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bratshaws · 2 years

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goodness gracious 3. brb x oc

a/n: god i love this chapter already. Btw, this might be... a long fic? Maybe? WHO knows i have so much planned for it. s o many ideas....... so little time. btw, Bea has a fc and body claim : its Tara Lynn

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

chapters:

1/2/

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter

She woke up at five in the morning, her eyes snapping open with so much force she felt a headache the moment her vision cleared. She stood up, had breakfast then sat on the couch for fifteen minutes staring at nothing while Jolene licked what was left of her yogurt inside the bowl since her owner didn’t seem to notice.

Beatrice then thought she should do her morning yoga, since it always helped. So she did, but she stuck in downward dog with her eyes glazed over, looking at nothing as she remembered yet again he was coming over.

Then she decided to clean her already clean house. Trying to fight Jolene once she tried to end her mortal enemy: the vacuum. Then she decided to wash her dishes only to remember she already did. Looking at her phone she just groaned when it just turned into six a.m.

So then she decided to check her fridge, what if they got hungry? What sort of diet were they following? Should she get something gluten free? What if one of them was vegan? She didn’t have anything vegan, oh my god why doesn’t she have anything vegan????

So she went to the only grocery store open at this time, trying to get a bit of everything she thought they’d appreciate? Lemons too, she’d make lemonade. She tried to appear casual and not like she ran out of her house wearing her yoga pants with a large hoodie and hair up in a messy bun looking like a crackhead trying to find her next hit.

Done with grocery shopping she got back home and checked everything, even fluffing her pillows even more, putting the striped one on the left of the couch and the mustard one to the right…only to replace positions three more times before giving up. She returned to the couch,sitting down with her back straight, letting Jolene climb on her lap and stay there while her owner tried to calm the hell down.

She sent a message to Shells, at seven in the morning on a Sunday asking her when she’d be over with more than five question marks. Bea tried her best to relax, following the breathing techniques her therapist taught her to control her anxiety, slipping her eyes shut.

Smell the flowers, blow the candle.

She repeated the motion for a few more seconds, until she felt her heartbeat go back to normal. Then her body relaxed and she enjoyed the sounds of the ocean, the wind and cars passing by her house. Good, this was good.

Once she calmed enough, she decided to take a shower, but then came another dilemma: what could she wear? Nothing too fancy but nothing too casual either. Shorts? Out of the question. She might just wear ripped jeans and one of her t-shirts. Right, okay, that was good, yes.

She ran up the staircase, Jolene following her close by, while she opened one of the boxes her clothes were being kept. Tugging her dark ripped jeans out alongside fresh underwear, digging deeper while checking which shirt she could use, furrowing her eyebrows before pulling out a Metallica Master of Puppets shirt, placing the clothes on the cook of her elbow rushing to her bathroom where she stood probably too long trying to make sure she looked presentable.

It was too warm to keep her hair down so, hair bun it was. She wondered about putting on make up - the most she wore at the bar was eyeliner,light foundation and lip gloss - then chose against it when she felt how stuffy it was getting already, choosing to just use some moisturizer and hydrating lip gloss instead.

So, she was decent. Tugging her Metallica shirt for a bit too long, frowning when it seemed tighter than it once was, but shook it off. No time for that now! She just smiled at her reflection the best she should, walking out of her bathroom with Jolene in tow.

Checking on her phone she saw Shells sent her a message, with even more question marks, saying she’d be over around ten o’clock and to please not send her messages so early in the morning. It didn’t take long for her phone to ring, a number she didn’t know calling…but there was only one person who it could be.

“Oh Jesus…” she clenched her eyes, “Please don’t let me mess this up.” her hand shook with nerves before she accepted the call, lifting it to her ear, “Hello?”

“Beatrice?”

She covered her face with a hand, cheeks flaming at the sound of his voice “Hmhm, i-it’s me.”

“Hey, good morning. Did I wake you up? I know it’s early.”

“G-Good morning and no, no I was awake already.” she replied, sinking lower on the couch, feeling like a teenager. “So um…what time is good for you guys?”

“Well I– hey man cut it out!” She heard a chorus of ‘ooohs’ and mixed voices coming from behind him, “Sorry, you are on speaker, let me just–okay, there, finally. So, is ten thirty good for you?”

“Oh, yes, sounds good!” she licked her lips, then furrowed her eyebrows “Listen, if…I mean if you guys think it’ll take too long you guys can just leave it! I don’t want to bother your day off or anything–”

“No, no, you won’t, really. We don’t mind.” there was something in his voice, something soft, but then she heard the not so subtle sound of a slap being followed by an ‘ow! the fuck Rooster???’ “So…see you in a few then.”

“Yeah.” god her voice came out breathy , take a hold of yourself woman, “I-I’ll see you then.”

“Okay… Bye.”

“Bye.” she hung up the call and tossed the phone to the couch, covering her face with her hands only to squeal against her palms. God he sounded so hot, GOD he was so hot! What was a girl to do with that?? The reverie disappeared only for the anxiety to take over…this was really happening.

Beatrice wrung her hands nervously while still partially on the couch, then stood up to pace around the living room with Jolene following her movements with her eyes, her sock monkey toy lodged between her maws as she lay on the floor, “Okay, okay I can do this. It 's fine! It’s totally fine, it’s nothing serious!It’s just something to help with. Nothing more! They’ll come over, take the armoire upstairs and go! Right?” she turned to face her dog, who just chewed on the toy lazily “Right! Yes. It’s fine!”

She had to prepare. God she had to prepare!!

By the time Shells came over, using her own spare key for Bea’s house, she greeted Jolene who was already whining. Closing the door to crouch near the dog, scratching her behind the ears, Shells blinked behind her sunglasses when she smelled something, “Bea?”

“In the kitchen!”

“In the kitchen–why are you in the kitchen?” Shells tossed her bag on the couch much like the day before, running a hand through her shoulder length blonde hair to pull it up on a ponytail, her sneakers squeaking on the wooden floor until she reached the kitchen. “Woah.” Bea stood by the counter, finger foods trays, some salad, lemonade - was that ice cream?? “Is there a birthday party coming up?”

Beatrice wrung her hands, looking from the food to her friend, “Is it too much?”

“I mean, pfft, no but…I wasn’t expecting you to cook them stuff.”

“I just– I just thought if they didn’t have lunch, they could snack on something!” Shells approached the tray with tiny sandwiches, swiping her finger on some of the beige colored paste that spilt on it to lick it up, humming to herself, “It’s hummus.”

“It tastes fucking great.” she said, picking up one of the sandwiches to snatch a bite, lifting the bread to check the insides, “Chicken, hummus, julienne carrots, some tomatoes…”

“There’s also the vegan version but it’s in the fridge, I didn’t know if any of them are vegan– and the bread is gluten free.” Shells stopped her chewing to tilt her head with a small smile to Beatrice. “What?”

“Bea, you are absolutely adorable.” her friend’s cheeks turned red, “If this doesn’t snag Rooster, I’ll gladly take over his place.” she took another bite, humming in delight, “Cause this is fucking good, you are a great cook.”

Beatrice chuckled, crossing her arms, “Oh really, you’d date me for my food?”

“Babes, just let me paint on a mustache and wear Hawaiian shirts, you won’t see a difference.” that made the brunette laugh, turning to place the food inside the fridge for safety, “What time are they coming?”

Beatrice sucked in a breath, pulling her phone out of her pocket to check once she closed the fridge’s door, “Ten thirty…so…in ten minutes.” all the calming exercises she had done earlier went down the drain, she leaned her lower back on the kitchen counter, clenching the black marble countertop with her phone clenched in her other hand, “I’m nervous.”

“Hm,” Shells lifted her index finger, her cheek bulging out as she chewed, “Don’t be, it’ll be fine.”

“What if I mess something up? What if I say something weird?” but her friend made a non-committal noise, too busy shoving the rest of the fresh sandwich inside her mouth, clapping her hands to get rid of the crumbs. Once she swallowed the mass that the sandwich became, she wiped her mouth with a napkin.

“You won’t, now,” she held her friend’s shoulder, “Relax,” she shook them up a little bit for emphasis, “Relaaaax, and breathe. Everything will be fine.”

“Yeah…yeah, okay.”

“Now, step aside, I'm gonna get another sandwich.”

With the two women in the kitchen Jolene was the one responsible to announce sudden visitors. She chewed her little monkey severely, until she heard the sound of a car parking right in front of her house. Her ears perked up, being followed by her head, the monkey still in her mouth as she slowly rose to her paws. She nudged her pink nose through the curtains, pulling herself upwards to stand up on the window sill.

“Oh my god! Look at the dog! Hi!!” a voice said, she didn’t know who said it, but she was already wagging her tail, whining happily at the attention. The sound was enough for Beatrice to walk out of the kitchen, seeing the silhouettes on the outside, quickly marching over to where Jolene was, mentally preparing herself before opening the door.

Shells came right behind her picking Jolene up with a quiet ‘oof!’, holding her away enough for the door to be unlocked. Beatrice stood with her hand clenched on the door handle, squeezing her eyes shut ‘you can do it,Beatrice. Open the door.’ she repeated in her mind. Then she opened the door, face to chest because God sure is humorous with her isn't He, with Rooster. She blinked, gulping quietly, then turned her head upwards to meet his sunglasses, “Hey.”

“Hey.” he replied, removing his shades to slip them inside his tank top. She stepped aside once the shock passed, allowing him and the rest of his team to wander inside. Jesus, her house was way too small for so much muscle power, “Shells, you are here too?”

“I’m just here for mental support.” she chuckles, having a hard time keeping Jolene still, “Okay, okay, fine, you go.”

The pitbull straggled to her feet, her hind legs slipping with excitement as she greeted every single one of the officers by sniffing their shoes, butt and tail wagging excitedly to the new friends that just got in, running to pick up her little monkey toy to show them, “Oh my god, you are so cute!”

Shells and Bea could only watch the usually tough officers suddenly melt into goopy puddles of joy, their voices high as they pet the dog. Jolene however ran to each one, ending up showing her toy to them all, finalizing with Rooster.Standing on her hind legs so he too would show her attention. Which he did, crouching to the floor and cupping the giant puppy’s head, flopping her ears playfully while complimenting her toy as if it was the most important thing in this room.

Bea’s chest clenched, her cheeks flushed “oh no.” she thought, “oh no, he likes dogs too?? I’m doomed.” Shells not so subtle jab to the ribs snapped Bea out of her thoughts, giving the brunette a knowing smirk, then nodding in the direction of the backyard, “Right! Okay, Jolene, down!” The dog ran away from Rooster’s arms to settle herself onto the couch, chewing her monkey toy happily.

Bea cleared her throat, “Well, hi guys.” mixed voices replied back, “Um…follow me. It’s right here.” she turned on her heel to the sliding glass door, opening them up all the way so Rooster and the others could see it.

The sandy haire pilot whistled low, placing his hands on his hips, “Yeah there was no way you girls could do it alone.”

“It’s really big,” Payback added, standing beside the other officer before running his fingers on the surface. Below the armoire was a bunch of newspapers and ripped magazine pages, dripped with dark mahogany varnish, “You painted this?”

“Yeah, two coats of varnish. Sanded it too.” she added, tucking the hair that slipped the bun behind her ear “I got it from an online store selling vintage furniture.”

Rooster walked around the armoire, the top of his hair peeking from behind it. The armoire tipped backwards just enough to be put back on the same spot, “Whew, yeah, this will need three of us at least.” he walked back to the front, looking back at the two other guys who stepped out in her tiny backyard, tilting his head when he noticed Bea practically squeezing herself behind Jake, “Hangman.”

“What?” Rooster nodded his head to Bea, who blinked in surprise, “Oh, sorry sweetheart, didn’t see you there.” Hangman however winks, giving her a brilliant smile “I know you want the best view, I don’t mind showing it to you.”

“Um…I…”

“He’s all bark and no bite, Bea. Don’t worry about it,” Rooster’s voice came quickly, being followed by a grunt, “Okay, me, Fanboy ,Hangman and Payback will carry it up the stairs. I think we all fit there.”

Bea nods, stepping back inside to see Shells already holding Jolene still again. She couldn’t hear what he was telling them once she got inside the living room, but it sounded…dangerously attractive. Phoenix and Bob were on either sides of the door, waiting until four distinct grunts were heard from the outside, the sunlight being blocked by her armoire.

She stepped back, giving them enough space to pass. They looked…way more relaxed than she expected, while they were being careful, it didn’t seem the armoire weighed so much for them. Once they reached the stairs, she couldn’t help herself “Please be careful!”

“aw sweetheart, I’ll make sure you kiss my bruises later, what do you say?” Hangman was on the fifth step alongside Payback, while Rooster and Fanboy held the opposite side. She blushed deep red and he laughed even more, his chuckling being cut short when Rooster pushed the armoire up a bit more “I’m going! I’m going!”

She watched the four of them climb up, trying very hard to not look at how nice Rooster’s ass looked when he went up the stairs. She slowly went up once they disappeared on the top of the loft area. The space for the armoire was quite obvious since she only had her bed in the center of the area, some boxes on the corner and her bathroom right on her bed’s left side.

They talked amongst each other, Rooster questioning the direction where they should put it and she pointed to the space they were currently standing at, so they quickly set the armoire down. Her lips parted in wonder, watching her oak 1965 armoire stand in it’s full glory where she planned it to, a soft gasp leaving her lips.

Rooster leaned his elbow on the armoire, “What I said? Best moving business you’d ever get.” cue to Hangman flexing his arms for emphasis, smiling at her yet again. She dipped her head with a small smile, nearing the armoire to press her hand to it, “Is there anything else you want us to do?”

She blinked,”Huh?Oh! No no! You guys don’t have to! Really,” but Payback looked behind himself to see the shelves neatly stacked to the wall with the baggie of screws and toolbox next to it, “Oh, no, no that’s okay, I’ll do that later–”

“We are here already.” Rooster smiled, giving her a shrug, “We can help.”

She hoped her heart eyes weren’t obvious, but she nodded her head, whispering a gentle ‘okay’ with a smile.

–

What would’ve taken her weeks, they did in a matter of hours. Her sleek brown shelves stood beautifully on the corner of her room and in the living room, Bob made sure they’d stay straight there alongside Payback. Phoenix joined the boys later, when Hangman denied needing help building her computer desk. Meanwhile, Rooster carried her box of books down the stairs - her two fully stacked boxes mind you - once she told him what it was. They opened the boxes and Rooster arched his eyebrows at the book that hit him first “ You like Dune?”

She blinked, looking inside to see the premium collection she got months before the movie launched, “Yeah,” she licked her lips, picking her copy from the box, “Do you?”

“I never really even saw the movie.” he chuckles, “Is it any good?”

“Oh the new movie? It’s great, probably the best adaptation of Dune I’ve seen. I know they tried to be as loyal to the book as they could.” She held the set up to place it in the middle of the shelf, the gold illustrations shining against the black of the books’ thick spines. “Of course there are things you can’t add, but they made references and it was good enough for me.”

Rooster continued rummaging through the box, holding up the books for her to place however she wanted while asking questions about them. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Frankenstein, Lord of the Rings, comic books…she had a bit of everything. It was when giving her another book that he noticed the tattoos on the arm grabbing the books from him.

He could see a tiny heart close to the inside of her elbow, a little snake near her wrist, the quote ‘In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit…’ on the underside of her lower arm, with the tiny version of what he assumed to be a Hobbit house right next to it. He watched Lord of the Rings, he could identify that. He knew she had more, but the shirt she wore hid most of her upper arms for him to see anything else.

Rooster’s eyes met hers, seeing a confused look on her face as she tried to curl her arm close, “I was just checking your tattoos.”

“Oh.” she looked down at her arm, trying to not focus on how fat it was, turning it to herself but smiling at him for a short while before moving it forward again to grab the next book, “Sorry, I’m not used to people looking at my...arms” she bit her lower lip “You got any?”

“No. Want to though.” he grabbed three more books, handing them over to her so his hand was free “Never know what to get. There’s so many options, I can’t choose. But for the place…” she hums, flitting her gaze quickly to his bicep once he lifts his arm up to roll his sleeve up to his shoulder, rubbing the golden skin with his fingertips, “Maybe here?”

She almost choked on her spit when the muscle flexed ‘Um…um, the arm is nice! I-It has a lot of space.” Jesus Christ his bicep was huge. Bea blinked hard, moving her gaze away to focus on arranging her books “You can do something big there.” really big.

“Like?”

“Hm?”

He shrugs, smiling at her, “Like what? What’s your suggestion?” he nods to her tattooed arms, “You have more experience than I do.”

Beatrice slowed her movements, the Carrie book almost slipping out of her fingers as she translated his words “Oh!” she cleared her throat, “Um…I dunno? It could be something meaningful first? Like…I don’t know, something to do with the Navy. Or something you really like. I don’t know the options are endless. It’s all up to you.”

Rooster’s eyes somber for a second, his gaze leaving hers before returning with a bit of a strained smile, “Right,” oh no, what did she do? “I’ll think about it.”

“O-Okay.” she frowned to herself, chastising herself for whatever was it she said that bothered him. They continued filling the shelf in silence, once they were finished she took her phone out of her pocket “Oh! Um…” she bit her lower lip, looking up at him, “You hungry? I mean– you guys hungry?”

“Why? Is it noon?”

“It’s almost two in the afternoon.”

“Oh shit.” he ran his hand through his hair “Didn’t even notice how time flew by.”

She chewed her lower lip harder, tapping her fingernails against her Michelangelo phone case, “I um… I prepared some things… in case you guys got hungry.” she walks past him to the kitchen, opening the fridge to grab the snacks she prepared earlier. Setting them all on the counter, including the vegan ones, she jumped to see Rooster standing right next to her, with his eyes wide.

“You made all this?”

“...I…yeah?” Was it too much? God it was too much wasn’t it? He’d be freaked out and just think why the hell would she do that to them when they weren’t even—

“Oooohhh, snacks!” it was Phoenix’s voice that broke her turmoil, stepping between the two to grab a sandwich herself, humming happily when she bit into it, “Oh this is good! Is that lemonade?” Beatrice nods, opening her cabinets to grab a glass so Phoenix could fill it herself “I wouldn’t wait too long, Roos.” she jabs him on the ribs playfully, “It’s delicious.”

In a matter of seconds, whoever wasn’t in the kitchen suddenly showed up. She didn’t have a table, yet, so they all helped her take the food to the living room, setting on the round coffee table. It was a tight fit, but it worked. Beatrice couldn’t help but smile shyly at the compliments thrown her way, nor the way everyone seemed to enjoy her quick cooking. Rooster especially was on his third sandwich already, sitting on the edge of the couch while Shells was on the other end.

Shells, who once she saw her friend standing up like a tree, offered her seat to her while she slid to the floor herself. Bea hesitated, but sat down, tucking one of her legs under herself before grabbing a glass of lemonade. She didn’t say much, choosing to listen to the officers chat amongst themselves. Something about Hangman almost losing a finger as he tried to nudge pieces of her table together, much to the blonde officer’s annoyance.

They ate everything. Nothing a crumb was left. and at the right time too, since it was getting closer and closer to the sunset. They helped her set the things on the sink, to which she said she’d wash it and to not to worry, before walking them to the door.

Jolene licked them all goodbye, not only did she get new friends the new friends also fed her scraps of their food! Sitting cutely on the couch as Beatrice led them to the door, “Thank you guys again for helping me.” she smiled, keeping the door open for them.

“Not a worry, if you need anything else you can give us a call,” Payback said, being the first one out, giving her a goodbye, being followed by Fanboy and Bob. Phoenix however stood in the doorway, holding Hangman and Rooster back as she pulled out her phone.

“You got instagram?” Bea nodded, “Cool, I’m going to follow you, is that okay?”

“Yeah! Sure, it’s um, it’s bumblebea, no capital letters.” she heard the notification ping coming from her phone from her back pocket. She waved Phoenix goodbye, dipping her head when Hangman winked at her again,wiggling his own phone in her direction before she heard another ping.

Once Rooster was on the doorway, she parted her lips, “Thank you.” he looked down at her, “For…for helping me.”

He gives her a small grin, pulling his sunglasses out of his tank top, “It wasn’t a problem. You can call if you need any more help and if we are around, okay?” she nods with a shy smile, her cheeks turning red before he slips on his sunglasses, “See you at the bar?”

“...sure. See you. Bye.”

“Bye.”

She holds onto the door with her eyes following him once he reaches the bronco, Bob and Phoenix sitting inside already while Hangman had Payback and Fanboy in his car. She rolls her lower lip into her mouth when Rooster adjusts himself on the seat, one of his hands on the steering wheel already. He looks up back at her, the corner of his mouth lifting in a smirk, two of his fingers around the wheel loosen up so he could give her a partial wave. One she reciprocated quickly.

After that the cars left her driveway, one after the other. She slid the door shut, trying to bite back a smile until a figure stood to her side, so she tilted her head to see a very smug Shells…who pulled her own sleeve up, exposing her bicep, “Should I get it…here?” she made a weird face by squinting her eyes and biting her lower lip, “Damn, Bea, do you wanna feel my muscles? My big muscles? I’m so stroooongg.”

Beatrice laughed, pushing her friend’s chest when she figured out who she was playing, “Shut up and help me with the dishes.”

“Oh fine,” she sighs playfully, “If I must.”

“You must.” Shells walks past her to the kitchen, Bea following before stopping when she heard another ping from her phone. She pulled it out, pressing the power button to see the notifications. Her cheeks warmed up again.

b.bradshaw started following you.

#bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x oc #top gun maverick #bradley bradshaw x reader

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blueeyedgeorgie · 3 years

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Wide Awake-Dream Was Taken

A/N: Here’s Pt. 2 bitches. I hope you all enjoy ! Also, please go support and follow @notphilosopherstudentblog because she helped me out with this because she’s so intelligent. <3

Btw Title is based off Katy Perry’s song Wide Awake

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 3.5k+

_________

It was early. Too early for Y/n to be crying. But her she was, sitting in bed, clinging to one of Clay's old shirts. In the past, it was normal for her to steal a couple of his belongings. It was typical of Y/n to invite herself into his closet, taking whatever she wanted to wear, whenever she wanted. But now it just felt wrong.

There were only a few items left Y/n had that were his. She never washed this shirt, she had only worn it once. She could still remember the day she stole it.

"Y/n, you've got to be kidding," Clay turned in his desk chair. She had just walked out of his closet wearing an oversized grey t-shirt. "You're seriously going to leave me with five pieces of clothing."

She shot him a playful look, taking a moment to admire herself in the nearest mirror. "I'm sorry Mr. 15 million subscribers. You can always buy more clothes with all that money."

"Fine... it looks better on you anyway."

She had spent the rest of the day in his shirt. And by the end of the day, the scent of his laundry detergent was strong. For an odd reason, the t-shirt had spent weeks in the back of Y/n's closet, untouched. At least, until this morning.

All night she was toss and turning. It seemed impossible for her to get a moment of sleep, her mind had been racing. The only reason she wasn't able to sleep was because of one person; Clay. Their fight had played over and over again in her mind.

'But Y/n, I really do love you.'

There were so many different ways the night could've ended. But it was her fault it ended how it did. If only she hadn't asked for him to step out of the stupid restaurant with her. She didn't need to make a scene, but she still did. This was all her fault.

The sound of her phone buzzing had pulled Y/n away from the piece of fabric in her hands. Looking down at her nightstand, she glanced at the electronic. Wilbur was calling. With a sigh, hesitantly she reached for the phone.

"Hey, Y/n."

"Morning, Wilbur."

The brunette bit his lip at the sound of her voice. He could tell she had a rough night. "Are you doing alright?"

"I'm..." she paused, looking down at the shirt in her lap. "Yeah, I'm doing better."

"That's good to hear," For some odd reason, he was pacing. It wasn't normal for him to pace back and forth. He was already dressed for the day, wearing a set of brown pants with a creme button-up shirt. A pair of glasses rested on his face as he spoke. "George and I were hoping to go get some breakfast. Do you think you could show us somewhere good?"

"Yeah, I'm up for breakfast. What about Nick and Clay?" If Clay was coming, she didn't know what she'd do. There would be tension, but maybe she could find a way to patch everything up between them.

"Nick's going over to Clay's. They wanna have a bit of time together."

"Oh, okay... when do you guys wanna meet up?"

"Maybe 30 minutes to an hour?"

"An hour it is."

Before preparing to go out, Y/n had texted Wilbur a location point to meet up. It was a nice restaurant located in town, it had always been one of her favorite places to eat. George and Wilbur had gotten a table outside, it was nice out for a day in Flordia.

"Do you think she's gonna do it?"

Wilbur glanced across the table to George, "Honestly, probably not." He let out a sigh, " hope she agrees. I really do. But it's gonna be hard for her to let go. I just think it'd be better if they got some time away from each other."

"You're right. As good of friends they are, they need a break from each other." They both knew it wasn't a good idea for Y/n to stay in Flordia at the moment, she needed a moment away from Clay. So Wilbur had come up with an idea to get Y/n to take a break.

"What do you think of Elise?" Changing the subject, George leaned back in his chair. It was rare for Clay's girlfriend to come up in conversation. She seemed like such a touchy subject in the group. She was definitely a sweetheart, but it seemed like she appeared out of nowhere. The group had been planning future Dream SMP roleplay on a Discord call. It had been so brief when Clay mentioned her. 'Hey guys, I just wanted to mention I started dating somebody.' It was smart of George to hold his tongue because of what else Clay had to say. 'Her name is Elise and she's 19.'

Most of the group had expected Clay and Y/n to end up together. They were best friends who lived in the same town. There was constant flirting going on between them. And not to mention Y/n had always been there to support Clay through the bad and good.

"Hey, guys!"

Both of the British men were pulled out of their thoughts by the sound of her voice. Y/n was quick to take a seat by Wilbur. "Have we ordered yet?"

"No actually, we've been waiting for you." George fixed his posture, his classic grin appeared on his face. "Got any recommendations for drinks?"

"My go-to has to be a mimosa and the eggs benedict."

The knock came as a surprise, but there were a lot of surprises happening this morning. Clay had woken up earlier than usual. Naturally, he'd get up around 9 or 10, but today he woke at 7. He couldn't go to bed for a few more hours, his mind wouldn't quit racing with thoughts. He had ended up skipping breakfast, he wasn't hungry today. It was normal for him to eat something, he always woke up starved. The early knock was the cherry on top of the cake of the surprises happening today.

"Hey Nick, what are you doing here?" Clay glanced behind his friend, looking for any sign of the rest of his friends. Originally, they had planned to meet up later that afternoon at his place. "I thought you were coming by at noon?"

Nick stood on the porch, burying his hands into the pockets of his jeans. It was early in the morning, yet it was already warm outside. "Yeah, sorry I didn't ask if I could come by earlier. I just wanted some time alone with you."

"Cool, make yourself at home," Stepping aside, the blonde opened the door a bit wider for his friend. "Sorry it's a bit messy, I was planning to clean up before you guys showed up."

The pair had made their way to Clay's living room. It was nice, but still a bit messy just as he said. As the blonde began to pick up after himself, the pair had a bit of small banter.

"Is Elise gonna come by this afternoon?" Nick watched as Clay picked up a couple of items sitting on the coffee table.

"Uh, no. I think she had work today."

"Oh, what about Y/n?"

Clay tensed, pausing for a second. She had been on his mind a lot since the last time he saw her. The way she looked at him... it hurt. It felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. This morning she was all he could think of. He missed her good morning texts, the way she'd update him about little situations happening in her schedule, when she would randomly face time him just to say: 'I wanted to see your stupid face because I missed it.'

"I... she's not coming."

"Why's that?"

"You know why, Nick." Clay let out a sigh, taking a seat on the couch. He didn't know what he could do, he was the one who messed everything up. If he tried to apologize, he might even piss Y/n off even more. She had always been a hardass about being hurt or betrayed, it was hard for her to give people a second chance. "I don't even think she knows we're all planning to meet up later today."

"Dude... it's weird seeing you two like this. It feels wrong." The two friends looked at one another, it seemed like Nick could tell exactly what Clay was thinking. 'It is wrong.'

"I miss her. But I was also the one who fucked everything up by ignoring her for weeks."

"Why'd you even do that?"

"Because I fell in love with her. I was scared she didn't feel the same. So I distanced myself and looked for someone to start a relationship with. That's why I met Elise."

"Clay... you're an idiot."

"I know."

Turning, Wilbur looked at Y/n. She was halfway finished with her meal. Everything was going great, she seemed so happy just to be able to talk with two friends. It seemed like the best time to spring the idea on her.

"Hey, Y/n?"

"Yes, Wilbur?"

He bit his lip, glancing at the man sitting on the other side of the table. George gave a brief nod, knowing what was going to happen next. "George and I had an idea we'd like to share with you."

"What is it?"

"You know how you've been talking about how you've always wanted to visit us in London?"

"Yeah..."

Wilbur paused, looking back at George for a second. "Well, we were thinking... I have a free room in my place. Why don't you spend one of two months with me just to see how you like London?"

Y/n's face lit up. "That sounds great, Wilbur. I... wow. That sounds so fun!" She paused, her smile disappeared. "But what about my house? I can't just abandon it for a month."

Wilbur bit his lip, 'Shit.'

"Clay can stop by once a week, just to make sure everything's fine. I'm positive he'll do it for you," George was quick to jump into the conversation. As soon as he mentioned Clay, Wilbur shot him a look. Y/n tensed at the sound of his name.

"Listen Y/n, you don't have to do it. Just keep the idea in mind, you can give me an answer before George and I leave."

"Okay..." Y/n bit her lip, looking at her food. She knew the only right answer was yes, but it was going to be hard to talk to Clay about this. "I think... I think I wanna do this. I wanna go with you guys."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, but... just give me some time to think it over."

"We're always here for you, Y/n. No pressure." Wilbur placed a hand on Y/n's. He wanted her to come to London, everything would be better. He cared a lot about Y/n, he really did. He just wanted to see her happy.

"I just want her to be happy," Clay let out a sigh, opening the refrigerator door. His eyes skimmed over what there was, he had gone grocery shopping the other day to plan for today. He still wasn't hungry.

"Everything's gonna get-" Nick paused, he was interrupted by the sound of Clay's phone ringing. There was a moment of silence as the blonde closed the refrigerator, approaching his phone on the kitchen counter.

"It's Y/n."

"What?"

"Do I pick it up?" Clay glanced at his friend.

"yes, yes, yes! Do it!"

Clay was quick to pick up the phone, putting it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Clay."

"Hey, Y/n."

"Do you..." she paused, "Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Yeah, I can talk." Clay leaned against the counter, listening to her intently. It had only been a few days, but he missed her voice. He could tell she was down.

"I know this seems like the wrong time to be asking for favors and everything, considering everything that has happened this last week. But... I need your help with something." She paused again. He could tell she was hesitating, as though something was keeping her back. "I think I'm gonna be gone for a while. And I just need someone to check up with my house every couple of days. Could you do that? It's fine if you don't want to, it was a stupid idea of me to ask you anyways-"

"No, yeah. Of course, I'll check up on your house for you, Y/n." He was quick to cut her off. The last thing he wanted was for her to think she couldn't turn to him for help anymore. "And it's not stupid of you to ask me. I'll always be here if you need something or need help."

She scoffed, "You weren't there for me these past few weeks." She stopped herself again for the third time. "I'm sorry, that was really bitchy of me."

"I deserved it," he could only chuckle. Y/n was still herself. "But yeah, is there anything else you need... or want to talk about?"

"I... no. No, that's it. I guess I'll talk to you... eventually."

"Alright," Clay fought back the urge to let out a disappointed sigh. "I'll see you." Without saying goodbye, she hung up the phone. He didn't know what to expect next, he wasn't even sure whether this was a step in the right direction or not.

Staring at the box, Y/n felt herself tear up for the hundredth time this week. This was going to be a hard task to complete, but it was going to help her let go.

Walking around the house, Y/n picked up item by item. Anything that belonged to Clay was going in the box. A few t-shirts, a couple of CDs she stole, one of his coffee cups. Y/n wasn't even sure how the cup had gotten to her house, but she knew it belonged to Clay. All of her coffee cups matched, all the same color and shape. But... this one cup had shown up in her pantry one day. Every time Clay had spent the night, he'd start the morning off with a cup of coffee, only using that cup.

At this point, Y/n was picking up items that held too strong memories of him. The box had quickly filled, it felt strange. It seemed like she had just lost a chunk of her house. Of her life. This needed to happen. This was the only way they'd be able to keep their friendship.

Y/n had agreed to come to London with Wilbur, she was finally fully on board. Two suitcases sat by her front door as she waited for Wilbur and George to arrive. She would only be in Florida for a few more hours, she needed to give this box back to him. Maybe she could just say screw it, leave it here under her bed, hidden away. So when she'd return she'd be comforted by his shirts and hoodies, she'd listen to his songs and cry.

No. She couldn't do that. If she did that she wouldn't be letting go of everything. Y/n needed closure, it'd be the best for them both and she knew it. Pulling her out of her thoughts, Y/n heard a knock on her door. It was time.

"Morning, Y/n."

"Morning, Wilbur." Y/n smiled, embracing her friend in a hug as soon as she opened the door.

"George is in the car. We got coffee too." Wilbur looked down at her, his arms still wrapped around her waist, holding her close. "You're positive you want to do this?"

"Yes, I need to."

"Alright, then. I'll support you with whatever decision you make." He finally stepped aside, moving to grab her suitcases. Y/n grabbed the box, she had moved it into the hallway before greeting Wilbur. With one more glance, she looked down her hallway before closing the door. As soon as her home was locked up, Y/n had dropped her keys into the box. This was going to be the final step before London. Giving it all back.

George and Y/n greeted each other, Y/n giving him a quick hug before entering the car. The rest of the time, the car ride was quiet. There was obviously going to be tension. On their way, Y/n kept thinking to herself about what she was going to say. What if she fucked it all up? What if they broke out into another fight?

"Here we are."

Y/n sucked in a breath, looking over at the familiar house. This was the final step.

"Y/n, do you need either of us to walk up with you?" Wilbur spoke, he noticed the way she looked at the house.

She shook her head. "No, I got this..." Stepping out of the car, there were only a few words she'd repeat to herself. 'This is the final step. This is the final step. This is the final step.' It felt like it took forever for her to reach his porch.

As soon as she was face to face with the wooden door, she was quick to hit the doorbell. She just wanted to get this over with, fast. A few moments passed, and just as she reached to hit the doorbell again, she stepped back. The door was opening.

"Y/n?" Clay yawned, his hair was a mess. It was obvious she had just woken him up. "What are you-"

"It's time for me to go now. I'm sorry for waking you up. Here are my keys and a few of your items in case you wanted them while I was-"

"Woah, woah, woah." He interrupted her, rubbing his eyes. "Slow down, you're talking fast. You're leaving? Right now?"

"I..." she sighed. "Yeah, I am."

"And this..." he looked down at the box in her hands. "They're all mine?"

"Yeah, that's kinda the whole point." She gave him a look, "Considering the box says your name."

"Alright... thank you," he nodded, carefully picking the box up from her. "How long are you gonna be gone?"

"I'm not sure. I just know I have to go."

"Why?"

"Because of us, Clay. It'd be better for both of us. We need time apart. We have so much going on in each other's lives. I just need a break."

He watched her, she looked close to tears. Without thinking, Clay pulled his friend into his embrace, holding her close. "I understand. Take as much time as you need. I'll be here."

"Thank you."

The hug was short, Y/n was the first to pull away. As soon as it was over, she muttered a quick goodbye, hurrying back to the car. When the car door shut, Wilbur was quick to jump to asking questions.

"Are you okay? Do you need anything? You're completely sure you want to do this?"

"I'm fine, Wilbur."

"Alright, I just wanted to check." Wilbur paused, looking out the window. "Y/n, would you mind if George and I said our goodbyes to Clay?"

"Go ahead, I'm not the boss of you."

Sitting in the car alone, Y/n got a moment to catch her breath and stop the tears from forming. She did it. She completed the final step. She could do whatever she wanted now. The moment alone in the car felt short, George and Wilbur were back in the car in what felt like seconds. Only, Wilbur sat in the back with Y/n, George driving by himself.

"You ready, Y/n?"

"More than anything." Y/n looked at Wilbur, the way he smiled at her just felt... good. Looking down, she noticed Wilbur gently grabbing her hand in his. She smiled, things were going to start getting good for her, she knew it.

"Wow okay, now I just feel like a driver for you two." George shot a dirty look in the mirror.

"A bad driver," Y/n grinned at her friend. "Start moving, Mr. colorblind." "If I get a ticket for running a red light, I'm blaming you."

With a yawn, Y/n opened her eyes. She had another good night of sleep, it had been weeks since she had a bad night of sleep. For eight months, she had lived in London. At this point, her house in Flordia was sold to a family of three, and she was no longer flatmates with Wilbur. Instead, she was his girlfriend.

Turning over, she faced the beautiful brunette. He was still asleep. She owed him everything. She was now an influencer because of him, he had helped her set up her YouTube channel and introduced her to the fans. He thought it'd be a good job for her, considering how she was a social butterfly and carry conversations.

Clay and Y/n didn't interact as much as they use to. They'd interact on the Dream SMP and over social media. But it was rare for them to speak in private. The only way their relationship got better was by them distancing themselves. What was a beautiful friendship had turned into an acquaintanceship. Clay was still dating Elise, but it seemed like things weren't going the best and there were signs of him planning to break up with her soon.

Wilbur peeked an eye open, looking at his girlfriend. "Morning, Y/n."

"Morning, Wilbur."

Y/n smiled, she knew she was right. Everything got better for her. After all, When the rain ends, there will always be a rainbow.

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kaesaaurelia · 4 years

Text

Day two:

- had trouble sleeping, slept in pretty late - ordered delicious breakfast of french toast, but through some technological fuckup the delivery guy called 3 times and grubhub texted once and I didn’t get the notifications until an hour later - called the restaurant for a refund. sorry, restaurant! I will order from them tomorrow with instructions to just leave it outside the front gate if they can’t get a hold of me. - now very hungry, I scrambled some eggs - the notifications finally appeared but it took me 15 minutes to get the voicemails because my phone would only let me make emergency calls for some reason. phone, please. - got my phone fixed just in time for my boss to email, text, and call me. - I think my boss is finally worried. sorry, boss. :c you got there eventually. it’s not fun. - dad texted me offering to take me over to my parents’ house to hang out - no. - dad called me and tried to talk me into coming over, again - no. - dad admitted reluctantly that it was their plan to visit my grandmother soon but reassured me that they weren’t going to sneeze on her - please leave her alone, everyone. just call her. - if they do this shit tomorrow I’m going to stop answering their fucking calls. - idek my mom has gone months without speaking to me for stuff I didn’t even do, so like, mom, can you please just let me live my life by cdc guidelines for now? - called my grandmother, who reassured me that she does not want visitors currently, because duh. I love her and miss her. in 14 days if I’m well and can find anyone else who I can trust to take me out there, maybe I can see her. - called my therapist and cried a lot about stuff. mostly my parents, partly also the thing where I need to get a better job. realized while talking to her that my boss does not currently pay me enough to make the prospect of sitting in the office and dicking around on the computer doing nothing appealing so probably he doesn’t pay me enough to actually do things. - reassured myself that I would not run out of tea. I have a whole cabinet dedicated to hot drinks. my tea supply is not only fine, it is absurd. - btw if anyone in chicago needs tea or toilet paper hmu. willing to trade for fresh veggies or instant noodles. or I’ll just give you some, I’m not a monster. - tried to get a library card. they will only let me get one in person??? - the nearest library branch is also near a cluster of small ethnic grocery stores. - idk anything about vietnamese cooking but maybe I’ll learn? will do some shopping and get some exercise and get a library card. hopefully will get some fresh veggies and protein of some sort. - watched the mayor’s live address. I don’t trust her, because she’s the mayor of chicago (and for some other more specific reasons, but that one is pretty compelling imo), but I have to admit it made me feel a little better? would probably vote for her again in the general. - no shelter-in-place order yet - sky gave me a good idea for an in-jokey animal crossing town name but alas it’s probs too long to fit - untitled goose island - I remembered to preload animal crossing! thx sky! - cooked dinner! blue apron was actually generous with the portions for once so I will have delicious pork and noodles tomorrow night too. - feeling okay. it’s gonna be okay eventually. - but really, my parents need to chill. please chill.

#kaesa op #look I just need to be slightly accountable if only to myself #this was helpful yesterday even though it was glum #today was better

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ashrain5 · 5 years

Text

Prompt: Virgil lost his cat. Patton is concerned and Logan does the only logical thing. Human au

based off of this post

Pairing: lamp

Word count: about 1,400

Read on Ao3

“But- Lolo, what if they never find their kitty? What if something happened to it?” Patton kept insisting. It had been at least half an hour since they had passed the poster and Patton with his big soft heart had immediately jumped onto it.

“They will probably be alright, Patton. Felines have a habit of wandering and returning to their home once they grow hungry or bored. Whoever distributed the posters might already have their cat back by now, the poster was from approximately four days ago.” Logan tried to reassure his boyfriend so he would finally - hopefully - focus on gathering all the groceries they needed.

“But- but Logan. What if the kitty got lost and now that there’s so much snow it doesn’t recognise the way home? What will happen to the poor baby?”

Logan sighed. It seemed, to him, that he would have to manage the groceries on his own. Roman could deal with Patton and his illogical love for cats once they got home.

Regardless of how annoyed he seemed, Logan still took a picture of the poster as Patton and him passed it on the way from the store to their car. If Patton really was that worried about the cat and its owner he would have to do the one and only logical thing. He would contact the owner of the runaway cat.

I lost my damn cat.

His name is Brendon but he only answers to Goblin because he’s an asshole but he’s my asshole and i love him and want him back.

50$ reward.

Text 202-555-0196

Once home Logan was abandoned to put away their purchases on his own while Patton greeted their other boyfriend, Roman, and told him all about the little black cat that was depicted on the poster.

While alone Logan took the opportunity to take action.

[202-555-0110] Salutations, I am looking to inquire whether or not you have found your feline companion again.

Logan did not have to wait long for an answer. It arrived within a few minutes of him sending the first message.

[202-555-0196] yeah i found him. the Bastard was at the shelter after being caught stealing some neighbour’s shoes

[202-555-0110] That is fortunate. I shall tell Patton. He saw the poster you had posted by the local store and worried for both you and your feline.

[202-555-0196] aw man that’s actually kinda nice of patton whoever they are tell them thanks from me plz? name’s virgil btw

[202-555-0110] Very well, Virgil. Seeing as I know your name and you know my boyfriend’s name I assume it is only polite to introduce myself. My name is Logan.

[202-555-0196] yeah. nice 2 meet you logan and thanks again

Logan deemed the conversation fairly over by that point and rejoined his boyfriends where they were cuddling on the living room couch with Patton in Roman’s lap.

“The person who distributed the posters has found their cat. Their name is Virgil and they would like to extend their thanks to you, Patton, for worrying about them and their cat.” He told them stiffly, making himself comfortable on the opposite end of the couch, pushing roman’s feet aside to make room for himself.

“What? Did you talk to them?” Roman asked at the same time that Patton let out a medium pitched squeal.

“Aww, it’s no problem! I’m just glad they have their kitty back! Can we talk to them too? I wanna make sure they’re okay.”

“Patton, there is no need to contact Virgil again, they have told me that they and their cat are alright.” Logan insisted but faltered.

Now, Logan has always been a serious, logical man. He did not do emotions. But in the face of Patton’s big sad eyes, even the most emotionless of men would crumble. And so did Logan.

“Fine! Alright! I will ask them if they are alright with talking to you.” He grumbled after resisting the puppy dog eyes for a whopping five seconds.

[202-555-0110] Apologies but Patton is insistent on double checking that you and your cat are alright. Will you be alright with talking to him?

[202-555-0196] yeah i guess? i mean- we’re fine so you can tell him that but it’s fine if he wants to know from me personally? so go ahead i guess?

Logan sighed and sent both of them the stranger’s number.

[202-555-0101] hi! This is patton, lo probably mentioned me, i just wanted to make sure you and your kitty are alright! I got really worried because of how cold it was

[202-555-0196] yeah we’re both fine. he was brought to the shelter by a neighbour before the snow set in

[202-555-0101] oh that’s great to hear! I just love cats a lot

What followed was not what Patton had expected. Admittedly, it startled him and Roman, who had been reading over his shoulder, a little bit.

What followed was a picture of a pale man with vibrant purple hair, holding a midnight black cat in his arm. The caption read

[202-555-0196] that’s us the day i got him back from the shelter he was brought to he was a bit peeved but not hurt in any way

Oh gosh they’re cute Patton thought and from the strangled noise Roman made he probably thought the same.

Logan made an inquisitive noise and leaned in to see what had his boyfriends so surprised. The stranger was admittedly… aesthetically pleasing, to say the least.

[202-555-0101] oh my gosh! That’s so cute! And aaah!!!! Look at the kitty cats lil toe beans!!!! He’s so adorable!

[202-555-0196] heh thanks this is one of the only good pics i have of him he never holds still long enough

“Can we keep them?” Patton burst out after a minute of staring at the picture again.

“Patton, they are a practical stranger and not a pet we could just keep. And we don’t even know if they would want to pursue a relationship, let alone with three men.”

“My darling, I think Logan might be right. No matter how handsome, we do not know anything about them.” Roman agreed, an unusual happenstance.

Patton pouted but nodded.

[202-555-0101] hey you seem like a really nice person, would you wanna meet with my boyfriends and me for coffee or something to become friends?

“Just cuz we can’t ask them to join us doesn’t mean i can’t make them our friend.”

[202-555-0196] uhm dunno I’m actually a really anxious guy don’t know how well meeting complete strangers would go over. we could keep talking over text for now maybe

[202-555-0101] of course! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything, I’m told I’m just a little over excited sometimes. And i would love to keep talking to you!

“Are you sure this is necessary, Virgil?”

“Yes Logan it is necessary. Brendon has escaped his coop once and was gone for days. I’m not risking it again. And besides, I don’t want him to go barging into nature and destroy the balance of the ecosystem.” Virgil insisted.

Once so shy to even talk to them he now seemed to have none of those fears. To be fair, it had been well over a year since they had ‘met’ but still.

They had kept talking over the phone for weeks before Virgil felt secure enough to meet them at a local coffee shop. Their friendship had evolved well and quickly and a few months later Patton, supported by Logan and Roman, had asked Virgil to join their relationship.

The man had been nervous but declared himself willing to try.

And all that was in the past now.

Virgil had just finished bringing all his boxes into their now shared home and Logan had begun assembling the 'cat coop’ as it was referred to. It was a simple safety measure to keep Virgil’s cat from running away or killing the local wildlife while still allowing for time outside of the house. Even Logan had to agree that it was a brilliant idea.

They eventually gave up on the coop for the time being, seeing as it was growing dark quickly.

The evening found the four of them cuddled up on the couch, tired out and content in each other’s embrace and there they stayed for the rest of the night, warm and loved and loving.

Taglist: @emthetimelady @ilovereadingandilovebreathing @stormcrawler75 @treehouseart

#lamp/calm #strangers to friends to lovers #lost cat #cats #virgil sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #my writing

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missingverse · 6 years

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Missing Chapter Fourteen

Once again, I'd like to thank anyone who reviewed, especially those who did so in detail. I'm always dying to know what the regular readers think, good or bad. We're reaching the 'answers' arc of the story finally. I will still be quite busy over the Christmas period but I hope to find time to update as often as I can.

BTW, this chapter has something of an 'image song' or at least a song I listened to quite a lot when writing it. You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOTgwOK7rqc

…..

The day she went missing:

There was a brief moment, a sort of drunken haze, in which she was sure that the pictures she was looking at weren't real. It was too awful, too sickening to believe it was real. It had to be some sort of hallucination. Things like this only happened in fiction or in distant news stories to kids who were far enough removed from her own existence that they might as well have been fictional too.

It was cliché to say she never thought it would happen to her, but it was true.

Her homework wasn't finished (she'd not been able to stay awake long enough to get through the entire assignment) and her ancient computer had blinked out for whatever reason, and rather than wait for it to cool off she'd taken what she could salvage on a memory stick and gone into her father's home office to print it. While there, she had clicked a numbered folder on the desktop out of idle curiosity (Bob usually named his files) and-

The reality of it took a while to sink in, and when it did a lot of things she had wondered about suddenly made sense.

The foamy drool.

The stomach pains.

Bob insisting on cooking for them every evening.

Falling asleep over her homework.

Not being able to remember going to bed.

Waking up with her clothes on backwards.

Those bruises.

She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to be sick. More than anything, she wanted to be as far away from Bob Pataki as humanly possible.

But there was that small shred of her more pragmatic self, that told her the evidence needed to be preserved because once Bob knew that she knew, he'd cover his tracks and put the blame back on her. Numb and with shaking hands, she copied the entire folder to the memory stick.

Then she fled the house, forgetting her socks and jacket in her haste.

…..

School was background noise.

Her thoughts swirled in an endless unhappy vortex.

How many strangers had seen those photographs? How many had contacted Bob with requests?

She just shook her head when Mrs Goldfarb called on her in class, and since she was usually such a good student Mrs Goldfarb let it go, with no more than a comment after the bell rang that she should see the school nurse.

She could give the memory stick to the police. They would arrest Bob. He'd do jail time, for certain.

Phoebe asked if she was feeling okay, but when she murmured something about just being tired, Phoebe happily changed the subject to talk about plans she had made with Gerald.

But what then? Bob was the only one keeping the household together. Miriam was getting worse all the time, she leaned on Bob like a crutch. With Bob gone she'd probably drink herself to death.

She picked at her lunch, tore holes in the bread and stabbed her straw through the milk until it was dripping from all angles.

There was Olga...but she'd be all smiles and tears and ice-cream and big sisterly concern until it hit her that she had to be responsible for someone else's life and resentment would set in hard. Olga would snap like a twig under the pressure. And that's if she even believed what she was told.

She skipped fourth period and sat in the bathroom, vomited twice. Retched until she thought every trace of the poison Bob had put in her was gone.

Someone might step in to adopt her in the aftermath. Patrick's mom, or Phoebe's. And then a previously only child would have to put up with their parent's attention cut in half. They would end up hating her, and she couldn't bear that.

She spent most of fifth period dragging her pen across her worksheet until it was nearly entirely black.

She'd be taken into foster care. She was too old, too bitter and not cute enough to be adopted and would end up in that no-man's-land between state care and adulthood. And foster carers were a mixed bag. She could end up with someone just as bad as Bob, if not worse.

At the beginning of sixth period, Arnold walked up to her desk and asked if she was okay. And despite herself, despite resigning herself long ago to the fact that it was never going to happen, she felt that familiar flutter in her chest.

“I'm fine,” she replied quickly, not even looking at him but facing another scribbled-in worksheet. “Why?”

“You look really pale,” he told her, blunt but kind. “I can take you to the nurse if you want-?”

There was that selfless compassion that had made her fall for him in the first place. She had managed not to cry all day, but hot tears pinched at the corners of her eyes now. By so little she was undone.

“The day's nearly over,” she said, slumping forward a bit and holding her head in her hand. It was a handy way of disguising her expression. “I'll be okay, I just have to get through this class.”

“Well....” he said, uncertain. “If you're sure...”

“I'm sure,” she said. “Thanks, Arnold.”

“Any time.”

And then he was gone.

…..

One thing was for certain; she wasn't going home.

Patrick was on vacation with his family, although he would have been happy to help.

She called Phoebe, but as soon as Phoebe answered the phone she couldn't find the words.

“I need to stay over tonight,” she blurted out. “Please.”

“Helga, I already told you Gerald's coming over tonight. My mom and dad are meeting him for the first time. You can stay tomorrow night if....”

“No, it has to be tonight,” Helga interrupted. “Look, something's happened....I called the police but Officer Plaskett's not there, I'm going to see him tomorrow....I have everything on a stick, I need to give it to him as soon as I can...”

Phoebe sighed, put down the phone for a moment to answer a question from her mother, and in doing so betrayed the fact that she was only half-listening.

“I really have to go,” Phoebe said. “I'll call you later, okay?”

“Okay,” she replied, and hung up, despondent.

…..

She sat on a park bench for a long time.

The cave had running water nearby but she needed paraffin for the stove and a generator to keep her phone charged. It had only ever been a short-term solution.

Even if she could afford to rent a motel room, who would rent to an unaccompanied minor?

Pocaselas was nearby, and she could take a bus. From there she could get to pretty much anywhere, and it was full of refuges. That's why so many runaways ended up there. Then again, they'd want to take her name at the refuge and she'd probably be sent straight back to Bob.

In the end, the weather forced her hand. The sun was setting fast and the street lights were coming on, and it was starting to rain. Whatever she needed to do, she could do it in the morning. She stopped at the convenience store to get a bag of chips and a soda (a pretty poor dinner but she wasn't hungry anyway. She felt like she would never be hungry again)and made her way to the mountain range on the outskirts of Hillwood.

That was the last time Helga Geraldine Pataki was seen alive.

…..

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

As skeptical as Helga sounded, Arnold noted with amusement that she was somewhat dressed up. Blue-and-white floral sundress, blue sweater, ballet pumps.

“I'm very sure,” he told her. “I need a distraction, so do you.”

Gertie was still in the hospital pending her mental faculty test results and Phil was still with her, so while they were gone school was an afterthought. The boarding house was having its needs met by Arnold just about, and since he was already skipping school he needed to keep his promise to Helga to take her out.

Especially now that he owed her so much, he couldn't imagine what might have happened to his grandmother if Helga hadn't noticed her leaving and followed her...

“I won't argue,” she shrugged. “But don't you need a break? You've been working all morning...”

“Nope,” he answered, dragging out his bike. “Now get in the basket and let's go.”

He bought one ticket, one popcorn and one soda once they were at the cinema (she hadn't shown any inclination towards eating or drinking in all this time) but once they were seated and the movie started, it felt in all respects like Arnold was a normal kid on a date with a normal girl (even with her laughing when one of the panicky peripheral characters got his head graphically chopped off). She leaned over to whisper about the bleeding neck stump looking fake and he smiled and nodded.

This...was doable.

He could take her to movies and buy her clothes. They could watch TV together in the evenings and shop for groceries. Maybe they could even plan vacations together. It was certain that he'd be staying to run the boarding house once he graduated, and she didn't seem able to move too far beyond it without fading out.

Arnold had tossed all ideas of dating out the window when his social life tanked. He didn't have time to pay the kind of attention girls his age wanted from their boyfriends, and what college-aged girl would come home every weekend just to spend time with him? But Helga was rooted there, and they enjoyed each other's company. He wanted to make her happy, and he had a feeling she felt the same way about him (why else would she do all his homework?)

She had been on his mind since she disappeared. It was only natural that he would develop feelings for her.

Just as he was letting those thoughts simmer, he felt her flinch beside him at the sound of a gunshot. He looked over at her with concern, and found she had gone rigid as a plank of wood, staring at the screen but not really seeing it.

“Helga?” he whispered, giving her a little shake.

She flinched again, blinked slowly and shook her head, rubbing at her forehead just under the star-shaped wound.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she stammered, lowering her hand. “Just had a....weird moment.”

He'd assumed the star-shaped wound was caused by her being hit in the head with something heavy, but her reaction to the sound of the gun was opening up a new possibility.

Surely if it's a gunshot wound, it would be bigger?

None of the Black Gulch Ripper's victims were shot.

…..

They went to the pier after the movie, to watch the sun set lazily as they had when they were kids. Although the gun question was still playing on Arnold's mind, it was peaceful at the pier. Seagulls squabbled over tide leavings and you could just about make out the silhouettes of dolphins in the distance.

“Do you think I'll go to heaven?”

The question surprised him so much he nearly fell into the water.

“W-what?” he blurted out.

“I said, do you think I'll go to heaven? When all this is over,” she pressed, trailing her bare feet in the water below.

“I guess,” he shrugged, still a bit perturbed. “Why wouldn't you?”

“I dunno,” she said. “I was a pretty rotten kid.”

“No, you weren't...”

“Yes, I was,” she insisted, folding her arms. “I was a bully, and I was spiteful and I could never keep my mouth shut.”

“But none of that was your fault,” Arnold told her. “I mean...you did the best you could with what you had to work with...and kids can be really crappy sometimes but they grow out of it...”

“You were never crappy,” she told him.

“I had my moments, like anyone else. Anyway, you did a lot of good...you looked after that third grader the other kids were picking on....who else would have done that?”

She hummed quietly, looking down into the water.

“What kind of God would hold stuff you did when you were a kid against you?” Arnold pondered, looking up at the sky. “Maybe if you're here because of that God, you wouldn't want any part of his heaven.”

“That's pretty deep,” she laughed, and he was glad to hear her laughter.

“I don't think you need to worry about heaven,” he said. “You don't have to go anywhere. You can stay here.”

It happened without him realizing how close he had gotten to her; he had been inching his way towards her since she said the word 'heaven.' And suddenly he was holding her gently puzzled face in his hands, and it was so warm and alive he could feel the blood pulsing through her veins and the breath from her mouth fanning across his own.

He kissed her.

In that moment, it was glorious. Her mouth opened under his, to protest or to kiss him back he didn't know, but his senses were full of her. Her scent, her taste, the life in her body...it felt like as long as he kept kissing her he could bring her fully back into reality and the last five years would just be an unpleasant memory.

But it could only last a moment.

She pulled back and pushed him away, breathing hard and flushed and never so beautiful as in the aftermath of being kissed.

“That shouldn't have happened,” she told him sternly.

“Why not?” he pressed urgently, because he wanted her face back in his hands. He wanted to feel the blood pumping under her skin again.

“I'm dead, Arnold,” she said, and to his horror tears began slipping from her eyes. “This could only end badly for you...”

“No, it doesn't have to,” he insisted, reaching for her again. “We don't have to keep looking for who took you. You can stay as you are, I'll look after you....And eventually Phoebe might be able to see you too, it won't always be just me. You can stay at the boarding house with me, it'll be okay.”

“No,” she said firmly, wiping savagely at her eyes. “There's no future for you if I let that happen. People will think you've gone crazy.”

“I don't care.”

“I care,” she insisted. “You know, when I was alive all I ever wanted....”

He didn't hear the end of that because Helga broke off with heaving sobs, and when Arnold tried to put his arms around her she pushed him away.

“This is going to end,” she said through clenched teeth. “We're going to find out who killed me and then I'm going to fade away, heaven or hell. And you can get on with the rest of your life.”

It sounded so bitterly final. Arnold wiped away the tears that were in his own eyes, and wasn't particularly surprised that when his vision cleared she had already faded away.

#hey arnold #hey arnold fanfiction #TW:Crime

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kalosstarters · 7 years

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Marissonshipping week, day 1: The (very accidental) first date

So, I was talking with @fairy-amy one day and said that I feel a bit weird about this prompt because I just can’t see Alain and Mairin on a “normal” date, except on some very special occasions (like anniversaries and some holidays?). That led to Amy suggesting that write an “accidental” date then. And so I did. This fic isn’t quite following the main headcanon I have of them, so Mairin and Alain aren’t officially together in this fic (Mairin is 17, Alain 22, as usual). This fic shouldn’t be taken too seriously, btw, I know some things are a bit “over the top”.

“Alaaaain! I’m hungry. Do we have anything to eat here?” complained the 17-year-old gym leader who had just arrived for a visit in Lumiose City. She spent most work days at her gym in Coumarine City, but there weren’t many weekends when she didn’t visit professor Sycamore’s lab, “to learn everything she can about grass types”, she claimed, but Professor Sycamore knew better. She was there to see Alain, and while the Professor couldn’t quite tell the status of their relationship (he swore there was something going on, even if the two were too stubborn to admit it), he knew that Mairin’s company was definitely good for Alain, who tended to work too hard and forget that there was life outside the lab too. In exchange, Alain was able to calm Mairin down a bit, and give her useful information on things Mairin still didn’t know about Pokémon.

“Go check the fridge, the Professor won’t mind if you take something from there...” Alain answered to Mairin’s question absentmindedly. He was currently reading an article about Mega evolution’s effect on Pokémon’s brain and thought that if he managed to make Mairin leave his room for a moment, he might have a few minutes of peace so he could finish reading.

“Fine. I’ll be back soon!” the girl exclaimed, and Alain sighed, wishing that she wouldn’t return _too_ soon. Unfortunately for him, it took less than a minute that the peace was broken, a yell coming from downstairs:

“Alain! There’s nothing in here! Am I supposed to eat Pokémon food?”

Defeated, Alain folded the paper he was scanning and went to see if Mairin was right. It turned out she was, with only a piece of cucumber, cheese, and almost empty milk bottle left in the fridge.

“Oh. I remember now that the Professor asked us to do the shopping for him because he would be out doing field work today… I was so distracted in that moment that it slipped out of my mind. I suppose we have no other choice than to go out, then.”

Mairin looked upset, knowing that a shopping trip meant she wouldn’t get food in a good while, but her face brightened again when she got an idea:

“Can we eat in a restaurant today? And do the shopping after that? I’m not sure if I’m gonna survive otherwise,” she pulled a suffering face, and Alain couldn’t help but smile a little on the inside at her gestures. That girl would never grow up, but he secretly admired her way to be able to keep her childish excitement through all these years.

“I suppose that can’t hurt… So where do you want to eat? There’s this…”

“The Ramen Heaven!” Mairin stopped him. “May told me all about it when I was in Hoenn, but I have never gotten a change to eat there. And I hear it’s not super expensive either.”

“Fine. Let’s go there then.”

The two went to change into more appropriate clothes and headed out. However, it turned out Mairin hadn’t remembered to check the location of the restaurant properly, which meant at least half an hour of aimless wandering on the streets of Lumiose City, and both she and Alain were rather annoyed when they finally stood in front of the sign that said “Ramen Heaven”.

“Ehhh, we’re finally here and that’s what matters, right?” Mairin tried to lighten the mood, and Alain just shook his head.

“If you had done your research properly, we would have been here,” Alain stopped to check his clock, “40 minutes ago.”

“I’m sorry, I was just so hungry I couldn’t think!” the girl tried to defend herself.

“Well, whatever, let’s just go in.”

Unfortunately, the problems didn’t quite end with that. The restaurant was so full that the next table wouldn’t get free until in 45 minutes, and Mairin was nearly crying from frustration when she heard that.

“Calm down, we have enough time to pick the groceries now and then come back, if you still want to,” Alain tried being practical, and Mairin finally agreed, realizing moping here wouldn’t help them to get the table any faster. Before she could say anything else, the waitress who had been helping them asked Alain: “So are you and your girlfriend going to come back? We can make the reservation if you want to.”

“She is not really my… Well, yeah, make the reservation,�� Alain answered after seeing Mairin’s raised eyebrow.

“Will do. I’ll see you in 45 minutes then, lovebirds.”

Both Mairin and Alain became flustered by her words, though they tried to hide it from each other. Mairin tried to cover it by asking quickly, “So, the groceries?”

“Ah, right. Let’s go, it shouldn’t take too long since the Professor always orders them beforehand…”

They left the restaurant and silence fell between them. However, neither really minded it since both seemed to be lost in their thoughts. Mairin thought she’d probably never get to go to an actual date with Alain because she didn’t want to ruin their friendship by confessing her feelings, and Alain tried to resist the voice in his head saying ‘you like her’. She was naïve, clumsy, a bit reckless sometimes… But he realized his life would be so much duller if she didn’t visit him as often as possible. Even though he liked reading in silence, something in him said her interrupting him was a good thing.

They finally snapped out of their thoughts when they noticed the familiar grocery store, from where Professor Sycamore always picked his food, in front of them. A female employee, who recognized Alain’s face immediately (Alain had occasionally joined Sycamore when he went to buy his groceries), approached them when they stepped in and said: “Professor Sycamore’s son? I have his things waiting, just show your papers and sign this thing…”

“What is it with people assuming things today…” Alain whispered to Mairin, not bothering to correct that he was in fact not related to Sycamore in any way despite the looks, and Sycamore hadn’t even officially adopted him, even though he had been living in his lab ever since the incident with team Flare happened, excluding a few journeys with Mairin.

“Oh deerling, I don’t know… People can be… weird sometimes,” Mairin simply stated, a bit upset about the fact that Alain seemed to be so bothered by the implications.

“But… your last name isn’t Sycamore? This card says “Moreau”, the employee stopped their muttering.

“You got that right. I’m not Professor Sycamore’s son, I’m just his ex-assistant who helps around sometimes…”

“How can I trust you to bring these to him then?” the employee became suspicious.

“The same way you could trust a son to do it for their father, or the other way around. Just because he isn’t my father or my legal guardian, doesn’t mean we don’t share a bond,” Alain answered angrily, and the employee might have been imagining it, but she felt she saw the keystone that was resting on Alain’s chest give her an angry flash too.

“Can this girl confirm you’re speaking the truth? Who is she anyway, your girlfriend?” the young woman started losing her temper too.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Alain hissed, but Mairin stopped him:

“Alain, don’t. Of course he’s speaking the truth. And as for me being his girlfriend… Well, I do know one thing, and it’s that he wouldn’t go out with you no matter how hard you tried.”

“Just take these and go”, the woman nearly threw the bag on the desk, and Alain quickly snatched it and signed Mairin to leave before anything else could happen.

“I guess we won’t be going there in a while…” Mairin laughed once they were far enough from the shop.

“You shouldn’t have… that was totally unnecessary…” Alain tried scolding, but Mairin could sense amusement in his voice.

“Hey, you started it!” she said, but her lips twitched a bit. She checked her clock and noticed it was already so late they would have to hurry in order to make it to the restaurant on time.

“Come on, let’s race! The last one at the lab is a rotten exeggcute!”

“Mairin, I’m gonna drop these…” he warned, but she had already taken a hold of his arm and dragged him forward.

No one fell or dropped anything during the race, though (which was quite an achievement), but when they arrived to the lab’s kitchen they were panting quite hard, and their faces were red from running.

“I won!” Mairin exclaimed, raising her hands in the victory.

“Yeah? That’s only because I had to be careful with this food…”

“That’s what they always say,” Mairin grinned, and suddenly they noticed they were awfully close to each other. Alain could even see the tiny freckles on Mairin’s nose very clearly…

“Ok, let’s just… put these there and go. We need to be at the restaurant in less than 15 minutes…” Alain snapped out of his daze and started loading the fridge with the groceries.

“Right.”

This time they found the restaurant much faster, and managed to make it there exactly on time.

“Oh, there’s my favorite couple! Oh my, you might want to clean up a bit before ordering, the bathrooms are that way,” the same waitress who had helped them earlier pointed out. Mairin looked down at her clothes and realized she was not wrong; she hadn’t been paying attention while running and her shoes were covered with mud. A little bit was on the hem of her skirt too. Alain didn’t look much better, and his hair was even messier than usual.

“Oh. Thank you.”

Mairin had luckily taken another pair of shoes with her before she left the lab, because she knew it wouldn’t be smart for her to walk all the way from the lab to there with the heels she wanted to use in a nice restaurant like this one. Once she had finished her cleaning up, she applied a little bit of glossy lip balm on her lips because in her opinion, it looked nice (definitely not for Alain, she thought), and returned to their table.

Once the “lovebirds”, as the waitress kept calling Alain and Mairin, got their ramen, Mairin said with a little bit food in her mouth: “It’s been quite an eventful evening, huh? Who knew getting some food might be this hard.”

“Well, with you it always happens…”

“Hey, watch out or you might find some ramen on your pants!”

“Don’t you dare…” Alain warned Mairin, but she could tell from his tone he wasn’t being serious.

“Really, though, I’ve had fun,” Mairin said more seriously after a short break, and she thought she saw a glimpse of smile on Alain’s face.

“It might sound weird, but… So have I. I didn’t mean it’s bad that things always happen when you are around. It’s good… for a change.”

Mairin looked Alain into his blue eyes and could tell that he meant it. She thought this might be the moment she had been waiting for, but when she tried to sneak her hand closer to his, the waitress showed up and asked: “have you enjoyed your meals, my dears?”

“Uhh… yeah,” Mairin stuttered and tried to force a smile on her face. The moment had come and gone.

They didn’t stay at the restaurant much longer; the atmosphere having become a bit tense after the waitress had left. Mairin supposed Alain had noticed she had tried to take his hand, and that had made him feel weird. ‘Great’, she thought, ‘now I ruined it all’.

On their way back to the lab, she spotted a huge ad of Kalos Champion Diantha’s new movie that was currently running on cinemas, and since she had seen all the previous parts of the saga, she wanted to see this one too. It was apparently an action movie with some strong Pokémon on it, Alain read from the billboard, so he didn’t resist when Mairin asked if they could go to see it now, since there wasn’t much else to do.

However, it turned out Alain was the one who ended up being more interested in the movie than Mairin. With about half an hour left of it, Alain felt Mairin’s head pressed on his shoulder, and at first he thought he’d ask what she was doing, but then he realized she was sleeping. He didn’t wake her up until the lights turned on, and they had to leave the room.

“So, that was a really interesting movie, huh?”

“Why that tone? I fell asleep because I couldn’t sleep much last night… nightmares… And then all the running and the full stomach… I couldn’t help it. And hey, those ‘strong’ Pokémon weren’t even legendaries. I thought we’d see Kyogre and Groudon again…”

“Mairin, you do realize it’s a bit hard to cast a Kyogre and a Groudon in a movie?” “Yeah, but they could always use a Zorua,” Mairin showed her tongue at Alain, and he shook his head.

“Hey…” she changed her tone. “Can we fly home on Charizard? I’m still kinda tired…”

“Sure,” he said and freed Charizard from her Pokéball now that they were out in the fresh air.

The flight wasn’t long, but the warm spring air made Mairin drowsy again and she fell asleep (Alain making sure she wouldn’t fall) before they reached the lab. Alain decided to let the girl sleep and carried her upstairs in the room she used while visiting. When Alain tried to leave the room, a sleepy head rose from the pillow behind him, and Mairin whispered: “A-alain? Can you please stay? I might have nightmares again… You make them go away.”

“O… K…” he answered after a moment of hesitation. “I’ll go change my clothes, I’ll be back soon.”

He did keep his promise, and when the two woke up in the morning, Mairin’s head resting on Alain’s chest, they realized neither had had nightmares that night.

When the ‘lovebirds’ went downstairs later that morning, they noticed Professor Sycamore had returned home. He smiled widely once he saw them, and asked immediately: “Sophie told me you guys were out last night. I was glad to hear that; Alain should leave this building more often. So, how was the date?”

Alain and Mairin looked at each other, not trying to correct the professor. They answered in unison: “eventful”.

#marissonshippingweek #marissonshipping #mairin #alain #my fics #i'm sorry this took so long #lol 2519 words ('summary' included)

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12setsofchopsticks · 7 years

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What's For Dinner Tonight?

What do I eat here? A lot of different things! One question I get asked by literally all of my classes is “what is your favorite Japanese food?”

Okay, maybe it’s more like “Japanese food…you like??”

But yes, I tend to say the easy “oh, yes I like Japanese food very much! My favorite foods to eat are sushi and ramen!” which is 100% true, but I’ve found there is so much more to Japanese cuisine than just ramen and sushi! I think I can definitely say that my international food palette has expanded. I have tried so many new and interesting foods, some have been good, others…not so much (please see the liver incident).

Everyone knows about sushi and ramen, but let me tell you about some of the “lesser known” foods I enjoy that are common here:

JAPANESE CURRY

Oh yes. This is one food in particular that I have really come to love.

WHO KNEW that curry, a food we usually think of as being unique to Indian cuisine in America, would be such a culinary staple in Japan? First things first, Japanese curry is distinctly different from it’s Indian cousin. Indian curry tastes like, well, curry. Japanese curry tastes like heaven. I really can’t describe the taste of Japanese curry; it’s just like spicy gravy goodness over rice and some sort of friend meat. I also have no idea what it *really* is, but goddamn do I love it.

ALSO I feel like I must add that my bias is partly due to the fact that I live literally right above a CoCo Curry house so the restraint I need to not eat there every night is EXTREME. At first it was kind of a running joke that I would go to CoCo Curry everyday but now it’s become frighteningly close to reality. OOPS.

OMURICE

Omurice gets its name from the words “omelet” and “rice” and that basically sums it right up; it’s a thin, cooked egg filled with ketchup-fried rice and topped with MORE ketchup. Like I just mentioned, the rice is usually ketchup-flavored (which tastes much better than it sounds) and stir fried with chicken and vegetables, but I have seen variations like beef stroganoff, seafood, and (OMG!!!) curry! I am not sure why Japanese people love ketchup so much.

HISTORICAL NOTE: I find the very idea of omurice to be kind of hilarious, because it was basically what Japanese people thought western food was like. To be fair, it is one of the closest Japanese foods I’ve found to resemble brunch so they weren’t too far off in their assumptions.

YAKISOBA

Yakisoba is what I get when I think I’ve ordered lo mein. It’s basically the same as the westernized Chinese staple, but the flavors are slightly different. This is another festival-favorite and usually a failsafe for me to get at the conbini when I don’t trust any of the other options. It’s usually packed with veggies and a generous helping of pickled ginger (the pink stuff) which I promptly pick out every time.

Fun fact! They also sell yakisoba rolls – meaning sub rolls filled with yakisoba – at the conbini for when you get that ~*special hankering*~ for carbs.

OKONOMIYAKI

The only thing more fun than saying okonomiyaki is eating it. When I first came to Japan and was like “what is this food called okonomonaki” first, they laughed at me cause I said it wrong, then they said it was “japanese pancake” and I guess technically they aren’t wrong, but you won’t find me (or anyone for that matter) eating an okonomiyaki doused in syrup in the morning for breakfast.

Okonomiyaki can contain a number of different ingredients within the batter, but often you will encounter the usual suspects like cabbage, egg, and some sort of protein like bacon, octopus, shrimp, etc. It’s cooked like a pancake and then served with special sauce and mayo on top. There are plenty of dedicated okonomiyaki shops around, but they are also a common food found at street vendors during festivals.

Side note: I have a pair of socks that have okonomiyaki on them and every time I wear them to school, my students go bananas.

TAKOYAKI

Closely related to okonomiyaki is takoyaki. Takoyaki means fried octopus ball so, of course, there usually is octopus somewhere in there. However, I’ve seen vegetarian takoyaki or takoyaki with lil hotdog bits in them. They are made by putting batter in a special takoyaki pan that has round recesses for the balls to form. Every time I see someone making these lil balls delight I’m like “okay there is no way that is going to become round” but somehow every time they come out looking like perfect globes and I don’t understand how they do it.

Every time I get these, I eat them in one bite and every time it is a huge mistake because the inside is always hotter than the molten core of the Earth and I apparently don’t know how to learn from my mistakes. SAD!

ON THE TOPIC OF FOOD:

One thing I really didn’t anticipate when I moved to Tokyo was that I would basically have to learn how to cook all over again.

There are two reasons for this:

The first is because my Japanese supermarkets do not offer the same foods that the American supermarkets I used to frequent did. This seems obvious! Of course a Japanese supermarket is not going to have things like Oreos or Ritz crackers…or one would think. Actually, it’s quite easy to find Oreos and Ritz crackers, but I have an incredibly difficult time finding things like Italian sausage, many types of cheese, and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (still looking for that one, btw). So basically, while products tend to be easy to find, some of the ingredients that used to be staples in my cooking seemingly don’t exist in this country (it’s hell-ery trying to find celery. Why?). Not to mention that when I do go grocery shopping, all of the labels are in Japanese. Ask me about the time I accidentally got decaf coffee or sun-dried tomatoes instead of roasted red peppers. I’ve since learned hiragana and katakana, but it’s still slow-going in the supermarket and to this day I still have no idea what kind of meat I’ve been buying.

The second reason is because of the restrictions of my kitchen itself. My apartment is small. Really small. “Do I even have a kitchen?” is probably a better question than “how big is your kitchen?” Yes, the sad reality is that I have only one induction-heat burner and NO oven. I do, however, have a rice cooker and a toaster oven. How has this impacted my cooking? Well, obviously I can’t use any recipe that requires baking. I also can’t cook things separately (for example, broccoli sautéing in one pan, pasta boiling in another) without it taking forever and getting cold. I’ve had to get rethink my recipes and have now become a huge fan of one-pot meals, not that I wasn’t before, but now I am an even BIGGER fan that I was. This means doing a lot of things like skipping the step where you boil the pasta and throwing it right in the pot with the sauce (which actually makes it more delicious anyways). Space is, of course, a huge issue as well, so I’ve gotten quite crafty, especially with hooks and shower rings, to effectively utilize all my vertical space for storage.

Also - holy hell, how had I gotten this far in life without a rice cooker? That little machine is like god’s gift to humanity. Literally just push one button and there it is, perfect rice. I’ve recently tried experimenting with making different flavors of rice in it with mixed results. I’m sure I’ll get coconut curry rice down after a few more tries B-)

Full disclosure: I only wrote this blog post because I am SO hungry and still have a half hour until lunch time OMG I’m gonna starve.

Also, I have no idea what's for dinner tonight. Probably CoCo Curry, TBH. LOL.

RELEVANT VOCAB:

まいにちCoCoカレー (mai-ni-chi Co-co Ka-ray) - Everyday Coco Curry

#eat clean train dirty #hungry #are you sure this is chicken

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