#wow time flies doesn't it

[demigod-of-the-agni]

#LongPost: A Few Hyper-Specific Things About India for India-Based Stories and Art

No this isn't a cry for more Indian-rep in Spider-Verse stories. (It is.)

Anyway. I recently went to India, and after returning to my hometown in Tamil Nadu, I reintegrated a whole slew of memories and collated new facts.. And considering I've been wanting to do one of these for quite some time (and because I need a new variety of Pavitr Prabhakar content), I thought it'd be cool if I shared some of my experiences and ideas with you.

It's best to take this with caution, though: the only places I've been to are Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, and a few towns located close to the Eastern Ghats, so my knowledge is heavily South India-based. I know for a fact that there are various similarities and differences between other geo-cultural areas of India, which is I why I've linked the other cool India Resources here as well.

In Which I Ramble About Pavitr's Character Design and the Indian Cultural Stuff Related to It by @chaos-and-sparkles (+ my addition + @neptune432's addition)

A culture post for the girlie pops (and non-girlie pops) looking to write Pavitr Prabhakar accurately by @summer-blues-stuff (+ my addition + @fandomsfeminismandme addition)

Also a timely reminder of @writingwithcolor's wonderful resources on writing about South Asian characters respectfully and sincerely

Now, for the things I've noticed in South India..

ANIMALS

There are a lot of street dogs. Like... a lot of them. And honestly it's so hard not to go up to one and give them a snack or two. The most notable dog breed is the Indian pariah and they can be found all over India. Mixed dog breeds are also common and results in a variety of features like differences in build and coat colours.

There are also other types of animals are pretty common to see alongside the roads.

Cattle are seen a lot (cows and bulls are easy to distinguish; cows (left) have udders and a small hump on their back, while bulls (right) are generally stockier and have a super-defined hump on their back). I'm pretty sure the specific cow breed is the sahiwal cow. They are either herded into paddocks for grazing or can be found wandering city streets on their own.

Goats are often herded by farmers into large masses of wool and horns and are guided to paddocks to graze. Sometimes, like cattle, they'll be found wandering city streets on their own.

Chickens are usually kept close to stalls and homes. These chickens are not plump and fluffy like most Western chickens, but are quite skinny. Mottled feather colours are usually a result of mixed chicken breeds. In Tamil Nadu, the most common chicken breed is the asil chicken.

Various birds are often seen flying around traffic if they’re not disappearing into the sky, the most common being crows, pigeons and mynahs. (The chart below on the right is not an inexhaustive list of birds; you best search them up yourself.)

TRANSPORT

There is obviously a huge amount of trucks and lorries and buses. They all have beautiful designs or crazy LEDs or large detailed fluorescent / iridescent stickers that are impossible to ignore, whether it be at high noon or midnight.

Expanding on that, the most common method of transport are motorcyclse or scooties, cars, and autos.

Also, as expected: traffic is insane. It’s horrible. It’s exhilarating. Western honking is akin to swearing, but here? Honk whenever you want. Honk if you’re happy or if you’re sad. You get a million dollars if you honk. You need to honk. It’s more important than breathing

Similarly, road rules don’t exist. Well, they do, and the Indian government does everything it can to make sure people do follow the rules, but based on the aforementioned honking, most people don't. Everyone just drives. Most bikers and motorcyclists don’t wear helmets. Only a few people wear seatbelts. Cars and motorcycles drive on the wrong side of the road and right into oncoming traffic. The chance of someone dying is 99% but it’s countered by desi stubbornness.

ENVIRONMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE

Houses and buildings are painted different colours!!! Pastel pinks and purples and deep teal hues, either plain colours or decorated with elaborate murals. This also applies to interiors. I reckon it was surprising to a lot of people when they were confronted with Mumbattan's vibrant colours, but honestly: coloured buildings slap, and it's based on the real thing. They are a sight to behold. Couple that with the architecture and oh boy- you've got such a beautiful environment.

From @jettpack's concept art for Mumbattan buildings

jettpack's concept art of the Mumbattan collider

From @chenfelicia's concept and colour keys of Mumbattan

Don't be shy to really immerse in crazy descriptors - that's how you capture the liveliness of cities like Madurai and Mumbai and ultimately, their physical manifestations like Mumbattan.

Funny enough, movie posters and political banners and flyers are EVERYWHERE. They’re huge and take up entire billboards, or congregate along walls so it becomes practically a collage. It's impossible to ignore the image of "Makkal Selvan" Vijay Sethupathi about to beat some poor loser into a pulp with a stick, or the political parties roasting each other on paper with impressive photoshopped graphics.

To tie in to the point about transport: there are hundreds of coffee stalls and snack shops and one-of-a-kind food stands. You can��t go 200 metres without running into one, either on the highway or in the city. I remember having jaggery coffee on my first night in India, and guys- it tasted so fucking good. I only wish I can transfer the taste to you. Absolutely splendid.

The climate in India is generally very humid and warm, but that doesn't mean we don't get cooler days; it is obviously cooler on winter nights. Also I've heard from many conflicting sources on India's seasonal weather (probably due to India's geograpghy), so you will have to talk to someone who is from India to really confirm. I've somewhat boiled it down to five seasons:

Summer - May-Jun; very hot (35-45ºC/95-113ºF), characterised by shrinking water bodies and droughts if there aren't any rainfalls; this time is good for plant growth/harvest if you've successfully managed water supplies

Monsoon - Jul-Aug; (34ºC/93ºF) very variable in terms of timing, characterised by torrential rains and floodings; the raining itself probably lodges somewhere in Jun-Sept but the aftereffects are felt long after the rains have stopped

Autumn - Sept-Nov; cooler but humid (25-35ºC/77-95ºF), and generally much drier since it transitions from autumn to winter

Winter - Dec-Feb; much colder, but the extent is dependent on geographic regions (20-25ºC/68-77ºF)

Spring - Mar-Apr; humid (33ºC/91ºF), sudden downpours, only occasionally do you get pleasant weather in this time

PEOPLE AND CULTURE

For some reason, there are still loud speakers blaring out music across the roads and as far as a few city blocks. I honestly thought that that had died out by the time my parents had graduated university, but it still seems like people like hearing music played at 120 decibels.

This is a complicated issue but people are not piss poor. Yes, India is a developing country, and yes there are slums and there are homeless and there are those who are stuck in a horrific sociocultural cycle, but people are rapidly getting into high-paying jobs at much higher rates than before. Overall, India is getting better; do us a favour and not have us be represented by the same poor struggle-riddled Indian stories that Hollywood and Western media is are fond of portraying.

@neptune432: One thing I think it's important to acknowledge though is how your experience in India changes depending on your caste. I feel like most of the indian voices talking online are savarna (I'm not an exception) so this doesn't get brought up as much. It's a complicated issue and one that I don't think non-indians (or savarna indians) should worry about tackling in their work, but it's worth saying because what's assumed to be everyday aspects of indian culture are actually specific to things like caste, class, and what region you're in. ex: in kerala, there are also examples of people eating on banana leaf with lots of vegan food for special occasions (namely during onam). but veganism is heavily tied to brahmanism so most of these people will be savarna. even if they eat meat otherwise, the specific interest in eating vegan for special occassions has clear implications. Though many people of different castes eat meat, it's a practice that gets discriminated against, being treated as barbaric and unclean. this is because of brahmanism and is usually only strictly followed by brahmins. dalits/bahujan usually face the worse treatment for their eating traditions. there's also the fact that hinduism is more of a recent term and a broad umbrella where many different gods and cultures have been put under (and usually done forcefully). a lot of local dieties and specific cultural practices come from outside the vedic traditions of aryans (upper caste north india), but now are treated almost as one thing. ex: kali is a south indian (dravidian) goddess who's still heavily worshipped there and who later got adapted to brahminical traditions. that's also why south indian practices of worship are different from the north and are discriminated against ex: north indians getting angry at the idea of worshipping kali by drinking alcohol and smoking even though it's an older tradition than theirs. these traditions are often connected to dalit/tribal cultures as well, which adds to why these traditions are attacked. Now, I don't feel comfortable with non-indians writing about india in general but I feel it's important to mention these things cos most people don't even realize they're only getting shown certain perspectives. How many people don't even know they're a north/south divide, for example? People are fed narrow viewpoints on India and assume that's everything to know. it's a problem cos that's what the brahminical forces in india want. This is all very general info too and I'm no expert so it's worth more research (like reading what dalits have said on their experiences). I'm not trying to criticize you btw, I just wanted to add some things cos this has been on my mind for a long time now. Couldn't have said it better myself, neptune!! (I barely mentioned it at all lmao) The caste system despite it being "abolished" still defines many traditions within India, and almost always in harmful ways. Like @summer-blues-stuff and I have mentioned in their post A culture post for the girlie pops under the Religion and caste section, it's best to leave the caste and social hierarchy alone even if you've done your research. That doesn't mean you shouldn't talk about it, it's just that people, especially those of non-South Asian decent, have to be extremely careful about it. Introductory resources on the caste system can be found on ABC, Pew Research and The Conversation.

Furthermore, the automatic assumption is that people living in shacks or remote villages have no access to greater populations and resources, which I'm happy to completely disprove. Guys: majority of the people living in my village, a rather remote village, have phones on them. Ranges from iPhones to Androids to good ol' Nokias.

(And, side note: as an Indian, I get amazingly pissed off when people's ringtones are set to maximum volume and play the same famous part of a famous song every time they get a call. Like shut the fuck up. At least quieten down? Please??)

(Also this might be a South Indian thing but Man some people are so entitled. Dudes you do not need to rub your ego into my face. Dudes you can, you know, keep all the cool things you think will get other people jealous out of the public eye. At this point I'm not jealous of what you Have, I'm pissed off at the Audacity To Think You Can Make Me Feel Bad About Myself With The Things That You Have).

Alright. Moving on.

Tiny temples and shrines are everywhere, dedicated to broad-Hinduism deities like Ganesh, Shakthi, or Vishnu; other times, they are shrines built for local deities that protect a particular village. For example, my village dedicated a little plot of water-logged land to a benevolent spirit called Subbamma, where people would leave offerings or place their sick/injured animals at the water's edge so that Subbamma could heal them. These tiny temples are almost always super colourful and amazingly detailed despite their small size

It could be a whole month before a celebration like Diwali but it’s the perfect time to set off hundreds of fireworks and firecrackers. People are just inconsiderate in many ways, it seems.

Some women wear strings of jasmine flowers in their hair. This might be completely regional-based, but most if not all women, ranging from little kids to old ladies, will wear these strings of jasmine in their hair. It's supposed to represent good fortune and beauty, and it smells wonderful.

@esrev-redips: #i usually only visit the north side of india (went to banglore and or chennai once) but im pretty sure most women in mumbai wouldnt wear #flowers in their hair unless they were of an older generation #they dont in new delhi at least and i t h i n k you can compare them but im not sure since i dont live in india either Thank you esrev!!!!! glad to see an old hunch be confirmed!!!

Normally you can wear any type of jasmine, but the common subtypes in Tamil Nadu are ஜாதிமல்லி (jathimalli; "Spanish jasmine"; left) and மல்லிப்பூ (mallipoo; right).

Eating food from a plate made from a banana leaf is more than just an aesthetic, and is often reserved for certain occasions; other times we eat from metal or ceramic plates. I can't vouch for other areas of India but I've been told the reason why banana leaves are predominantly used for large gatherings is because they can signal to diners if the food is rotten or has been poisoned; supposedly the leaf itself starts rotting and releases liquid, but I personally have never seen this happen. But of course, there are also other reasons as to why banana leaves are used (all of which are valid) ranging from being an eco-friendly disposable plate, offloading nutrients into food, or even to make the food taste better. Pick whichever reason you like.

I'm literally so hungry looking at this. (Realises this is a Pavitr thing to say.) Anyway.

FOOD RECS!!!!!!

Reblog with your favourite foods >:) The list will be routinely updated...

JAGGERY COFFEE (from me) - GOOD FUCKING STUFF. ACTUALLY. if you see it.. GET IT IMMEDIATELY

PANI PURI (from @esrev-redips) - #also you forgot to mention the PANI PURI STANDS AHHHHHH YUMYUMYUM | RRRR YOU'RE SO RIGHT. PANI PURI FOR LIFE ACTUALLY.

JASUBEN PIZZA (from @the-witch-forever-lives) - okay this is specific to Ahmedabad | okay but as specific as it may be that sounds and looks delicious??? hello??????

DABELI (from @the-witch-forever-lives) - this too???? also it LOOKS wonderful i need it right now actually

VADA PAV (from @the-witch-forever-lives) - Also Vada pav from Mumbai is so one of a kind | you are absolutely correct. vada pav is truly something magnificent

I think that's about all I can give you right now. This took me a while to type out. Feel free to ask any questions, or if you have anything you would like to add on, like anything I might have glossed over or your favourite desi foods, please do!!! I'll be sure to reblog your addition and update the original post.

The point is that this post can become one of those few other reference posts that artists and writers and other creatives can use if they ever want to make anything related to India, because it's genuinely so cool to see your culture represented so well in popular modern media.

(And in fanfic and fandom. Especially in fanfic and fandom. you have no idea how many times I've gone insane reading a Pavitr-centric fic or reading comments on Pavitr-related posts and it's just outdated ideas and harmful stereotypes and all sorts of sick bullshit, and it's always to the point where I physically have to go outside and bite into a fresh rhizome in order to ground myself. Like damn, people, you need to know things before you start creating)

So uh, I hope this was helpful if not interesting! Happy early Diwali everyone! Knowledge-over-ignorance and all that; hopefully this post does that notion justice!

[neodarkdark]

IN 2023... IVE ALWAYS WANTED TO TELL YOU... you're an amazing writer and friend and I'm glad to know you!!

Anything you want to tell me before 2023 ends?

THANK YOU I TRY MY BEST 🫡

[spaceship-full-of-bugs]

Random Deer Little Doe AU Stuff

Lilith: This is my husband, Lucifer Lucifer: And this is my wife Lilith Both: And this is our husband Alastor! *Camera pans out to an annoyed but flustered looking Alastor* Alastor: For the last time your majesties, I am not your husband. *Alastor super messily ripping some angels limb then drinking their blood like a wild animal* Lilith + Lucifer: Oh wow, I hope this doesn't awaken anything in me Lilith: Me and Luci have been trying to ask this demon out Lucifer: We've been dropping them the most obvious hints for dozens of years now. No response. Alastor: They just sound stupid. Lilith: But they’re not. They’re really smart actually. Just... dense. Alastor: Maybe you two need to be more obvious? Perhaps, oh I don’t know… maybe say something like “Hey! I love you!” Lucifer: I guess you’re right. Hey Alastor, Me and Lilith both love you. Alastor: See! Just say that! Lucifer: (Un)Holy fucking shit. Alastor: If that flies over their head then, sorry your highnesses, but they are too dumb for you both. Lilith: Alastor. Luci and Lilith, trying to flirt: So, you come around here often? Alastor, confused: I mean, you told me to stay and work here, in your home, so yes. Lucifer: If I say I love you, will you say it back to me dear? Lilith: Of course, Luci. Lucifer: I love you. Lilith: It back. *Later* Alastor: Why is Lucifer crying face-down on the floor while cuddling his rubberducks? Alastor: Why is everyone so obsessed with top or bottom? Honestly, I’d just be excited to have a bunk bed. Lilith: Lilith: I'm going to tell him. Lucifer: Please don't. Lilith: I really like Eminem. Lucifer: I prefer skittles. Alastor: She's talking about the rapper. Lucifer: Why would they eat the wrapper? Kid Charlie: I wish you were my official parent Al. Alastor: I'm truly honored to hear that, princess. But unfortunately that request seems impossible. Kid Charlie: Oh! You should marry my mom and dad so that you can officially be my other parent! Alastor: That's a splendid ide- wait what.

Lucifer: Here we are at the toy store my little star! Now go and pick a present!! *Two hours later* Lucifer: Well? Has anything caught your eye yet char-char? Kid Charlie: Dad!! I want that one. *points* Lucifer: Kid Charlie: Lucifer: For the last time, you can't pick Alastor.

[harunayuuka2060]

Ace and Deuce: *has arrived to the Ramshackle dorm in panic* GRANNY!

Grim: We've come to help you, Grann— Huh?

Grandma MC: Have you brought the first aid kit?

Deuce: Y-Yes. I-It's here...

Ace: G-Granny... Is that... Is that a PUMA?!!

Grandma MC: *looks a bit surprised* Oh— So you are a puma. *rubbing the puma under the chin*

Grandma MC: No wonder you're so feisty. *chuckles*

The puma: *purring*

Ace, Deuce, and Grim: ...

Ace: Grim, you said Granny was in danger.

Grim: Yes! I mean, that animal showed up and lunged at Granny!

Ace: And your first instinct was to run away and get us? Wow. That's very irresponsible of you.

Grim: Mrhm...

Grandma MC: Oh, don't scold Grim. He's done the right thing. Come here, Grim. I'm sorry for scaring you, son.

Grim: *flies to her, crying* Granny!

Ace and Deuce: ...

Deuce: So how are we going to report this?

Ace: We probably need to tell the headmage and give him a heart attack.

Crowley: Please, Granny. Tell me you're not going to keep that puma.

Grandma MC: Of course not. She's free to leave on her own. But I have to make sure her wounds are healed.

Crowley: *sigh* Professor Crewel can take care of that.

The puma: *hisses*

Professor Crewel: ...

Professor Crewel: This cat doesn't like me.

Professor Trein: According to Lucius, that is a warning.

Professor Crewel: Thank you, Lucius. But I could obviously tell.

*Once the puma was healed by Professor Crewel*

The puma: *is reluctant to leave*

Grandma MC: You can visit me from time to time. My door is always open.

Crowley: Please, Granny. Don't.

The puma: *nuzzles at her cheek before leaving*

Grandma MC: What a sweet girl. *chuckles* I do really hope she comes by again.

Crowley: Granny— *sighs* Nevermind. I'll be going back to my office now.

Grandma MC: Oh. But I thought you would stay for lunch?

Crowley: ...

Crowley: Right. What I mean is, I'll be back in my office after I eat lunch with you.

Grandma MC: *smiles* Make sure you eat lots.

Professor Crewel: You've gained weight, Crowley.

Crowley: Only a little!

[beatrixstonehill2]

"Hey, Daddy, just a heads up, but mom wanted to know if you were interested in joining our little bet...." Amanda said.

"Oh, what's that, darling?"

"Welllll.... my friends convinced my to take Femruptarin, as you guys can probably tell...."

"Of course, sweetie, you just gave birth a few months ago."

"So, I told mom that my friends are placing bets on when I'll pop! Mom thought the idea was super cute so she asked to join. The winner gets all my savings from my OnlyFans, just as long as you promise if anyone films me popping that you upload it to my OF! You can keep the money it makes, naturally." Amanda giggled.

"Of course! That money could help me with building a new deck, and then some, I'd imagine."

"Ohhh yeah. You bet, Daddy! I make a whole lot flaunting this pregnant body of mine, these huge breasts I've developed from constantly being pregnant since forever ago! And playing with myself all day long......"

"The house will feel quiet without all the little chimes from your stream donations and you moaning like a proper porn star as you masturbate four hours on end for all those fans of yours. It will be kind of nice not needing to clean off all those tarps you line your floor with to catch your orgasms. Never seen a girl squirt so much in my life, over and over, you absolutely drench your room, and yourself...."

Amanda giggled. "What can I say? I'm a very talented girl, Daddy... So! Any estimation how long I'll last?"

"That womb of yours is like Fort Knox, you carried octuplets to ten months a couple years ago. I say you'll make it to nine months!"

"Daddy, are you crazy? I've got like thirty kids in my womb, I'm only two and a half months or so along....."

"I meant what I said. Your belly'll have no trouble getting twice the size of a yoga ball before you finally burst! I have faith in you, darling. If you're good at one thing.... other than coming like a geyser a dozen times in a row, it's carrying a school bus of kids in that womb of yours."

"OK, I'll mark you down for nine months on the dot! Mom only guessed seven and a half..... My oh-so-supportive brother only guessed six."

"He's out of his mind as usual! I know you're gonna last at least to eight months, you'll see. Mark my words!"

"I hope you're right." Amanda rubbed her belly. "I wouldn't want to disappoint Erica...."

"That sister of yours is already obsessed with pushing out as many kids as she can. She really looks up to you, you know?"

"And she looks amazing carrying quints! Can't believe she's already nineteen.... Time flies...."

"But you're twenty-five so you might as well blow up like a big balloon?"

"Exactly! I think this is the perfect send off for me, I love breeding and pumping out dozens of kids, but I just love putting on a show, knowing as many people as possible are getting their rocks off to me."

"That's my girl. And wow, think this is the longest I've seen you go without making that pussy cum like a fire hydrant in years. I better not keep you much longer, wouldn't want you to have an accident--I see you rubbing those chubby thighs together, baby!"

"Is it that obvious? Mmmm, well how about you join me? My fans love it when you guys join in, especially you, daddy. Who doesn't love seeing a hugely pregnant girl with giant udders like these getting fucked by her daddy? Plus, all those donations we make together might just go to you anyway...."

"You know, you've got a point, darling."

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Pride! Jiang Cheng in the past for me 💜

a continuation of 1 2

Jiang Cheng leaves A-Ying with the innkeeper and goes to investigate the ghoul that's terrorizing the village. He's at the age where he's getting more and more upset about being left behind, but ten is a little young for something that's leaving behind bodies, even for A-Ying.

He doesn't mean to crash a Nie nighthunt, and it's a toss up which of them are more surprised when they stumble across each other. They don't even have a chance to puff their chests at one another before the literal nest of ghouls they're on top of explodes outward, leaving them no choice but to fight together.

Ghouls and Nie sabers do not mix well. The resentful energy in the blades attracts them like flies to honey, which is why his hunt for one aggressive ghoul has no transformed into an all out battle.

He saves a particularly tall Nie from getting stabbed in the back, then finds himself fighting back to back with him for the next hour. He's fought with plenty of Nie in his hold life, and even with his new style it's easy to anticipate his moves and fall into an easy pattern.

After, when they're surrounded by bodyparts, the man claps Jiang Cheng on the shoulder. "That has to be the fanciest swordwork I've seen from a wandering cultivator since the time I pissed of Cangse Sanren."

Wow. Just his luck that he's run into someone who knew A-Ying's mother. "Well, I can't claim a lineage that illustrious, but you're not bad yourself."

Several people throw him incredulous looks and he forces himself not to frown.

The man lets out a sharp, booming laugh. "Come, have a meal and rest with our party. It's the least we can do for your help."

He's exhausted and sticky and starving, but. "Thanks, but I left my son at the inn. If I don't return in a timely manner, he'll come after me."

Jiang Cheng had found that out the hard way. In A-Ying's defense, the last time his parents were late from a nighthunt, they never came back at all.

"Teenagers," the man says knowingly.

"He's ten, actually. He's just advanced," he sighs. He'd spent his childhood with Wei Wuxian getting him into trouble and now he's spending A-Ying's trying to keep him out of it. He's more successful some days than others.

"Bring your son and return with us," he says, which leaves Jiang Cheng blinking. "I have a ten year old myself! Perhaps they'll get along."

Wait.

No way.

"I'm sorry," he says slowly, "I didn't catch your name."

The muffled laughter from the people surrounding them is not a good sign.

"I'm Nie Haoyu," he says, lips pulling up at the corners.

"Sect Leader Nie," Jiang Cheng says faintly. "It's an honor to meet you."

How the hell does he get himself into these situations? The worse part is he can't even blame A-Ying for this one.

[strrwbrrryjam]

the take that hosea is a good father is an understandable one, considering it mostly derives from comparison to dutch, who groomed two orphan boys to be outlaws, pitted them against one another through his favouritism, treated one son more as a workhorse than a son to the point where he literally drives himself to sickness and injury and has most of his self worth come from what he can do for others, dismissed his gang members when they had concerns - often berating them and accusing them of not being loyal (which he does repeatedly, sometimes unprompted, to men and women who have been loyal to him for years), prioritised a man so vile that most - if not all except dutch - did not like him - a man who went against everything he claimed to stand for - a man who was actively a threat to the people of colour and the women who dutch had promised safety too, did not plan to rescue his son who was being tortured and very close to death after being captured from a very obvious trap, did not plan to rescue his other son from prison, taunting his dying son over being too tired to go on any jobs, claiming that he never had a son in an effort to manipulate eagle flies, pointing a gun at his son and leaving them to die, (and that's outside of his other crimes, being abusive to his girlfriend as well as hitting on other women in front of her and making it so the gang members treat her like shit. exploiting a fucking genocide for his own personal gain, and more)

so it's easy to look between the two and think "wow, hosea is so much better than him, he must be a good father/man," but that just isn't true, he's.. more okay than anything. not only was he complicit in signing his children's death warrant, raising them to be outlaws, and putting them in so much danger, he was also complicit and enabled dutchs treatment of the gang members, not just arthur and john either, but all of them.

he is the second in charge, the other half of the curious couple, he holds so much power in the gang, and we see that with how they listen and confide in him, and yet he doesn't do much, he doesn't stop dutch from mistreating the gang members, doesn't stop dutch from doing much of anything (even things he clearly disagrees with), doesn't throw micah out (which, I repeat, he does have the power to do so, especially since dutch still respects hosea, yes, we see dutch not listen to hosea that much, but he still respects him and his decisions, still clearly cares for hosea, i'm sure if hosea were to dig his feet in on something instead of rolling over, dutch would at least consider, of course this is just my interpretation), doesn't work to settle tensions between the gang, he still brings the gang on dangerous jobs that are doomed to fail (one of which results in his own death) - believing in his own hubris and intelligence which results in him underestimating his enemies, and he doesn't take charge even when he knows something is wrong.

it isn't just this either, he has his moments where he too treats the gang members (not just arthur) unfairly, berating, and using physical aggression on sean and bill, comes to mind (although, this was a different time where such actions were acceptable back then and sean and bill were generally being rather lazy, which could very much put them in danger,) but he was also at fault in the raising of his two sons into the roles that they had and is partly responsible for arthurs incredibly low self esteem, often calling him stupid and ugly looking, which may be jokes to him but something arthur very much takes to heart, believing it to be true.

sure, we see him asking arthur to rest and trying and succeeding to get the gang members to open up, and actually listening to them, we see him comfort them and respect them, unlike dutch, and he's very good at that, I applaud him for it, but I can't help but feel this mostly coming from his old age and the fact that he feels (and is correct) about the gang coming to an end and realising what he has done, trying to rectify the situation, soothe his regret if you will. that doesn't mean he didn't take this role much sooner (likely back to when bessie had passed), but I believe he fully delved into this role because of his old age and his regret, wanting to make sure he feels the world with as little of it as possible. he has been a complicit and active participant in everything.

this isn't anti-hosea, i love hosea to bits, i wish he could very much replace my pa but I wish people would understand that just because dutch is awful, does not mean that hosea is an angel, he's decent, at best.

[strangersteddierthings]

Porcelain Steve - Part 6

Part One🦇Part Two🦇Part Three🦇Part Four🦇Part Five🦇Part Six🦇Part Seven🦇Part Eight🦇Part Nine

Even though he's expecting company, Eddie still jumps and yelps when his front door flies open without so much as a knock, revealing Dustin and Will.

"I know I said to let yourselves in, but a warning knock would have been nice," Eddie shoots them a glare, not bothering to stand from the couch where he'd been pretending to watch whatever terrible daytime movie was playing.

"Sorry," Will apologizes sheepishly while Dustin just laughs.

"Which of your moms dropped you off? If it's Claudia, I'm filing a complaint about how you were raised."

"Har har," Dustin says, swinging his backpack off and knelling down to unzip and dig into it. "We biked here."

"Lucky you, then. The complaint will wait."

Dustin wrestles a blanket from his backpack. Unwrapping it reveals Steve, hair rumpled but otherwise unharmed. "Alright. Delivered safely. We gotta go meet El and Mike now but we'll see you on Saturday, right?"

Eddie sets Steve on the couch, angled towards the TV. "Yeah. I get the feeling if I don't show for the barbeque that Joyce will show up here and drag me there by my ear."

"She would," Will confirms with an easy shrug. The boys turn to leave before Will exclaims, "Oh! Almost forgot!" before digging into his pocket for something, turning around to give it to Eddie.

"What?"

"El and Steve spoke again. He had a lot of things to say. I spent a good portion of the last three days writing down everything as El repeated it to me. This is your letter," he says, having successfully pulled out what looked to be a folded piece of paper out of his pocket.

"Oh," Eddie takes it, and realizes it's not just one folded piece of paper, but three. "Wow."

"Seems you are Steve's second favorite," Dustin grins at him from the doorway.

"You are first, I assume?"

"No. Robin is. She got five pages."

That tracks, actually. Eddie's not surprised Robin got the most pages.

Soon enough, the boys are off and Eddie returns to the couch, pulling his legs up to sit crisscross. "Alright, Stevie, let's see what you have to say."

He unfolds the pages completely and is met with Will's now familiar penmanship scrawled across the sheets of wide rule paper that has clearly been ripped from a composition notebook. He's seen Will's handwriting plenty over this last year, quickly scribbling notes during DnD sessions and on the little item cards Will makes himself to hand out when he DMs.

Will's handwriting isn't always the neatest, but this looks like Will took time, wanted his writing to be legible. Flipping through the papers he sees it is two pages, front and back, of a letter, and the third page is a list of questions in a different, neater handwriting. He gets the feeling that Will probably didn't paraphrase anything. How many people got letters? How much of Will and El's time was devoted to doing just this?

Eddie feels emotional over this, misty-eyed and a lump in his throat, and he hasn't even read the damn letter yet.

"Shit, Stevie, do you even realize how loved you are?" Eddie asks out loud, turning to look at Porcelain Steve like he might answer him this time. Blank hazel eyes stare forward. Eddie shakes his head, to clear away his thoughts, and gets to reading. Not out loud, because he doesn't want Steve to hear how wet his voice will sound.

Eddie,

I guess the first thing I want to say is thank you. I was kind of freaking out when I first woke up like this. It was calming, that day on the lawn, after Robin and Nancy found me. You were so chill and just chatted my ear off like you would have if I were, like, there. I mean, there there and not like, doll-there, if you get what I mean.

Shit, man, being stuck like this would have been a hell of a lot worse without you, I'm certain. Everyone's been great, of course, and, like, no offense meant, Will and El, but you act most normal. Helps me feel, well, I don't know how, exactly. Describing emotions is not something I'm like, good at. Robin's great, too, but she catastrophizes, you know? And since I can't speak back, she can get herself pretty worked up about this and I hate that. Hate that I can't do anything to help her.

Shit. This isn't your issue. Don't include that. No, wait, do. Sorry, El. (It is here, off in the margin, that Will has added 'I wrote everything word for word. Enjoy the asides to El and me.) Hanging out with you helps her, I think. She seems less anxious on days we spend with you. So, I guess, I also want to thank you for that. For being there for Robin when I can't.

Eddie has to pause there because he had no idea. Robin has been a grounding force for him this whole time. He had no idea he was doing the same for her. She never said, or let on... well, that was probably her goal and now Steve's spilled the beans.

This is getting easier to say, even if I still don't know how to feel about the other two people who are going to be privy to everything said, or I guess from your end, written here. (Here, Will has transcribed a conversation they seemed to have had in the middle of writing this up.) Oh. He means us. - El Yes. Don't worry Steve, we'll do our best to forget everything you've said once it's written down. - Will Steve laughed and says thanks. - El I appreciate that but- well, being honest there's some things I want to say but I don't want anyone else to hear. Those conversations are better left face to face, anyway. So, uhh, what else did I want to say?

Oh! Yeah, I told Robin she could drive around the Bimmer, so she can have a car while I'm- so she doesn't have to bike everywhere but knowing her she probably won't take me up on that offer. Maybe you can talk her into it? Or, maybe she'll be willing to drive your van around and you can take the bimmer.

"Jesus, Stevie, can't you just be okay with existing?" Eddie says it under his breath and tenses instantly. For a moment, he forgot that Steve was right there on the couch with him, could hear him. Now he has to explain himself because Steve's already heard, and without the context of how Eddie really means those words, they can sound judgmental. "Shit. Sorry. I just read the part about your car and, dude, you just don't know how to not try and be helpful, huh? I bet it's destroying you on the inside that you can't do anything. But Steve, you gotta know, we don't care about you because you're useful."

Steve, of course, can't reply, so Eddie goes back to the letter.

Uh, what else was there? Oh! Yeah! I don't get migraines here. Or, in this body? Or, whatever it is. I haven't had one since this happened. Also, no hearing issues. Though I find myself wishing to be completely deaf sometimes. I get that Max can listen to Kate Bush for a week straight, but I'd like a little variety. God, what I wouldn't give to listen to the Top 40 again. Don't say anything, Munson. I can already see your judgmental face at my music taste. Unlike you, I have the ability to like multiple types of music. The Top 40 AND that one song from, uhh, shit. Might not have migraines or hearing issues at the moment, but the memory is still as it was. Which means it is shit. That one song by that metal band where their name sounds like it's metal? You know who I mean. (In the margin, Will has just written five little question marks in a row ?????)

"The band you were thinking of, it's Metallica," Eddie says.

Not important. But, uh, the reason for telling you this. I was hoping you might smuggle me to a show the next time your band plays at the Hideout? Last time I tried to go it was too loud and gave me a migraine, you remember, but I think that I could listen to your whole show like this. We might as well take advantage of the perks of this shit situation, right? So, uh, I wouldn't mind if you did that. Or, like, had Robin or someone else bring me. Whichever.

Actually, wait, I lied, I do care which way. I've already had them pen down Robin's letter, so you'll have to pass this on, but I want Robin to take me. So, I can also watch the show, not just listen. That was the part I liked most, when I went last time, before I had to leave. Wait. Scratch that. Ask Argyle. Other than you, he seems like the only person willing to be caught holding me in public, mostly because I don't think he even knows how to be embarrassed. Jesus that was such a weird sentence to say. Holding me in public. Such a weird thing to experience, too.

Uh, anyway, I think that's it for now. Thanks for everything, Eddie.

"I think you're handling this loss of bodily autonomy rather well, Steve. This letter is a lot more positive than the one I would have written if our roles were reversed," Eddie says with a sigh. He can't help but wonder what Steve would have said in this letter if it hadn't had to be filtered through two teenagers first.

He looks to the last page, the list of questions, and is surprised to see that, mixed in with questions about which sports team is winning (he is not going to watch Sportsball for Steve. There has to be a line drawn somewhere and this is it. He will ask Wayne about it later and hate the glee he sees in his uncle's eyes because now he's going to have to pretend to like sports for the unforeseeable future) and for honest updates about their friends are questions about Eddie's campaign that he's rambled on about since Steve can't escape. Steve wants spoilers, wants to know what Eddie has planned.

Steve has actually been listening. He'd been operating on the assumption Steve just tunes him out when he gets going, unable to stop his brain to mouth filter when it comes to talking about Dungeons and Dragons and his current campaign.

"I'm at your list of questions now. I can't answer anything about sports, and don't think I'm unaware of how you asked me and not Lucas. I see what you are doing and I'm not going to fall for it. So, your first non-sportsball question here; How is Dustin doing, really? Well, that's a whole thing but overall, okay."

[poorlittleyaoyao]

An Exhaustive Explanation For Why Qin Su Took Her Life Of Her Own Volition

(Or: For God's Sake, Please Just Let Her Have This One Thing)

Okay, so let's leave aside the fact that Wei Wuxian is an unreliable narrator. At the point in the novel at which he insists that Jin Guangyao must have forced Qin Su to kill herself somehow, Wei Wuxian has also insisted that Lan Wangji would totally hate it if he knew they'd made out while drunk. Let's also leave aside that Wei Wuxian himself will reassess his opinion of Qin Su's death later on, and IIRC says nothing about it either way in the drama, because the people who insist that JGY Definitely Killed Made Her Do That sure do. A narrator being unreliable doesn't mean we can't trust anything they tell us, after all; it just means we need to compare their views to outside evidence, the way you would with a primary source document.

AND WHEN YOU DO THAT

IT STILL MAKES ZERO SENSE

Picture all this from Jin Guangyao's standpoint. Let's assume for funsies that you don't care about your wife who is also your half-sister, and have no compunctions about killing her to keep the incest secret. Wouldn't you just... do that? Wouldn't you kill her the second that little paperman flies away and you hear the alarm?

"He obviously couldn't do that! The paperman saw her alive so it'd be weird if she suddenly was gone!" Yeah, and everyone at the cultivation conference saw her alive when they came into the treasure-and-torture room, and it would be even weirder if she suddenly stabbed herself to death in front of them.

"Ah, but he needed to know who sent her the letter! He can't afford to kill her!" Wow, hey, that's right! You, Evil Jin Guangyao, have just spent the preceding scene wheedling and then threatening Qin Su so she'll tell you who send the letter, and she stood firm the whole time! So forcing her to kill herself in front of everyone when she still hasn't told you that important piece of information would be PRETTY DUMB, wouldn't it? (Almost as dumb as giving her the opportunity to interact with all the people you're trying to keep the secret from, but hey, maybe it took you longer to hide da-ge's head than anticipated.)

"Maybe he'd given up on getting her to tell him anything so her killing herself was to divert suspicion away from him!" Okay, first of all, how is "your wife (whom nobody but you has seen recently) kills herself with no warning" going to make things look LESS suspicious? Second of all, things were going JUST FINE. You hid da-ge's head. People were buying your "this cursed cabinet is where I keep my former boss's soul-stealing knife" story. You haven't even subtly brought up Suibian to change the subject. The narrative misogyny means that nobody has directly talked to Qin Su and "of course my wife also hangs out in our house, lol" is flying just fine as an explanation. You had almost put out this fire! Why would you throw gasoline on it by making Qin Su kill herself?

Honestly, the smartest thing for you to do in this situation would be to knock your wife unconscious and move her to her sleeping chambers or a couch or something in the main part of the palace. That gets her out of sight and renders her unable to talk in a way that won't raise suspicions, and gives you the option of going "omg guyyys my wife is sleeping :( this totally unwarranted search of our home is gonna wake her up :(" to make people leave!

But, okay. Let's shift our perspectives here. Jin Guangyao has a history of making deranged choices when he's in Panic Mode. Maybe his brain short-circuited and, somehow, he decided that MAKE QIN SU KILL HERSELF IN PUBLIC was the best course of action. Wei Wuxian himself tells us that she wasn't under the influence of talismans or anything, so somehow Jin Guangyao convinced her to do this with his words. Never mind that we just saw Jin Guangyao deploy an ungodly combination of feigned ignorance, gaslighting, actual sincerity, veiled threats, and manipulation with zero impact. Somehow, he used his words successfully.

What could he possibly say?

Picture all this, now, from Qin Su's standpoint. Your entire world has been shattered. Your husband who is also your half-brother has been lying to you for your entire marriage, has done nothing to reassure you that he didn't murder your son, and has sealed your meridians to prevent you from fleeing. He then brought you into a secret room in your home that you didn't know existed and which, you discover, houses his sworn brother's severed head. All you know is that you cannot tell Jin Guangyao who gave you the letter because you're certain that he will have her killed. Shit's real fucked and you have nobody to help you.

Now every sect leader in the jianghu--including your husband's remaining sworn brother, your young nephew, and your nephew's maternal uncle--has shown up to search your husband's home. His top priority in this moment is quashing their suspicions so they leave him alone enough to regroup.

One of three things must be true for you.

1.) Your top priority is survival. You don't want to die. If you care about your reputation, you know that you're as screwed as he is if word of this gets out, and unfortunately the only way to survive is to play along with your husband's weird shit, at least for now. In that case, the best way to assure him that you're on his team is to help him assure the other sect leaders that Everything Is Normal And Fine. If you don't want to die, then you're not going to be susceptible to any insistence that you kill yourself.

2.) You're so furious that you don't care what happens to you or your reputation as long as you take Jin Guangyao down with you. In that case, you'd tell him whatever he wanted to hear and then IMMEDIATELY scream to the other sect leaders where Nie Mingjue's head is currently located, or you'd drop the incest bomb yourself hoping that the paperman is somewhere in that room and can back you up, or you'd grab that dagger and stab your husband, or some combination of all three! You're not going to quietly kill yourself at his request, because you've suffered enough for his bullshit!

"Well, maybe he didn't threaten her. She's going to be worried about Bicao and her father. Maybe he threatened one of them!" Yeah, maybe, but that's a threat to get someone to cooperate. You can't make sure they're still alive if you're dead! And if you're convinced that this guy has lied to you constantly for the past 10+ years, you're not going to believe him when he says"kill yourself and I'll be niceys to them." There is nothing at all that he could say to make her harm herself if she hadn’t been so inclined.

And that leaves

3.) You're in such despair that you actively want to die. You can never trust your husband again. You can never trust anyone again, honestly, because he wasn't the only person you loved who kept this secret from you. You don't trust that the other sect leaders will do anything to help you, just as your mother didn't trust that anyone would do anything to help her all those years ago. (When they barge into the palace and walk straight past you as though you were a piece of furniture, your distrust is confirmed.) Maybe, despite everything, you still love your husband too much to kill him. Maybe you fear that, without evidence, he will be seen as an innocent victim and you will be seen as his mad, murderous wife. Maybe you don't care what happens to anyone else, but you know that you don't want to deal with this anymore, and you are the only one you trust to help yourself escape it.

The tragedy of Qin Su is that she is never permitted to make a fully informed decision about her life. At least let her final action be something she knowingly chooses.

[splitster]

answering asks

you'll have to befriend her first sorry

chocolate was the first sweet that Pom had so it's her favorite!! she won't go nuts or anything but she is very easily manipulated if you promise her a bar of chocolate

↓ more asks under the cut!! ↓

wraithification ideally does preserve peoples memories! part of the process is forming the core that holds said memories, so as long as the process goes somewhat smoothly then the person should wake up very disorientated but with their memories and personality in tact.

naw she's thankfully immune to most elemental hazards. one of the perks of being a wraith!

YEAHH i've been trying to keep up with the comics! this comic is a bit old at this point but i'm so glad bald dingo is canon 💖

i think it'd be funny so yeah sure

there is always an inherent risk to the process. i'd say the absolute ideal circumstances you could have would be if a wraith like pom and a doctor like yonny were working together to increase the likelihood of survival. the process hasn't been studied at all, given the rarity of wraiths as an organism and the added rarity of a wraith becoming so attached to a creature that it wants to convert it.

there is a metaphysical aspect to wraiths as a species that defies understanding, so the person being wraithified or the wraith themselves having a strong will for survival would definitely contribute to the success of it. thankfully, unless there's a VERY specific set of circumstances (that are relevant only with someone like yonny wraith who has two cores), the subject would fall unconscious and not form memories of the wraithification itself (which is fortunate, because that would be kinda horrifying).

if she's saving dingo and this is a last ditch effort, pom absolutely puts her whole being into it. it's very, very hard on her and she has every last bit of energy sapped from her. depending on her reserves, she could end up hurting herself with the amount of energy it requires. but wounds are temporary and death is forever, so pom would persevere through and give it her all to save him

yeah! pom's skin might technically be fake because it's made from goo, but she still feels sensations through her goo. she probably doesn't get itchy that easily. she's probably a little ticklish? but i'm not sure if you want to try that on a wraith that could easily stab you in a heartbeat...

wow when i was looking back for this pic i realized i first posted about the pom wraith au on september 1st, so the au is like 4 months old... time flies

WAHHH THANK YOU....🥺💖 asks like this are never a bother!! my favorite part about posting my content online is the engagement like this, i'm very happy to make stuff that you and your bro can bond over

procreate on an ipad! i use an empty cheezits box and three splatoon manga books to prop up my ipad to draw on, and i've been told its one of the worst drawing arrangements ever documented, so no matter how you draw it's probably gonna be better than my set up

of course! i didn't like... invent wraiths or anything. i just expanded on the little tidbits of what we know about wraiths in the pikmin universe. anyone is free to make their own wraith ocs or their own headcanons on what wraiths are

whuh... have i? i post pretty frequently. i used to post a bunch for a week or two and then disappear for 6+ months repeatedly so this is very good compared to my historical track record lol

AHH thank you!! i'm glad that i can inspire!

thank yall for all the asks, i'll continue getting through them... slowly

[hogwartslegacyreactions2]

hey! I had an idea how the HL characters would react if they saw that F!MC had abs.

F!MC would be all teasing and flirting at the same time.

Ominis would have felt it the most because he would have to feel it to see it.

Professor Fig would definitely think about his younger years. ( proud father )

HLC REACT TO MUSCULAR F!MC

Due to the modest dress code of the time period, MC did not have many opportunities to display her muscles publicly. However, when it was just her and her companion in the middle of the woods and she needed to retrieve something from the bottom of a small lake, she sure as hell wasn't diving in wearing three layers of clothes.

SEBASTIAN SALLOW: He arches an eyebrow as MC suddenly disrobes. "Merlin's beard, woman. If you wanted it that bad, all you had to do was say so." He laughs at MC's glare of indignation. The tone of MC's muscles is quite unexpected, but not entirely surprising. He's been traveling around the valley with them for a while and he's seen them toss enemies around without magic. He's a tiny bit jealous, honestly.

OMINIS GAUNT: "What are you doing?" All he can detect Is that MC is shuffling around in place. He doesn't put two and two together until they jump into the water. They were naked, or nearly so. Oh dear. Thoughts of their body invade his mind and he blushes furiously, trying to shoo them away. They've given him many a strong hug and he can't help but wonder what it would be like to feel their body after they come out of the water.

ANNE SALLOW: "Merlin's beard!" She quickly covers her eyes. "Kindly give me some warning, would you?" Her words may come out a bit sharper than she intends, but it's not out of disgust. No, it's the opposite. MC's body is very lovely and tempting but she doesn't want to be rude with staring. She peeks just before MC dives in.

IMELDA REYES: "Showing off, are you?" She snidely comments as her eyes elevator across MC. When MC confidently smiles and winks back at her, she flushes red and looks away. "My abs are better..." She mutters to herself.

NATSAI ONAI: "Oh, wow." She's transfixed. She always knew MC was strong in the figurative sense, but she had no idea how well it translated literally. MC looked like she could pull a carriage single-handed. If MC teases, she gets all giggly and too hot to wear her own robe.

GARRETH WEASLEY: Once he gets over the shock that MC is half naked in front of him, uppies. Doesn't matter how tall MC is. He wants uppies. MC looks like they could throw him in that lake if they wanted to. He is a happy man in the arms of a strong woman. Take care of him and he is the most loyal of golden retriever boyfriends.

LEANDER PREWETT: Nearly screams when MC starts stripping. He turns away and refuses to turn around. What would his mother say if she knew he saw a girl so undressed? It's indecent! It's scandalous! It's.... it's tempting. He can still see their reflection in the water. His face is as red as his hair. MC was going to be the death of him.

AMIT THAKKAR: His hand flies up to the side of his head to block MC from sight. "What are you-!?" His breathing hitched as more and more clothing piled on the shore. How was MC so calm about this? His heart was going mad. When they resurface, he helps them back to shore, but tries to keep his eyes shut. When they kiss his cheek in thanks for being such a gentleman, his eyes fly open in shock and he takes them in. They're the very depiction of beauty.

EVERETT CLOPTON: Surprisingly chill about the whole thing. He catches every article of clothing thrown at him so MC's robes don't sit in the dirt, and waits patiently for them to resurface with whatever they were trying to retrieve from the bottom of the lake. See, he's being smart. The less of a deal he makes about it, he figures the more comfortable MC will be about doing this in the future. Therefore, he will see more of that lovely body of theirs. Big brain.

POPPY SWEETING: She is staring unabashedly. Muscle Mommy may not be a term in the 1890s, but she's about to invent it. She has heart eyes. She might be drooling. Tease her and she might just faint.

[dragon-kazansky]

When the raven calls

Morpheus x Female Reader

You, his raven, die protecting Jessamy while rescuing the Dream Lord. When Morpheus returns to his realm, he mourns your loss, only to find a stranger waiting for him in his throne room. The stranger claims to be you, now in human form. He doesn't understand, but his raven will always watch over him.

{Masterlist}

{Previous Chapter} - {Next Chapter}

Chapter Nine - The little things

☆☆☆

You're sitting on the steps of Dream's throne while he reads about a girl named Rose Walker.

Morpheus coaxed you into using your human form a little more often. As a gift, he gave you a wardrobe full of outfits. You were wearing a pair of shiny black boots. You had been practising how to tie the laces. Matthew would undo them with his beak so you could tie them again.

This was all part of you trying human things, no matter how mundane they seemed.

"What have you tried so far?" Jessamy asks, flying in.

"Um, let's see, I tried an apple when we were with Death the other day. Hob bought me a coffee, that was nice. Lucienne has been teaching me how to dance."

"Dance?" Morpheus asks, looking up from the book.

"Yes. She suggested I might try and find a hobby for myself, so we went through some stuff and settled on dancing. She's very good, you know."

"Is she?" Dream sounds amused.

You nod.

Morpheus puts the book down and stands up. He walks down the steps until he reaches you and holds out his hand. You look up at him with slight confusion.

"Dance with me."

You feel your heart skip a beat. You stare at his hand for a few long moments before you remember he's waiting. You reach out slowly and place your hand in his.

Morpheus smiles softly.

He guides you off the steps and then gently pulls you in close, but not too close.

"We don't have any music."

"We don't need music." He says.

He leads. You follow. You don't even look down at your feet as you dance with him. His eyes stay locked on yours.

You're not entirely sure you understand what's happening. How has it come to this? Once upon a time, you never would have dared think of Dream in this way. He was always just your king, your creator, your Dream Lord.

This was something out of a fairytale.

Matthew and Jessamy sit on the steps and watch you both. They can see this connection that has been building between you both. It's clear as day.

"Are they-?" Matthew starts to ask, but Jessamy hits him with her wing and shuts him up.

The dance continues right up until Lucienne returns. She has been out taking note of everyone who had returned to the Dreaming, and who was still missing.

You take a step away from Morpheus. He doesn't even look at Lucienne as she comes over. His eyes linger on you and how shy you have become.

As a raven, you would have no issue talking back at him. As a human you seem so sheepish around him.

He wonders if you feel it too.

"My Lord." Lucienne looks between you both. She realises she jas walked in on something, but she must speak to Morpheus.

"I, uh... I'm going to try out more stuff..."

You smile softly at Lucienne as you rush past her. Jessamy flies after you.

He does not look away until you've completely disappeared from sight. He turns his attention back to Lucienne who is looking right at him with her brows raised.

"Go on."

"I have completed the census you have requested, Lord Morpheus."

"Good, and?"

"I have accounted for 11,062 of them."

"Wow, someone's been busy," Matthew chimes in.

"There are a handful of new entites." Lucienne says.

"That is to be expected." Morpheus goes through the census.

"But... three of the Major Arcana are gone."

Morpheus looks up at her. "Name them."

"The first is Gault."

The first window changes to reflect the missing Nightmare.

"A Nightmare who. I must say, I never trusted."

"She is a shape-changer. It is not in her nature to be trustworthy. Who else?"

"The Corianthian."

That was a given. Morpheus had failed long ago to bring him back.

The second window changes to reflect him.

"I assumed as much. Still feeding on the dreamers he was meant to serve."

"Yes."

"The last?"

"The last is Fiddler's Green."

Now that was unexpected.

"Fiddler's Green?"

The last window depicts the lush greenery of which was once Fiddler's Green.

"That is passing strange. He is, after all, vavasor of his own dominion and always so reliable."

"I know."

"This is my fault.vhad I been here, fulfilling my function-"

"It was not your fault, my lord."

"No? Then whose?"

"I am afraid there is yet more news." Lucienne says. "Gossip, really, but..."

"Go on."

"There are rumours among the dream folk... of a vortex. Perhaps you might wish to investigate."

The rumours are quite true. There is a vortex." He confirms. "A true annulet. The first of this era."

"Then you must hunt for it, sir. It must be controlled."

"The vortex is a she, Lucienne."

Morpheus shows her Rose Walker. As of at the moment, she is not a danger. He intends to use Rose to gather his missing Dreams.

Lucienne is unsure of all of this.

Matthew offers to go keep an eye on Rose. Morpheus agrees. There was a time he would send you, but he would quite like to keep you in the Dreaming for now. He wants you to explore your human side some more.

☆☆☆

"Is it nice?" Jessamy asks, watching you brush your hair in the mirror.

"It feels nice through my hair." You say.

"Not the brush, silly."

You look at her reflection. "What then?"

"Falling in love."

You stop brushing and turn in your chair to look at her, shock and confusion written all over your face. "What do you mean?"

She chuckles softly. "You and Lord Morpheus."

"What about me and Lord Morpheus?"

Jessamy flies over to the dressing table you are sitting at and looks up at you through the mirror. "You're falling in love with him, aren't you?"

"What? No! Don't be silly." You can't believe she would ever say anything like that.

"What? You're trying to me you don't feel anything toward him?" She cocks her head to the side.

"That would be ludicrous!" You gasp.

"Why?"

"Why? Our lord has not had a partner romantically in so long. His relationships end terribly. Which is a shame. He is such a good man. At least in my eyes. Yeah, he's a little emotionally constipated, but I am certain when he loves he loves with his whole being, and I am not about to hurt him."

"Why would you hurt him?" Jessamy asks.

"I don't think the Endless are meant to love."

"They must do. If not people, then some other aspect. Did you not say Death loves her job because she is there for the people when their time is up? That's a type of love."

"It's not the same..."

You sink down in your chair slightly. "I refuse to fall in love with him."

"I think it's too late." Jessamy flies up and pecks you softly. You wave her off you and watch her fly away again.

"You're wrong..." You whisper. No one hears you.

☆☆☆

"What are you doing?"

You turn to find Morpheus watching you. His lips are curled into a tiny smile. You hadn't heard him enter your room.

"Um, trying on some outfits. Lucienne said you made me even more clothes."

"I assumed you would like a selection." He looks at the outfits he had created for you.

"Thank you."

"Would you like to spend some time together? You could perhaps try more human things. Lucienne mentioned you hadn't really experienced much in your human form."

"Oh, I don't want be any trouble."

"You are no trouble. Matthew is keeping an eye on Rose Walker for me, and the Dreaming is doing rather well. I would very much like to spend some time with you again." He speaks softly.

You gaze at him. You hadn't expected him to say anything of the sort. "Okay."

"Come with me. We shall explore the dreams of others unnoticed and try out anything you wish. Say the word, and I shall find us a dream."

You follow him.

You've never actually done this before, travelled dreams. That was his thing. He could enter dreams unnoticed if he wanted to, and the people dreaming would be none the wiser.

"What would you like to do?" He asks.

"I... hm." You're not entirely sure. You try to think of something the humans enjoy doing. "What about... ice cream?"

"Ice cream?" He asks, a tone of amusement laced in his voice. You nod. "Very well then."

Morpheus takes your hand in his and guides you through the Dreaming. He finds exactly what he's looking for. A young girl in Italy is having a dream of the ice cream parlour her father takes her too. Morpheus hides from her view as he takes an ice cream and gives it to you.

You look at it. It's cold in your hand. It feels real for a dream, but you supposed, in a sense, dreams were real.

"Go on," he urges softly.

You watch the way the girl eats hers and copy her. It's cold on your tongue. You can taste the flavours. You go in for some more. It's sweet, but not too sweet. You like it.

Suddenly, after a few good bites, you're struck with a pain in your head. Your hiss as you massage your scap gently.

Morpheus chuckles. "Ah, the experience of what they call brain-freeze."

"Oh. What do they enjoy this so much if this happens?" You pout.

"Perhaps a sweet treat is worth a little punishment." He teases.

Still, you eat the rest of the ice cream.

"What now?" He asks.

"Um, maybe I could try riding a bicycle?"

Morpheus is once again left amused by your request. He finds a dream of a man who, in his younger years, used to race on a bike. He helps you climb on. "Start small."

"Right..."

You take note of the people in the dream. You try to copy their movements. It is not so easy to balance with two wheels. Morpheus does not let you give up though.

Soon enough, you are peddling. You manage to cover a little distance. You smile as you start getting the hang of it. There was so much for you to experience.

Though you do miss soaring through the skies as a raven. However, Morpheus was keen for you to stay human today. You would humour him.

Next you want to see a beach. Morpheus can find those in abundance. He selects one he particularly like the look of.

You remove your shoes and feel the warm sand under your feet. You smile. Sand is Dream's thing, so it feels comforting. The sea is gentle against the shore.

"This is nice."

"It has dawned on me how little you have experienced, even as a raven."

"I suppose... but it's alright. I adore serving you." You tell him softly.

"Still, as things are now, you are permitted to enjoy life a little more."

"That's... very kind of you. However, please do not let me stray from my duties. I am still your loyal raven."

He chuckles. "Yes."

As you both walk along the shore, he reaches out and takes your hand in his. You look at him, but he simply smiles. You say nothing. The pair of you walk along the beach.

It's funny seeing him in such a warm, sunny place dressed the way he is. But it's just a dream. He's not really affected.

The sun starts to set. You stop and turn to look at it.

"How was it being human?"

You smile softly. "It was nice. I miss my wings, but this is exciting. Thank you for this."

"You're most welcome. I feel a lot is about to happen, so I wanted you to enjoy this." He says softly.

"What do you mean?"

"The vortex. She will bring my missing creations to her, and I shall bring them all home."

"Oh, right. Yes. Just say the word, and I'll help."

He smiles at you. "I know."

You both stay on the beach a little while longer. Once the sun has gone, Morpheus takes you back to the palace. You walk beside him through the halls.

"I must go speak to Lucienne. I shall call on you again soon." He says, looking at you. Nodding, you watch him go. His coat flows behind him as he disappears down the hall.

You stand there with a small smile on your face. All of things you've done today, your favourite part was spending it with Morpheus.

It almost felt like a date.

☆☆☆

@missdreamofendless - @kpopgirlbtssvt - @sitkafay - @snowsatsu - @ladyofdreaming - @thoughtsfromlayla - @modest-irish-goddess - @mystic-mara -

[moronkombat]

i am absolutely l o v i n g the stuff you’re putting out! 🤍🤍 could i request anything fluffy for raiden🫣 sfw or nsfw it doesn’t matter to me 💝 i just love him so much

have some soft Raiden!!

When Raiden had invited you out with him he half expected you to deny him. He had built himself up to except the rejection, practicing in the mirror how he would react. It Kung Lao's pressuring that led Raiden to even undergoing this task.

It not entirely out of the realm of reality for him to ask you out to dinner. It not the first time you would bee meeting each nor would it be your initial outing together. No, it would not be that all. He has known you for a bit now and there has been time spent between the two of you.

But a dinner? A date. Raiden cannot help but shutter at the word. It feels so childish and boyish, though suppose he had felt like that when building up the courage to ask you to join him for a quick dinner at Madame Bo's. He spent even more time preparing his bravery for the rejection but it never came.

A jaw goes slack and eyes blink as if trying to ascertain if what he seeing real. Real it was, indeed. You had accepted with a smile most beaming and Raiden had thought to himself What now?

Shaking smile laced in his expression he had something along the lines "Great! I'll pick you up at 7:00!" Before scuttling off, still not believing this to all be so real.

The time flies quicker than he would like, his mind still rattling in nerves and sick anticipation. When he see's you, arrive to escort you, all those worries seem to blow into the wind. You stand there and Raiden thinks maybe he should have dressed up better. He looks like but a pawn compared to you.

His throat is dry all of sudden and there's an audible gulp while he lightly shakes his head in the hopes of ridding himself of this stunned stupor. It doesn't work. Eyes scan up and down and he begins to speak but his words are treacherous, coming out as crackles.

Clearing his throat he tells you something or tries to. "Wow, uh-you look, uhm-good...!"

He can feel his stomach flip and it takes everything within him not to slap his forehead in disgrace. You seem not to mind his awkward mumbling as your response is gracious and paired with a delicate smile. Raiden nodded his head and then the two of you were off into the night.

Dinner appeared to drag through the winds of time but he didn't mind it. Not at all. You seemed keen on speaking with him just as he was. Slowly, that tingling nerves began to leave Raiden's spine bit by bit. He's comfortable now, sitting across from you and laughing at something you had said.

It not only his laugh that rings, yours does too and Raiden swells with pride hearing it. More and more confident he becomes as your dinner continues and Raiden feels unstoppable. Well perhaps not so much when the bill came but he insisted on paying and you thank him yet again with that smile has grown to be fond of.

Now the two of you walk in the cooling air of stars. A breeze most light dances around him as it does you. Smiles are a contagious thing, they must be. The two of you full of them. Raiden tells a joke and you laugh that music he so adores.

"I had a really great time with you tonight, Raiden." Your words fill his heart up tight. You had a good time but not just that. You had a good time with him. Raiden couldn't ask for much more than that and he isn't going to.

"It was really my pleasure. I'm just glad you agreed to come to dinner with me." Comes his confession, a hand rubbing his neck while his gaze drifts from yours.

You head sways to the right and a brow is perched in interest. "Did you think I wouldn't?"

"Ah well-" and his hand is scratching the skin of neck faster now, "Didn't know how busy you might be."

"I will always make time for you, Raiden." Endearing words spoken from lips that display a kind smile.

Raiden watches you for a moment, lips thinning into something shy while his head nods. "T-Thanks."

Oh how he wants to collide his palm to his face. How nervous must he sound? Incredibly he bets. There's a rather large barrel of hay to his left and oh does it look like a cozy place to hide away in right about now. But your words find him before he gets the chance to shrink away even further.

"You like me, don't you, Raiden?" An accusation, one that hits the nail so rough on the head.

Eyes of onyx widen and his body becomes one of ice. He stares at you, lost and trapped. A soft gaze stares into one petrified and Raiden's mouth begins to move but words cannot find themselves.

Your smile shines into him and you gift him with the words he tries to say. "It's okay. I like you too, Raiden."

He stares to you then unsure what to do with himself. Defenses wish to rise up and swallow him in embarrassment, shock and bewilderment. Raiden unable to move at all, his body simply trapped in this twilight like daze. Yet, your step closer to him is seen. Your hands laying against the fabric of his sleeves are felt and still he is made of stone.

Lips press against something smooth yet chapped and his eyes become the moon. Frozen and fixated he can only watch as your lips kiss his, still lightly parted from shocked. You don't seem to mind, holding there for but a precious moment and then you are retreating from him. Raiden's hands feel heavy and fingers twitch. Warmth becomes him and once tanned skin becomes as pink as a blooming rose.

Your laugh rings his ears and finally the cement binding his body seems to break away. He should do something, anything, instead stand here like a fool and then he senses your hands with his. He squeezes yours, perhaps a bit too eager, but you don't seem to mind.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Raiden." Not a question, no this is a promise and now Raiden is smiling.

He nods once, his smile wide as pinkish dust covers his cheeks. "Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow."

[leothil]

fic recs: archive edition 18

Happy Monday! Wow, we're really getting up there in number of rec posts, but I see no end in sight yet! Fall of 2021 is a goldmine for buddie fics and I've barely made it to October.

Previous posts can be found here!

no kingdom to come by @waywardrenegades Eddie's father suffers a health scare and he flies to Texas to help take care of him. Meanwhile, Buck stays with Christopher, and Eddie thinks he probably needs to tell his parents about the will at some point. Features one of my favourite characterizations of Eddie's sisters and absolutely lovely Diaz sibling times! 23.1k words, rated T

out of the blue (i fell for you) by iphigenias (@oatflatwhite) Slight AU where Buck meets Eddie and Christopher in the hospital and Maddie meddles a bit. 1.5k words, rated G

Save a Horse, Ride a by @hmslusitania Buck thinks that he doesn't really get Eddie's whole thing for cowboys. Then he and Eddie go line dancing. Established relationship fun, and the author's note at the end cracks me up. 2.7k words, rated E

i hope you never lose your sense of wonder by wafflesofdoom (@capseycartwright) Five conversations navigating breakups and love that Eddie has with Christopher, and one Eddie and Buck have with him. 4.1k words, rated G

aftershocks by @renecdote Missing scenes from 3x01 Kids Today, for those of us who wanted a bit more of Eddie's reaction to the blood clot. 2.3k words, rated T

Happy reading everyone!

[makeitmingi]

The Cat and Dog Game [Chapter 13]

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Comedy

Pairing: Yunho x Reader (y/n)

Characters: Chef!Reader, RestaurantOwner!Yunho, MaitreD!Hongjoong, Waiter!Yeosang, Waiter!San, Waiter!Mingi, SousChef!Seonghwa, SousChef!Wooyoung, PrepChef!Jongho

Summary: Yunho's dream was to open and run his own restaurant. But he doesn't know anything when it comes to cooking. Until you came along and accepted the job, bringing with you a small crew. How will the black cat tame the energetic golden retriever?

Word count: 3.2K

When Yunho's phone rang while he was gaming, he quickly glanced over, thinking it was one of his friends or his family members. But when he saw your name, his eyes widened as he threw his headphones to the side.

"H-Hello?" He cleared his throat.

"Hey, are you busy?"

"Uh, nope! Not at all, totally free, not doing anything!" Yunho replied. I mean, he was mid game with Yeosang and San but that didn't count as being 'busy'. He heard you laugh on the other end.

"I made food. Want to come over and eat?"

"C-Come over? As in, to your house? A-And eat?" Yunho's eyes nearly bulged out of his face.

"Yes...? Where else would I mean when I say 'come over'? Are you okay? You're acting weird. There's no obligation, Yunho. If you're busy, that's fine."

"No! I'm free! I-I mean, I'm fine." He replied, slapping a hand over his mouth. The more he talked, the more he was embarrassing himself.

"Alright...? I'll send you my address. Come over whenever you're available."

You hung up just like that. Yunho pulled the device away from his ear, staring at his phone in surprise, as if what just happened was a dream. But the notification sound made him jump, a sign that it was very real. It was a text from you with your address. He totally ignored Yeosang and San calling for him in game.

"Hey guys. I've got to go." He said absentmindedly and left the game, leaving the two to fight the enemies on their own. Yunho suddenly shot out of his seat.

"I have to get ready." The first thing he did was jump into the shower so he would smell fresh.

"What should I get?" Yunho dried his hair, his other hand scrolling on his phone.

He wanted to bring some sort of gift since it is his first time going to your place and he didn't want to show up empty handed. Yunho usually brings food but you're a chef, what can he bring?

"Wine?" He stood in front of his wine fridge. There wasn't much, all these bottles were gifted by his father.

"No, I shouldn't just give alcohol." He scratched his head.

"Jeong Yunho! Don't waste time." He slapped his cheeks, realising how much time he was wasting deliberating over this. After rummaging through his cabinets, he finally picked something. He stuffed it into a paper bag and left.

*DING DONG*

You wiped your hands on your tea towel and went to open the door for Yunho to come in. You left the door open for him to take his time to remove his shoes and went back to the stove.

"Pardon my intrusion." Yunho said, removing his shoes at the doorway. He walked in and was amazed by your house.

"Close your mouth, flies might go in." You chuckled as you moved around the kitchen.

"Wow. This kitchen might be bigger than the one at the restaurant..." Yunho said. He had never been in a house where the kitchen took up most of the main space.

"That's physically impossible." You scoffed a laugh as Yunho slid onto one of the bar stools, watching you cook.

"Oh! I brought this for you. Thank you for having me over." Yunho held the paper bag out with a bow. You shot him a questioning look.

"You're oddly formal... There's no need for gifts." You said.

"I wanted to. I noticed that you prefer drinking cold brew coffee over iced americanos... I brought my favourite brand of cold brew coffee packs for you to try." Yunho explained. He watched as your expression morphed from surprised to one of interest. You received the paper bag and looked at the contents.

"Thanks, I really appreciate this. I do love cold brew, didn't think you noticed." You said, studying the cold brew packs, intrigued and excited to try them in due time.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Yunho offered, pulling up the sleeves of his sweater.

"No need. It's almost done." You said.

"Your kitchen is really nice." Yunho complimented. You had carefully curated each part of your kitchen, from the tiling to the table top materials. You wanted it to be your dream kitchen.

"Thank you. It took a while to save up enough and piece everything together but I'm happy with it." You said.

"Is everything marble?" Yunho asked, smoothing his hands against the counter top.

"These are granite. The main island here is marble since I work pastry on the marble." You explained. Yunho got off his seat and came into the kitchen space.

"Give me a kitchen tour!" Yunho grinned. Lowering the flame, you stepped away from the stove and began to explain the kitchen details to Yunho. Even if he didn't really understand what some things meant, he still listened intently and with interest.

"La Cornue is a good brand, I'm assuming?" Yunho laughed. You nodded your head.

"It's a very good brand." You said, referencing your range cooker. Your time suddenly beeped, making the both of you jump. Moving Yunho aside, you took the large pot out of the oven.

"Ooh." Yunho looked on curiously. When you opened the lid, Yunho sniffed the air, leaning over to peek at the contents.

"I don't know what that is but it looks and smells so good." Yunho said, making you laugh.

"This is short rib bourguignon. You mentioned one of your favourite foods is galbi jjim (Korean braised beef short ribs). I wanted you to try the French version." You explained.

"Mmm, I like the sound of that." Yunho grinned excitedly.

"You can pair it with mashed potatoes or pasta. I have both. The mash has roasted garlic in it." You informed.

"Is it okay if I have both?" He asked shyly. Honestly, both options sounded so good to him. You nodded and plated it up for him, giving him two plates of food, one with the fresh pasta and the other with roasted garlic mashed potatoes. Yunho watched in awe as you effortlessly lifted the bone and the meat fell off.

"The beef is so soft that it's falling off the bone." He said. You nodded, putting the bones aside. After fixing yourself a portion with fresh pasta, you sat with Yunho to eat.

"The meat doesn't even taste like meat. It melts when you eat it. And the sauce is so rich!" Yunho let out little sounds of happiness.

"I'm glad you like it." You said, taking a bite of your food.

"I love it! I don't think I can ever choose my favourite dish that you've cooked but for now, this is the best. Can't believe I'm saying it's better than that sandwich you gave me the other time." He said.

"Really? You like this better than the reuben sandwich?" You teased him. He nodded his head vigorously.

"So how is this French version different?" Yunho asked.

"You brown the short ribs first to get colour and flavour then you add red wine, stock and vegetables. Traditionally, following its name, you use Burgundy wine. You basically want to cook it really slow to break the meat down." You explained to him.

"To give added flavour, I roasted bone marrow too. You put it in a hot oven until it becomes soft and melty then you can use a spoon and scrape it in. Fancy places serve it with bread." You informed.

"You eat it like butter?" Yunho's eyes were wide.

"Yeah. I'll let you try it on its own next time." You said with a small smile. Yunho's heart warmed at the prospect of next time.

"I never knew other cuisines had something similar to galbi jjim." Yunho noted.

"Every cuisine has their own version of a dish. The premise of this is similar to galbi jjim, in which you stew beef ribs for a long time but the flavours are so different." You said.

"Thank you for introducing this to me. I always learn a lot about food from you." Yunho smiled softly, his cheeks blushing a light pink.

"I ramble a lot when food or cooking is the topic. You have to tell me if I go overboard." You waved him off.

"Never. You make learning about food fun and I, now, know there's such a big world of food out there that I've never known about before." Yunho shook his head in denial of your words with a kind smile. Yunho felt like he could listen to you talk for hours and he would never get tired of it.

"These mashed potatoes are really smooth. I can taste other flavours in there." Yunho said, scooping a bit of plain mashed potatoes to taste it on its own.

"Besides roasted garlic, I infused the milk cream mixture with some thyme and rosemary. And instead of using a regular masher, I used a potato ricer, giving a fluffier mash." You told him.

"Do you just put garlic in the oven? It's not a harsh garlic taste, it's mellow and nutty." He asked.

"You cut off the top to expose the cloves then drizzle oil and salt over. Wrap it up and toss it into the oven until soft and gooey."

"Can you teach me how to make it some day? My brother loves mashed potatoes and I would want him to try some." Yunho requested, giving you puppy eyes.

"Sure." You agreed.

"Would you like seconds?" You noticed his empty bowls.

"Can I?" His eyes lit up. You nodded with a small laugh, rounding the counter to go get him another portion with mashed potatoes. He seemed to prefer that pairing over pasta. You poured sparkling water into two glasses, squeezing lime wedges in.

"Here. To cut the greasiness." You placed the glass down on the counter. You realised you were probably not a very good host, not offering him a drink the moment he entered.

The only people that you had over were Seonghwa, Wooyoung and Jongho. And they were familiar enough to help themselves to anything in your house.

"I'm not a very good host. I don't usually have people over. So just help yourself to anything you need, okay?" You sighed.

"(y/n), don't say that. Just be comfortable. I'm grateful you invited me here and are feeding me." He smiled.

"Mmm..." You hummed.

"But me being here, does this mean we're friends?" Yunho brought up, a hopeful glint in his eyes. You turned to look at him oddly, you tilted your head.

"Are we not already friends?" You asked, not hiding how puzzled you were. Yunho's eyes widened slowly.

"Ah! I-I mean we are! I just- I thought it would be rude of me to assume! S-So I just asked..." His voice slowly died down as you left him flustered, stuttering and stumbling over his words. His ears turned red and a small pout appeared on his lips as he turned away from you to hide.

"You're fun to tease, Yunho." You laughed. Yunho pursed his lips before he burst out laughing as well. His heart felt warm, you had already thought of him as a friend.

"But in all honesty, I'm not exactly a fun person to be friends with." You shrugged.

"Why do you say that?"

"I'm not outgoing, I don't trust people easily, I'd rather keep to myself or live in my own head." You said with a slightly bitter chuckle, as if those words had been thrown at you by someone else before.

"I don't think those are bad things, (y/n). Those aren't negatives, nothing to be ashamed of." Yunho said.

"I never said I was ashamed." You raised an eyebrow.

"Now I know you're really messing with me." He pouted. You couldn't help but laugh again, reaching out to pat his head. Your eyes widened when you realised what you were doing.

"Sorry!" You pulled away immediately. This was the second time this has happened.

"N-No! Don't apologise. I don't mind it, really. " Yunho smiled softly. It brought him some sort of pride that your subconscious mind was relaxed around him to the point where you just naturally made physical contact with him.

"Do I remind you of a dog? Because Hongjoong hyung and San said I remind them of one, an overly excited one." He tilted his head, tapping his chin.

"Like an adorable golden retriever puppy." You said.

"You think I'm adorable?" He beamed. Of course that was the only thing Yunho picked up.

"I... Never mind." You chewed on your bottom lip. Yunho chuckled at how you avoided the conversation, looking away. You stood up and brought your empty bowl to the sink.

"Can I help you do the dishes? It's the least I can do since you made me such a delicious meal." Yunho offered, standing up as well.

"But-"

"If you're going to go on about how I'm a guest and you can't let me do that, save it. Because I am stubborn and won't listen." He pointed his nose up.

"Fine. Just put it on the rack when you're done." You sighed in defeat. Yunho nodded with a victorious grin. While you brought the dishes to the back for him to wash, you wiped down the counters, the stove and the island where you were working earlier. You put the leftovers in a container, storing them in the fridge.

"Umm, Yunho. I hope you don't think I was insulting you by saying you remind me of a puppy. I didn't mean to call you a dog." You suddenly said, rubbing the back of your neck.

"Of course I don't think that way, (y/n). Don't forget, you called me adorable." Yunho said.

"Right..." You sighed.

"Plus, Hongjoong hyung and San call me an overly excited dog too. I don't think it's offensive. Dogs are cute, loyal and friendly, all good traits." He shrugged.

"I guess that's one way to look at it..." You mumbled but Yunho heard you.

"Hang on. Turn to me." You instructed. Yunho held his wet hands up, careful not the drip water all over your floors.

"Bend down a little." You waved him closer to you. Gently, you hooked the apron over his head, reaching around his waist to tie the strings in a knot. Yunho's eyes widened at your close proximity, you were practically hugging him.

"There, so your clothes don't get wet from the washing." You said as you pulled away. Yunho was frozen for 2 seconds, his cheeks and ears were red.

"T-Thanks." He stuttered before turning back to do the dishes.

"You should sit! Take a break from cooking today. I can manage." Yunho insisted.

"I don't think it's nice to leave you here on your own though. Especially since you're doing my dishes for me." You clicked your tongue.

"It's fine! And the couch is right there, you're not leaving me." He said. Yunho actually just wanted some space alone to collect himself. He loves hugs, yet he has never felt so flustered by one before.

"Alright... If you insist." You went to sit at the couch. Yunho exhaled softly, he knew you didn't mean to hug him but he didn't know why he was feeling so lost.

"Oh, hey Hwa." He heard you speak, you must be on the phone with Seonghwa. Although Yunho tried his best not the eavesdrop, there wasn't much you were saying to Seonghwa. You mainly let out acknowledging hums and 'yes's. Yunho also noticed that you didn't mention that he was here.

Was it something that was important to mention to Seonghwa? Yunho didn't know. But it wasn't his place to say anything. He was here as a guest, a grateful, well-fed guest.

"I'll see you tomorrow... Woo is picking me so I'll see you at the restaurant... Goodnight." You hung up.

"Yunho, you don't have to wash everything. Just the plates will do. I'll do the rest later or tomorrow." You said from your spot on the couch.

"It's fine, (y/n)! It's really not much." He replied, continuing to help you wash your cooking spoons, saucepans and prep bowls. He knew he shouldn't wash your knife.

"I'll just leave your knife to the side!" He said, he didn't want to risk ruining your knife.

"Yeah, leave that. I'll wash that on my own." You told him.

"All done." Yunho wiped his hands, removing the apron and hanging it onto the hook by the side of the fridge.

"Thanks, Yunho." You smiled. He excused himself to use the restroom and you gave him directions on which door. The hallway was dark but Yunho managed to find his own way there without accidentally stumbling into the wrong room.

"Geez, Yunho ah. What was that?" He asked his reflection, slapping his cheeks.

"It wasn't even a real hug..." He mumbled. After using the restroom, Yunho splashed his cheeks with cold water, wiping his hands with a tissues before exiting.

"(y/n)." Yunho called but there was no reply. Emerging from the hallway, he saw you fast asleep on the couch.

"(y/n)?" He called out to you softly. You didn't budge or move at all, you were really asleep. He approached you with light steps.

Yunho carefully leaned down, taking in your sleeping form. You looked so peaceful. But there was a small frown on your face. Yunho used his thumb to gently ease the tension between your brows.

Fortunately, you didn't wake up. You just relaxed, the frown on your face disappearing thanks to him.

"Blanket..." He spotted the folded throw blanket on the other side of the couch and unfolded it, draping it over you and tucking you in.

"You must have been tired." He said with a soft sigh, sitting in front of the couch. Now, he felt guilty that you cooked to the point where you tired yourself out. Reaching out, he moved your hair away from your face, tucking it behind your ears so it wouldn't tickle you and bother you while you slept.

Now that Yunho could see your face much closer, he realised how different you looked, compared to when you were working at the restaurant.

There, you were so cool, a confident leader that instructed your team with charisma and finesse, leaving people in awe.

Now, you looked so vulnerable that Yunho had the urge to hug you and protect you. But he wouldn't take advantage of you like that while you were asleep.

'Thank you for the wonderful, delicious meal. Sorry for tiring you out so much! I didn't want to leave you on the couch but I also didn't want to assume which was your bedroom and move you.

Thanks again for having me over, I had a great time. Let's do this again! I'll see you tomorrow at the restaurant. Goodnight, (y/n).

- Yunho'

When he was done writing, Yunho placed the sticky note on the counter table. He grabbed his coat and walked back to where you were asleep.

"Goodnight, (y/n)." He wished in a whisper and wore his shoes before quietly leaving your apartment and going home.

~

Series masterlist

[hardcandycigarette]

LONG WAY DOWN PART 2

WOW! I’m so happy that so many of you liked Part ONE. Just got a chance to post the second part. Ok, no angst this time around. We all need a breather after Part One.  Let’s check in on our little family, shall we?

WARNING-none I don’t think (let me know if I missed something important}

If you like dad!rry that’s pretty much the entire piece. So this time we get a bit more fluff.  Don’t worry, we’ve got more angst coming, but we’ve got to tell the whole story.

Enjoy!

"Poppy, I know I promised we'd go to the zoo, but Mummy had to leave in a rush. Something important happened. We’ll leave soon."

Poppy climbs onto her bed and begins jumping. "Zoo! Zoo!" she shouts. The day’s overcast sky leaves a haze over the room, with the open blinds providing the only light source to the room. Her hair flies about around her head, as she bounces up and down.

"No, ma'am, we are not doing that." He points his finger at her, then at the floor. "Get down and play quietly or watch a program in the living room, but we are not jumping and shouting." He heads back to the door.

She stops.

“Leave you at the bloody zoo,” he says under his breath.

“What Daddy?”

“Nothing.” He turns to look at her again. "And besides, Miss, you aren't even dressed. So maybe get to work on that." His tone is harsher than Poppy is used to. She still stands on the bed, but slowly lowers herself to sit on the edge. It softens him, as he sees her surrounded by the pink and white ruffled pillows, and bedding. The canopy bed decorated with stuffed animals reminds him that she’s just his little girl. She stares at Harry in silence, her bottom lip puffing out.

“And why are you in here in the dark?” He turns the overhead light on.

“I like it.”

“That’s your daughter Y/N, liking the dark,” he says to himself.

Harry walks to his bedroom, grabs his phone, and as he sits on the bed, he looks at the time. She's been gone for over an hour. Is it over? No. She'll be back. His eyes fill with tears, and when tears begin to fall, he doesn’t stop them. A knock at the bedroom door interrupts his thoughts. He wipes his face. "Yes."

"Daddy, Poppy needs help."

"Coming." He just wants to crawl into bed and cry, but the kids need him. And this is complicated enough, so he needs to keep his word to them. He said they would go to the zoo, so they will go. He stands, goes to the door, exits the room, and walks down the hall.

Poppy points to the top of the closet. "Want that one."

Harry takes a deep breath before he enters her room and looks in the closet.  "Which one, love? The polka dots?" He replies like the daddy she is used to, with a gentle, easy voice.

"Yeah."

"Darling, you’re wearing a green skirt with flowers. That's a pink and blue polka dot sweater. That doesn't match."

"Wanna be like you," she says.

He laughs. "Oh, do you like it when Daddy's outfits don't match?"

She giggles. “Yeah, it's funny."

"Well, Lambert, at least one person likes it," he mumbles. He takes the sweater off the hanger and hands it to the curly-haired little girl.  

She pushes her head through the neck hole, then shoves her arms through the arms of the sweater. "You look just like your mumma, know that?" He smiles his big trademark smile. He helps her get the sweater adjusted to her tiny frame.

"Mumma says I look like Daddy." She points to him while she gives a bashful smile.

"Well, you have curly hair like me, but your face looks like Mummy. You're my beautiful girl, princess."

"Hey, you call Mummy princess. She's a princess?"

He laughs. "Something like that." He smirks, wondering if Poppy might have heard something she shouldn't have, but she says no more. He runs his fingers through her hair. "Need to do something about this hair before we leave."

"I'll do it."

"Yeah? That's a big girl job; think you can do it?"

"Yep. Watch." She nods and looks up.

"Let's see." He places his hands on his hips as he observes his little girl.

She walks over, opens a drawer, removes a headband, and puts it on. "See, all done."

He applauds. "Very cute, but when I come back, we might wanna brush that hair of yours."

"Kay. Kiss Daddy." She tilts her head up and puckers her lips.

Harry bends over and gives her a tiny peck. "Let me check on your brother, fashionista."

"’Kay." She sits on the floor, pushing on her rain boots.

"Archer," he calls as he steps into the hall and walks to the room next to Poppy's.

"Yes," he answers.

 "How are we doing in here?" He dips his head in from the doorway.

"Fine." Archer sits on a multi-colored rope rug, reading a book.

"All dressed?"

"Yes." He doesn't look up from the book.

Harry steps into the room, walks to the little boy, and squats next to him. "What's going on? Not upset about the talk we had on the stairs, are you?" He rubs Archer's back.

"No." He shakes his head. "Where's Mummy?"

"Told ya something important happened, and she had to go."

"Will she be away for a long time?"

Harry narrows his eyes. "Not sure, why?"

"She had two suitcases, and you asked her to stay."

Harry shakes his head. "No, not long, little man; she just had a lot of stuff she needed to take with her."

Archer looks up. "But you asked her to stay."

Harry has yet to think about how he will answer the millions of questions that are certain to come from young children. He sighs. "I did because I don't like it when she's not here. Like when I leave, and you guys don't like me leaving, but I always come back, don't I?"

The boy nods. "Yeah. But even if it's too late or too early for us, you always say bye, and we always eat with you. Sometimes we even take you to the plane, but Mum just left."

Archer plays with the ends of his shoestrings.

"She was just in a rush. She'll call when she gets there. She'll be back soon. How did you see all that, Mummy’s suitcases and all?"

"I was listening at the door." He looks up.

"Now, that's not what we do, is it? We don't listen to private conversations."

"I didn't. You guys were in the hall."

Harry kisses him on the top of his head. "Too smart for your own good, aren't you?"

The boy shrugs.

"Right. So, let me get Lola changed, and we'll head out." Harry stands, and his son asks one last question as he exits the room.

"She'll be back, right, Dad?"

"Yes. And don't talk to Poppy like that. It'll scare her, thinking she lost her mum, and she didn't. None of you did. Don't worry." He leaves and walks to Lola's room.

"And so if we are both good, she'll be back," Poppy is talking to Lola through the crib rails.

"Hey, Pop, what's this about?"

Harry approaches the two small girls.

"I was telling the baby to be good and not cry so Mummy will come home."

Harry kneels at Poppy's level. "Hey, sweet girl, why would you say that? Mummy is coming home. It's not because the baby cries; it's not because of any of you."

"Archer said Mummy just couldn't take more."

"Pop, I need you to listen to me. Mumma didn't leave because of you, your sister, or your brother. Has nothing to do with any of you, nothing at all."

She looks at him. “But then, how come?”

Harry sighs. "Let me get Lola dressed. Run along while I finish with her."

Poppy dances her way to the door and leaves.

Harry lifts the baby from her crib. She grabs his face and laughs. He places her on the changing table, undoes her diaper, and tosses it in the pail. He cleans her up, puts on a fresh diaper, and chooses a top and overalls from her drawer. He holds her still with one hand and reaches into the dresser. Once he retrieves the items, he gives her a few raspberries on her chubby tummy, which sends her into a giggle fit. "Daddy's baby angel, aren't you? I love you guys so much. I wish I were here to see all you do when I'm not around. Daddy is so sorry he isn't here more, but I love you so much. Soon I’ll make it up to all of ya. I don't know how, but I will. Promise.” He finishes dressing her, picks her up, and gives her a big, wet kiss.

“Dada.”

“Excuse me, did you just say Dada?” Harry beams at Lola." That's right, I’m your dada.” Harry missed it when she said it the first time.  He was on a call with Jeff, and the next time he was on a call with Sarah.

She grabs his nose and smiles.

"Now, it's time for some little socks for your little feet." He walks over and grabs a pair of socks and then her shoes. He carries the baby, the socks, and the boots over to the chair and sits with her. As he puts the items on her, he begins to speak. "Now, you need to know my darling Mummy is not gone forever, and Mummy is not gone because you cry. Mummy is upset and tired, and Mumma left because Daddy didn't help enough, but that's going to change, so don't worry." Harry knows the baby doesn't understand, but he says it anyway. When he finishes with Lola, he stands, and walks over to the door, but turns back to the crib to grab her favorite lovie, a stuffed turtle, and hands it to her. When he returns to the door, he flips off the light, and they enter the hallway.

"Come along, guys, we're ready."

Poppy and Archer come out of their rooms.

"Okay, family, let's go to the living room. We need to have a chit-chat."

The kids follow Harry and sit on the living room floor while Harry sits on the sofa with the baby in his lap. She smells of lavender, and he inhales because nothing smells better than her little lavender wash and shampoo.

"Right, small people, I need to talk to you." He looks at Poppy and Archer, then Lola. Poppy has a drop of jelly at the corner of her mouth.

“Poppy, why do you have jelly on your face? We didn’t have jelly this morning.”

“From my room.”

“You have jelly just randomly in your room? Never mind.” He shakes his head. “We’ll talk about that later. Anyway, as I was saying. Mummy is gone, and we all know that. I want you to understand that it has not one single thing to do with any of you. Mummy had to take care of some things for herself, and she needed to leave right away, just like sometimes I must leave when we don't expect it, but I always come back, don't I?"

The kids nod.

"And you know Mumma loves you, and so does Papa. You guys are the most important thing in the whole world to us. But Mummy needed to take care of herself for a bit.”

“Is she sick?” Poppy asks.

“No, baby she’s not sick.”

“Then what?” Archer asks.

“You see, she never has time for herself. This can make a person sad after a long time. You know I say how tired I am because of my work, or I come home in a bad mood? Or even you guys get sick of going to school. But we get to come home and take a break, but mummies don't get breaks. They work all of the time."

"So she's mad because she's always taking care of us?" Archer asks.

"No. It’s like when you feel upset when you can't play because you have to clean your room, eat dinner, and have a bath. All you want is to have fun. Well, that's how Mum feels. She just wants to have some fun sometimes. But for her, it's not playing so much as just resting and letting someone else take care of her.”

"We could take care of her," Archer says.

"Most times, she would love that, but this time she still had to go away for a little while. So when something came up, and she needed to leave, she decided to also have that rest I was just talking about."

"So, a trip?" Poppy asks.

"Yes, Pop, a trip." Harry decided that was the most straightforward answer they'd come up with all day, so he settled on that explanation.

"Can we go now?" Archer asks.

"Yes, young ones, we can go now. Just let me get your sister's bag. I'll be at the door in just a second. Put your coats on; it's a bit chilly today." Harry walks with Lola to the bag sitting near another sofa and checks for diapers, a binky, and other essentials. He rarely has to plan these things out, but as expected, Y/N had everything he needed in the bag. He picks it up and walks to the door. As he rounds the corner, he hears Archer before he sees him.

"It looks dumb."

"Hey, what is with all the shouting and mean words today? We just talked about this. What is wrong with you, Arch?"

He points to Poppy. "Her clothes don't match. She's dressed dumb. She said it's like you, but it's not because you're not dumb, Dad."

Poppy starts to cry.

"First, apologize to your sister. Second, we just talked about how we treat one another. And third, young man let people dress in whatever way makes them feel good. What if I told you that the cowboy hat you're wearing is dumb?"

"But it’s not."

"You don't think it's dumb, neither do we, but it would hurt your feelings if someone told you it looked dumb. So, think about how you would feel when you speak to people. Just because Mummy isn't here doesn't mean we can do whatever we want. And why are you using the word dumb, not a nice word..”

Lola claps and laughs.

Archer looks at the ground, then at Poppy. He touches her arm and says, "I'm sorry, Poppy."

She smiles. "It's okay."

"Now, Poppy, it is not okay; when someone hurts us, it is never okay, but it is okay to forgive them."

"I f'give you," she says in a hushed voice.

"So if you lot can behave kindly to one another, Archer, I’m talking to you, then we can go now." He takes Lola's coat from the hook, then his own. He sits her on the bench by the door, dresses her in the coat, and then puts his jacket on. He picks up the baby. "All right, people, are we all clothed, shoed, and jacketed?"

He looks at everyone. A bit proud of himself, he opens the door. "Then off to the zoo, we go" Poppy and Archer run to the car. "Hey, no running. Walk, please."

They wait at the SUV for Harry and the baby. As he reaches the car, he hits the key fob unlocking the door. With his free hand, he opens the door and puts Lola in first, buckling her into her car seat. "Walk around to the other side, guys, so we can all get buckled in. Archer, you get in first, then I'll get your sisters settled." The boy climbs into his seat and buckles himself in. Harry picks Poppy up and secures her in the booster seat. He turns to Archer in the last row. "Buckled in nice and tight?"

He looks down and pats the buckle. "Yep."

Harry tugs on the seatbelt and checks it just the same. "Well done." With that, he shuts the door, walks to the girls, rechecks them, and closes the door. He goes to the driver's seat, gets in, closes the door, and starts the car.

And Baby, you don't know what you're doin'

The parts of you I'm ready to ruin

Slide on over, there's room enough for two

I haven't even started my lovin' you

The song blasts through the car, a song Harry has been working on. He turns the volume to zero. The kids don't recognize the music, so they don't ask any questions. "Man, Dad, that's so loud." Archer covers his ears.

Lola starts to whine and is on the verge of tears when the volume startles her. Poppy reaches over to her. “It’s okay, Lolo.”

Harry watches in the rearview mirror. He pulls the car into drive. They roll to the exit of their home. Content with his family, he enters a code at the gate. When the gate opens, he pulls onto the road and drives toward the zoo. It's a bit of a distance, but the kids laugh and talk, not having any trouble enjoying a day out. Harry knows he should have called his security team for someone to meet them, but he doesn't have time now. Also, he needs to learn to live without constantly having security around. Isn't part of the problem that he lives in the lap of luxury, as Y/N put it? He checks to see if she's called though he knows she hasn't. She’s only been gone a short while, but he hopes somehow, she’ll be home when they get back.

The drive is uneventful, except for Lola becoming a bit fussy. She quiets down if Harry reaches back to soothe her and talks to her a bit.

"Daddy," Poppy says.

"Yes, love."

"Did I know you when I was little like Lola?"

"Of course, why?"

She hesitates. "Didn't know if you knew me then."

"Yes, baby. You've seen all kinds of pictures of us together when you were little. I was around a lot back then. Remember when Lola was in Mummy's tummy?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I knew you even when you were growing big and strong in your mummy. Even before I could see you, I knew you."

She giggles. "That's silly."

"S'not Pop. Remember how we all knew Lola? We'd talk to her while she was growing inside, Mumma?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it was the same with you, except it was just me, Mum, and Arch. We talked to you all the time, except Archer was pretty young, so he couldn't talk as much."

"Did you want me different?"

Harry raises an eyebrow and pouts his lips. "What?"

"So we have Lola?"

"Oh love, I would never want a different you. I love you.”

Archer has fallen asleep, which Harry is thankful for, or he would be piping in by the minute.

"Then why?"

"Well, baby, we loved our family so much that we thought about how great it would be if there was another one of us. You know how you love all your friends, but you like having more than one friend?

“Yeah.”

“And when you have a party, you want more than one person to come because it's so much fun with more people? Well, it's like that."

"You don't like her more than me?"

He reaches back and grabs her foot, and tugs it a bit. "I could never like her more than you. I love you all the very same amount, just like you are. I don't need you to be more or less or different. I need and want you to be uniquely you. I want you to always be yourself, Poppy." He rubs her leg. "I love you just like this, mismatched clothes, messy hair, and all. I would never want a different Poppy."

"I don't want another daddy. I love you." She blows him a kiss.

"I love you, angel. And you will never have a different daddy."

"Or mummy?"

"There will never be another mummy, not ever, ever."

                                                            ###

Once at the zoo, Harry puts on a baseball cap, lifts the hood of his sweatshirt, over that, then puts on his shades and gets out of the car. By the time he is at the backdoor, Archer has already unbuckled his seatbelt and practically lunges out of the car when Harry opens the door.

"Hey, speed racer, let's be careful." He grabs him under the arms and lowers him to the ground.

Then he walks around to where Poppy sits, opens the door, and unbuckles her. He lowers her to the ground as well. Finally, he removes Lola from her car seat, picks up her bag, slams the door, and hits the key fob to lock it.

 "Oh bloody hell," Harry says as they cross the parking lot.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Archer asks.

"Forgot your sister's stroller. Guess I'll just carry her."

"You can get one here, I think."

"All right, we'll ask when we get up there. Arch, Pop, I need you guys to pull the hoods up on your jackets."

"Why?"

"Poppy, please don't ask me why. Just do what Papa says."

“It won’t fit over my hat,” Archer says.

“I guess you’ll need to give it to me then, or you put it on over the hood. Either way, the hood goes up.”

Archer, detecting Harry is in no mood for games, does as he's told. He carries the hat, not wanting to push his luck.

"Poppy, take m' hand. Archer, take your sister's hand. We should stay close together the whole time, right? Poppy, if they have a push cart, I'll put you in it. I know ya don't like them, and I don't either, but it's the only way I can keep us all safe without security. Usually, we at least have Mummy, but since it's just us today, we've got to be super careful."

"What's s’curity?" Poppy asks.

"The guys that always protect us, the ones that are like policemen, but don’t wear police clothes. Do you remember Liam, Jack, and Brian? Those guys are security."

"OH, okay."

When they reach the zoo's entrance, Harry keeps his head down, avoiding eye contact with anyone. He scans the QR code, types in the required information, and purchases the tickets. He scans the tickets, and the turnstile unlocks. He leads the children in. "Now we've got to find strollers."

Harry walks over to a booth keeping his face down as much as possible. "Scuse me? Do you have strollers?"

"Yes, sir, right over there." The woman points to a stall around the corner.

The family walks to the stall, and Harry puts money in for a double stroller. When the funds release the lock, he pulls the stroller out. Thankfully he can fit both girls comfortably.

"Lola, let's get you in first." He pushes the back portion down and puts her in, then picks Poppy up and places her in the front part. He hangs the baby bag on the handle. "Arch, I need you to stand in front of me.". You're gonna push. That way, you can't run off, mister."

"Dad, I;"

"Or we can go home." He knew how the sentence would end, and he wasn't having it today.

"I'll do it."

Archie stands in front of Harry and begins to push the cart.

                                                           ###

"And then, then," Poppy giggles. "Archer fell down. Did you see Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetheart, I did."

Harry rocks a sleepy Lola as he listens to Archer and Poppy tell stories of what just happened at the zoo.

"Guys, let's finish our food and get home so we can all take a nap."

Archer tosses his pizza on a plate and slumps back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. "I don't want a stupid nap."

"You don't have to sleep, but you have to lie down and be quiet. And don’t act like that, throwing food onto the plate, ridiculous. But back to the nap, if after 15 minutes you don't fall asleep, you may read a book. Those are your options."

Poppy stands in her chair. "And me, Papa?"

"Sit, bottom in the chair. And yes, Poppy, you too."

Poppy lowers herself back to a seated position. “Daddy do I-“

"I don't want to read," Archer interrupts.

"Then sleep. I gave you two choices because choices are important. It's up to you which one you'd like to do. And yes, you too," he says as he reaches over and wipes Poppy's face.

"Looks like everyone has had enough pizza. We're all full, right?"

The two older kids nod their heads.

"Well then, let's head home."

“What about ice cream?” Archer asks.

“After dinner.”

“But you said the zoo, pizza, ice cream.”

Harry sighs. “I did but I didn’t say ice cream immediately after pizza, so we’ll have it after dinner.”

The three of them stand; with Harry still holding Lola, he grabs the baby bag and escorts the two older children out of the restaurant.

"Will Mummy be there?" Poppy asks.

"Not sure. I don't think so, though," Harry answers.

"Of course, she won't. She left us," Archer says.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Archer. What is that? I've told you Mummy didn't leave you. She loves you so, so much."

“But she left.”

“And she’ll be back just like I told you.”

At the car, Harry buckles everyone in. Once settled in the driver's seat, he starts the car and drives home.

### 

"Poppy, don't argue. It's not nice. Now, go lie down on your bed."

"I don't wanna, wanna stay with you." She wraps her tiny arms around his neck and starts crying. "None of that, sweet girl. No need to cry. I'll be right here in the house while you take a nap. So do as you’re told, please."

Her cry becomes urgent, almost desperate- her face red, and sharp breaths escape her. She breathes faster, yet more shallow, chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Now, now baby, I told ya I'll be right here in the house. I'll keep the monitor on, so if you need me, tell me, and I'll come, okay?"

"No."

"Poppy, you are always my sweet girl. Why are you talking back today?"

"Want Mummy."

"I know. I do too, and she'll be home before you know it, but for now, I need ya to do as you're told."

"Want Mummy."

"Pop, I'm sitting you on your bed and walking out. We’re not gonna argue about this." He does what he said he would. Sits her down, and crosses the room, “I love you, See you when you get up.” He closes the door.

She wails, a literal meltdown as he makes his way to Archer's room. He sticks his head into the room. "Doing okay?"

Archer nods his head.

“'m here if you need me." He closes the door.

Poppy is quiet now, so Harry doesn't dare return to her room. Lola sleeps peacefully in her crib. Harry picks up one of Archer's socks as he walks down the hall, then one of Poppy’s hair clips. Once in his bedroom, Harry exhales and drops back on the bed. He checks his phone, but there are no missed calls from Y/N. No texts. He knows he needs to call someone and tell them what happened because if she's away for too long, he will need help. But before he does that, he sends her a text.

HARRY- We miss you, love. So sorry I've been such an unappreciative twat. Can we please talk? I'll do better. Promise. Please just give me a chance to fix it. XX-H

Harry grabs the remote and turns on the Man U game even though he's not watching. It's just a way to pass the time as he waits for Y/N to text him back. He knows she won't, but he still hopes.

After 20 minutes, she has yet to reply, so he picks up the phone and dials Gemma. The phone rings three times before she answers.

"Hey," she says.

"Got a minute?"

 "Just a minute, I'm about to go to yoga class," she says.

Harry sighs. "Can you give me a call when you're done?"

"Yes, but what's wrong?" she asks.

"This one might take a while. Just call me when you're done, please."

She speaks louder to drown out the sound of an ambulance passing by. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just call me back when you have time to talk, Jesus Christ."

"I know something’s wrong. I can hear it. Tell me, or I'm not calling back. Something is obviously wrong."

Harry sits up, rubs his hands along his face, takes a deep breath, then exhales. "She left."

"Who? What are you talking about?"

"Gemma, my wife left me."

"Y/N left you? Oh, Harry, what are you even talking about? Nonsense."

 "She left. We had a huge row. She packed two suitcases and walked out the door. I haven't heard from her since."

Gemma shakes her head. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure that's what I saw. Jesus, Gemma, are you gonna talk to me, or are you just gonna ask a bunch of stupid questions?"

"When did she leave? That's not a stupid question is it?"

"I dunno, maybe 10 or 10:30 this morning."

“Well, you talk like she’s been gone for days. Give her at least until dinner time. Goodness.”

“And then what? When she’s not back then what do I do?” He stands.

"I assume you've called her."

Harry paces the room. "Yes. Well, I texted her, which seemed the most likely way to get a response. You know she hates the phone."

"Did you call Mum?"

"I can't, not right now. And she can’t do much from there." He sits down in a chair near the window.

“I’ll be there around 5:30. “

“See you then.” He disconnects the call.

                                                           ###

"So, you've got to give me as much detail as possible in the shortest amount of time. We can talk over all the little bits and detours of the story later."

Harry walks to the terrace door. He pulls his bottom lip between his forefinger and thumb. "She wanted to take a trip. I told her I had things to do, and it wasn't a good time. We had a heated argument last night, which drifted into this morning. It got worse; she said she couldn't do it anymore, was exhausted, and couldn't stay. She packed her bags and left. That's it in a nutshell."

"So you say she packed two suitcases? When was the trip supposed to happen?"

He continues to stare out the glass door. "Next week, Thursday, I think."

Gemma taps the tea mug. "Right, so she's not on the trip. Any idea where she'd go?"

He shakes his head, then shrugs. "Her mum’s, maybe. Since her sisters live far away, she probably wouldn’t visit either of them. She only has one friend she'd trust with something this serious-Julia."

"And have you called Julia?"

"No."

Gemma stands, places the mug on the coffee table, walks over, and rubs Harry's back. “You should call Julia; you don't have to tell her everything; just tell her you and Y/N had an argument, and you're wondering if she's spoken with her. Just checking to make sure she got safely to her destination.”

“But I don’t know her destination.”

“I know. That’s what Julia’s for.”

Harry's shoulders slump, and he drops his head back. "But that's so embarrassin’-can’t even keep track of ‘m own wife.”

"You can choose to find your wife or be stubborn. You always say choices are important, so there you go. Those are your choices."

Harry sighs and pulls his phone out of his pocket.