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arctickat2400 · 3 years

Text

Love Reunited <> Sebastian Stan

Y/N walked through Central Park, taking in her new surroundings. She just moved to New York, or back to New York. She smiled at the fresh air, the cool November breeze blowing through her hair. Katie walked onto the sidewalk and strolled by the shops and restaurants lining the streets.

Just then, Y/N came across a quaint, 3-story bookstore cafe. She’s never noticed it before, or maybe she just doesn’t remember it. She wandered inside, the little bell on the door jingling, announcing her arrival. She glanced around as the warmth surrounded her. It wasn’t busy. Only one or two other people occupied the place. An older couple sat together, deep in conversation with coffee mugs and a shared piece of pastry in the middle of the small table.

Looking up, there was a balcony on the second floor with the bookstore. There was a set of spiral stairs leading downstairs where, further inside, Y/N spotted the cafe counter and a display case filled with what looked like fresh, delicious cakes and pastries.

She walked in, overlooking the menu and then the display. Just then, as Y/N figured out what she wanted, her eyes darted towards the spiral staircase as footsteps skipped down to the cafe.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Don’t worry, I heard you come in,” Y/N heard a familiar chuckle and voice but thought nothing of it. “What can I…” the voice was cut off as Y/N met the eyes that belonged to the voice.

“Sebastian?” Y/N was completely shocked, her long-time best friend from years ago stood just a few feet away from her. She never thought she’d see him again.

“Y/N? Is that really you?” That smile you could never forget crept onto his face. She started for him.

“Oh my god, it’s so great to see you!” Sebastian exclaimed, meeting her halfway and embracing her in his arms. Y/N never thought she’d feel the homely warmth she only ever experienced with him.

“It’s been too long, Seba,” Y/N never failed to make him blush with that nickname. He smiled as he held her close, missing the love that filled his arms.

“How are you?” She asked as he stood in front of her, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Great, actually. Been keeping busy with this place. Started it up a few years after…” Sebastian stopped short, and Y/N knew what he was gonna say. “After you left.” He finished, Y/N’s face falling at the thought of how they left off. “But, it’s been going well.” A silence fell between the two friends.

“Well, how have you been? Can I get you anything?” Y/N let out a slight giggle at his questions as he made his way around the counter.

“Um… can I actually get a black tea and a brownie?” Y/N asked as he replied, “Of course. Brownies are still your favorite snack, I see.” Y/N blushed. “They look so good. Kinda like the ones you used to make back in the day.” Y/N added with a smile, reminiscing on the memories.

“Well, I actually made everything here,” he gestured towards the display. “Well, me and my co-worker.” He smiles as he hands Katie one of the brownies and begins on the black tea.

“So, how are you? Never thought I’d see you back in New York, not for a while at least.” Sebastian gave her a sweet, sincere smile.

“I’m alright. Not my usual self. Haven’t been for a while, really. I actually just moved back,” She paused, and she knew that look on his face. Confused, concerned, in need to know more. “It’s a long story.” She chuckled, her gaze shifting towards the floor.

“Well, I’d love to catch up. Maybe I could take you out sometime. I close around 7. I could pick you up around 7:30, take you to your favorite restaurant I know you’ve been missing.” Y/N couldn’t help but blush at how well he still knew her. Ever since they met, he always knew her better than she knew herself.

“I’d really like that.” Y/N smiled as Sebastian did so, finishing up her tea.

Y/N stood there, lost in thought at what she and Sebastian used to have before things got all screwed up, before she moved away. She didn’t even realize she was staring at him when he called her name.

Coming back to the present, “Oh, sorry,” she paused, seeing the tea on the counter in front of her. She always became a bit flustered when it came to Sebastian. “Um… what do I owe you?” Y/N questioned, digging in her mini backpack for her wallet.

“No charge. The least I could do for my best friend.” Sebastian replied. “Come, have a seat.” He took her tea and led her to one of the tables in the cafe.

Sebastian excused himself for a moment to check on the couple to see if they needed anything. As he made his way back to Y/N, she was taking off her jacket that hid one of her secrets. It was barely noticeable at first, but Sebastian noticed quickly. He noticed everything about her, even the things no one else did. He didn’t say anything though. She was, what looked like, 3 months pregnant, and he was even more eager for tonight to come. He knew Y/N has been through a lot since they last saw each other.

“So, what’s new besides the cafe? Anyone new in your life?” Y/N offered her famous smirk that Sebastian missed almost more than anything else.

“Well…” Sebastian was about to answer before a child’s voice filled your ears.

“Daddy! Daddy!” Y/N’s eyes widened in surprise as a little girl, about 5 years old, came running down the stairs towards Sebastian. He opened his arms as she rushed straight into his embrace. He picked her up and perched her on his lap.

“Hey, baby girl.” Sebastian, then, met your gaze and let out a small chuckle. “Y/N, I’d like you to meet my co-worker, more commonly known as my daughter, Grace.” The little girl giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck, laying her head on his chest. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Y/N was speechless. So, this was the co-worker that he was talking about before.

“Daddy, who's that?” Grace asked, glancing towards Y/N.

“This, my love, is Y/N. My very good friend from years ago.” The statement brought a smile to both Sebastian and Y/N’s faces. Grace perked up, leaning forward against the table as Sebastian held her at the waist to keep her secure on his lap.

“You’re Y/N? The one daddy’s always talking about? The girl that stole his heart?” There was a bright sparkle in the little girl's eyes, a look of complete and utter astonishment. Her lips lifted into an adorably beautiful smile.

Y/N could feel the tears building up in her throat at Grace’s words. The thought that Sebastian actually talked about her, thought about her the way he did. She looked up at him with a look of amazement, shock, an emotion unknown in her eyes. Sebastian let out a laugh that Y/N knew was only created from embarrassment. It was cute. She composed herself.

“Well, I don’t know about the last part, but yes, I am Y/N. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Grace.” Y/N smiled brightly at the girl. Grace held out her hand, and, shaking her hand, Y/N was amazed at the girl's manners. She must’ve gotten them from her daddy.

A minute later, “Daddy, I’m tired.” Grace admitted, leaning back against Sebastian as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Okay, sweetheart. How about you go upstairs and take a nap? I’ll take you to grandma’s later. I have plans with the pretty lady over here.” Sebastian met Y/N’s gaze, sharing a breathtaking smile, winking at her. Y/N couldn’t help but blush. Grace nodded.

“Nice to finally meet you, Miss Y/N.” Grace squeaked.

“You as well.” Y/N smiled, waving to her as she made her way upstairs. There must’ve been an apartment on the third floor.

Y/N looked back at Sebastian and he had a guilty smile on his face.

“Well, she has some fantastic manners.” Y/N smiled with a bit of a chuckle mixed in.

“Yeah, we have a lot to talk about.” Sebastian let out a small laugh, making Y/N smile more. His laugh was always contagious.

“Well, I hate to take you away from your work, but it doesn’t seem like you’re too busy,” Y/N mentioned, gazing around the vacant cafe before meeting his eyes again.

“You never fail to say what’s on your mind, Y/N,” Sebastian commented, leaning forward on the table, leaning his head in his hand as he offered a sweet smile.

“Some things never change.” Y/N smiles back.

“Well, where to start…” He begins, leaning back in his chair. “I guess, when you left, when I heard you’d moved to L.A. with your boyfriend I never knew about,” the mention of Y/N’s ex made her wince. Sebastian noticed that, too, and knew something must have happened. But, he was going to wait for Y/N to bring it up herself. “I had kinda shut down. I continued with a movie I was working on, and I formed a relationship with one of my co-stars. We had a thing going on for a month or so. One thing led to another and 9 months later, Grace was born.” Sebastian paused as you leaned forward, listening intently on his story.

“It wasn’t a very stable relationship to begin with. Once she had Grace, it had only been a few weeks later that she left. I came home to a note on the table saying that she couldn’t handle whatever was going on at the time. She couldn’t handle a baby. I didn’t think I could either. I had gone into Grace’s room to find her asleep in her crib. I don’t know how long she’d been alone for. She was fine, though, so I guess that’s what matters.” Y/N could see the tears building up, his voice wavering at the memories. He rubbed his eyes, followed by a rough sniffle.

“So, from then on, it was just me and Grace. I knew I couldn’t work on any more movies or accept any more jobs for a while. But, I needed money. So, I bought this building, thinking it would be perfect. A steady business connected to an apartment that easily became home for the two of us. It was hard at first, getting used to living alone with a baby and starting a business. It got easier over time. And since then, there’s never been anyone besides Grace. I’ve never wanted anyone else. She’s all I needed. I’ve had my mom watch over her when I needed help. As she got older, I was able to keep her around here while I worked. She would visit with the customers. They love her.” He chuckled and Y/N smiled at the sweet relationship between the father and daughter.

“Now, she’ll help upstairs in the bookstore if anyone needs help. She’ll help me in the kitchen. Taught her everything we know. She’ll bring orders to customers. She’s just everything I never knew I needed.” Y/N rarely saw this side of Sebastian. There was never a reason to see him this way. He was staring off into space, and you could tell his mind was in a million different places.

“She seems like a great little girl, Seba. I’m glad you’ve had her all this time.” Y/N comforted him. They sat in comfortable silence for a minute or two, staring into each other’s eyes. Y/N never knew she could miss anything or anyone as much as she missed Sebastian. And for him, as he memorized Y/N’s eyes after all those years, he finally reunited with the love he’s always felt for this girl. He just hoped he’d never have to part with it again, never have to part from her again.

“Well, I should probably get back to work. Almost closing time.” Sebastian commented, breaking the silence, and Katie nodded in agreement. “Can I get you anything else? Maybe grab you something to go? Not that I’m rushing you out or anything. Stay as long as you’d like.” He offered, standing up. Y/N giggled as he stumbled over his words, and he just chuckled at himself once he noticed her comforting smile. Y/N stood up as well, though with a little bit of a struggle that he could tell. He took her hand, setting his other on the small of her back, helping her up.

She gave him a weak smile. “Thank you. I’ve been in a bit of pain lately.” She explained, but she didn’t need to.

“No worries. I completely understand.” Sebastian gave her a concerned, but sincere smile.

Y/N locked eyes with him, and she couldn’t help but share the smile.

“It was really nice to see you again, Seba. I missed you.” Y/N confessed as she went in for a hug. Sebastian didn’t hesitate to welcome her into his arms.

“I missed you, too, Y/N. I hope your transition back home won’t be too hard. And don’t be afraid to ask us for anything. We’re happy to help.” Sebastian said with that sweet, loving smile.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Y/N replied, shrugging on her jacket. “Thank you for the tea and the brownie. Just as good as I remember them.” Y/N smiled, making Sebastian blush lightly.

“Of course. Anything for you, Y/N. I’ll see you tonight, 7:30.” He reminded her in a quiet tone.

“See you then, Seba. Tell Grace I said goodbye.” Y/N responded and he nodded. She blushed as Sebastian leaned down to press a kiss on her cheek. Y/N, then, walked out of the cafe that she predicted she’d be spending a lot of time at in the near future.

#Sebastian Stan #sebastian stan imagines #sebastian stan x reader

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littlemrcaprisun · 3 years

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TW: brief mentions of miscarriage

(This is a rewrite of an old fic from a previous ship and I just changed the names and POV so if there are errors in that... well sorry.)

Despite all of the odds and challenges that face you, you both decide to go through with having a baby. It takes months to see results, whether it be the it just not working or it working and ending in heartbreak. You’re about to give up on the dream when the fifth pregnancy makes it past the first trimester and halfway through the second. You decide to tell your family and friends, well Alcina does. You only tell your parents and it goes over just as well as expected: poorly. Your parents still aren’t happy with the fact that their child left their husband, the rich doctor with the hefty salary, for another woman twice their age. While they have grown to love and accept Alcina, and your newfound sexuality, a baby announcement was the last thing they wanted to hear out of your mouth. You don't tell Alcina about their reaction for a long time, after all stress is the last thing she needs right now considering how this whole process has gone so far. What you can’t afford is stress risking this precious thing they’ve fought so hard to build. However, Alcina catches on quickly and confronts you about why you’ve been so quiet and reserved lately, especially where the baby is concerned.

“I’m just… I’m… processing.” You shrug after dinner one evening as Alcina helps you get ready for bed. Alcina furrows her brow and stops to turn to you.

“A-are you having regrets?” Alcina asks quietly, her hand flying to your belly immediately. You are barely showing but still enough to be noticeably pregnant and the palm of her hand wraps perfectly around the swell of your bump.

“Oh, no. God, no.” You look up to Alcina , fervently shaking your head. “Never.” You pull Alcina’s chin down to look into your eyes and you make sure Alcina can feel the sincerity burn through her eyes

“Then, please, tell me what’s really wrong.” Alcina carefully lowers both of you onto the bed, just to be precautious. Your belly barely protrudes through your hoodie as you lay back against the pillows, but it’s enough that Alcina can see it and she can’t help the smile that tugs at the corners of her lips.

“It’s just my parents… they aren’t very supportive yet… of the baby, I mean.” You admit and sit up on the edge of the bed. You lean back and brace yourself on your hands and try to focus your energy into not crying. Alcina pulls you toward her until you are comfortable and she is lying between her legs, ear pressed to belly. You feel yourself relax almost instantly as she feels the warmth coming from you and the life growing inside you.

“I know your parents’ opinion means the entire world to you, but… I don’t know.” Alcina sighs. “I don’t think there’s anything I can say to make you feel better about it. We’ve just fought so hard to get to where we are now and I hate the thought that you might… that you might regret it.”

You lift your head and place a hand on Alcina’s cheek and another on your belly. “I don’t regret anything… I just wish this were easier.”

“So do I. I am terrified I am gonna wake up and this is all going to be over. I couldn’t take it if… if…” Alcina chokes on her words before she can finish her sentence. You try to comfort Alcina and tell her everything is going to be okay but she shakes her head, recomposes herself, and speaks again. “You are six months pregnant. You’re in the ‘safe zone,’ but I can’t let myself believe it’s real. I don’t want to know if it’s a boy or a girl, I don’t want to name it, I don’t want to build a nursery. I don’t want to accept that we’re going to have a baby because I don’t believe that we’re going to have a baby… I’m sorry this isn’t even relevant. It just kind of came out. I’m just so scared of losing this one too.”

———

“Cina... I’m having some regrets.” You whisper, your voice seeming to go on forever in the cool dark room. Alcina shifts next to you in bed and opens an eye.

“What’s wrong?” She asks and when she rolls over she feels the cool damp surface beneath her hip. Immediately, she jumps out of bed and flips on the light. You both cringe at the brightness but quickly adjust and the sight before you comes into focus. You are lying on your back, clutching your belly and your hip, the white sheet around you has turned grey from the water surrounding your bottom. “I-is it time?”

“I think so.” You nod, smiling widely. You’ve had a few contractions since your water broke and you didn’t find them to be that painful, however the ones that follow aren’t such a breeze. As Alcina is helping you out of the bed, so she can change the sheets, you have another contraction. You let out a quiet cry and lean over the side of the bed. “Time it, time it!” You yelp between heavy breaths. Alcina is quick to start counting before she can get your phone out to use the app the midwife recommended to both of you. Within a few minutes, you are back to normal and standing up right.

Alcina sets to work “birth-proofing” the bed by taking off the wet sheets, putting down new ones, placing waterproof shower curtains, then places not so new sheets over top of that. You, meanwhile, make your way out of the bedroom, down the hall, and to the guest room, where your mother, who had finally started to come around, has been camping out for the past four weeks in anticipation for the arrival of her first grandchild.

“Mom…” You whisper hesitantly, anxious about waking your mother up in the middle of the night despite the situation at hand. “Mama, my water broke.”

She doesn’t move and you panic for a moment, unsure of what to do, when you hear her mother’s voice. “Are you in labor?”

“I’m having contractions.” You bite your lip. “They’re about 30 minutes apart.” And with that your mother sits up and switches her bedside lamp on. She climbs out of bed and rushes over to you, wrapping an arm around your waist.

“What can I do for you, sunshine?”

“I’m okay for now, I just want to get back to bed before I have another contraction.” She helps you back down the hall towards the bedroom but before you can make it, you have to stop and brace yourself against the wall. “Fuck.” You curse as this contraction takes hold and all you can think about is counting how long it lasts. Your mother stands behind you and gently massages your upper back in an attempt to calm you. Alcina hurries out of your bedroom to your aide.

“Don’t worry I started the timer for this one.” Alcina leans against the wall next to you and runs her hand through your hair, but you stop her by grabbing her hand and squeezing. “You’re at 17 seconds, darling. You can do this.” Alcina assures you. 25 more seconds pass before you are able to relax again.

“When are we supposed to call the midwife?” Your mother asks.

“They told us when the contractions are about 5 minutes apart, so I think we have awhile.” Alcina explains and you huff.

“This is going to be a long night.” You murmur as you check the time on the wall clock. “It’s 2:10 am and this has already been going on for about 2 hours since my water first broke.”

“It took you a whole hour to wake me up?” Alcina furrows her brow.

“I didn’t want to wake you up. I wanted you to get as much sleep as possible before the chaos.” You shrug and Alcina kisses your forehead. “And I wanted to be sure too.”

Six hours pass and your contractions are still about 25-30 minutes apart but increasing in discomfort. You don't know if they’re actually increasing in pain or if you’re just getting worn down at this point. At 9:02am, they run a hot bath for you to soak in, to try to ease some of the discomfort. It only helps a little bit. You try sitting normally in the tub, then kneeling against the wall of it, then sitting on all fours, before ending up back in a normal sitting position.

Despite the amount of pain and stress you’re in, you remain fairly positive and bubbly, and even joke around with Alcina. Your mother decided to go back to sleep around 3:45, with some convincing from you, so she’d be ready when the baby actually decided to make an appearance. But at around 10:23 she knocks on the bathroom door and is let in by Alcina. She kisses the top of your head and hands Alcina a light breakfast for both of you.

“You gotta keep your strength up.” She smiles at both of you. “How are you doing, my sweet?”

You, resting her head against the side of the tub look up at her mother and smile weakly. “I’d be doing a lot better if this baby would come.” Just as you finish your sentence another contraction, one of the worst yet, comes on and you start to weep.

“I’m going to call Dani.”Alcina murmurs. The daughter of your girlfriend who had become more like a sister to you.

“Please!” You gasp, your voice a mixture of exhaustion and pain, tears rolling freely down your cheeks. Alcina sits behind you and wraps her arms around your shoulders, whispering words of encouragement into your ear. After about a minute and a half the contraction passes and you sigh. “I need to get out of here. I’m getting pruny and I’m tired. I want to rest.”

You get in a rough nap before the contractions interrupt your sleeping too much. When you wake though, you’re pleasantly surprised to see Dani sitting at the foot of her bed.

“Hey, Tiny.” Dani smiles. You smile softly and reach out for Dani’s hand. “How’s it going?”

“Oh you know, I’ve been in labor for…” You pause to check the clock and calculate the time. “13 hours with no pain medicine. I’m surviving.”

Alcina wants to give you and Dani some time together but when you have another contraction, once again, that’s seemingly worse than the last, she can’t help but run to your side. “Talk to me, darling. What’s going on?”

“They’re barely 10 minutes apart. I think this one is 7 minutes after the last one.” You spit out the words and cling to Alcina, digging your nails into her arm.

“I’m going to call the midwife as soon as this one passes.”

It takes the midwife, Janet, over 30 minutes to get to the castle from outside the village . It’s exactly 2:00 pm when Janet walks through the door. By that time, your contractions are less than 5 minutes apart and so intense you have to hold onto both Alcina and Dani. You’re sweating, crying a little bit, not nearly as bubbly as before, completely drained, but focused and still positive.

“Hey, sweetstuff.” Janet hums and she greets you, and you give her a soft smile. “I know you’re miserable so I’m gonna save the ‘how are you doing’ speech and get to it. First things first, can I check to see how dilated you are?”

Janet determines you are about 6 centimeters dilated and you arebeyond thrilled to be over halfway to the end. “So now we wait and we breathe and try to relax and keep drinking water. You are a trooper. I know I couldn’t do what you’re doing, but it is so worth it and so wonderful for you and your baby.” Janet’s warm and assuring tone makes you feel like maybe you didn’t make the wrong choice by going with a natural home birth and some of your regret fades.

You eventually go back to the tub, where you find kneeling against the side of it helps to relieve some of the pressure this time. Your contractions are closer together and they’re shorter, but they are worse than any pain that you’ve ever felt before. Each one makes you feel like you’re going to fall apart at the joints.

At around 4:30, the contractions are enough to make you cry and moan in pain constantly, and it is almost too much to bear for everyone witnessing their sweet little Tiny suffer so much. You’ve moved from kneeling against the tub to your bed. Your knees are planted on the floor, your chest is resting against the side of the mattress, your shoulders are curled in on yourself, and your head is pressed into the bed. You want to push so bad and every passing second the pressure continues to build. You feels like if you don’t push immediately you’re going to explode

“Alright, baby, you’re 8 centimeters dilated. We’re almost there.” Janet isn’t so calming anymore when she doesn’t say what you want to hear.

“How much longer?” You whimper.

Janet sighs. “I wish I could give you an answer. It could be 30 minutes, or it could be three hours. There’s no way to tell.”

You curse Janet for even mentioning three hours because sure enough with your luck it is another five hours before you’re fully dilated. By this point, you don't even know how you’re going to find the strength to push. It’s been almost 24 hours since your labor began and now you’re just getting to the point where you can start pushing. You’re still squatting next to the bed when Janet gives you the first instruction to push. You thought for hours that pushing would provide some kind of relief, but when the pressure worsens as you push you want to stop more than any other moment of the process.

An hour passes with barely any luck or movement from the baby and both you and Alcina start to get worried. Janet assures them that it’s normal and the delivery itself can take two to three hours, especially without any medication. You move to the bed and lay on your side with your leg towards your chest as far as they’ll go. This seems to do the trick and soon Janet is exclaiming that she feels a head.

The final, and 25th, hour of labor passes and soon the house fills with the most beautiful sound you've ever heard: the sound of your baby crying. Janet lays your baby in your arms and that first moment of skin-to-skin contact feels like heaven. You look down and the little face in your arms and start to openly sob, as does everyone else in the room.

“It’s a girl.” Janet smiles. You can’t pry her eyes away from her, from your daughters.

“Cina… we have a baby. We have a daughter.” You whisper. Alcina is a mess, with tears streaming down her face and trembling with soft sobs. After feeding her, Janet wants to give Alcina the skin-to-skin contact as well and kicks Dani and your mother out so the new mothers can have some privacy. Alcina holds him against her chest while you lie in bed next to her, resting and recovering. “What’re we going to name her?”

“Slowpoke because it took her so long to get here.” Alcina teases in a soft voice directed towards the now sleeping baby.

You smile and reach over to touch the baby’s cheek. “Honestly, not to be one of those moms, but what if we just named her what she is?”

“What’s that?” Alcina asks, raising a brow at you.

“A bearer of good news and hope..”

“My dear, I don’t think that’s a name.” Alcina chuckles a little.

“No, but Evangeline is.”

Alcina’s face twists into one of pure joy. “Evangeline Dimitrescu.” She nods. “That’ll do just fine.”

#lady dimitrescu #lady alcina #lady alcina dimitrescu #alcina dimitrescu #lady dimitrescu x reader #lady dimitrescu fanfic

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dayseternal-blog · 4 years

Link

A summer job at the Dole pineapple cannery, graveyard shift 10 PM to 6 AM. A long bus ride into and out of town. Two teens, shy beside each other.

Written for NaruHina 2020 August - Cultures/Around the World

Rated G

Inspired by “Torch Song” by @mmmbuttery (emmykay)

Here we go, a story I've worked on since November of last year. Despite the months of creation, this story is simply boy meets girl. This one is close to my heart, and I've second-guessed posting it.

It's loosely based on my parents' high school stories and how they met, and the experiences from many recorded accounts of people from that generation, the 1970s. I wrote this mostly with the intention of diving into and imagining their time period.

Finally completed, of course it’s late for August, in true spirit, I stay on island time. This story is titled after “About You” by Cecilio & Kapono, a 1975 Hawaiian pop classic.

One Shot - About You

The bus bumps and lurches on the potholes.

She notes when they pass by a friend’s house, lit only by the dim orange street lamps over dark driveways. There are so few cars out on the road that every time the bus pulls over and the door opens, she can hear the high-pitched hum of crickets in the grass. It’s all a familiar rhythm that might have put her to sleep on any other night. But she already took a long nap, readying her internal clock for the new schedule.

She’ll be taking this route for the rest of the summer, heading from the bus stop next to the local library straight to the cannery.

It feels alright, better than she was expecting. She was worried it would feel lonely--her friends are all working the cannery, too, but in the daytime. She wanted the extra nickel the night shift earns, bringing her up to $1.40 per hour.

She’s always thinking ahead--the more money she manages to save now for business college, the less she will need to work later.

The bus slows down to a stop, picking up probably the last passenger before it gets on the freeway straight to town.

She relaxes into her seat, settling in for the drive out of the suburbs.

“Hinata?”

That’s weird that someone would know her at this hour.

She turns her face away from the window and sees him standing in the aisle, as if he was about to sit down in the row in front of her. “N-Naruto?” She regrets her stutter. She just wasn’t expecting to see him. At all.

“Hey! Howzit?” He looks genuinely surprised to see her, too.

“Good...” She returns his bright grin with a shy smile of her own. She tucks a lock of loose hair behind her ear. “I’m heading to the cannery.”

“You working cannery, too?”

“Yeah...are you?”

“Yup. Gotta make dat extra nickel, yeah?” He smiles disarmingly as she nods, and he takes a seat.

She wants to relax. But she can’t.

Because it’s him.

All 5 feet 9 inches of beautiful boy sitting in front of her on a relatively empty bus. He’s taller than the average local Japanese, due to his hapa blood. And as if height wasn’t enough to make him attractive to all the girls, he’s funny. And clever. Athletic and nice. A little rascal, but that only increases his charm. She has so much adrenaline pumping through her from that one tiny conversation, she knows she’ll be exhausted before they even get to Honolulu Harbor.

The forewoman, a middle-aged Portuguese lady, takes her and another girl named Tenten to the lockers. “Wear dis.” She passes them a white apron and hairnet. “You girls get gloves?”

They both nod, pulling out their plastic gloves, required in the job description.

The lady glances at the gloves, bored expression unchanging. “Follow.”

Hinata tucks all of her hair up into the net, and she knows she probably looks like an enoki mushroom, dressed now all in white.

They follow the forewoman to the assembly floor.

“Here.” She hands them knives with the same carelessness of someone who’s been doing this for ages. “Take all da extra skin off cuz da machine no get ‘m all, look, but gotta do ‘m fas’ kine ah. No let da pines go down widdout cleaning ‘m,” she explains, pointing and waving at the conveyor belt.

Hinata nods. Four girls stand silently before a machine that’s spitting out bright yellow, skinned pineapples. They grab at them quickly, and then with practiced flicks of their wrist, they nick off the remaining bits into slots for the rubbish. They put the pineapples back down on the belt, where the fruit runs along to another set of girls, who give them another checkover. Further down, the fruit runs into a machine with circling blades that chop them into slices.

Rows and rows of young women dressed in white aprons with mushroom-netted heads stand around conveyors and machines.

Young men cross over the upper ladders and walkways carrying pineapples to dump into the machines and sticks to poke at the fruit in the chutes to prevent jamming.

The smell of pineapples is pervasive, sickly in its sweetness.

Not too much later, a bell shrills throughout the warehouse, and she’s taking over for a girl who’s now off-duty. She grabs at the pineapples, turning the weighty fruit over in her palm and cutting brown spots of skin off with the knife as quickly as she can. Droplets of pineapple juice stick to her gloves, and soon enough, the juice is dripping down the latex.

She’s not thankful for the gloves for long.

The juice runs down, and every stretch of her arm to grab at the fruit or place it back down feels sticky in the crook of her elbow.

Minutes turn into hours of watching pineapples.

She has no idea how the world eats so many pineapples.

How is it possible that people love pineapples this much? That the machinery is rarely turned off? That all of the state’s teenagers are employed every summer to work the fields and machines practically 24/7?

As unfathomable as it is, she finds a strange awe for the tropical fruit that she never had before. To pass the time as she trims the skin, she imagines where these pineapples are going. Who’s going to buy these pineapples. What country they’ll end up in and what language the people speak there. And whether they have ever seen a whole pineapple before.

But then again, maybe they’re all just going to the Mainland. Women who look like the movie stars with perfectly curled, blonde hair will open the cans for their families.

The bell rings, the machines stop.

They have 30 minutes.

The more veteran workers zip off to the lunchroom, not waiting for anyone.

Hinata smiles tiredly at Tenten.

“Whew,” the Chinese girl sighs.

Hinata nods in agreement. “I never seen so many pineapples before, I think.”

“Yeah, me, neither.” Her brows raise to emphasize the point.

By the time they get off at 6 in the morning, dawn is breaking, traffic is slowly building along Nimitz Highway, and she knows she must absolutely stink of pineapples.

But Naruto waves and stands beside her as they wait for the bus, as if he doesn’t care. Maybe he can’t smell her, desensitized now after so long in the warehouse. “Morning, Hinata,” he laughs, and the joke is not lost on her.

She smiles weakly, only his good attitude motivating her. “Good morning,” she manages to reply. She’s too exhausted to feel shy about standing beside her crush. After all, she was standing for the last several hours. All she wants is to sit down.

“How wuz it?” he asks conversationally.

She pinches her lips into a tight frown. “I had to trim the pines at the ginaca.” She gestures halfheartedly with her hands, showing him the flick of an imaginary knife she used. All night. She’s almost certain that she’s the machine now. “What did you do?”

“Oh, wuz pretty neat! I jus’ had to keep da cans moving on da belt an’ stick da lids inside da kine, machine, and then the cans pop out. I did da tops.”

She blinks at him. Forces a weak smile out that she barely feels in her heart. Sounds easy… But that’s to be expected, after all, women usually handle food anyway.

“No can wait fo’ sit down, yeah!” he laughs. He doesn’t sound tired, but it occurs to her that maybe he never does. His natural excitement is what makes him popular in the first place.

She nods.

When the bus pulls up to the curb, Naruto lets her get on in front of him.

The bus driver pulls a face as she pays.

She frowns, a hot blush spreading over her cheeks. She tried to clean up as best she could after her shift, but apparently, it really was all for naught.

“Go in da back!” the driver directs, none too friendly.

She does so, even though the front seats aren’t full.

Naruto laughs outright as he pays, unashamed at his own stink. “What, uncle, wen try fo’ wash off, still stay pilau?”

“Eesh,” the driver utters in response to the teen’s cheekiness.

She doesn’t know how he’s not embarrassed, nor how he’s able to talk back to strangers like it’s nothing. It’s just another case in point of her admiration and curiosity of him. She picks an aisle-facing seat, and, to her surprise, Naruto sits right next to her, his knees spreading open.

She’s not as tired as she thought.

Nerves race up her legs. She stares at her hands, which she carefully places on her knees, which are closely pressed together as ladylike as possible. Not a single part of her touches him. She thinks she might die if their legs touch.

And that’s how she doesn’t doze off on the long ride back home.

He meant to brag to his friends about working graveyard shift when he saw them that first weekend. Sure, the hours are junk, but, Ho, should see da chicks!

Particularly the one he rides the bus with. Hinata Hyuuga. A small, Japanese girl. Brains and looks. Not to mention her unusual, light eyes, making you question her race. But, nah, no real question about it, she’s Japanese through and through with her shy, quiet manner. She’s someone he imagines could win the Cherry Blossom Festival pageant with her smooth skin and round eyes. He and the guys always steal a poster of the new year’s contestants from the supermarket window. Pictures of pretty Japanese girls’ profiles all lined up, free to admire. She could definitely win. If she ever tried. But she’s not very personable.

Not that that ever stopped him from talking to whoever he wants to talk to.

Yet he ended up not mentioning anything about Hinata to his friends. Not the next week, either.

Somehow, she just comes off as out-of-his-league. At least, he’s certain that’s what his friends would say. Just mentioning her would probably earn him jokes. He’s pretty sure she’s in all the high, smart classes. But he doesn’t know much about that--and she’s a year younger than him. He only knows her because his social club had a gathering with hers last year, invited by Sakura. There’re lots of pretty girls in that social club, and, unusually, it has girls over two grade levels. Just the younger girls didn’t catch his attention last year.

Needless to say, he’s thinking about her now.

Not much else to think about while he drops lids into the machine. It’s monotonous work, but he knows now that his job is way, way better than Hinata’s.

-Two weeks ago-

His jaw dropped when he saw her on the bus the second night.

She had covered her arms self-consciously with her hands when he got on.

Of course, that action was what drew his attention.

Bright. Red. Streaks and bumps. A rash. Mottling her fair skin in the crook of her elbows to the middle of her forearms. Both sides.

“From da pines?” he asked incredulously.

She nodded, her eyes turning down, as if somehow the rash was a personal fault.

He looked away, realizing his staring was only making her feel worse. “You have da kine..sensitive skin?” He wondered belatedly if talking about it would only make her feel worse worse.

“Umm...yeah…” Her voice sounded even quieter than her usual.

He frowned awkwardly, though she didn’t see it. He sat down beside her, still looking away. “Jeez. Das real junk.” He swallowed back his strange feeling of guilt. Her pain wasn’t his fault. Her job placement wasn’t his fault. So why did he feel like he was partially responsible...? “Uh, dere anyting fo’ do about it?” He suddenly felt like cringing at the sound of his own pidgin. His heavy speech just further emphasized his upbringing compared to hers. Someone classy like her shouldn’t be doing a job like that, right? “‘Cuz like, can only get worse, yeah? You get medicine fo’ put on or someting?” He couldn’t help jabbering on and on. When he starts feeling uncomfortable, that’s just what happens.

Thankfully, she continued the conversation. “Mhm. I saw yesterday some of th’ other workers wuz wearing two gloves.” She opened her purse and pulled out a pair. The hands were cut off. “Like this, see?” She pulled the glove on over her elbow like a sleeve, then pulled another, uncut one on so that they overlapped on her forearm.

“Ho, neat idea, yeah?” He nodded in approval.

She smiled in response. “The juice no can get inside, I think, yeah?”

“Yeah!” he emphasized.

She smiled a little more, obviously not embarrassed anymore by her arms.

And he felt proud of himself for getting them out of that uncomfortable start to the bus ride. Felt oddly self-satisfied that he got her to smile. Decided right then and there that he was pretty interested in her.

But he hasn’t really made a move, yet. The thought that she might turn him down is there. He’s been turned down enough times that rejection isn’t really what’s bugging him. It’s that she never seems to be in a good mood after their shift is done. That, and he doesn’t want it to be uncomfortable for the rest of the summer in case she does reject him. He would still have to catch the bus with her every night and morning. Too bad his dad doesn’t let him take the car to work. He gets it, though. His dad needs the car to go to work.

Well, he’ll figure it out later.

The bell screams, signaling the start of their lunch break.

He joins a group of Farrington guys he befriended over the course of the two weeks. There’re a lot of them working at the cannery, being that the high school is only a neighborhood away from the warehouse district.

“Eh, Naruto, you surf?” Omoi, a dark-skinned Filipino boy with sun-bleached ehu hair, asks.

“Yeah,” he answers, excitement bubbling. But only on the weekends with Shikamaru and Choji. He lives central, not at all close to the ocean, making beach trips longer than ideal. “Why, whatchu thinking?”

A guy they call “C,” Naruto has no idea what it’s short for, leans forward. “We go dawn patrol, Kewalo’s.”

Right after their shift, at the surf break at Kewalo Basin. Sounds solid. “Eh, shoots, we go! Tomorrow den?”

“Yeah,” Omoi affirms. “Prolly gon wash da pine stink off, yeah?”

C’s eyes widen at Omoi’s shoes, shaking his head. “Eh, brah, I no tink so, you dripping pines ova hea, bet yo feet kill, phew!”

“You faka, you no can talk, da flies stay all buzzin’ ‘round you!” Omoi shoots back.

Naruto frowns, considering that Hinata has the same job as Omoi, one of the few guys assigned to a woman’s job. Over the course of the job, Omoi’s shoes had soaked in pineapple juice that dripped from the cutting. This didn’t seem to be as big a problem for Hinata, who, for some girly reason, wore sandals despite the long hours of standing. “How come you no jus’ wea rubbah slippahs?”

Omoi shook his head with a serious expression. “No can fo’ do dat brah. I only get one good pair! Already wen ruin deez shoes, no sense ruin my slippahs too.”

“Dis broke faka ova hea, he no get money fo’ buy one noddah pair from Long’s das why!” C laughs.

Naruto shakes his head, laughing out loud. “No way you dat broke!”

Omoi turns to C, faux annoyance twisting his face. “Eh dis haole ri’ hea like get lickins?”

Instead of looking threatened, C just humorously shoots back, “You like go, we go!”

“Go den, shoots we go,” Omoi answers, squaring up.

“Yeah den go cuz, shoots,” C threatens back.

But neither of them stand.

Naruto rolls his eyes at their idiotic banter. Rarely is he the voice of reasoning, but he supposes it would be a different story if his school friends were here. “Eh we go Kewalo’s shoots.”

They turn back to him, huge grins on. “Yeah, we go!” Omoi says enthusiastically.

“Bring your board yeah?” C reminds him as the bell rings again.

“Yeah!”

He tells Hinata that he can’t go back with her the next day, and she just nods and smiles. Tells him to have fun.

And it’s a slight relief to not worry about the ride back home with her. He’s starting to feel like maybe she’s expecting him to ask her out since they spend so much time together. Well, really, he’s expecting that of himself, but he just can’t right now.

She’s just not any other girl at school in these current circumstances.

Hinata never meant to be one of those girls.

One of those girls, picked up on a stretcher and taken to the medical room to recuperate.

But on the first day of her period, she was exactly one of those girls.

She was feeling so tired. Legs like jelly. Sore up her thighs. Aches digging around her lower back. A weighty twisting in her core. A heavy day. It made her feel lightheaded.

The pineapples, one after another, going by, making her feel a little dizzy, like maybe she needed to close her eyes.

Shutting her eyes for a second didn’t help.

A breath, two breaths, intentional breaths.

She felt like maybe she was going to make herself start hyperventilating, the opposite of what she wanted. She wanted to breathe normally.

Focus on the pineapple.

It felt too heavy in her hand.

Her focus sliding off the pineapple, to the sticky yellow glint of the knife. Back to the pineapple.

She looked up, dazed, her eyes taking too long to adjust to a point on the far wall.

“Hinata, you alright?” Tenten asked.

She tried to refocus on the girl on the opposite side of her. She nodded, blinking, trying to concentrate on their job.

“You don’t look alright.” Her voice was too loud, like everything else going on.

Too loud, pounding.

She closed her eyes, heat searing her temples.

“-nata? Hinata?”

She slowly gains consciousness, to find Naruto looking down at her.

“You okay? You wen faint dey said.”

“Oh,” she manages to utter, trying to get her bearings as the room and bed take shape in her mind, blinking away the dazed vestiges of sleep. “W-what time is it?”

“Our shift only pau now.”

“Oh.”

“You feeling okay?”

She slowly sits up, nodding. “Yeah.” She must not have been out for that long. She really thought she would make it to the end of the night. “Were you waiting for me?” she asks, suddenly panicked at the realization that he is here with her.

“Ah, nah, nah. I come in jus’ now.” He gestures at the door. “You weren’ out dere, so I jus’ wen ask somebahdy. Dey said you wuz in hea.”

“Oh.” That’s good that he wasn’t waiting for her to wake up, but, still, she never expected him to do something like this. “You didn’t have to.”

He shrugs. “No problem. Ready fo’ go? Can walk or..?”

She nods, scooching off the bed-like table.

And he walks with her to check-out with one of the heads, and then back to the bus stop. Waits with her there. And when it’s obvious that he’s going back with her despite the longboard he’s been holding this whole time, she haltingly brings it up. “You not...going surfing?”

He shakes his head carelessly. “Nah, I go tomorrow.”

She ducks her head, biting her lips. “I’m sorry.”

“Nah, nah, waves not hitting today, so.” He shrugs, looking past her for the bus.

Obviously an outright lie, but she accepts it over drawing out such an uncomfortable situation.

“You no feel good today?” He sounds honestly concerned.

“Um, I felt fine earlier.” Well, in truth, she felt okay. The normal period cramps. As okay as a heavy day can be.

“You not sick?”

She shakes her head. She wants to sit down. The bench has the older workers sitting down, so she never gets to sit until the bus comes. She shifts her weight from foot to foot, trying to relieve the weight from her hips and pelvis.

It’s such a relief when the bus comes. She ignores the bus driver’s daily grimace and makes for the back row as quickly as she can.

He watches her sit down, audibly sigh, and her whole body kind of just melts into the stiff chair. It’s obvious that out of all the days so far, she’s the most tired today.

Or has she been like this? He just didn’t know because he’s been avoiding her in the mornings?

Ten minutes into the long ride, he’s thinking that it’s a good thing he’s going home with her today because…he thinks she’s falling asleep. Her head keeps jerking in his peripheral vision, so he decides to stop being considerate and turn to look straight at her.

Her eyes are drooping heavily, she’s blinking really hard...she is falling asleep. Or, trying really hard not to.

“Hinata.”

“Huh?” Her eyes fly wide open, obviously forcing herself.

“Sleep, I go wake you up later.”

Her cheeks redden. “Oh, no, I’m fine.”

She doesn’t trust him, or…what? She’s embarrassed?

“You sure?”

She nods. “Yeah.” Her voice sounds too breathy to be fine, but if she says so...

It’s no surprise to him when her body starts slumping over, her head weighing the rest of her body down and toward the seats in front of them.

She’d be even more embarrassed about this position, right? So he reaches over to grab both her shoulders and kind of push her back upright.

Well, that’s what he meant to do.

Her eyes open as if spooked, and she straightens out of his hands. “Sorry!” she gasps. Expression all pinched, she looks like she feels really ashamed.

About what, though? If anything, he feels bad about how tired she is. “No,” he reassures. “No worry ‘bout me.” He’s trying his best to sound comforting… “Should get some rest, s’okay, I go wake you up befo’ my stop. Trus’ me.”

Her eyes squint, like she’s straining to focus. “...maybe. But I don’t like sleep..on da bus.”

He can’t help a laugh. “Ha, you look like you goin’ give yourself da kine whiplash back-an-for'-li’ dat, jus’ relax.”

“Mm…” A noncommittal answer, but one that doesn’t argue, so he can’t push the issue any further, either.

They settle back into the sound of the engine roaring along the highway, and pretty soon, her body’s starting to lean over again. He refrains from helping her, even though she looks uncomfortable.

She looks like she’s going to wake up with a sore neck. Her blood’s probably rushing to her head in that position. That’s not good, right? She literally just had a fainting spell not too long ago. So having her head lean against the rattling window pane wouldn’t be ideal, either. Since they’re sitting at the back, she might really conk her head hard if the bus has to stop.

With more care than the first time, he tries to guide her to lean against him.

For a moment, her eyelids and brows wiggle and bunch up, but swiftly return to their placid state.

It’s nice.

She’s nice.

He should ask her out. She doesn’t ignore him or outwardly show any disinterest, so…sometime he’ll do it. Just of course not today.

When he sees that he’s getting close to his stop, he calls her name, “Hinata. Hinata.”

“Mm.” She sits up and blinks, a hand hurriedly wiping her mouth.

Drool? He’s trying not to smile like a goofball, but kind of failing at hiding his selfish amusement. “I gotta get off now. You gon’ be okay?”

She nods, making eye contact for a second, only for her gaze to immediately skitter away to some unknown point on the bus floor.

“‘Kay, you take care, yeah?”

She nods again, still refusing to look at him, her hands busy everywhere touching her face and then her hair, fixing who-knows-what. She murmurs something.

“Huh?” he asks in a knee-jerk reaction before his brain pieces together that it sounded like an apology. “Oh, no need say dat.” He reaches over to pull the cord for his stop and grins. “Maybe I see you tomorrow, yeah?”

She nods, glances up at him for a second, and looks down once more.

He gets off the bus feeling pretty good about himself in the bright morning sun.

Only to realize--

Maybe he should have made sure she got home all the way.

Maybe he should have gotten off at her stop with her.

The library isn’t really that far a walk back to his own home.

…

She’s probably fine, right?

She wouldn’t have fallen asleep again, right?

Why did she faint anyway?

Should he have asked more?

His consciousness won’t let up. He could call, but if he calls, then he really probably will need to ask her out eventually. Well, he plans on it anyway, but if he calls, then that would really solidify things, and she’d expect something from him by, like, tomorrow.

Well, that’s all hypothetical. If he can even find her name in the phonebook...

...He finds it.

“Who you calling?” his mom asks, teasing him, as she pops up beside him in the kitchen. “Noddah one of your girlfriends?”

“...No…”

“Ohh, you asking a girl out? Why you no jus’ call her? She goin’ turn you down, ah!” she laughs, all by herself. “Who like go out wit you, ah?” Her laughter rings throughout the house.

He wishes he could yell at her to shut up, but then she’d go get the slipper and give him some serious dirty lickins.

So he keeps his eyes on the phonebook, and with his mom’s derision motivating him, picks up the receiver and hooks his finger into the first digit, gaining self-confidence with each pull, release, and spin of the dial.

If it’s the parents, then that’s fine. He’ll make a good impression. Maybe. He doesn’t need to talk to Hinata, he just wants the family to know that she fainted. He gets the feeling Hinata’s not the type to talk about things like that to her family.

But then...maybe the cannery already called them about it.

The dial tone ends.

He takes a readying breath. “...Hello?”

“Hello?” It’s a young girl’s voice.

“Is this Hinata’s house?” he continues, desperately trying to imitate a school valedictorian or maybe a teacher...

“...Yeah...Who’s this?”

“This is Naruto...I, uh, work same place, at da cannery.”

“...She’s not home, yet. And she’s not supposed to talk to boys.”

What? I tought she in dat social club? “Well, I no need talk to her. I jus’ like you guys know that, uh, she wen fainted at work, yeah.”

“...”

“...So, she should be home soon, I get off da bus a little befo’ her, I jus’ like try check she gets home okay..yeah..”

“...Okay.” In the background, he hears a faint voice talking before the girl on the line continues, “It’s a boy.”

“Huh?”

“He’s saying Hinata fainted at work. And that she should be home soon.”

He realizes she’s talking to someone else, so he awkwardly waits.

“Okay, ...uhhmm...” Her voice trails out for a solid second.

She talking to me now? “Oh, yeah?”

“Thank you, I’m gonna go meet her. Bye.”

“Oh-” The line cuts, his own goodbye stuck in his throat. He places the receiver back down, uncertain what to make of that whole exchange, wondering what about it left him dissatisfied. He did what he meant to do, after all... That must have been a younger sister.

“Hinata? You neva talk about her befo’,” his mom observes as she gathers her things for work. “You met her at da cannery?”

“No, she one year youngah dan me at sku’.”

“She wen faint? Why you neva walk her back home, ah?!”

“I no tink dat until aftah!” he defends. “Das why I wen call!”

“You no can get one decent girlfriend acting li’dat, ah!, dis stupid son of mine, ahh, ah, if you jus’ focus on sku’ mo’, get bettah grades, get mo’ smartah, ah,” his mom tuts and laments off on a tangent, and he ignores her.

He sees her off for work at the door, his mind turning back to whether he needs to ask Hinata out tomorrow. Especially since, “She’s not supposed to talk to boys.” What’s that about?

He never does find out. There’s no way he could ask such a question, and the summer passes too fast for him to face her plainly. He’s not sure why, but whenever he imagines her turning him down, the idea hurts a lot more than it should.

Logically, he knows itʻs just a yes or no answer. He’s been turned down here and there. He’s gone on numerous dates, danced with girls, and played silly social games with the opposite sex at parties. And concerning Hinata, she’s a year younger than him, so the chances of seeing her on campus are a lot smaller, so he wouldn’t have to face her that often if she does turn him down.

So why can’t he just ask her out?

She held out hope.

She thanked him profusely the day after, and he was extremely nice to her. He went back on the bus with her for that entire following week's shifts, making sure she was okay, before he determined that she was safe enough without him.

He went back to surfing in the mornings.

The day of their last shift, she held out so much hope.

He didn’t ask her out.

So she tries to shrug it off.

The disappointment.

The deep, far too deep, disappointment. She’s probably just not his type.

But to her surprise, that’s not the last time she sees him before school starts.

Their social clubs host a joint car wash to raise money.

She pushes down her shy feelings, knowing that if he has absolutely no interest in dating her, then there’s really no reason for her to act strangely around him. It would simply be rude of her to ignore him after spending all summer the way they did on the bus together. Gathering her courage, she walks up to him and calls out his name, “Naruto! Hi!” She smiles, hoping to appear as cheerful as possible.

“Oh!” He turns from his friends, already knowing whose voice it was, but still caught off-guard.

She’s dressed really casually--in shorts, a shirt, and rubber slippers, obviously appropriate for the day’s work, but still strange to see on her. He somehow thought maybe she didn’t own casual clothes like that.

“Hinata! Hi!” he responds, a little belatedly. He feels really stupid, somehow his grin feels unnatural, too tense. He watches her smile again and then turn back to her friends.

Something gnaws at his consciousness, like he missed out on saying or doing something he should have done in that moment. Ask her how she’s been in the past week? He just saw her not too long ago, so that would be dumb to ask.

“Whose dat again?”

He blinks out of his stare and turns to Sasuke.

“Hinata. Hinata Hyuuga. We bo’ worked night shift at da cannery.”

“You ask her out?”

“...No, nah yet…” he admits, nerves crawling around, making him feel guilty out of nowhere.

Sasuke raises a brow. “You like her?”

He shrugs his shoulders, frowning, trying to play off the intrusive question as nothing to him. “...Yeah…”

Now both of Sasuke’s brows are raised.

Naruto shifts uncomfortably. Every single second here is making him realize he should’ve gotten the deed done and over with already. Now she’s around all of his fellow club members. Any one of the other guys could ask her out by the end of the day.

She could take a liking to one of his friends. He realizes that his chances were so much higher when it was just the two of them.

She and Sakura walk around helping to pass out sponges and buckets. They introduce themselves to several boys, all of them very friendly.

Hinata herself feels very friendly. After her act of courage in facing Naruto, after getting that difficult exchange done with, she feels pretty bold.

She’s in this social club to have fun! She won’t let a little one-sided crush damper her day!

True that none of the other guys are as naturally magnetic as Naruto, but she knows that first impressions aren’t everything. All of these guys in his social club seem perfectly nice, helping to fill and carry the heavy buckets of water for the girls.

She sets to work on a car, excitedly engaging in discussions about the new school year with whoever works beside her. And with an observant eye, she manages to not work on the same side of a car as Naruto.

Two hours pass in laughter and good spirits, even with how the noonday sun beats down, pouring heat over the asphalt lot.

The once cool water comes out hot from the hose, and the buckets are just puddles of liquid sun she has to dunk her hand and sponge into as infrequently as possible.

The constant bending is nothing to her, though. After a whole summer of cannery work on her feet, she’s pretty sure she’s more fit than last year. She’s not even sweating as much as she thought she would.

Until she gets up too fast.

Her head sears hot, her vision darkening into pinpoints of bright light.

She tries to squint, to see through the sudden tunnels of black, but her eyes burn, and just as quickly, she feels off-balance, her head too heavy to hold up.

She crouches down, face in her hands, confused and pained.

“Hinata, you okay?” Sakura, most likely.

“I can’t see.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t see,” she repeats, trying to stay calm despite the painful splotches of color beneath her eye lids. “It hurts.” And she feels like she’s going to pass out, but she refuses to embarrass herself like that in front of everyone.

“Oh my gosh… Water. Water!” Sakura says louder.

“Wut’s wrong!” Another voice.

Oh no, not that voice.

“She’s dehydrated I think!”

“Oh shit,” he curses.

Hinata sits as still as possible, focusing on not tipping over into a ball and fainting right there on the dirty, poky ground. Not again.

“Here, water,” Sakura says, her voice stressed and concerned. “Can you raise your head?”

“Mm.” She slowly lifts her face and opens her mouth.

A plastic water bottle is placed at her lips, lukewarm liquid flowing onto her tongue. She drinks it dutifully, the pain in her head clearing rather quickly.

She eventually pushes the water bottle away and wipes her lips on the back of her hand. “Thank you,” she breathes out, relieved that her head’s weight is starting to feel normal again. But she keeps her eyes closed, too afraid to strain her vision. Or to see if she attracted everyone’s attention...or to find out if Naruto is still there.

“Do you feel better?” Sakura asks, still sounding way more worried than necessary.

“Yeah, thank you, Sakura.”

“Can you see?”

“I don’t know…” She doesn’t want to test herself too soon, but she cracks her eyes open, if only to assure Sakura that she’s okay.

The world is a bright fog through the slight cracks of her eyelids.

But it doesn’t hurt.

“I’ll be able to see fine in a minute, I think.”

Sakura sighs in relief. “Good.”

A random boy whose deep voice she doesn’t recognize asks what happened.

“She dehydrated,” Naruto answers.

Hinata doesn’t know whether to feel flattered or dreadfully embarrassed that he’s still there.

“Oh, das not good,” the other boy assesses.

“Yeah…” Naruto agrees.

“I’ll be fine in a moment!” Hinata pipes up, her personality automatically choosing to feel embarrassed.

The unknown guy makes a sound of uncertainty.

“Yeah, Hinata,” Sakura adds on. “I don’t think you should help out right away. You could’ve gotten heatstroke.”

“Heatstroke?” she asks.

“Dere’s no shade ‘round hea,” Naruto comments.

Hinata slowly forces her eyes to adjust, hoping to prove them all wrong. “I can see. I’m fine.” She starts to get up carefully.

More sounds of uncertainty resound behind her, and she hates how all three of them are treating her like she could collapse at any moment.

Like, even if she could collapse at any moment, even if that is what just happened, she doesn’t want this to be how everyone sees her from now on. Like some weak, stupid girl who forgets to drink water on a hot day.

Even if that is what she is.

“I can take her home.” Naruto’s invitation has her finally turning around to face her audience.

To her relief, it’s just the three of them, Sakura, Naruto, and a pretty, black-haired Japanese boy she’s seen him hanging out with.

“Yeah, take her home,” the pretty boy says. He claps Naruto’s arm.

Naruto gives some kind of smile that’s really cute, and Hinata has to force herself to try not to examine anything he’s said or done in the past five minutes.

He made her over-examine his behavior all summer, only for it to amount to nothing. He’s just really nice and treats her like a good friend. That’s all.

Sakura helps her walk to his car.

And all too soon, she’s sitting right next to him.

Naruto starts up the engine, blasting the AC so that cool air roars onto their heated faces.

“I’m sorry.” She gulps down a knot of discomfort in her throat, already regretting so much.

“Nah, no need say dat.” His stomach feels sore, his legs antsy. He was trying to nonchalantly work on the cars by her, but somehow, he wonders if she was avoiding him.

She’s too nice to do that, right? She never tried to avoid him at their summer job…

He needs to gauge her interest in him. So after he backs out of the parking space and safely makes it into traffic, he ventures conversation. “How you feeling now?”

She nods. “I feel better. I could’ve stayed, I think…”

“...Oh…” He’s already on Moanalua Home Road, and turning around now would be humbug. “Are you sure?”

“Mm…” She’s not sure. She just doesn’t want to seem so frail.

“‘S'okay, ya know? Already get plenny help, das why, no need chance 'm.”

“Mm...okay… Thank you...I’m sorry…”

With conversation finding its natural, quick end, he finds himself wracking his brain for ideas. He has about five more minutes with her before they get to her house. I should ask her out...I should just ask her...just ask her…

“Oh, I like this song.”

“Hm?” He turns the radio up, glad to focus on something outside of his brain. “Oh, yeah!”

It’s a newish one by Cecilio and Kapono, one he imagines will be really popular at social club dances, the slow tempo is perfect.

Not knowing what else to do to fill the silence, she starts singing softly. She can tell he’s glancing at her, but she keeps her eyes fixed determinedly forward, her gut turning to jelly as the romantic meaning registers in her mind. “...Our small moment that we shared, Is only yours and mine, No one else is really going to know, That I care about you…”

His cheeks flush. This song really is perfect for a social club dance. He never paid that much attention to the lyrics, but with her soft voice singing them, the words are suddenly resonating, hitting a little too close-to-home.

“And all the questions that I asked myself about you…”

He's made up his mind. He’s going to ask her out.

“Won’t you come and be with me…”

Right after this song.

“That if you come and stay you’re going to see, That I care about you.”

He relaxes into his seat, his grasp, unintentionally tight on the wheel, relaxes, too. If she's comfortable enough to sing in his presence, then there's nothing stopping him from feeling comfortable, too. It's actually really nice to know that she's willing to do something like this with him. He's stressed out for nothing. He's hesitating for nothing. And maybe, if things work out, this feeling...this moment...would be normal...

She peeks at him, and...he’s smiling. He’s not teasing, laughing, or grimacing at her. So she continues singing, relieved.

When the song finishes, he lowers the volume, reassured, readier than ever. “Hinata…”

She blinks, realizing they’re really close to her house, and Naruto doesn't know where to go. “Oh! You turn left at the intersection after this light.”

Jarred to the present, he suddenly notices his heart racing, despite how calm he felt not even ten seconds ago. The words get lost on his tongue, and he simply follows her instructions, the opportune moment evaporating into nothing.

“It’s that house,” she points, and he slows, pulling over against the curb.

She turns to him to give her appreciation properly.

But he’s facing directly toward her, his usually cheerful expression one of uncharacteristic focus.

Her heart leaps into her throat.

“Hinata," he repeats. "You like, go movies with me, sometime?”

She nods, speechless, because yes, yes, yes.

And he visibly relaxes. He can breathe again. Her agreement was so much easier than he thought it would be. “I go check da listings den, okay? And I’ll call you?”

She nods, eyes growing wide as everything starts to sink in.

He nods, too, an embarrassed smile working at his mouth. “Talk to you later den, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she breathes, a smile forming in reaction. In a fog of happiness, she steps out of the car, nearly forgetting. “Oh, thank you for taking me home!”

He nods, thinking that this won't be the last time he makes sure she gets home. He notices how her happy smile lights up her eyes like earlier at the carwash, but now, it’s directed at him, him only. And once she disappears into her house, more than anything, he feels incredible relief.

And excitement.

He gets the feeling…

She gets the feeling…

This is going to last.

#naruhina2020 #naruhina fanfic #naruhina fanfiction #1970s au #dialect fic #code switching #race changes au #high school au #thank you for reading!

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steve0discusses · 3 years

Text

The Fullmetal Alchemist Live Action Movie Part 7: More Philosopher Stones than their PC Farm Can Possibly Render

So last we left off, a bunch of weird stuff was happening. Mustang just set Envy on fire, Lust and Gluttony kind of walked up from stage left, and Ed and Hawkeye just broke out of bougie jail and barged through a chain link fence on some Jeep. Good thing Mustang is here to explain it all to us:

(FYI I am so bad at spelling homunculus. I don’t even know which way is real anymore.)

What is incredible about this movie is just how much everyone else already knows, while Ed knows freaking nothing. Also, if you know about homunculi, then you know about sorcerer stones, and you’d know about...most of the things in Fullmetal Alchemist. Assuming that Mustang, who can look at a homunculus tattoo and be like “yep that’s a homunculus” doesn’t know anything else is kind of a big leap.

This actor had fun. I legitimately enjoy the actor who plays Mustang, I really do.

Anyway, we do get a little bit more explanation at this point by going back to the part where Hughes dies and just...showing it a second time but with this extra reveal:

(see Hughes die yet again under the cut because this movie did it not just once but twice)

It’s at this point that Hughes turns to the phone and in his dying breath is like “It’s lab 5, go to the old POW camp, at lab 5” but not only did I think that the person on the line was the general (Because Hughes originally said it was the general) apparently now the person on the line is...Mustang? And that’s why Mustang knew about lab 5?

Like it’s...it’s just kind of confusing. I know this plot because I’ve seen the anime, but if you have not seen the anime beforehand or read the books, you’d be so freakin up a creek right now about why we saw this scene twice, and why it was completely different both times.

To make things even more confusing, that whole Tucker side plot is so random, that not even our baddies know what is going on with that whole Tucker side plot.

Anyway we have to give Gluttony and Envy have to do something in order to make their presence make sense. Honestly Gluttony just needs to have a single line in this movie.

Just everything is that same shiny neutral Phong. Look at all that Phong. Like other parts of this movie are passable, this was just so hilariously overlooked.

And like I dunno if this was a teeth harness or not but damn. Damn that looks stupid from the back, hahaha. He kind of lumbers slowly after these 9 dudes (same extras we’ve seen everywhere else, ps—this is still just the same guys) and it’s not all that scary because like...they can easily outrun him. The only way you can die to Gluttony is if you trip and then take a nap for a little bit.

Mustang gets hurt and it’s kind of funny how they shot it. It was actually rough to cap because they have to do so many tricks to not show us exactly what is happening, so they rely on sounds, on zooming in on people’s shocked expressions, because they Do Not Have The Budget to do more than this.

I don’t remember if this happened in the anime, too. Like from this point forward everything is kind of like “can you spot the source material?” because it’s just become so jumbled at this point.

Ed, who as you can imagine is a bundle of emotions by default, suddenly gets really protective of his mean Dad although like...we’ve barely made Mustang seem like a Father. Hell, we’ve barely made Ed seem like a kid. Why would he get weird and conflicted now?

Just the awkward teenage energy that only occasionally stems off of Ed is very unpredictable.

This is a full grown man.

Finally, we make it to Lab Number Five, the correct one this time. It’s got an alchemy circle…

It’s got a ceiling full of...zombie corpses, if you squint real good because I have to shrink all these images (Yes, they fit in the zombie corpses, but could not fit in the North or Father or Ling Yao or like anything Armstrong) It’s got everything that we need to put that nail into that Fullmetal Alchemist coffin, but ran out of time to fully explain or do.

It’s even got Al!

Yep, this is happening now, this part of the show. Ed is just having a WILD TIME trying to keep up with it and so are we.

So apparently Shou could just turn Al “off” this whole time. This explains why Al was just chilling under a blanket for 36 hours, but like...doesn’t really explain how Shou can do this or why he is bothering to do it right now.

But we need Shou because...well someone has to tell Ed what the plot is and what he should be doing at this very moment.

(Winry is here too)

So, with the threat of Winry getting shot in the head, Shou Tucker demands that Ed make it impossible to do any magic, because magic is very expensive and hard to animate. I could be wrong...but I’m pretty sure he also took off his right arm in the show at some point nearish to the end...I think? Forgive me, everything before 2020 is kind of a haze in my memory.

PS him ripping his hand off with all these sparks everywhere gave me serious Star Wars prequel vibes that I can’t explain. Something about the CGI, something about this contrived mess was like “Ah, I’ve felt this insanity before...long ago in a simpler time” and it was kind of nostalgic for me.

GOL LOOK AT THAT.

This Mickey Mouse glove just hot chilling on that sparking end. Hahaha I love it so much!

Shou just...delivers one of the most important reveals, sending Ed on a bit of a spirit journey because the stones he’s wanted for so long are actually very bad.

As you can imagine, because Ed likes to freak out, he has a big ass freak out, to top all freak outs. This actor spent like sooo much of his time just screaming at the ground. Which, I mean this is a shonen, so that checks out.

I’m just letting you know in case you decide to watch this movie and you have some epilepsy issues--skip this part. Just skip it. I don’t personally have it, but like...they went kind of extra in this part.

Now unlike the show, this movie has like...no apology for Dr Marcoh. Freakin stabbed him through the chest and was like “I don’t care if it means we can’t have the original FMA ending I freakin hate this guy” and you know...good on you, movie. Dr Marcoh was a really bad person. Thank you for not even attempting to justify this godawful man.

This crazy ass fanfiction movie.

Anyway, Shou directs Ed to look 10 feet up to get the rest of that juicy content. That Juicy FMA DLC that was within eye distance this entire time but youknow...cropped offscreen so it just didn’t exist.

Can’t believe this wasn’t the FIRST THING you’d notice when coming into this room, since Ed has been hardwired for red stones for like 10+ years. But youknow.

Anyways, we’re getting a ton of visual elements from FMA, just checking off that check list here in the last 1/3 of the movie. But wait, it gets weirder.

What I love about this is that Shou tells us all of this stuff because I guess Ed asked for Philosopher stones once, and even Shou is like...heyyy I figured it out! But like...hell would anyone even want to do this though?

Because that’s what happens when you have Shou freakin Tucker reveal the big master plan when he is not the big master. Like this explains nothing about Father, about Ed’s Dad, about the homunculi, about the corpses in the ceiling, like there’s just no explanation, other than just –“hey! Look at this atrocity I found just now!”

There is actually a horror element to that, where you don’t need to explain everything if you’re doing horror. If this were a horror movie, this would probably...be fine. You could have a fully explained movie by just saying “they turned POW camp people into rocks and now the zombies are here!” and that would be fine.

But it’s just...that isn’t this movie. I had so many expectations. And honestly...I expected way too much from 1.5 hours of content.

So Shou pulls a gun on Ed, which makes sense. Ed is lookin to make stones, and if stones are made out of people—then it’s time to kill Ed. First thing that make sense in this movie, but I don’t know if it makes sense coming from Shou freakin Tucker who made it seem like he just wanted to kill Ed because Ed got him arrested that one time.

It may have been just the translation on my end but like...Shou’s reason for pulling a gun out here was a little nonsense. But Shou himself is already a little nonsense anyway.

So we say goodbye, for the last time, being honest—he’s fully dead—he’s not coming back—to Shou Freakin Tucker. You were a mess Shou. I won’t miss you.

And if I forgot that this guy comes back, I fully apologize ahead of time, but I am 99% positive that I remembered that this guy never comes back.

(He might come back.)

And then Lust is like “Hakuro why did you do that? Like what are you even doing???”

And everyone else is like “Oh, the General. Of course. Why didn’t I uhhh….see that coming?”

Because they had to condense a whole bunch of corrupt Generals for this movie into one character, and so I guess Hakuro took it for the team?

Also these guys are here.

Just every single person standing in this room is pretty confused, as you can imagine. No one really expects to open up Volume 2 of FMA and it’s accidentally printed the last page of the entire series.

Anyway, that’s all for this 15 minutes (It was actually a little short 15 because there was ton of caps) I’m very tired because I did this workout routine with bro that was like 300 squats and I don’t know what day it is. I wrote “update blog” in my bullet journal (because it’s January, so I’m bullet journaling) so I’m just gonna do that because I want to use this green sparkly jelly pen and cross off all of today. Mm. Satisfying.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/fma/chrono

#FMA #Fullmetal alchemist the live action movie #live action #fullmetal alchemist #recap #photo recap #ed elric #al elric #though putting al as a credit in this one seems like a stretch cuz he just freakin sat there the whole time #hawkeye #colonel mustang #maes hughes #shou tucker #just can't have enough shou tucker #Can you even believe that this went so quickly when I finally just did it? Amazing. Amazing how little productivity I had last year wow.#Hopefully this year I can get this blog back up to old productivity #we'll see what happens because it's still a bit of a weird situation outside

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fuwafuwamedb · 4 years

Text

The King’s Dumu Lugal Pt 16 (Hakuno, CasGil, Nero, Merlin)

Previously: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

____

Ur-Nungal was falling asleep against him as Nero and Hakuno finally parted from one another. The emperor was being contacted, her little phone vibrating against her side as she pulled away from gossiping away with Hakuno about what Hakuno had been doing with her son all this time and on plans for the future.

The Roman Emperor had managed to sneak in a vow from the woman for her to visit and spend time with her. They planned an outing with one another to one of the singularities that the Emperor had seen.

“You will like Shinjuku,” she promised, smiling. “Gudako took me alongside a few others. We can get you a new dress since the one you had from me is lost.”

He knew exactly where that dress was.

Actually, noting Hakuno’s feelings about not only having lost the dress but also having to confess that the Roman attire was lost, he had half a mind to see about having the fabrics fixed and the stains pulled from the fabric. It couldn’t be terribly difficult.

“I will see you soon, Praetor!”

The blonde simply beamed with all the happiness of the moon and sun, rushing out of the room with her phone to her ear.

“I’m on my way, Master!”

Right.

Caster groaned internally as he realized.

He hadn’t gone to the command room to join training.

There was no leaving now though. Despite his master working on Casters, there was no good way of pulling away from the scene he was in now with Ur napping away like this. There was a small hand pressed to his chest, a tired blond headed child currently dreaming of lions and kingdoms. Even as the door closed, matters progressed.

Hakuno herself drifted to his side, slipping herself beneath his arm and holding the useless limb hostage in her embrace.

Leaning in close earned him a soft hum.

The room itself was abundantly silent.

It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to have a silent room. Certainly, there was time and space to think. He had command over the entire space around him and could do whatever he pleased…

However…

Perhaps he had not grown up as much as he would have liked to have believed.

The silence was growing, closing in around him in the space. The cuddling and the closed eyes of the woman at his side and his son in his arms left him somewhat alone in a sense. There could have been anything said, any kind of distraction in the room built. Instead, there was nothing of the sort.

Looking down to Hakuno’s side, he felt his frown grow forth from this mounting urge to move and to speak. She was needing this rest, needing this time to steal away personal pleasure like the kind that could only be found in sleeping. This was good. She was finally being selfish.

However…

Ur shifted before he could finish that thought.

Those red eyes looked up at him blearily, the boy’s small smile looking so much like his mother’s own.

“Abum! Ah-“

“Shhh,” Gilgamesh urged, pulling his son a little higher.

This wasn’t the time for babbling and noise. This was the time for rest.

A prince needed to understand the importance of rest. He needed to take pleasure in all things, both the active and the inactive. Pressing his lips to his son’s forehead, he could feel his son squirm and pat at his face, the small noises calming.

“I need to leave you in here a moment,” he told his son, moving to set him nearby.

“Abum!”

“Shhhh,” he bid again, knowing that the sound was next to useless.

Hakuno’s body was warm as he lifted it, carrying her back to their bed and tucking her gently beneath the sheets. He pulled the blankets over her, watching her stir quietly until finding one of his discarded pieces of clothing on the bed.

Her face pressed to the fabric, her body settling in.

His other self had gained a life entirely foreign from their precious world. He had a wife and a child. He had unerring devotion and he created a strange look in Hakuno’s eyes that she gave when she looked at him. He’d seen it long before he had taken over here to help with Ur-Nungal. She had given the same look the moment she had seen him here in Chaldea.

He wanted to know more.

How had they met?

How had she lost her heart to him?

Had his young self done something that would drive to the brink of her happiness? Had he shown her Uruk before? In any manner? Did she know of Enki- of his former friend?

“Abum!” A young toddler’s voice called.

Caster leaned in, brushing the hair back from Hakuno’s face and pressing his lips to hers a moment before he went out the door.

He had the Roman Emperor around to sway the woman away from her concerns. He was here himself, for helping with the rearing of his heir. There was no lack of support now for Hakuno, especially when all of Chaldea now knew of the boy and his mother.

Ur was wiggling around on the couch, babbling as he returned and pulled his son to the floor.

The toys were once more pulled forth for him.

“Ahh!” His hands waved for the lion from before.

“You have to be careful about lions,” Gilgamesh murmured to him. “I saw what you did before. The lions will not like you if you are only rough with them.”

His son swung the fake beast around, those red eyes looking at him.

“You have to treat what is yours carefully. Otherwise they will break.” Gilgamesh leaned in, pulling the toy softly from his hands and showing his son how to pet the beast lightly. “Nothing wants to be toyed with, especially those with the power to make things easier for you. Your beast is soft and capable of devouring all of your nightmares away. You should treat it with care.”

“Kischie.”

“This is a kitty. You are correct, but this is your kitty.”

The boy’s arms wrapped around his toy more as he said this, those red eyes looking up at him.

“You seem to understand.”

His son stared at him a moment before he looked back at his lion.

“When you learn how to be responsible with your toy, perhaps we will get you a couple real ones. They are good for a boy. Anything that comes for you can be eaten.”

Ur’s arms released the lion, his little body on the move once more. The restless boy was wiggling his way against him, cuddling against his chest.

“Abum,” his son cooed. “Ahhh.”

“You have so much of your mother in you,” Gilgamesh murmured, pulling his son up into his arms and nuzzling his face against the child. “And you will never have any idea how much you are cared for. What a foolish little life you are.”

He would have to teach his son magecraft when he grew old enough. Along with that, he would have to do something about this meddlesome little problem of his son’s.

The Gates of Babylon were opening around the boy, with random knickknacks falling to the ground around them.

“You troublesome little golden mouse,” Gilgamesh murmured, pressing his lips to the boy’s nose this time.

The spluttering of giggles that erupted brought a small smirk to his lips, his mouth parting to murmur more to the boy.

“GILGAMESH!”

Gilgamesh looked up, pausing at the sight of Gudako in the doorway.

“I’ve gotta get Hakuno and you out of Chaldea.”

“What’s going on?” Gilgamesh moved to his feet, pulling his son to his chest.

“I’ve got a random inspection coming in from the Mages Association. Merlin’s ready to tear open a passage to Uruk, but I need you guys heading-“

His hand waved, opening the gates around the room. He didn’t bother with packing. Such things were useless. If Gudako was saying that they had to move, then they had to move. The Chaldean had done enough on his behalf.

“Where’s Hakuno?” Gudako moved forward, heading for the bedroom. “We need her-“

“Don’t.”

Holding his son close, Gilgamesh quickened his pace to move around the Chaldean, blocking her path.

“Send for Merlin,” he ordered, “but don’t wake Hakuno. She’s been through enough for today.”

“Is she-“

“She’ll be fine. She’s just exhausted.” And if there was anyone who knew the fallout of fatigue and exhaustion, it would be him.

“I don’t think it’s smart to not wake her. You have to carry Ur. She should be awake.”

“I’ll carry them both. I’m more than capable.”

He had been thinking about how to manage that since the woman had fallen asleep against him enough times already. The carrying his son on his wife’s chest had been good for short distance, but he would think of something different.

“Gilgamesh-“

“Fetch Merlin, woman.”

She nodded, glancing at the bedroom a moment before she rushed out. Mash was waiting for her, already pulling her along the moment she stepped from the room.

As for him?

He dumped everything in the gates, paying little mind to much other than to get it out of the space. If they were inspecting, that meant that they would be looking for any sign of Hakuno or Ur. It meant that the space was better empty than furnished. It meant that it was better for them to wonder about the space rather than to wonder about a stray bit of anything in the rooms.

The bathroom was emptied.

The closet was sucked into the gates next.

Each tick of the clock felt long. He could almost feel the silence pressing in as he opened the door to his bedroom with Hakuno and looked around.

The fabric would work on the bed. He could makeshift something to hold his son and tie it into place. Hakuno’s person could be placed carefully on his back and he could have Merlin transfer them to the ziggurat in Uruk.

“King?”

He popped his head from the room as he let all but the bed fall into his gates.

“Gilgamesh?”

“We’re in here,” Gilgamesh beckoned. “How far-“

“Gudako is greeting the guests already.”

So it was that fast.

“Ensure nothing in these rooms remains after I am gone,” he instructed. “I don’t want my master getting into trouble for harboring my woman.”

“Master… Did you not get told-“

“Merlin,” Gilgamesh glanced over at the man. “We have little time.”

It took a minute, one whole minute longer than he was comfortable with. Tying the fabric into place, he found his son squirming awkwardly, unaccustomed to the strange support. Hakuno was another matter, requiring him to almost lean forward too far to hold her well.

The method was impractical.

It didn’t need to work for long, but-

Gilgamesh let the bed and that underneath it be swallowed now, looking to Merlin.

“Shift us to Uruk.”

“Give everyone my best,” Merlin replied a moment before the world vanished around them.

His body nearly keeled over the moment that he fell onto his throne room stairs.

A working Siduri gasped and fell back at the sudden appearance, her eyes widening at the sight before her.

“M-My king!”

“Have the servants prepare my chambers,” he commanded. “The consort and prince have arrived with me back to Uruk.”

#drabble #drabbles

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fantasiesandbooks · 4 years

Text

Tenerife Sea xiv

I don’t own any of the photos.

Prologue Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

Soundtrack 1

Soundtrack 2

warnings: slightly smut-ish in one part.

It was Friday evening. Chanyeol was on his way to pick you up from work since today you two were gonna go to the dance class he had agreed to take with you. He was almost at the place where he always pick you up when you called him.

“Hi honey, I’m almost there” He said as he was rounding the corner.

“Hi! Don’t worry about it. I’m exiting the building. I was calling because I have thought you would be there already” You explained through the speaker.

“I would have but Baekhyun wanted some help with assembling a toy from his new collection and time went by so fast”. The tall boy explained.

“Aw you’re such a good friend” you cooed through the phone.

“Shut up” Chanyeol laughted.

“I think I see you” You said, looking at a grey van that was approaching.

“I see you too” Chanyeol said.

“Ok. See you in a bit” You said.

“Bye” Chanyeol hang up as he was parking next to the sidewalk in front of you.

You waved at him through the glass and pull the door handle to open it. You hop on and closed the door. Chanyeol took some of your bags from you and put them on the backseat among his things. You turned to looked at him and smiled.

“Hey. Thank you” You said and smiled at him.

Although you wanted to give him a kiss, both of you had agreed that maybe that kind of greetings, even in the inside of his car wouldn’t be possible since there was the possibility that there would be paparazzi and people snooping around. You two would only get to be affectionate towards each other when you were certain there was no one around that could leak a photo to the world.

“Hey” he smiled back and squeezed your hand gently. He started the engine and started driving towards the dance studio.

“How was your day?” Chanyeol asked you while keeping his gaze at the front.

“Tiring. I have thought that these days would be more relaxed since the holidays are approaching but they decided to make a new section for the Christmas edition and guess who has to edit all the articles from it?” You asked sarcastically while pointing at yourself. Chanyeol looked at you quickly and let out a sneer.

“And there’s no one who can help you with that?” Chanyeol asked you.

“No. It’s just me and another co- worker” you let out a sigh “the only good think about it is that after Christmas Eve the magazine will be closed until the first days of January. The following weeks we get to do home office” You said relieved.

“That’s nice. We could spend more time together” Chanyeol said.

“You are waking up when I am just returning from my lunch hour.” You mocked.

“Yeah but I could get up earlier, go to your place, have breakfast while I watch you working and take a nap after it” Chanyeol said and you sneered.

“I don’t think so” you said. “but you could stop by for lunch” you suggested instead.

“Ok” Chanyeol said satisfied with the outcome.

“Hey, are you coming to the concerts?”. Chanyeol asked you

“Only for the first one. I’ve been thinking about it and today I was checking some flights. I think it’s time for me to go back home. I want to be there by New Year’s Eve” You said calmly but you were a little bit worried about Chanyeol’s reaction.

“Oh... ok” Was the only thing he said after a moment.

“Is that ok with you?” You asked him hesitantly at his lack of words.

“Of course. What makes you think I’m not ok with it?” Chanyeol said surprised.

“Your short response. And the fact that this would be the first holidays we get to spend as a couple”. you explained.

“I’m just surprised for your decision but I also know that you miss your family and if you want to go I totally support you” Chanyeol said and gave you a side smile.

“Thank you. That means a lot to me” you said and smiled at him “I mean it’s still a thought though. I still have to prepare all the luggage I have to take with me and book the flight”.

“Well I’m still free for the next two weeks before the rehearsals for the concerts. I can help you with the luggage. Do you have to pack a lot of things?” Chanyeol said.

You thought about it for a couple of seconds before you answered “Like five suitcases”.

“Are you going for the holidays or are you planning on leaving town?” Chanyeol asked you sarcastically.

You laughed at his comment “I’m not leaving permanently. It’s just that I have to take a lot of clothes and shoes to leave them there” you explained.

“You need an intervention for all the online shopping you do” The tall boy said amused and you lifted a brow at him.

“Says the guy who orders everything online. Seriously, I think that the mailman gets to see you more than I can” You countered back.

“I don’t buy everything online. Besides I do that because it’s easier that going to the malls, specially in this time of the year” Chanyeol explained.

“Yeol you have so much clothes that you can’t even tell which ones are new.Remember what happened with Junmyeon’s jacket” You said.

Touché you thought.

Chanyeol scoffed at remembering that incident “It was one time and you guys don’t let me live after that”.

“That’s because you need to stop buying things online, at the malls, just buying in general” You said.

“Ok let’s make a promise. We will not buy anything from today until January, do you agree with that?” Chanyeol asked you.

“Ok but... first let me buy all the Christmas presents and after that I can keep that promise without any problem” you said.

Chanyeol shook his head amused “Fine. Only because I had to buy presents too”.

You smiled widely at him “Thank you. You are the best boyfriend I could have asked for” you said.

“I know” Chanyeol said smugly and you slapped his arm playfully.

“And what can you tell me about your day? Did you do a lot of fun stuff? Do you love more than yesterday?” You asked him.

“I will answer you in the order of your questions. 1. I woke up late, did some workout, prepared my stuff for the class, helped Baekhyun and came to pick you up. 2. The first 3 things weren’t that fun to do except for waking up late. I really needed that. And 3. Yes, I love you more than yesterday” Chanyeol looked at you with a cheeky smile on his face.

“Good to know” you chuckled.

“We are here” Chanyeol indicated.

“Are you excited for it?” You asked him happily.

“Not really but let’s see how it goes down” Chanyeol said.

“Ok”. You said with a resigned expression.

You two got out of the car, picked up their bags and started walking towards the building. “But it’s not a pole dance class, right? Because if it is then I will only be a viewer” Chanyeol said and you laughed out loud.

“No Yeol. It’s not a pole dance class. I sign us up for a class were they teach us different dancing styles. You really need to loose those hips” you said teasingly.

Chanyeol scoffed at you “May you pardon but lately my hips have been looser than ever. Haven’t you see me doing the “Rolling Rolling” dance from Baekhyun’s song?” Chanyeol said offended.

“Yeah, sometimes it’s like I’m watching a robot grinding over the guys” you joked. Chanyeol glared at you. You laughed at his face, took him by the arm and made him follow you.

“Come on. If you don’t like it I’m not going to insist anymore” you said to him and he sighed.

Once inside you went to change your clothes into a pair of blue pants, white t-shirt and sneakers. You grabbed your hair in a ponytail and went straight to the dance room where Chanyeol was waiting for you since he was already dressed for it.when he picked you up –He was wearing a pair of black pants, a white t-shirt, a blue jacket, his sneakers and his cap.- He was looking at some pamphlet stuck to the wall.

“What are you doing?” You said. Chanyeol got startled and you chuckled.

“Jesus you scared me” Chanyeol said.

“I’m sorry” you laughed.

“So, what is that?” You said and pointed at the paper he was reading.

“Oh, it’s a schedule where you can see all the classes that you can take. Look! there’s even one for lap dance” Chanyeol said bewildered and pointed at it. You took a step closer to look at the schedule. Indeed they have a lot of different classes.

You made a mental note of checking that out later and ask Jackson if maybe you should take another one.

“Ah yeah. I see it” you said nonchalantly.

“Can I sign you for it?” Chanyeol asked you excitedly and you gave him a pointed look.

“Only if you put a show for me like the one in Magic Mike” You said. Chanyeol opened his mouth to counter back when the teacher came in an interrupted you.

“Good evening” She said cheerfully. Both of you greeted her back.

“My name is Minnie and I’m gonna be your teacher for tonight” she announced. “I would like to know our names before we start”.

“I’m y/n and he is Chanyeol. Nice to meet you” you said and smiled at her.

“Oh yeah. That’s why I had thought you look familiar” She said to Chanyeol and he averted his gaze awkwardly. “It’s nice to meet you too” she said to you.

“Teacher since you already noticed he is famous, could you please don’t talk about this to anyone? We are friends and we don’t want a misunderstanding” You said politely.

“Of course. There are a lot of famous people that come here to take classes and we know how troublesome can be for them. Don’t worry about it” she said.

“Thank you” both of you said.

“So let’s begin with the class. I’m gonna teach you choreographies for different kinds of songs; there’s gonna be hip-hop, pop and some latin ones”. You and Chanyeol nodded.

“Ok then. Please stand right there. I’m gonna put on some music” She said and headed towards the speakers.

“Is it too late to have second thoughts about this?” Chanyeol asked you hesitantly.

“Yep” you said. “Just relax, it’s not like you’re performing in front of your fans”.

“No, but the only songs I dance to are our own”. Chanyeol said referring to his group.

“That’s why you need this class” you said matter of factly.

The music started playing and Chanyeol look at himself through the mirror. Ok. If Sehun and Jongin can do it so can I He thought and high fived himself.

After 2 hours of practice Chanyeol and you were seating on the floor exhausted. You were taking a sip of water when Chanyeol turned to look at you.

“My legs are so sore” The tall boy panted.

“I can hear my knees screaming” you breathed. The teacher laughed at you two.

“I would have thought you would be in better shape Chanyeol” She looked at the boy amused.

“There has been two weeks since the last performance we had. Plus, I have danced some difficult choreographies but you lost me with the Latin ones. They moved so fast” He said.

Minnie chuckled at his statement “yeah. This is not even half of it. There are dancing styles where they move faster”. Chanyeol looked at her surprised.

“Well guys, It was lovely to meet you but I have another class in about 5 minutes so I have to go to the other room. I hope you had enjoyed the class and if you want another one you already had my schedule” your teacher said and picked up her stuff.

“Thank you teacher” you and Chanyeol said and waved her goodbye as she was exiting the room.

“I’m so proud of you honey” you said at Chanyeol and raised your hand in order for him to high five you.

Chanyeol smiled widely at you “thank you. Actually it was pretty cool. Maybe we could take another one the next week”.

“Whenever you want”. You smiled pleased. Both of you picked up your things and you turned to look at him.

“I’m so proud of you that I could kiss you right now” you said. Chanyeol grabbed you by your waist, pulled you towards him and a smirk was drawn on his face “And what is stopping you from it?”.

You gave him a mischievous look and said “Look up at the right corner. There is a camera” you said. Chanyeol looked at the place you said and saw a little green dot twinkling. He hadn’t noticed that when he first walked in nor when you were taking the class but you were such an observer sometimes that you could easily spotted things like that. Still his mischievous smile never left his face “I have my cap on. No one will know who you are kissing”.

You smiled at him and cupped his face in your hands. You stood up on your tiptoes the best you could and closed the distance between yours and his lips.

“Fine, only one kiss.” You whispered and joined your mouths. Your boyfriend was smiling against it and after a moment, which Chanyeol thought it was very short, you separated from him.

“That was a peck not a kiss” Chanyeol complained.

“I said one kiss not a make out session” you laughed.

Chanyeol frowned at you “Fine. We are having that at home” he said and you stared at him mischievously.

You were walking towards his car, breathing in the night air and looking at the sky. You were enjoying the sight of it and smiled.

Chanyeol stared at you “Why are you smiling?” He asked you. “Look at the sky, the moon is so bright and big today” You said and looked up again.

Chanyeol looked up. He saw the sky with its blues and blackish colors, some stars scattered around it and the moon big and white. The look of all those things combined brought him peacefulness.

Then he heard you chuckled and settled his gaze on you again “what now?” The tall boy said.

“I remembered what you had said earlier about if this class wasn’t a pole dance one and I imagined how would you look like hanging from a pole giving the show of your life for a couple of bills” You said while laughing. He pushed you gently but the image that came to his mind with your description was laughable. “You can be so silly sometimes. Besides, I would only accept bills of 20 or higher”. He said smugly.

“Mmm... that’s cheap. I will go for Euros then” you said and he laughed out loud.

“I don’t have those. Do you accept credit card?” Chanyeol said.

“I think we can reach an agreement” you said jokingly. Both of you got inside the car and headed towards your place.

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When you arrived at it you had dinner and after it you started with your movie marathon on your bedroom. You and Chanyeol were laying on the bed. Chanyeol was drawing patterns on your arm gently and you were snuggled against his frame, your hand was resting flatly on his stomach. He started giving you little kisses on your head and forehead and you looked at him.

“What are you doing?” You asked amused.

“Giving you kisses, dah...” Chanyeol said and rolled his eyes at you.

You chuckled “I know that but you are not like that during movies” you said, still leaned over his body.

“Oh yeah, then how am I?” Chanyeol asked you with an amused expression on his face. You turned over and were laying on top of him now.

“Mostly quiet if you like the movie. If you don’t like it you start playing with my fingers or my hair.” you explained.

He put his hands on your waist and moved them gently up and down. “Maybe this is a new tactic to get your attention” Chanyeol said and shrugged.

“You have it now so what do you want?” You asked him.

Chanyeol put one of his hands on your cheek “You” he said simply and lifted his head from the pillow to kiss you.

What it started as a gentle and soft kiss soon turned into a heated one. Chanyeol rolled you over and now you were facing the ceiling and he was on top of you. He was kissing all over your face and neck. With his free hand he rolled over your top and revealed your stomach. He was trailing a path with his mouth towards it when his phone started buzzing. You looked at it over your nightstand. Baekhyun’s face appeared on the screen.

“Baekhyun is calling you” you said between breaths.

“Leave it” Chanyeol muffled against your belly. The phone stopped moving and you closed your eyes in an effort of concentrating on your boyfriend’s kisses. That didn’t last long since now it was your phone the one that was buzzing. You lifted your head to see who was calling. It was Baekhyun again.

“Chan, it’s him again” you announced “maybe we should...” you were cut off by a little pain that you felt on your lower belly when Chanyeol gave you a hickey.

“Or not” you breathed and laid again.

Your boyfriend grabbed the waistband of your pants and took them off of you. He was kissing your thighs when you heard a knock on your entrance door.

Your eyes popped open “Yeol” you called him but he was so focus on his task that didn’t answer you at first. Did I hear right? You thought to yourself when there was another knock on the door, this one louder than the first and a muffled noise after that.

“Chanyeol” you said louder and he looked at you annoyed.

“Y/n Leave it. I’m trying to...” he was saying when you gestured him to shut up.

“Listen”. You said and he frowned at you.

You two went still and heard the same noise again. You pushed Chanyeol gently aside and stood up from the bed. He gave a frustrated sigh and lay on the bed while you were putting back on your pants and went for the door. As you were approaching it you could hear someone calling your name and banging on the door. Once you were in front of it you heard Baekhyun calling you.

“Open it. Please” The white haired boy was saying out loud. You reached for the handle and opened it.

“Thank god. What took you so long?” Baekhyun slurred as soon as he look at you. “What are you doing here?” You asked baffled.

“I’ll explain” Baekhyun said and staggered forward, leaning his whole body over you.

You caught him but you were loosing your balance as he was pushing you. Both of you landed on your couch. He took the air out of you and you grimaced in pain “Oh... Chan” you half yelled.

Chanyeol was in the hallway when he noticed the open door, followed by a half unconscious Baekhyun and you trying to push him off of you. He ran to close the door and went to your side rapidly. He struggled a little bit with getting Baekhyun’s body out of you since the boy was moving so much.

You gave an intake of breath “Thanks” you said as you got up from the couch and look at Chanyeol leaving the other boy on the other sofa. “What are you doing here?” Chanyeol asked him.

“I was at this club near here and I felt tired so I came” Baekhyun explained.

“How much did you drink?” You asked him.

“A lot. Not that much. I’m still sober-ish” Baekhyun said and smiled at you. He was clearly drunk but he still comprehend some of the things you were saying.

“Did you drive like that?” You asked him incredulously.

“No. I called a cab” he said offended as if you didn’t think he was carefully enough to do that. “I feel kinda weird though”.

You sighed heavily and stared at Chanyeol who had a murderous look on his face towards his friend. “Lets put him in the guests room” you said and went to stand in front of the white haired boy to grab his hand when he made a weird face and the next thing you knew was that he was puking over your carpet, staining your leg on the process.

You gasped. “gross” you said and look at him angrily.

“I’m sorry” Baekhyun managed to say.

Chanyeol looked at the two of you disgusted.

“Take him to the bedroom please. I need to clean my leg and the mess here”. You said and looked around you.

Chanyeol grabbed the boy and put one of his arms over his shoulder.

“Yeol... thanks bro. I love you” Baekhyun said.

“Ugh... turn your face to the other side, your breath smells like vomit” Chanyeol said grossed out.

You gagged at seen your leg and went towards the kitchen to get a cloth and others things so you could clean the floor at the living room.

Come y/n you can do this without puking you encouraged you.

Chanyeol went to your room and brought some of his clothes for Baekhyun. He helped his drunk friend in getting dressed with the clean garments and although the other boy was swimming in his t-shirt and pants, he smelled better than before.

“Why are you upset?” Baekhyun asked him, looking at his friend’s grumpy face.

“You came here drunk in the middle of the night, you prevented me from getting some and if that wasn’t enough you just puked over my girlfriend”. Chanyeol listed.

“I’m sorry”. Baekhyun said regretfully.

Chanyeol sighed “Just go to sleep. There’s no use of me scolding you if you’re not going to remember anything tomorrow”.

“Thank you Yeol” Baekhyun said and looked at the tall boy with tiredness in his eyes.

You came inside the room with a bowl, a toothbrush with toothpaste on it and a bottle of water. Chanyeol looked at you weirded out. Clearly you just had taken a quick shower because your hair was wet and you smelled like your honey soap.

Baekhyun looked at you with remorse on his features “I’m so sorry y/n. I didn’t know you were getting it on with Yeol”.

You shook your head at his weird apology. “It’s ok. Now take this” you extended the toothbrush and bowl towards him.

“What’s this?” Baekhyun asked confused. “You need to brush your teeth. I can’t stand the thought of you sleeping with your vomit breath”. You explained.

Baekhyun stared at you with his puppy eyes and started sobbing “You are such a great friend. Better than any of this guys. This fuckers would have leave me like that. I don’t deserved you”. He hugged your waist and sniffled over your t-shirt. You padded his head and looked weirded out at Chanyeol to which he only smiled amused.

“Yeah yeah. Now brush your teeth ok?” You said to the white haired boy and he nodded. After Baekhyun finished with that he laid on the bed. Chanyeol was exiting the room, you followed him behind when the other boy called you.

“Y/n” Baekhyun said softly.

Chanyeol and you looked at him.

“Could you cover me with the blankets please?” Baekhyun said quietly.

You went to grabbed the blankets and put them over his body.

He smiled at the warm feeling “thank you”.

You gave him a side smile and said “you’re welcome. Good night”.

Chanyeol and you walked towards your room. Both laid on the bed and he opened his arms for you to settled your body near his. He was stroking your hair soothingly when you said “I will have to burn my carpet.”

“We can send it to the laundry” Chanyeol suggested.

“I don’t think that will work. I tried to remove the stain but there wasn’t a big difference.” you said sadly.

“Then I will not kiss your leg again”. Chanyeol said and you slapped his chest, trying to suppress a laugh.

“It was only on the low part of it and I already washed it like 3 times” you countered back.

“Wash it 2 more and I will think about it” he said jokingly.

“I hate you” you said.

“You love me” Chanyeol said confidently.

“But sometimes I hate you” you said and pouted at him. He took your lips between his fingers and pinched them slightly. He laughed at your frown.

“Oh! I have forgotten about it but do you want to go with me tomorrow to the mall? I have to buy the presents for the boys and some others for my family and co-workers.” You said.

“Sure.” Chanyeol smiled at you and you peck his lips. He grabbed your head gently and put it over his chest.

“Lets go to sleep, shall we?” He said and you closed your eyes, slowly dozing off as you heard his breathing and heartbeats slowing down.

The next morning you and Chanyeol were having breakfast on the kitchen when Baekhyun came in with his puffy eyes and disheveled hair.

“Hey” he yawned.

“Hey” Chanyeol and you greeted him.

“There is your breakfast” Chanyeol muffled with a bite of toast on his mouth. Baekhyun looked at the glass that contained a juice with a peculiar color. He made a weird gesture at it.

“What’s that?” He asked hesitantly.

“It’s supposed to help you with the hangover”. You explained.

“Suppose? So you haven’t tried it?” Baekhyun lifted a brow at you.

“No, you are gonna be the first one” You smiled at him. Chanyeol took a sip from his coffee and looked at him amused. Baekhyun took the glass and took a little sip from it. He made a gesture of disgust and coughed.

“Ugh... what is this?” Baekhyun asked grossed out.

“A combination of tomato, cucumber and lemon” you said.

“This taste like vegetable soup. I’m not drinking this” Baekhyun said and put the glass aside.

“It’s all natural. It’s good for you” you said.

Baekhyun grabbed the glass and gave it another sip reluctantly.

“Was it my imagination or the living room has something weird since the last time I stop by?” Baekhyun asked curiously.

You gave him a pointed look “Really? You don’t remember anything?”.

“About what?” The white haired boy said.

“About you vomiting all over it and her” Chanyeol pointed out.

Baekhyun eyes got rounded as plates and he blushed furiously.

“I did that? I’m so so sorry y/n. I just remembered me coming here and you opened the door. Send me the laundry’s bill” Baekhyun said regretfully.

“Leave it like that” You said and waved a hand dismissively.

“No. If you don’t want me to pay for it then I’ll make up for you in another way” Baekhyun insisted.

“If I need anything, I’ll let you know” you assured him.

“You should buy her a car just for having puked over her” Chanyeol said.

“Yeah I’m so sorry about that too” Baekhyun said ashamed without looking at you.

“Well at least I didn’t do the same when I was cleaning myself, or the floor” you said. “But if you are planning on coming here drunk again, at least you should bring a plastic bag or something like that in case you can’t reach the bathroom” you said.

“I promise you I will not come here drunk again” Baekhyun sat up straight and said that solemnly. You were looking at him doubtfully

“Fine. I’ll promise to bring a bag too just in case”. The white haired boy said.

“Thank you” you said with a pleased smile on your face.

“But you and I are not done yet” Chanyeol said at his friend sternly.

“Why did I do to you?” Baekhyun frowned at him.

“Well discussed that later” Chanyeol said.

“So what are you guys planning for today?” Baekhyun said.

“We are going to the mall because y/n has to buy some presents” Chanyeol said.

“What about you? Do you want to come with us?” You asked Baekhyun.

“Nah I’m good. I’m planning on taking a shower and have a nap. Thanks for the invitation though” Baekhyun answered.

“Ok then. You can stay here if you want. Just let me know when you leave” You said to him.

“Sure, thanks” Baekhyun smiled at you. “Are you going to eat that toast?” Baekhyun said to you and you offered him your plate for him to take it. Baekhyun took a bite from it and muffled “This is so good y/n. Can you do more of these for me?”.

“Yes but you have to finish the juice first” you gestured at the glass half full. Baekhyun grimaced and drank it in one go “Agh. Done. Now make 5 of this, please?”

You shook your head amused “on it”.

Baekhyun smiled smugly at Chanyeol and the tall boy threw his napkin at him.

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When you arrived at the mall there was a sea of people walking from one store to another.

“Maybe we should have arrived earlier” you said, regretting the choice of going at night.

“Too late now”. Chanyeol said “let’s just go for the presents and leave”.

“Yes. Do you have your list with you?” You asked him.

Chanyeol pull out his phone and shook it gently as a way of saying his list was in it.

“And you?” He asked you.

You showed him your piece of paper and nodded at him.

“How about we go on our own and whoever finish first call the other one to see its location?” You suggested.

“Ok” Chanyeol answered.

“But before that, where is the video games store?” You asked him.

“I’ll leave you there and I’ll go find my presents after it” Chanyeol said.

“Thank you” you smiled at him.

When you arrived at the store you entered immediately, Chanyeol following behind and you said to him “It’s ok, you can go now”.

“No way. There’s a lot of dudes in here. Some of them are looking at you” Chanyeol said quietly, he had a big frown on his face and a cold gaze.

“Just ignore them like I do. I came here for a game not a date. A game it’s what I’m getting” you laughed.

“I’ll stay just in case” Chanyeol said determined.

“Ok then” You said. “Now, I need to find that game for Baekhyun”.

You had bought 6 out of the 9 presents you needed for the boys including your boyfriend. You were still undecided on what to give to Sehun, Junmyeon and Chanyeol.

You were walking across the mall, trying to look around the stores in case your brain came up with some ideas for their presents.

This would be a lot easier if they weren’t rich you thought.

“What can I get for 3 grown ass men?” you said to yourself.

You were wandering for a while when an idea finally came to your mind.

I think I got it. Now I have to find the freaking store you thought and started walking in search of a map or someone that could guided you towards it.

After almost 5 hours outside you and Chanyeol arrived to your place. Baekhyun was long gone by now and surprisingly for you, you found the home as you had left it. Without a hint of chaos. You put the presents on your closet and both of you changed onto you pajamas so you could have your take out dinner.

“I feel so tired” you said while sprawling over the couch.

“Me too but I have to work on some songs for the studio” Chanyeol said.

“You should leave it for tomorrow” you said at seen his face full with tiredness.

“I can’t. They are planning on releasing it on Tuesday and I haven’t even finish it. After that I have to make the final arrangements” Chanyeol explained as he was pulling out his laptop out of his bag and setting his instruments on the table.

“Well I let you work then. But if it’s 03:00 am and you hadn’t come to bed yet, I will come here and turn off your computer” you threatened him.

Chanyeol sneered at you “Yes ma’am”.

As you were getting up you asked him “Do you want me to prepare some coffee for you?”

“That would be awesome, thank you love” Chanyeol said and you gave him a little smile. It was 02:00 am and you were watching a series marathon on your room. You took a nap before it because you wanna make sure Chanyeol would get some sleep. He hadn’t come to bed and you could hear the music that came from the living room. You got up and went to see what was he doing. Chanyeol let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his eyes. He was able to finish two songs already but he was having trouble with the one he was more eager to finish.

“Yeol” you said and he looked at you. You went to sit by his side.

“Did I wake you up?” Chanyeol asked you.

You shook you head in response “I was watching a serie. You haven’t finished huh?” You said as you see a lot of things open in his computer.

“No. I have finished two songs but the one I really need to finish, I just can’t.” Chanyeol said exasperated.

“Why don’t you release one of the other ones?” You said quizzically.

“Because... this song was the first one that I composed for this project. I have always envisioned that this one would be the first one to be out there” Chanyeol explained.

“You know sometimes the best things take more time in cooking themselves so they can be great” you said but he seemed not to catch what you were saying by the weird out look he gave you.

“I’m not making myself clear, am I?” You chuckled.

“Not really” Chanyeol admited.

“There are times when I have to write articles from the scratch and although I have some good ideas about how to started them, in some cases there comes a point in which I got stuck and I don’t know how to keep writing it. But then another idea for an article pops up in my mind and it’s so effortlessly that it’s seems it’s writing it by itself and I’m just typing. So I end up releasing that article instead of the one I did first. That one is just waiting to be finished. It may take me a day, or a week or a month but I don’t want to finish something if the ideas that I have at that moment don’t feel right with them.”

Chanyeol thought about your words for a moment “I get it but what if people don’t like the songs?” He said worriedly.

“There would always be people who wouldn’t like what you do, or what I do, or what they do but if it’s something that you like then at least you would be happy for it” you side smiled at him.

“Thank you. I needed to hear something like that” Chanyeol smiled tiredly at you.

“I think you need to release all that stress” you said and put some music on the stereo.

“You need to do that by shaking it off” you said and started whiggling. Chanyeol gave you a quizzical look and laughed at you.

“Come on. You need to release your body, let the vibe and energy fill your soul” you said and shimmied. You offered your hand at him and he took it reluctantly.

“I’m tired. I don’t want to dance” Chanyeol laughed.

“God you are so tall that I can’t spin you around” you said between breaths. You raised both of your arms so he could pass beneath them.

“Please gentleman. I can’t do this without your help” you said to him. He shook his head amused but do it anyway.

“Shake it for me”. You said enthusiastically and put your hands over his hips in order to move them.

Chanyeol laughed out loud “stop, you’re tickling me”.

You grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him.

Chanyeol caged you between his arms so you stop moving. You two were laughing and he kissed your cheek.

“You are so crazy. I love you” he said and smiled fondly at you.

“I love you too”. You said and caressed his cheek.

“I think I enjoyed watching you dance more than me dancing with you” Chanyeol said thoughtfully.

“Nonsense. If you want to see me dance you will have to do it too” You said.

“I’ll try my best” Chanyeol said. “For now I can only offer you the grinding and some swaying”.

“Ok, we can try the swaying now” you grinned.

Chanyeol forgot about the song for the rest of the night. It could wait for tomorrow since he wanted to enjoy this moment. The music flooding the room, the cozy light coming from your Christmas tree and the most important part, you smiling peacefully at him.

Thank you for the support and the love. I hope you like the series and enjoy this chapter. I’ll try to come up with the next one as soon as possible. If you have any comments regarding the series feel free to send me a message. I think it would help me a lot.^^

#chanyeol #exo au #park chanyeol #exo #chanyeol au #pcy #chanyeol fanfic #chanyeol series #exo fanfic #fic #exo scenario #chanyeol scenario

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timelock97 · 5 years

Text

Time Never Stops

Epilogue: Surprise on Set

Word Count: 2080

Prologue Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8 Ch 9 Ch 10 Ch 11 Ch 12 Ch 13 Ch 14 Ch 15 Ch 16 Ch 17 Ch 18

Warning: ITS SOFT

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"Claire, where are you, little love?" I call as I walk down the hall to the two year-old's room. I open the door to see toys spread across the floor, a Spider-Man tsum tsum that usually sat on the glider in the corner missing, as well as a Spider-Man blanket that was usually spread across the back. I raise an eyebrow at the lack of the little girl before I make my way down the hall. I smile, nudging my bedroom door open with my foot. I find Tessa and Claire curled up on the bed, her head resting on Tom's pillow, Spider-Man tsum tsum tucked under one arm, blanket spread across her back, and Tess laying her head over the curve of her spine; sleeping soundly. I pull out my phone, snapping a photo before sending it to him.

My Life💍

Image Attached

Little lovies miss you.

My Love💞

I miss my girls

My Life💍

I know

Only a few more weeks, Tommy.

My Love💞

A few weeks too long.

I have to get back to work

I love you, darling.

Give Tess and Claire love for me.

My Life💍

I will

I love you too, Thomas

"Mummy?" I lift my eyes to see Claire peek out from under the covers, looking at me with her bright, caramel colored irises.

"Hello, little love. How was your nap?" I whisper, sitting on the bed, Claire crawling into my lap.

"I miss Daddy." She whimpers, looking up at me with sad eyes. She pouts out her lower lip, matching Tom's puppy eyes to a t. I brush a curl behind her ear and press kisses all over her face just to get a giggle to escape her chest. She squeals, wrapping her arms around me neck as I cradle her to my chest.

"I know you do, but not long now. We are going to surprise Daddy, remember, but we can't tell him that. What did I tell you about that?" She places her finger to her little lips, letting out a small 'shhh.' "That's right, now. Why don't you and Tess go pack up a few toys in your blue bag-"

"The one Daddy got me when visiting Auntie Z?" Claire squeals in excitement, her hair falling in her face as she bounces on my leg.

"Yes, that one," I giggle, "I'll come in there and pack your things for the trip then Uncle Haz will take us to the airport, alright?"

Claire nods her head feverishly before crawling off my lap, sliding down the side of the bed, and running out of the room with Tessa on her heels. I let out a sigh, grabbing my suitcase from inside the closet and placing it on the bed to pack. I took time to pack a weeks worth of clothing inside the case, excited to see my husband after him being away for the past two months. I check the belongings a few more times before I walk down the hall to see Claire trying to fit as many toys inside the blue bag, so much to the point that it wouldn't zip.

"Little love, I think you have too much in your bag." I giggle, kneeling down beside her.

"But I want to show Daddy my new toys that Uncle Sam and Uncle Harry got me from their trip!" She stated, stomping her foot on the floor.

"Well, how about I repack it and then we can choose the clothes you wanna wear while we are in L.A., yeah?" I say, tucking my hand under her chin. She pouts her lip out, but nods nonetheless. "Alright, princess, let's get to packing."

Harrison shows up an hour later, staying for lunch before he drives us to the airport. Claire bounces on his leg, telling him all the things that she has been doing since the last time he watched her (which was only three days ago). He looks at me with soft eyes. "Are you going to tell him while you're there?"

"Mhm," I giggle, smiling as I sat back at the table. Claire slides off of Harrison's lap and tugs at my jeans. I scoop her up and press a kiss to her cheek.

"He's going to be excited," he laughs, as Claire takes a large bite of the sandwich on my plate, chewing with lips upturned.

"He will indeed."

I sigh happily as I make my way out of the airport, Claire's head lulled on my shoulder as I make my way to where Zendaya promised she would pick us up. I smile as I spot her, waving carefully without waking Claire up. Zendaya puts her hands out for me to pass Claire over to her, she smiles as Claire nuzzles her head into her neck, falling more deeply asleep. "I am going to grab our bag then we can go." I whisper, moving to join the crowd at the baggage claim. I stand there for a few minutes, looking back every so often to see Z bounce softly with Claire still sleeping sound in her arms. I reach across and grab the car seat and suitcase from off the belt before making my way back to Zendaya.

"Let's go, Holland," Z says with a wink, making me laugh. I follow her out and let her keep Claire preoccupied as I set the seat in her backseat and set it up. After I finish, I toss my bag in her trunk as Z places my sleeping child in her seat and buckling her in. Zendaya gets back inside the car and makes her way back to her house, letting out a sigh of relief. "So, how was she for the flight?"

"Really good," I tell her honestly, turning my head to look back at her. "She talked to the people across the row for awhile, then ended up talking to some of my fans while we waited for a connecting flight."

"She really is a people person," Z laughs, the sun setting behind the clouds.

"She is indeed," I turn back toward the front looking at her, "And you're okay with taking us to where they are shooting tomorrow, I don't want to be a burden on you-"

"You're not a burden, believe me, the boy misses you two like crazy." She states as she pulls up to her house. The two of us get out, I grab my bag while Z gets Claire out of her seat.

Once we are all settled and I have Claire tucked into bed, I smile pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Only a few more hours, little love, then we will see your Daddy."

I smile as Tom's assistant leads Claire and I out to where Tom is shooting. Jake, his assistant, smiles as he talks about how Tom has been doing nothing but talking about his little family waiting back at home. Jake motions for me to sit in Tom's chair while he goes back to finish some things up for Tom. I point out Tom for Claire, he had been playing a Mobster Boss for his latest movie, he was excited to be playing something new.

"There's your daddy, Claire-bear," I whisper. She sits up a little higher before bouncing on my lap. She opens her mouth but I am quick to shush her.

"Cut! Take a break everyone!" The director calls out, the hard expression on Tom's face softens and he lets out a small breath. I smile, setting Claire on the ground.

"Be careful, little love," I whisper, giving her the okay to run over to Tom.

She moves carefully over the cords that litter the ground, me walking behind her, before she runs as fast as her little legs will take her. "Daddy!"

Tom's head whips around, his face brightening as he watches his toddler run over to him. "Claire! My little love, what are you doing here?" Tom kneels down just as she throws herself into his arms, her arms going around his neck.

"Missed you, Daddy." She whimpers into his shoulder, Tom turning his head to kiss hers while he stands.

"Missed you too, princess." Tom's eyes fall on me, softening as he opens his arm to me. "Missed you as well, darling."

"We wanted to surprise you-"

"You definitely surprised me, loves." Tom pulls me into him, pressing a kiss to my forehead. He squeezes us closer before letting me go, but only slightly.

"Daddy," Claire tugs on his hair, messing with the slick hair behind his head.

"Claire-"

"It's fine, darling, they can fix that." He turns his head and presses kisses all over Claire's face, making her giggle. "What's wrong, princess?"

"Wanna cuddle, missed you." She states, tugging on his hair again.

"We get out early today, princess, then we can go get lunch and go cuddle." He tells her, kissing the top of her head as she cuddles into his neck, tugging his hair again. "Why don't you go see Mummy so Daddy can get his hair redone. Then we can finish up here, how's that sound?"

She only nods, reaching out for me to take her as Tom takes my hand to pull me toward his trailer. The makeup artist giggles at the way his hair is tugged out of place as she fixes it. Tom keeps looking at us in the mirror, smiling at us. Claire goes and sits on his lap for a bit until he has to be on set. At that point the two of us sit and watch him work from behind the t.v. monitors.

Tom tugs us back into his trailer after the long day, changing quickly before taking us out for lunch, and as the day progresses, the less Claire wants to nap and the more she tirely clings to Tom as much as she can.

When the evening rolls around, Tom, Claire, and I head back to his condo, only after we grab my luggage from Z's house. Claire is curled up into Tom's chest as he goes to set her in his king sized bed. He lets out a chuckle when she clings to his shirt, kissing her forehead one more time before tucking her in and walking back to where I was standing in the doorway. Tom takes my hand and tugs me out of the room and down the hall to the living room, where he pulls me into his lap and kisses me deeply.

"God, I've missed you." He sighs against my lips, bringing them back to his only after a second.

"I've missed you too, all of us have." I giggle as his lips trail down my jaw to my collarbone.

He lets out a soft chuckle, his nose tracing the mark that was now on my skin. "So, I was wondering, what if we had another one?"

"Another one?" I ask, biting my lip.

"Another baby, I mean, I think she's old enough to have another sibling."

"I don't think we need to work too hard on making that happen." I giggle, waiting for him to get the hint.

Tom lifts his head up to look at me, his eyebrows pulled together in question. "What do you mean?"

I lean down and press a kiss to his ear before speaking, "You remember the night before you left-"

"How could I forget..." His voice started out teasing until it trails off. He pulls his head back to look at me, "Wait, are you? Are you pregnant?" He whispers, looking at me in excitement.

"Claire is going to be a big sister, Tommy, and you're going to be a father again."

Tom let's out a laugh, kissing my lips again, lacing his fingers in my hair. Tom suddenly pulls away. "Oh, God, how are we going to tell Claire?"

"That's a job for another day," I laugh, smiling at him, before tugging at his hair to bring him closer. "All I want to do is spend time with my husband before our little two year old wakes up and disturbs the moment."

"That I can handle, my love. That I can handle." He states, bringing me into another breathtaking kiss, that makes me forget about the world for a moment. Only knowing that this is where I am meant to be, in his arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are at the end! I cannot thank you all for reading. Let me know what you think, and if you are looking for something else to read (if you haven’t already read it) I have another full series completed on my masterlist.

You all are amazing. <3 <3

#cg writes #time never stops #tom holland x reader #tom holland fanfiction #tomhollandxyoutuber!reader #dad!tom holland #best friends to lovers #bestfriend!tom holland #bestfriendstoloversau

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dasfuzzy · 4 years

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This thing still exists...?

So...I guess I'll start off by saying that the main reason for this post is because I got the Tumblr app a while back and have periodically gotten the notification that someone has liked my blog (hello, by the way), so this is twofold:

1) Give an update because, y'know, I haven't touched this thing in a long time, so there's a lot to update, and

2) Find out who's been liking my blog and why. So I guess comment, message, note, or whatever the hell people do here and let me know what got you interested in my ramblings.

I guess the three main things I would discuss here were my job, my love life, and my situation in general, so those'll be the primary focus for now. I guess I'll start with my love life just to get that out of the way as it's typically the focal point and most salacious content here (and possibly the most interesting to y'all).

Well, I'm gonna tell you right off the bat that things have changed drastically since I last was here. I will say that if you're expecting me to tell all, you're gonna be disappointed. I know in the past I never really held back on my feelings and about dishing out the truth, but this is a different situation than any in the past. All I'll really say is that since August of 2017 I've been in a committed relationship with someone that I truly love and can see myself being with for the rest of my days. Our relationship hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows, however, mostly due to nagging injuries and surgeries stemming from a work-related injury on her part (she used to be a physical therapy assistant), but I've done everything in my power to accommodate her and make things work. It hasn't been easy and it's taken it's toll on me, but at the end of the day I try to remain optimistic that things will get better with time.

Regarding my job...er, jobs, I've bounced around a bit since I was last here. I think I was still at Dave & Busters, but I was able to leave there to become a preschool/toddler teacher at a highly-accredited daycare center called Bright Horizons. It wasn't the easiest job and with me being who I am (profane and a fan of mature content, a la Game of Thrones, Walking Dead and wrestling) I felt like I was walking on eggshells at times, especially because the director was a bit of a prude, but I really enjoyed it. I was one of only two male teachers in a facility of approximately 30 teachers, so the kids really enjoyed the change of pace. I learned a lot being there, especially since I only had a few early education courses under my belt beforehand and I had some great mentors guiding me along.

Unfortunately, I made the decision to leave after 18 months for a couple of reasons:

1) The landlady finally sold the house, so my mom and I had to move (more on that later), and

2) There was an incident where I might've let slip a bit of profanity on the job. Basically it was nap time and most of the children were sleeping. I was in one of the preschool rooms at the time and at that age, some children just don't want to sleep, so we have to either try to soothe them or at least do what we can to keep them quiet so they don't wake the other children up. So I'm with another, younger teacher sitting with the non-sleepers, one of which was on the autistic spectrum and had an action plan in place that inform us of what we can and cannot do in certain situations that normally wouldn't apply to other children. Anyways, that particular child was not having any of nap/quiet time and decided to start walking around the room. In my frustration, I might've uttered under my breath "what the fuck". A few days later, I get a call from the director and she asks me if I used any profanity while in the classroom. I tell her that I don't recall doing so; she tells me that another teacher informed her that I had and she would need me to type up a formal statement of what I recall from that particular event. I stuck to my guns and said that I honestly don't recall doing so and, after submitting that to her, I was put on an indefinite administrative leave. As much as I loved that job, I took that as a sign that maybe it was time to find another job, something that pays better because I knew I was going to be moving within the next few months.

On the first day of my "leave", I asked friends if they knew of any good-paying jobs that had openings. I was only making $12.40/hr, which is only $.40 over minimum wage, so I was definitely open to suggestions. My best friend told me to apply to where he worked, Fitzgerald Tile, because they were looking for warehouse workers. He said they could start me at $18, so I leapt at the opportunity. I went down that Monday and met the warehouse supervisor to have an interview. I'll give you an almost word-for-word retelling of how that interview went:

Him: "Do you know how to drive a forklift?"

Me: "Yeah."

Him: "Great, you're hired."

Me: "Oh...okay."

Okay, that might be stretching it a bit, but that was more or less how it went. Really, he outlined some of the basic duties, asked if I was able to lift up to 50lbs unassisted, know that I'm expected to work 50 hours a week, then had me fill out the application, mostly for the sake of having it on file. He told me that I would just have to meet with the HR person to finalize the paperwork and discuss pay and my schedule, then I'd be good to go. Here's the thing: I never got to talk to the HR person. Ever. I was waiting for over an hour then told that we could do it another time, so I just went home. I should've noticed how sketchy the whole thing was. I should've picked up on all the red flags, but I didn't. So I go home, call my boss, and tell her that I'm giving my two weeks notice. She obliges and I ask if I could come visit down the road. She says that it would be in the best interest of the children that I stay away so they don't get the wrong idea. Basically I haven't been back there besides one time when I stopped by after hours to catch up with my favorite colleague and mentor, Jen.

Anywho, here I am on November 19th at the asscrack of dawn starting at the tile warehouse. I meet with the warehouse supervisor (I don't fucking remember his name; he's honestly not worth remembering) and he asks if I know how to drive a forklift. Uh...we talked about that when you hired me, but anyways, I say yes. "Great. Hop on, drive around a bit, get a feel for it, then get to work." Um...I dunno about those guys, but when I was at Lowe's where I learned to drive a forklift, we had to be licensed to operate one. Not to mention if they bothered to do a background check, they'd learn that I was fired from there for getting into an accident on a forklift and causing damage to a bay door. But I do as they say; I grab an order sheet ("grab the biggest ones first", they tell me) and get to it. Basically the way they run things is they put the sheets out on a table, everyone grabs one, gathers everything up on a pallet, then drop it in the outgoing delivery area, then do it all again until every order has been filled. I should also mention that I started right as they were moving warehouses to North Reading, so after the orders were pulled, we had to get other pallets ready to ship to the new place. Remember how I said I was never able to talk to the HR person? Well, I was never given a schedule because of that, so I guess it was understood that I would come in at 7 in the morning and work until everyone was done, which typically wasn't until 8 or 9 at night. I adhered to that mindset for maybe a week and a half; after that, I started sneaking out after at least doing my 8 hours a day. One day the supervisor caught me and said that I can't do that again. I didn't give a fuck. Another day he tells me that I'm not working fast enough and need to step it up. Maybe if someone took the time to train me on the other lift that was smaller and had forks that extended, I'd be able to be more efficient, but no; the only machines I could use were the huge lifts that are barely able to maneuver in the narrow fucking aisles and the order picker, which is basically a standing lift with a small tray-sized platform that you could place stuff on and lower it back down. That thing was kinda fun because it had controlls that kinda felt like piloting a mech and it was fast as hell.

Fast forward a few days and a few hours into my shift the supervisor tells me that I'm being let go and he hands me my last check and a pamphlet for unemployment benefits. No reasoning, just that I'm gone. Probably because I was "working too slow" and would leave when I felt like it, but I could give two shits; they never cared about me and I was tired of working under those unreasonable conditions. I manage keep my composure and start heading out, telling the few friends that I made there that I was fired; they wished me well and said I'd move onto something better. No shit. Once I get to my car, I burst out crying, trying to comprehend the gravity of my situation. I text my girlfriend and she asks if I want to come over to her house; I do partly because I needed the emotional support and partly because she was only 5 minutes away and my drive home would've been about 30 minutes. Honestly, I probably could've reported them to OSHA since they were in violation of god knows how many rules and regulations (hell, during the first week at the new warehouse, someone managed to destroy an entire bay: 3 shelves with 4 pallets each, totalling I believe over $6000 worth of product), but I just wanted to wash my hands of that place entirely. Since it was mid December, I decided to just take time to enjoy the holidays before looking for a new job, especially since I had made enough money there to keep myself afloat for about a month.

So, regarding the move, mom and I spent the last few years looking for places nearby for when the time came, but a lot of places were either in undesirable towns, were too expensive (this is Massachusetts; rent prices suck balls), or didn't meet our needs/standards. Ideally we were aiming to find a small house or even duplex to move into since we'd been in a 2-story, 3-bedroom house since January 2001, but we ended up settling for a 2-bedroom apartment in a small complex in Reading. It's been a bit of an adjustment for many reasons, but we've made it work. One of the biggest annoyances is that we don't have any laundry machines in our unit or even our building, so if we have to wash our clothes, we need to bring our stuff to one of the neighboring buildings that has a credit card-opperated laundry room with seven washers and 8 dryers. Kinda obnoxious to have to go through all that trouble and pay to do it, but condidering heat, hot water, and facility maintenance and snow removal are all covered in our rent (which is $1750/month), it's a small price to pay, I suppose.

Once we got all settled into the new place, I started job hunting again. For years I've wanted to do something technical, like be a plumber or maintenance engineer, but it's nigh impossible to find entry-level jobs like that. I somehow managed to find a job posting on Craigslist for a preventative maintenance engineer at a hotel in my old hometown of Woburn (ironically it's across from my old Dave & Busters), put in an application, and about a week later I had the job. Basically what I do is go through the guestrooms and make sure everything is in working order and is clean. I do about 2 rooms a day, repairing things as needed, be it electrical, plumbing, painting, or whatever else. I started back in early February of this year and in April the chief engineer was unceremoniously fired, leaving me as the sole engineer at the hotel. We had outside help come in periodically, but generally speaking I was the one keeping the place together until we hired a new chief this past October. I had to learn how to take care of an outdoor pool and how to take readings on it daily. I had to represent my hotel at engineer trainings normally meant for chiefs. Hell, I was very close to being promoted to chief myself until they found the new guy. But my efforts weren't in vain: our scores from our guest surveys for maintenance and upkeep were always above expectations and everyone at the hotel appreciate and respect what I do there. They raised my pay as high as they could go because of the amount of work I was putting in. My boss even got me two $75 tickets to a Ring of Honor show since he was a wrestling fan like myself. I think it's safe to say that I definitely bounced back from Fitzgerald.

I guess that about wraps things up. It's currently two weeks until Christmas, so I've got that to look forward to. I'd apologize for the lengthy rant, but I think that's par for the course on my blog. Again, if you're new (or even if you're not), feel free to leave a comment, note, message, or whatever and let me know what brought you to my blog or if there's any questions, comments, or suggestions for things that I could discuss. I figure I've been away from this thing for a long time, why not be a bit more active. Anyways, that's all I got for now. Hope y'all are well; take care of yourself!

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thecollinhartman-blog · 4 years

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Collin’s Coronavirus Thoughts

Corona Diaries

I know what you are thinking. It is Day 4 of the Quarantine and Social Distancing and Collin has gone so crazy without all the busy-ness of life that he is writing a blog post. And you would be absolutely correct. Like every other millennial twenty-something, I have a lot of really great ideas that haven’t quite come to fruition. By now I thought I would be operating a volleyball facility, or traveling the US in a VW van driving for Uber, or pursuing a PhD program in England while playing volleyball, or coaching a small college team in Southern California.

All this to say I’m a big-time dreamer and a mostly incredibly poor “executer”. I often mistake my busy-ness for full-ness. I have seven unread books on my night stand, I haven’t been grocery shopping in weeks, I never got around to painting the trim in the bathroom my dad and I remodeled, my phone hasn’t been at full charge since November, and there has been an overflow of recycling sitting outside my house from the garbage disposal and mattress I got for Christmas… and now it’s March. Welcome to it, friends.

Let’s start here: I stopped by my parents’ house this week to print something – which I often do because I have a lot of printing needs but haven’t ever purchased a printer. It’s nice because I can print some papers I need AND I can always count on cool ranch Doritos and a Mango Orange Crystal Lite…. that I’ll likely take one sip of, leave on the counter, and finish when I’m there 4 days later.

Anyway, here I am printing in my dad’s office and running late for a meeting (all because I napped for too long). I rush out the door of the house, accidentally leaving one document on the printer, pens and paper everywhere, and a cupboard desk drawer open. A few minutes later, my dad sends me a picture of his office, which was without a doubt entirely put together five minutes prior to me being there. The tone of his text is sarcastic but loving but semi-annoyed which I can handle. I spend six seconds feeling bad about my reckless and disorganized self until Hillsong’s Highlands comes on the radio and I turn it up. I don’t spend time reflecting on things that would make me sad, I’m a 7.

In the midst of my frantic printing and meeting prep, my dad told me he was going to call me “F-5”as my new nickname. By the look on my face, he could tell I was confused as to why. He begins to tell me that tornados are classified in F-0 through F-5 categories, with an F-5 tornado being the wildest in nature. My quick google search defines an F-5 tornado as the most “violent damage, homes lifted off foundation and carried considerable distances, autos thrown as far as 100 meters.” I think what my dad was trying to say is that my general way of life is to rampage my way through different spaces, groups, situations… often times in an assertive, proactive, somewhat wild, chaotic way and then just… leave (I think this how I drive too). Stop go stop go stop go. I go from this thing right on to the next without pause. I show up, jump out of my car, race to wherever I’m supposed to go, be (mostly) present there until BOOM, it’s a Monday evening and I’m in the Eagle gym, shutting off all the lights, gathering volleyballs, turning on the alarm, leaving for Young Life – all in an attempt to get there three minutes before it starts so I can prep items for the game I’m leading ALLLLL before being interrupted in the parking lot by a mom of a U11 kid who is reminding me (probably for the 3rd time) about the t-shirt they ordered and are waiting on. Following? Me neither.

In short – my life actually is like an F-5 tornado. I run run run from one thing to the next, filling my world to the brim with as much as I possibly can all until I arrive back at my house at 10:30 pm, gas light on, eat whatever I can find in the fridge before my head hits the pillow 4 minutes later, only to set my alarm and do it again.

I’ve been living my life like this for a really long time until…. well until Sunday when we got the news that school is cancelled, which means volleyball activities are all cancelled too, and Young Life gatherings paused and suddenly my wild Monday is WIDE OPEN.

This blog post / journal / diary is my attempt to articulate from my squirrel brain some things I’ve learned about myself in the last 48 hours since this craziness called coronavirus officially stopped my (and probably your) collective world right in their F-5 tornado tracks.

First, let me tell you about my day today paint a picture of how my world feels just a bit (LITERALLY ENTIRELY) different…..

1) I didn’t set an alarm and I woke up at 8:30 am.

2) Shortly after, I went on a quick walk to the nearest coffee shop and ordered a Misto: I am on my journey to black coffee and I just graduated from a latte to this half coffee half milk concoction (with caramel) and I feel accomplished.

3) I stopped by my neighbor friend’s house to say hello.

4) I got home, cleaned a couple things around the house, washed a couple plates in my sink, and went on a bike ride to downtown Boise where I enjoyed a takeout lunch from Whole Foods. I would like to tell you that I rode my bike home, but a friend happened to see me and my girlfriend (she is working remotely from Utah and visiting right now) saw us and somehow realized the journey completely uphill from downtown to my house on the bench might not be all that fun so we piled our bikes in her car and she took us home.

5) I took a 20 minute snoozer.

6) I got up and did some yard work outside, gathering pine needles from underneath my big backyard tree and finally broke down those big boxes that have been sitting outside my house for months and was able to fit them all inside my recycling can.

7) It started to drizzle so I came inside, crawled under a big blanket and read the first couple chapters of Prodigal God by Timothy Keller.

8) Kinslie and I then stopped by the store to pick up some things for dinner and I grilled some steaks and shared a giant salad and some grilled asparagus.

9) After a few girl scout cookies (they stopped by yesterday), we watched the last half of Ellen’s Game of Games and picked a movie on Netflix.

10) Now I’m lying in my (perfectly made) bed (because I had the time to make it) writing all my thoughts down in a word document wondering if I’ll actually post this or if there is really anything of worth that I’m typing. I think there is but not sure yet.

Well, friends of the interwebs, you might be wondering why you just read a detailed list of my day from start to finish. Here’s what I want you to know.

1) Upon arriving at the coffee shop, I had a cheerful silly conversation with the barista about what drink I should order as we laughed about me wanting to eventually enjoy drip coffee. We engaged in authentic dialogue for a few minutes and on the way out I thanked her for the drink recommendation.

2) Before leaving for our bike ride, my tires were flat so we walked them to the gas station and filled up with six quarters before we went on our merry way. I empathized with the Chevron employee as we talked about coronavirus and how it might impact our lives. I wished him well and went on my way.

3) While bikeriding downtown I noticed there are five…. FIVE… different types of massage or spa places between my house and Curtis, which is the next main stop light.

4) At Whole Foods, I asked the clerk their favorite pasta salad as she walked over and told me all about the 2 for $6 deal. I noticed the different textures of the floor and the neatly stacked chairs and how the vegetables were perfectly arranged in their place.

5) While doing yardwork, I stopped and looked at Kinslie as she was raking leaves into a pile. I went over and looked, I mean REALLY LOOKED into her eyes and noticed how the Irish green edges melt into a light sky-ish blue before meeting her pupil. I noticed the way she parted her wavy blonde hair and the way it fell just barely over the sweatshirt she was borrowing of mine. I noticed how thankful I was I had someone to share this day with and even more thankful for her idea to do this yardwork that surely wouldn’t have been started for maybe forever.

6) While reading, I noticed the way the soft sunshine pressed through my semi-open blinds onto my page and made the black ink pop off the page. I contemplated Keller’s words of Pharisees and tax collectors and a story of two sons on their journey of deeper understanding of God’s steadfast love and grace in the midst of their own struggles.

7) While making dinner I couldn’t help but take just a little extra time to delicately cut each cucumber and carrot slice with care as I heard sounds of clattering branches from my cracked window as dusk began to settle in.

8) And while writing this blog post, I can’t help but notice all the things I noticed in my own world for perhaps the first time.

While I can’t be sure what life will look like in a few short days, weeks, or even months, and while I’m not positive what my income will be, and what daily routines or rituals will be impacted, or how our schools and communities will be changed – I can be sure of this: I hope in the midst of my crazy F-5 tornado life that surely will be back in busy routine before I know it – I hope for a couple things.

I hope I can continue notice the little things. To notice the wildly interconnected, perfectly-timed, awe strikingly beautiful, crazy detailed, little details of this world like the way I noticed the lines on the fresh steaks as I pulled them off my garage sale grill.

I hope to breathe deep and see, I mean REALLY see the world around me, to engage in relationship in more authentic and honest ways, to stop for a moment wherever I am to truly connect with the people around me.

I hope to take my time through a home cooked meal, and to not be so filled with anxiousness and fear of the future and unknown that I my eyes are blinded to see the way God is working in and through my (and our) world, possibly even through something like the freaking COVID-19.

While I’m sure there will be more lessons to be learned in the next little while, I challenge you to take a couple moments to really press in and reflect upon the way this Zombie apocalyptic ish tirade is impacting your world. I truly hope in the midst of empty toilet paper shelves and hand sanitizer hoarders there is something beautiful in your world that you’ve noticed, too.

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bisquett · 6 years

Text

Blame (David Dobrik x Reader)

Request: can you write one where either the reader or his parents get hurt and he is so worried he starts speaking in slovak and hes on the phone with his parents and the reader hears it. if that makes sense. if not thats totally fine. i can think of something else. i love you by the way.

A/N: So there is some Slovak in here, disclaimer, I obvs used Google. I’ve had people said to me that Dave speaks Hungarian instead of Slovakian since his mother is Hungarian. I DON’T KNOW THE TEA. I thought he spoke Slovak so I made him speak Slovak in here. lots of love, Olivia-

ASK

It was probably past 9:00 pm when he arrived home. He called Natalie and Joe. He needed two people to help him cut hours of footage into a workable chunk of clips. He was trying so hard not to freak out; it was posting day, it was podcast day and he was tired to the bone.

His house was empty; the lights were off. For some odd reason he felt cold, it was already fall but Los Angeles was known for its warm weather until late November. He rushed to the cloud couch and turned on his laptop. Plugging in his memory card and trying to cut down as much as possible until Natalie and Joe’s arrival.

His usual editing time was 5 hours, so he texted Jason to come over around 2:00 am. They would get that done and finally he would kick Jason’s old ass out and finally get some sleep.

The knock on his front door woke him from his fantasy and he realized that he didn’t edit anything at all, he rolled his eyes, only to himself and stood to open the door.

Two of his friends came in with way too much energy for him, snacks and loud voices. He followed them into the living room.

“Jason’s coming in an hour or so” Joe said to David. The pale boy furrowed his eyebrows.

“Why?”

“He heard that we could use some help” Natalie said, putting on her pastel pink headset. “He offered to help himself”

David raised his eyebrows and a dry laugh came out of his mouth without him wanting to “Alright.” He said, side smiling “I don’t know about him cutting footage with his 20-minute videos but fine”

Everybody was focused in their work. Cutting down footage which was what Natalie and Joe were doing was pretty slow but easy process, sadly, they couldn’t help David any further than that since he was so picky about his vlogs.

About an hour in Jason arrived, with Y/n. David glanced at the front door when he heard some extra footsteps.

“Surprise!” Jason said, taking off his shoes.

Y/n ran the short distance between David and her, wrapping her arms around his torso.

“What?” He said, laughing a little, he’s always been so ticklish. “Why are you doing here?” He asked her, lowering his voice. A smile plastered in his face and a new vitality in him.

“Jason’s car broke down” Y/n said, burying her face into David’s shoulders. “I drove him here.”

“Jason, I told you that buying a shitty car was going to bit you in the ass”

“David, she drives a fucking Toyota” Jason yelled, pointing at Y/n.

“Hey!” Y/n complained, raising her head from David’s shoulder. “Easy old man”

David giggled. His dark eyes shined. Y/n walked around the couch and sit next to David, she snuggled under the blanket.

“Do you want me to cook some dinner or just drive for some take out?”

“Neither, babe.” he replied, his hand cupping your cheek. “Don’t bother. Go to my room and get some rest.”

Y/n chuckled. “It’s 10:30 pm, Dave. I’m not tired.” She said, holding too, into his hand “Wow, you must be exhausted to think that I’d want to sleep right now”

“I am” he admitted. “But is nothing new. I am way ahead than I anticipated, tho. I might be finished before midnight” he said, his free hand went to massage his shoulder.

“That’s great!” Y/n. said with a huge smile. She stood up. “I’m going to grab something for dinner, I don’t want them closing on me. Who wants pizza?”

“I’ll pass.” Joe replied. “I’m going to a friend’s after this”

“Sure” Jason and Natalie mumbled at the same time, both looking at their laptop.

“I’ll be right back” Y/n whispered while kissing David on the lips. He turned to her and nodded, and kissed her again, now more aware of it.

“I’ll PayPal you when you get home. Be safe.”

She nodded and walked out of the house.

“I’m done” Jason said, stretching his body and making weird moaning sounds. He threw the external hard drive to David. “I’m going to take a nap in your bed”

“Noooo, you’re not” David said with his usual laugh-talk voice. “Sleep here!”

“I’m shitting you, I’m going to the View’s couches.” Jason said before yawning pretty loudly. Natalie made a weird face.

Not long after that Natalie finished cutting her part. David put all of the clips together. The vlog was a little over 7 minutes. There was still some heavy editing to do, but it was right up on David’s alley.

He started cutting up the right bits, the right words, the right reactions. When Y/n arrived with the pizza, the vlog was thinning down to 5 minutes and a half. David ate two slices almost by command. He was in a high of being so close, and Y/n knew that high and didn’t want to distract him. She wanted David to finish that so he could rest.

He took a deep breath and look at Y/n when he was exporting the video. “It’s just waiting now” He said, straightening his back. “Wow, that was a record” he said, his watch said it was 11:50.

“Edit as you goo” Y/n said, for what felt like a hundredth time.

“Is not as funnnn” David replied with the same mocking voice.

He was setting up a thumbnail, the title and the description while the file was uploading. And he finally put his laptop on the table and let himself go on the couch. Closing his eyes and cuddling with the blanket. Y/n looked at him with an offended look. He smiled childishly and dragged her down to cuddle.

“Don’t get too comfortable. You still have the podcast” Natalie reminded him while scrolling through Instagram.

“Shut up” he said, not too harsh. His voice muffled by the blanket.

“She’s right” Y/n lifted herself up. “The sooner the better, babe”

He rolled his eyes and started pouting like a baby, but he stood up. His phone fell from his pocket. It was ringing. It was a FaceTime call.

“Dave, someone’s calling you” you said, picking up the phone and by the time you gave it to him it was a lost call.

He unblocked his phone, and he sat again. Natalie put her phone down, looking concerned.

“Who was that?” Y/n asked.

“My mom” he answered, calling her back.

A woman’s voice came out of David’s phone. Saying words that Y/n and Natalie couldn’t understand. David’s face went somber.

“Ako zlé je to?” (Is it bad?) he said, blinking too much and speaking unsurely. It was a first time for Y/n to hear him speak his native language and it didn’t sound happy.

His mother replied way faster and giving way more information.

“Musím ísť?” (Do I need to go?) He interrupted her. “Musím tam ísť?” (Do I need to go there?)

The first word she recognized is No.

“Je to moja chyba” (It’s my fault)

His mother repeated a soft No.

“Fine, fine. I’ll book the first flight tomorrow” he said, going back to the language he felt safe. He rubbed his face, hard. “Don’t let Toby in there. Sarah is too young too”

“David, don… don’t hang up” you heard her mother say. Her strong accent was not as harsh as you remembered but she still struggled, and she seemed distressed.

“I gotta. I need to finish something so I can go there” he explained as patiently as he could, although Y/n knew he didn’t have too much patience with his parents. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t scare the kids.”

And he hangs up. He breathed in, deep. Stood up and walked to his room, on the way there said “Natalie, book me a flight to Vernon Hills as soon as possible. I just need to get the podcast done. After 3:00 am is good”

He walked into his room and shut the door. Natalie and Y/n eyed each other. Y/n walked to David’s room and stepped in. Saw him packing.

“What happened?” she asked, softly. Closing the door.

“My dad crashed the stupid car that I gave him.” He answered. For a moment, he looked like he was going to open up but he closed himself again.

That answer caught y/n off guard. “God” she walked to him “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. Mom’s just freaking out because she doesn’t know what to do” He said, throwing the eighth black shirt into the suit. “I mean, he’s in the hospital but he’s not going to die”

“From what I gathered, she’s right in the fact that this is not your fault” you said.

“Were you using fucking Google Translate?” he asked.

“I can see it” Y/n said. “Let that stupid idea go”

“Is not that stupid” he said, clenching his jaw.

“I’ll go with you” he was zipping his backpack when he turned to you. He nodded, relieved a little. Walked to the door and shouted to Natalie to book another seat for you.

“Get your stuff, I’ll do the podcast. We’ll go to the airport from here” he said. Giving you a peck in the lips, he made his way to the podcast room and you heard him yell Jason’s name.

#david dobrik #david dobrik x reader #david dobrik imagine #david dobrik imagines #vlog squad imagines #.

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netflixmomma516 · 5 years

Text

Her Secrets 13 Pt 1 | 13RW Series

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

This is Part 1 of 2 Parts of Chapter 13

"Are you packed girl?" Jess asks. "Yes, I'm ready," I tell her for the hundredth time since the start of the day.

Jeff's hand finds mine under the table, my palms always tingle at the touch. Jess just gives me a smile, knowing Jeff and I are holding hands. I roll my eyes and half smile knowing why she's smiling at me. "Jeff, my dad wants to talk to you before we go," I tell Jeff in more of a whisper so Scott doesn't hear me. Jeff smiles at me with his gorgeous, pearly, white smile. "Of course." He says out loud. I look to Scott and he just looks at me with his big green eyes, his eyes have a sense of sadness in them. We really haven't talked since our kiss last Friday. A little small talk here and there during the first period, but that's it really. I just half smile at him; he does the same. My eyes divert from Scott's to Chloe's, she gives me a dirty look. I roll my eyes at that. "Hey, I'm going to the bathroom," I announce to the table. -- I walk out of the stall to see Chloe standing there looking at her reflection in the mirror. "YN, I tried to be your friend, I really did, but now you better stay away from Scott." She threatened. "Or what?" I cross my arms, squaring up to the 'most popular girl' in school. "I'll tell everyone your secret," she whispered. My heart instantly sank into my stomach. She walked out of the bathroom, leaving me standing there looking at my ghostly reflection. I turn sideways. My shirts are becoming a lot tighter on me. I huff and pull myself together and walk out, the bell rings, so I just walk back to class. "So Chloe left the table right after you announced that you were leaving. Weird right?" Jess asks. I have to play it off like she didn't just threaten to tell my biggest secret to the whole group and ruin my life even more than it is. "Yeah very," I respond. "You have no idea how excited I am for this week," Jess says with a smile. I smile back, "me too." In reality, I'm scared to death for this week. Especially since I know Chloe knows my biggest secret. -- "Hey YNN, Jeff's here." My dad yells up the stairs. I quickly pull my sweatshirt over my belly and make sure no one can notice how much weight I've gained. I went to the doctor on Wednesday, I've gained 7 pounds since I moved here, and I'm 16 weeks, which is almost 4 months. Finally out of the sickness stage, now on to hungry, hungry hippo stage. My shorts can barely button anymore. "Coming!" I yell from my bedroom. I smile, "remember bugs, I'm a normal teenager this week." I smile to my bump and rub it. "I love you." I grab my phone and stuff it in the back pocket of my jean shorts. -- "So Jeff, if anything happens you can call me," my dad hands Jeff back his phone. I smile at the two men in front of me. "Look at my dad being all protective of his little girl." I hug my dad. "I'll always be protective." My dad admits. "I'll be fine dad, I'm only an hour away." I smile up at my dad. "I know, go have fun guys, love you YNN." My dad ushers us out of the front door. Jeff has my suitcase in his hand. "Love you too dad." "Bye Jeff." My dad says to Jeff. I instantly smile up at Jeff. "Bye YDN." Jeff smiles and waves back to my dad. Jeff puts my suitcase in the bed of his truck and helps me up in it. "Thanks," I say as he shuts the passenger door. "Alright, Jess and Justin are at Justin's, so let's go get them and then we'll be off to the lake house," Jeff tells me the plan. "Sounds good." I put my hand into Jeff's. Just this little gesture, makes me feel so safe like no one is going to find out my secret this week. -- An hour and a half later, we finally reach the lake house. It's the lake house, that he pointed out to me a month and a half prior. The rest of the group followed us from Justin's house. "So sleeping arrangements?" Justin asks as he puts his arm around Jess. "I was thinking since there are 4 bedrooms, Me, YNN, and Justin in one room..." I instantly cut her off, "um, not trying to be mean but I don't really want to listen to you and Justin all night, every night we are here." Everyone erupts in laughter. "Okay, so how about us girls in one room, and the guys can choose whoever they want to bunk with." I shrug, sounds good, except for the part I'm sleeping in the same room as the girl who threatened me to stay away from her ex. "Okay." We all settle in for the night. -- DREAM I'm sitting on the dock, I look back to see Scott standing there with a smile watching me. "Hi," he said as he took a seat next to me. "Hi," I said back. "YN, can I tell you that I really like you and I will probably never forgive Chloe for what she just did." I look down at my hands. "It's okay Scott, I knew it was going to come out eventually." -- I abruptly sat up, trying to catch my breath. Tears instantly filled my eyes. I look at the clock with my hazy eyes, '6:30'. The sun barely rising over the horizon. My feet hit the hardwood floor beneath me, I shuffle downstairs. I make myself a cup of coffee, and make my way down to the dock. The exact dock where my dream just took place. I look to notice the house still dark, so I take a second to talk to my belly. "Bugs, I'm trying so hard to stay strong and try to be normal, but I don't know if I can do this much longer. I love you so much, maybe I need to come clean, but I'm so scared bugs. The first time since last summer, I feel safe, I feel like I belong. I need this, I need to be normal." I rub my fingers over my ever-growing bump. It's smaller in the morning, so I don't think anyone can tell, but it's getting to the point of my dad told me he can tell I've gotten bigger. I'm so scared to lose my friends. I look back to see if anyone in the house is awake yet, and I see Chloe standing there on the patio. I roll my eyes as my heart rate increases. I really hope she didn't just hear everything I said to my baby. I act like everything is fine, "good morning Chloe," I sip on my coffee as I walk back in the house to see everyone up. "Wow everyone is up early," I comment as I walk into the living room. "We were going out to eat this morning, you want to go?" Jeff asks. "Sure." I shrug as I walk back upstairs to change from my pajamas. I walk into the attached bathroom, I change into some tan shorts, with a white tank top, and a pink jacket. My belly just pudging out a little bit. I'm not changing! -- We all get to this little diner, that we passed on the way up here. They supposedly have the best pancakes in all of California. "Let's see if the sign is right?" I laugh as I sunk into the booth looking at a menu with Jeff right next to me. "So what looks good?" Jeff asks me, "the pancakes, I might get the 4 stacks of blueberry ones." "Dang someone is hungry." I just shrug his comment off. "I can't help it, I'm hungry," I smirk at him. He just shakes his head with his half smirk. I notice a little stumble coming from his cheek, his hair is a little ruffled from the night before. Scott and Chloe's conversation catches everyone's in the group's attention. "Can't you see it? I love you," Chloe's eyes shine with tears, "I have for so long, but you can't see it. You're my best friend, and you can read me so well, but you've been blind to me ever since YN got here. Over and over, you choose YN instead of me." She looks down at her black flip-flops and speaks quietly again, "you have no idea how many 11:11 wishes, shooting star wishes, and just plain wishes I have used on you. Yet you talk about YN to me constantly. Haven't you noticed that I hesitate each time you ask me who I like now? It's because I'm so tempted to just tell you, but I know you won't care." She looks up at him and tried to meet his gaze with her big blue, teary eyes but his green eyes look away. She gets up and runs out of the diner. Everyone looks at Scott and me. I shrink into myself. Jeff's arm finds my waist, "it's okay." He whispered in my hear. I really hope so, Jeff. -- We all arrive back at the house. The guys go out to the lake, me and Jess change into our swimsuits, but I realize my bump is really noticeable, especially since I just ate 4 gigantic blueberry pancakes. So I change back into what I was wearing just without the jacket. "Why aren't you wearing your bikini I picked out?" Jess asked as I walk out in the room. "I just didn't like the way it fits." I lie. I loved the way it fit, I looked so cute with my baby bump, but I didn't want everyone to see my bump. "Oh okay, well I guess I'll just tan by myself," Jess says with a fake sad face. I just smile at my best friend and roll my eyes. "I'll be out there with you," I say. "Okay," she shrugs. "I'll meet you out there," I say as I walk back into the bathroom, I quickly go to the bathroom and make my way outside. My eyes instantly go to Jeff, I've never seen him shirtless before, but oh my, this guy reminds me of like a Greek god. I see Jeff wink and I roll my eyes as I smile at him. He just chuckles and goes back to fishing off the dock. "I'm hungry," I say after a couple hours of being outside and taking a short nap. "We'll start cooking," Jeff says more to the guys. I smile at him. "Thanks, eff," I walk over to him and I kiss his cheek. "I'm surprised you can reach my cheek," eff smirks. "I'm not that short!" I exclaim. - We finish our dinner. "So I'm so glad everyone is here," Chloe stands up from the group. I look at her. I get an uneasy feeling with her actions. "So I have an announcement, well it's not mine but it's YNN's but she wanted me to tell everyone because she's just too scared." I look at her with horror in my eyes. Eyes move from me to Chloe. I feel like I'm going to be sick, I know she's going to tell everyone. Everyone looks back to me confused. "You wonder why she never drinks alcohol, she is always hungry, or she's always tired, or why she's gained weight since she's moved here, it's because she's pregnant." I burst out crying, I started running. I couldn't stop my legs at the moment. My legs feel like they did when my dad told me he was leaving. They won't stop. "Chloe, you're a bitch!" I hear Jessica spit venom at her. My legs can't handle the pressure anymore, and I collapse in the sand, my teary eyes look out to the lake. "YN.." Jess approaches with caution. I look to her with nothing but tears in my eyes, she embraces me and just holds me in the sand. We sit there like that for about 5 minutes. "YNN, you're okay." I look at her trying to calm sobs. "YNN, so what if you're pregnant? You still have me, you'll always have me." "But what about Jeff? Everything is ruined." Jess just smiles at my words, "what?" I question why she is smiling while I'm having a literal breakdown. "It seems like you finally made your choice." I looked at her with a strange look. "What do you mean?" "You only said Jeff's name, you didn't say anything about Scott."

#13 reasons why #13rw #13 reasons why imagine #13 reasons why imagines #jeff atkins #jeff adkins #jeff atkins imagine #jeff adkins imagine #Chloe #jessica davis #scott reed #scott reed imagine

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imitranslates · 5 years

Text

Fukigen na Mononokean Ch. 63

Lots of cute anecdotes about Abeno’s childhood and some ominous foreshadowing in this month’s chapter.

Please remember to check out the official English release when it comes out, preferably on Crunchyroll if you’re able to!

The newest chapter can be read on the official website by clicking the yellow button labeled 読む!

Fukigen na Mononokean Chapter 63 - Unusual path

Page 3

Legislator: ......

Legislator: .......?

Page 4

Abeno: It's nice to meet you.

Abeno: I am Abeno Haruitsuki, an employee of the Mononokean.

Abeno: I'll be in your care.

Legislator: ..........

Legislator: Mmm...

Legislator: Aoi...

This human... Did you kidnap him from the mundane world?

Page 5

Aoi: What a horrible thing to say...

Aoi: We had a fated meeting, when I saved him from being possessed by a demon.

Page 6

Aoi: I took a liking to him, so I decided to take him on as my employee.

Aoi: Please treat Itsuki well from now on.

Aoi: If you do anything to bully him, I'll kill you.

Page 7

Legislator: ...And so,

I got a murder threat from Aoi.

Legislator: That was my first meeting with Itsuki.

Page 8

Ashiya: So Abeno-san was employed after he was saved by Aoi-san...

I didn't know that...

Justice: They came to my place to introduce him, too, but,

When they said they were going down to the Executive's, I went along 'cause I thought it'd be real dangerous.

Ashiya: Then... His first meeting with the Executive was...

Legislator: (Pfft!) The Executive was helpless against Aoi, huh.

Ashiya: ?

Legislator: Even though he had the biggest opposition against her hiring a human,

In the end, he ended up being in charge of Itsuki's schooling at Aoi's insistence .

Justice: But when he taught him, he'd say Itsuki was a quick learner.

He didn't look that bothered about being a tutor.

Even made a room for him in the Songbird's Cage.

(Ashiya: That room, huh...)

Page 9

Legislator: (Even so...) Itsuki was so honest and kind back then...

When the documents on my desk piled up, he'd say, "I want to help!" and organize them neatly for me.

Whenever I said, "I'm tired..." he'd bring over some tea and massage my shoulders.

Justice: Me too...

Justice: He said he wanted to visit all over the Underworld, so he'd get on my back and we'd stroll around...

We'd take a break in the middle to get sweets and eat 'em together.

Once we'd get back to White Sand Prison, he'd curl up on me in place of a futon and take a nap.

Ashiya: (These two have so many fond memories they keep bringing up!)

Ashiya: ...

Ashiya: (It's all...

Stuff I haven't heard, huh.)

Page 10

Justice: ...Hey, Ashiya-kun.

Ashiya: Yes?

Justice: Itsuki's told you about his time with Aoi as the master... right?

Ashiya: !

(There were times he brought up Aoi-san briefly, but...)

Page 11

Ashiya: I haven't heard much from Abeno-san.

Ashiya: All I know is...

The "Abeno-san" since the day he hired me.

Ashiya: I barely know anything about him before then.

Justice: ...Gotcha.

Justice: ...Then, you won't hear it from us.

Page 12

Justice: We're not gonna tell you how Itsuki wound up in the forest.

Ashiya: ...

[I was a little bothered by it, but

It wasn't like I was asking so I could pry into it from the start.

It's fine if I go on not knowing.]

(Legislator: Now then, let's get back inside.

I wonder if Itsuki's done with his report yet.)

(Justice: He's gonna kick you out again if you keep on smoking.)

[...Besides...]

Page 13

[Abeno-san chose to employ me.]

(Legislator: Itsukiii, we're back!)

[He hired someone he just met, whose past he didn't know.]

[If the time comes for me to know about it,]

[Abeno's the one who should tell me, right?]

Ashiya: We're...

Back!

Abeno: !?

Page 14

Tadpole: Ring.

Tadpole: Ring ring...

Legislator: Oh? I wonder who's trying to contact us?

Tadpole: Ring ring...

Abeno: Isn't it the Executive?

Abeno: You still haven't given him a mission report, have you?

Tadpole: Ring.

Legislator: Ah yes, I forgot to send any information.

Justice: So he sent a call once he got annoyed enough...

Legislator: Yes, hello?

Page 15

Voice: Hiiii~

Legislator: ...

Legislator: Oh, Koura, it's you... You scared me...

Koura: ?

Koura: (Hmm?) But I wasn't trying to scare you? Sorry.

(Shizuku: Koura-sama's in a good mood.)

Koura: I have some new information. I wonder if now's a good time to share it?

Legislator: I don't mind.

Koura: It's about the princess's physical condition, though...

Page 16

Ashiya: !!

Justice: Is it bad?

Koura: No. The medicine seems to be effective.

Koura: But she's too concerned about the Underworld to properly rest, so I'm worried that the same thing could happen.

Koura: I want to stay with the princess a little longer, so I'll be leaving Shizuku to mind the store for me while I'm gone.

Legislator: When you say a little longer... how many days is that, exactly?

Koura: (Let's see...) I want to watch her condition for seven days to be safe.

Legislator: I see... I got it.

Page 17

Legislator: In that case, I'll have Itsuki and Ashiya-kun

Stay for in the Underworld for seven days while the princess is being treated.

Ashiya: Huh?!

Legislator: There's a chance of an incident occurring if the princess's divine protection shrinks again.

Your mission will be the same as before, but I'd like for you to be on standby to handle any threats of plague plants or host insects at a moment's notice.

Legislator: You can stay here during your stay.

If you need anything, you can ask my employees.

Page 18

Ashiya: (Staying in the Underworld for seven days?!)

Ashiya: (I'll have to take a break from school, and think of something to tell my mom to explain why I'll be gone...)

Ashiya: (I can't just say OK! to this sudden request... (But the Underworld's in trouble...))

Abeno: Okay.

Legislator: I'm counting on you!

Ashiya: H-hey?! Can't you hold off until further review!?

Koura: Hm? If the Legislator's place is no good, do you want to stay at my place? (Shizuku will probably be lonely by herself...)

Ashiya: N, no... It's not that...

Justice: Since you can't stay unless I'm watching over you...

Wanna come to White Sand Prison?

Justice: I've got lots of rooms.

Ashiya: (By rooms, you mean cells...?!)

Page 19

Legislator: Hairball-kun, you want to stay with Ashiya-kun, don't you? Of course, you're more than welcome to.

Ashiya: (Fuzzy!? When did you get on the Legislator's shoulders?!)

Koura: You're welcome to Kiyakudo.

Justice: White Sand Prison is good.

Legislator: You'll stay here at Newt Lake, right?

Abeno: Anywhere's fine...

Koura&Legislator&Justice: Ashiya-kun? (Where will it be?)

Ashiya: I...

Ashiya: I!!

Page 20

Fusshi: Saga.

Let's buy meatbuns from the convenience store on the way home.

Saga: I want oden.

Fusshi: I'll get some oden with you, then.

Page 21

Zenko: (Did Abeno and Hanae come back yet...?)

Zenko: They're not here...

Zenko: Guess I'll have to try again tomorrow.

Page 22

Ashiya: Tomorrow?

Zenko: Hanae... I thought you weren't back yet.

Ashiya: The teacher asked me to help out with some stuff.

Zenko: You're off today?

Ashiya: Yeah...

Today... Actually, tomorrow and the day after, too.

Zenko: Did you lose your ability to see demons again? (That's why you were on break last time.)

Ashiya: I'm not off because I'm feeling out of it.

The truth is...

Page 23

Zenko: So Abeno's been out since the day before yesterday...

(Abeno: It's enough for one of us to stay in the Underworld.)

Ashiya: I'm working at the Mononokean like usual, but...

I was finishing up what I could do in the morning, so he probably won't call me...

Ashiya: If there's anything I can do...

Mononokean: "It's okay even if I can't see Hanae!" is what he's saying.

Ashiya: That face...

Abeno: That face...

Ashiya: Though his face didn't seem to say it was okay.

So we decided it was better for Fuzzy to stay with me, in case I met any demons while Abeno-san was away...

Zenko: He's looking after the house, then?

(Ashiya: I'm home!)

Ashiya: !

Page 24

Ashiya: A letter?

Zenko: Oh...

Yeah...

Zenko: A letter with...

A spirit photo.

(Ashiya: Spirit...)

Ashiya: !?!?

Zenko: Wanna see...?

Ashiya: (Uwooo?!) Wait...!! Let me prepare my heart first!!

Page 25

Zenko: I'm kidding.

I know you're bad with this kind of thing, so I wanted to ask Abeno's advice directly.

Ashiya: .......

Zenko: Abeno... He'll be back in seven days, right...?

Ashiya: !

Zenko: What will Abeno do if the Underworld Princess's condition keeps getting worse...?

Page 26

Zenko: I don't really understand when I'm with you guys, but...

When I think about Abeno, I really feel like he's someone from another world.

(Even though he's human...)

Page 27

[Shizuku: Even though when Itsuki started working for the Mononokean...!]

[Legislator: Itsuki was so honest and kind back then...]

[Justice: He'd get on my back and we'd stroll around...]

(Long before we met, Itsuki spent his time in the Underworld.)

(He lived surrounded by demons.)

Page 28

[Even if he's human,

He's someone from the Underworld......]

Zenko: I'll visit again next week to ask about the spirit photo.

Ashiya: I'll let him know about it if he calls me for work.

Zenko: Thanks.

(Zenko: Bye-bye!)

(Ashiya: Bye-byeee!)

Page 30

[If the Underworld Princess's condition worsens...]

[He probably won't be able to come back to the mundane world...]

Page 31

Ashiya: (...No, no, no, he has to take care of Fuzzy, too!]

(Next week, he'll definitely be back!)

Ashiya: Next week!!

#fukigen na mononokean #fukigen na mononokean translation #fukigen na mononokean chapter 63 #fukigen na mononokean 63 #The Morose Mononokean #manga translation

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soysaucevictim · 5 years

Text

I’ve been worrying myself sick lately... but the day finally came. And I still feel a level of uncertainty - the hard part of things is over for the time being.

June 4

I got up around 7:30 AM again.

Socialized, went to Seeking Safety, did some Resilient Grieving reflection (but not a lot), and listened to music.

Still feel pulled in way too damn many directions. And I can’t even ENGAGE any of them until the hearing happens and what the verdict is going to be. And I’m so fucking frustrated, more with myself, that I just can’t make myself do that lately. I know it’s probably going to pass once The Day happens. And it will be SOME kind of relief (be it favorable result or not), once I have something to work with. I feel like no one is being patient with me, including myself, despite how clearly evident how much distress I’m in.

There’s some complex grief response shit I need to work on, the fear of getting my teeth fixed, the fear of learning to fucking drive, the fear that I don’t understand what the fuck my needs/priorities are (and the support I deserve towards them), the sense of falling far too behind on house work that needs to be done, the feeling of making excuse after excuse - that I’m not trying hard enough, and being too gawd damn frazzled to get my sleep (also medication & exercise) schedule somewhere fucking sensible again. And everything just feeds into each other and makes me want to fucking scream sometimes.

ANYWAYS... after getting home and getting distracted by the BS (because it’s the only way I’m able to fucking cope with this fucking thunderstorm in my head, atm)... I did at least get my exercise in. :I

First, today’s DD. 1′ basic burpees with EC. Manageable, despite under-sleeping. I also counted 20 completed reps by the end. Whew. :U

Second, Day 3 of the NC. “Strength“, meaning push-ups. Though I did think about going for 2′. I did 1′ (so Level 2). Which was a good call, since I was getting close to my PB & form got pretty messy. But I did count 42 of them in the time given.

Last, Day 3 of the PUP. Lower body work again - more distal stuff. I did have to drop down my left foot a few times during the leg swings because of fatigue making keeping balance real difficult. Probably also because I was too tired

Despite being too damn tired... I still stayed up till like 5AM with the same old BS. I’m a fucking mess. :/

June 5*

Been up since like 2PM. Meant to at least get up early enough to take my morning meds. Didn’t. So I didn’t take them at all! (Because I know you REALLY should try to keep that shit consistently spaced out... wild windows of hours is ill advised.)

Don’t have much to say about my day that I haven’t already.

Okay. I wound up doing all my exercise after midnight.

First, today’s DD. 20 matrix tilts with EC. Not a huge fave since it's pretty intense for the knees. But manageable.

Second, Day 4 of the NC. “Stealth“, meaning a wall-sit hold. This time I actually went for the 2′ duration, Level 3. It was fairly tough but very doable - given I’ve done this amount before. Also, watching Sanders Sides is a fantastic distraction from the burning quads. Pffft. :,D

Last, Day 4 of the PUP. Lower body work - but closer to the thighs/core. This was tough to get through. And I did have to pause for muscle recovering in tthe later half/quarter. The side leg raises didn’t stay very high - but oh well. Did the best I was able to do for the day.

Now. I sincerely doubt I’ll be going to the facility “tomorrow”. Since I wrote this bit past 3AM. =_=

June 6*

.I wound up staying up til like noon. Opting not to go to the facility today and sleeping til almost 6PM.

Same old noise after that. Wound up doing my exercise past midnight again, though*. :I

First, today’s DD. 60 turning kicks with EC. I always enjoy combat work. I tried to make sure to not let the foot drop until the side was done. Did wobble a few times but was able to keep it going. :D

Second, Day 5 of the NC. “Grit“, meaning up/down planks. I went for 1′ again and counted 16 reps in that time (counting each direction as one rep). This was certainly difficult, but I did pace myself and think to wear some long sleeves. JUst happy to not scrape up my elbows today. :P

Last, Day 5 of the PUP. Upperbody work. I did like that it involved knee push-ups. So that helped keep things just about manageable. That being said it was a bit of a hassle figuring out how to set it up so my knees weren’t unhappy and that I could check on the timer. Figured things out, but that did take some willpower to accomplish.

June 7

Been up since about 4PM.

Mostly been up to the same noise - but I did some dishes, made some dinner, and exercised.

First, today’s DD. 60 standing W-extensions with EC. I enjoyed this a lot. I also did a few extra in case I lost count. :D

Second, Day 6 of the NC. “Balance”, meaning one legged stand. I knew that I could pretty easily manage 2′ of this one In fact, I technically shot for 4′, 2′ for each side back-to-back.

Last, Day 6 of the PUP. Kind of mixed focus on squat and side elbow plank stuff. Did have a false start hours before going for it to completion. Mostly was frustrated with how I wanted to keep track of time while on the floor. But this whole thing was not a walk in the park. Second round of planks I did brace with top leg forward a bit.

June 8

Though I did get up a couple times earlier, I got up proper at like 6PM. Yeah.

First, today’s DD. 30 butterfly sit-ups with EC. This variation still requires some foot anchoring to do very many of. But nevertheless enjoyable! :D

Second, Day 7 of the NC. “Endurance“, meaning climbers. I went for 1′, Level 2. I counted 136 reps by the end. Did think about trying for 2′ again, but decided I wasn’t up for it.

(After getting way too damn distracted again...)

Last, Day 7 of the PUP. Lower body work. I’d say this was a more enjoyable sequence to get through and I didn’t have to drop/pause at any point. It wasn’t easy though!

(I may go add notation where I had to compromise, mostly for the data. :P )

June 9

Similar story as yesterday, except getting up after 3PM today.

Same old noise, but I did try to get my exercise done early on for the day.

First, today’s DD. 20 stacked push-ups with EC. Not much to say other than I found this one very manageable. :P

Second, Day 8 of the NC. “Core strength“, meaning hollow hold. First time I just had to tap out at Level 1 or 30″. I know my PBs can be upwards to a minute - I just didn’t feel up to straining my neck, because historically this exercise is pretty terrible for it.

Last, Day 8 of the PUP. Upper body work. I did very much enjoy this sequence, made my forearms burn (what with all the un/clenching of fists), as well as my shoulders. But it was a nice break on the former for the holds.

Tomorrow is The Day. So, after that, I took a shower and prepped some notes for the hearing before getting to bed. I also did try to get to sleep at a more reasonable time by my standards...

June 10

I didn’t get the most restful sleep last night. Getting up a few hours earlier due to muscle aches and stomach feeling all knotted up. :S

Ate a little bit and tried to get as much sleep as I could until 7:30.

Got dressed and was driven to court. The wait to get called in (with representative) was nerve-wracking. But the judge seemed to be warm enough and I didn't wind up having to cry-talk during our discussion. Probs won't know the ruling until a few months, I assume.

Feels like it's going to be a coin flip, tbh. But, I'm just happy to get it over with.

Got home and gamed awhile before exercising.

First, today’s DD. 40 raised leg circles with EC. This was doable despite exhaustion. But, the thing I've been stressing out over for the past several weeks is done. So that's something. :P

Second, Day 9 of the NC. “Combat“, meaning punches. Let’s just say I was looking forward to this after the hearing stuff. Something reliably enjoyable to keep my head from getting bleak again. Easily knocked out 2′ (Level 3), with 216 punches thrown. Tried to put a bit more of a twist into them. =w=

Last, Day 9 of the PUP. Lower body work. I also liked how this went. I did not do balanced side leg raises for the reps (keeping foot off floor, while down) but it didn’t seem to imply that interpretation. It certainly would’ve been harder than it already was, if so. But I did keep the holds up for their full durations. The balance work was super satisfying! :D

That did wake me up a bit more. I still wanted to take a nap... but wound up not doing so. Also wanted to get some notes together for my therapy appointment tomorrow. But ran out of time/energy for that,

But now, I need do a bit of archiving and try to get to bed.

#adventures with fitness #... and now we wait #while i feel a lot more relief after getting thehearing over with now... i'm going to leave in all the venting #more for my own reference and context #there is some lingering worry about whether i hurt my case at any point... but at this point - what's done is done #i need to move forward again

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br0adwayblues · 5 years

Text

so, i recently took a trip to israel

it was about 24 hours of travel both ways, so i kept a journal on all the flights. i thought i’d share it here.

Chicago to Toronto

hour 1: i sit next to one of the nine boys from wisconsin. his name is noah. that is all i learn about him. i read my book.

hour 2: i keep reading my book. i learn noah is in a frat. i don’t remember which one. we land in toronto.

Toronto to Tel Aviv

hour 1: we have been served food. it is bad. airplane food is bad. i understand seinfeld now. they have 6 episodes of brooklyn nine-nine available. i might power through one or two and then go to bed.

hour 2: i watch brooklyn nine-nine.

hour 3: i have finished all available episodes of brooklyn nine-nine, along with a 15-minute nap during s5e13. i forgot how good s5e14 is. i realize my lips are chapped.

hour 4: i try to fall asleep while watching “can you ever forgive me?”, but found it too good not to watch. i do not finish it. i try to sleep, again, this time with music. i am still awake.

hour 5: i try turning brooklyn nine-nine back on to sleep more. this does not work. somehow my left thigh hurts? i haven’t moved it since hour 2. i have now been awake for 19 hours. people are starting to roam about the cabin. i am so tired.

hour 6: i don’t think i’ve ever seen this many jewish people in one place since my bat mitzvah. i might join the roamers- i can feel my foot starting to fall asleep. the girl next to me has fallen asleep five separate times. i am jealous. we’re flying over france now- i want to land in paris and take a nap under the effiel tower. it is 4:50 am in paris. i do not have a grasp on the concept of time anymore.

hour 7: there are at least 5 separate babies on this flight. they are vocal. i regret not buying a neck pillow in the airport. i give up on sleeping.

hour 8: i sleep.

hour 9: they deliver breakfast. i learn what airplane eggs smell like. i never want to smell them again. the fresh fruit almost makes me weep with joy. i need more sleep. the name tag the trip coordinators gave me 19 hours ago is still on. i am impressed. my lips are still chapped.

hour 10: i sleep a little bit more. we arrive in 35 minutes. i cannot imagine a world off of this plane. i only know air canada. i have to put my shoes back on. i do not know where my other birkenstock is. i find it under my backpack. we arrive in 34 minutes. it only now occurs to me that i haven’t stood up the whole flight. i have to pee. we arrive in 33 minutes. we arrive in 20 minutes. we are beginning our descent. nothing that has happened on this flight has felt real. it is hot in tel aviv. here we go.

Tel Aviv to Montréal

hour 1: i am asleep it is great.

hour 2: i wake up and realize how dry my mouth has become. i cough for at least 10 minutes straight. my costar told me to “make yourself tea, put on some music, and just get it done”. i only wish i could. lunch is served. i only eat the bread.

hour 3: i sleep. josie and i lean on each other. my earbud irritates my trahis piercing. it’s a small price to pay for sleep.

hour 4: i sleep.

hour 5: i sleep intermittently. i still regret not buying a neck pillow. there’s a light that flickers a few rows ahead of me. i’ve heard the same song three times now. i guess my playlist is repeating.

hour 6: i don’t know when to take my birth control. i suppose now is as good a time as ever. i decide to watch “love, simon”.

hour 7: i am given a kosher snack. i am sick of kosher food. josie and i mention how we never want to eat cucumbers again. i open to sandwich. it is a cucumber sandwich. i scam my way into free wine AND ginger ale since two carts came by on either side. i love the middle seat. ten minutes later, i have to pee. i no longer love the middle seat.

hour 8: i finish both my wine and “love, simon”. josie, lexi, and i split a bag of bissli, an israeli snack. it is bad. i eat it anyway. i realize i forgot to put my socks on and now my ankles are swollen. i don’t think i can take my birkenstocks off. i search for another movie to watch. there are still three hours left.

hour 9: “what men want” is... interesting. however, i’ve committed. i’m seeing this through to the end. i have to pee again. i’m ready to get off of this plane.

hour 10: i’m much more invested in this movie. whether it’s because it’s good or i have nothing else to do is unclear. i can’t feel my toes.

hour 11: i finish the movie and they start passing around more food. i eat the fruit. it is always bad. i decide to watch the one episode of diners, drive-ins, and dives they have available. i watch that and an episode of brooklyn nine-nine. again. we land soon. i once again only know air canada. i cannot wait to eat meat and cheese together. i have never been so excited about breaking kosher. my ears need to pop. we are landing in montréal. allez-vous. yalla. let’s go.

Montréal to Chicago

hour 1: noah and i sit next to each other again. we’ve come full circle. my screen doesn’t work. i wanted to watch juno. i read my book from the first flight, to really embrace this circle of life thing. i get a ginger ale to keep me from falling asleep on my tray.

hour 2: i sleep and read intermittently. it is 4 am in tel aviv. i am tired. i can see chicago. i do not want to land, because that means the trip is over. i do not want to say goodbye. we begin our descent. it is cold in chicago. here we go.

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blankdblank · 6 years

Text

Precisely on Time Pt 9

Bit short and it will get more eventful in the next part, not just all in bed and snuggling.

Pt 1 - Pt 2 – Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 – Pt 6 - Pt 7 - Pt 8 -

Tags –

@deliciouscoffeesong, @himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator, @sweeticedtea, @ggbbhehe4455, @thegreyberet, @patanghill17, @jesgisborne, @curvestrology, @alishlieb, @abiwim, @jotink78, @deepestfirefun,

…

A soft grunt from the bed beside you stirred your eyes to open. In an easy scan your eyes turned to the empty bassinet, but before your pulse could rise or any worry set in the soft voice of Thranduil sounded out through the wall saying, “Now you just, right, a bit snugger, perfect.” The soft laugh after coming from your fiancé followed as you heard Kili saying, “Such a big mess from such small creatures.”

Fili, “Well they did eat, what, five times yesterday?”

In a clear line they entered the bedroom again with large smiles as Thranduil held little Thor and said, “Just bathed and changed the pair.”

Legolas’ smile grew as he added, “Helin loves to kick in the water.” Making your weak smile grow softening the worried expressions on the boy’s faces at seeing the remaining exhausted expression on your face lighten in your response as Thranduil added, “And Thror giggles when you wash his feet.” Earning a soft chuckle from you.

Wetting your lips you inched up higher as another voice sounded out announcing your Husband’s place in the kitchen, “Thick stew coming through.” The group parted for Thorin and his high bun and apron over his sleeping pants and deep cut undershirt on his path to you with filled tray in hand coated in a large bowl with a tall glass of juice, an herbal tea and a small vase with a short Ruby and emerald carved rose for you widening your smile. Eagerly the boys approached your side to help you shift up against the pillows they fluffed for you to sit up against.

The pair watched their Uncle setting the tray down around your lap and flicking out the folded napkin he’d brought to lay across your lap so carefully before Fili nodded his head after a glance at the clock on Thorin’s bedside table and said, “Well, we’ve got to be off for our shift of duties.”

Raising your brow you giggled asking, “Since when do you rush of so promptly for duties?” Your head turned to Thorin as you asked playfully, “And just how long do I have you before Balin appears to drag you away?”

With a widening grin he replied, “I’m on leave.” Your brows rose again, “Dwarf tradition. One meeting in the morning then the rest of the day is with My One and our Pebbles. Kings rarely get them but with Balin and Dwalin along with the boys and Amad I’ve enough kin to bear the more menial tasks through the days and evenings.”

“You’re certain you can handle it?”

He nodded and replied with a loving gaze locked on yours, still beaming at the knowledge of your two healthy Pebbles along with the far less straining labor the pair had brought on so suddenly, and yet still far less troubling than Dis’ two day struggle. In a low reply he stated, “We can handle it, all of us, we’re family, and here to protect you and our Pebbles. For now however, you need to eat.” In his hands he collected the herbal tea and allowed you a few sips while he cradled the spoon in his hand, filling and scraping it gently along the edge of the bowl before holding it up for you with a chuckle, “I missed aiding you through the labor, humor me on this.”

Rolling your eyes you accepted the spoon between your lips deepening his smile watching you chew and swallow the chunks in the hearty stew. “Thank you, the rose is a nice touch. Very beautiful.”

“I’m glad you like it. Expect more tokens like it in the near future.”

“There’s no arguing against it?”

He shook his head offering you another spoonful, “Not a chance.”

When the bowl and glass of juice was emptied you relaxed back again raising your hands to accept the squirming pair of infants for their next meal as Thorin eyed them carefully saying, “Fili mentioned Thor feels a bit heavier already.”

You smiled up at him as he watched their feet shift against his thick fingers stroking against their soft skin, “I’m certain they will be large enough to quiet your relatives soon enough. Until then they’re small enough-.”

His free hand landed on yours, “No one would dare be upset with their size, not with such appetites, promise enough for their healthy growth.” In a scan over your face he took in your tired expression, “Are you in any pain?”

You shook your head feeling Legolas’ arm resting against your side as his hand settled on Helin’s back with a gentle stroke calming her wiggling while Thranduil returned from taking the tray and dishes into the kitchen again then sat at the edge of the bed near your feet watching the pair and you happily in his silence. “No, just still a bit tired.”

Thorin smiled saying, “After they’re fed we’ll draw you a bath and we can nap with the Little Ones if you like. Thranduil mentioned they usually sleep after eating, allowing it all to soak in I suppose.”

You giggled softly as Legolas replied, “I’ll start the bath.” When your eyes met his he added, “Oh, Estel is at Bilbo’s, Frodo got a new set of wind up toys from Bifur and Bofur he wanted to share with his best friend. Should be back tomorrow, besides, he was wishing to give the twins a gift they’re making, won’t let us help at all.”

With a soft giggle you replied, “I am certain it will be perfect.”

In a chuckle of his own he nodded and walked through the room towards the bath to add the herbs then went into the closet to collect a new change of clothe, grabbing one of Thorin’s shirts this time for you to rest in with another pair of your knee length pants. Lowering your eyes the infants grunted and cooed as they claimed their last drops of milk from you and settled in your and Thorin’s arms as he cradled Thor, with handkerchief in hand to wipe his mouth before doing the same for Helin as you covered your chest once again. Not long after Legolas returned as Thranduil inched closer accepting your cooing daughter into his arms once again while the Prince carefully helped you out of bed and to the bath.

Wetting his lips he glanced at the tub awkwardly when you approached it causing you to chuckle weakly in a glance up at him to say, “You don’t have to stay, I can manage it.”

He nodded and turned to leave, quietly closing the doors behind him as you inhaled slowly and winced through removing, stepping out of your pants and lowering into the water after the short steps inside. The hot water and herbs soaked through your skin as you tightened the bun on top of your head then laid it back to close your eyes trying to relax as your stomach clenched at the strong aroma from the herbs while a set of murmurs filled the other room after a firm knock had sounded.

At the bath door that opened a crack allowing your Husband through you caught Thorin’s unsure expression as he moved to kneel at your side to say, “My Sister was wondering if she might be able to have a word. Heard from the boys you were awake.”

You nodded, “Should I get out?”

He shook his head, “If you wanted her to wait until you’re done she will, if not I can send her in here, if you wish that is.”

“If she doesn’t mind she can come in here.”

He nodded and leaned in to claim a gentle kiss as his hand cupped your cheek to purr, “I love you. No one could match the pride I bear at being yours.” Your tear filled eyes stirred a concerned flash in his eyes until your closed through your claiming another kiss from him.

In a soft whisper you replied, “Just, I love you. More than you’ll ever know.”

After wiping your cheeks he stole another kiss and replied, “I’ll fetch her, then you can get back to relaxing when she’s said her piece and we can tuck you in properly.”

Your nod sent him off after his chuckle at your finger tapping his nose gently as you repeated your love for him, barely moments later Dis, in her deepest blue gown, settled on her knees beside the tub on the folded towel Thorin had used as well with a soft smile at you. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips before her eyes stopped wandering over the walls to meet yours with a crumbling expression as her words left her.

In a steady tone you said, “My labor started after I woke that morning, just hadn’t realized it. So your comment had nothing to do with triggering anything. In fact, I think it was the walk I had after to urge it on. I’ve been told Dwarf infants rarely remain quiet in their first few months, so it must have been jarring for you, the silence.”

A weak smile formed on her face as she nodded, “Yes, that is true Your Majesty.”

With a curt sigh you shifted in the tub stirring her eyes to scan over you as you said, “No titles. I doubt I’ll ever be cross enough to enforce them with you or any of the other Durins.”

Looking you over again she asked, “Are you in pain?”

Your head shook and you glanced at the stone floor contemplating climbing out at the effect the scents from the herbs were having on you. “No, it’s the smell.”

Her lips parted and she rose to her feet eyeing the table along the wall and crossed the room to fetch a small vial she returned with and knelt again saying, “This, they should have added this.” After dabbing a few drops onto her finger with a few turns of her hand she asked, “May I?” You nodded and watched her hand move to gently stroke a half circle below your ears and chin, “Vili always forgot this too. And I thought the sensitivity was bad in the pregnancy with the boys, after Fili I nearly passed out from a broth Adad offered me.” Your smile inched wider as you softly chuckled feeling the now somehow chilling liquid that sent tingles through your skin calming your unsteady stomach.

“After, I know the boys and girls are far larger than mine, but after, how long did you feel tired?”

Her smile flinched wider as she settled, feeling the heavy stone in her stomach from her own nerves start to break apart at your return to your normal friendly conversing before your joint hormone battles slammed at each other. “The first few days I mostly slept. With Pebbles they sleep for a great while before they start up again, allowing their Amad’s to rest between feedings. Fili’s was the roughest, just being the first, your body has to repair and try to settle again. After the pair of them twins was fairly easy.”

“Two days of your screaming labor, how is that easy?”

She chuckled softly, “We are carved from stone so our Little Ones enter slowly, the screams are to alert the mountain to the health of the Amad. Part of how yours was so frightening for us, so quick and quiet.”

“The boys were in the other room, I frightened them enough when I called for Bilbo.”

“They will have to learn to be far more used to birthing with your union to the Elf Prince settling at last.”

“I merely meant, they’ve both known quieter births and infants so yours was a bit jarring for them. Besides the noise kept them up for nearly a week, they had just gotten used to it.”

She nodded then eyed the closed door at the happy squeal your Son had given at Thorin kissing his nose while Helin gave one at Legolas’ peppering kisses across her cheeks. “Fili mentioned Thor is heavier already.”

You chuckled softly, “Should be, nearly the full seven Hobbit meals a day for the pair of them.”

Her brows rose, “Seven? No wonder you’re tired. I’ll tell Thorin to up your stew intake, heavy broths, nice steak and thick chicken. And at least two helpings of mashed potatoes, have to keep up your strength.” Her smile flickered back at your soft chuckle, “They are beautiful, even in their silence, firm grips to, very strong already.”

“Yes, before we know it they’ll be sprinting around like Estel and Frodo after your boys.” Her chuckle sounded as you giggled softly and rested your head back against the edge of the bath.

“It helps if you get back and shoulder rubs too. Thorin is yours to boss around through his leave. Here to pamper you fully.”

“I’ll remember that.” After your eyes opened again you eyed her curiously, “Could I ask you a strange favor?”

She nodded, “Anything.”

“Could you help me with my pants?”

Her smile inched wider, “Of course.” With a soft chuckle she continued, “Not a strange favor at all. Quite common in fact.”

“Just keep having a cramp in my hip with pants.” Her hand extended and she helped you out of the tub before you accepted the towel she held out to you to help you dry off and pull on your new layers. Lifting your arms you undid your bun and ran your fingers through your hair, catching a glimpse of your mid back length hair on your right side so different from the left nearly reaching your belt. The difference bringing the list of stolen moments you would once again use your time with Bilbo and Legolas to trim the rest of your hair to avoid Thorin’s suspicion. Finally your hair was at a decent length allowing you to leave your hair down around most of the Dwarves without their second glances towards the disastrous shaving job you’d done to free yourself from that orc, one that still brought a flinch to Thorin’s brow at the memory flashing back again.

Your hand rose again to brush your hair behind your ear as Dis led the way back to your bed where your smile grew watching the giant warrior Dwarf King hunched over with a beaming grin between kisses on your infants’ feet and hands as the trio of men hummed to them gaining their coos and squeaks. His head rose and his eyes locked on you as his legs shifted carefully to stand and guide you back to the bed, where he sat you on the edge of the bed, gently working your free flowing hair into a long braid with a tuft of curls sticking out from the uneven sections.

In a soft rumble beside you he stated with the unfinished braid in his fingers, “You can cut it to be even, if you wish,” You turned your head to meet his gaze and he added, “It’s in the center of your back now, plenty long enough. Besides, I prefer my braids not to have tufts of hair sticking out of the sides.” After a soft chuckle he kissed yoru cheek saying, “Now where have you been stashing those scissors? You didn’t think I’d notice the two feet of hair growth on only one side of your head?”

His playful rumble stirred a giggle from you, rolling your eyes you gave him the location and watched him go to claim it and return once again with a small trash bin as well. Gently he turned you and eased his fingers through your hair to evenly cut it with his same adoring gaze each time he was allowed to touch it before Legolas carried the bin and scissors back to their homes as Thorin redid your braid and tied it off at the end and kissed you sweetly when he tucked you in again.

As he settled again his smile grew as he cradled your daughter as Thor was set across your chest by Legolas, pleased squeals came from him at his resting place, in a turn of his own he settled at your side and patted the bed before him allowing Dis to claim the spot widening her smile as she got a better look at her Niece. Tears filled her eyes while Legolas stretched out at your side with a smile of his own gently stroking his hands across Thor’s back, after your failed attempt at holding back your yawn Dis’ head turned as she sensed her daughters wishing for their own feedings.

In a smiling glance back at you she transferred Helin back to Thorin’s arms stating, “My Pebbles are hungry.” Her smile grew towards you, “Get plenty of rest.” Before turning her head leaving the additional helpings of food and specifications for Thorin then rose to her feet to head home again while Thranduil rose to help Thorin ease the infants back into their bassinet once you’d swaddled them again.

With a growing smile Thranduil left the room to go bathe and change allowing you three to settle in for a nap, after which the pair agreed to split the sections of you they decided needed to be massaged. After bathing Thranduil volunteered himself to prepare the next meal for you three, making sure to add extra helpings for you to bring your energy up again after bringing in a set of oils to aid in your massage. All of his actions and glances in at the safely snoozing infants deepened his smile as he caught a glimpse of your fingers intertwining with Legolas’ across his chest through your head nuzzling against his shoulder while Thorin curled around your back carefully trying to not grip you too tightly even in his sleep.

Pt 10

#Thorin x Reader OC x Legolas #Hobbit #lotr

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