#yesterday i only did the cookies but i didn't finish them

[florida3exclamationpoints]

Wanna hear how stupid I am. Ofc you do. Refer to the tags.

[lalovi]

AN: This is an April Fools special because I feel like Shadow Milk definitely uses this day as an excuse to pull pranks on you. I really wanted to make an Easter Special yesterday but ran out of time.

Shadow Milk Cookie x Reader

Oneshot

Warnings: None

-April Fools!-

Today is a day that you haven't exactly been looking forward to. You see, Shadow Milk Cookie is no stranger to pulling a prank or two. He actually does it very often, and every time you fall for one, he'll laugh and laugh and laugh.

But now that it was April first, he actually had an excuse.

Normally, you're awoken by the chime of your alarm clock or by Shadow Milk Cookie shaking you awake because he's bored and needs attention.

Today it was from a gong.

Yes, that big cymbal looking thing. Honestly, who just casually has one of those lying around?

Shadow Milk, apparently.

"Good morning Doll!" He said cheerfully and like he did not just burst your eardrums.

You would groggily lean up in the bed, giving your boyfriend an annoyed glare.

"You've just been holding onto one of those for this moment?" You asked him, referring to the gong.

"Nope! I just got it in yesterday."

Of course he did.

"Now come on, we've got a big day ahead of us! Hurry up and get ready, silly." He shoved you into the bathroom for you to get yourself ready.

If you thought that he also wouldn't take this chance to pull something, then you'd be poorly mistaken.

The mirror was fully covered in sticky notes, and this was a big mirror. All of them were different shades of blue, as well.

Written on each of them was a different thing that he liked about you.

You read every single one.

It was a cute prank and you appreciated the dedication, but... now you didn't want to take them off.

Okay, that's fine, you can just use the mini makeup mirror instead. No big deal.

He's such a brat. Cute, but still obnoxious.

Once you finished getting ready, you walked out of the bathroom to see a still smiling Shadow Milk Cookie.

He was waiting for something.

"It was cute," You'd say.

"I know! ...Did you take it down though?"

"No."

"Oh really? You liked it that much? I'll make sure to compliment you more often, then."

He walked up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist, resting his head on your shoulder. He left some soft kisses along your neck.

"Come on dove, let's go eat~"

Shadow Milk Cookie began to guide you outside of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

Everything was upside-down.

The couch, the picture frames, the lamp. Everything.

When you looked towards the obvious culprit, he only had yet another innocent smile on his face.

"Oh my, what happened here?" He'd ask, feigning ignorance.

"I wonder.."

How did he even have the time for something like this? No. How did he even do something like this? It was almost impressive.

"So... how do you plan to eat breakfast like this?" You asked him, crossing your eyes with a disappointing look.

"Ah right..." He just kinda stares at the ceiling before snapping his fingers. All of the furniture returns to its original place. There was also some breakfast on the table.

"See. I think ahead!" He gestured for you to sit down, to which you obliged, and began eating the food that Shadow Milk Cookie prepared.

Nothing seemed odd about it.

It's strange. He keeps alternating between sweet and sour.

What exactly was his plan?

You took a sip of the coffee Shadow Milk had prepared.

It wasn't sweet.

No, it was actually very bitter.

Salty, even.

"Do you like it? I added a special little something," he said with a smile.

"Why are you like this?"

"April Fools!"

It was going to be a long day.

[skyeslittlecorner]

Okay I know it's too too late now... but can we have some scenarios about the kings (maybe Lucifer and your fav nobles too pls) reactions when receiving Valentines gifts from MC plssss 🫶

Don't worry, anon! We're between Valentine's Day and White Day, so it's the perfect time for some romance~

This is my first time writing for Luci. I can't wait until we finally see him in the game and I can add him to the royal team permanently.

꧁:･ ✡ ･:꧂

Satan doesn't pay much attention to such occasions, so when you approach him and give him chocolates, it's a surprise for him. Very nice one. It's actually obvious that you chose him, after all, he is your boyfriend a demon with whom you signed a contract. Get ready for a deep kiss of thanks and to be pampered even more than usual throughout the day. You will feel his true gratitude at night, where thanks to his excellent mood you may even try to gain some dominance.

Mammon is curious about where you're taking him, why he has to keep his eyes closed, and what that mysterious gift you mentioned is. When you take off his blindfold and he sees the chocolate fountain in front of him, he bursts into laughter. What generosity! He will take you in his arms so you can dip your fingers at the very top of the fountain. Of course, you won't try it yourself, and he will gladly lick the chocolate running down your arm.

Beelzebub examines the strange chocolate you prepared for him. It seems fragile on the outside, but inside it is full of a thick cocoa, liquid mass. A half-smile appears on his lips. Did you do it on purpose? He already knows how he wants to try it. You will be dragged to the nearby club. Beel will lay you on the table, break the chocolate and pour the cocoa mass on your cleavage. He refuses to taste it any other way than from your body.

Leviathan was expecting to get something from you, so he becomes more irritated as time passes. When you finally come in the evening, he looks like he's about to hang someone. Only when you explain to him that you had to finish your chocolates and show him the tiny works of art wrapped in fancy paper you will be spared. Paper with roses… were you and Barbatos wrapping them? Bingo, he has a prey to hang. He'll try one, but you can't tell from his face if he likes it. And as punishment for coming so late, you have to spend your entire night in his coffin.

Lucifer is a devil who is hard to read, but you feel like you saw him smiling under his breath. He just connected the facts. So that's why you came to him yesterday with a burnt hand? Were you careless when making him a gift? He will thank you and kiss the poor fingers that sacrificed itself for him. On the one hand, he would rather you not hurt yourself and be more careful. On the other hand, your eyes sparkled with tears so beautifully when you came to him asking for help... If you really want to make him happy, be like that again.

You invited Sitri into the kitchen to help you prepare chocolates for the others, so he knows exactly what you're planning. But he didn't expect he'd get some himself. When you hand him the hand-wrapped tea biscuits, he looks completely moved. Of course, now you both have to try them out. You will spend a lovely evening drinking tea, just the two of you, in the palace garden (sometimes disturbed by explosions from somewhere in the city).

Amon has an expression like a surprised pikachu, but a hundred times cuter. How so? Is this for him? Chocolates you made yourself? No one had ever done something so intimate for him. He will be touched both because you chose him and because he will remember how Beelzebub gave him a cookie and saved his life. Prepare for tears and feeding each other.

At first, Andrealphus doesn't understand why you put a cardboard box in his hands, and what does this have to do with Valentine's Day. He knows that lovers and friends exchange chocolates on this day, but he himself never did it. A whole life spent alone is not conducive to cultivating such customs. He will smile warmly hearing your stressed gibberish, and tell you to relax. It will be difficult to go to a café together without spreading panic, but what about going for a walk?

PS. If you would like more Valentine's Day headcanons, let me recommend @sulumuns-dootah works! They are wonderful. Here is a link to Gehenna demons, but there are more, check it out~

[blueninjablade3]

Why don't you trust me? Part 1/2

Oh, Pookies~ The Hades angst is finally here! Thank you for getting me to 250 likes yesterday. I finally finished this part so get ready. Small TW there is a dead pig in this so… yeah. But! Thank you @yuminumi29 for the request. Now let's do it!

You shook your head in shame. This was just pathetic. You looked at the gutted pig that lay on your doorstep. Its beady eyes had horror in them. You could assume that the poor thing didn't have an easy death. And you knew exactly who was responsible.

Hades. Hades was your ex-boyfriend. You missed him, yes, but you wanted no part in his plot to take over Mt. Olympus. You remember learning of Hades’ scheme. The horror you felt was palpable.

~

“Babe. Babe, I know that this looks bad, but it’s not what it seems!” Hades exclaimed as you looked at him in shock and horror. You had stumbled in on him yelling at Meg about his “Plot to overthrow Olympus”. The moment he noticed you he froze.

“Oh, really Hades?! THEN WHAT IN THE RIVER OF STYX IS THIS?!” You angrily yelled. Hands shaking. Why had he kept this from you?! More importantly, why was he doing this?! Yes, the underworld was the nicest of places but that wasn’t bad enough to overthrow and potentially kill people over!

Hades clearly got nervous. He could only be described as a child with their hand in the cookie jar. Hades looked so surprised. You weren't supposed to know. Not yet anyway.

“Okay, so it’s exactly what it looks like but I promise you, babe, you don’t have to do a thing!” Hades acted like that would console you. You thought he trusted you. You thought he loved you enough to tell you “Hey I’m going to be evil” but nooo. After all, you did for him

“Hades that doesn’t make this any better! People will get hurt or killed! Plus you Hades kept this very big scheme a secret!” You paused lip quivering. Thick tears in your eyes. You needed some fresh air.

~

You let out a hefty sigh. Hades hadn’t stopped harassing you to come back to the underworld. So you could “work it out”. Did he seriously not trust you? When did he plan on telling you this?

You thought he trusted you…

You heard two annoying voices you knew well. Hades minions. Pain and Panic were like your own. Hades always gave them so much shit. You honestly didn’t know how either was still “alive”. The poor bastards. You had always made sure to give them a little bit of respect. They deserved it.

“You two realize you aren’t very quiet?” You asked with amusement. The two little idiots. But they were your little idiots. The pair instantly shut up. As if that would help them.

“P and P get out from behind there. I know that you two are behind that bush.” You snickered. The two short imps shyly and nervously popped out from behind the bushes. You got down on your knee to be at eye level with your two boys.

Your warm eyes look into their eyes. They were clearly nervous. You chuckled.

“So either one wanna tell you whose idea it was to leave a poor animal on my doorstep?” You said with a raised eyebrow. Panic quickly tried to justify the poor animal's death.

“Well, Hades heard that giving animals was a good way to court a girl so he decided to give you this pig as a peace offering! He picked it specifically because it was the biggest and best-kept pig!” Panic explained in a quick way that did sound like he was doing his namesake.

You had to bite back a smile. At least he was trying? He was doing it in the wrong way of course but it’s the thought that counts! You’d still have to explain this to them of course. You can’t just have them leave gutted pigs outside your home.

“Well yes but usually those animals are alive. Also, I believe it’s goats that you’re supposed to give to the father. Not pigs.” You did your best to patiently explain to the two imps without sounding mean. You paused. Wait that might give them the idea to start leaving goats on your dad's doorstep.

“But that doesn’t mean to leave goats at my father's house! Don’t do that.” You did your best to make sure that there was no confusion. You thought for a second. Wait a minute. Where in the underworld was Hades?!

“Boys? Where would Hades be?” You were almost concerned to ask but you had to. Pain and Panic got a little nervous. This time Pain spoke.

“Well, he’s downstairs waiting for us to bring you back to him ….” Pain explained completely ready for you to blow up at him.

“What.”

Meanwhile in the underworld.

~

Hades had been a complete wreck. No one could get him to leave his palace, Pain and Panic somehow got more annoying, he cried at everything that reminded him of you, and he also hadn't slept in days. Needless to say, the underworld had been dealing with the consequences of your actions.

Hell, even the gods and goddesses were concerned. Without Hades running the underworld everything who would keep track of all the dead souls?! However, all of those assholes couldn't ever try talking to you and seeing if they could bring you back. He just wanted you back… was that too much.

Why couldn't you understand he only wanted you?

You. His darling. His love. His baby. His sweetheart. His everything… his beloved. Why couldn’t he have just told you?! What was he afraid of?! His whole body started flaming up… WHY DID YOU LEAVE HIM?!

Hades snapped back and looked down. The scroll was burning.

“No no no no no no no no” Hades tried putting the fire out it only got worse. After 15 seconds of trying to put out the fire, he finally did. But it was much too late. The picture was already burnt. The tears began rolling down his cheeks.

“Please just come home babe…” He pleaded to no one in particular. He just needed you back in his arms. He missed you. His queen….

[sanccharine]

14:30 | mm

pairing: assassin!momo x handler!reader

summary: good speakers are good liars, too bad momo is neither. co-written by @eternallyghosting chapter summary: momo spends the day with you

warning: sickeningly sweet, like makes me want to throw up actually

word count: 2.5k

a/n: assassin!momo is here because indigo works hard af. literally she wrote everything, again i didn't do jackshit for this part, didn't even open docs until yesterday lol. im just here to post and disappear like avatar aang, again :]

masterlist

You cursed as your oven timer dinged for the third time, barely managing to shove your hands into heat proof gloves before hurrying to take the baking tray out of the steaming oven. This had to be your sixteenth batch of heart shaped cookies, an apparent Valentine's day tradition. A cliche, more like, you rolled your eyes. 

Although this influx of orders was no doubt good for your growing business, you were just about ready to gouge out your eyes if only to avoid looking at pink food colouring again.

You sighed, at least after this last order for Mr Moyo, you'd be done for the day. As you busied yourself with measuring the flour, something you could do in your sleep now based on the amount of times you'd made this exact recipe, the front door slammed shut. 

Momo. Hearing the loud slamming noise would've given you a headache in any other situation, but not today. Today Momo had promised to give you a break from doing the dishes after seeing you knee deep in orders since the morning.

You hadn't even realized how tired you were until she came up behind you and laid her chin on your shoulder. You took a break from kneading and pulled her closer. Sensing your fatigue, Momo wrapped you up in her arms, gently turning you around and laying a soft kiss on your lips. 

"Rough day?" 

"Mmm," you didn't bother with a more coherent response. Momo got it anyway.

She gazed around at the heart cookies, with their light pink frosting and red and white sprinkles, and snorted, "I don't really get why people would want these."

A beat. 

She rushed to add. "Of course not saying that because it's your baking! These look great babe, you've done a really good job on the decor." She cupped her warm hands around your cheeks, emphasizing that she didn't mean anything by what she'd said.

You shook your head, "It is a silly holiday."

"Exactly! That's what I meant," she kissed your cheek in apology.

You settled deeper into her hold. The dough could wait. "But still, it's kind of sweet that people celebrate Valentine's day," you murmured.

Momo could be quite dense sometimes. You had to often spell things out for her. But this, your unmentioned plea, she understood clearly. Maybe it was the exhaustion making you more sensitive than usual. Or maybe it was the sentimentality of the holiday that made you melt against her arm as she brushed a strand of hair behind your ear.

"Tell you what, you finish up this last batch and I'll run you a bath. How does that sound?"

That did sound great. You gave her a grateful nod as you added, "there's extra frosting in the fridge if you want to try some." 

Momo hurriedly disentangled herself and gave you another kiss before rushing to the said fridge. Perhaps it wasn't just you feeling the sentiments of the holiday. 

With renewed vigour, you managed to toss the new batch of cookies in the oven, having to wait only for a couple minutes before filling up all your used dishes with soapy water. Although Momo had promised to do them for you, you couldn't just leave them be without rinsing atleast a few.

You trudged upstairs, where your nose was immediately met with the soothing scent of lavender, from the bath salts you had gifted Momo a few months ago. As you slipped into the bathroom, Momo turned to face you.

"So my next flight isn't for another few days."

You nodded silently, focusing on throwing your flour stained shirt into the laundry basket instead. Momo and you had discussed her flight over dinner last night so you didn't know why she was bringing it up again.

"I was thinking we could do something together."

Now that got your attention. You lifted your head and asked with a hint of a smirk, "I thought you said Valentine's day was a shitty occasion."

"I didn't say it like that! And also this doesn't have to be for Valentine's day," she added. "It could be just a date."

"Okay," you shrugged. You would do anything if it meant spending more time with Momo.

She perked up. "Great! I'll plan it out!"

Wait, what?

Before you could ask her anything, she smiled, said "Enjoy your bath!" and left, closing the door behind her.

As you enjoyed your much needed soak in the tub and made your way out of the bathroom, you found Momo hunched over on the bed with her glasses on and laptop in hand. You smiled to yourself. She hardly ever wore her glasses, so she must be taking this date planning very seriously. 

As you crawled into bed, she turned her screen towards you and pointed excitedly. "Look!"

You took a look at a website showing various people with axes in their hands. Before you could ask about what Momo wanted to do with a Thor convention, you caught sight of the title at the top of the screen.

Axe throwing. Huh.

"Seems fun, doesn't it?"

You tore your glance away from the laptop to Momo's face, grinning widely and awaiting your answer. You were looking at her, but you weren't really seeing. The only thought in your mind was how cute those glasses looked on her. You really had to make her wear them more often.

"You're adorable," you blurted out as she nudged you for an answer.

Stifling a giggle, she rolled her eyes. "I'm taking that as a yes." And right away, she booked a slot for the two of you. You settled under the covers quietly, not really having any objections but also not expecting her to be so proactive about this date.

"There, all done. It's in the evening tomorrow." She put her laptop away on the bedside table and joined you under the warm duvet. 

Not that the duvet stayed settled for long as her words jolted you up. "Wait, tomorrow? I can't tomorrow, I have to deliv—"

Momo took your hands, silencing you in the action. "I know, you have to deliver the cookies. But we could do those on the way to the facility."

You weren't convinced this easily. "What if someone isn't at home? What if we can't deliver some of the orders?" 

She shook her head. "The time slot I booked is their last one. It's at 8 pm, which gives us plenty of time to make the deliveries, even if someone isn't home in the morning," she emphasized the end of her sentence to lay your worries at ease.

Kissing the hands still in her grip was the cherry on top, as you finally settled down again, content that Momo had it all planned out. She laughed quietly as she turned to face you, the faint yellow hue of the night lamp casting a glow on her face. "I wouldn't have booked the slot without making your deliveries happen, babe."

"I know, I just like having a plan." So what if your handler tendencies bled over into your regular life, having a plan was never a bad thing.

"You and your lists and schedules…"

"Hey, at least I'm not the one getting lost in a city because I can't read out the itinerary made for me!" It was a bit of a deep cut to bring up something that had occured on vacation years ago, but you couldn't resist teasing her.

And Momo retaliated by doing what Momo did best. When at a loss for a verbal attack, she mercilessly moved her hands up and down your sides, tickling you until your feet kicked and squirmed in the blanket.

She only stopped when you finally cried out for mercy, ceding victory to her if only to be able to breathe properly. Having eventually caught your breath, you pushed yourself up onto your elbows to situate your torso over hers and wipe off the smug smile on her face with a deep kiss.

"Goodnight, babe. I love you."

"I love you too. G'night."

True to her word, Momo had done all the dishes last night while you had been in the bath, and walking into a gleaming kitchen almost made you want to get on your knees and sob in relief. You loved baking, but cleaning up after was often the hardest part, something you absolutely had to be particular about no matter how tired you were.

You turned on the coffee machine just as the sounds of Momo rustling around in the sheets reached your ears. You were content to just stay in and share a cup of coffee, enjoying the morning sunlight streaming through the windows onto your kitchen counter. You looked around your carefully curated kitchen, at all the designs you had insisted on, knowing that it would be one of the places you spent the most time in. Your eyes landed on the pile of trinkets in the corner, stubbornly making themselves known in the pristine marble decor of the kitchen. 

Despite your hatred of the mismatched colour scheme, that corner held a special place in your heart, after all, it contained all the little things Momo had brought back from her trips around the world. The woman was talented in many areas, but interior design was decidedly not one of them. She would buy whatever she thought looked cute, irrespective of whether it was something that would fit in your kitchen or was needed by you in the first place.

Still, you couldn't bear to hide it away. As your gaze landed on the porcelain soap dish Momo had brought back a few weeks ago, you had to stifle a laugh at the memory of that particular day. All things considered, it wasn't even as horrendous as some of the other things she'd purchased, but her reasoning for buying it was what had you stumped. You remembered her ravenously eating forkfuls of the pie you had made to celebrate her arrival (and the difficult mission you knew she'd undertaken), before she had sprung up from her seat to haphazardly search through her bags.

Having found what she was looking for, she had tossed the dish towards you, and beamed as though expecting praise for her 'thoughtful' purchase. You couldn't lie, the gift had you bewildered for a good couple of minutes as you wracked your brain trying to recall why this dish would be of particular significance to you. Momo had impatiently gestured at you to turn the dish over and "look at the back!", where you found a 'Made in Greece' stamp over the dish. Although that gift had greatly confused you to the extent of looking like the human equivalent of a keyboard smash, it brought a smile to your face knowing that Momo carried your love of Greek myths with her wherever she went.

The subject of your thoughts bounded down the stairs just as you wrapped up that precious memory. Her hair was mussed up from having rolled around in bed, and her bleary eyes indicated that she wasn't fully awake yet. But to you, she had never looked better. You loved Momo like this, all soft and pliant in the morning, making you feel like you were in a never ending Sunday. 

You must have taken a second too long to acknowledge her, as she whined at not immediately receiving her good morning kiss. You moved towards her and obliged, before getting a hold of her wrist and gently dragging her off to where your twin coffee mugs stood, ready for a lazy start to your day. 

The rest of your day went by similarly in a haze, with you dividing your time between wrapping up your final orders, and making the most of Momo being home. Once the admittedly long and lazy breakfast was over, you enlisted Momo's help in reorganizing your closet, getting rid of items you didn't use anymore. Then, after hastily vacuuming your bedroom, the two of you made a quick lunch of enchiladas (well, you cooked and Momo tried not to get in your way), before settling down on the couch and scrolling through Netflix for a new show to watch.

You sighed contentedly in her hold as Momo, eventually tired of trying to find something new, clicked on the long memorised sitcom favoured by you. As your eyes glazed over the familiar scenes, you lauded your past self for closing off orders even though Valentine's Day was still two days away; you got to make the most of your time while Momo was still home.

By the time the afternoon hues of the sun had started to darken to twilight, you had already finished a season of the show you had put on, as well as two cups of tea and a bowl of popcorn. Deciding to clear up a bit, you turned off the television with a groan of protest from Momo, before eventually tugging her off the couch and upstairs to get ready for your deliveries.

Momo had been right in booking the 8 PM slot for your date, and as you watched her carefully load all the orders into the backseat of your car, a serene feeling washed deep in your bones. All it took really was a four letter word.

Home.

Time.

Love.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Momo asked as you slid into the passenger seat.

You had an absent smile on your face as your fingers drummed against your thighs. "Mm, just thinking of how all it takes is a four letter word."

Momo leaned over, grabbing and fastening your seatbelt for you in a swift motion. "You're thinking of 'sexy', right?" she smirked.

You felt your cheeks being pulled upwards as the absent smile blossomed into a full one. "I was thinking more of 'dork' but okay."

"Nerd."

"Fool."

"Rude."

"Mean."

The two of you traded back and forth before Momo suddenly said, "Y/N".

"Hmm? That's not how—"

"I love you," she giggled. This time it was you who leaned in, pushing forward as much as your seatbelt would allow, and sealed her giggles with a kiss. "Wife," you murmured against her as she pulled you in closer upon hearing that fall from your lips, a revered whisper.

Despite everything in you screaming not to, you eventually pulled yourself away and let Momo start the car. You settled in your seat, putting a hand over your heart to calm it's racing, but to also feel how strongly it beat. For Momo. While the pair of you weren't really convinced by the traditions of Valentine's Day, and scorned at how the town had blown a quarter of its budget on tacky pink and red decorations, you couldn't deny just how full your heart had felt today. How it felt everyday you were by her side.

You had your own traditions with her, of course you did, honed after years of being together, but it all boiled down to one thing, a simple four letter word: Momo.

any feedback is much appreciated.

a/n: happy valentines day y'all, tell people that you love them !!! or don't, or tell them that you hate them lol, idk don't let me tell you how to spend your day :P

taglist: @someone-who-likes-broccoli @happilychaengs

[kimbap-r0ll]

Hi again! I have another Idea and yes It’s feitan again I’m so sorry I love him and you do him wonderfully. Okay so my idea is either a a baking Date or picnic which ever is better for you. And as we are talking to him He says like I love you for the first time. Like during it he realized how much he liked y/n but when asked if he said it he Denys it even though y/n heard it clear as day. sorry if this doesn’t make sense .

Hi, thank you for the ask! It makes sense, no worries!

Feitan x reader - three simple words

He hated the idea of staying in one place for too long, it wasn't something he was used to anymore. However, after the troupe decided to split up and meet up again after a month, Feitan was forced to spend time alone. He asked Phinks and Shalnark if he could tag along, but they said to him "don't you have a date to take care of?"

Feitan was found with you during the month off of troupe duties. He spent most of the day reading your book collection and watching you do your daily activities. Finally, after you got fed up with him quietly peering over your shoulder without any mention of doing things together, you decided to do a stay-at-home date. Besides, it wasn't like he wanted to go out for dinner ever (he would ask if the two of you could just steal food instead).

"What's all of this?" he asked, pointing at the multiple boxes and containers sitting on your kitchen counter.

"Oh, it's what we're doing today! You and me, we'll be baking!" you smile at him, setting down the last few tools needed to make some delicious desserts. Feitan looked at you with confusion.

"Does it look like I bake?"

"You can always try something new? I saw you reading the baking book yesterday," you pointed out.

"...fine." Feitan glared at you, but you knew he wasn't upset, maybe a little embarrassed over something trivial. He did want to keep his deadly-torturer status alive and baking didn't always fit the image.

Both of you got started, deciding on making something simple because it was his first time. You asked him about sweets back in Meteor City, and he said they didn't have much but he did enjoy these cookies he would find from the collected food items or from the caretakers of the place. After some thorough details, you found out he was describing chocolate chip cookies, a staple for childhood memories.

"I didn't know you had a bit of a sweet tooth," you said while grabbing the flour.

"Not that I love them, I just remembered it from childhood," he replied. Of course, Feitan wasn't the type to enjoy sweets, that was Chrollo's job. However he did enjoy the occasional bit of sugary sweet goodness.

While he read you the ingredients you measured everything out. He would correct you from time to time when he didn't think you did it correctly (as if he knew how to bake though). For the eggs, he was surprisingly persistent on cracking them himself. Once it was all finished, you shaped the dough into little balls and placed them onto a tray and popped it into the pre-heated oven. It would take a few minutes before the whole flat that you lived in smelled like cookies.

"You haven't baked before, right? How is it so far?" you asked while sitting in front of the oven. It was a habit that you got into during your childhood, watching the cookies rise and expand was quite fun when you were younger. Feitan didn't answer right away, but he did give an approving nod.

"Meteor City didn't have a lot of opportunities like this, but we did try baking once," he said after a long pause. "Chrollo suggested it."

"How did it turn out?"

Feitan chuckled, shaking his head. "We almost burned the whole building down, sadly Chrollo was the only one that knew how to read the book and he read the time wrong."

You looked at him, he was smiling softly to himself, something extremely rare. While you wanted to tease him for looking so cute, you knew he would immediately go back to his deadpanned look so you kept it to yourself.

"We should do this more often," you suggested, leaning onto his shoulder as he was sitting next to you. He didn't push you off anymore, likely he was getting used to physical affection.

"...It would be nice," he replied, even quieter than he was talking before. "Because it makes it feel like I'm back home, I love you for the comf—" he stopped. Wait, was he getting sentimental? Emotional? No, he couldn't be talking like Chrollo, he hoped that his mumbling was bad enough that you didn't catch him, or maybe that his grammar was bad that you didn't understand him but with the way you suddenly straightened your back and whipped your head to look at him said otherwise.

"Wait, wait you just said...did you just say you 'love' me?!" you were grinning, you looked so happy that he felt his face redden.

"No, I wouldn't say some sappy shit like that," he quickly snapped back, he was getting pouty, a dead giveaway that he did in fact tell you those three words.

"Noo I heard you right I'm sure of it," you teased him. He gave you a quick glance but continued to glue his eyes onto the cookies that were baking in the oven.

"I did not, you didn't hear me say that."

"Then what did you say?"

"It's like home, that's it."

"No. you trailed off more than that!"

"I did not."

"Did so!"

Before the two of you could argue more the oven sounded off that the cookies were ready. Feitan stood up and opened the oven and because of how flustered he was he was about to grab the hot tray with his bare hands.

"Fei wait your hands!"

You ended up taking care of the cookies as he was sitting awkwardly at the counter. Thankfully he didn't burn himself because you pulled him back, however he was more thankful that your attention was on something other than the soft moment he got earlier.

The cookies looked amazing, however the sweetness was even better. It was a warm buttery taste that Fei had forgotten about, he was sure most of the troupe didn't remember how it was like to eat something fresh like this too. However, he was sure he was finding it sweeter than usual because you were with him, though he would never admit that nor make the mistake of letting you hear him say "I love you."

[gem-magpie]

Gosh, you're fat. You're *so* FAT.

I know you fantasize about it. You dream about being a completely immobile blob of pure hedonistic gluttony, but you forget all too easily that you actually are already *very* fat.

You aren't exactly in denial of it, but you don't tend to truly recognize your real-life achievement when you're busy thinking about being fed by a magical tube until you can't move, or becoming addicted to magical flying cakes.

You're the real deal!

No magic potion did this, no hypnotism necessary, no living slime forced you into what you are. You did this through sheer, unmitigated, piggish overconsumption. You made yourself huge, and you didn't even try.

Let me guess, you're reading this with a sugary drink nearby. Maybe a few empty cans sitting on your desk; calorie bombs that you already guzzled down? Don't worry, I know you needed them to wash down the huge breakfast *and* massive lunch you had today.

No no, you've been responsible, right? Just a little cereal, and a simple sandwich for lunch? A reasonable little ham and cheese?

Maybe you just forgot that you finished the entire box of cereal? I guess you didn't notice that had the majority of a family sized bag of chips with that sandwich as a "side"?

You couldn't stop yourself. With each handful of chips you promised yourself it'd be the last one, but then it wasn't enough. Again and again you stuffed your mouth with those delicious, greasy, salty delights as you searched for the perfect mouthful to end on. Just one more. Just one MORE. Oops, better leave the crumbs. That way you can tell yourself you didn't eat the whole thing. Gosh, You must be *so* full.

Maybe you’re thinking of just a small meal for dinner since you've been gorging yourself silly all day?

Who are we kidding, you're ordering out again aren't you? You did yesterday, and the day before, and you are going to do it again today.

You don't even have the supplies necessary to cook something in your kitchen, do you? Just snacks and drinks to keep yourself stuffed between meals.

You go to the store to pick up "groceries'' and you just end up buying ice cream, frozen pizzas, chips, and soda. You shamelessly place a towering stack of cookies on the checkout belt and pretend not to notice the looks you get. You hope everyone assumes that you're shopping for a family, but you know it's all for you.

You grab a few things here or there that you tell yourself will make for a healthy dinner, but they are just extra calories when you pack your tummy with something fried anyway. No wonder you look more and more like a big, soft ball of dough each day.

Alright, I digress. You're already looking past all the food you already mindlessly shoveled into your fat gut today. Let's get to that delivery order. Of course you're putting in for a large combo. No, wait, a large combo and… a few extra entrees?

Wow, to think I thought you might stop with enough food for just one helpless glutton. You're justifying 3 people’s worth of food to yourself now. Just because you're not ordering 3 large combos doesn't mean you aren't eating three entrees *with* additional sides, you know.

It's okay, just happily plop your fat ass down on the couch and fill your capacious belly with everything you bought. This amount of food doesn't even slow you down anymore, does it? It's actually stunning watching you eat.

As usual, you ate all of that before even one act of your show was up; And, as usual, you're grabbing something more from the fridge to tide you over for the rest of the episode. It's only thirty more minutes, but we both know you really can't go thirty minutes without eating.

Gosh…

It's no wonder none of your clothes really fit. You buy the biggest sizes you can find, and you tell yourself it fits "well enough" because your gut is technically not hanging out of the front of your shirt (yet).

I guess it doesn't matter to you much how tightly it hugs your wobbling chest and generous paunch, huh? I mean, it's drawn so tightly over your body that it's dimpled inward into your cavernous belly button.

You might as well not even wear a shirt with how snugly everything hugs your curves.

You're too fat to even see that, aren't you? You had no idea so much of you was on display even when your clothes "fit". Aww, look at how red you're getting!

Maybe I was wrong earlier when I said you didn't try. You love this. Maybe you wouldn't admit it (yet), but you did all this to yourself *on purpose*.

You love hearing about just how fat you are. You can barely contain your excitement as I describe how blatant it is that you've lost control.

You couldn't stop gorging yourself if you wanted to. You're just too hungry, not to mention you love how soft and heavy you've gotten…

Now that the show's over it's time for some recreational activities. Maybe a walk outside?

No, grab yourself some dessert. You just ate over 2500 calories in fast food and guzzled 32 ounces of soda, but I know it's never enough. Not only is your heaving, plump gut pining for MORE food, you yourself are longing to be bigger.

You managed to squeeze those massive hips of yours into that little office chair. The poor thing looks like it's about to shatter under the weight and pressure of all that fat! Seeing as you're eating sandwich cookies four at a time, and washing them down by chugging milk straight from the carton, I'd guess that's your goal. With every heavy gulp you fantasize about just how amazing it would be if your swelling ass broke the armrests. Then you could get yourself a double-wide chair. I bet it excites you to think about having such a blatant monument to your hedonistic gluttony. Don't worry, you'll get there soon.

Regardless of what you're doing after dinner, the only thing that matters to you is that you're sitting and eating *again*. Honestly I can't believe you can still be hungry after all of that, but the unmistakable roar of that insatiable gut of yours is proof otherwise.

It's OK, it's just a few more hours of continuous eating after you already had a huge dinner. No big deal. It’s super cute, actually. You look so full, and yet you keep going. You’re practically begging for more.

I can't blame you, it feels fantastic to be so blissfully full.

Just think of how fat you could *really* get if you gave in completely to your desire. I would love to help you. There's no need to spend a moment hungry, I'll take care of everything. Give in, and let me make you huge.

Yes? Absolutely.

Finish off that sleeve of cookies for me, ok? Good, now open another. Throw away the wrapping, you won't need to reseal them. Another. More. Another. Don't stop. Eat. Drink. Fill yourself for me.

Let me feel you swell. I want to watch your strained clothing ride up your flesh and expose your taut, bloated belly. I need to hear you burp and moan with the pressure and pleasure of truly giving in. I can't wait to watch it all melt away and fill your lap with more warm fat.

Go on, polish off that bag of chips from earlier. Tip the bag back and prove that you don't need to pretend any more. Never again hold back your gluttony for appearances. You NEED to finish off that calorie loaded, family size sack before bed. A sense of completion is important after a long day to get some decent rest, you know.

And you’ll need plenty of rest to give your body time to grow.

Go ahead, roll your huge, swollen body into bed. I got you a heaping bowl of ice cream to finish off your day. Sweet and salty go so well together. Eat up. Dump some chocolate syrup on top. Treat yourself.

Actually, why not finish the gallon? Even after all I fed you, I can tell it wasn’t enough. I’ve got it nice and melted for you. Good, chug it down. Let it fill you and, if we’re lucky, finally satiate you.

I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast.

Gosh, you're fat. You're *so* FAT.

[renaiswriting]

Sip of love (part 2)

Pairing: Choi Seungcheol/Reader

Summary: Despite the fact that your family business was running a magic teahouse with tea that was able to make your deepest and most impossible wish come true, you never thought you would find love on a random Wednesday.

Warnings: none, just fluff.

Word count: 2.6k

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Masterlist.

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"Good morning, and welcome to our teahouse. What can I help you with?"

Your mother had rushed you to attend the two new full tables as you walked in late to your shift. Your father had been waiting for you to get there to go to his dentist appointment.

When you finally finished tying your hair into a high ponytail, your eyes connected with a pair of eyes that you already knew.

"Hello again, darling." The old man from the day before greeted you with a warm smile that brought you back to your childhood, when your grandparents would give you hugs and bake cookies for you. You returned the smile, saying, "Glad to see you again; it's quit cold today, isn't it?"

"It is! Should I prepare something hot to drink for you, sir? I heard it will only get colder from now on, unfortunately."

"Please, darling. Could I have the drink I had yesterday?"

"Oh, you liked it?" You smiled, remembering how unsure he was at first about trying it.

"It happens to suit my taste more than what I expected." He admitted looking somehow embarrassed.

You softly laughed, taking the mini menu out of the pocket you had on your apron.

"We don't have the ingredients for that drink today; I'm sorry. But how did everything go with your family? Did you hear something from them?

The man looked surprised. "How did you know?"

"You look way happier today, sir."

The old man smiled wildly, his eyes glowing in a way that brought life back into his face; he seemed as if he had gotten thirteen years younger than he actually was.

"My daughter called last night as soon as I got home, and my nephew came in to have dinner with me."

You tried your best to hide your frown. That was way simpler than what was supposed to happen. The tea you had made for him was supposed to make them connect with each other.

"That's really sweet of them; did you all talk it out?"

"We did; I'm going to meet with my daughter here, actually."

"I'll make sure to bring something for you guys then to celebrate it!"

You went to the kitchen, and your mother was already working hard to prepare every single tea in the shortest amount of time possible, avoiding making the customers wait.

"These are almost ready, sweetheart."

You went to the small square window, opening it to let the fresh air enter the kitchen. All the hot water was making the kitchen humid.

"Do you want some water?" You offered her an extra glass, knowing the answer. Your stomach was growling, and you were one second away from calling delivery for some fried chicken.

"Thank you." Your mother smiled at you, drinking it all in seconds. "Do you have a new order?"

"That old man came back; he's meeting with his family."

"You don't seem that happy; isn't that what you wanted when you gave him that tea?" Your mother was confused.

"Yeah, but it's just—" You sighed, not knowing how to put your feelings into words. "His daughter just called him, and one of his nephews had dinner with him last night; it doesn't feel organic; I just... did they even try it?"

"You might think that was not enough, but the tea will always give you what you want. Maybe, deep down, all that old man wanted was that phone call. Don't worry about it too much, sweetheart. Alright?"

 

You kept thinking about it as the rest of your shift continued. Your eyes were constantly staring at the old man waiting patiently for his daughter to come, and you were scared that the tea hadn't worked out for the first time.

How could someone wish for just a phone call?

That was the bare minimum; how could it mean that the other person cared for you? It didn't make sense at all.

A woman in her thirties entered the teahouse; she was wearing a black dress.

The woman walked towards the old man's table, sitting in front of him and easily starting a conversation with him.

The old man's face had the same happiness that he had when he talked about the call with you.

The doorbell announced another person stepping into the teahouse.

He was looking pretty handsome; his dark hair was glued to his head, looking as if it were impossible to move. He was wearing a blue jean jacket and a pair of jeans on the bottom as well.

His eyes were wandering around, stopping on you when he noticed you were behind the cashier machine.

"Hey," he greeted you. He smelled like mint, and the smell only got stronger as he came closer.

"Hello! How are you doing today?" You greeted him back, moving aside to be face-to-face with Seungcheol.

The man decided to sit down on the seats there, and you checked quickly on the rest of the customers in the teahouse, making sure everybody was enjoying their drinks.

"I think I never felt as nervous as I am feeling right now." He confessed, and now that you were looking at him closer, his skin was looking slightly paler than what you remembered.

 

"You'll do fine," you tried to reassure the customer that was in front of you. "Did you come in here earlier? I could free you a table if you need one."

 

"No, no, it's okay; we agreed to meet here in like an hour, but I couldn't stop my mind, so I decided to come in here earlier."

"What could I make for you today?" You asked, thinking about what could be the best option for Seungcheol's case.

 

Seungcheol breathed out all the air he had in his lungs, picking up the mini menus that were in front of him.

 

"I'm genuinely not hungry at all." He confessed. "Is there something that helps you relax or something?"

"I can see what we can do." You smiled before going back to your mom to pick up the drinks she had ready and giving Seungcheol's order.

The drinks were heavier on your arms, and it has been a while since your body showed signs of tiredness and fatigue.

 

When you went back to the cashier machine, Seungcheol had taken off his jeans and seemed to be ready to start a conversation with you.

 

You couldn't tell if he was naturally a social butterfly or if that was his mechanism to deal with all the nervousness he was experiencing at that moment.

"So," you said, you were using all your brain capacities to their limits to come up with topics to talk about—what did you both even have in common? "Did you take the time to visit some of the town's famous places?"

 

Seungcheol chuckled awkwardly, looking down at the mini menu that he had on his hands.

"I actually did not. I went straight to my bed after I finished here."

You clicked your tongue, faking disappointment.

 

"I did go to the lake that your father told me about, though!" He interjected.

"And what do you think?"

 

"I think I'm pretty much screwed up; your father is going to beat my ass. Respectfully."

 

You couldn't help but laugh. "Then why did you say yes?"

He seemed embarrassed. "I couldn't just say no to the first ever interaction I've had with someone since I came here."

You kind of felt your heart break into tiny pieces with that.

"If it makes you feel better, my dad loves doing anything; you can always turn down the fishing thing and tell him to go on a walk in the forest or something."

"What about you?" He asked, diverting attention from him to you.

 

"Me?" you asked, confused.

 

"Are you good at fishing? Because I could take some lessons before the fishing competition your father told me about, I really want to participate in it."

 

"The last time I went fishing, I was like twelve, and I not only fell down the boat, but I also lost my pants in the lake and scared all the dishes away. I don't think I'll be the best teacher for you." You confessed, making Seungcheol laugh. In his defense, he tried his best not to laugh right there, but he ended up covering his mouth with the back of his hands.

"Hey!" You protested, lightly slapping his arm. You were surprised by how firm his arms felt.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He apologized, a smile still on his face. "I was not making fun of you, I swear."

"Sure thing." You rolled your eyes, but you did send him a smile, letting him know you were only joking.

The old man walked with his daughter following behind; she kept a nice distance between them both.

On the old man's face, a smile decorated it.

"I hope the tea was good." You asked him, and you hoped he could read the question between the lines.

Did everything go okay?

Is this what you were expecting?

"It was as delicious as the last one I had; thank you so much, darling."

"It's our pleasure! You're welcome here anytime; have a great day!"

"He seems happy..." Seungcheol mumbled, his eyes following both of them as they left the teahouse.

 

"Are you sure you were talking about that poor old man?" You asked him with a teasing smile and a raised eyebrow.

 

"What do you mean?" He asked, eyes widening. "I was not looking at that woman."

 

"Yeah, sure." You rolled your eyes. "I can always get her number for you if you want."

 

"Would you?"

 

You gave him a knowing look. It was almost like telling him,'Weren't you saying you weren't looking at her, huh?'

 

"What? You're the one offering; it would be nice to have someone to spend time with."

"I'll ask only if the old man comes back. He did mention a nephew, so keep that in mind."

Seungcheol raised his arms, playing innocent. That made you chuckle. Talking with him was way easier than you thought.

If you were sure about one thing, it would be that your father would love him. He was always complaining about not having anyone to fish with, and if Seungcheol decided to go with him, your father would be on cloud nine.

"So about you being a terrible teacher..." He started. "Look, I'm genuinely desesperante, and I really need help, even if it means asking the person who swam naked on the lake."

"I did not swim naked on the lake!" You yelled, attracting some attention from the customers. You smiled apologetic to them, feeling the heat on your head and knowing that you were probably red as a tomato.

"Looking pretty red right there." He teased.

 

"Shut up!" You cried. "At this point, if you fell into the lake, it would not be an accident." You threatened.

 

"So that means you will help me?" He asked, his eyes went bigger than you ever saw, there was a relief smile on his face, and his whole body practically screamed, "Please, yes, please, yes."

 

"It's not like I don't have anything better to do." You pretended to be desinteresed. Seungcheol smiled bigger.

 

"Thank you so much! Really."

 

"No problem; you will have to adapt to the teahouse schedules, though."

 

"It won't be a problem for you, right? If it takes you away from your job—"

 

"Don't worry about it; I'll talk with my parents and rearrange it with my father. They'll understand, and honestly, it's been a while since I took a free day." You reassured him.

"Why don't you give me your number? We can talk about it later, if you want." He proposed, taking his phone from his pocket and giving it to you.

You saved yourself on his phone, chuckling at the name you gave yourself. He glanced at you, looking rather amused, but didn't ask anything.

The doorbell rang again, this time announcing that a man in his fifties was walking into the teahouse. He was looking pretty formal, and you would be lying if you said it was something usual for someone like him to put a foot in there.

"Oh, no." Seungcheol mumbled more to himself than to you. "He's here already."

"Is that the man?" You asked, and the man was looking around, looking for someone.

"Yeah." Seungcheol breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm himself down before standing up.

You went to the table the old man and his daughter had been at earlier, cleaning it. You kind of scolded yourself because it was what you were always taught to do—clean as soon as the person who was using it left the teahouse. But Seungcheol kept you feeling distracted.

When you turned around, you saw Seungcheol greeting the man who was there to interview him.

 

You approached them both, letting them know there was a table for them to use and walking them both to it.

 

"Welcome to the teahouse." You started with the usual greeting.

 

"This is such a beautiful place," the man complimented, looking around at all the decorations. "You were right about it." He told Seungcheol.

 

"Thank you, sir; we're proud to be the town's famous teahouse." You replied as you were taught to do in these cases. "Would you like some tea?"

 

"Yes, please. I hope it helps with my insomnia." He laughed, looking at the menu.

 

"Oh, sir. We have a famous tea for insomnia; we can make it for you." You offered.

"I'll want a mint chocolate tea." Seungcheol asked, looking at the name but not trying to pronounce it.

You nodded, knowing damn well you'll not be preparing him that tea, as what he clearly needed was a punch of good luck with this job interview.

"It'll be ready in five minutes." You announced them, walking back to the kitchen to give your mother the order.

When you came back, you found your father already taking someone's order.

"You're back already." You told him, "How did it go?"

"Awful, I have five cavities in my teeth." He complained. "I'll have to tell mom what they wanted; I'll be right back."

You kept yourself engaged, going table for table and taking new orders from the customers.

 

By the time your mother told you there were drinks ready, you had around seven new ones.

 

"Here's your tea, sirs. We're so sorry, but we're running out of some ingredients for the chocolate and mint tea, but we'll prepare you one that hopefully you'll like." You informed Seungcheol, who let you know it was okay.

He was probably more focused on the interview than on the tea itself.

 

You went back to take more orders when you heard someone calling your name.

"(y/n)!" Your mother came to the front running; she had a panicked look on her face.

 

You had seen your father walking to the kitchen when you were giving Seungcheol and the group of girls next to him, their drinks.

 

Your father was looking nervous, almost like he didn't know what to do.

 

And that was unusual because it was your father, and he was probably the most confident person you had ever known.

 

"What happened?" You asked your mother, approaching her in the quiet sector of the teahouse so no one would hear your conversation.

 

"What did you do with the love tea that I gave you?" The girl asked your father what she was drinking because there was no trace of chocolate or strawberries on it! Who did you give it to?"

 

You felt your soul leave your body as the temperature of the room suddenly went below zero.

 

Your eyes rushed to Seungcheol, praying that the man hadn't drank it yet.

 

But there he was, having a nice conversation with the person who was doing his interview. He seemed relaxed and confident.

 

"Fuck." You cried, realizing it had been way too late.

"Well, if this is not a first date, I hope his interview goes perfectly." Your mother replied.

[baileys-3]

CHAPTER 20 ONLINE on AO3

So, 5 days of alternating shifts begin this chapter. Let's see how our two deal with it.

Then thanks again to Cookies for beta reading. You are awesome. Because she always has a proofread and not only reads over it quickly, but also makes sure that everything is always true to character. Invaluable.

Then the current status: I started chapter 28 yesterday and am in the middle of it. Somehow everything always turns out to be longer and more detailed than expected. I'm currently at 146,000 words.

Sneak Peak:

Tim's alarm clock rings and, as always, he is immediately wide awake. In his childhood, oversleeping was never an option, and as a soldier, he learned to react to every sound, even in his sleep. Every morning, he goes for an early run, following the same mechanical routine, with only breakfast occasionally varying. On this particular day, Kojo is not there, which means that he finishes earlier than usual.

He sends his sister another quick text to check whether dinner at hers is still on for tonight.

As he checks his phone, he notices some new messages in the group chat with his work friends. He realizes that one of the group admins, Angela, has renamed the group to "Mid-Wilshire Legends". After reading the messages more carefully, he learns that the group is discussing Nolan's birthday present, which happens to be a voucher for a paintball match. Nyla came up with the idea as Nolan's failure in the shooting arena, where he was distracted by a man in a diving suit, still gets teased. Everyone in the group plans to take part in the paintball match and then go to a restaurant together. Probably the only highlight for Nolan, because Tim won’t give him five minutes at the paintball arena. He will shoot him down personally.

The conversation is now all about finding a date when everyone has time. Which is not so easy, with a big group they have. He makes it easy for himself and basically takes Lucy's free dates and simply cross-checks his own calendar before posting the same list. That's that sorted.

Then he writes a quick message to Lucy.

Tim: If I'm on the team with Nolan, I'm out. Don't forget to nap before your shift. Otherwise, I'll have to order T-shirts again.

He looks at his watch and decides there's no point in hanging around at home any longer. He'd rather be at work earlier. Before he leaves the house, he takes another look at his combined dining and living room. He sees the cactus on his dining room table. He is now the proud owner of a plant. Lucy will water it. Or it will die. It's not his problem. He didn't even want it in the first place. He shakes his head and smiles. It's just like Lucy to do something like this. And it's just like him to be unable to say no to her. Comparing him to a cactus ... he has no words.

The day gets super stressful. He receives countless messages requesting him as a supervisor. So many that he can no longer fulfill them all and needs to prioritize. What on earth is going on in this city today?

The most inquiring case was the discovery of drugs during a traffic stop hid den in a bag that contained ready-made chicken. The man who was caught with it was so co-operative – or in other words, scared – that he gave up the dealer right away namely the seller from the roast chicken stall, who was captured quickly after that. Who not only offered his customers chicken, but also drugs. Wrigley was hailed as the hero of the day for conducting a traffic stop. Upon noticing a broken taillight on the car, he immediately became suspicious when he realized that the car did not carry the aroma of roast chicken, which it should have since the bag was on the passenger seat. This led to further investigation and Wrigley's quick thinking eventually uncovered something important. Good job.

Time flies as he rushes from one call to another. He writes a few messages to Lucy during his lunch break, like how the coffee in the break room tastes increasingly strange and that she should bring one from home. But then he is on the road again on his way to another call. At least he's back at the station before Lucy's shift starts. He is sitting at one of the desks reading Wrigley's report. It’s clear to him that Wrigley rarely writes reports like this. Reports about drug possession and intent to sell, so he needs to read the report carefully and can't just skim it through. He needs to make sure, that everything is documented correctly, and the prosecutors can’t refer to any procedural error later.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees someone place something on his desk. It's a coffee mug with the logo of one of his favorite coffee shops. He likes the place because they serve good black coffee. He can't exactly judge the rest because he's never really cared for any other offers there. He only drinks black coffee there. He is a simple man with simple needs, sue him. He looks up and sees Lucy standing next to his desk, already in uniform. Her smile warms his heart. And even more when he thinks about the fact that she took a detour just because of him, as the coffee shop in question is not on the direct route from her apartment complex to the station.

"Hey. How was your day?"

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #46

I spent all day today making moussaka! And I told you that I'd take pictures and write to you about it, and so here it is! Today is the day!! So I'm gonna get right to it!!

I started off by rinsing the eggplants and peeling the onions. I always put the papery outer layer and the first fleshy layer into the broth bag, for later use! My husband sliced the eggplants and cut the onions into coarse chunks. I can technically do it myself, but since he's not dyspraxic, he's a lot better at it than I am:

If it looks like a lot of eggplant, that's because it is a lot of eggplant, hahaha! But don't worry; they get a lot smaller once they're baked because the water evaporates out of them.

You have to arrange them on a cookie sheet like this, and then put them in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for a total of 30 minutes; you flip the slices over halfway through.

This part takes a while because my oven can fit only two cookie sheets at once, and then after they've been baked, I like to use the griddle to make the eggplant slices golden brown and crispy on the outside, like this:

Then, you get a bowl full of eggplant slices that are crispy on the outside, and deliciously gooey on the inside:

In between roasting batches of eggplant, I did the other steps. One of those steps is to use my handy-dandy veggie chopper to turn the onions and a few cloves of garlic into puree for the meat sauce!

I also zested and juiced the lemon; that's for the meat sauce, too!

Once the eggplant is all done, the next step is to cook the onions a little bit - but just a little bit. Then you'll set them to the side in favor of cooking up the ground lamb. Cooking the ground lamb will leave a lot of delicious rendered fat. So you'll scoop out the cooked lamb, and then finish cooking the onions in the fat; as the water from the onions evaporates, the resulting vacuum will cause the onions to soak the lamb fat right up!

After that, you start putting the sauce together. We will use the cans of diced and crushed tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of the tomato paste, and 2 tablespoons of the tomato sauce. We'll stir that up with the onions and the lemon zest and juice. Then we'll add a cup of red wine:

I gotta tell ya, wine in general is GROSS!! But it's really nice when it's used in cooking. A little bit of heat makes the nasty, bitter alcohol flavor dissipate quite nicely, and you're left with a vague sweetness and a weird (but not bad!) grape-ish flavor.

After you let it simmer so it can thicken a bit as the water evaporates, you add the seasonings:

This is parsley, oregano, cinnamon, allspice, and ground cloves! I didn't have thyme yet when I took this picture, but I fetched some later to use.

Anyway, the next step is to add the ground lamb to the sauce! The result is a very thick meat sauce! In this picture, you'll see the sauce and all the seasonings I used in it:

Here, we have our very thick sauce, seasoned with oregano, parsley, thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Yum, yum, yum!!

With the sauce and the eggplant slices ready, we can clear up some space by beginning to assemble the moussaka. You line a baking dish with some parchment paper, and then you put down a layer of eggplant slices:

You follow it up with a layer of meat sauce:

...And then you just keep alternating layers until you run out of eggplant slices and meat sauce. Easy peasy. I stuck it in the fridge once the layers were assembled. Then I began to work on the bechamel.

For that, it's a basic thing. You start with a roux and then you add a kind of cheese to it. I don't have easy access to kefalotyri, and I didn't feel like using parmesan or romano as a substitute, so I used that feta and that halloumi I bought yesterday.

Most feta cheese in my country uses cow's milk or goat's milk. The brand I like to get uses sheep's milk. And the halloumi made by this same brand uses a combination of sheep, goat, and cow milk. Both of them are VERY GOOD!! And it took all my willpower not to just snack on the cheese as I was trying to grate it, but I managed:

Once that was all set, I set it aside and then separated a couple of egg yolks away from some egg whites. I'll use the egg whites to try to make French-style tiramisu in the near future; it'll be good!! We need the yolks for the bechamel:

To begin a bechamel, you gotta add 120 grams of sifted flour to one stick of melted butter, really really slowly. The "slow" part is important, otherwise it gets really weird:

When it looks like the above image, that's when we add 3 and 3/4ths of a cup of milk. But again, this has to be done VERY slowly, or else instead of a velvety-smooth awesome sauce, you end up something lumpy and terrible. I made a LOT of lumpy and terrible sauces before I got the hang of it, hahaha!

Here's how it looks after one cup of milk is incorporated. You gotta drizzle it in slowly, a little bit at a time:

Here it is with 2 cups of milk added:

And here's how it looks after all of the milk is added. This is the part where we add in the egg yolks. We have to make sure that it's not too hot so that the egg yolks don't cook into hardened yellow masses upon contact with the sauce.

Then you add in the cheese. And yes, ALL of that cheese is going into the pot!! Because I am a cheese goblin!! It has been written!! It is known!! Bahahaha! 🤣

From there, you add in nutmeg and white pepper, a little bit at a time, until you can notice their flavors when you taste it. Here is the finished sauce! Isn't it beautiful? It's very, very thick, velvety, and delicious!

From there, we just dump it on our partially-assembled moussaka, it's fine! And the result looks like this:

(yes, we do get to eat whatever sauce is leftover in the pot!! it's delicious!! and if you were here, I'd share it with you, too!! and I'd give you the whisk - everyone should get to lick delicious things off a whisk at least once in their life!)

Anyway! So we take this and stick it in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the top is all brown and toasty-looking! Here's how it turned out:

I've been on my feet making this and trying to keep my workspace clean since I woke up this morning, and goodness me, I'm very tired, and this rib injury makes my body hurt a lot, haha! Oh well. I managed to snag this picture of the sunset out of my window while waiting for this to bake. Here, maybe you'll like it:

...And that's the end of today's letter! Because I am thoroughly exhausted, hahaha! I can't wait to share this with my friends tomorrow!

...I really wish you could be here to try it. I know all the very practical and realistic reasons you can't, of course. But maybe somehow my wishes and all these delicious flavors will reach you anyway. Or not. Probably not, haha. But I'll hope for it nonetheless. Maybe something good will happen - if not for you, then maybe for someone else.

Please stay safe out there, okay? Please remember that there is moussaka and people in this universe who would make it for you. Please remember that you are loved and cared for. Please don't do anything that would cause you to be erased from your world. Lots of people need the light of your existence to keep on shining in the way that it does.

I'll write again tomorrow, okay?

Your friend, Lumine

[purplesurveys]

1921

Do you actually read privacy policies when signing up for new things? No, not really. The main thing I do privacy-wise is when I disable tracking whenever I download/sign up in a new app.

Did you have a lot of birthday parties when you were younger? if so, did you invite everyone in the class? I didn't. I wasn't popular and never had that many friends to warrant a birthday party. This is besides the fact that my birthday fell during the old summer season (March-June) so not only did I never get to throw a birthday party apart from my 7th; I also never got to experience being greeted by classmates hahaha.

Do you like when things are color coordinated? It's pleasant to the eyes but it's not like it's a mandatory for me.

Have you ever participated in one of those “guess how many jelly beans, mints, etc. are in this jar!” contest? if so, have you ever won? No. I've never come across those!

Do you think you would be good at memorizing lines if you were an actor or actress? If we're speaking strictly about memorization skills, yes. I have no interest in being an actress though. The task has always seemed so daunting to me.

Can you juggle? No, though I've tried to more times than I can count. It's just not meant for me, heheh.

Have you ever mistaken a ringing phone on tv or in a movie for your own? It has for sure happened. Sometimes I've heard a ringing phone thinking it's our landline, only to discover it was the neighbor's.

How often do you use bobby pins? Almost never. The last time I used them was probably during my college grad shoot to hold my hairdo together.

Have you ever used a pedometer? Not a separate one, no. I occasionally check my steps from my phone though.

Do you live on an avenue, road, drive or something else? Street.

Are your eyes a different color inside than they are outside? Nope.

What were you doing 45 min ago? I was finishing up some work so I can clear up my load tomorrow. Feeling proud of that :)

What will you be doing in 20 min? Either doing another one of this or preparing to go to Angela. It's her birthday today and she'll be at dinner with her family first, so I'm just waiting for her go-signal to tell me she's free so I can come over.

What did you do yesterday? Yesterday was a full-on rest day because I knew I had lots of work/personal errands to do today. That said, I watched The Emperor's New Groove, Toy Story 1, and Toy Story 2 while watching BTS and Seventeen stuff in between. 100% a lazy day.

Are you in a good mood right now? I wanna say 70% in a good mood? I did all the errands I told myself I absolutely had to do today and I'm stoked about that – and I'm also still seeing Angela and Hans tonight so I'm bound to have a great evening. The only thing that sucks is that the weekend is over again and I feel barely well-rested.

Who was the last person in your bedroom? My sister.

Are you listening to music, if so, what song? No, I have a Ryan Trahan video in the background.

What do you usually order from McDonald’s? Most frequently, a plain cheeseburger and barbecue fries. Other days when I find even that boring, I'll switch it up - usually either a Big Mac or fried chicken and rice.

What is your natural hair color? Black.

What was the last movie you watched? What’d you think of it? Toy Story 2. I love the entire franchise, but it's still nothing compared to the first movie.

What was the last thing you had to drink? Cookie butter coffee.

What are your school colors? Maroon and green.

Are you worried that you won’t be accepted into the college you want? It was definitely a worry I had, but I ended up passing.

What is the last class you failed? Continued from earlier this evening. A 40/100 in my Economics class in college. The only failing mark that sent me straight to laughing because of how ridiculous it was.

Has it snowed where you live yet? Or does it never snow? It does not snow here.

Have you ever taken a picture with Santa when you were little? I was only photographed with a Santa when I was 2.

What is the population of the city you live in? Close to a million.

When is the last time you were in a classroom? A few months ago. Andi took me through the law department.

Do you have any homework to be done? What is there to do? Work-wise, no; I did them a few hours ago already.

Did anything exciting happen today? Yes, I saw Angela and got to give her my birthday present. I gave her two Pandora charms and tbh the most exciting thing about it was her confirmation that I didn't get her any dupes (she collects charms in the first place). So YAY we don't need to replace either of them haha.

What color is the sky outside? Pitch black.

Do you own any clothing of your favorite color? Just a few. Purple isn't really my color.

How many tattoos do you want/have? Zero/none.

Do you use cup coasters? When it's available, yeah. When it's not, I don't mind not using one.

Are you on a laptop or desktop? Laptop.

Have you ever rolled down a steep, grassy hill for fun? No.

Do you like to draw very detailed drawings, or just stick figures? Stick. Or nothing at all. I can't daw.

Do you own a shirt that says “Vote for Pedro”? Nope.

Do you like Nerds candy? It's always tasted terrible to me. All the rich/popular kids snuck boxes of them in school all the time to flex and Nerds was one of the ways I learned they were all full of shit because it actually tastes horrible.

[the-fiction-witch]

Bread

Media Pinnochio

Character Lampwick

Couple Lampwick X Reader

Rating Sweet

I hummed my little tune as I stood twisting the long tubes into pretzel shapes for the bakery, I served a customer or two my dress covered up with my apron covered in flour already, even some on my face as I worked, Until I spotted a familiar face. Lampwick, a street boy I knew well as he often came to steal from the bakery often when my father worked, I did pity the poor guy and he could be sweet but that still didn't mean I wasn't still annoyed at him, he came into the empty shop and perched himself on the edge of the display case,

"Hello Y/n, " He smiled,

"what do you want lampwick?" I glared a little,

"I think you already know what I want." he leaned closer over the cabinet and brushed the flour from my cheek with his finger,

"You're not getting anything for free lampwick, so hop it" she glared unimpressed by his attempts at flirting,

"Aw, you're no fun y/n." he pouted, 

"I'm too busy for fun Lampwick,"

"How about a discount at least?"

"discount section is by the door." I reminded him, as I pointed over to the pile of burnt or misshapen items by the door that we sell at discount prices, 

"Don't be like that, come on, I'm a long-time customer!" he whined, 

"Long time yes, customer no. you never buy anything!" I protested, 

"Shouldn't I at least get the family discount?" 

"And why would you get a family discount? You're not family"

"I mean... I could be," he smirked,

"Keep dreaming Lampwick," I glared,

"Aw c'mon, you've known me since I was a kid! I practically grew up in this place!" he frowned

"Yes, stealing from us..."

"Stealing is drastic How about we call it ... borrowing?"

"You can't call it borrowing if you never bring it back," I glared, "Besides you're in here almost every day trying to pinch something."

"I don't that often! Maybe once a week or so... you just have so much that's so tasty," He explained, "It's far too hard to resist"

"Want it. Pay for it." 

"C'mon... you can afford it! You do enough business to miss one little loaf"

"Not the point,"

"I just want to make it through one day without starving! I mean, look at the size of me..." He pouted as he rubbed his thin stomach, "I just need a little something to eat? a little morsel?" 

"It's a shop, not a charity lampwick."

"how am I meant to afford it?" 

"you could start by getting a job lampwick,"

"A job!? Come on, who wants to waste their time working?"

"Most people do,"

"Lies."

"They do, besides its good to work to provide for yourself and your family,"

"But if I had to get a job I wouldn't be able to stop by here to see you!"

"Ohh no, what a shame, I could do my work without you bothering me."

"Please Y/n," He begged, "I haven't eaten in ages," 

"lampwick no money. No bread. That's the rules."

"Please Y/n, pretty please," he begged, and I rolled my eyes, "you know you'd never let me go hungry," he winked

"If and only if you finish the rest of these pretzels you may have one when they are baked,"

"What about two?" he pleaded, "I haven't eaten since yesterday, I'm practically wasting away!"

"one. And I'll see if I can find you some other work to do"

he gave me his best puppy dog eyes, "Aw, please! Throw in a cookie or something for me?"

"half a cookie,"

"What kind of cookie?"

"Oat flake Cookies,"

"Oatmeal? You must be joking! That's tree bark with sugar on it!"

"Well it's the cookie of the day, take it or leave it Lampwick,"

"Alright, Can I get it now?"

I rolled my eyes and grabbed a cookie from the case, I grabbed my knife and split it in half before handing it over to him, he took it and immediately stuffed it into his mouth like someone was trying to steal it from him, 

 "So, about that other work, you mentioned..." he said as he chewed, "What'd you have in mind?" he smirked a little, "Where did you need me, sweetie?"

"Finish twisting these strands into pretzels and adding them to the tray for the oven,"

"Awwww ... do I have to?" he groaned,

"Yes." I glared,

"Fine, anything to be closer to you." He smirked and hopped over the counter, 

"wash your hands,

"Why?"

"Becuase you're gonna make food, so wash them."

"Alright," he sighed as he washed his hands, and he began with the pretzels he needed a little teaching but he got the hang of it so I got on with working on the small loaves, we both got on with our work for a good while often I would catch him stealing glances with I often glared at him. He finished up with the pretzels 

"Can I take my break now?" he asked as he leaned on the counter, 

"nope." I told him as I grabbed the completed tray of pretzels and took it to the wood fire oven setting them inside, "Now grab the dough from the mixing pot and put it on the scale, add one hundred grams to each pan," I explained

"Ok fine" he frowned, but did as I asked as he headed over and began to work, "What am I doing? Are we making bread or something?" he asked, 

"This is a bakery lampwick" I laughed as I set a timer for the pretzels and began taking the tray with a batch of fresh blueberry muffins

"Yeah, I know. I'm just wondering what specifically you're making so that I can learn." he worked putting the dough into the pans,

"You're making tall loaves," I laughed slowly removing the muffins and adding them to the display case, 

"Why are you making so many at once?" he asked the small army of pans he had filled, "Do you sell that many loaves around here?"

"yes, we do, one hundred a day."

"Who the heck is buying that many loaves each day? Who can even eat that much bread?" he laughed

"one loaf per household petty much," I shrug, 

"So, you're telling me that all these people who come here to buy bread each day are really just buying one loaf for their entire families?"

"they often buy a pretzel or a pie, or some muffins, sometimes some of the other loaves"

"Well I guess that makes a little more sense... but still... 100 loaves a day? You really make that many every day?"

"that I do" I nodded

"I'll never understand how so many people can manage to eat so much bread. I mean, it's bread! How can you not get sick of it?"

"well it's a cornerstone lampwick have it for toast, sandwiches, soup, bread pudding" I explain, "Besides not much else to eat around here." 

"true," he sighed, "Bread pudding I can understand wanting to eat a lot of, it's good, but just plain bread? It's so bland! I'd be much more interested in making sweet treats if I were you, everyone loves sweets."

"Well maybe later you can help me make some tiger bread"

"Really?"

"Really," I nodded stuffing a Muffin in his mouth,

"Ummmm!" He mumbled, "Maybe you could teach me how to make a couple of recipes like that. I would help you make sweets? and bread? and muffins?" He smiled "Maybe even..."

"I can't give you a job lampwick that would be up to Father,"

"but you can put in a good word for me, right?" He asked, "If I was willing to work and learn?"

"I will if you do your work Lampwick," I glared,

"I am, I promise,"

"Alright, I'll think about it," I told him, "Go on get those in the oven and I'll teach you how to make tiger bread."

"Yes ma'am" He nodded happily taking the pans to the oven, 

[invincible-selfxmade-punk]

Today is an in-service day to finish up our grades and our spreadsheets. We don't have to be in until 9:00 a.m. but I promise you I don't feel like I got the extra hour and a half of sleep. Still it is a day that seems to go by slow at first, but then when I realize how much stuff I have to do it actually ends up going by pretty fast in the end.

Yesterday was our Christmas party and I counted it a success because no one thought each other and no one threw up.

Everyone brought those nasty sugar cookies you get from Walmart that are really squishy and have about 2 inches of icing on them, and the extra dry tiny cupcakes with a mountain of pure sugar icing on top.

No one thought to bring drinks so I had to go and get some and then they're still really weren't enough. I'm really surprised with all that absolute crap to eat that it didn't end worse with kids going feral.

My Indian student brought some crazy biased and Herb bread that was cut up into little slices and of course I was the only one that ate it and I took it home because it was really good but extremely foreign tasting. Definitely open up my flavor palette to new things.

I actually got a lot of gifts this year and all the one came from first period

I was gushing over all of them and one of the kids asked: did you not get any Christmas gifts last year?

I honestly didn't. Those kids were so self involved giving anything to anybody else was just not in their frame of reference. I told him that the one year that I got the most and the best Christmas gifts was my first year teaching when I basically spent the year just trying to keep the kids from killing each other or killing me because they were so emotionally disturbed. Now of course I didn't add that last part I just said that the kids were really bad. And I have this one kid God bless him. If you look at them you cannot tell their gender they don't really care what gender you call them I'm not sure if they have figured that out yet but they're whatever they are they're okay with they just kind of I guess you could say their gender fluid and the fourth grade. They don't dress any specific gender their hair is very long and they are one of the most brilliant students and the most sarcastic that I've had. So anyway this kid pipes up and says

"Yeah the parents knew what crappy parents they were and they knew that their kids Behavior was all their own fault so of course they're going to give you a lot of gifts cuz they feel guilty.!!!"

And this is a fourth grader!!

Also though that first year I received what to this day is my favorite Christmas gift for kids. We did bilingual education a little different at that first goal to where all of the bilingual kids would be gathered in each class that I had and they would be taught with a bilingual co-teacher who was translating what I was saying for those that could not understand everything. The kids who were more advanced set in with the class but if they had a question the bilingual teacher was right there to the side so they can just go and ask her. It was different but it seemed to work pretty well.

So that year several of those bilingual kids brought me these little bags of homemade PAN DE POLVO-- which if you don't know is a Mexican cinnamon and sugar cookie that is solid but the incident you put it in your mouth it just crumbles and dissolves and is so amazingly delicious.

That year I was driving back and forth from West Texas to South Texas to visit my husband and visit friends over the holiday and I took those cookies with me and ate them all through that freezing cold 8-hour drive that I made. And I just remember how good those cookies were because they were made with so much love and that was the absolute best gift I think I have ever gotten from students.

[pbandjesse]

I wish I could say I had a better day. I was happy to spend the day with James. We are good food. We painted pottery. We had milkshakes and went to goodwill. I took a nap. I made a bear. It should have been a really good day! But I was miserable inside. I tried really hard to shake it but I was really going through it.

I know irs because I was so exhausted. Yesterday was incredibly tough and then I struggled to fall asleep even though I was so tired. And it wasn't bad sleep. But I wanted more.

So when I woke up at 830 I was a little disoriented. I would dose until 9 and then was upset that James wasn't here. They said they would be back from their 40 mile bike ride before I woke up and the werent so I was confused. But then I found they left me a note. They had had to go back out to go to the museum because Kate, who will be working the front desk now, was locked out of the musuem. Because Phil was watching the TV in the maintenance office and didn't hear the door bell. So he's lost TV privileges.

I would get washed and dressed and was frustrated that it was so hot. It was hot everywhere. Our house is 85 degrees inside and in our bedroom even with the AC constantly on it is 78 degrees. Like if you are just right in front of the air you get cool but it's not cooling down the room. It sucks. It is just so wildly hot out that it's so hard to fight against it. I really hope it cools down soon. We were spoiled a few weeks ago. I miss it so bad.

James would come home while I was chilling in front of the ac. They would have to take a second shower and get dressed again. I felt annoyed for them. But they would look so cute in their new shirt. I was excited to spend the day together even if I wasn't feeling amazing.

We went to Hampden to have brunch. We went to Golden West and it was surprisingly not busy. James got hopi cakes and coffee and I got huevos rancheros and a soda. And it was so good but I only could eat half. We were looking at Pinterest for idea for our painted house numbers. And for our other project. The plan was to collaborate on the house numbers and then I would do a bowl and James would do a container for change.

I was also just eavesdropping on the conversations around us and enjoying watching people. And just being with my love. I was just so tired.

We got a box to take half my breakfast with us. I had hoped the food and caffeine would perk me up. But it didn't. I was determined to do the day we planned on. But I was struggling.

We got to amazing glaze 20 minutes after they opened. It wasn't busy yet but it would get busy in the hour and a half we were there.

I was surprised they didn't have any just plain tiles today. So we pivoted and I found a curly fancy N in their clearance box. And we would design that together. James would use my reference to draw out the numbers and I think the 1 looks like a 7 but it's fine. It's mainly for us. And we decided on a Maryland color pallet with the black eyed Susan's. And I really like how it came out. It was nice doing it together. But I am not going to lie. I was very close to fall apart. I was so tired. I was so miserable. I kept telling myself you are having a good time! You love this! But I was so sad. And so we just quietly worked. And I tried to be more positive even though I was falling apart.

We both made turtles which I thought was so cute. I based my bowl off of an anthropology bowl that had people swimming in a lake. I did a pond with turtles and frogs instead. And James did an egg with a sea turtle in it. So cute.

We finished up and paid and walked across the way to get milkshakes. James got a vanilla malt and I got "mintflix and chill" which is just a white mint chocolate with cookie pieces. It was very good. And felt nice to have something cool.

Our next stop was a good will to look for a Maryland T-shirt I could make a bear out of. But no luck. I would get a dress I think will be good for working events at the museum in the fall. And a cooler type bag that I liked the pattern of. I had $2.50 off so that was neat. Annoying we could t find a shirt but James offered a Hawaiian shirt they got at a baseball game. It wasn't exactly what I was picturing but it's something.

I just wanted to go home. I was upset that we were 20 minutes away. But I knew I would have to hold it together. And I did. And when we got home James would unload all my market stuff. And I would go put some stuff away and lay down.

James would come kiss my face and covered me with my fleece jacket. And then I fell asleep until 5.

When I woke up James was here. They were very sweet. I was feeling slightly better but still not amazing. I wanted to do something to feel accomplished. So I would work on putting away the clothes James had cleaned while I was sleeping. I decided I am not sleeping at camp this week. I was so full of anxiety about it. I wasn't able to prep my workshop (which I'm not even sure it happening, haven't heard from Parker yet on registration). So I just had to make the call but man do I feel bad about it. I feel like I'm failing but I just am not accomplishing anything when I'm staying at camp. It just feels like I'm wasting time. Like yes I'm saving the commute but at the cost of everything else.

I would also pick out clothes for me and Jess's cruise at the end of the month. She's got a pink and creme capsule wardrobe so I went for black and blue. I think we will look very cute together. And it was nice to pick out my favorite pieces that were summery but can be layered since we'll be in Canada and it'll be cooler. I cannot wait to be somewhere cooler.

I had wanted to start working on going through all of my clothes to donate stuff but I got so hot I just couldn't do it. I was having a very bad time I was so sweaty and sad. But I hope to do that in the fall. With help from Jess and maybe other friends. Just really pair down. It is so hard though.

James made me a salad for dinner. And they would come lay in bed with me and watch TikToks. But eventually we would have other things to do.

Brandon would come over and him and James would set up a projector and screen in the backyard to watch House of the dragon. I thought they were so cute out there watching their show.

I would do some organizing in the studio but pretty quickly I went down to the basement. And spent an hour sweating and organizing and trying to optimize the space. It's not perfect but I'm making good progress with what we have. I was proud of myself.

Once I was done I would take a shower. And spent some time measuring things to possibly move some furniture. But that is not a tonight project.

Now though I have winding down for sleep. Tomorrow is the first day of print making. I'm nervous! Like it will be fun but also. It can be a lot. It's going to be a mix of Styrofoam and erasers and small rubber stamp pads. I think it will be really interesting to see what happens.

I really hope it cools down. Its still calling for very hot but I can dream.

I hope you all have a good day tomorrow. I love you all. Good night!!

[darkleysgarden]

Behaving like a Child

Part of my Satan Suffers series.

2068 words.

Satan & Leviathan

Angst | Hurt/Comfort

Warning: Not eating because of bring upset.

Summary: Satan runs away after getting into a big fight with Lucifer. Leviathan gets worried and goes after him. Who knew Satan would be in such horrible condition?

He stood in the charred, broken, ruined remains of their common area, anger burning underneath his skin like a lifeline.

The grime and blood on his face itched and ached. He held a permanently wrathful scowl on his face, directing it at the man he had despised since he was just a little boy. His father, Lucifer.

His wrath ran hot through his blood, the only energy left in his body coming from that very power.

"Satan, you must stop behaving so childishly," Lucifer held his perfect composure, "Look at the mess you've made. My comment should not have affected you. You need to get in control of your emotions."

"Shut the fuck up!" He yelled, Lucifer's words barely even registered anymore, Satan just had enough, "Stop ordering me around! 'Satan, this! Satan, that!' Leave me the fuck alone! I hate you! I hate you so much! I wish you weren't ever a part of my life!"

The others were crowding around, watching eagerly. Satan couldn't find it in himself to care.

"I'm leaving," He shoved Lucifer, gasps emitting from the crowd, "I can't even bear to see your face anymore! Don't you dare come after me! Any of you! I'm not any of your guy's precious little nephew anymore! Not your precious little son who is so obedient! I'm done. Have a good rest of your lives," He finished screaming, storming out of the house.

He didn't bother to look back as his uncle's crowded around the man he hated. They were asking for answers, concerned about the fight. Stupid. None of their business anyway.

He isn't a child anymore. He can do whatever he wants. He doesn't need to live in a household where he is coddled and treated as such.

His demon form stayed, and so did the anger. He walked through the Devildom streets, feet landing a bit harder than they should in any normal step.

The movements didn't stop until he reached the Demon Lord's castle. He didn't knock, throwing the door open and reaching Barbatos as soon as possible. He had a clear goal in his mind.

Barbatos laughed at his desperation, Satan couldn't help the anger that swelled at that. The cruel demon butler did as he asked anyway, transporting him to the human world.

All it took was a step through one of his portals, and there he was. Hotel Corvo.

Without even thinking, he rented a room and threw himself onto the too comfortable bed that lay there.

Lucifer was an idiot. He hated him so much.

The anger final started to dissipate, and his gut tightened. Before he knew it, wet, hot tears ran down his cheeks.

He sobbed, unable to stop himself.

Curling under the blankets, his mind ran fast.

Fucking hell, he hated himself so fucking much.

Why was this his life?

His heart ached painfully.

Something inside him told him he was making a huge mistake.

Go home. You need your uncles.

No. He is not going back. Not ever.

He doesn't need them. He never did.

This is all stupid.

○●○●○●○●○

Satan awoke to a harsh pounding in his head.

His whole body felt numb as he curled in on himself tighter.

The weight of everything that happened yesterday came crashing down onto him.

A stupid fight had broken out. Satan acted childish. He's always so childish. Then he ran away like some ignorant five year old who wasn't given a cookie because they didn't finish their dinner.

No wonder Lucifer thought he acted like a spoiled brat.

He couldn't go back now. He didn't plan to. It's too embarrassing. He acted like a child. He is still a child.

No matter his age, he always feels so much younger inside. The circumstances of his birth are tearing away at whatever sense of youth or maturity he has.

He's always felt messed up. His connections to Lilith, his connections to Lucifer, his weird relationship with his age, and all of his other problems.

Maybe that's why he was so mad.

His birthday is approaching. A month or so.

Lucifer had approached him, asking about what they should arrange for the date and what he wished to receive for gifts.

Satan thought back to something he'd been wishing for for years. He wanted to hold his party on his actual birth date. They always had it a few days after his birthday because of Lilith. Part of him selfishly wanted them to get over her and focus on him instead. It was his day now. She was gone; he was still here. Why should they spend the day grieving while he sat out, holding his birthday cake in a corner all by himself as they shared memories of days before he was alive. It felt unfair.

He knew it was selfish. Yet, he couldn't find it in himself to fully care. It had been years. He wants to have his day. If only just once. It's all he could ask for.

So, he asked Lucifer for that very thing. He didn't care if he held a party, if there were gifts galore, he just wanted his day. He wanted to spend that day with his brothers. He didn't want them to be sad for that day either.

No matter how selfish, he requested it anyway.

And when Lucifer denied it, he felt rage build up.

Can he not have his one day?

Lucifer called him selfish, childish.

Satan was taking away their day of grief. Lucifer was right. Yet, Satan blew up anyway. That's how the fight started. Many more petty insults and lies were thrown out in the heat of the flames building.

He didn't want to think about this anymore.

The blanket was pulled tighter over his head.

Maybe he'd sleep a little longer.

Perhaps his headache would go away. Or maybe even the ache in his heart that begged him to reconsider.

○●○●○●○●○●○

Satan had been gone for over a week, and Leviathan was beyond worried.

This wasn't like him. Sure, he'd threatened running away before, he'd attempted a few times too. Levi couldn't even begin to count the number of times he'd stopped Satan from walking out the door with only a backpack full of supplies.

However, he'd never been gone for more than a day. At absolute most.

At school, everyone was talking about it. He'd ruined his perfect attendance.

None of them could get Lucifer to admit what happened. His pride overflowed even when his son was missing. Though, everyone could tell that Lucifer was secretly worried too. Because, who wouldn't be?

Leviathan sat in class, fidgeting with his fingers. Worry stressed his body completely.

It was unlikely that Barbatos would be able to tell him anything. His pledge and all. Yet, Barbatos seemed to have eyes everywhere. So, it was worth a small ask.

"Uhm, Barbatos," He awkwardly leaned forward, attempting to ask to the best of his ability, "Do you have any idea where Satan ran off to?"

He phrased it jokingly, trying his best not to make it awkward. As always, he did make it awkward anyway.

Barbatos nodded, "I do." He gestured off into the distance, "I created a portal for him, allowing him to go to the human realm as he wished to."

"WHAT!?" Leviathan screamed, a blush rising all the way to his ears as the entire class turned to him, teacher glaring at his misbehavior.

"So-sorry," He muttered out. The class seemed to shrug it off and move forward with their lesson.

When peace returned, quite this time, he spoke to Barbatos again, "Why did he go there!? Why did you allow him!? Where in the human world even is he!? Is he okay!? Do you even know!? Why did he run away!? Doesn't he know we all miss him and lov-"

Levi sucked in a deep breath, "Sorry. I'm just worried..."

"It is quite alright," Barbatos kept his perfect composure, "I do know where he is."

When Barbatos didn't continue, Levi's anxiety returned, "Well!?"

"He's currently reserving a room at the Hotel Corvo," Barbatos smiled.

"Take Me there," Levi immediately blurted out.

"Not so fast, young man," Barbatos exclaimed, jokingly? Levi didn't know if he ever joked, "Wait until the school day is over. If you don't, I'll be seeing you in detention."

Leviathan shivered. He's only been to one detention hosted by Barbatos, and they are brutal. He's just glad he isn't a detention regular like Mammon or Thirteen. Well, Mammon kinda deserves that. Karma for all those missing Ruri-chan figurines.

Painstakingly, he powered through the entire day of school.

Afterwards, he met Barbatos. The man opened a portal as he had promised, one that brought him to the entrance of Diavolo's hotel.

Leviathan wasn't the best at feelings or anything really. But, he will do his best to make sure his adorable little brother returns home safe and sound.

○●○●○●○●○●○

He hadn't moved from the bed since he had gotten to the hotel. He was still covered in the grime and blood. His clothes were the same ones he wore during the fight. He hadn't eaten. He couldn't bring himself to eat. He was miserable.

Is this what breaking felt like? Was this his final straw?

All those thousands of years of being denied a simple day that was meant for him. All those years of being overestimated as well as underestimated. The years when he was continuously compared to his father and his dead sister.

All he wanted was his own day.

But that was taken from him hours before he cried his first tears.

He was over feeling bad for his selfishness. He was over everything.

He lay underneath the tight hotel blankets, lights out. Footsteps trotted, stomped, skipped.

Then, amongst everything, a knock sounded at his door.

He didn't say a word, hoping they would go away. It was probably just a random worker anyway.

Then, another knock, "Satan?"

Satan's eyes widened at the sound of his older brother's voice.

Leviathan was always there for him in his times of need. It was always nice to have a shoulder to cry on. Hell, he's Asmo's shoulder majority of the time.

Levi came for him.

Does this mean he truly cares about him?

"Satan can I come in?" Levi's anxious voice sounded again, "I- um- can't come in myself. The door's locked."

For the first time in awhile, he moved the blanket off of himself, sitting up. He regained his composure, standing.

He quickly collapsed, his body wasn't used to the weight again yet.

"Are you okay!?" Leviathan panicked behind the door.

After a deep breath, the wrath demon stood again, stepping over to the door.

He flinched slightly at the lights in the hallway before a huge smile broke out onto his face at the sight of his lovely older brother.

Before he knew it, his body was collapsing again, this time into Levi's arms.

Levi hugged him back, awkwardly scooting them into the room, closing the door.

Levi continued to scoot Satan's dead weight until the finally reached the bed.

"I was worried, you know," The purple-haired brother said.

Satan didn't speak, only hugging Levi tighter. Levi's hand worked into Satan's hair, running his fingers through the blonde strands.

He couldn't hold it in any longer, Satan began to cry.

The two didn't speak. They only held each other tight.

And when Satan's sobs quieted down, he felt drowsy. His eyes started to droop as his body weight died in the arms of the elder.

"I'll let you sleep for now," Levi sighed, "But when you wake up, I'm going to get you food and water. Then we can talk about going home. No offense, but you look like me after a twenty-four hour stream. AKA, like shit. You're pale, have eye bags, your eyes are sunken in. You look like you're haven't eaten, slept, or drinking water all week."

Satan stayed silent, knowing he'd hardly done any of that.

Levi pulled him down into a laying position, "For now, sleep. You need it."

He let himself sleep then. Right now, he didn't have to worry about the stress of Lucifer, his brothers, or returning home in general.

Now, he just had the comfort of the brother he considered to be the one he'd always rely on.

He snuggled deeper into Levi's arms.

At least he had this.

[themoonsbride]

I randomly came up with the idea for this and I just like, I couldn't not write it . and tbh I feel like the title gives away what the story is about 😭

Caramel Delights. xo

--×♥︎×--

You and your Boyfriend of 4 years, Peter were in the living room of your home. It felt weird to call it your home. it still felt weird just living inside of a home sometimes. Peter helped you and Eleven escape from Hawkins Labrotory just 2 years ago and you were still trying to get used to the outside world again.

Peter was still somewhat struggling adjusting though, he still wore his lab uniform some days and wasn't used to having so much freedom. It showed how bad his anxiety truly was and all the abuse he'd gone through in his life. and it broke your heart.

Though you were doing your best and being there for him as much as you could, you had to pick out some clothes for him today because he ended up wearing his old uniform again. He also wasn't used to your gentle touch just yet either, even if it'd already been a year since you were offical.

You were watching TV and saw Peter eventually got side tracked from his book and was now watching TV with you, well, more so watching a movie with you. You were watching grease, it'd came out a few summers ago and you'd never seen it, and clearly Peter hasn't either.

You were waiting for El to get home from school today. El. She'd adjusted so quickly and even had her own group of friends, and a boyfriend. (a boyfriend only you knew about.)

it was around 2:00, El would be home any minute now, she said she was going to bring her friend Max over soon. but that still hadn't happened, but Max seemed sweet to El from what you and Peter heard.

She'd grown up so much, you remembered it like it were yesterday when she was clinging to Peter's leg when you'd met her for the first time. But once she spoke to you, she couldn't get enough of you. it almost felt like you were attached to the hip.

She loved you, and you loved her.

You were about 15 minutes into the movie, Danny and Sandy were singing Summer Nights, and Peter seemed deeply focused onto the movie, it made you smile before you continued to watch along.

As the song finished you heard keys inside the lock jangle to soon be met with Eleven walking inside, her hair was just below her ears and she was wearing the jumpsuit Max had helped her pick out. she seemed excited about something.

"Y/n, you have to see what I got from school today!" she said smiling, dropping her schoolbag in-between her feet. Peter looked over too.

"What'd you get El?" the sound of her bag zipping out fast and grease playing on the TV made things feel more normal, more like home. It was nice.

Eleven pulled out a purple box from her school back, smiling big, her white teeth seemed like they had a glint on them.

"I got girl cookies!" Eleven squealed

"Girl cookies?" Peter sounded extremely confused

"You mean Girl scout cookies El?" You asked chuckling a bit.

"Oh, yeah I guess so, Max got them for me!" She said as she sat in between you and Peter. Peter was observing els movements carefully, he'd probably never heard of these in his entire life.

"Max said they're caramel delights" El said as she opened the packaging, pulling the cookies out.

"those are the best out of all of them El, you'll love them." You smiled as she handed you and Peter one, he didn't bite it, he examined it instead.

"Where did you get these again, El?" He said carefully.

"From Max, she bought them for me." Eleven said looking at Peter and she started to eat hers, you eating yours along with her.

Peter hesitantly took a bite out of his cookie and chewed it awfully slow, El was still staring at him whilst you were trying to pay attention to the movie but couldn't help staring at Peter too.

because we'll for one, he was absolutely gorgeous, and hard not to look or stare at, and also because you wanted to see if he'd like it or not.

And to both you and els suprise, he really loved it and eventually helped El finish off the rest of them whilst the 3 of you watched grease.