#what could be better than a butter shaped cake

[rimeswithpurple]

Happy birthday, Simon Snow!!!

I made you a cake!

[krafterwrites]

All The Sonic Cafe Foods

Because I can’t find a concrete source that lists every single food from the Sonic 25th Anniversary Cafe, I’m going to list all the foods I can find here (And talk about them a bit I guess)

Sonic Chili Dog

I don’t like hot dogs or chili but it looks decent, and the onion rings with the leafy greens seem pretty nice

Shadow Burger

Not going to lie I would genuinely eat this. The black bun looks a bit weird but I love burgers, and it would be really funny to eat a slice of cheese that has a render of Shadow printed on it

Eggman Takoyaki

This looks really good, it’s probably one of the most appetizing things on the menu. I’ve never had Takoyaki before, but it looks sooo good here, so I’m sure I would love it

Imagawa-yaki

This is basically just a pancake filled with sweet red bean paste, which sounds pretty good. I also really like the illustrations on them, they look very nice

Classic Team Sonic Pancakes

This is a pretty good one, it’s three pancakes that have Team Sonic printed on them with maple syrup, butter, and I think cream with raspberry? It’s pretty simple, but still good

Sundae Supreme

This is definitely the best item on the entire menu. This looks soooo good. If I had amnesia and didn’t remember my name, I would name myself after this too, because it looks amazing

Triple S Cafe Drinks

Sonic’s drink is a latte, Shadow’s drink is cocoa, and Silver’s drink is mocha. I don’t drink cafe drinks, but apparently a mocha is a chocolate drink, so that sounds pretty nice

Tails’ Hot Lemonade

I’ve never heard of hot lemonade before, but it probably isn’t as good as cold lemonade. I would try it at least once though, because it does sound interesting

Amy, Knuckles, And Chao Sodas

Amy’s soda is peach flavored (The description also says that if you drink it, your girl power will improve and you might become like Amy, so I suppose they put estrogen in the soda), Knuckles’ soda is strawberry flavored, and the Chao soda didn’t have a flavor listed so I’m guessing it’s just blue flavored. All these sodas also look like they have a scoop of vanilla ice cream in them, which is a nice extra

Eggman Omurice

This looks a tiny bit gross because of the sauce, but honestly it doesn’t seem that bad. I like eggs and rice, so I would probably enjoy this if I got it. The veggies are a bit random though, they could have just done bell peppers and it would have gone with the eggs and rice better

Another Chili Dog

This looks like a different dish from the one at the top of this list, and it looks a bit better than it too. The sign is a nice touch, the onion rings look more normal, and there’s more veggies on the side

Shadow Curry

Like the omurice, this looks a bit weird, but I would eat it if I was given the opportunity since curry and rice is delicious. Once again though, the veggies are just kind of random, although they do have a bell pepper this time around (Or it could be a weirdly shaped tomato wedge). They also have what looks like fried... something, I genuinely cannot tell in the slightest. Also they should have made Blaze Curry instead, it would’ve been more fitting

Tails Carbonara

Okay, this one is a little bit unappetizing even to me. Just a little bit though. It’s entirely because of the slice of cheese they printed Tails on, cheese on pasta is nice, but an uncut slice of it draped over wet noodles and sauce is not. I would still eat this though, maybe because my standards for food are low

Green Hill Roll Cake

This one looks nice, it’s chocolate cake with green frosting and some sort of cream filling, as well as a few pieces of assorted fruit. I’m not much of a fruit person, but this still looks tasty

Amy’s Homemade Pink Cake

This is probably the best looking desert (Aside from the Sundae Supreme of course), I can’t tell precisely what all of it would taste like just from looking at it, but I’m sure it would be enjoyable

Tails’ Lab Experiment Solution

This looks like another soda, although I can’t really tell what flavor it is by looking at it, if I had to guess I’d say it’s orange. I also don’t know what’s up with the stuff in the cup. I think I vaguely remember having sugar crystals at a restaurant one time that looked like these and fizzed in my mouth, so maybe you’re supposed to add those things to the soda to make it extra fizzy/sweet?

Silver’s ESP Soda

I really want to drink this one. It looks like it’s made up of clear soda, blue sorbet (Which I almost mistook for cotton candy the first time I saw this image because it looks so light) and green jello just kind of sitting there at the bottom. I don’t know what you’re supposed to do with it, maybe slurp it up like boba? Or just eat it once you’ve drank all the soda, I guess

Sticks’ Jungle Juice

Another soda drink with ice cream! I don’t know what flavor this is for sure, but based on the fact that it’s orange and it was described as wild and tropical, I’m going to say it’s mango soda. No clue what the icre cream is, but I do love the little boomerang that’s stuck into it

Knuckles’ Power Drink

Knuckles gets two drinks, and this one is basically a red slurpee with vanilla ice cream, which actually sounds really nice. It’s probably cherry flavor, although it could be strawberry or even watermelon

Sonic Latte

Not much to say about this one, it’s just a latte with Classic Sonic’s face on it

Infinite’s Jello Dessert

This one looks tasty, mostly because of its great presentation. I’m not sure what flavor the jello inside or outside the cup is, but I’m going to go with strawberry and bitter cherry respectively. It also looks like there’s some whipped cream in addition to the fruit and mint sprig (I think? It could be something else but it’s probably mint), which would all pair nicely with fruit jello

Knuckles Boba

That’s right, Knuckles has ANOTHER drink. He has three drinks. The site that I’m using for this last series of images (Which started with the Infinite Jello Dessert) doesn’t have any descriptions, so I just have to guess from here on out. I really have no clue what the drink could be, and even less clue on what the boba taste like since I’ve never had boba before. My best guess for the drink is peach flavored soda or possibly sweet tea, but I’m completely stumped on the boba pearls

Eggman Scotch Eggs

This one doesn’t look too bad (Except for the watery and slimy looking meat sauce), the eggs, meat, and casing all look pretty nice. Even as I was typing this, I thought the mark on the right egg was some seaweed or something, but I just realized that it’s the Eggman Empire logo. I may be stupid. Anyways, I still don’t get why they put broccoli and cauliflower with all of Eggman’s meals. Broccoli does not go with scotch eggs, or eggs in general

Cat Rookie Drink

This is one of the best looking drinks, it looks super appealing. The drink itself looks like strawberry milk with ice, and you also get whipped cream and sprinkles to go with it. This is definitely an extremely sweet drink, which I really like

Bird Rookie Drink

This one also looks really good, entirely due to its neon green coloring that looks straight out of Shadow’s tube. We have a clearer view of the sugar crystals that went with Tails’ drink, which fit this drink pretty well, since making it even fizzier adds to its forbidden science liquid vibe. I think there could be boba pearls or something like that at the bottom, but it’s hard to tell, and I have no clue what they would taste like if they actually are there

Shadow’s Root Beer Float

This is a super good drink, it’s a root beer float with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and two cherries. I guess it could be coke, but it’s way more likely than it’s root beer. It doesn’t have much to do with Shadow, the last drink probably would have fit him better since it looks like the liquid he was birthed in, but now that I think about it Shadow probably would enjoy a good root beer float

Chaos’ Soda

Now this is a drink! It’s so blue and refreshing looking, I want to slurp this up right now. I don’t know for sure what it’s flavored like, probably blue raspberry, but I know it has to taste amazing based on how good it looks

Classic Sonic’s Boba Drink

This one is also a delicious looking cool blue that makes me want to down the whole glass, but like the battery acid/Shadow’s nutrient fluid drink, it has some mystery boba pearls (I think?) in it too. Like I said last time, I have no clue what these would taste like, but they can’t be that bad if they’re soaking in such a pretty liquid

Sonic’s... Something

I’m going to level with you, I do not know what this is. It just looks like a patty of rice with onion rings, veggies, and a cutout of Sonic on it. Maybe that’s what it actually is. Honestly that wouldn’t be too bad since rice and onion rings are tasty, but it would be a very strange dish to serve if that’s really it, which is why I think I’m missing something here. Let me know what you think this is if you have any theories

Tails’ Udon

This looks gross and tasty at the same time. I love udon noodles, and the chives really add to it, but the omelette looks very soggy and wet, which is gross. At least, I think that’s an omelette. It could be fried meat or something, which would make this dish really good, since fried meat and noodles are a killer combo. Also, carrot stars. I didn’t mention them on any of the foods before because they were just a little garnish, but they’re cool! I wouldn’t eat them with the dish though, carrot wouldn’t go well with most of the dishes I’ve listed

Gadget’s Pancakes

This is a great pancake meal, it puts the one with Team Sonic on it to shame. There’s two pancakes (One with Gadget printed on it), maple syrup, sprinkles, whipped cream, fruit and mint, and a chocolate pen thingy. I think the chocolate pen thingy either has chocolate liquid in it or is meant to be broken up and put onto the pancake like chocolate chips. Either way, this is a spectacular desert/breakfast, and I really wish I could try it

And with that, we’re done! I suppose there could be foods out there that I missed, considering I had to scour several unofficial sources to find all this, but I’m pretty sure I got them all. If you got this far, thanks for reading! I’m glad you liked it, because typing all this hurt my finger

[alexiusgoesrogue]

Status Update: The longest Flight of my Life

I’m so glad to say it’s over. 14 hours of flying finally done. And despite having bought a neck pillow, I still wasn’t able to sleep in my seat the intended way, let alone without interruptions. At most, it can be described as a student napping in class, because that’s how it probably looked from the outside, too.

Not much more can be said about the flight honestly, except the food review and the fact that the air conditioning dried me up so bad, both my hands hurt when I put creme on them. And yes, I have been drinking throughout the whole flight.

I am writing this while waiting at my gate, surrounded only by Germans because obviously. This is a flight to Düsseldorf after all. One last notable thing, my lanyard once again has proven itself a good choice to bring with me. On my way to TSA through the queue line, a security guard saw me and let me skip the line to get to the machines quicker. I’m not gonna say my disability is giving me an advantage, but it sure is great to get off a plane after 14 hours and be treated this way.

***

Food Review:

Dinner

Green beans: 2/5, could have been way worse, but were still far from my favourite beans I’ve had so far

Roasted potatoes: 3/5, a bit better than the beans but still had a weird texture to the skin

Lamb Ragout: 5/5, it may have been the lack of sleep and the hunger kicking in at the same time, but this was absolutely delicious and exactly what I needed

Bread Bun: 4/5, totally edible without any butter etc, intentionally this time, is it was something brioche-esque

Mystery Salad: 5/5, I am yet to figure out what this dish was, because it looked as if it was a salad, based on the fact it contained lettuce and peas, but the yellow tear shaped things had the texture and a similar taste to that of noodles. And seriously, what kind of noodles would that be?

Chocolate: 3/5, not special, not absolutely horrendous. Just an average piece of chocolate

Chocolate Cake: 1/5, absolutely horrible texture, no idea what it was supposed to be, but I’m not a fan

Midflight Snack

Chicken Calzone: 4/5, pretty okay, just not a real banger in my books

Breakfast

Fruit: 4/5, it’s fruit, nothing spectacular. There was just one piece that really confused me with its flavour, thus I didn’t finish it

Muesli Bar: 3/5, very tough to chew (it was more ripped apart than chewed tbh), but decent taste

Frittata: 2/5, the potatoes pretty good, main course was edible but not my top cuz of the corn, mushrooms are far from my favourite food or ingredient, yet I still think I liked them more than the frittata

Yoghurt: 4/5, a bit more fruit for flavour would’ve been nice. But overall a very welcome dessert surprise (and an interesting way to find out I like blueberries.)

Croissant with margarine spread: 5/5, can’t be improved upon. I was honestly surprised how the (comparatively) sweet croissant tasted so great along with the slightly salted spread. And that’s coming from a person who absolutely distastes sweet-n-salty foods.

[save-the-spiral]

Appliqué

(buy me coffee?) (Maliswap AU Masterpost)

Content warnings for depersonalization, derealization, dissociation, minor self harm, memory loss.

You are sitting in a cozy room. You know, intrinsically, that this room is in your flat, your home, in the same way one gets information in dreams, by just somehow knowing.

The walls are a pale grey, framed photographs and a few mementos on shelves to break up the bleak emptiness. You blink at the small wall hanging depicting an animal you can't name the species of, some brown furred thing arched and stylized as if for heraldry.

Two windows also disrupt the monotony of the walls. One looks to a brick wall, and is stuck shut anyway. The glass is warped beyond movement, making the strict lines of mortar waver. The other window has newer glass, still likely older than you, but it distorts less. Sunbeams the color of aged parchment stream into this room in the late afternoon, hours gilded and ephemeral, and you have a vague recollection of someone enthusiastically chirruping and cheering over this phenomenon at some point.

The concept of the memory dissipates like candle smoke.

The texture of worn cotton fabric comes to your attention, fingers absentmindedly skating against the surface of the bed's top quilt. A variety of shades meet your eyes, shaped into something important you can't perceive, sewn together from triangles of fabric.

You lick at your bottom lip in one small motion, trying to think. Your lips are ragged and torn, chapped from the cold and strips of delicate skin ripped by your teeth into strips. Little pains you do to yourself without thinking. Little wounds that aren't fit for a colorful bandage or a kiss to make it better. Little raw patches of skin that will weep but one bead of blood, rolling down skin, fated to be smeared and washed away.

Your teeth rake over the uneven skin, harsher than you usually are as you try to think. Fingers curl clawlike until nails bite into the meat of your palm, all those small delicate muscles aching with the strain.

If only you could just think.

Everything seems to swoop in your vision, blurring.

You know, just as you know this is your room with your windows and your quilt and your body, that you aren't drunk. You aren't sick. You aren't dreaming. You know there is a reason for you to be unable to think.

After all, you've thought perfectly fine for years upon years, as many people do. You think a lot, too much even. And yet now not a single thought is expressing itself, you can't even construct a sentence. Stringing words together to mean something is beyond you. Connecting images and concepts is too much.

All you can do is know, in that dreamlike way. You aren't dreaming, though. Some part of your mind would reject it and you would wake by now if so.

It seems to be late afternoon. Light is streaming into the room from that window. The room is suffused with warmth.

The light is not the color of faded parchment, or butter, or cake batter, or anything else.

You know you cannot see color, but also that at some point you were able to, and chose to give it away. This is what truly jolts you from this listless state.

Ignorance is not bliss, then. I hadn't thought it true, but you wished for it and I am doting in my care. I've taken too much to take the knowledge of your sacrifice as well. When I do it leaves you like this, near catatonia.

I'm sorry it didn't work. I wanted it to. I want some solution where we both are content with our lot, but it seems more and more improbable with every attempt.

Our shared existence isn't a pained one, and doesn't have to be. Unfortunately the circumstance of our joining is of pain, and the knowledge of it a wound that cannot heal.

Never have I been unable to fix my problems, but then again, never have I shared my problems with another. Never have my problems been unsolved by simply taking more.

It's all I know how to do anymore, taking.

I'm not a glutton. I don't think one is a glutton if their very nature is to take. Parasitic is far more apt, as you called me once. You said it the same tone others have used when they named me monster and beast.

Though, I've realized, I have never shared as I have with you. Shared in vessel, and existence. Perhaps that is what wrought our unique agony, but I am reluctant to snuff out your spirit.

You wouldn't exist anymore. Necromancy would not find you, because there would be no you to find, lost to the shadows.

By keeping you, I prove yet again selfish.

It hurts, to have known you so thoroughly. Your existence is defined by neglect. So few of your already few years are what one would call content, even fewer happy.

Admittedly, I don't fully grasp the mortal fixation on happiness, but it was important to you.

Mortality, in essence, renders all actions of mortals inherently of far more import than those of us whom live infinitely. With what limited years, mortals do what they can, forever grasping at the nebulous concepts they create and suffer for, forever reaching for more. The fact that it all ends is what gives their action worth. Every mortal 'forever' is an unfulfilled promise.

And in your ultimately infinitesimal life, you sat in a cramped, drafty set of rooms and relished in the act of existing alone and by your own will. Freedom is another one of those mortal concepts, one I did not appreciate until I myself was bound in my tome.

Pandora's jar and all that, I cannot return to the tome. We tried that already.

The existence of our shared problem does not denote the existence of that problem's solution.

We've tried so many things, little one. I don't know what else can render this existence a kind one, something worthy of calling life.

I think, young one, we are bound by my nature foremost.

I am a selfish thing, hoarding and consuming. But our current circumstance proves I am able to change. After all, you are still here. I can share.

I cannot give back what I have taken, not to whom I took from. Sacrifices and deals willingly committed cannot be reversed.

"So don't give me what was mine." You speak, in a voice I heard eons ago, a deep timbre so unlike the voice you traded to me for more and more.

I'm so unused to you speaking. I suppose our dialogue has been rather one-sided with my musings, after all.

"You do love the sound of your own voice. I can appreciate that, at least, considering it used to be mine." Your voice is wry and rumbling, strumming the cords of a cello left to languish in an orchestra's basement. "Keep what was mine. Gift freely the remnants of those before me."

Yes, the best of them. Gems I kept among my collection, polished and shining, some older than your Spiral. Cherished things, memories and features and skills.

You are barely more than a spirit now, only given the shape of a body because you had one in the shards of a memory you inhabited.

Now you are stitched together with the shade under a wide canopy. Now your skills and knowledge will be hemmed in with the darkness of chasms of the deep, where sunlight will never touch. Now your body will be mended together piecemeal yet whole, as you have not been since the first time you opened my tome.

I will render you whole. Reborn anew, your own body, your own mind, your spirit inside. I will divorce the you from me until we are two, one born from another.

You are quiet, and I am consumed by my own joy- something sweet and bubbling like that memory of champagne I took from you- and I look to you, expectant, hesitant, worrying.

I knew worry before this, but never have I worried before I worried for you.

You stare at me. I weave together the dark matter between stars so I may sew the fabric of your existence into more than aimless spirit inhabiting a body no longer yours.

"Would this not make us parent and child?" You say, hauntingly empty from something I did not take, something taken a long time ago by those who were only supposed to give to you.

No, no we wouldn't be. I can't claim to have created you, or grown you, or raised you. I don't know what this would make us, but never parent and child. I would not do that to you, not after what has already been done to you.

I don't know what we will be, aside from separate entities, now given a chance to exist beyond pain and unending rumination on why.

I'm dreadfully excited, to be honest. We can truly be. I don't know how we will be, but the fact that we will at all is enough to make my hands shake as I twist penumbra into your being.

I've never felt this way before. A kind of fear in the pit of my gut, yet a racing heart, yet a tingling in my fingertips, yet I feel so light as I might float away. Happy and scared and excited and terrified and utterly breathless, even as a being that need not breathe. Perhaps this is what it is to feel alive.

I'm ready.

Are you?

"Yes." you say, your new voice cracking.

It hurts, for just a moment. Spirit and mind bound yet again to body, yet body is of ideas given freely, yet body is a concept that is only rendered into true existence by nature of reconstructing the universe in the moments Bartleby blinks.

You inhale, a ragged gasping thing. Your new chest heaves.

You look upwards, at a face that used to be yours. It moves uncannily, but nonetheless into a smile.

You are alive, and whole, and totally your own.

And yet still you give to me, undeserving that I am.

An embrace is not the sacrifices you have bled before, and I treasure it more than anything.

[robo-milky]

A Birthday? Well, Al is certainly going to be trying to make a dish he remembers hearing her enjoying, Yuu always thinking of practical stuff offering some new shoe inserts for comfort.

Aadesh just gives a note, of some 'strings' he's pulled to get her next semester's classes to align just a lil more with a Certain Third Year ;3 "Call it: an invessstment~"

[Cloche’ Birthday Bash]

Albert, the dorm leader of Ramshackle… Cloche wouldn’t say she’s fond of him, but his presence is always welcome. In the mornings, she’d usually pick up on the scent of melted butter and freshly toasted bread, and had grown to expect it. Not that she wanted Albert to cook breakfast, but it felt like something was missing when he didn’t. Cloche made her way to the kitchen below, ears perking up. Instead of the subtle smell of dairy, her nose was met with the sweetness of soy milk? There was a bowl of tofu at her spot on the table, drizzled with syrup and ginger, and sliced into the shape of a flower.

Cloche gave Albert a nod of acknowledgement; which used to be a bow. “Good morning, Master Albert. Thank you for the breakfast as usual,” Cloche said dryly. She took a seat, noticing Albert staring at her and then at the food. Was that a crease on his brow, under those glasses? Looking past Albert, Cloche noticed all the crudely cut white blocks on the counter. He must have worked hard, she thought. After trying a bite, Cloche’ tail and ears drooped, “It’s been a while since I’ve last had sweet tofu. I used to order them for dessert every time I was at a restaurant. Whether they were served hot, cold, cut smoothly or rough— it’s taste remains the same. You didn’t have to cut the tofu in such a way, but I appreciate the thought…”

“Master Albert, your birthday wish and presence is more than enough. …After school, I’ll try my best to make sure the attendees of my party don’t make a mess out of our… home.”

- - -

Eugenio— now shortened to Yuu, was another Ramshackle resident Cloche felt somewhat warmly about, especially having come from Earth as well. It was not uncommon for Cloche and Yuu to walk back to Ramshackle together with Grim, they shared the same classes after all. Whenever they ran out of topics to discuss, the rhythmic clicks of her heels filled in for the comfortable silence. “Master Yuu, Master Grim, you two may go on without me. I need to stop for a bit,” Cloche spoke.

“Seriously, Cloche? Are ya tired from walking to Ramshackle already? We walk like this everyday!” Grim quipped.

“I know, I know…” Cloche responded as she went off the dirt path. She leaned against a tree and slipped off her shoes. She was caught off guard when Yuu approached her— making Grim come along as well.

“You say you have ‘just the thing’ for me?” Cloche tilted her head when Yuu reached into their bag. “If it’s going to be a present, you can save it for the party— huh? It is the present…?”

“Shoe inserts? How lame!” Grim snickered.

Cloche sighed upon hearing Grim’s unnecessary comment and took the shoe inserts, eyes softening, “Thank you, Master Yuu. It’s a considerate gift. I feel bad for having to use your present early. …Hm? The purpose is for it to be used anyways? Well, I suppose so.”

“All better. I think I can make it to Ramshackle now. Since you’re the one who helped me, Master Yuu, you can have the second slice of cake.”

- - -

Aadesh, someone to look out for… When Cloche had been pulled out of first block to go to the counsellor’s office, she tried to ignore Ace’s “oooh”s and “somebody’s in trouble”s. Since she was wearing something a little flashier than her apron, it was only natural everyone else stared at her too. Cloche was normally careful, but the humiliation made her open the door to Aadesh’ office with a little more force than usual— nearly swinging it open. “Mr. Sona, I’m here as you’ve called. Is something the matter? You don’t normally pull me out a class, during a lesson.” she asked coldly, trying to figure out what Aadesh could possibly want. Her furrowed brows would later raise in confusion when she was handed a small slip of paper.

Cloche’ grip tightened on the note, she was going to crush it if she held it any tighter, “An investment, you say? I guess so… I’d be a fool if were to mistake this new schedule for a gift.” As her tail whipped, the bell that adorned it rattled sharply, “If anything… I’d say it’s more of a threat, a display of power, maybe even a flaunt. I don’t need you to show me what you can do. I already know you have this school wrapped around your fingers.” Cloche had to take deep breath to calm herself before she’d say something she would regret.

After folding the note into a small square and put it in her pocket, she bowed, “Thank you, Mr. Sona,” her thanks rang hollow.

“You could have met with me at break, lunch, or after school to avoid prying eyes, instead. …Oh? You wanted to ‘let me spend time with [my] friends on [my] birthday’? Hmph, they’re not ‘friends’…”

[greypetrel]

Can I have 🍄 and 💦 for Aisling, Raina, and Alyra? :3

Of course you can! :D

Tis the ask game

🍄 What are your OCs favourite snacks? Their favourite comfort food which always cheers them up when they’re down? Favourite meal to make? Do they enjoy baking and cooking and are they any good in the kitchen?

Aisling: She's a sweet tooth. Her ultimate favourite thing is lemon custard cake, or anything with citruses. Or anything sweet with a memory linked to it. Embrium buds (sweet as per my headcanon) because she and her big brother ate them together, cookies because she... Well, Sera bakes them and she helps her cooking. Nectarines are her favourites too, she says they "taste like home" because she always ate them with her clan. She is a bad cook, can cook a couple of very basic things that will keep herself and others alive, but only on a campfire, and it's not anything you'll remember. Put her in front of a stove, leave her unsupervised and she'll either set the kitchen on fire, make the oven explode because "stuff wasn't cooking so I got impatiens and helped it with magic". Invent a Rage Demon to blame for her lack of talent.

Raina: Cotton candy because Malcolm used to buy it to her at festivals, to cheer her up when she was sad, and just to make her smile. She gets emotional for cotton candy. She loves Orana's cooking, and particularly how she makes tomatoes and her bruschette. Orana always makes one bruschetta more, and that's always for Raina because it's her favourite. She maybe could learn to cook, but has not the patience for it. She can cook only ONE thing and that's the "Grand Hawke Stew". Which was Malcolm's idea to convince Leandra that they won't starve after they ran away and stayed a family tradition. It's basically a soup made from "whatever is in the pantry at that moment, pour everything inside". Raina somehow always manages to make it taste nicely. Even if you see her pouring a whole jar of peanut butter inside. She really has no patience for anything else, maybe she can grill, but baking? Nope, she's terrible.

Alyra: Halla cheese. It's not something you find in human settlements, she's not so sentimental but she misses that and makes her feel good. She has a soft spot for Alistair's prized grey lamb soup. She is a soup girl. Something warm and earthy, full of herbs, and she'll settle down with a smile. It reminds her of home, it reminds her of the Blight and of meals shared with her friends. Soup is nice, soup is a warm hug. She is the best cook of the three, she'll tackle cooking as she tackles everything else in her life: methodically and with a purpose. She'll get a recipe and follow it, add some spices of her own, measure timings precisely. She'll get you nourished and she'll get you happy with what she serves you. She'll be better at cooking than at baking, but purely because she strongly prefer savoury dishes to desserts.

💦 If you as the writer could erase one traumatic event from this OC’s life what would it be and why?

Aisling: Already answered here!

Raina: In canon I saved both twins. It's not that I don't like starting it with a death, it's just... I saw Leandra blaming Hawke and that was a little unsettling for me. Again, Raina is the blorbo I accidentally poured too much of me into (except I can cook and I can bake and am still learning knitting) and... Again, see Aisling, I'm ok with the drama, but there's a couple of things that... Are too much. That thing is something I'm deeply uncomfortable with and I think she would have come crushing down way before the ending of Act 2 with that on her shoulders as well.

Alyra: So, this is basically me not thinking through things when choosing dialogue options, LOL. But basically: Alyra facing the Landsmeet and saying that oh no I'll be the Queen, Alistar we can marry. In front of everyone. And Alistair needing to remind her that eh. You know. Wrong ear shape. That's... Not something I would have personally dismissed so easily as a writer, necessarily (maybe keep the option open to work through it... I'm speaking of years of machinations to make it plausible for everyone, and only available as an options on certain conditions, but still.). And realising it wouldn't have been a feasible option... That is basically Alyra's core fear condensed into one wrong dialogue choice, I kept it out of trust to my game but eh. I don't think she would have done it and in that shitshow that is the breakup with Alistair if you make him king and aren't a Cousland... That is the one thing I'd spare her, LOL. (Instead I'm evil and we keep it.)

[umbralsound-xiv]

Prompt #5 - Cutting Corners

Character: Daidukul The Lavender Beds, Present Day

Surely there was a way to make this whole ordeal faster.

Daidukul gives a rare frown, peering over the cookbook. Half of the pages were covered in some dark, sticky ooze that one could only hope was jam, but considering the contents of the rest of the room, there was no divide between living room and kitchen, only the gaudy decor and tiling that seemed to denote any kind of seperation.

There was flour. So much flour. Enough to cover his clothes thrice over, after the bottom half of the bag burst open and turned one half of the kitchen into a Coerthan wonderland. At least, most of it went into the mixing bowl. More than half of it, anyway.

What was next? Daidukul blows the flour away, and can barely squint out the word for sugar. He does as he should; measuring the correct amount, and pouring it into the bowl.

And for a moment, he stares. At what looked like only a mere sliver of sweetness.

Cakes were supposed to be sweet, right?

Daidukul adds more sugar. Much more. Much more than any normal recipe would add, in any regard. A sparkling mound of crystalised sweetness now rests ominously in the middle of the bowl.

And one egg. Two, for good measure. Eggs were supposed to make things rich. He delightedly bops the side of the shell against the kitchen counter, and for a mercy, doesn’t drop it, or mistakenly add in any shell.

Next, came butter. He’d even ensured the oven was warm; even if part of that encouragement meant politely begging the bomb that settled in the heart of the equally bomb shaped stove for it’s cooperation.

Butter was added. It slides, unmelted, into the bowl with a thud, sending even more flour and sugar into the immediate vicinity. Daidukul looked more like an apparition rather than a person, considering the now pale hue of his attire and features. And whilst this sun he had grown a cycle older, he decidedly had more life left in him than this.

He begins to mix the... Substance. Or more, awkwardly stick a spoon into the unmelted block of butter and begin to move it around a bunch until everything began to congeal toegether in some dubious beige slurry.

Daidukul could cook. This much he knew, and he carried great pride with the things that left his kitchen; mostly, things he had learned on his many travels carrying out his duties for the Kha.

But baking? Well...

He eyes the mixture with uncertainty. Maybe it would look better, when it had baked? Regardless, he pours it into a mold, and sets it in the oven. And waits.

How to decorate it? He’d asked himself. Although it was his namesday, the cake had not been intended for him. However, a certain twin sister was sure to appreciate the time he’d put into it. He smiles, musing upon the thought. This was their day; their time to spend together.

...How long had it been in the oven again?

Daidukul retrieves the cake after a many long minutes to a cloud of steam and a gurgle. Were cakes supposed to gurgle? He wasn’t sure. He’d learned long ago that if he stuck a knife in it and it came out clean, it was ready. Or so he was told, anyway. He picks up a piece of cutlery...

‘Buh...’

The bomb emerges from the half-baked goop. If even a bomb made a noise of dissaproval at his baking, then he would stand no chance with his sister.

A resigned sigh, as he turns to pick up a sweeping brush...

...Maybe he’d just get one from the Bismark, instead.

[multifandomlover01]

Pancake Art

Skip and Alex (x reader) (platonic pretty much)

Art/baking

I think the reader is pretty gender neutral here

And there’s no real romance

So I kinda cheated bc you fry pancakes, you don’t really bake them, but I don’t care, I do what I want, ok?

Word count: 721

Disclaimer: I don’t own BoB or the character portrayals of the real people or the real people. I only own my writing.

Author’s Note: I don’t know if I liked how this one turned out, it’s shorter than my first one and I don’t think there’s enough interaction with the Bois like…it doesn’t feel like there’s enough here, it feels empty

Tag list that no one on it asked for, but let me know if you want to be on or off of it: @cody-helix02 @georgelust @immrsgeorge-luz

Your alarm clock went off and woke you up at 6:30. You were momentarily confused about why you had set it for so early until you remembered that two of your neighbors (each from either side of you) were coming over today to make and eat breakfast with you, something the three of you tried to do at least once a month.

You got up and got ready before they arrived. You were in the kitchen making sure you had everything you might need when you heard a knock at the door. You excitedly ran to the door to open it. The three of you embraced before you welcomed them into your home.

The three of you entered your kitchen and you offered to get them drinks if they wanted them. Alex requested a water while Skip requested orange juice. While you were getting them those drinks, you discussed what you wanted to do for breakfast.

“I was thinking pancakes. I know we’ve been doing more elaborate stuff the past few months, so I thought it’d be nice to go back to basics.” Skip suggested.

“That sounds great!”

“But, I was also thinking that we could still have some fun with it.”

“Oh?”

“You know those videos of…like people doing art or whatever with pancake batter? Like cats and different shapes.”

“Oh yeah! Those look so cool! I’ve always wanted to try that!”

“What better opportunity to!” Alex pointed out.

“I just hope we don’t screw it up.”

“Hey, the most important thing about us doing this has always been having fun. Do you remember the soufflés?”

You shuddered. Oh the poor chocolate soufflés.

“I don’t want to remember the soufflés. But I get your point. What I do remember from that disaster is you two trying to salvage it, but it just kept getting worse and worse.”

“See! Worst case scenario is it’ll be another amazing memory just like the soufflés!”

“Yeah…just like the soufflés.”

You gave Alex and Skip their drinks and began getting the materials read for pancakes. You got food dye, some shapes that you weren’t sure would work, as well as some squeeze bottles that took you forever to locate.

When you got back from gathering your materials, Skip and Alex were looking up designs online that might be fun to try out. Skip found some really complex ones totally not for beginners that you had to shoot down.

“Why don’t we just try something simple, like a heart. I have some red food dye. That should be easy enough to shape and do.”

“Well if you wanna go the boring route, sure.” Skip grumbled.

“I want to try it out and see how it goes, ok? This seems like it’ll have a high chance of success even though I’ve never done this before.”

We made the pancake batter in a container and poured some of it into one of the bottles, making a slight mess, but that was all part of the fun. You put the food dye in the bottle and mixed it around until you got a nice color.

Alex had already put the skillet on the stove, turned it on and melted the butter. So you were good to go. You aimed and squeezed the bottle, making a heart outline before you quickly filled it in. Skip flipped the cake after a few seconds so it could cook on the other side. The side he flipped to looked alright, seeing as the batter had solidified fast enough and there was indeed a heart shaped pancake, not an undefined blob.

You all cheered in celebration as Skip put the pancake on a plate after it had cooked enough on the other side.

Skip put some more batter into one of the bother bottles and put blue food dye into it. He put a base of regular batter down into a circle shape, put two blue circles on it and then grabbed the red bottle and drew a smile. Alex flipped it over and the smily face was clear.

You made a few more heart pancakes. Skip made a few more smiley face pancakes. And Alex had colored the last of the batter yellow and made a blue, pink, and yellow rainbow with the different batters.

You were all immensely proud of your art. Not only did they look cute, they tasted great.

[gothsugarbunnidisco]

Answer All of Them

Portrait of an American Family:

My Monkey: Preferred name or pseudonym?

kitty katastrophe-berkowitz

Dope Hat: Pronouns?

she/her/hers

Lunchbox: Birthday/Zodiac?

december 21st/teh one that’s a long word and starts with s!! i can’t spell it lmao

Get Your Gunn: How do you feel right now?

good, thank you!!

Cake and Sodomy: Something that makes you happy? (other than Manson)

gingerbread men!! they’re a long-standing hyperfixation/comfort thing for me

Smells Like Children:

Diary of a Dope Fiend: Do you have any addictions or obsessions? (does not have to be drugs, could be sweets, social media, a certain band ;), etc)

marilyn manson ahahah

I Put a Spell on You: What do you look for in a friend/partner?

for both a friend and a boyfriend, sweet and kind and someone who enjoys hanging out with me and who i enjoy hanging out with as well

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This): Biggest dream or goal you have?

i have quite a few!! being in a band, being a mom someday in teh far future, owning a parrot!!

Scabs, Guns, and Peanut Butter: Do you have any piercings or tattoos?

one ear (other ear has a rip in it and so it can’t be pierced), eyebrow piercing, septum piercing!l. more incoming

Shitty Chicken Gangbang: Something that pisses you off?

hmmm i’m not sure!! i’m not very angry usually

Antichrist Superstar:

Irresponsible Hate Anthem: What is something you are passionate about/would fight for?

ableism and disability accomodations

The Beautiful People: Talk about someone you love? (platonic, romantic, family, etc)

meh mommy!! she and i are extremely close <33

Antichrist Superstar: What do you like most about yourself?

i think i’m very loving and have a lot of love to give

The Reflecting God: Are you religious?

yeah, i definitely believe in god and heaven. i would consider myself catholic

Angel With the Scabbed Wings: Biggest fear? Or just a fear that you have?

dogs!!

Wormboy: Do you play any instruments or sing?

i sing and i’m trying to teach myself keyboard

Tourniquet: Ever broken any bones? Which ones and how?

nope!

Mechanical Animals:

Great Big White World: Any place you want to visit or your favorite place you have visited?

i’d like to go to new york city!!!

The Dope Show: Favorite movie/TV show/book?

fight club, pokémon anime, also fight club

Rock is Dead: How did you find Marilyn Manson and/or become a fan?

picked up a random cd at a store when i was 11, and it turned out to be gaog!!

I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me): Are you closed off to new people or more outgoing?

i’m super shy until you know me, and then i am Not lmao

Last Day on Earth: Do you have a bucket list? If so, what's on it?

i don’t exactly, but i just want to live life to teh fullest in general <33 there are things i want to do, certqinly

Coma White: Have you ever lost someone important to you?

yes.

Holy Wood:

The Love Song: Relationship status?

single

The Fight Song: Outlet of choice? (writing, exercise, social media, substances, etc)

music listening and drawing

Disposable Teens: What music did you listen to in your teens? Was it embarrassing?

i’m currently 17!

The Nobodies: What helps you feel better when you are depressed and/or lonely?

meh family

The Death Song: Thoughts on death? Do you fear it?

i do fear it and have anxiety about it sometimes, but i do believe in heaven which is a comfort

Burning Flag: Do you hold grudges?

i try not to!!

The Golden Age of Grotesque:

This is the New Shit: Define your music taste?

goth rock and metal are meh favorite genres!! i really like industrial and emo as well.

mOBSCENE: Where do you feel most at home?

meh house!

(S)aint: Do you think you're a good person?

i hope so!!!

EAT ME, DRINK ME:

If I Was Your Vampire: Favorite mythical/fantasy creature and/or cryptid/monster?

vampires, actually!!

Heart Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand): Describe your personal style?

mall goth <333

You and Me and the Devil Makes 3: Why do you love music?

it’s a medium of both comfort and expression for me

Putting Holes in Happiness: Biggest insecurity you have? (about yourself or otherwise)

ooh lol that’s a hard one! i have a lot of them unfortunately haha

EAT ME, DRINK ME: Favorite food and drink?

chicken sandwiches with pickles and nothing else, and monster energy drinks!!!

The High End of the Low:

Devour: What drains you, mentally or physically?

school

Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon: You're going to die tomorrow, what do you do today?

spend time with meh loved ones

Running to the Edge of the World: Something you wish you could leave behind?

meh trauma from being bullied

I Want To Kill You Like They Do In the Movies: Are you interested in serial killers or horror?

not serial killers in real life, NEVER anything true crime. but yes horror!!

Born Villain:

No Reflection: If you could change one thing about your appearance what would you choose?

more piercings without me having to set up teh appointments and wait and feel teh pain haha, just like magic instant piercings :PP

Pistol Whipped: Sexuality?

straight

Slo-Mo-Tion: Song you could have on repeat for hours? (Manson or otherwise)

spade by marilyn manson

You're so Vain: Last person you said "I love you" to?

meh daddy

The Pale Emperor:

Killing Strangers: Favorite Marilyn Manson album or era?

mechanical animals album wise, but era wise spooky kids

Deep Six: Is Marilyn Manson important to you for reasons other than being an amazing band?

yes <3

Third Day of a Seven Day Binge: Ever been to a Marilyn Manson concert before? How was it?

i have!!! twins of evil tour :3 it was awesomeeeee, so good!!!

The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles: Favorite music video?

long hard road out of hell!

Cupid Carries a Gun: What do you consider Manson's genre?

gothic industrial rock

Heaven Upside Down:

Tattooed in Reverse: Favorite song? + Favorite Marilyn song?

user-friendly + user-friendly ahahahah

SAY10: Most underrated song?

red in meh head

KILL4ME: Favorite member or member you most admire and why?

daisy berkowitz!! founding member who is very little acknowledged, seems like he was a total sweetheart by all accounts, extremely talented, adorable

Saturnalia: Are you attracted to any member (past or present) of Marilyn Manson?

literally so many of them 😭😭😭

JE$U$ CRI$I$: Which past member (if any) do you wish stayed in the band?

daisy berkowitz

Blood Honey: Most underrated/underappreciated member?

…also daisy berkowitz

You're so Vain: Last person you said «I love you" to?

meh daddy

Heaven Upside Down: Do you think Marilyn's a good person?

no.

Singles:

God's Gonna Cut You Down: Has his music gotten "worse" over time in your opinion?

nope!

WE ARE CHAOS: Did you like WE ARE CHAOS and/or thoughts on the new album?

i liked it very much!

[thedisneychef]

Can You Use A Cupcake Recipe To Make A Cake

Making a cake from scratch can seem intimidating, but it doesn't have to be! Believe it or not, you can use a cupcake recipe to make a delicious cake. That's right - no special ingredients or techniques required. In this article, I'll explain how easy it is to turn that cupcake recipe into an impressive layer cake with just a few simple steps. So if you've ever wanted to try your hand at making a homemade cake without all the fuss and bother of traditional recipes, then read on! You'll learn exactly how to take that tried-and-true cupcake recipe and transform it into something truly special for any occasion. Maybe You Also Like: - Can You Substitute Sherry For Vermouth In A Recipe - Can You Use Any Recipe In A Bread Machine - Can You Use A Pancake Recipe For Waffles Converting Cupcake Quantities Yes, you can use a cupcake recipe to make a cake. I've done it many times and the results are always delicious! The key is to pay attention to the quantities of ingredients in your cupcake recipe and adjust accordingly for a cake. The most important factor when making this conversion is adding flour. A typical cupcake recipe calls for 1-2 cups of all purpose flour while a cake will require at least 2-3 cups. Be sure to double or even triple the amount of flour depending on how large of a cake you're baking. Another major adjustment that needs to be made when converting from cupcakes to cakes is doubling other ingredients such as sugar, butter, eggs, etc. Depending on what type of cake you’re planning on making, your ingredient list could vary slightly but the overall concept remains true - increase the quantity of each item listed in order for your final product to become a full sized cake rather than just cupcakes. By taking these steps and paying close attention to measurements, you'll have no problem creating an amazing cake using any standard cupcake recipe! Choosing The Right Cake Pan I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "the bigger the better". That certainly applies to baking a cake. To make your cake look like it came from a bakery, choosing the right size and shape of pan is key. You'll need one that's large enough for your cupcake recipe so all the batter fits in properly. The icing techniques will also vary depending on what type of cake you're creating. If you want to decorate with fondant or marzipan, then an 8-inch round tin should do the trick. For more intricate designs, opt for a rectangular tin instead – this allows for greater flexibility when it comes to decoration. And don't forget about temperature: cakes usually bake at 350°F (177°C), but if your recipe calls for something different, be sure to follow those instructions as closely as possible. Once you’ve got the perfect pan picked out, it’s time to get creative and let your homebaked masterpiece shine! With just a few simple tips, anyone can create a stunning showstopper that looks almost too good to eat! Adjusting The Baking Time Yes, you can use a cupcake recipe to make a cake. The main difference between the two is that cakes usually require larger baking pans or have more layers than cupcakes. You might also need to adjust some of the ingredients and baking time when making a cake from a cupcake recipe. When adjusting your baking time, it’s important to keep in mind the size of your pan and the amount of batter being used. Generally speaking, if you are using less batter and/or a smaller pan than what was originally called for in the recipe, then reduce your baking temperature by 25°F (14°C) and increase your baking time accordingly. On the other hand, if you are using more batter and/or a bigger pan than what was specified in the original recipe, then increase your oven temperature by 25°F (14°C). Furthermore, many recipes allow for alternative ingredients such as different types of oil or gluten-free flour which may affect how long it takes for your cake to bake through. Always double check with an inserted toothpick after about 3 quarters of cooking time has passed - this will help ensure that no matter what kind of changes you made to the original recipe, all elements will be cooked properly before taking out from heat source. If necessary, add extra minutes until the pick comes out clean! Decorating The Cake Once you’ve adjusted the baking time and cooked your cake to perfection, it’s time to decorate. There are a variety of icing techniques that can be used to give your cake an extra special touch. From buttercream frosting to ganache glazes, there's something for everyone. If you're really feeling adventurous, why not try some fondant options? Fondant is a soft dough-like substance made from sugar which can be shaped and molded into various shapes and designs - perfect for creating beautiful cakes! If you don't feel like making your own fondant at home, then there are plenty of store bought options available too. Simply knead the fondant until it's nice and pliable and roll out on top of your cake to create a smooth finish. Then add any decorations or cutouts with cookie cutters or use food coloring markers to draw intricate patterns onto the surface of the fondant. With this method, you'll have a stunningly decorated cake in no time! So now that you know how to adjust the baking time and decorate your cake with ease, all that’s left is getting creative in the kitchen! Have fun experimenting with different flavors combinations and decorative ideas so that each batch turns out unique - just like every cupcake recipe! Creative Variations Yes, you can use a cupcake recipe to make a cake! It may require some adjustment but the basic steps and ingredients should remain fairly similar. One of the main differences will be in piping techniques used for decorating – think beyond just frosting and explore various flavor combinations that are unique to cakes. From swirls of meringue to layers of creamy ganache, there's so much potential when it comes to creating something special with your fondant or buttercream icing. Plus, experimenting with different flavors like lemon curd and raspberry jam is sure to give your cake an extra delicious boost! With these tools at hand, the possibilities are truly endless and even the most inexperienced baker can get creative with their baking skills. So don't be afraid to try something new – who knows what kind of tasty treats you'll come up with? Frequently Asked Questions What Type Of Frosting Should I Use On My Cake? When it comes to frosting your cake, there are many options available. Depending on the occasion, you can choose a simple buttercream icing or get creative with different techniques and decorations. If you’re looking for something special that stands out, consider using piping techniques to make intricate designs or adding fondant accents like flowers or ribbons around the edges of your cake. When in doubt, talk to a professional baker who can help guide you through various icing techniques and provide ideas for cake decorations. How Many Cups Of Sugar Are Needed For A Standard Cake Recipe? When baking a cake, the amount of sugar needed varies depending on your recipe and what type of cake you're making. Generally speaking, most standard cake recipes call for 2 to 3 cups of sugar. However, if you're adding icings or different flavors to your cake, you may need to adjust these ratios accordingly. It's always best to follow the instructions in your recipe closely so that you achieve the desired flavor and texture with each batch of cakes! What Is The Best Way To Store A Cake To Keep It Fresh? Storing a cake to keep it fresh can be tricky, but there are some tips you should follow. First, make sure the cake has cooled completely before wrapping it in plastic wrap or foil. You want to seal out any air that could cause it to dry out over time. If you're planning on icing your cake, don't use butter-based icings until just before serving so they don't soften and run off the sides of the cake. Cake fillings also need special attention; cream cheese-filled cakes should be stored in the fridge and other types of filling should be used within two days for best results. Flavoring extracts like vanilla, almond and mint will evaporate over time if left uncovered so store those cakes with their frosting intact! With these simple tips, you'll have a delicious cake that stays moist and flavorful even after baking time is up! How Can I Make A Cake Without Eggs? If you're looking to make a cake without eggs, there are plenty of egg free substitutes that can get the job done. Depending on what type of cake you're making, vegan baking is a great way to go about it. There's no need for animal products such as milk and butter either - just by substituting some ingredients with others, like replacing regular milk with almond or coconut milk in combination with vegetable oil instead of butter, you'll have an egg-free cake batter ready to be baked into your very own delicious masterpiece! How Long Will A Cake Last Once It Has Been Baked? Once you've baked your cake, it will last for a few days at room temperature - the length of time depends on how the cake is stored and how much icing there is. For best results, store your cake in an airtight container to keep its texture fresh and help maintain the stability of the icing. If possible, wrap it in plastic or parchment paper first before storing it as this can help ensure maximum moisture retention and preserve its flavor. Conclusion Yes, you can use a cupcake recipe to make a cake. It is important to note that the amount of sugar and other ingredients may need to be adjusted slightly. Additionally, when making cakes without eggs, it is important to add an extra moisture source such as applesauce or yogurt in order for the cake batter to come together properly. Lastly, once your cake has been baked and cooled off completely, it should last several days if stored correctly. To keep your cake fresh longer I recommend wrapping it tightly with plastic wrap and storing in an airtight container at room temperature away from direct sunlight. With these tips in mind, you're sure to have delicious results every time! If you're looking for more delicious recipes to try, be sure to check out The Disney Chef's recipe categories! Whether you're in the mood for something sweet like a cake recipe, something savory like a chicken or pork recipe, or something fresh like a vegetable or seafood recipe, there's something for everyone. And if you're a meat-lover, don't forget to check out the beef recipes category for hearty and satisfying meals. With so many options to choose from, you're sure to find a new favorite recipe to add to your collection. Read the full article

[bush-cookies]

10 great biscuit ideas for things to make with biscuits and cookies

We all know that biscuits are pretty special just as they are, but how do you take your biscuit game further? Here are 10 great ideas for making treats with biscuits. It doesn't matter if they are leftover, broken, or bought for purpose; just that they are easy to make and delicious to eat.

Chocolate Biscuit Cake

An Aussie classic of chocolate cookies layered with chantilly cream. Left in the fridge overnight to settle, the biscuits become soft but not soggy. This one is a total no brainer.

1 pack triple chocolate chip cookies 2 cups whipping cream 2 tbsp icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla paste Chopped chocolate to garnish - Whip the cream softly with the vanilla and icing sugar - Spread about 1 tbsp of the whipped cream on each biscuit and layer in stacks of 4 to form a log shape. - Spread the rest of the whipped cream over the top and sides. - Garnish with chopped chocolate and put in the fridge overnight. - Serve in slices.

Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich

What could be better than a scoop of your favourite ice cream sandwiched between two biscuits. It might be a melty moreish mess, but isn't that the point?

Take one pack of your favourite Bush Cookies and a tub of ice cream. Take the ice cream from the freezer to soften just a little. Sandwich one scoop between two biscuits and eat!

 Quick Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

Another super simple idea that is a great way to use up leftover biscuits and save a little money at the same time. You can make as much or as little as you like so it is also a great way to use up all those remaining ice cream tubs at the bottom of the freezer.

Ice cream in one flavour or more. Leftover biscuits broken into chunks.  - Allow the ice cream to soften just enough so you can fold through the chunks of biscuit. - Place back in the freezer to firm back up a little.

Ginger and Macadamia Biscuit Butter

We are not sure when cookie butter became an actual thing, but we are not sure how we ever lived without it. We have used our ginger and macadamia biscuits but you can experiment with any biscuit you like. Just be aware that you may need to adjust the water quantities accordingly.

1 pack of Bush Cookies ginger and macadamia biscuits  1 cup boiling water 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup condensed milk - Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until you have a fine crumb. - Pulse in the boiling water and mix to a smooth paste. - Blend in the butter and the condensed milk until smooth. - Scrape into a glass jar and keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Deep Fried Ice Cream

Deep fried ice cream delivers on all levels. That classic contrast of hot against cold is doubly delicious when paired with the joy that is crispy plus creamy. We rest our case.

Serves 4 500ml ice cream 200g biscuits 2 eggs - Scoop the ice cream into 4 balls. Put them on a tray, on greaseproof paper, and refreeze until solid. - Beat the eggs. - Blitz the biscuits to a crumb. - Heat oil in a deep fryer to 190C. - Roll the ice cream balls in the beaten egg. - Roll them in the crumb. - Drop into the hot oil and fry for about 20 seconds or until they turn a lovely golden brown. - Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot.

Biscuit Fridge Cake

A simple staple that is way more than the sum of its parts. You can add in any bits that you like, and switch it up according to the season. Or if you want to get really fancy, roll it in a log and call it chocolate salami.

1 can condensed milk 3/4 cup butter 1 cup chocolate chunks 1/4 cup glace cherry halves 1/4 cup hazelnuts, roughlychopped 1/4 cup raisins 1 pack biscuits - Line a tin or any shallow container with greaseproof paper - Break the biscuits into a large bowl and stir through the cherries, hazelnuts and raisins. - In a small pan over a low heat, melt the butter, condensed milk, and chocolate together. - Mix this into the biscuits. - Press into the tin and chill in the fridge for several hours or until set.

Biscuit Base

Possibly the most versatile thing ever, a good biscuit base will see you through the trickiest of dessert disasters. You can use as a cheesecake base, or its many variations. Banoffee pie, anyone? Or you can miss out the middle man and pile loosely underneath, or on top, of any fruity/creamy/chocolatey concoction. You could even sprinkle it on top of the cream on your hot chocolate - in this instance you could skip the butter and go straight to crumbled biscuits instead. Oh yeah!

This will line the base of a 23cm round tin. If you want to press the mixture up the sides, make twice the recipe.  250g biscuits 125g unsalted butter, melted - Blitz the biscuits in a food processor to a fine crumb. Or, put them in a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin. Whichever you choose, you want something that looks like damp sand. - Tip the crumb into a bowl. Even if you used a food processor. - Stir the butter into the crumb using a wooden spoon or spatula. You want something that just sticks together. - Press the mixture gently into the tin and set in the fridge for half an hour before filling. - You can pile the crumb loosely onto a baking tray and set without pressing to form a crumble.

Biscuit Truffles

Super simple chocolaty truffles are elevated in taste and texture by the addition of biscuits. You can use just biscuit crumb, or go for the double whammy and stir in some chunky biscuit bits too. The contrast of texture is enough to cause excitement but why not try using 2 different kinds of biscuits too? Oh my!

350g biscuits 100g broken biscuits, in small pieces 40g cocoa 395g tin of condensed milk - Blitz the biscuits to a fine crumb in a food processor and set aside 100g. - Mix together the rest of the biscuits, cocoa and condensed milk. - Stir in your chopped biscuits if using. - Divide the mixture using two teaspoons and roll into balls. - Roll the balls, whilst still sticky, in the remaining crumb. - Set aside to harden a little before eating. For extra texture, roll the truffles in tempered chocolate before rolling in the crumb.

Lime, Coconut & Macadamia Biscuit Bars

When it comes to making quick (no)bakes with leftover biscuits, condensed milk is your store cupboard saviour. These lime biscuit bars are a super easy fridge cake, and although you could add frosting to the top, all they really need is a dusting of icing sugar.

1 pack of Bush Cookies macadamia delight biscuits 1/2 cup desiccated coconut 125g butter 1/2 can condensed milk 2 limes, juice and zest icing sugar, to dust - Blitz the biscuits to a fine crumb and stir in the coconut with the lime zest. - Melt the butter, lime juice and condensed milk together. - Stir the wet ingredients into the dry. - Press into a lined tin and set in the fridge until firm. - Dust with icing sugar and slice to serve.

Ginger Biscuit Tiramisu

Tiramisu is a dinner party favourite. One of those dishes that never fails to wow despite its simplicity. But have you have thought of making it with a different biscuit? We tried it with our ginger and date biscuits for a flavour/texture update and it worked really well. It takes on an almost sticky toffee pudding quality.

1 pack Bush Cookies ginger and date biscuits 400ml whipping cream 250g mascarpone 75ml marsala 1 tsp lemon zest 2 tbsp icing sugar 300 ml espresso or strong black coffee 1 tbsp cocoa for dusting - Lay the biscuits in a shallow dish and pour over the coffee. - Gently whip the cream together with the mascarpone, lemon zest, marsala and icing sugar. - Spread the topping over the biscuit layer. - Dust with the cocoa powder. - Leave in the fridge for a few hours before serving.   Ready to try out some of these great biscuit ideas? Check out our full range of Australian handmade biscuits to buy online. Read the full article

[cuisinecravings]

What Is Almond Bark? {Amazing Facts}

Are You Searching for What Is Almond Bark? Do you want to make a handmade dessert but don't know what to prepare? If you're searching for a simple and inexpensive confection for coating or dipping, almond bark is one of the greatest options. Most recipes don't even call for baking. What exactly is almond bark? Almond bark is a meltable dessert produced using vegetable fat rather than cocoa butter. Despite its name, it contains neither almonds or nuts. Let's have a look at how we may use this product in the kitchen.

What Is Almond Bark. Interesting facts Also Read :- Italian Almond Cake, Easy Tips to Make Italian Almond Cake

What Is the Best Way to Use Almond Bark?

Almond bark (also known as summer coating and vanilla-flavored candy coating) is not what it appears to be since it contains no almonds. It got its name from the fact that it was initially used to wrap almonds. Vegetable fats (typically palm kernel oil), sugar, flavorings, emulsifiers such as soy lecithin, and coloring are among the constituents. Almond bark is available in a variety of forms and sizes, including blocks, circular discs, and chips. It is designed to melt without the need for exact temperature control, like melting chocolate would. Almond bark may or may not include dairy, depending on the product. Cocoa butter and cocoa solids are never present. As a result, it is not classified as a chocolate product. It can be either white or brown. It's very probable that you'll use it to embellish. As a result, you might want to add some food coloring to your almond bark. It will be silky and smooth after coloring with powder or oil. Avoid using liquid-based food coloring, even if it is in the shape of a gel, because it thickens the consistency and generates clumps. You'd be unable to remelt your coating. By combining dried cranberries and oranges with almond bark, you may create a limitless number of sweets. Peppermint bark, for example, is a popular Christmas treat. Almond bark is also ideal for peanut butter lava cakes and no-bake Oreo balls. Related Articles:- - Can Cats Drink Almond Milk? Safe for Cats? – Cuisine Cravings - How Many Calories In A Slice Of Pizza? How to Make Pizza? - Is Craving Gatorade While Pregnant Good Or Bad? - How To Make Krusteaz Waffles Better? Amazing Facts - What Coconut Milk Does Starbucks Use? Complete Guide It may be used to replace icing on cakes. For a crispy treat, you could even make nut krispies by cutting up your favorite nuts. If you like it, add some sea salt since it works nicely with this dish. Don't forget to put everything in the fridge to chill. What Is Almond Bark This confection may be stored in an airtight container in a dry area for up to a year and can even be used after its expiration date if preserved in an airtight container. You should not store it in the refrigerator or freezer since it may harden and alter texture.

What Is the Best Way to Melt Almond Bark?

The major reason to keep almond bark on hand is to have something that melts readily and has a very smooth consistency. As a result, you may easily soften it using a variety of approaches. It makes no difference what form it is, but the smaller it is, the faster it travels. Keep an eye on it during the procedure since it may quickly burn. It will likely melt faster than chocolate. Its silky texture will be ruined if you add water, milk, butter, or oil to it. Stovetop If you're using a cooktop, make sure to stir your almond bark constantly so it doesn't burn. It would just take a few minutes to get the desired texture. Crockpot and Melting Pot Allow the saucepan to heat up before adding the blocks for a few minutes. Don't forget to stir from time to time. Microwave Microwave the almond bark for 30 seconds, then thoroughly mix it. You can continue to microwave it in 20-second intervals, stirring in between, until it is smooth enough. Double-boiler You might use a double-boiler set or a heatproof dish over a small saucepan to melt the almond bark. The water should be simmering but not in contact with the bowl. Frequent stirring is required. It is not necessary to melt almond bark at a specific temperature before chilling and reheating it. Tempering is only required for a glossy top with chocolate due to its cocoa butter concentration.

How Does Almond Bark Taste?

White almond bark tastes like vanilla, but brown almond bark tastes like caramel or chocolate. You might be wondering what makes almond bark different from melted chocolate. Almond bark is a great nut-free and gluten-free alternative to chocolate, but it lacks the flavor of chocolate due to the lack of cocoa solids. Is Almond Bark Compatible with Other Products? White chocolate and candy melts can be used in place of almond bark, and vice versa. You only need to change the length and temperature. Almond bark can be used in place of melted white chocolate on the move. It may be used to decorate cakes or cupcakes. It is perfect for coating strawberries, bananas, and apple slices, which complement the vanilla flavor. You may freeze your covered strawberries for up to 3 months. It goes well with oats, granola, almonds, Oreo cookies, pretzels, and even crackers. Sprinkles can be sprinkled on top. If you want to reuse your almond bark, don't dip anything in it immediately. You may save some for later. The texture of almond bark is creamier than that of chocolate bark. As a result, it is ideal for decorating. If you don't have almond bark on hand, you may use the same quantity of white chocolate, but you'll need to add additional shortening. If you don't have any chocolate chips on hand, you may use chopped almond bark. Because this product contains no cocoa butter, there is no risk of the cocoa butter separating from the remainder of the product during the melting process. If you use chocolate, you must be aware of this distinction.

Conclusion

Almond bark is a simple yet handy product to have on hand whether you want to make cake pops or dip your strawberries in something sweet and yummy. Because of its low cost, it is a pleasant experiment to try. It can swiftly assist you in creating a tasty, personalized dessert of your choosing in a few simple steps. Read the full article

[todoscript]

sweetest delight

SYNOPSIS: While Shouto’s out hunting down villains on Valentine’s Day, you try your hand at making some sweets to celebrate the occasion, and in doing so, find your efforts rewarded in more ways than one.

pairing: pro hero!todoroki shouto x fem!reader

genre: smut. fluff. pro hero au.

word count: 7.3k+

warnings: 18+. characters are aged up. dominant!shouto. apron kink. praising. oral (both receiving). face-sitting. 69. cum-eating.

author’s note: god, this is long overdue, but i finally got this thing out after all this time. and of course, it ended up getting out of hand again

“Fuck, fuck, fuck–”

A range of curses spewed from your mouth as the unpleasant smell of your burnt confections permeated the space of your kitchen, threatening to notify the fire alarm overhead of your latest baking mishap. Luckily, you entered the kitchen just in time to dissipate the smoke before it can do so, fanning your towel while navigating to the oven to find your crisp, blackened sweets already ruined inside. The corners of your lips slipped into a scowl at another failed batch of mini chocolate cupcakes at your hand. You slid on a pair of oven mitts to transfer the set off the rack and onto the kitchen counter.

A flicker of optimism in your head presented the thought that they didn’t seem that bad at first glance, going so far as to believe they might’ve tasted relatively fine and that the burnt parts simply added a bitter flavor that would balance the overall sweetness of the decadent chocolate cupcakes. But upon closer inspection, you knew you were lying to yourself.

Flipping the miniature cakes out of the molds, you discovered the sweets were encased in a dreary black outer shell, a sight which made you grimace, wondering how you screwed up so badly to have concocted such a dismal image. You definitely had no right feeding these to Shouto, let alone offer them to him as a Valentine’s Day gift.

As everyone knew, the fourteenth day of February marked Valentine’s Day, the day where couples expressed their love to one another by giving gifts, spending quality time through dates, and displaying many other forms of affection. This year, however, Shouto was called in at his agency to investigate a case of villains whose plan was to wreak havoc on this special occasion.

Now, any person would find it normal to be peeved over these circumstances—having their lover’s free time eaten up by work when they could be celebrating together with a nicely lit dinner or a casual, romantic night at home, and perhaps cap off a wonderful evening with a smooth transition into the bedroom. Much better than spending a day at home alone, pitifully watching couples intertwine their hands together in envy as they walked along the sidewalk beneath your apartment complex, right?

Well, you, on the other hand, were a different case. Rather than sulk around as you waited for Shouto to arrive home later, you decided this would be the perfect chance to whisk up some sweets to surprise him. After all, what’s Valentine’s Day without some chocolate delights on the side, made with vanilla, sugar, cocoa butter, and lots of love and effort. A perfect way to welcome Shouto home from his mission while honoring the festivities, you’d say.

Besides, you understood the situation well enough to recognize that the citizens’ well-being came first before any date of yours. Your boyfriend was a hero, after all, and a Pro at that. It’s not as if you and Shouto hadn’t celebrated Valentine’s Day together before. So long as he came home—intact—prior to the clock ticking to midnight, one day didn’t bother you.

Though… after witnessing the aftermath of several failed attempts at baking thus far, you started to wonder if it would’ve done you better not to get so involved, only to waste resources and pervade your kitchen with an acrid smell.

Still, despite the trials and tribulations, you were determined to come out on top. You tapped your index finger repeatedly against the surface of the marbled counter. “Did I mix up the baking times? Maybe I undermined the portion sizes so the cupcakes started cooking faster?” you speculated out loud, wondering how to troubleshoot the minor errors to come out successful in your next attempt.

After some thought, you decided not to dawdle on your overthinking for too long and shrugged off the idea of redoing another batch of cupcakes. “It’s fine, I’ll just move onto the chocolates then. They’re the star of Valentine’s Day so better to focus on those,” you told yourself. A grin found its way on your face as you rolled the sleeves of your blouse up your forearms. “Alright, let’s get to it then!”

You retrieved a recipe sheet from across the counter, scanning through the contents while overlooking the ingredients lying in front of you. Compared to baking cupcakes, chocolates should be easier to tackle since you weren’t entirely making them from scratch. All you had to do is temper the chocolate melts in a bowl over a heat source, pour them into silicone molds, and refrigerate until hardened and shaped to the perfect, bite-sized delight. Seemed simple enough.

.

.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t quite as simple as you thought.

Or rather, you chose to make the whole process more complicated than it needed to be, not realizing the ambitious turn your take on these chocolates was moving toward until you drove yourself into another mess.

Your first trial of bonbons was sprawled out over parchment paper, waiting for your verdict. Eyes roaming the array of sweets tentatively, you absorbed the mixture of pink and white hues with an unsure look on your face. Somehow during the process, you opted to forgo the customary milk chocolates for white and strawberry, which was the closest you could get to matching Shouto’s signature hair colors.

You’d thought it’d be cute for the treats to have a slight resemblance to him as a simple yet sweet reminder that he was on your mind throughout your progress. But staring down at the final product, you wished you guessed ahead of time that the vision you sparked in your head was not going to be as bright and pretty in comparison to what came out.

You frowned at the batch with narrowed brows before begrudgingly scooping a piece and tossing it into your mouth. The sweetness of the strawberry and white chocolates coexisted together to form a smooth texture that left behind a creamy, floral undertone on your tongue. What was incredibly lacking, however, laid in the looks department. The visuals left… more to be desired, to say the least.

With the idea of wanting to use two different flavors of chocolate, you also played on the notion of incorporating a theme. That theme being half-and-half. And half-and-half being splitting the colors on the chocolates right down the middle.

Though not a complicated plan for an adept baker, it was the exact opposite for a newbie like you who had came up with the idea on the spot. With your chocolates appearing in odd shapes and sizes, not one seemed to resemble another, which was the result of both your lack of patience and miscalculations. You had to allow one of the flavors to harden in the mold before adding the other to not prematurely mix the colors, but judging by the swirls of pink and white surrounding the chocolates, that didn’t seem to go so well. Add on to the fact you had some trouble inverting them out of the silicon molds—the edges of the chocolates ending up smooshed or torn off entirely—and you were left with another failed attempt at a Valentine’s present.

“Guess making sweets isn’t really my thing, huh?” You sighed, body slumping forward against the kitchen counter in defeat. Your eyes wandered from your sad chocolates to the hefty amount of dirty dishes piled in the sink. All this, and you weren’t able to make anything worth giving to Shouto. What exactly were you going to tell him when he came home, bearing witness to this entire mess? No, Shouto was probably under enough stress and fatigue as it was after working all day. Plus, his anticipation for a gift would only be amplified if he saw the number of baking supplies you’ve wasted today. At this point, you had to turn in the towel.

“Oh well… I better clean everything up before Sho comes home and start on din–”

Your words were interrupted by the sharp sound of the front door opening.

“I’m home!” an all too familiar voice announced, one that you were more than aware belonged to a particular fire and ice hero.

Surprised, you glanced over at the clock to check the time, which read a bold 6:00 PM—sooner than you expected your boyfriend to arrive home from his duties that day. So soon, in fact, that you weren’t able to even begin erasing any of the evidence littered around the kitchen.

“Y/n?” you heard him call. Freezing in place, you picked up Shouto breathing in a quick whiff. “What’s that smell?” he asked but didn’t wait for a response, traveling through the enormous apartment to find that answer for himself. Hearing his feet shuffling across the hardwood floor, you moved quickly.

“The kitchen smells sweet but also... bitter.”

Sweet and bitter..? you repeated but soon realized what he meant—those damn burnt chocolate cupcakes you left out. While in your rush with making the chocolates, you had forgotten to dispose of them beforehand. Though the bitter smell was not as prominent as when the cupcakes first came out of the oven, it still didn’t evade Shouto’s keen senses.

After shoving the burnt mini cupcakes in a trash bin, you scrambled to the entrance to the kitchen, thankfully cutting Shouto’s path off just in time as you met him there. “Oh hey, Sho, why didn't expect you to come home so early!” you greeted, a cheerful lilt in your tone as you leaned an arm on the side of the doorway, hoping to come off ordinarily chill to avoid any questioning looks. It seemed you achieved that much at least by how Shouto smiled warmly at your appearance.

“You should’ve shot me a quick text or something.”

“Sorry, we managed to track down the group of villains right away and finished the mission smoothly without any casualties,” he explained. “I guess I was in such a hurry to come home and celebrate Valentine’s Day with you that I must’ve forgotten.” The soft look on Shouto’s handsome features had you in a daze for a second; you nearly missed him descending his head to your level so his lips could find yours. Eventually, you broke from your stupor and swiftly turned your head so he planted a peck on your cheek instead.

You were never one to purposely avoid a kiss on the lips like that from him—far from it actually—but you didn’t want him to find any residual sweetness on your lips from the confections you taste-tested that day and have him bring up if you made anything for him. One thing you surely couldn’t avoid, however, was his puzzled face at your uncharacteristic actions. Still, Shouto wasn’t one to overthink the details. Instead, he decided to look at the bigger picture, such as the dirty yet cute, pink and brown frilly apron tied around your body.

“Your apron’s a mess,” he chuckled lightly. The comment caught you off-guard, eyes slowly traveling down to the flour and chocolate stains on your Valentine’s-themed apron. “Have you been cooking?” he asked. You fumbled with your answer.

“O-Oh yeah..! In fact, I’m… still cooking, actually!” you quickly added, making up for your lack of words. “C’mon, it’s probably been a long day for you. You should go freshen up in the shower while I get everything done and cleaned!” You tried shoo-ing Shouto from the kitchen’s vicinity, but he didn’t budge.

“I can help out if you like. I wouldn’t want you to fix everything up by yourself, especially since we’re supposed to spend the rest of Valentine’s Day together,” he said, and as much as you liked to take him up on his kind and thoughtful offer, you had to object.

Firmly shaking your head, you continued your attempts at pushing Shouto to retreat to the shower and scrub off the troubles of his day. “No, you’ve probably done enough work today as it is! Just let me handle the rest, ‘kay?” you insisted, straining a smile. However, your hurried shoving felt almost too persistent than what Shouto found normal.

“Well, what are you making then–” As he tilted his head up to sneak a peek, you followed his movements, elevating yourself onto your tiptoes to block his vision in time.

“S-Soba noodles..! Cold! Just how you like them,” you answered after partially interrupting him. Quirking a brow at your fidgety gestures, Shouto stared at the smile etched on your lips which screamed of suspicion. Now he was sure something was up.

“Love,” he said, his voice a tone lower than usual that made goosebumps appear on your skin, staring at his turquoise and gray eyes warily, “are you hiding something from me?”

“What? Psh, no,” you feigned innocence, shrugging, “Why would you think that?”

Shouto gave you a look, silently telling you that you should more than know the reason why, but you chose to remain ignorant. No point in questioning it any further then. He would have to pry the answer out himself.

Aware that you had no intention of letting him pass voluntarily, Shouto began putting his hero training to use. He side-stepped in a single motion, quickly pivoting on the balls of his feet to slip through your defenses. You didn’t have time to ask yourself what happened before you turned around to watch his reaction to what you left for him on the kitchen counter.

Upon entering the kitchen, Shouto’s heterochromatic eyes were immediately drawn to the marbled white-and-pink sweets sprawled across the parchment paper. His interest piqued, he walked straight to the chocolates with you trailing behind. You could feel the heat in your cheeks slowly rise from the embarrassment at seeing Shouto inspect your sorry excuse of chocolates.

“Hm, no soba noodles, but I may have found something even better,” he said, and you wondered if you heard correctly or that maybe he saw something you didn’t. You rapidly blinked about four times, letting your vision adjust, and yet your chocolates remained.

“You’re kidding… right?”

Shouto lifted a brow at your hesitance. “No, why would I be kidding?” he replied thoughtfully. He took one of the chocolates off the parchment paper, raising it in the air between his thumb and index finger. “You made these for me, didn’t you?”

“I mean, yeah, they were supposed to be a Valentine’s Day gift, but…”

“But..?” A frown settled on his lips, watching you nervously twiddle your thumbs while you held your hands against your apron. “Y/n, you can tell me.” Not liking how you weren’t meeting his eyes, his finger drew your chin up so he could get a better glimpse of your face.

“But they don’t look the part. They’re hideous,” you quietly admitted, your words mellowing into a whisper the more they departed your lips. The way he treated your creations as if they belonged on a pedestal didn’t sit right in your eyes. “So I... didn’t want you to see them, or any of this actually. I thought if you saw what I was doing, you’d get your hopes up for something special, only to be disappointed.” You tried avoiding his gaze again, but Shouto wouldn’t allow it, following your eyes as his hand pried yours apart to take one in his own.

His focus shifted from the pink and white chocolate held in front of him to the uncertainty clouding your expression. “I’m not sure what you mean. They look fine to me.”

“Sho, you don’t have to lie to me just so you don’t end up hurting my feelings. Anyone can see how uneven they look,” you said, pointing at the rest of the batch still sitting on the counter behind him. There was a low chuckle coming from the male’s lips, one that you guessed was out of amusement, but you were too caught in your troubled feelings to be sure.

“Well, I have to admit, they don’t exactly resemble the perfect, visual representation of the chocolates you’d find at the store or anything,” he acknowledged with you mumbling an ‘I told you so’ in response before he continued, “but that’s the reason why I like them. That means you made them for me and there isn’t any chocolate like it. They’re one of a kind.”

His genuine words took you aback, eyes glimmering and cheeks flushed. You were too wrapped up in your need for perfection that you didn’t realize you could consider your efforts that way.

“Besides,” he threw the little bonbon in his mouth, “they taste great,” he said as the strawberry and white cream melted on his tongue with its rich sweetness.

Despite his praise, you thought he had only said that because you knew for a fact that the chocolates did at least pass in the taste department. “But what if they had tasted bad too? What would you have said then?” You were bold enough to question, though half-worried about his answer in the back of your head—worried that he would have to take back those sweet words of his.

“I still would have eaten them, regardless. I’d never waste anything you’ve made for me, you should know that. To me, these chocolates are the sweetest delight not because they’re the best looking or tasting, but because they came from you,” he answered earnestly, bending down to tuck a hair away from your stunned yet grateful appearance which looked as if you were nearly about to sigh out loud in relief. You brought your body into his chest, tucking your head beneath his chin, and he wrapped his arms around you, lips pressed against your hair.

Shouto didn’t grant you much time to bask in your solace however, before beckoning you over to the kitchen counter. He wasn’t done teasing you just yet.

“Normally couples give each other milk chocolates on Valentine’s day. Any reason you decided on white and strawberry then?” Shouto noted, a grin on his lips as you seemed reluctant to reveal your reasoning—lips pursed and fingers playing with the hem of your apron.

“Well, they’re supposed to be your…” You finished by motioning at the crown of your head before pointing to his red and white locks.

Heh... Cute. The grin that was persistent on his features widened, and your response earned you a kiss on the cheek. “Thinking about me, huh?” he teased. You were more than aware of your intentions throughout your chocolate-making process, but it didn’t make the whole situation any less embarrassing when your motives came to light out of Shouto’s own mouth.

You pouted profusely, turning your face in the other direction as you nudged his arm. “Aren’t you going to eat the rest then?” you asked despite your demure demeanor. You couldn’t see it, but you were positive he was aiming that amused expression in your direction, leaning his head on his palm while his elbow was leveled on the counter.

“You made a lot of chocolates today, love. You don’t expect me to finish them all by myself, do you?” You heard the rustle of the parchment liner unsticking to something behind you. Then a finger poked your cheek, and out of curiosity, you followed where the disturbance came from, only to have a swirl of pink and white pushed past your lips.

“Mm..” you hummed surprisingly in delight at the harmonious strawberry and cream flavors coating your tastebuds.

“Tastes good, doesn’t it?” he asked.

“Yeah, I got to taste them before you arrived home.” You rubbed the back of your head. “And um, I didn’t exactly make these from scratch...” You went about divulging your methods to him, explaining your usage of chocolate melts, which all in all saved you a lot of time, considering your earlier mishaps with the brownies—a misfortune you also confessed to as you side-eyed the trash bin.

The dual-haired male laughed with mirth at the disasters you tangled yourself into today. “Seemed like you had an eventful Valentine’s Day at home without me.”

He scanned over your outfit, consisting of a simple buttoned blouse and a pair of jeans. What caught his eye the most was the frilly, laced brown and pink apron tied around your body. You must have bought this specifically to get in the spirit of Valentine’s Day because this was the first he’s seen you in this. Normally you’d wear those plain cotton aprons while you were cooking. Not something so charming and—dare he say—refreshing.

As you were continuing the conversation—going on about how vanquishing criminal organizations was more productive than whatever you were concocting at home—your words faded into the background. Shouto found it hard to focus on what you were saying, while your animated gestures seemed to enhance the shape of the apron against your body, emphasizing your physique.

Recalling the story you just mentioned, he imagined what the scene of you frantically dashing around the kitchen would look like as you wore this cute thing. Was it weird of him to hold fantasies of arriving home, being greeted by your endearing self donning this garment, dolled in its intricacies with a smile gracing the lips he oh so wanted to kiss every day?

Shouto would think so. He’s never heard of any anecdotes of this kind of behavior before. Perhaps it was how dainty and frilly the material appeared against your figure that stemmed such a risqué thought from him. If that was the case, then this apron was no different than lingerie. Or more specifically, those delicate lace babydolls you’d wear for him on those special occasions, in which you displayed the zenith of lust and vulnerability that rendered him a man ensnared by his need to utterly ravage you–

Fuck. Letting those imaginations cross his mind was a dangerous move. He felt himself getting hard, body exercising the willpower not to pounce and concede to his fantasies. Then again, no one could really blame him for thinking of his girlfriend this way on Valentine’s Day. Especially when you looked so damn cute right now that he could just eat you up.

“Shouto?” Your voice diverted his attention from the growing problem in his pants, though only for a moment. When his focus returned to you, all those lascivious thoughts buried in the back of his head made their way to the forefront again. Damn, did he have it bad.

“Is something wrong? You were zoning out for a bit.”

He shook his head, dispelling your concern. However, it was going to take more than that to sweep away the lust consuming his mind. “It’s nothing. More importantly, why don’t we continue tasting these chocolates?” Pulling up a stool, he took a seat next to the kitchen counter.

Just as you were going to mention that you needed to start on dinner soon, Shouto suddenly drew your body in between his parted legs. Thrown slightly off-balance, you instinctively held onto his shoulders to keep yourself steady.

You couldn’t help but notice the hand traveling up your legs as it situated itself on the back of your thigh, but the detail was abandoned as soon as it was manifested. The proximity between you two was too much not to overlook now. Shouto peered up at you with what you made out to be smoldering intensity, and the sight reduced you to shying away from his eyes again.

Of course, Shouto didn’t take a liking to that. With you so close, he didn’t want anything hindering his front seat viewing of your candid reactions. “Baby, look here,” he called to you. You followed his command, turning back to face the grin reaching his lips. “There’s my pretty girl.”

You attempted to open your mouth to reply but found another ball of marbled chocolate placed where words should’ve been.

Soft lips wrapped around him, Shouto had to fight back the urge to groan, feeling your tongue graze the pad of his thumb as he fed you the candy. His other hand, formerly occupied with rubbing subtle circles on your clothed flesh, wandered to the satin ribbon of your apron fashioned behind you.

It wasn’t long until you discerned the game he was playing through the fiery looks and frisky touching.

Well, enter player two.

You brought a hand to his wrist, keeping him there as your tongue made work at licking away the residual chocolate melted on his finger. You moved from his thumb to his index finger, noting not to miss anything with every flick as you confidently returned the heady expression with batted eyelashes.

Shouto breathed in silently through his nose, gritting his teeth, your sultry actions having an innate effect on him, to which you smirked at. There was a slight tug on the ribbon wrapped behind you. It wasn’t firm enough to where the knot came undone, but enough that you noticed his fixation on the material. If he was making an effort to exert some self-control, it was futile at this point. No doubt, he was going to take you before Valentine’s Day was over.

“Hmm, you’re right, these chocolates are pretty tasty. But it’s probably because you’re the one feeding them to me that they taste just soooo good,” you mused, adding a sensual tonality to your voice as you concluded your words with one last kitten lick.

The man before you bit the inside of his cheek, your voice alone making blood rush south. You little minx. He was going to make doubly sure you understood just what you were doing to him.

Finally releasing his hand, you reached over beside you to grab a chocolate off the parchment paper. “For you~” You giggled as you led the confection to Shouto’s mouth. He readily accepted your gift, lips wrapping around the tips of your fingers as the mellow flavors soothed his taste buds. He made a point of re-enacting your little show, tongue languidly lapping your fingers while he maintained steady eye contact. You shuddered at the wet warmth abiding your skin, the suffocating sexual tension in the air causing you to press your thighs together. The action was not overlooked by Shouto, who smiled amidst cleaning your fingers with every brush of his tongue.

“What’s wrong, love? You were so bold and talkative earlier. Cat got your tongue or something?” he teased. A smirk ran across the curl of his lips as his licks turned to kisses he planted on the back of your hand.

After finishing his task of lapping up every essence of sweetness off your skin, he lifted himself from the stool. Doing so made him stand tall over you, and he easily cornered you to where your back met the edge of the counter. Your wrist captured in one of his hands, he wove an arm around you, pulling your body into him.

“You know, there’s something I want to eat right now other than chocolates,” he confessed, forehead pressed to yours and glinted heterochromatic eyes latent with an insatiable hunger. The baritone of his voice sent shivers through your body and a throb aching in your core.

You innocently tilted your head at him. “Oh, is that so? And what would that be?”

He chuckled darkly at your redundant question.

“Why you of course, my love.”

The moment the words reached your ears, he lunged forward to seize your lips. You quickly followed in the sensual movements of his soft lips against yours like it was a practiced routine, not resisting his tongue prying its way into your mouth and submitting to the dance that made pleasure course through your veins.

A single tap on your thigh was your cue to hop into Shouto’s waiting grasp and wrap your arms around his neck. You pulled your bodies closer to where the few layers of clothing you both possessed did nothing to hide your enthusiasm for each other. You could feel your nipples under your bra stiffen at your arousal, growing more sensitive as you pressed your chest to him. Meanwhile, his hard erection shamelessly poked the inside of your thigh to which his grip was poised on remaining firm, grinding your lower half against him.

You expected this was where he intended to have you—right then and there in the middle of the kitchen—but to your surprise, Shouto had other plans. He navigated you two to the dining table as you continued feverishly making out with your legs wrapped around his waist. Never breaking the hot mingle of your lips, he carefully placed you on the edge. His hands were free to roam the expanse of your body, palming at places that elicited airy moans from you as he inscribed the niceties of your bonny apron into his memory. Though he cursed the unnecessary layers that obscured your beautiful flesh from him.

Finding the clothes still on you equally unbearable in the heat of your movements, you were on the same wavelength as him. You sought out the satin ribbon tied behind your back that kept the apron on your form, but before your fingertips could even reach the material to tug the knot loose, Shouto seized your wrists and led your hands away. Your face was scrunched with bewilderment by how sudden his actions were.

Shouto didn’t think he could have a fetish over something as ordinary and domestic as a decorative garment tied around your waist, but this Valentine’s Day was proving him otherwise. He was not about to pass an opportunity to absolutely ruin you in this pretty thing.

“Keep it on,” he ordered, voice deep and commanding.

“H-Huh? What about my clothes?” you stuttered, confused at first. You wanted to ask what spurred him to give such a demand, but you were too caught in the moment to think of objecting to his request (not that you had much choice anyway).

“Let me.” That was all he said before his hands sought after the waistband of your jeans and the buttons of your top. He pulled and undid the apparel until you were left in only your panties and that lovely apron. Your bra was quickly disposed of to the pile next to his feet thanks to the clip being located at the front this time, and he was eternally grateful for the convenience. You didn’t even have to mention anything for his own clothes to float above yours on the floor, sitting back on the table to admire his toned physique, now free for you to ogle in just his briefs.

His hooded, icy eyes concentrated on every aspect of your appearance. He didn’t dare miss a single detail in front of him—from your bare, flushed skin glowing beneath the light fixture to your aroused nipples shaped through the thin fabric. You were a sight Shouto would gladly worship for the rest of his life.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes, my love, and I’m going to enjoy ravaging you until all you know is my name.”

His words alone were enough to send a tingle of anticipation to your cunt. You did not shrink at his assertiveness, instead embracing both yours and Shouto’s desires with open arms.

“You have me, Sho. I’m all yours.”

The man released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding before inhaling and diving in. Your lips reencountered each other, continuing from where you left off with his tongue chasing after you. You laced your fingers in his soft hair to press him deeper to you as Shouto navigated down your neck. He sucked and licked at your skin; every tug he felt on his scalp compelled him to lay marks as he inched closer and closer to your breasts.

“Ahh.. Sho…” you mewled, feeling his hands grope one of your mounds and tease your slit through your panties. With no intention of letting this apron off your body, Shouto pushed the fabric concealing your chest inward to reveal a perky nipple, seeming excited to be covered by his mouth. Well, who was he to deny such exuberance, especially when he himself was hungry to taste?

Lips enclosing the stiffened nub, Shouto sucked and prodded with fervor. As you squirmed and squealed beneath him, your fingers pulled harder at his strands which he hummed in content at. The tip of his tongue circled your areola, making the slick clinging to your panties damper at the stimulation. The hand occupied between your thighs stroked you against the fabric before pulling it to the side to touch you directly.

“Oh fuck!” you cursed at the contact as Shouto did not hesitate to start pumping a finger into your pussy.

“Damn, you’re so wet down here. Did my kisses and teasing do all this?”

You were too distracted by the precise movements of his fingers working through you to answer, words superseded by your wanton moans. “Keep making those pretty sounds, love. I want you to cry out as I’m ruining you.”

Your noises hit a crescendo when his fingers began curling inside you, stretching into places that lit stars behind your eyes. His thumb rubbed your clit to intensify the fire building in your abdomen. Your back arched on the table as you grabbed onto Shouto’s free hand for dear life, already feeling that flame ready to ignite.

“Sho– Wait, I’m gonna–”

“Don’t hesitate, sweetheart. Coat my fingers with your cum,” he told you, increasing the speed of his thumb against your bundle of nerves as he continually hit that euphoric soft spot.

At his words, your pussy clenched hard around him, practically sucking him in. You threw your head back against the table, releasing a loud cry of his name as your orgasm engulfed your whole body with electrifying pleasure. Chest heaving up and down, your breaths sounded ragged as your vision went white before slowly adjusting to the light.

Shouto slid his fingers out of you and brought them to his mouth, licking at the layer of gloss. He observed your fucked-out state from above and admired his handiwork—your lips swollen, eyes glassy, and sweaty skin adorned with his marks.

“You taste absolutely delicious, you know,” he said almost too sweetly, like he had immediately gotten drunk off drinking the remnants of your orgasm. And, of course, he had to let you know how delectable you were. Shouto provided you a sample by pressing his fingers to your lips. You obediently parted them, welcoming your essence on your tongue.

“Don’t you think so?”

You hummed and nodded in agreement. Shouto grinned, bending down to mix your flavor in each other’s mouths. He finally removed your ruined panties and slid them down your legs. But to no one’s surprise, the apron stayed on your person.

When you parted, Shouto gestured for you to get up from the table. In doing so, you had anticipated this would be the time to head straight to the bedroom, but the night continued to prove you wrong. Shouto was still famished.

“Stand up for a second, baby. I want to lay down as I have my meal.” You didn’t need to guess to know just what he wanted to satiate his appetite tonight.

Shouto laid himself flat across the table, the majority of his legs dangling off the edge. You, on the other hand, were apprehensive at his approach, cautiously wondering if your modest dining table could handle the rampant motions of two adult bodies on top of it at once. Should the legs give way and the table collapses, the gravity of your descent would put all your weight onto him. What if you hurt him as a result?

“Love, what’s the holdup?” your boyfriend called, breaking your train of thought, “Come, your throne awaits.” He patted his chest—a rather peculiar place to sit but your cunt pulsed at the image of you riding that gorgeous face of his.

“O-Okay, I’m just afraid of hurting you, is all,” you said, pulling at the hem of your apron for security.

He raised his upper body halfway to see the hesitance painted on your features. “Y/n, there’s no need to worry, I wouldn’t have thought of doing this if I couldn’t handle it,” he assured, his hand reaching out for you. “Trust me. I won’t let anything happen to us.”

You stared at the hand hovering in front of you and then at Shouto’s eyes glimmering with faith, and you knew you could trust his word. So you take his hand, climbing onto the table and over his body where you straddled his chest.

“Dining tables are meant to be eaten on, right? Well, I intend to devour you until your legs are shaking beside me, sweetheart,” he promised. He stroked up and down your thighs tauntingly. Your breaths hitched as he maneuvered you above his face, moving the flap of your apron so you could feel his cold breath against your lower lips.

“As much as I appreciate all those confections you made for me, they all pale in comparison to the sweetest delight here–” He uttered praises to your core while rubbing the soft flesh of your thighs. “This pretty, soft, and dripping pussy.”

Warmth spread across your cheeks at his lewd words and how close in proximity he was to your twitching center. The one thing you detested about this apron at this moment was the fact it blocked you from what Shouto was doing, the bottom half lying right above his face. To him, however, it made everything all the more entertaining.

Despite being the one trapped under you, it must have felt like you were more in the dark than he was. After all, he was the one asserting dominance in this situation, and with a layer of fabric hiding his face, you had no idea how or when he was going to eat you out. His deafening silence was not offering you one bit of reassurance either. If he truly intended to devour you atop this table, he should just do it already.

“...Sho? Are you—Ah!” Upon questioning him, your words were choked by your surprised squeal, feeling him delicately kiss your folds with chilly lips attached to your warm pussy. You opened your mouth to speak again, yet you struggled to search for words as Shouto’s tongue flattened against you, licking a long strip before latching onto your sensitive pearl. The more he relentlessly sucked and teased, the more you sang out with waves of pleasure quivering through your body.

Hearing your beautiful noises, he chuckled, tongue vibrating on your clit. Every sound you produced made his cock stutter, still leaking and begging for attention beneath his briefs.

Not liking how inactive you were—simply sitting on his face and waiting for yourself to come undone on his tongue—you reached behind yourself to trail your hand down his abdomen. His body tensed, abs immediately flexing at your soft touch. You noticed his ministrations falter in their rhythm.

“B-Baby, what are you doing?” he questioned, pulling himself off of you to concentrate on your hand running along the waistband of his briefs. His fingers dug into your flesh as you found his length, tentatively giving it a pump that gave birth to a strained noise below the flap of your apron.

“You’ve been doing all the work so far, Sho. I just want you to enjoy yourself,” you said. His eyebrows were scrunched, hissing through his teeth at your thumb grazing his slit, mixing his precum around the tip.

“I am enjoying myself—this is all I could ever ask for,” he replied honestly. He lifted the frilly material off his face so you could discover your slick running down his lips and neck, the blush spread across his fair cheeks an more than sufficient indication that he derived nothing but delight from being in this position. He looked like an absolute mess, yet the debauched sight made both your heart and pussy flutter.

“But if you want to join in, I won’t stop you.”

At that, Shouto detached himself from your sweetness for just a second to quickly reposition you above him. You were adjusted to where you were practically on all fours on the table now, facing the prominent bulge raised on his briefs while your fluttering cunt was somehow even more obscenely split in front of him. You were thankful the piece of furniture stayed intact throughout the motions, pleasantly astounded by its strength. However, you couldn’t pause to be impressed by this detail for long. Not when Shouto’s aching erection pleaded for you to continue touching it.

Your hand returned to its original place—wrapped around his heavy length that wept with precum coating the surface of its mushroom top. As you stroked it up and down in a consistent rhythm, you altered your grip to tighten more around him.

“Ooh yeah, that’s it, baby. Just like that… Ahhhh, fuckkkk—” You were rewarded by his praises and groans at the splendid pressure surrounding his dick. It encouraged you to keep up your pace and add another hand to the fray to increase the tension.

“You’re doing so well, making me feel so fucking good, love. Can you add your mouth for me now?” he requested, and you happily complied. Your tongue flattened against his cock, noting every vein and twitch running across your wet muscle that reduced Shouto to muttering obscenities behind you. Reaching the top, you swirled your tongue along the tip before taking the entire head into your warm cavern. Shouto’s thighs flexed, body almost trembling at how heavenly you made him feel. He couldn’t be outdone.

You let out a whine on his cock, feeling his mouth working against you again. This time you felt the effects stronger than before as Shouto spread your pussy lips to grant him better access to tongue fuck you. He stimulated every sensitive area with practiced ease, making sure to flick your clit with extra vigor to achieve the best results. You delivered in your reactions—legs shaking and knees slowly and deliberately being reduced to jelly.

Even ensnared in ecstasy, you did your best to adapt to his intensity, engulfing him more into your mouth. Your hands worked together to maximize the most pleasure you could give him, fondling his balls and gripping the base of his cock.

The lewdest of sounds filled the room in an unrelenting symphony. From your muffled whimpers to your pussy squelching in the presence of Shouto’s mouth purring against you, there was no shortage of bliss evident in the atmosphere. Hearing yourselves in the throes of rapture as you devoured each other’s whole beings like starved animals, you two were simultaneously climbing toward your highs.

“Shit, keep doing just that baby, and I’m going to paint that pretty mouth of yours white,” he warned half-heartedly. You purred, the enthusiasm laced your tone informing Shouto you wanted him to do just that. He was pleased by your response.

“You want it, don’t you, you slutty girl? Well, I expect you to drown me in your honey while I cover your throat with my cum then.” Those were the last words he spared you before proceeding to manifest them into reality. His hands dug themselves in the flesh below your ass cheeks, exposing your pussy to his appendage that swiped away at your clit until shockwaves made you tremble above him.

You were the first to come undone, juices running down your thighs and boyfriend’s chin. Your cries were muffled amidst Shouto’s dick caught down your throat, tightening around his length, which surged with spurts of white all over your mouth. You swallowed every single drop of his seed, wiping at the excess on your lips as you released the hero’s cock with a loud pop.

After taking a moment to catch your breaths, you carefully moved off of each other. Shouto steadied you on his lap, letting you straddle him as he sat on the edge of the table. He intertwined your fingers through his and brought them to his lips to place a tender kiss on the back of your hand.

“I love you, sweetheart.”

“I love you too, Shouto. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

[morgana-ren]

👉👈 Spare thoughts on like Crystal Lake/Friday the 13thesque camp counselor au with the Lov or mainly Shigaraki. I was thinking about watching Fear street and suddenly this was all I could think about

So I wrote this bit and yes, I’m painfully aware it’s not plot-perfect or polished but I LOVE the concept and wanted to put something out for it to show my appreciation that you shared it with me. Warning: it’s very nasty and I took a lot of liberties here. I hope that’s okay. Tomura is the gross incel-y killer. It wasn’t QUITE Friday 13th style, more “creepy counselor gone mad” because when I started writing it, I was a bit out of it.

I hope it’s okay!

-

A slippery hand clutches yours- stark red and slicked with sweat and blood, trembling bones and quivering fingers- clinging to yours as if you alone could keep her anchored to her quickly fading lifeforce. She’s been stabbed repeatedly, but it’s the wound on her chest that pulses most noticeably with her breath; A font bubbling from the cleave a few inches beneath her collar bone, a scarlet brook staining down the front of her pastel camp uniform.

Her mouth open in a strangled, wordless cry: A petrified 'o' shape that seems terribly uncanny alongside her sallow cheeks, fear and pain reflected in her wide and panicked eyes as her grip on consciousness rapidly fades. Crimson stains her slippery ivory teeth, gurgling on her own bile as she struggles to make out a fragmented sentence between her presumably collapsing lungs and the blood pooling in her throat.

Her face, the perfect mask of fear covered in dirt and her own fluids, begins twitching, blinking tears through the muck that cakes her cheeks. The hand not wrapped around yours in an iron grip curls into a point -shaky and pale and borderline indiscernible- and it takes you a brief moment for you to realize she’s pointing directly behind you. It’s only then that you rip yourself from your traumatized stupor and hear the footsteps approaching from the cabin door.

You’re ready and willing to defend yourself if need be, shooting to your feet with lips pulled in a snarl, but you’re not greeted with the sight of a terrifying killer brandishing a knife: You’re met instead by the familiar face of your fellow camp counselor and long time friend.

“Tomura!”

You can’t help it. You throw your arms around his scrawny neck, almost knocking him over in your relief as you bury your head into the swell of his black hoodie. He’s a welcome sight- been close to you ever since you started attending even though he’s years older than you are, and he’s always made you feel better- safer somehow.

You’ve never been more happy to see him than you are now, thanking whatever God is looking out for you that he’s alive and that he found you. You squeeze him with every ounce of strength your little body can muster as he wraps his own gangly limbs around you and cages you to his chest in turn- almost too tightly.

“I looked for you! I couldn’t-“ Breath escapes you, tearing up in his embrace. “I couldn’t find you! I thought he’d gotten you too! I was so scared-”

He gives a firm shake of his head, shaggy silver hair ruffling over his shoulders. He reeks, as always, of slight mildew and something vaguely earthy- like ash or cinder, even as he hasn’t ever been allowed on fire duty. “No. He can’t be far behind though. We need to go.” 

“Okay!” You nod, wiggling free of his reluctant arms and dropping to your knees again by your wounded friend. “Just help me with Maureen- she’s really hurt- We need to get her to a hospital and fast-” “Leave her.” His knobby fingers encircle the rounds of your forearm, jerking you back to your feet at his side again with a bruising yank. ”We don’t have time- she’ll only slow us down.”  “How can you say that? We can’t just leave her here! She’s bleeding out- We can save her, we just have to-” 

A quick peek back at her and you realize she looks- if possible- more terrified than she did only moments ago in the face of death. She’s shaking like a leaf- Her wide, milky eyes focused in on Tomura as she attempts another gasped word.  “Look- Just look at her. She’s done for. Let’s go- I can keep you safe, I can-.”  “You don’t know that- You don’t know that- Please Tomura, we don’t have time to argue, just help me!” 

“I do know that,” He insists, trying again to tug you towards the door. “She’s in shock, and the blood loss is too much for them to be able to save her even if we could drag her out of here. It was obviously intentional. I can protect you but we need to leave now-” 

Your eyes flick back to Maureen and the pooling beneath her prone body that seems to grow larger by the second. Her mouth trembles, choking on the words that are trapped in her flooded throat. 

You shake him off once more and lean down to her as Tomura groans in what seems like, if you didn’t know better, annoyance. You ignore him, trying to coax her into your arms carefully, but she only quivers in your grasp, still trying to hiccup out something between her pained gasps and slipping mortal coil. 

“C’mon Maureen- You can make it, I know you can!” But she remains limply, dead weight on the cabin floor, more fearful of something directly in front of her than the inevitable death that awaits. You lean forward once more to try and get a grip beneath her arms to hoist her upward, but she holds firm, puffing a final wheeze in your ear that takes a moment to process.  “Him.”

Blood bubbles up through her throat following the words and she spits it up over her blouse, eyes going blank and body falling into limpness. The wounds across her body still ooze a steady stream of blood but the last of her spirit seems to still, light fading from her eyes in one final moment.

“Tomura, help-” Panic threads through your voice, still trying to drag her forward.

But he doesn’t move to help you. He only stares blank faced and cold as Maureen seizes in her death rattles; Her pallid fingers still coiled in an accusatory gesture at her side. 

“Please-”

“I told you, she’s dead.” He pulls you away by the collar like a kitten, knocking your center of balance clean from the sheer force of the grab as he coaxes you once again into his arms. “Can we go now? We need to go, need to get away from here-”

Something catches your attention, something solid in his hoodie’s kangaroo pouch that pricks you slightly as you fall into his chest. A slight sting on your arm as it collides with his torso. 

”Ow!” You pull away once again, his body stiffening as you inspect a fresh little cut on your arm where something sharp pricked at your flesh. “Tomura, what the hell is in your pocket? That hurt-”  ”Nothing! Quit wasting time- Come on! We need to leave.” 

“It cut me...” You pluck at the skin once more, hissing in slight pain as the small laceration pulls apart under your attentions. “Do you have a knife in your pocket?”  “What? No- well, yeah. I picked it up in the kitchens when I was trying to find you. I thought I could defend myself with it if he caught up to us-” 

You turn and narrow your eyes at him, shaking your head. “We don’t have knives that sharp. We have butter knives. It’s not safe for the kids, and after you got caught last time-”  “We have one, remember? The one we keep in the drawer for the barbeques.” “I looked! When the girls cabin scattered after the attack, I went and looked and it was gone!” “I must’ve grabbed it before you got there. Is this really important right now? We need to go! Stop being difficult!-”  “How is that possible? The boys cabin didn’t know anything was going on until we fled there when he attacked Stacy and Becky. You didn’t even know what was happening until- You- You weren’t even there-” 

“Well I have it, alright?” He interrupts you, face contorting into a sneer. “Shouldn’t you be happy? It means you’re not fucking defenseless if he shows up again.” “How-”

“Don’t worry about it!” He grabs your arm again, bruising grip deceptively strong for such a lithe man, crushing the bones in your wrist with his fingers. “Come on- Lets go! We can finally leave here together- You’ll be safe with me-”

Him

It could be the ferocious expression, or his demands that are cloaked in the facade of a benevolent request. Maybe his story that doesn’t add up or perhaps you’ve simply known all along somewhere deep down. Either way, It hits you in one terrible moment- one world shattering instant where everything suddenly clicks into place.

Tomura- quiet, eerie Tomura with the sharp mind and the eyes sharper still. Tomura with boundary issues who always found a reason to touch things he wasn’t supposed to. Tomura who only ever had a soft spot for you because you were kind to him when everyone else kept a mile berth. 

Tomura, who’s only friend to speak of is you.

‘He’s so obsessed with you! It’s fuckin’ creepy! You should get a restraining order before he, like, snaps and corners you and makes you suck his dick or something. He’s not even supposed to hang around with the younger group but he’s always following you around like a lovesick puppy.’

‘What? No he’s not! That’s a horrible thing to say! He’s a nice guy, you guys are just awful. You don’t even give him a chance-’

‘He’s always staring at you like he wants to eat you! I bet he’s the one stealing your stuff. I’ll bet he has one of those weirdo shrines to you in his cabin and jerks it over your picture like ‘Oh, oh yeah, ride me harder, oh fuck me faster- Oh!-’

‘You’re disgusting! He’s just nice to me because I’m nice to him! Everyone else is such an asshole to him- Including you! God, you guys are so fuckin’ mean for no reason! Just because he’s a little different-’

‘He gives me the creeps. He’s been like that since we were kids. Remember when he was a teenager but still only ever hung around you? He couldn’t even make friends his own age! Even the other councilors are wigged by him. The only one who even talks to him is you. I’m telling you, he’s a fuckin’ weirdo. There’s something totally off about him. He’s going to snap one day. We’re not the only ones that avoid him, you know-’ 

‘Fuck you guys. You guys are such fucking judgmental dicks. He’s never even done anything to you. You’re just a mean spirited bitch.’ 

Tomura who would sneak you into the woods and show you rotting animal corpses with macabre excitement in his wide red eyes. Tomura who used to sneak knives in his bag as a camper and show you how to sharpen and hold them until he got caught and the entire camp had to institute a new safety policy. Tomura who had to be scolded repeatedly for trying to sneak into the girl’s cabin as a young boy to try sleep next to you, and that it wasn’t appropriate for him to wait outside of it for you as he got older either. Tomura who has distain for everything and everyone in a world that shunned and rejected him in equal capacity. 

Everyone but you. 

Your friends are dead, slaughtered like animals and strewn across the camp in a grotesque tableau of vicious murder, the only knife in the area conveniently tucked in his pocket, his hand clasping your wrist in an iron hold that doesn’t ask, but demands you obey him. 

“Tomura- Tomura tell me you didn’t- You couldn’t-”  You’re shaking now, feeling more in danger than you did before the man in the mask who conveniently never chased you or even gave you a second glance even as he had every opportunity to do so. The murderer just as gawky and gangly as Tomura, lean, wiry muscle and imposing height almost too tall for his own body and manic, scarlet eyes. The killer who held the knife with the same practiced grip that he’d shown you so many years ago-

“What are you even talking about? Let’s go-” 

He rips you forward, taking you into his arms again and squeezing.

‘He’s going to snap one day-’

“Tomura- Tomura no! Tomura! God, please tell me you didn’t do this! Look at me and tell me!” 

He looks at you, mouth opening to form a sentence before abruptly cutting short. He studies your face, your quivering body, the blood across your cheek. You think, for a moment, he might break down. But he doesn’t.  He laughs. A nasty, cruel chuckle directed at you and only you; there’s no one else alive to hear it.

“You always were too smart for your own good.” 

The facade of panic and adrenaline falls from his pallid face, replaced with his stereotypical look of total nonchalance and almost boredom. Your stomach plummets, limbs paralyzed in abject terror as his pale hand reaches forward, thumbing at the swatch of blood across your face. 

“I had to, you know. Wanted to for years. But I had to wait until you were a counselor with me. Had to wait until I could do it before the kids arrived. Too many variables I couldn’t control. No one is coming for days, and they’re finally dead, and by the time anyone finds them, we’ll be long gone.” 

A stab of ice down your spine at his words, the uncanny horror of it all whirling your vision to a blurry abyss. “You can’t- what have you done? What have you done?”

“What I had to! They were insufferable and stupid- your harpy friends wouldn’t let us be. But now they’re dead.”

“-Have to get help- we need to call the police-“

“Stop being stupid.” He brushes the hair out of your face with a tender finger laden in blood. “We’re leaving here and never coming back.”

“You need to turn yourself in-“ you stammer. “They’ll know it was you, God, Tomura-“

“Do I look like I care?” A snarl lifts his scabby lips, bearing the sharp canines beneath. “I don’t give a fuck if they know. I hope they do. They’ll never find us. I’ve had so long to plan-“

“No! Tomura, this is insane!”

“It’s over. Come to peace with it.” He hisses, wrenching you even closer, his dry lips on the shell of your ear. “You’re coming with me, baby, and we can finally be together. You can finally show me all those dirty little things you never got the chance to because your friends made you feel ashamed.”

The edge of the blade in his hand flicks up through the thin threading that binds the top buttons of your counselor uniform, baring your cleavage and the top part of your bra to him. You scramble to try and cover yourself, but he’ll have none of it; he quickly swats your hands away and presses the tip of the knife to your sternum.

“I’ve waited so long for you-“ A ragged breath escapes him, chest shuddering with the force of the exhale. “To touch you. To take you. Do you know what it’s like? What you fucking do to me?”

“Tomura- this- this is wrong! Please! Please let me get help! We’ll get you the help you need- I will! But you can’t do this! It’s not right!”

“There’s only one way you can help me, babe.” The hand not threatening you with the knife slides down and squeezes your breast, your entire body stiffening in visceral disgust. “Something I’ve wanted as long as I can remember. If you’re eager enough for it now, we have some time-“

“No! No! Don’t- stop touching me! This is sick! They’re dead! Tomura- stop it!”

“They are. And I could never, ever hurt you, but I’m sure there’s someone still alive that I could to calm you down- to make you see sense.” He squeezes hard enough to make you cry out, nipple catching between his fingers through the thin fabrics you’re wearing.

You blink up at him, bleary eyes full of silvery tears that trail down the slopes of your cheeks. He doesn’t look like Tomura anymore- not your Tomura. He looks like something twisted and uncanny, some feral beast that’s inhabited your friend’s brain and driven him to the brink of madness. He leers down at you lasciviously, thick pink tongue swiping across his teeth and you’ve never felt more uncomfortable in your own skin under his gaze than you do right now.

“It’s not fair when you cry like that. I’m already painfully hard-“ He releases your tit in favor of clutching your wrist, bringing your trembling hand down to his crotch hidden by the length of his sweatshirt and forcefully rubs the length of his throbbing erection against your palm. “But it always did things to me when you got all weepy.”

You’ve been defending a monster.

“Remember when you would cry into my lap because that group of girls was mean to you and I had to keep adjusting you every few minutes?” He barks a laugh like it’s the funniest thing in the world. “God, it was so hard not to sink you down on my cock right then. Fuck, I would have destroyed you if I let myself- all sniveling and delicate and weak. You always needed me to protect you, didn’t you? So trusting. Naive, really. You had no idea what I was thinking about at night. What I’ve been planning to do to you for years-“

You can only give a broken, disbelieving cry of his name- trying to bring back the boy you knew. The sweet boy. The shy one. The quiet one with morbid curiosities and wild ideas on the world.

“Your friends knew, of course. But you didn’t listen, you silly, dumb little girl. Tried to warn you, but you just wouldn’t listen. And now they’re dead.”

“Fuck you! Fuck you, you bastard! You’re a monster! You’re-“ You batter your fists uselessly against the steel panes of his chest and he barely even budges.

“Remember when you could come to the woods with me and I would show you all the cool stuff my dad taught me? You thought it was weird but you still came because you’ve always been so sweet to me. My dad’s dead now, but I made sure he left me his remote cabin. I’ve wanted to take you there for so long, and now I finally can.”

He advances on you and even in your rage, you instinctively backpedal. Before long, he’s got your back flush against the scratchy wood wall, toe to toe with you with his imposing frame trapping you to the surface behind you in a gangly cage of his spider-like limbs.

“Fuck- It gets me so hot when you act like a little brat. When you fight me even when you know there’s no way you can overpower me. You never could. Even when we play-wrestled. I could make you scream without even trying. So fucking precious to see you bare your teeth at me like you’re capable of lifting a finger against me.”

“I hate you- I hate you!”

“That’s okay, babe. I can learn to forgive you. Tell you what, why don’t you wrap those pretty lips around my cock and start sucking out my forgiveness with your sharp little tongue and we’ll take it from there.”

“Go to hell-“

“If I go, you’re coming with-“ He puffs into your ear, one hand swirling into the front of your shirt, the other slicing from hem to collar in one swift motion, leaving your torso bared to his greedy eyes. “I’ve earned you. You’re mine now- you belong to me and anyone who has ever tried to say otherwise is dead!”

And the worst part is he’s right. Maureen bubbles a lifeless pool of blood a few feet away. The ones who tried to fight slashed repeatedly until they were too weak to stand and died a slow, painful death into the grass. The ones that tried to run cut down from behind- a cowardly act that shows his true nature. You can scream and cry and wail your sorrows to the terrible moon that hangs through the trees, but no one will come to help you; there’s no one left. No one but him.

And no one is coming for days.

“I was going to wait until I got you home to fuck into your guts but you’re just not getting it, and I don’t think I can wait.” He thrusts the knife back into his pocket temporarily, opting instead to fumble with the front of his jeans. Dread pools in your stomach, threatening to overturn the contents into the filthy floor, but all you can do is watch in terror as he unzips the front of his jeans and fishes his pale cock from behind it.

“Go ahead and get on your knees for me and stick your tongue out. Think of it as a practice round.”

You shake your head, weakly resisting as he shoves you to the ground and taps the hot, purpling tip on your face, smearing his precum across your ruddy cheek.

“Don’t be shy. I promise once you get a taste, you’ll love it. You will learn to love it. You don’t have another choice. Just wait until I get you back home. I’ve learned so much since last summer. I can’t wait to show you.”

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Heart-Shaped Box💟9/End

Warnings: non-consent sex and rape (series), forced pregnancy, some violence, intimidation, some elements untagged for sake of plot.

This is dark!Bucky Barnes x reader and explicit. 18+ only.  Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Sister Series: Get Your Fix

Summary: You accept a job as an au pair, but not all is as it seems.

Note: Finally finishing this one up. Sorry it took me ages but I’m doing my best to go back and wrap up whatever I can.

Thanks to everyone for their patience and feedback. :)

I really hope you enjoy. 💋

<3 Let me know what you think with a like or reblog or reply or an ask! Love ya!

Masterlist

Bucky pulled out of you as he held your head down, bouncing the bed beneath you as he pushed himself onto his back. You panted as your sweat dampened the sheet beneath you and he leaked between your thighs. You winced as you rolled onto your side and slowly sat up. 

He had you whining loud enough that you had no doubt your guests heard it all. It only seemed to encourage his partner-in-crime as you soon heard a similar scene on the other side of the wall. You were sickened by that noise and stood warily as you cupped your hand over your cunt and scooped up his cum before it could drip onto the floor.

“I told you to keep it down,” he snickered and sat up, his muscled back to you as he stretched his arms above him, “get the shower started, I’ll be in shortly. You girls have a lot of work to do today.”

You grumbled and dragged your feet to the attached bathroom. The low buzz of the pipes filled the silence and you stepped under the steamy water. The moment of calm broke sharply as Bucky appeared from the other side of the curtain and stepped in behind you. He had you clean him with a lathered loofah and you bore it only for the eventuality of time away from him.

The other woman meant you wouldn’t be trapped with just him. It was little help or hope but it was better than your former solitary torture.

You dressed in black dress with daisies and made yourself look like his perfect housewife. You couldn’t hold the smile and make him believe it all the way but he wouldn’t anyway. He flicked your chin and clicked his tongue.

“Mmm, you’re getting there,” he mused as he dropped his hand and reached around to slap your ass, “better go get breakfast on. I’ll check in on our guests.” He squeezed and winked, “be a good girl.”

Those words made your insides curdled but you swallowed your disgust and nodded, “yes, sir.”

He stepped out behind you and watched you go down the hall to the stairs and you heard him knock on the door as you descended. You went to the kitchen and pulled out the frying pan and the coconut oil. You lined up the ingredients for crepes on the counter and took two bananas from the yellow bunch. Your mother used to make the oversweet delicacy and you needed a reminder that you were still that girl.

You stopped as you searched for something to keep the crepes warm after you assembled them, a lid that could fit over the plate or something akin to it. The lower cupboards you rarely opened. Bucky left the cleaning supplies on the counter with your chore list every day and you never bothered to look for anything else.

You stopped and stared at the drain cleaner and the can of toxic oven spray. Well, that wouldn’t be subtle enough, would it? They’d smell either of those a mile away. Anything under the counter would be easily discovered but it did give you an idea.

You closed the wooden door and went back to your task. You heard the voices in the next room and the scrape of the chairs on the floor. Steve’s girl appeared in the doorway, rubbing her stomach as her face contorted.

“Smells sweet,” she said as you simmered the bananas with brown sugar, cinnamon, and a little butter, “almost too sweet.”

“Morning sickness?” you asked innocently.

“All the time sickness,” she sighed, “anything I can help with?”

“Do you know how to make crepes?” you asked as you whisked the batter.

“Not really,” she shrugged, “but I can learn.”

“It’s easy. Takes less than a minute,” you waved her over and tested the temperature of the pan with a flick of water, “so you wanna put just a little batter in…” you ladled in a careful dollop and lifted the pan, “you spread it like this,” you tilted it so the batter spread all around, “you just use the spatula a little on the edges to make sure they don’t stick and you flip.”

It was like second nature and she nodded quietly as she watched. The crepe cooked quickly and you threw it onto a plate and put the pan back to the burner.

“You think you can handle that?” you covered the plate with the lid of a pat to keep it warm. “Then we put some of the bananas and wrap them, bit of cream on top and some icing sugar…”

“You like to cook?” she wondered as she added batter to the hot pan.

“Not particularly, but my mother taught me,” you shrugged, “she can cook anything.”

“Oh,” she flipped the crepe and glanced at the door, “I suppose… it keeps him happy.”

“He’s never happy,” you murmured and cleared your throat, “so, you must be excited to move in!”

“I guess,” she slid the crepe onto the plate as you lifted the foggy lid, “you know how it is.”

You smiled and she tilted her head as she squinted at you. You went to the drawer where there was a box of blank recipe cards and continued speaking as you fished out a pencil from another.

“It’s always nice to get settled,” you said as you wrote, ‘they can hear us’.

“I suppose, nice to be in one place,” she replied stiffly as her features relaxed.

‘I have a plan,’ you wrote and raised your voice just slightly, “oh, you know, we didn’t even get you a housewarming gift. I’ll have to remind James.”

You went to the burner and held out the card under the coil until it caught. You threw it into the sink and watched it burn and curl. You ran water over it as it turned to ash and washed it away. You nudged the bowl towards her and leaned on the counter, “need help with that?”

“No,” she said as she started again, “I’m getting the hang of it.”

💟

You looked around the front room of the house next door. Steve’s girl opened one of the stacked boxes. For once, the men were gone and you could just enjoy their absence. 

Bucky agreed that a gift was in order and Steve had mentioned wanting to explore their new hometown. You tried not to seem eager but even the small walk across the lawns enlivened you. How long had it been since you’d been outside?

You started with the pictures. You left the frames in a stack as she assured you Steve would put the nails in and hang them. Then you moved onto the kitchenware and you kept her from lifting the heavy box of dishes. She seemed to forget about her condition and the reminder made her frown.

You stood behind the counter and set the dishes in the cupboards one at a time, the plates clacking one on top of each other. She watched from the other side as she arranged the silverware in the plastic tray.

“Can you do me a favour?” you asked as you kept on.

“What?” she asked as she dropped a butter knife with the rest.

“I know they’ve locked us in but can you check the garage door? Can we get in there?” you asked evenly.

“What?” she blinked and pushed herself straight, “even if we can, they won’t have been stupid enough--”

“That’s not what I’m worried about. I know we can’t get out that way either. It’s the same at our house. Everything is bolted up tight.” You assured her, “just go and check while I get these sorted.”

She left you and you snapped shut the door and finished with the utensils. You slid the tray into the drawer as she returned, rubbing her stomach.

“Yeah, we can get in but it’s mostly empty,” she said, “so…”

“Mostly empty?”

“Yeah, just the car--”

“The car,” you rounded the counter and curled two fingers for her to follow you.

You headed for the plain white door that led to the garage. You hopped down the steps as she remained at the top and watched you tentatively. You went to the car as she crossed her arms.

“He took the keys,” she said.

You tried the handle and the door opened. “I know,” you said as you put a knee in the front seat and peered into the back. Nothing. 

You felt around under the dash and found the lever for the trunk. You pulled it and it popped. You shut the door and went around the back of the car. You felt around the spare tire and your hand felt something plastic. You grabbed the handle of the half-filled jug and pulled it out.

“Hey,” you held up the bright blue anti-freeze, “do you wanna cook dinner here tonight? A housewarming dinner?”

Her brows knitted and she gave a long blink. Her lips parted then curved.

“You can’t mean--” she let out a scoff.

“It’s sweet. Hopefully they won’t notice if I add enough sugar to the cake,” you breathed, “we can’t let them settle. This is our chance.”

“I don’t-- I don’t know. What if it doesn’t work?”

“Then we’re still in the same boat,” you turned your free hand out, “that man has drugged me for months. I think it’s only fair that he gets a taste of his own medicine.”

She swallowed and looked down at her stomach. She inhaled and cradled her bump. “It can’t get worse than this, can it?”

💟

You spent the day unpacking, the distraction not much of one as you thought of the bottle you hid at the back of the cupboard. By the time the men returned, you were ready to move onto the second floor. 

Bucky offered a bottle of non-alcoholic wine and basket of expensive macarons as your gift to your new neighbours. He forced a kiss from you before he let you follow Steve’s girl upstairs.

You sat in the bedroom and heard the men ascend shortly after. You peeked in on them as you opened the linen closet to shove in the spare sheets. They were hammering together a crib. You knocked lightly on the doorframe as you watched them.

“Huh, what’s going on?” Bucky looked up from the directions.

“Um, we were just… thinking, we could have dinner here tonight? A little housewarmer? I could grab some ingredients from ours--”

“Give me a list, I’ll grab it,” Bucky puffed as he bent to help hold the rail in place for Steve, “that sound okay?”

“Fine by me,” Steve smiled, “it’ll be nice to have our feet on solid ground.”

You left them and returned to your only ally as she sat on the bed and stared at a packet of pills. She crushed it in her grasp and huffed. She flicked away tears with her knuckles. She tossed them over her shoulder.

“He kept them,” she snarled, “it’s like he’s mocking me.”

“What?” you neared her and sat carefully beside her.

“I never… I worked with him, you know? He brought me these drinks and I didn’t realise he was dosing them. The stuff, it made me itchy… it made me so hot and I just needed anything. I hopped on him I was so desperate and-- I told him to stay away. I realised what he’d done and I told him to leave me alone and you know what he did,” she crossed her arms over her stomach.

“No, I--” you touched her elbow.

“He broke into my apartment and replaced my pills. And he didn’t leave me alone,” she spat, “he did this all and he still has the goddamn pills like they’re some sort of trophy.”

She hung her head and grunted in frustration. You leaned against her and put your arm over her shoulders. She let you and the tension drained from her body.

“Even if we get out…” she whispered, “I’ll always have this piece of him.”

She pressed her palms to her stomach and you frowned. There was nothing you could do or say. You’d been lucky so far, even if it only fed your suffering. You didn’t have another life to worry about.

“We don’t have to if--”

“I want to,” she hissed lowly, “I want him dead.”

💟

Usually, you tasted the icing and licked the spoon. Not that night. The blue shade of the frosting was anything but suspicious as you spread it over the fluffy cake. It was a perfect disguise. You topped it with blueberries to add to the theme and dusted on a few coloured sprinkles. You stood back and admired your work as the smell of garlic filled the kitchen.

“I know it’s not much,” Steve’s girl said as she stirred the sauce, “but it’s what I can manage.”

“I’m sure it’s great,” you said as you took the meatballs of the burner and tested the spaghetti, “noodles are perfect.”

You strained the pasta and helped pour the meatballs into the sauce. You mixed it up and poured it into a large glass dish and the noodles into another. You brought them out to the table and called the men to dinner before you fetched the wine, both alcoholic and not.

Steve’s girl sat as you poured a glass for each of you and the men sat. You set the bottle down and nestled in next to Bucky as he served himself. When the plates were full, the other woman nudged Steve and whispered in his ear.

He cleared his throat and stood, “um, I know it’s just us but I guess I should say thank you for all the help and we’re excited to be neighbours… can’t wait for the kids to be running around these halls together.”

“Mmm,” Bucky lifted his glass, “hopefully…” he muttered doubtfully and looked at you, “that better be what she’s having,” he nodded to your glass.

You held it out for him to sniff and he gave you a sour look. He tutted and sat back to twirl noodles around his fork as he set aside his glass. You took a sip of the gutless wine and speared a meatball on your tines. You chewed and looked at Steve’s girl. She let Steve rub her thigh under the table and forced a smile.

She was playing it well and you felt as if you would fall apart. You felt as if Bucky would see right through you the minute you walked in with the cake. What would he do then? Steve couldn’t hurt his girl, she had the baby, but you, Bucky could replace you still. Maybe that was for the best but it didn’t mean you weren’t scared shitless.

You cleared the plates and retreated to the kitchen. Just you. You’d gone over it, you didn’t want them to catch on. You didn’t get too close with them around, you acted like strangers, you really were after all.

You sliced the cake into careful portions and came out with two plates at a time. You put them in front of each chair and sat. As you did, Steve’s girl covered her mouth and gagged. She pushed herself up unsteadily.

“Honey?” Steve asked as he rubbed her lower back.

“It’s the baby I--” she gulped sickeningly, “I gotta--”

She rushed out and Steve gave a look, “nausea. It’s been like this for weeks.”

“I’m going to make sure she’s okay,” you stood, “go ahead and start without us.”

You went down the hall and as you neared the bathroom, Steve’s girl opened the door and pulled you inside. She looked genuinely sick and you smelled vomit on her breath. She turned and rinsed her mouth and shuddered. 

“I didn’t actually feel sick until I got in here,” she wiped her face with the hand cloth, “when I realised--”

“Everything’s in the trunk,” you assured her, “once they’re out, we get the keys and go.”

“How do we know--”

“Retch,” you hissed, “we wait until we’re sure.”

She gave an exaggerated hurl and you heard the clink of porcelain and silver and the drone of voices. You listened through the door as she watched you in the tight space of the half-bath.

“I’m thinking about getting her an… exam,” Bucky’s deep tone carried, “maybe she can’t…”

You let out the breath you were holding and closed your eyes. Just a little longer. 

When you heard a sudden lull, your eyes rounded and you turned the handle and let yourself out into the hall. She crept close behind as you peered through the open archway. Both men had their faces on their plates in the crumbs of vanilla cake and smears of blue icing.

“Let’s go,” you went to Steve and shoved your hand into his pocket, “shit, they’re not here.”

“Here!” she pulled her hand from his jacket hung on the rack, “you think they’re dead?”

You looked from one to the other and shakily felt along Steve’s neck. “Still a pulse. I think maybe… they’re only knocked out.”

“The serum,” she shook her head, “means we have to go quick.”

You hurried after her and followed her down into the garage. She climbed into the driver’s seat and moved it back as her stomach pressed to the wheel. You got in the other side as your body trembled with adrenaline. She hit the button attached to the keys and the door slowly raised behind her.

As she reversed, you felt a sudden shock around your neck and yiped. You’d forgotten entirely about the necklace. She stopped suddenly and watched you writhe in agony.

“Shit, shit,” you leaned forward until the shock stopped, “the necklace.”

“Fuck,” she reached for it and you batted her away.

“No, you’ll get zapped,” you gasped as you pulled on it desperately. It was too tight to get past your chin but too strong to snap. 

She took the keys out and tossed them in your lap. You lifted them and twisted the necklace around the house key but there was no give. You sobbed and dropped your hand.

“I can’t,” you looked at the bent key, “you gotta go without me.”

“What? No, I can’t--”

“You have a baby,” you said as tears burned in your eyes and your throat tightened, “go, please.” You dropped the keys on the dash and opened the door. “I can’t--”

“No, you have to come with me,” she begged.

“No, you have to go before they wake up,” you got out as you grasped your neck, the searing pain still hot on your flesh, “I’ll… I’ll survive. I have this far.”

“N--”

“Shut up!” you slammed the door and hit the hood, “go!”

She stared at you and her lip quivered. She gave you one last sad look and grabbed the keys. She sniffed as she gripped the wheel and backed out down the drive. 

You fell to your knees and sat back on your ass as you watched her drive away. You shook your head and held it in your hands as you sat behind the invisible wall of your prison.

The tires screamed at the end of the street and the noise of the engine faded into the distance. You laid on your back across the concrete and covered your face with your arm. At least you could live with knowing you got her out. Well, you couldn’t really say you’d be living. You’d be alive but little more than that. 

But you’d survive knowing that you kept one person from that pitiful fate. Even if it wasn’t you. Even if you knew that you would pay for it in the end. Even when those men woke up and found you laying in the garage, the sweet flavour of antifreeze on their tongues as the bile of their anger overflowed and drowned you. 

You couldn’t do anything but wait. If you were lucky, they might just kill you and that in itself would be freedom.

💟 💟 💟

END

[lytefoot]

Happy birthday, Ginny!

It isn’t quite too late to post a ficlet for Ginny’s birthday!

On the morning of her 40th birthday, Ginny Potter, nee Weasley, woke up alone in the big bed, sunlight streaming over her face. She stretched like a cat and yawned, idly wishing that her back was still as cat-like as it had been twenty years ago. Ginny had no regrets about the many Quidditch accidents in her youth, but when she woke up stiffer than she wanted to be she wished she’d landed better once or twice.

Harry’s red silk robe was laid across the bed, and she smirked as she put it on, the hem hanging around her ankles. It clashed gloriously with her hair. He really had well and truly given up on getting to wear it. She usually woke up first and stole it, but she made a point of sleeping in on her birthday. The kids had been truly upset about the inability to bring her breakfast in bed, when they’d been small and she was still in training that had her running most days before dawn. These days, at least in principle, they could have gotten up a little bit earlier if they wanted to surprise her; but it was a tradition, now, the kids would have breakfast ready before she got up, provided she had a bit of a lie-in.

To be fair, as middle age threatened, she found she minded having a bit of a lie-in less and less.

It amused her, mildly, as she ran a hasty brush through her hair, that she now considered 40 to be the threat of middle age. She certainly didn’t feel old—in many ways, felt younger than she had when she turned seventeen, felt younger and lighter every year that passed, even if her joints were less flexible than she might have preferred.

Downstairs, her gorgeous husband had pulled on one of her Harpies shirts over his pajama pants and was directing the cooking activities of a hoard of children, only some of which were hers. Lily had apparently taken control of the stove, had about six pans going over different levels of heat; of all her children, Lily was the one who’d inherited her father’s attention to culinary detail. At thirteen, she was shaping up to be less trouble as a teenager than her brothers had been, but there were still years ahead for her to hone her skills. James was decorating a cake, with the help of one of his school friends—Jeremy, she thought—who’d followed him home for the summer. They were rather more creative than skilled, which had always been a hallmark of James’s cake decorating, and a staple of Ginny’s birthdays for years. Albus was making toast with a look of intense concentration; he had not inherited his father’s culinary talent, but had somehow gotten his hands on a perfectionism that came from neither of them—Ginny occasionally joked that he was one of Hermione’s she’d hatched by mistake. It meant that preparing uniformly hot, browned, and buttered toast required his full attention. This was the child who was attempting twelve OWLs this spring…

Teddy had always been more Harry’s than hers—Ginny was more a favorite aunt than a parent to him—and he wasn’t so much cooking himself at any rate, as supervising Lorcan and Lyssander. Luna’s twin boys were somehow eight years old already, but they were more inclined to be curious and cautious and had to be watched carefully around fire. They had arrived with their mothers from Patagonia last night; Luna and Rolf were presumably still sleeping off portkey-lag, but the boys had always handled time zone changes with irritating elasticity, and were now assisting with the cake decorating. James was definitely the one of Ginny’s children most open to assistance that added more chaos than utility.

As Ginny leaned in the door watching them, smiling in amusement, James looked up with a start. “Mum, no!” He held his hands in front of the cake, only dunking his shirt in the icing a little bit in the process. “It’s a surprise!”

“Sorry, James.” She covered her eyes, grin widening. “I didn’t see anything.” She was definitely much too sleepy to have figured out what James’s cake decorations were meant to be. He was a boy of many talents, but art was not one of them. Ginny had never expected to view a sixteen-year-old as a child, but it was hard not to when presented with James.

“Come on.” Harry caught her elbow, led her into the dining room. “We can’t spoil the surprise.” He sounded as amused as she was. Once safely out of sight of the kitchen, she uncovered her eyes, and he pressed a cup of tea into her hands. No sugar, exactly the right out of milk, and brewed so strong the spoon stood up, just the way she liked it.

She took a long drink, set the on the table without a coaster, resting easily among two decades of cup rings on the old worn wood. They usually ate in the kitchen—would likely eat in the kitchen this morning, once the super secret preparations were completed—so the dining room was for projects completed at the big table late at night over too much tea. She half expected to see Ron, Hermione, or both in here at any moment, plotting a family holiday or a Ministry political crusade with equal dedication. At the moment, it was just her and Harry, however, as it wasn’t nearly often enough these days, at least when the kids were home from school. Harry looking at her the way he had when they were teenagers, like he still couldn’t quite believe she was stood in his dining room wearing his robe. He leaned in, kissed her softly, quickly. “Happy birthday, Mrs. Potter.”

Ginny chuckled, reached up, pulled him down for another kiss. “I suppose I’m joining the rest of you in your dotage,” she quipped. She didn’t feel old, but 40 was an intimidating number. And she deserved some teasing, after the amount that she’d subjected him to last year.

“It’s lovely to have you. We’ll have to—” Harry was interrupted, before he could kiss her again, by a sound from the kitchen that might have been a crash, or then again, might just have been an explosion. He stood up sharply. “I should—”

“Yes, definitely, go help them!” Since the time that five-year-old James had somehow permanently affixed a pancake to the ceiling—they’d had to take a piece of ceiling out to get rid of it—they’d done their best to supervise their children’s celebratory breakfast efforts. “We can resume this later, I promise.”