could feel sadness. The box sat there. Forlorn. Like a lost button, neglected, waiting hopelessly under furniture or in a crevice for an owner that would never come to retrieve it.

[welcome-to-green-hills]

Mystery! I need some Wachowski Family Vacation headcanons in my life, please! I love your headcanons! And you!❤️

Aww! Some Wachowski Family Vacations themed headcanons? That sounds like a very sweet idea! And thank you! I love ya also!

Whenever Sonic, Tom, Maddie, and Ozzie go on their family vacations, Sonic always insists on them being a road-trip. Even though Tom and Sonic took one together sometime ago, Sonic feels that he needed the full experience of one traveling across the USA.

Anytime the Wachowksis take a road trip to their vacation hot spot, Sonic always begs to stop at all the side attractions off the highway. So far, Sonic has seen the world’s largest fire hydrant, a petting zoo filled with alligators and snakes, made important announcements whenever he saw a cow in the fields, play punch-buggy with Tom, made a quick trip down memory lane to The Piston Pit to visit a special friend, picked a fight with a bear wearing a sunhat, and begged to stop at every old-fashioned diner on the side of the road just to enjoy a gross cup of coffee and some delicious homemade pie.

Sonic is no longer allowed to call room service anytime the three stay in a hotel. Tom made the mistake of letting Sonic try it once for the experience, but ended up ordering an ice cream bar, the whole breakfast menu, and a couple’s massage while he and Maddie were at the hotel’s pool. Tom is still paying off the massive bill.

Once Tom and Maddie tried to bring Sonic Disneyland in California, thinking that every child should have the experience of going to a theme park at least once in their lives. When the three arrived to the monorail system to get to the attractions, Sonic thought that the monorail itself was the theme park. Tom and Maddie didn’t have the heart to tell him that the monorail itself was not the attraction and ended up riding it for hours. They told Sonic at lunch that the park was beyond the tracks and that the train wasn’t.

One of the things that Tom and Maddie wanted to do with Sonic was take him to Pennsylvania to see The Liberty Bell on display. After a long wait in line—one in which involved a restless Space Hog wanting to do anything but see a boring old bell with a crack in it—they finally had their turn to see it. Tom thought it would be funny to take a photo is Sonic sticking his finger into the crack of the bell, just to make for a funny photo. As the two began to take their positions, both Sonic and Tom were taken by the park’s security guards to the park’s office where Maddie had to bail them out of the park’s holding cell. (Don’t worry though, Tom was able to get a photo of Sonic touching the bell. They’re both banned from seeing The Liberty Bell though).

The Wachowski family tried taking a plane trip once. It did not go as planned. Sonic was stopped at every terminal due to the TSA wanting him to cover his spines due to being so sharp. Sonic was also restless on the plane and ended up running up and down the aisle just to entertain himself, stating several times he hated being cramped in a small vessel to travel. Tom and Maddie ended up giving Sonic some Benadryl to take on the trip back home so he’d sleep the whole time.

Even though Sonic has a huge fear of water, as well as lacking the basic skills of swimming, Sonic has begged a few times to go to the beach due to it being on his bucket list. The trip to the beach didn’t last very long due to Maddie getting a bad sunburn, Sonic cutting himself on some sharp shells he tried to collect on the beach, and Tom... well, Sonic had buried Tom in the sand when he was asleep and they forgot where he was. Tom was not happy.

Anytime they travel, Sonic makes it a point to collect random souvenirs that he sees in shops. Sometimes they’re rocks, sometimes their comical t-shirts and mugs, on occasion he will collect he’ll collect bits of nature to put in jars, but his favorite thing that he loves to collect are baseball caps and snow globes. He also loves to collect silverware, forks especially because they do not look like the ones that are at home.

On every vacation, Maddie makes it a habit to always take candid shots of her favorite boys. She can fill a scrapbook of vacation photos on all of the trip that they take. They also happen to be their holiday cards all throughout the year.

Green Hills has a large railroad museum that the kids in town love to go to. Thinking that it would be fun for the both of them, Tom took Sonic and to visit it just to get some history of the town. Sonic, completely bored out of his mind, wandered off and found one of the Light Rails--a tiny train that rides all through the museum for the tourist to sit in--unattended. Sonic and Tom are not welcomed back into the museum after Sonic had crashed the train into the wall.

Sonic is always down to try new foods whenever they travel, especially if it’s free. Anytime the Wachowski family stops for a quick bite to eat, Sonic always begs to do the “Eat This In an Hour Challenge” to receive a free meal and a cool novelty hat. He begs Tom to let him do it, which always results in Sonic getting sick afterwards and almost never completing the challenge. He only won once, that was the chili-dog platter and won a bottle of hot sauce.

Even though Sonic is a behavioral problem on trips, he always loves spending time with his family and loves to document them in a journal of all the adventures that he takes with them. He loves spending time with Tom and Maddie.

And that’s all the headcanons that I could think of at the moment. That was a great suggestion that I didn’t know that i needed to explore. I loved making these! Stay safe for me, okay? You matter.❤️

[101flavoursofweird]

Secret injuries would be interesting for some good Flora angst

((Thank you for the suggestion and I’m sorry this is late! I already used the ‘Secret Injuries’ prompt for Rook and Bishop whump... so I decided to add this to my new series about Flora— Put Yourself Back In The Narrative. It still contains Flora whump and angst... Flora secretly misses the professor and Luke, but Kat helps her realise that she’s not alone in that regard! This also contains some criticism of Layton’s decisions during the Relics investigation from Flora’s perspective. I hope that’s ok! 

Spoilers for the anime and most of the series below! It starts with Flora writing a couple of letters...))

- 

Em,

It's a relief to hear that the agency aren't involved... I still can't believe the professor never mentioned them! After everything you and Uncle have told me, I hope we never cross paths with those vultures. Don't worry— I memorised Grosky's phone number and I made sure Fen and Kitty did too.

Though, at the same time, it's disappointing that we've you've exhausted another lead. 

Where will you be investigating next? Is there anyone else who might hold a grudge against the professor? All of the people I can think of are in prison... well, except for one, but he wrote to me insisting he isn't the perpetrator. I'd be more inclined to believe him if he spoke to me in person!

Maybe you could come home and help us track him down? Kitty said she misses her favourite aunt!

And we could make up some better codenames while you're here.

You stay safe too!

Flora

-

To Our Wise Guardian,

Thank you for searching for our reclusive father and looking after our restless uncle.

I trust Miss Altava with my life. If she believes the agency aren’t to blame, then I believe her. I don't care what she did in the past anymore then I care about Uncle's past. She wants to find the professor just as much as he does.

Please remind Uncle of that, and don't let him burn down any trees. Climate change is a real thing.

If you aren't having any joy with the Azran sites, maybe you should take a break. (It sounds like Uncle needs it!) There’s a park just across the road from us where you could land the Bos airship.

Fen would love to talk to Uncle about this device he's been working on. And Kitty has been begging for some new books...

Until next time,

The Layton Clan

-

Dear Brenda & Clark,

We're doing alright here, though we'd be lost without Rosa!

Alfendi has been given some extra time to complete his end-of-year project. At Kat's last parents’ evening, her teachers said she can be quiet in class but other than that, they're pleased with her progress. 

Yes, Grandma Lucille is home now— we went to visit her and Grandpa Roland the other day. I just received Kuri is still with her family in Japan.

I feel awful for Marina's family... Please tell them that they're welcome here in England as well. I'm sure that wherever they are, Luke will protect Marina with his life.

...Arianna mentioned Tony's wedding. We'll all have to go dress shopping together. Kat's already decided she wants a yellow dress. (You might have some competition, Brenda!) Can Clark help Al choose a suit? He's a nightmare to shop for!

We can't wait to see you both. If you need help with the move, just give us a call.

Love,  

Flora, Al & Kat xoxo

-

Dear Arianna,

Don't worry about the late reply! You should see my desk— there are SO many letters I haven't even opened yet! I wish I really wish Luke was here. He’s so much more organised than I am...

I miss him too—

-

The ink was smudged from Flora’s tears. She tried to hide it by scribbling out the last line, but there was no saving the letter now. Sniffing, she crumpled the paper into a tight ball and threw it at her bedroom wall. She didn’t bother aiming for the overflowing plastic bin.

What a waste. If Alfendi or Kat had done that, she would have tutted at them. They couldn’t afford to be wasteful, even with the emergency savings their father had left them… 

Flora squeezed her black fountain pen (a twenty-first birthday gift from the professor), wishing she could snap it in half. 

He had planned for this. He knew he’d be gone for so long and there was a chance he would never return.

Flora hadn’t come to say goodbye to he and Luke the day they set off, but Rosa had. 

“What’s the point in searching for the girl’s father, after all these years? Why take the risk? Don’t you love Kat, Professor!?”

Yes, of course he did, but he wanted to solve the mystery behind her family. Solving a puzzle about a bunch of rocks was more important than raising his daughter, apparently. He had adopted Kat and now he was leaving her behind. 

Flora huffed out a tearful laugh. She, more than anyone, should have seen it coming. But she had believed (assumed) it would be different with Kat. 

The professor had taken Kat in when she was a tiny baby. A baby couldn’t be left home alone or sent to school. Parenting was a full-time job (as Flora was well aware these days). 

Luke had laughed when the professor first announced that he would be Kat’s father. 

Everyone, Flora included, had expected the majority of responsibility would fall on Rosa. Or, in Rosa’s absence, another eager friend or family member. (Grandma and Grandpa Layton, Uncle Desmond, the Monte d’Or gang…) The babysitting offers came flooding in much faster than when Alfendi was little. A newborn baby was far more appealing than a grief-stricken child.  

Flora would have helped look after her siblings even more, had she not been so busy preparing for university. 

But, in the professor’s defence, he had refused to take on any new cases and he had reduced his work hours. When he couldn’t escape his office at Gressenheller, he would bring Kat with him.

He had chosen the name ‘Katrielle’. It was an unusual name, but it went well with ‘Alfendi’. 

You would think eight-year-old Alfendi would be jealous of all the attention his new sister was receiving. It was quite the opposite. By spending more time with Kat, the professor spent more time with Alfendi; trips to the park, the library, the museum… 

Flora would join them whenever she got the chance. Kat was the glue that brought them all together. 

The professor had ‘officially’ adopted Katrielle Layton when she turned three. It seemed he had given up on finding her biological father…

And then Luke (Darn him!) had to stick his nose back in to the Relic Stones business. 

He had married Marina in secret just so they could move to England without the professor’s knowledge. Consequently, Flora had been kept in the dark too.

That hurt. After all these years, Luke still didn’t trust her. 

She could have assisted him with the investigation. She wouldn’t have told the professor… 

Luke had shut her out, along with Marina. (Poor Marina…)

Thankfully, Marina had sought out the professor as soon as Luke went missing. 

The idiot had gotten himself caught by Don Paolo. (Yes, a similar fate had befallen Flora once… when she was fifteen. Luke was twenty-five, trained in karate and he should have known better!)     

After Luke’s rescue, he was dragged back to the Layton household for a family reunion. Flora had given Luke an earful— “YOU DIDN’T INVITE US TO YOUR WEDDING AND THEN YOU ABANDONED YOUR NEW WIFE?!!”—before she hugged him. She had thought that would be the end of the whole Relics fiasco. 

She’d thought wrong.  

The professor had gotten involved after that. Family outings were pushed aside in favour of the Relics Stones. 

At Alfendi’s eighteenth birthday meal, the professor and Luke were trading research notes under the table. 

Flora found a house with her girlfriend, Kuri. The professor never once visited them, despite Flora’s many invitations. 

The day Luke left for his journey with the professor, Marina had called Flora, crying because she and Luke had fallen out. Flora had gone to comfort her. (That was the last time Flora had any contact with Marina.)

Flora didn’t blame Luke as much as the professor. Luke was a young man fresh out of university— reckless, full of heart and loyal to a fault. He had watched Kat’s birth mother die and now he wanted to scour the world for answers. But, as Arianna had said, the world was so vast… 

When Kat was born, Luke had been a student— too young to look after a baby by himself. So, the professor had accepted the role of being Kat’s parent. 

The professor couldn’t just adopt a child (three children) and run off ten years later. 

Kat wasn’t a puzzle that needed to be solved. She was a little girl.

A girl who never stopped eating sweets, but enjoyed going to the dentist if they would give her a sticker.  

A girl who still hoped Santa and the Easter Bunny were real, even if the Tooth Fairy was fiction. 

A girl who practiced her dad’s ‘detective’ poses in the mirror. 

A girl who didn’t like tea, but still insisted on drinking it.

A girl who could hold a heated debate with her older brother (eight years her senior).   

A girl whose family couldn’t afford a dog, so she stopped to pet every stray she met on the street. 

A girl who thought people would only befriend her because of her last name. A girl who feared those friends would leave her when they learned of her father’s absence. 

A girl who dreamed about her dad every night and woke up in tears.

A girl who was always trying to make her big sister smile…

“Hey, Floor…?” Kat knocked on Flora’s bedroom door, but she didn’t wait for Flora to answer. She burst in to see Flora wiping her eyes. Kat wondered, “What’s for dinner?” 

“I, erm… I thought we could have lamb stew,” Flora suggested, standing up from her desk chair. 

“Lamb stew? That’s Uncle Luke’s favourite!”

It was actually roast lamb… Flora could feel her eyes burning again. She turned away from Kat and tidied her desk. “I’ll be down in a minute,” she said distractedly. 

“I can help you clean up!” 

“Don’t worry, Kat—“

“Have you been writing more letters…?”

Flora glanced at Kat. Kat was picking up the ball of paper that had missed the bin— Arianna’s letter. Flora gasped, “Don’t...!”  

Kat, ever curious, smoothed out the letter and read it to herself. She frowned when she reached the end. 

Flora sighed. “No one was meant to read that…”

Kat carefully placed the letter on Flora’s desk. “I miss him,” Kat mumbled. “And Dad…” 

“I know…” Flora touched Kat’s head. “I do, too.” Her words were mainly intended to reassure Kat, but Flora meant it.

She missed them— both of them— so much. No matter how much they had pushed her away, she missed them and she wanted them back. 

“That’s okay,” Kat whispered, reaching up to grab Flora’s hand. She tugged Flora out of her bedroom and downstairs to where Alfendi was impatiently setting the table for dinner.  

Later, Flora would rewrite her letter to Arianna, signing off with: 

 …I miss him too. It’s okay if you ever want talk about it. I’ll be here. 

Sincerely, 

Flora 

[starlitq]

hello peaches ! ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ this is tia and i’m bringing my baby celeste, a sleepy museum guide who is too passionate about stargazing & constellations. while i’m still crying over not being able to buy new horizons because i’m too broke to buy a nintendo switch, i’ll trying to keep this short. but watch me fail, because very much like resetti , i don’t know how to stop talking. ( i cheated and didn’t put her personality here but on her about page, so it this post will look shorter- )

if you are interested in plotting please LIKE this post and i’ll run to your IMs and beg for plots (ΦωΦ) . also, please never hesitate to shoot me a message to plot because i’d love to write with all of you ! ʕ￫ᴥ￩ʔ

✿ kim jisoo, cis female, she/her ✿ welcome to lunova CELESTE CHO, your happy little town awaits. you’ve been in town TWO YEARS? wow going taking a chance on a new town at TWENTY FOUR ? I heard you were going to try to be a GUIDE at THE MUSEUM. good for you, I’m sure being SYMPATHETIC & SELF RELIANT will help. careful you’re not to DEFENSIVE & MELANCHOLIC. good luck! 

✿ like many others, celeste haven’t always dreamed of becoming what she’d be today. however, since she was a child she loved gazing at the stars and sky, imagining what it would be like to be up there. 

✿ celeste had always been a curious and  social child. she loved to make friends and it seemed like people also liked to talk to her. her life was pretty uneventful to this point, if not it could’ve been described as perfect. while things definetely didn’t come easy to her, she worked hard enough for it so she’d eventually get to them.

✿ one of these things were her dreaming of becoming a pilot. for her it was the only way to satisfy to her desire to travel the world as well as to be as close to the sky as possible. 

✿ of course she knew it wouldn’t be easy and money was certainly needed to invest in her dream. she tried to save up a small amount and with her mother being supportive of her daughter’s dream she tried to help her daughter as much as possible, not only financially but also mentally. 

✿ celeste did feel bad about her mother spending all her money on her daughter’s training. thus, she worked even harder so she could repay her mother.

✿ yet, hard work would never make up for the thing that would twist her plans in such unexpected ways. something celeste had never dreamed of happening. her mother had been diagnosed with alzheimer and as time passed it got to the point where her mothr could barely do anything on her own. 

✿ it was not only the money that she needed for her care but time, time celeste didn’t have with her being so busy to achieve her dream. yet, she couldn’t bear to leave her mother alone and she quit her training to take care of her mother. 

✿ as their financial situation didn’t become better, they also moved to a smaller place located in lunova. there she also picked up her job as a guide in the museum. it wasn’t the worst situation for her. it was another way to be close to the sky.

wanted connections:

✿  best friends: y/m and celeste might have known each other since childhood or they just recently met and instantly felt the connection. despite of celeste, keeping most things to herself, y/m is someone she trusts and even shares her struggles with. to make it short, i just want a wholesome friendship with wholesome and cute moments, like random camping trips, stupid fights or sharing their struggles and ending up crying RIP

✿ star gazing buddies: your muse might be a frequent visitor at the museum and met celeste there. maybe they’ve always been interested in star gazing, constellations etc. or they just like talking to celeste and decided to visit her more often or after her work so they can go star gazing together.

✿ unwanted help: maybe this person always sees her dozing off and is worried about her. they might or might know about her mother’s situation and feel bad for her or they just think she might suffer some illness that might cause her to feel weak and therefore she dozes off. however, everytime they try to help celeste refuses their help. at first, celeste is polite btu after some time she is getting annoyed and might even snap at y/m. y/m is wondering why she’s only mean to y/m when she’s actually known to be a really nice person. maybe, they’ll become friends later or their relationship only becomes worse.

✿ exes : celeste and y/m were in a happy relationship. but when her mother was diagnosed their relationship slowly deteriorated, where she was suddenly becoming more irriated or would always cancel their dates. to make the matter worst, celeste never told your muse about her mother and why she was acting that way. as that wasn’t bad as it is, celeste also didn’t tell y/m she would move to another place and just disappeared with a) only breaking up with y/m via text b) just ghosted on your muse c) anything else we can plot.  

 ✿ unrequited love (doesn't matter if it’s your muse or celeste bcs i just love one sided love PLOTS and suffering :’) ):  IT CAN BE ANYTHING, maybe y/m has a one sided love on celeste and everytime they confess to her she just tries come up with a bad excuse bcs she doesn’t want to hurt y/m. or maybe they’ve been friends for a while and celeste just doesn’t want to risk their friendship because it’s one of the few stable things in her life. or celeste could have a crush on y/m but doesn’t tell them but it’s very obvious. 

✿ pen pals/online friends: maybe both of them have known each other for a long time but have never seen each other. it’s this weird relationship, where both of them know each other’s secrets because they felt comfortable sharing it only via text. yet, they’d feel awkward if they said these thigns to each other irl. BONUS point: one of them knows how the other looks like and they see the other in lunova but are too scared to talk to the other.

✿ ANYTHING, enemies, bickering friends, sibling type relationship, exes on bad/good terms, bad influence, good influence etc. 

i’m brain dead right now, so i can’t come up with more atm. BUT if you have other plots pls don’t hesitate to tell me because i’m absolutely open for everything sjndmds

[lukeskywaker4ever]

King Pedro V 2nd Voyage (May 20 to August 14, 1855): Italy

D. Pedro left France to visit another country that he had not had the opportunity to see in 1854. In fact, it was a matter of different states, since Italy, as we know it today, would only fully unite in the year 1870. otherwise, the king of Portugal will not have been surrendered to that peninsula, nor to his people. To his uncle, in England, Prince Albert, Pedro wrote on 30th June: “It is needless to mention the chaotic state of the Italian people, as it is known throughout the world; but it is becoming more serious every day and the people are begging for anything other than the manifestations of the papist religion.” The portion of his travel diary to Italy has disappeared, so it is not possible to follow D. Pedro's thoughts on these lands. It is known that on June 26th he landed in Civitavecchia, but, apart from the salutes and compliments from the authorities, Pedro did not stay long in that port. Rome was waiting for him. Early in the morning of the following day, the Portuguese monarch was visited by the cardinal secretary of state. At noon and half an hour it was Dom Pedro's turn to talk to the Supreme Pontiff. The entire Pontifical Court was present at that solemn moment and, the Portuguese ambassador in Rome tells us that, according to Pope Pius IX, 

the qualities of the king of Portugal "had inspired feelings of sincere affection." The remaining hours of that day served to visit the Vatican Museum 

and St. Peter's Basilica. 

At five o'clock in the afternoon, he went back to his rooms. D. Pedro and D. Luís “used the 28,29 and 30 days to observe the monuments of the ancient Roman greatness.” Thanks to the letter he wrote, his opinion about the Eternal City reached us. It was not favorable. "Rome doesn't appeal to me, and if it weren't for antiquities, which make history more alive than any book, I couldn't stand it." Pedro had written this letter before the special experience he had on the 2nd of July. He was invited to climb to the top of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, 

where a meal had been prepared for His Majesty. After taking a look at the dome's lantern and participating in the said meal, D. Pedro was presented with an inscription, coming down the same stairs that had taken him to the top of the Basilica. It was a stone plaque, embedded in the wall, which recorded precisely that moment of the climb and visit of the king of Portugal to the dome of São Pedro. A treat prepared in advance that, if it did not please Pedro, at least it would have surprised him.

On the 3rd of July the Lusitanians embarked on the French steam Reine Hortense, 

arriving in Civitavecchia and still at your service. Naples, the capital of the Kingdom of the Two-Sicilies, followed in the itinerary. On the 4th, the anchor was released and Vesuvius could be seen. As in Bordeaux, a pavilion was prepared on the quay, topped by the arms of Portugal 

and that kingdom. 

Salvas were launched and the Portuguese anthem was heard in southern Italy. The King of the Two Sicilies, Fernando II, 

went to wait for D. Pedro at the pier, advancing to the “edge” to greet him with “affection and rejoicing”. Eight coaches took the retinue and the Sicilian court to the Royal Palace, 

where they were welcomed by Queen Maria Teresa, 

the ladies of the court and the officers, and then accompanied to their quarters. The rooms were the “most splendid in this great Royal Palace; it is a whole side of the first floor with an artificial garden along; they are of great vastness and immense wealth. His Sicilian Majesty is so pleased with this visit, that he wanted to take care of all the preparations himself, even doing a five-day program in which His Majesty detailed the most interesting curiosities to visit ”, reveals Viscount de Alte, Portuguese ambassador in that kingdom. The program includes a walk in the park, a visit to the main monuments of Naples, such as the Cathedral, 

the castle of the city, 

galleries and, in particular, a museum where objects were found from excavations in the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Pompeii 

and Herculaneum, 

moreover, did not miss the visit of the king of Portugal, who observed the ruins of the cities. In an open coach, they went from antiquity to modernity, visiting a foundry where locomotives were built which, certainly, will have caught the attention of the king of Portugal, so devoted to the railways. After a gala dinner, there was an opportunity to watch an Italian opera at the Teatro San Carlo, 

where “all spectators in uniform or court dresses performed. The central gallery was occupied by the three Majesties.” D. Pedro, flanked by Fernando II and his wife. On the day, aboard a Neapolitan steam, visitors sailed the coastal strip. On the island of Capri, Pedro had the opportunity to take a look at the Blue Grotto, 

to later return to land, visit the Natural History museum 

and at night go to a court ball.

On Monday, July 9th, the departure ceremony was repeated. The farewell was moved, with hugs and words of appreciation, and Queen Maria Teresa even regretted that the young Portuguese did not stay for a few more days. D. Pedro and his entourage did not go very far, since they first passed through the island of Sicily and walked through the city of Palermo before heading for the northern port of Genoa. This visit to Sicily would be off the official route, as the viscount of Alte tells us:

“His Majesty [D. Pedro], wishing to keep the most rigorous incognito on this visit, he had not even communicated his project to El Rei das Duas Sicilies, but His Majesty seeing the direction the steam was taking sent the telegraph orders to his Majesty Fidelissima. all honors and distinctions. El-Rei, for example pledged with this delicacy, decided, however, not to accept, and sent to tell the Lieutenant-General that he would welcome him, but without a uniform, and as a private individual.”

There were the problems of being a traveling king. In plain clothes, Pedro enjoyed the festivities of Santa Rosalina, which were celebrated in the city, saw the procession and at night the fireworks. You will have taken in the flavor of that island, strolling through the streets, visiting the churches and having time to inspect a Benedictine abbey outside Palermo.

On the 14th of July, he arrived in Genoa, city in the kingdom of Sardinia. It was eight o'clock in the morning when the king of Portugal arrived, but only at ten o'clock would the vessel anchor and the illustrious guest would go down to the pier. The usual apparatus awaited him, with salutes, flags and uniformed authorities. Accommodated in the royal palace, 

tourists had that same day the opportunity to visit the city's cathedral 

and the Rosso Palace, 

an art museum of Genoa. 

The next day, at the palace door, Pedro had a surprise prepared for him. They were “the royal railroad carriages that had been brought to the palace door; and having [D. Pedro] thanked the authorities for the good reception he had received, gave permission for the special train to be able to move ”. The train was taking them to Turin. On the way, they appreciated the Apennines mountain 

range and the tunnels that cross them took D. Pedro's curiosity, as well as the pipes that brought water to Genoa and that could be observed along the way. Once again, human ingenuity delighted the spirit of the Lusitanian monarch, “taking His Majesty information on everything, and even making note of the costs of materials, considering and discussing what could be applied to our country.” The hands of the clock marked three o'clock in the afternoon, when the smoke from the locomotive mixed with the air of Turin. "The entire garrison of Turin was in arms, and the national waiting was posted from the railway station to the palace", the streets were full of people who greeted the king, looking for a glimpse of his person through all that apparatus . Arriving at the royal palace, 

the kings of Sardinia and Portugal were greeted. Vitor Manuel II of Sardinia 

would, years later, be the king of a unified Italy. Interestingly, his youngest daughter, Maria Pia, would, years later, be queen of Portugal. Prince D. Luís knew this way about his future father-in-law, but the princess would not be present. The future couple would exchange words and looks, for the first time, on October 5th, 1862. 

Already married by proxy, they met in the Tagus aboard the ship that transported Maria Pia from Savoy from Italy to her new kingdom, Portugal. In Turin, the Portuguese were taken to their quarters, in the palace, and the remaining hours would have been spent in the protocol and customary interaction with members of the royal family and the court. The evening was marked by a “big formal dinner”. It is known that after Turin, D. Pedro and his entourage will have passed through Switzerland and that the final destination was Belgium, again at the port of Ostend, where the faithful steam Mindelo, left behind, months before, in France, was waiting your monarch to take you back to the kingdom. On August 14th, he was back in Portugal.

[noonachronicles]

Lmao girl you don’t have to do that 🤣🤣but im excited now 🤓

Okay, I’m dumb and left my super detailed and meticulously planned out trip on a paper on my desk at work. So here is my less beautiful, mostly completed list of places to visit. 

**this got weird and long so I’m putting it under a cut... at some point I started randomly numbering things. It’s like one in the morning and I have to be up in 5 hours. Why am I like this...

Gyeongbokgong Palace, really just as many of the palaces as you can visit in whatever amount of time you’ll be there, but I know that's like a main one that people say is a must visit. 

Seoul Grand Park, there’s a zoo, and a rose garden, though you are visiting in winter so I don’t know how into that you'd be?? BUT the most important part is the Seoul Museum of Modern Art (at least for me, because whenever I go somewhere new I like to visit the modern/contemporary art museums and aquariums where applicable).  

Lotte World Tower - There’s an aquarium, tons of shops if you’re a shopper kind of traveler, and the observation deck if you’re into heights. 

Starfield COEX Mall - Similar to Lotte except opposite? lol There’s an aquarium, there’s lots of shopping, but this one is underground. so.... go to one or go to both and then decide which is best, depends on your timeframe I guess?

Cheonggyecheon Stream - If you’re a stroller, I suggest this location. I really love walking around new cities aimlessly and I dream about walking down this stream. I also wrote this location into one of my stories so I would 100% visit with hearteyes. 

So these ones are just outside of Seoul, and reading about them in travel blogs make it seem like a whole big deal. Here’s the thing for me... the state I live in is literally more than twice the size of the entire country of SK so I could see a lot in a day and not even be pressed because I do it here all the time. I’ll drive for like 3 hours up north and hang out for awhile and drive back and it’s not a big thing, like it’s just what you do? If that’s not a thing you do and you feel like you don’t have the time, don’t worry about these guys. 

Garden of Morning Calm, Petite France, and Nami Island. 

Things I would do for the sole (Seoul, heh) purpose of experiencing pop culture or personal references that I’ve gained through my hallyu experience. 

#1 - Visit Yanghwa Bridge

#2 - Take a Train to Busan (it’s cheapish and only takes a few hours each way and you’re also visiting Busan so win/win/win)

#3 Find a way by plane, train and or ferry to get to Jeju Island to visit Monsant and also The Seaes Hotel to sit on the bench where they kissed in Secret Garden (please don’t laugh at me). Speaking of Secret Garden, there’s also a scene that they filmed in Petite France which I mentioned above. 

#4 Visit Nothing N Nothing, just stand outside the building and gawk at it like I would or go in and get a sick new fade. The world is your oyster bb. 

Also when I’m on vacation I tend to hit like 3-4 cafes a day (yes, a day), coffee and food is literally what I spend the bulk of my vacation money on. 

There are cat cafes, but ummmm there’s a freaking RACOON CAFE OKAY, so go there and watch the trash pandas do cute things with their creepy little hands for me. And also Bau House Dog Cafe, like what are you doing?? GO NOW. We all should!!

#5 FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND YOUR INSTAGRAM PAGE go to C Through Cafe and visit Lee Kangbin and get yourself an aesthetically pleasing cup of java. I BEG YOU. 

#6 The Famous Burger, perhaps you’ll run into my mans Daddy Woo who eats there...like a bunch, if you follow him on ig you know. Also see if he’s spinning somewhere, but he might not be I think he’s been getting ready for a dance gig with his bro.

There’s also Olympic Park, Everland, Gwangjang Market, Namdaemun Market (which is open like all night too if you like to party haaaay), Yeouido Hanggang Park has some bomb city skyline views if you’re into that. And Starfield bookstore? I think that’s what it’s called, looks dope.

Uhhhh can’t think brain is mush, but maybe this will be helpful. LOLOLOL sorry.

[apparitionism]

Mercury 12

Because I have the affinity I have, the only Warehouse 13 revival scenario I’d ever be interested in would be one involving Joanne Kelly and Jaime Murray sharing copious amounts of screen time. However: there’s a remake scenario discussed in this part that I might indeed pay cash money to see... anyway, Tumblr’s being weird again, so please be so kind as to visit my actual tumblr if you have an interest in the other parts of this little tale. Which I would also pay cash money to see.

Mercury 12

Having to go to the museum—having to do their actual jobs—was for Myka an anticlimax, post-pie. (She was trying very hard not to think about the implications of that.) She’d expected Pete to see it as a letdown, too, after the car massacre, because while the Sable hadn’t won, it was one of the last few vehicles managing to propel itself at the others, tires askew and engine asmoke. Myka had taken his continued investment in the proceedings as her opportunity to filch the remainder of his serving of pie. Helena had already handed hers over, wordlessly and unprompted. Myka hadn’t even had to look longingly at it. Okay, maybe once, but that was all it took.

But Pete clearly had not found the derby to be the pinnacle of the day’s excitement, and in the front seat of the rental, riding shotgun next to Myka as she followed Ida to the museum, he was extra-fidgety with anticipation at being in the sled-prop’s presence. The closer they got, the more his eagerness ratcheted up, which made Myka ask, “Do you think it’s affecting you?”

That got her the “duh” head-shake. “Well yeah. It’s Rosebud.”

“In a Warehouse-y way,” she clarified.

Pete squinched his face, the relaxed it. “Pretty sure I’d feel the same about something like... Peter Weller’s Robocop suit. Or Eastwood’s gun from Fistful of Dollars. You know, real movie stuff. I bet I’d pass out if I saw E.T. in person.”

Twilight was turning to real dark as they pulled into the deserted museum parking lot, right behind Ida, and the night hid them completely as Helena picked the lock on the “staff only” door—matter-of-factly, with a mutter of “why did they bother.” Then Ida led them past exhibits that purported to tell “The Wisconsin Story”—the whole story, starting with the deep geological past, and giving pride of place to what had been unearthed from that deep geological past: two looming fossil mammoths, which Pete was fortunately too Rosebud-focused to register, for their size was giving even Myka the shivers. They were impressively tusked, but with comparatively delicate ribs, too-long legs, and strangely structured foot-bones that gave them the improbable look of walking on dainty tiptoe.

Myka had not expected mammoths. Again, an educational trip.

The Wisconsin story stopped, apparently, with Orson Welles, for the gallery was designed to culminate in that exhibit. Their approach of the sled was uneventful, aside from Pete’s actual hyperventilating; if Rosebud did this to him, there was no way he would have survived E.T., much less stayed conscious. Myka made him breathe into a static bag—she appreciated that Helena managed not to laugh too much at the sight—and when he finally calmed down, he declared, “I refuse to steal it. Because we’ve got the mic, so who cares? What’s Rosebud gonna do all by itself?”

“I don’t think Artie’s going to find that a convincing argument,” Myka said.

“Who cares about that either? Spielberg outranks Artie. And the Regents.”

Myka looked at Helena. Helena shrugged a “your call, not mine” at her. So Myka shrugged back at her a “whatever,” because what was Artie going to do about it anyway? Get in a fistfight with Steven Spielberg? Pete would be thrilled at the very idea. He’d sell tickets. Sell tickets, then probably pass out when Spielberg showed up.

He was still talking: “So I’m not messing with his stuff other than to neutralize it real quick and put it back. Then we bounce.”

“Don’t say ‘bounce,’” Myka told him. “You sound ridiculous.”

“Claudia says bounce,” he said, with a little whine in his voice.

“You’re almost twice her age.” Though the evidence for that was limited...

Helena joined in with, “I’m nearly six times her age. What am I permitted to say?”

“What I wish we’d all say—and do—is ‘depart with our dignity intact,’” Myka said.

Helena pointed out, “As Pete and also Claudia enjoy reminding us, with regard to many things: ‘that ship has sailed.’”

She was right, but Myka scowled. “I don’t like you.”

“Be that as it may,” Helena said, offering one of her most saintly smiles, “but somewhat pursuant to the dignity point, you seem to be far more invested in key lime pie than I imagined possible.”

“And demo derbies!” Pete added.

“Leave me and my dignity—”

“Or lack thereof?” Helena asked, still saintly.

“—alone,” Myka finished. With as much aggrieved resignation as she could muster.

Ida, who’d been standing back from it all, particularly Pete’s hyperventilation, now said to Myka, “You did seem to enjoy both of those. Couldn’t that be good? Given your clear devotion to duty, it all speaks to your being a very complex leading lady.”

Myka opened her mouth to say “thank you,” but Pete preempted her with, “Less complex than you’d think. Myka World’s a pretty stripped-down place. No concession stands. Seat belts and helmets for all the rides, which there aren’t even a lot of anyhow, because they cost too much to insure, plus you gotta bring carnies in to run ’em, and I don’t think Myka trusts the carnies.”

“Also,” Myka noted, “I’m not an amusement park.” One beat. Two. She thought she might actually get away with—

“I beg to differ,” Helena said, and Myka sighed, in response to which, Helena placed a hand on Myka’s back, then rollercoastered that hand up and over Myka’s shoulder. In response to that, Myka frowned at Helena, to forestall any thoughts she might have had of continuing the journey somewhere inappropriate, and Helena brought the hand-car to an obvious, abrupt stop.

And in response to that, Ida laughed at them, and that made Myka chuckle too.

As Pete prepared to neutralize the sled, Helena offered to hold the microphone for him. Myka thought she was being ostentatious about needing something to do with her thwarted hand, but as soon as she had it, she began apologizing to it for having to take away its fun. “You liked being believed,” she murmured. “I understand. But we’re conveying you to a place where our very sensitive colleagues will locate you perfectly. You’ll feel quite at home. And one day we’ll steal your sledge friend and reunite the two of you, so—”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Pete warned.

“I might do it tomorrow morning before our flight leaves. I’m not afraid of filmmakers. Those Lumière brothers were utterly unintimidating. Perhaps this Spielberg is outsize, which would account for your trepidation?”

Pete didn’t object; instead, he nodded. “Way outsize, Hollywood-power-wise. Lotsa people quaking in their boots, I bet. And as for quaking in your boots, I also bet that if I went back in time to 1896, I’d see you diving under your chair to get away from the train headed for the camera courtesy of those Lumière brothers.”

Helena said, with what Myka hoped was mock venom, “If you went back in time to 1896, you would clearly dive under your chair—what with trains being as large as they are, and seemingly emerging from an outsize screen to flatten your comparatively undersized innocent spectating self.”

“Oh yeah? Well at least I’d know what a movie was.”

“Do not condescend to me!”

You love both of these five-year-olds, Myka reminded herself. Out loud, she said, “If we could maybe stick to the business at hand?”

“At hand!” Pete enthused. “Orson Welles touched this with his hand and so did Spielberg and now I’m about to too! We’re practically related now!”

“Why are you never this interested in actual history?” Helena groused.

“Oh, you mean antiques like you?” Pete retorted as he slid the sled into an extra-large static bag.

Five-year-olds, both of whom you love, Myka reminded herself again, but it didn’t matter anymore, because at that moment, Ida and everyone else got what anybody anywhere would have called a show, as a garish display of neutralization fireworks pinwheeled and rocketed outward from the bag, Roman-candling as if the sled had brought all of its show-business knowhow to bear on the situation and planned its execution of this moment.

Then: “Oh my god,” Myka said, because—

“I agree!” Ida rhapsodized.

But Myka wasn’t appreciating the pyrotechnics. No, she was realizing, viscerally, that she’d recently eaten the greater part of an insanely oversugared pie. Which was not nutritious at all. Which was in fact more sugar than she’d eaten at one sitting in... decades. Literally. She had to instruct her digestive system—her entire nervous system—not to panic. Not to rebel. “Oh my god,” she repeated. “Why did I eat that? I feel sick.”

“Interesting,” Helena said yet again.

“Please stop saying that. I don’t want to be interesting when you say it like that.”

“No, you don’t,” Helena affirmed, and Myka could make no sense of that at all.

Ida sighed. “Oh, but the rabbits. I didn’t expect this... disappointment.”

“Thought you’d sussed that out already,” Pete said. “What with no cleanup on aisle three.”

“I knew they couldn’t have been real. But apparently I still believed in them.”

Helena exhaled, audibly, before saying, “Belief does make its home in a stubborn part of the brain.”

“That doesn’t sound very science-y,” Pete said.

“It’s far older than science,” Helena told him.

“Just like you,” he jabbed, but it was halfhearted. “Yeah, okay. But just as well you didn’t, then, with the girlfriend. Think how much worse she’d feel right this minute.”

“What are a few hours of reprieve worth?” Helena asked.

Was that rhetorical? Myka answered anyway: “Less than nothing, if you don’t know they’re a reprieve while you’re in them.”

Helena’s gaze might have been about to harden into a glare, but Ida said, “Reprieves are usually short. So is life. Or it’s long, but it’s always, always more precious than we pretend. Isn’t it, H.G. Wells?”

Helena blinked—unaccompanied by a head-tilt, so not her I’m quite surprised blink, but a cousin. “You are observant,” she said.

“I don’t need a job,” Ida said. She looked at Myka, who muttered, “Retirement someday for everybody.”

Helena blinked again; again, it was a surprise-cousin. “Then I won’t offer you one. Will you accept thanks?”

“I will. And I’ll thank you back: it’s certainly held my interest, this show. With all its charming leads.”

Pete said, “You’re still my favorite. Even though I know Bering and Wells are your favorites.”

“Let me know when you get a love interest,” Ida advised. “Then we’ll see.”

He didn’t look at Helena, not even a glance; Myka was watching. “Will do,” he said. Of course his Helena-complicated past wasn’t fixed, just like Myka and Helena’s complicated-by-everything past wasn’t. None of that would ever be fixed. But it was better—it could be better—and Myka could see the difference, the better, there in his not-glance.

She said to Ida, “Thank you. For it all. Can you tell Mr. Leland a good story about where the microphone disappeared to? Make him believe it?”

“All he’ll care about is that Ginny’s pie won. What I really need to do is figure out what to tell Agnes. She’ll be so disappointed... not to mention confused.”

“Why wasn’t she there today, anyhow, ready to get crowned queen of the pies?” Pete asked.

“The rabbits gave her such a fright.”

“Tell her they ate her pie.”

Ida frowned at him. “First, won’t she have stopped believing in them? And second, rabbits don’t like citrus.”

“Ha!” Pete crowed. “Then they probably wouldn’t like preserves or conserves, would they!”

That got him a teacherly approving nod from Ida. “Very good. You can come back next year and be my assistant.”

“Look out,” Myka said. “He’ll take you up on it.”

“That would be fine,” said Ida. “In fact if you all wanted to come and do another episode next year, it would be fine. I could look forward to it. Like one of those reunion TV-movies.”

“These days they’d just remake the show, recast all the parts,” Pete told her.

She patted his shoulder. “I doubt even Meryl Streep could do justice to your appreciation for Rosebud.”

“The One Where They Go to the Fair! Starring Meryl Streep as Pete Lattimer!” he said, clearly delighted by the idea. “I mean, it’d take a Streep to really get a handle on the fullness of me.”

“Good luck, Meryl,” said Myka.

Helena said, “The Fullness of Pete Lattimer, A Play in Three Acts: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.”

“With snack entr’actes, right?” Myka asked.

Helena nodded, adding, “Plus midnight-snack envoi. Although that doesn’t really apply to a play, does it?”

Pete waved whoa-stop hands at her. “If it’s a snack, it better be part of that play. It’s a good scene for the TV-movie, though: Meryl, chowing down on S’mores Pop-Tarts in some night kitchen in South Dakota, remembering how sad she was when she said this line coming up right now.” He gathered himself theatrically, then gazed with mournful eyes at the sled. “Bye, Rosebud. You got mojo.” To Ida, he said, “I’m pretty sure you do too. We really could put in a word about a job.”

“Happily retired,” Ida said.

“Just as well. I’ve said it before, people doing what we do, they end up crazy, evil, or dead.”

“Is that an effective recruiting slogan?”

“Only if you’re Ms. Trifecta here,” Pete said, tilting his head at Helena. “She heard that and was all, ‘Sign me up!’”

“Quit it,” Myka told him, but milder than she might have said it, even two days ago. She took Helena’s hand again, though, to make sure she knew Myka meant it, no matter how mild. Helena rewarded her with an even more bone-cutting clasp than usual.

“Sane, good, and alive, that’s what you all seem to be right now,” Ida said. “Please keep it that way.”

They all hugged her goodbye. “I’m not a hugger,” she protested before each hug—but before each one, she again wore that wide smile.

“I’m not either,” Myka told her.

“I am!” exclaimed Pete, accurately.

“But human contact,” Helena said, like an apology, though Myka heard in it the echo of deprivation. And that was accurate too.

Ida seemed to agree, for she held onto Helena a second longer than she had Myka or Pete. “I told you I’m not a science fiction fan, and that’s true. But I liked Ann Veronica very much,” she said. “Particularly the ending.”

“Nobody got the flu,” Myka agreed.

“That was...” Helena cleared her throat. “Someone else’s work. Entirely.”

Ida said, “Someone else believed in happy endings. Entirely?”

“I suppose he did. I remember that. I remember arguing about sentimentality.”

“It’s important to remember what you do remember. What you said about that radio interview... I don’t have a recording of my late husband’s voice. I’ve thought about that more than I expected to.”

Helena’s voice, Myka thought, I didn’t—still don’t—have it anywhere but in my head. It was a new thought, one that chilled her. If Pete had smashed the coin, then Emily Lake’s voice forever. It made her want to record Helena’s voice right that minute: Helena saying “good morning,” Helena reading aloud the placard in front of the Welles exhibit, Helena reciting “The Owl and the Pussycat”... anything at all. She suspected Ida would have said the same thing about her husband’s voice, given the opportunity, and as for what that suggested about how all-in she herself was with Helena? It shouldn’t have come as any surprise, and it didn’t. But the force of it did.

Helena hugged Ida once more, and this time, she was the one who clung an extra second. “Happy endings,” Myka heard Ida say: her closing argument. Helena nodded against her shoulder.

Yes, in more ways than Myka would have thought possible: a very educational trip.

TBC

Note about the real world: as far as I can determine, if there actually were, or actually had been, a Welles exhibit at the museum in question, it would probably be, or have been, on the second floor, but I wanted to get the mammoths in there, so I let everybody stay on the first floor. Mammoth fossils are honestly bonkers to look at; the tusks are unbelievably large compared to the rest of the body (I know they had a lot of flesh and particularly fur, hence “woolly,” but still). And the feet! They’re fossilized comedy routines.

Also I suppose I should apologize, or something, for stringing this thing out with shorter parts rather than ending it with a longer, solid punch of denouement, but this is how the writing has proceeded, and one pleasant aspect of this write-for-free-on-the-internet hobby is that the work can find the form it seems to prefer. Within reason.

[john-is-on-the-rails]

Vatican’t

I’m sat in Orto Botanico di Roma. One of the botanical gardens in Rome. Surrounded by many different species of palm. Birds are singing in the trees, exotic ones that sound like parakeets. It’s humid but not too hot, with a bit of cloud cover and a cooling breeze. Perfection. I couldn’t wait to get here, take my shoes off, throw my pack down and crack open one of the cool Birra Morettis I bought from a shop around the corner. Its been a warm couple of days. I hadn’t intended to have a beer, but it seemed too perfect a prospect to pass up on my penultimate day. I’m saving the second one for the Circus Maximus, my next stop. Inexplicably, the UK national anthem is playing somewhere in the background. Maybe blighty needs me to return, Brittania is calling me from afar. Or, more realistically, there is some kind of gimmicky sideshow being put on for tourists, with a bloke called Lorenzo dressed as a Buckingham palace guard or something. I had to work to get into the gardens. I stupidly went where google told me to go, on the opposite side of the park. There was a notice that said ‘HA! You idiot, you thought you could enter through this clearly signposted gate didn’t you? No, no, no, you must walk half of the entire circumference of the park, passing four locked decoy gates on the way, to enter through the only true gate, you fool!’...or something like that at least. I had to laugh, it’s been one of those days.

Palms are noisy trees. They rustle and creak constantly. Easy to forget that plants are living, growing things. Best not to dwell on that too long, I’d feel surrounded. Reminds me of that awful M Night Shyamalan movie, ‘The Happening’, that had people running through a wheat field to get away from the wind and the deadly pollen carried on it. All the signs and my sixth sense were telling me it was a bit rubbish.   

Speaking of feeling surrounded. I have just completed a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican gardens & the Vatican Museums. The basilica can only be described as, well, massive. The guards still bravely try and enforce the no photos rules, good luck with that lads. Rather you than me try and take a selfie stick off an angry elderly Chinese lady. Call the Swiss guard! I wasn’t sure I had time to walk up to the dome and cupola of the basilica, I arrived late for several, annoying reasons I won’t go into here. I had about an hour and a half at St Peter’s but I went up to the dome anyway and was not disappointed. I enjoyed the walk up, really cool to think where you are, the walls curve more and more as you get higher and the dome curves in to meet itself. That made me feel queasy at first.

I scared a French lady by dropping my bag to get my water bottle out, her husband was howling laughing, I was very British and apologised forty-seven times just to be sure there were no hard feelings. She was very gracious but I still felt guilty. I can only scare people by accident, not sure I could do it on purpose, not that I’d want to. Next up was a tour of the Vatican gardens on an eco-bus.

Very glad I booked a skip the line ticket because there is no chance I would have joined the queue for tickets on the day. It was at least 500m long from the entrance. And honestly, not worth the wait. I enjoyed the tour of the gardens, except the procedure of showing the security guy outside my ticket, then showing it to a decoy ticket guy who told me to go to the next floor to the one true ticket office. I was then given another ticket there, told to wait for 30 mins, then told to go up one floor, exchange that ticket for another ticket, to be shown to the driver of the bus to allow me to board. I enjoyed the tour of the gardens, how pimping that the pope has his own helipad and train station.

The lobby of the Vatican museums is like an airport terminal. Your destination is the Sistine Chapel and you have a long, arduous journey ahead of you to get there (and once you do you can’t even take a blimmin photo). The museum consists of a series of chambers/rooms. I can’t give you any of their names, or describe in detail what they contained because I was pushed through them in the throng and had no time to stop and read about them without the risk of limb loss. By room five I was longing for an exit, realising I had made a mistake. To see the Sistine Chapel you have to go through the rest of the exhibits, no shortcuts. There wasn’t even elbow room as I got swept along by the crowd. Dodging selfie sticks like Tom Cruise trying not to trip lasers in the Mission: Impossible film. I was eyeing the priceless stained glass windows, weighing up how long it might take me to pay the Vatican authorities back if I just launched myself headlong through one of them to sweet freedom. I’m not sure that you are supposed to come away from the Sistine Chapel with a feeling of mild to severe annoyance and slight despair. I’m sure it is meant to be an awe-inspiring experience. Honestly, I glanced at the ceiling and carried on marching. I felt trapped and really annoyed that I had been put in this situation with no obvious chance of escape. “Despite all my rage I’m still just a rat in a cage” - Finally found a use for that Smashing Pumpkins quote.

I strode through the rest of the rooms, you still can’t leave after the Sistine, there is more to come. I saw an outside area, made a break for it. I found a couple weeping on some stairs, begged them, ‘please is this the exit?’, they had given up hope ‘no, they said, just more museum, save yourself, we have lost all hope.’ I left them, I had no choice. The skeletal remains of those who had lingered, trying to subsist on over-priced calzone and cappuccinos littered the benches and grounds all around. A truly desperate scene as captured here:

I mustered all the strength I had left, pulled my cap down, put my headphones on (Metallica), shades went on, and I half ran towards the signs for ‘Uscita’, the exit, emancipation, freedom, open air. St. Anger was my guide and he saw me through. So, all in all, the final was not a great experience. Summed up by one half of a cockney couple I heard when I left “Just so you know, we are never, ever going there again”. I’m sure that’s what Michaelangelo was going for in a response. I’ve learned, well reinforced what I already knew really, I am at my happiest with space and fresh air around me!

[maychorian]

Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #45

It’s been more than a year since I started this weekly rec list. No, I didn’t quite do it every week, otherwise there would be 52 now, but I’m pretty impressed that I kept it up this well. I honestly wasn’t sure how long I would keep wanting to do this, but my obsession with Voltron fanfic is still going pretty strong, though it’s waxed and waned at times. Let’s see if we get another year out of it. Thank you to everyone who likes and reblogs these rec lists, and especially for reading the fics and letting the authors know that you appreciate them. That’s why the list exists.

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

Returns and Lost Belongings by Itsjez Words: 8,986 Author’s Summary: Shiro curled up in his small bunk, legs tight to his chest as he stared at the control panel on the wall opposite. Even now, days since he’d “returned”, everything felt different. Oh sure it wasn’t as if he’d been gone for a year or worse ten, but still. Just where had he gone?That question weighed most on Shiro’s mind. My Comments: Angsty and suspenseful post-Season 2 fic in which Zarkon is an incredibly present and dangerous threat not only to Shiro, but to the entire team. Great resolution and great comfort.

Back to the Future (With a Dash of the Past) by SteamPowered514, theeyesofthestorm1848 for (the entire discord) Words: 11,914 Author’s Summary: Haggar gets mad, messes up, and sends the Paladins back in time one day before they leave earth to fight the good fight against Zarkon. The paladins get to say goodbye, make their peace, and go back to their lions for the first time again. Too bad Commander Mitch Iverson sees the dramatic changes in his students and jumps to the conclusion that they have to be alien spies. My Comments: I love the fact the paladins get a choice time, and they want to go. They have time to prepare, time to grab hold of each other and jump. Hopefully everything will go better this time around. The addition of a tenacious and genuinely concerned Iverson was a very fun touch. What a great fic.

Whump Week by bookwormgir1LH Words: 2,400 Author’s Summary: A collection of triple drabbles written for Voltron Whump Week. 1. Fever: Lance 2. Hypothermia: Pidge 3. Blood Loss: Keith 4. Torture: Shiro 5. Insomnia: Hunk 6: Poison: Allura 7: Head Injury: Coran 8: Free Day: Pidge & Coran My Comments: Can you believe I’m STILL finding gems from Whump Week to rec? Good grief, what a gift. Enjoy this lovely variety pack of whump.

The Space Race Is Over (And I’ll Never Get to The Moon) by Schistosity Words: 14,939 Author’s Summary: The garrison trio stumble into trouble on an undercover mission after they uncover a surprising and eerily familiar piece of space junk. But with the harsh reminder of how far they are from home comes an opportunity to, in a small way, help it. A fic about kids who love space, miss home, and don’t know correct museum etiquette. My Comments: This is such an incredibly fun and good fic. There’s some angst, some action, some humor, some great characterization, but mostly it’s just about how cool space is and how cool humans are for wanting to be in space. It brought up a lot of RL feelings for me, haha, things I feel when watching videos of shuttles launching or visiting the Air & Space Smithsonian. Highly, highly recommended.

Swear On It by EdgarAllenPoet Words: 7,449 Author’s Summary: “Geez, Keith. You kiss your mother with that mouth?” My Comments: Absolutely wonderful Dads of Marmora fic with a sometimes angsty, mostly humorous Lance POV and wonderfully protective Kolivan. And curse words. So many curse words.

A Former Shade of Blue by F-117 Nighthawk (F117_Nighthawk) Words: 8,590 Author’s Summary: The Blue Paladin crash-lands on Earth after Alfor sends the Lions away and is trapped in her healing pod for ten-thousand Altean years. When she wakes, she must come to terms with the Galra Empire. This was started before season three was released. You can take the three generations of paladins headcanon from my cold dead hands. My Comments: Really angsty and action-packed look at the life of the former Blue Paladin, Keith’s mother. I’m still kinda sad this theory got jossed, but at least we have fun fics.

Catch Me If You Can by wingedflower Words: 3,485 Author’s Summary: Hunk only wanted to make a pie and Lance only wanted to be a good friend. What could possibly go wrong? My Comments: Aww, so cute! There are not NEARLY enough fics in this fandom of Hunk and Lance just hanging out and being adorable together. I’m begging you, fandom, more like this please.

Too Little Too Late by EdgarAllenPoet Words: 3,890 Author’s Summary: “That was where Kolivan found Keith, spacesuit big enough to pool around his feet and flap over his hands, both of which were curled tightly around a sword as he stood in front of Pidge like the fiercest little warrior Kolivan had ever seen.” My Comments: Urgh my heart. Tiny, deaged Keith is distrusting and wary of adults, probably for some extremely good reasons, but Kolivan manages to win him over in the most Blade of Marmora way possible. The ending gave me cavities, and I’m happy about it.

It’s a Losing Battle - No Need to Feel Ashamed by kyanve Words: 6,849 Author’s Summary :While the Castle’s getting its final repairs to leave, Shiro spends some time in the Arusian village helping rebuild, and finds out one of the Arusian elders has been around long enough to know better than to believe his assertions that he’s “fine” - and that the Black Lion is stubborn, opinionated, and also not falling for it. (Occurs around chapter 3 of Truce.) My Comments: Stand-alone companion to a previously recced fic. I loved this view of Shiro and Black early in the series, and the worldbuilding for the Arusians was really cool. This author seriously excels at the worldbuilding, I highly recommend their stuff.

A Life in Pink and Blue by Sand_Cursive Words: 4,796 Author’s Summary: So long in stasis had done a number on her faculties, on the only ones that mattered, and for a few brief, blissful moments she had forgotten that there was a war. That her people were being decimated, that the horrors of the galaxy had descended upon her home, that she had great cause to be afraid. An Allura Character Study My Comments: A great look at Allura’s thoughts both pre-series and during some key moments in Season 1. Good backstory and worldbuilding for Altea, too.

Singularity by acestriker Words: 8,201 Author’s Summary: Nothing feels right anymore, and Keith finds an unlikely ally in Matt Holt. Things go downhill from there. A face gets punched, and the team is in tatters. (formerly “Unravel.” I thought this title fit better.) My Comments: Angsty post-season three fic with Matt and Keith teaming up to figure out what’s wrong with “Shiro.” It’s a little rough on everyone, but I really enjoyed the relationship between those two, very supportive no matter what.

Let Me Be Your Shelter by StarryFeathers Words: 5,780 Author’s Summary: What happens when the one who always saves needs the saving? They are used to following, used to him doing the saving, but this time it’s their turn to bring him home. Alternatively: Shiro should really trust his instincts but the Paladins make him proud. My Comments: Really great, tense fic in which the other paladins fight against time to save an injured Shiro, plus some backstory for Keith and Shiro. Very emotional.

A Bone To Pick by Ahhuya Words: 9,557 Author’s Summary: It started as a tingling sensation. Keith shoved it off as training in the Red Lion for too long. Soon enough however, he started to lose control of both his own body and his lion. My Comments: I’ve never seen this particular way to whump a character in fanfiction before. Poor Keith is much too stubborn for his own good, but his motivations and actions make sense. Still, he has to accept help in the end.

Get What You Need by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 3,114 Author’s Summary:“Shiro taught me everything I know about being a pilot.” A look back at the beginning. My Comments: Thoroughly enjoyable fic about Shiro giving Hunk some pointers, not just on piloting but how to deal with things in general. I absolutely adore how they were help each other here and the development of their relationship throughout. Extremely satisfying.

To Love a Lion by aurumdalseni (kyo_chan) Words: 1,403 Author’s Summary: Just as important as the bond among paladins is the bond the paladins have with their Lions. In this, a kiss for each of the Lions who have accepted them for who they are. My Comments: Sweet and short collection of bonding moments between the lions and their paladins.

Space Tortuga by ozbian Words: 1,379 Author’s Summary: Allura chats with an alien monarch, then decides to let her hair up. (What happens on Space Tortuga stays on Space Tortuga) My Comments: You know what’s more fun than diplomatic Allura? Allura deciding to go, “Screw diplomacy, I’m gonna have fun now.”

Don’t Commit Felonies, Kids by fandomsnstuff Words: 2,858 Author’s Summary: When Sam Holt gets rescued from the labor camp the galra put him in, he’s reunited with his daughter a whole lot sooner than he expected. My Comments: Wonderful Holt reunion with some great banter to lighten it up at the end.

Garrison Trio for Life by A_Zap Words: 1,261 Author’s Summary: Pidge had made her decision: she was going to stay. That doesn’t mean that she stops reflecting over her decision and her team as she sits in front of Lance’s cryopod. Luckily, the third member of the Garrison Trio knows what to say. My Comments: Nice missing scene with Hunk and Pidge talking while Lance is healing in Season 1.

The Moments When You’re (Not) Alone by Voidfish Words: 2,809 Author’s Summary: Five times Lance comforted the team (and one time the team comforted him) My Comments: Sweet fic, all the way around. Love everyone being open with each other.

Take A Break by WildWolf25 Words: 2,223 Author’s Summary: They drew a shuddering breath and released it. “And no matter what I do, no matter how much code I write or what kind of enhancements I make or how many numbers I crunch in whatever way… none of this looks good for us. None of it. And… I’m scared. I’m terrified, and I don’t know what to do besides keep trying to make more improvements to the lions, decrypt more Galra tech, do more even though I know that what I’m doing will barely even make a dent.” They sniffed and leaned into his hold more. “Why does the universe have to be so big?” They asked, voice watery. Lance hugged them from the side and rubbed their opposite arm. “I don’t have an answer for that.” He said quietly. “None of us do.” Pidge groused. “That’s the problem.” Lance took a deep breath. “I’m scared too. We’re all scared.” (Lance finds Pidge working late again due to stress, and does what he can to help) My Comments: Aw, Pidge gets herself worked up thinking about the odds of their fight, and Lance offers some comfort. Lovely fic.

In Your Arms by Copiel Words: 6,286 Author’s Summary: In which Lance gets sick, the team takes care of him, and Keith realizes a thing or two. (And yes, there is some cradling in arms sprinkled throughout) My Comments: Endgame Klance. I just love feverish, delusional Lance and a worried team so much.

Beneath a Sky of Orange Leaves by Zurela Words: 36,366 Author’s Summary: Thanks to the druids, Keith and Lance are launched through a corrupted portal and crash onto a mysterious planet. Stranded, alone, and with no one else to rely on but each other, they quickly realize that rivalries don’t last long in survival situations. My Comments: Engame Klance. Great characterization and bonding in here, some very deep discussions about why Keith and Lance both push others away when they should be seeking in help. In the middle, Lance get desperately sick and Keith has to care for him. Excellent survival fic with teamwork and dumb boys learning to take care of each other.

Rough Week by taylor_tut Words: 2,517 Author’s Summary: It’s been a rough week for the paladins, especially Lance. My Comments: Lance is too self-sacrificing, and too stubborn, and his team loves him very, very much.

Turn Up the Heat by Copiel Words: 2,546 Author’s Summary: Lance just wants someone to make his room warmer, and he gets more than he bargained for. My Comments: I’m always up for weak, feverish Lance and a worried team. This is a great fic for scratching that itch.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

Light on the Dark Side of Me (26634 words) Water and Blood (27612 words) Coran's Guide to the Care and Keeping of Earthling Humans (33273 words) As Color Fades Away (138083 words) The Field of Blood (22769 words) The Machinations of Perception (53464 words) I'm not the Lance You think I am (59352 words) Little Crystals (2304 words) The Ones Who Were Left Behind (44569 words) The Lion in Winter (29107 words) - now complete

[shardclan]

"Are you always like this when you go to the Beacon?" Telos asked.

Turan glanced back, her face pinched and tight. "Sort of."

That’ll be a yes then... thought Telos.

Turan was not the kind who used such casual phrases even in polite company, so she must have been very nervous. Camellia had always seemed so perfectly at home when she came down from visits to the Observatory. Like she had just visited a grandparent she had a close relationship with. Turan seemed more like she was fretting about a visit to an over-bearing mother-in-law.

But Telos had noticed that about most of Lightweaver's devout servants. They were a nervous, almost neurotic group. Her Luminance was so intense that those who worked with her most closely seemed to slowly break down over time. The ones who didn't were either special, like Dreamweaver, or were enough like Her to always be in Her good grace.

Telos found that the latter were often nasty pieces of work. The kind you'd never want to see reach godhood.

Not that she meant anything toward the Lightweaver in that regard, of course. She had been born into godhood, while Her imitators were mere dragons with lofty attitudes and thinly veiled lust for power that they would absolutely abuse.

In the deepest and most staunchly Xannite parts of her heart, Telos did think it was all rather amusing. The Lightweaver made beautiful and wondrous dragons, but they were a mess in one way or another. Her firstborn potentially turned into monsters if they died around their kin, and as if that weren't bad enough, She couldn't be bothered to give them stable, predictable lifespans. And her secondborn, well... She had made them physically sound and wonderfully interesting with their pearls but they tended toward an impressively ugly social caste system.

It hadn't been so bad in the Starfall Isles. The pearlcatchers there had other things to content with, like demons and dream creatures and all manner of ilk from Outside trying to come through the Isle's naturally thin veils through their pearls. But here in the motherland, Telos had witnessed on multiple occasions that Turan was a subject of derision. She was mocked by purists of her kind for all types of things. Mixed species parents, mixed element parents, living among Arcanites willingly for her whole life.

The stubborn, unstoppable pride of their species came in handy there, because Turan never so much as bat a lash. In her opinion, she was hand chosen by the heads of a dynasty forged through a pact with the Arcanist himself. Hart and Safiri, in their old lives, had literally been divinely chosen. And Turan couldn't be convinced at all that it didn't mean that she had been divinely chosen as well. Because not only had they picked her, they picked her First. And all of this meant she inhabited a tier so far above her detractors that they were little more than screaming ants.

Perhaps that was why it irked Telos so much to see Turan suddenly fretful and lacking in confidence.

Turan believed she was perfect any other time, why should she suddenly reconsider when visiting her maker, who supposedly only made perfect things to begin with?

The pearlcatcher stared sharply back at her, as though she had overheard Telos' entire train of thought. "Your vexation is showing."

"You know I'm uncomfortable being here."

Turan sighed. "My Queen, you asked for this. I understand your discomfort, and I'm glad you have come into your authority so firmly, but please remember your place."

Telos took a deep, meditative breath and released it. According to superstition, the Lightweaver could see into your heart. If so, there was no hiding how Telos had come to feel, so she would at least be sure to keep her eyes down and stay focused on what they were there for.

Turan knelt. Telos remained standing, though she closed her eyes. Looking directly at the Lightweaver was only for her most special devotees. Telos had already been made very aware that she would never be worthy of that particular honor.

She found she wasn’t too broken up about it.

The Lightweaver’s voice came to them like a wave of pure, golden, and impossibly rich honey.

"Ah, Clan Aphaster’s Morning Queen. Telos, was it?"

Telos bowed deeply. "As you say. Good day, Your Luminance."

"What day of mine isn't?" She purred. "What brings you to me?"

"I'm sure you know the last records were recently recovered from Lutia."

The Lightweaver laughed in Her polite but very amused way. "So they were. I was sure the Archmage was going to obliterate you, yet you never once wavered! Very fitting for a queen in My lands, Telos. I almost want to change you to one of My own."

"Thank you, your Grace, but I must decline the honor."

"Come, Telos, you're so stiff. It was but a joke. Becoming one of My children is not a gift I would throw away on an outlander."

Telos did not have to see to know Turan's nervousness had skyrocketed. The smell of sweat, sharp but not yet pungent or foul was hard to miss. As were the tiny squeaks of her trying to keep her sweat slicked palms firmly gripped around her pearl.

She stopped beating around the bush. "I've come for permission to build a museum."

"Surely you didn't beggar My personal attention for just that? Relics of the past are the treasures of the now, that is common knowledge and common pursuit to all My children."

"Allow me to clarify: I would like permission to build a museum to house the history of the previous dynasty."

There was a change in the quality of the light. What was a soft glow on the other side of Telos' eyelids seemed to be focusing into a beam of sharp light that left no room for shadows.

The Lightweaver’s voice still came smooth and honey sweet, bit there was a note of casual menace that sent a chill down Telos’ spine. "And why would I let you do that?"

"I have become aware that my citizens feel that You don't look kindly on their heritage. The Arcanist struck the old names from history, and they have made their peace with that, but Your mandate that they may not wear or create anything Arcane in design is wearing them down. They cannot simply stop being who they were, so they feel driven to grieve and remember in secret."

"It is a small thing to pay for the comforts and assistance it afforded you. Or do you take living under My light for granted?"

"Never, your Luminance. But You know that is a decision I made for them, and that not all of them were pleased with it. And even those who agreed find it difficult to be severed so forcefully from their old ways. I am Queen. I understand how gracious and infinitely patient You have been. And I have nothing but gratitude for that. But they are people. A clan. And they are beginning to feel that they are only allowed to remember their full identities in secret."

Telos raised her head, though she did not open her eyes. "I ask You as their Queen to grace them with just one place under the Light where they can reminisce. Some place that You specifically allow, so they know they don't offend You in doing so."

The light dimmed, and there was an odd noise that Telos realized was the Lightweaver tutting at them.

"You are asking to build a monument to my brother in my territory. A place of reverence for him and his ways, which exactly what I didn't want when I barred you from this. How can I allow this? How can you assure Me that this will not become a place where your clan worships the past, forgetting that it was I, in My endless kindness, who allowed them to stay on my lands, with only minor demands?"

"It was those demands that drove them to this point, my lady."

The light turned white and atomically bright, so much so that it hit Telos like a physical force. "You imply that this is My fault?"

"Please, stop!" Turan cried. The light dimmed and Telos stood still.

Turan tugged nervously at her whiskers. "I apologize for my unsightly outburst, but I don't think that is what the Queen meant, O Emanating One. If I may?"

"...Proceed."

She lifted her pearl up into the shining light.

"It is like this, Your Eminence. Like these pearls that You blessed Your children with. No matter how I might be asked to forget my time in the Isles, it exists here. I cannot help but see it when I feel its weight in my arms. All the experiences, all the history. I know, deeply and personally where I come from when I see this shape. And so I know where I am going."

"The others have no pearls to remember anything. So while Your request is fair as a token part of Your terms, it separates them from what they were. They cannot help but chase it. Just like..."

Turan closed her eyes, and tried to swallow her fear, which stuck in her throat and had to be swallowed twice to go down properly. "If You were to pluck this pearl from me and cast it into the sea and tell me not to search for it... I would obey, but my heart would stray to it every day. However, if You were to simply... place it somewhere. Somewhere out in the open where I could still touch it and interact with it, but simply couldn't carry it with me, my heart would be still."

"And you think that is what this museum will accomplish?"

"I do. It is less of a museum and more of a...a memorial. This is all about grieving--about the nature of a dragon's heart. That is what the Queen and I beg You to consider in this request. We are small and needful creatures, and we ask Your pity in this."

The pearl jiggled in Turan's hands, and bobbed up into the Light. She watched it with eyes wide, terror building like bile in her belly. Beyond the light, the crumbled beacon was open, the ceiling long gone.

The Lightweaver was wearing a small, but immensely tickled smile, and that meant she was no longer angry, but she might do anything. If She so chose, She could absolutely toss it right into the sea.

Telos could not see, but she felt the tension in the room, and not knowing what else to do, she dropped to her knees and prostrated herself entirely.

"Please forgive me if my words were indiscreet."

"They were," the Lightweaver said distractedly. "See that you think a little more carefully about what you're trying to say in the future."

"As you say, your Luminescence."

The pearl floated lazily back down to Turan, and the warm glow of the Lightweaver began to fade.

"You may build your memorial, but only on the exact coordinates I provide to you. Know that I consider this a favor that you will return in kind."

"Whatever and whenever you will, I will see it done."

The Lightweaver gave another laugh, bubbling and joyous as though She had never been angry at all. "How quickly you Arcanites learn."

[esonetwork]

Timestamp #196: The Fires of Pompeii

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Timestamp #196: The Fires of Pompeii

Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii (1 episode, s04e02, 2008)

  Just one act of kindness can make all the difference.

The TARDIS door opens on what the Doctor calls ancient Rome. Donna is enamored, particularly by the translation capabilities of the time capsule. She tries a bit of Latin, but it comes out as Celtic with a Welsh flair. He also mentions that he had nothing to do with a certain great fire in Rome, but we all know that to be a lie.

They round a corner, muse about the missing landmarks, and glance to the horizon as the ground starts to shake. There’s a volcano ahead of them. It is Mount Vesuvius, which means that they are in Pompeii, and it is eruption day.

While the travelers run for the TARDIS, a red-hooded woman reports back to her fellow sisters and the High Priestess of the Sibylline Sisterhood that the “blue box” has arrived as written in prophecy. Speaking of the TARDIS, it has been sold by a local shopkeeper to a marble merchant named Caecilius. The merchant considers the box to be a lovely piece of modern art, and his family is very superstitious. His daughter, for instance, is training to be a seer in the Sisterhood, and spots an irregular being in the vent leading the magma below.

Donna wants to save everyone in Pompeii, but the Doctor tells her that it is an impossibility. The event is a fixed point in time and cannot be altered. The Doctor and Donna find Caecilius and pose as both Spartacus and marble inspectors. Donna tries to tell them about the volcano, but the locals don’t even have a word for it.

Lucius Petrus Dextrus, the chief augur of the town, arrives and gives the Doctor praise during a verbal sparring match. Caecilius has developed a piece of art for the augur, which looks just like a circuit board, and Caecilius’s daughter Evelina arrives to shed light on the travelers. Both Evelina and Lucius see though the travelers, prophesy her return, and speak of Donna’s future.

Later on, Donna visits with Metella as she cares for Evelina. The girl is sickly and her arm is turning to stone. Meanwhile, the Doctor consults with Caecilius about the creature in the vent and how the vapors from the geothermal exhaust have enabled the soothsayers to predict the future with uncanny accuracy.

The Doctor and Quintus make a midnight trek to Lucius’s home where they find a wall of the circuit engravings. Lucius declares that the gods are using them to gift him the future, but the Doctor decrypts them as an energy converter with an unknown purpose. Lucius declares that the Doctor should die, and the Doctor escapes with Quintus after revealing the augur’s stone arm.

Lucius responds by sending the creature underground in pursuit of the time lord.

Donna continues her visit with Evelina, revealing the future of Vesuvius, which is transmitted to the Sisterhood as a new prophecy. The High Priestess declares that Donna must die for her foresight.

As the Doctor and Quintus return to Caecilius’s home, the creature erupts from the vent. The family treats the being like a god, but turn on it when it kills a man by dousing it with water. In the commotion, the Sisterhood kidnaps Donna.

He tracks Donna to the Temple of Sibyl and rescues her just before she’s murdered. He tells the Sisterhood about Sibyl, noting that she would be ashamed of them. The High Priestess demands to speak to the Doctor and reveals herself as nearly changed to stone. The Doctor recognizes that the people are being seeded by an alien species and demands that they reveal themselves. The being declares itself as a Pyrovile, a species that arrived a millennia ago and were awakened by the 62 earthquakes. The Pyroviles are a psychic race that can see through time. The Doctor holds the High Priestess back with a water gun as Donna opens the hypocaust and they escape into the volcano.

As they walk on, Donna asks about the fixed points. The Doctor replies that he can see them because that’s how he views the universe as a Time Lord. She’s still aghast that he will not save the people of Pompeii, but he cannot break a fixed point.

They reach the heart of Vesuvius, which is inhabited by the Pyrovile in their adult form. They spot the circuitry of an escape pod and recognize it as the same pattern that the augur has been coveting. Speaking of, Lucius reveals their presence. During the standoff, Lucius reveals that the Pyrovile homeworld is missing, and the creatures want to take Earth for their own. Donna and the Doctor dive into the pod and figure out that the Pyrovile are using the energy of Vesuvius to advance their plan. To save the world, the Doctor must allow Pompeii to be destroyed. It’s a question of 20,000 people versus the entirety of Earth, and Donna helps the Doctor choose.

They choose to save Earth.

Pompeii erupts around the pod, destroying the Pyrovile and ejecting the pod into Pompeii. The travelers rush to the TARDIS as the villagers panic and the Sisterhood is lost. Donna tries to help the people, but it is no use. With a heavy heart, she begs the Doctor to save Caecilius and his family, but he starts the TARDIS dematerialization sequence.

As they take off, she levels her fury at the Time Lord. Her frustration gives way to sorrow, and the Doctor tells her that he cannot save the people of Pompeii anymore than he can save his own people. Donna reasons that he can save just one family.

So he does.

In a burst of light, the TARDIS rematerializes and the Doctor extends a hand of salvation.

They all watch from a nearby hilltop as the town is destroyed. Caecilius takes solace in the thought that Pompeii will be remembered, giving the name “volcano” to the carnage. Evelina has lost her power of sight, but the family is united in strength through sorrow.

Donna and the Doctor sneak away. She thanks him and he tells her that she was right: Sometimes he needs someone, and she’s welcome to be that companion.

Six months later in Rome, Caecilius’s family is happy and healthy. Quintus is studying to be a doctor, and before he leaves for the day, he gives thanks to the household gods. The relief reveals them to be the Doctor, Donna, and the TARDIS.

  This story hits the mark on every level. The dialogue is quick and witty, but also serves to propel the plot forward instead of simply being clever. The setting is well crafted and makes Pompeii feel large even though it’s obviously the same street set redressed a few times over. Donna’s pleas and the Doctor’s internal battle tug at my emotions every time I see it.

The franchise mythology is on full display here, from the past (mentions of Gallifrey, identifying the Doctor as a Lord of Time, citing the Shadow Proclamation, nodding to the classic era while exploring the mysteries of the revival era’s Last Great Time War) to the future (the Doctor Who debuts of Peter Capaldi and Karen Gillan, laying some groundwork for the rest of this series as well as the future of the franchise, and beginning the lore of fixed points in time).

That “fixed point” business? It’s always been there, all the way back to The Aztecs when the First Doctor told Barbara that she could not change a single thing (“not one line”) in history without suffering dire consequences. The trick is making a difference in history without changing history. Thus, the blessing and curse of the Time Lord.

Some of the more obscure trivia about the episode includes the TARDIS as modern art, which is a nod to City of Death – one of writer James Moran’s favorite classic stories – when the Fourth Doctor parked the time machine in an art museum. The humor Mary Poppins gets a bit of screentime here with the “positions!” scramble to save breakables from the rumbling. We also get a nod back to Barcelona, which is where the Ninth and Tenth Doctors wanted to take Rose.

The Fires of Pompeii is a masterful episode of television.

  Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

  UP NEXT – Doctor Who: Planet of the Ood

    The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

[houseofbrij]

As many of you may have already guessed from my recent horde of posts, I went to Australia a little while back. To say that this was the best trip of my life would be an understatement, because in reality I feel as if I have come back part Australian myself. So, settle in and grab some Tim Tams (Walmart in Canada sells them you can thank me later) as I take you through all the things I saw, did, and most importantly, what I ATE.

Now I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t apprehensive about the trip from the beginning, mainly because I feel like everyone did such a great job of terrifying me about every living creature that could possibly kill me. In reality I did not see a single snake, crocodile, spider, shark, or jellyfish. So, if anyone tries to describe Australia as some sort of zoo gone wild, I think that’s rubbish (that’s Australian for garbage).

I was also apprehensive about meeting my family after what had been over 14 years. And I know it sounds funny to be scared of seeing one’s own family, but I felt that so much time had passed since we had been together that they no longer knew who I was, and the memory of the sweet child they once knew was far from the reality of the crazy parade that you all know (and hopefully love) today.

Anyways, here I was, on a continuous 16-hour flight from Vancouver to Sydney, then on to Melbourne.

Day 1: I land in Melbourne in the afternoon, and am picked up by my parents and my cousin (a Melbourne local). Sadly, due to the tight schedule of my trip, I did not get to explore the city as we drove right from the airport and began on our road trip (I’ll come back Melbourne I promise!). We headed straight towards the historic Great Ocean Road (See photos below). If you are ever fortunate enough to visit Australia, this drive is a MUST. The coastal villages nestled between seaside cliffs and white sandy beaches are one of the most spectacular sights I have laid my eyes upon. For dinner, we stopped at Lorne where I had a life changing laksa and green coconut curry at a place called Chopstix.

What do you mean standing in the middle of a highway isn’t safe?

After witnessing a sunset that I assumed was painted by Bob Ross, we headed into the Great Otway National park where we had a cabin booked for the night. The drive through this pitch-black jungle was more eventful than you would assume as we were visited by many kangaroos hopping along, baby koalas just sitting on the road, and the cleansing smell of eucalyptus following you throughout the journey.

Day 2:  We continued along the Great ocean road, stopping at the 12 Apostles. The apostles are a series of limestone stacks formed by years or erosion. The place was bustling with tourists and children on school trips but no one seemed to mind the crowd as everyone was affiliated on the stunning views of the limestone cliffs and the sound of waves crashing below. We continued along the scenic drive towards Robe, where we would be meeting my aunt and uncle. For dinner we had Pizza (not like Dominos, but GOOD pizza) at The Project.

Day 3: Spent the day just exploring the town of Robe. The town is essentially a quaint seaside village filled with cute little shops and restaurants. It kind of gave off a Hamptons vibe except much smaller and with less real housewives starting fights inside artisan cheese shops (although they may have just been hiding in a bush somewhere along with all the snakes, crocodiles, and sharks I was warned about). Lunch and dinner were made at home (our Air B&B). While in Robe, we also went cheese tasting at a family owned dairy right outside of town and did a little wine tasting at a small booth set up on the sidewalk (I know that sounds sketchy but it was actually really cute). Lunch and dinner were cooked at home.

Day 4: After breakfast (more like brunch), we started driving towards Adelaide where my family lives. We stopped along the drive once or twice however it was 42 C that day so I don’t think anyone could handle being outside for more than 5 mins. Went for a sunset walk to the beach once things cooled down slightly.

We even saw Natalie Portman in her iconic role as Black Swan

Day 5-6: Explored the beautiful city of Adelaide. Went to Cleland Wildlife Park where I got to pet a koala and feed kangaroos by hand. It took all my self control to not grab one of these adorable animals and run. Adelaide is also known for its great wine country and so we went wine tasting at D’Arenberg. The winery is absolutely stunning and features a Salvador Dali museum inside the building. The wine was great too but after glass number 3 it was all a little hazy to be quite honest. For the meals, we had great Chinese food (thanks Groupon), and Pies. No, not dessert pies, but savoury meat (and vegetarian) pies that can be found everywhere in little shops called bakeries. I miss the pies.

Cute little balls of fluff. DONT try to hug one, they seem to not like that.

His name is Jay and he is my son and I would die for him.

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Dali inspired winery with a surrealist museum inside.

Day 7: Left Adelaide early in the morning and flew to Cairns. Cairns is along the Northeast coast of Australia (or as I like to call it, the cat ear. Yes, Australia is shaped like a cat’s head. I refuse to believe otherwise), and it is also labelled the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. We actually stayed in Port Douglas which is a 30-minute drive north of Cairns and even closer to the reefs. This whole area is reminiscent of something you would see on Survivor or Castaway.  White sandy beaches met with dense tropical rainforests, and the water a vibrant turquoise. Oh, did I mention the temperature was 30 C the whole time? (someone please take me back, I’m begging…)

Day 8: Started the morning by going to the local farmers market (which is a great place to find souvenirs made by local artists), followed by a full day tour of the Great Barrier Reef with Quicksilver. Now I know these tours are expensive BUT let me just tell you that they are absolutely worth every penny. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life to be snorkeling in 25-degree water among schools of thousands of fish and delicate coral. There is a reason the Great Barrier Reef is considered one of the natural wonders of the world, and I am fortunate enough to have experienced it in all its glory. Lunch was served aboard the ship. For dinner we had Thai food at Star of Siam (best Tom Yum Soup I’ve had). Something else I noticed was that Australia’s proximity to Southeast Asia meant that there was amazing Southeast Asian food (also seafood, LOTS of seafood!).

Disclaimer: not my photo. I was too busy enjoying the day, also iphone+saltwater=no.

Day 9: Spent the day exploring Daintree Rainforest. I hiked through a tropical rainforest and did not see a single snake or spider (although I did have anxiety that I would see one. To all those who scared me with stories of terrifying snakes in AUS, please message me… I just wanna talk…). Although I did really want to see a crocodile since they are really prevalent in this area (I love crocodiles I think they are very cute no I’m not crazy). For dinner we had Indian food at Sabi’s Kitchen. (Here’s a riddle for you: what do you call an Indian family that goes on vacation and doesn’t eat Indian food? They’re probably not Indian.) (I’m not complaining, I love Indian food!)

Day 10: Left Port Douglas for Cairns and stopped along the Palm Cove area where we went swimming. Later, In Cairns we had dinner at Bayleaf Balinese Restaurant. After dinner we ventured into the Cairn’s night market. I really suggest you go to this night market because you can get all your souvenir shopping done! (I may or may not have bought 10 fridge magnets and multiple t-shirts.)

Day 11: We had booked a train journey on the historic Kuranda Rail. The train ride was over two hours, and takes you up the mountain while offering sweeping views of the coastline below. At the top of the mountain is the Kuranda village which is filled with art galleries, shops, and restaurants. On the way down, we opted to take the cable car, and stopped at each of the three stops. Each stop has small hiking trails that take you deeper into the dense world heritage listed rainforest and offer spectacular views. Fun fact: this is the same rainforest that inspired the setting from James Cameron’s Avatar.

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Day 12: In the morning we explored the Cairns Botanical Gardens which feature the wonders of the natural rainforest found in the area. In the afternoon we arrived for our flight to Sydney. We landed in Sydney and were met by more members of our family. Dinner at home.

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Day 13: This was my only day in Sydney, and so I wanted to explore as much as I could! Started the day off at the Harbour Bridge, followed by a tour of the Sydney Opera House. I really recommend taking this tour as it is the only way to get inside the Opera House, plus it offers an insight into the history and architecture of the building. Later we took a ferry from the harbour to Manly Beach where we went swimming (this beach is absolutely amazing, please put it on your list. You’ve been keeping a list, right?!?) For dinner, our family took us to the Indian neighborhood in Sydney where I got to experience the best Indian street food outside of India (maybe it was just as good, who knows? I was busy stuffing my face)

The Dragon Ball Z shirt IS a fashion statment, no I will not be taking questions at this time. Thank you.

Day 14: Woke up, had brunch with the family, and then headed for the airport to return home. I did strongly consider just sneaking out of the airport and starting my life as an Australian surfer dude named Joey. Flight back home was horrible mainly because I was returning to -15C weather.

Anyways, if you’re still reading this, I owe you a beer. Let’s catch up sometime! (preferably in Australia) Till then, G’day mate!

Australian to English Translator:

AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH G’Day Hello. How ya goin’? They’re not asking what mode of transportation you’re using, probably just asking how are you. Thong Flip flops. If someone asks for these, do NOT give them your underwear. Barbie Barbecue, not the doll. Bathers Swimsuit. Beauty! Great! Perfect! Crikey An expression of surprise. Not an invitation to play cricket, although they might like that too. The “C” word Used when exchanging pleasantries between close friends and family. If someone calls you this, you’ve most likely entered the mate zone. (unless they’re angry then run) Lollies Sweets.

  Australia As many of you may have already guessed from my recent horde of posts, I went to Australia a little while back.