cold fruit in a hot kitchen (so i had this great watermelon last weekend)

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Ch.1

Rose firmly believed that everything magical happened at night. Ever since she could remember, the only time she ever felt truly like herself was when everyone else had turned off their worlds and gone to sleep.

When she was 13, Rose’s parents had gotten divorced, and her mother had uprooted them from Seoul to Los Angeles. The only thing that stopped her tears was climbing onto the roof of their new apartment building in the dead of night to look at the tall, spindly palm trees swaying in the Santa Ana winds. The air smelled faintly like jasmine, and the city lights twinkled cheerily at her, as if trying to help her feel marginally less alone.

When she was 16, Rose was in New York when she had lost her virginity and gotten her heart broken all in the same night. Numb, she walked around the city aimlessly until she happened to see a sign for a model management company promising money, travel, and the opportunity to change her life. She remembered thinking that she would do anything to take her away from here, away from her life.

And when Rose was 22, she happened to be in Tokyo, at 3am, when she met him - the boy who would change her entire life.

Ch. 1 -- Serendipity

Can’t eat that. Can’t eat that. Nope, not that. Not that either. Rose let out a groan of frustration as she walked past rows of snacks, onigiri, and ramen that she wasn’t allowed to eat. After constant dieting for photoshoots and runway shows, it should have been easy for her to stop in a 7/11 and not practically drool over all the forbidden fruit. And yet here she was, in black sweatpants and sweatshirt, staring longingly at a cup of Shin ramen like the world’s hungriest ninja. To be fair, it had been an especially long day of fittings. As the new face of Dior, she was spending a week in Tokyo to shoot the multi-part campaign, each shoot promising to be more stressful than the last. Rose had been preparing herself for months now, and a cup of hot, savory ramen was not going to be her undoing.

“Ding,” the store’s door chime sounded, and the muffled noises of other night owls looking for snacks broke the pleasant silence. Unbothered, Rose continued to stare daggers into the ramen, not noticing that someone was standing right beside her until he muttered, “There’s only one left.”

“Huh?” she asked, startled.

“Oh, sorry. I was talking to myself,” he responded in slightly accented Japanese.

Rose turned to fully look at the mystery boy, dressed in all black with a face mask on, hair falling over his eyes, just like her. She couldn’t help but giggle. “We’re matching,” she said in Japanese with a bright smile that crinkled her eyes into half moons.

Surprised, he lifted his head to look at her, at her long ash-brown hair, at her glowing skin, and at her eyes that he was certain were the color of liquid sunsets. Wow, he thought.

“You can have the ramen. I’m not allowed to eat it anyways,” she continued.

His brain was still stuck on liquid sunsets when he choked out a reply. “Why?”

He watched her scrunch her nose cutely as she responded. “I’m on a diet. I’ll just get soup or something.”

Pouting, she started to walk away from him. Every muscle in his body tensed, screaming at him to make her stay, if only for another second.

“Wait!”

She turned around hesitantly and saw him holding the cup of ramen.  

“What if we split it?”

She cocked her head to the side but didn’t respond. He couldn’t help but think cute cute cute.

He continued, “it’s half the calories…?”

She furrowed her eyebrows at him, clearly weirded out that a stranger just asked to split ramen with her, but she barely had a chance to respond before her stomach let out an embarrassingly loud growl. Traitor.

He let out what she guessed to be a snort.

“Fine. But- ” She snatched the ramen from him. “-I’m making it! I can’t trust a stranger to make my precious ramen.”

He shook his head, “You mean our precious ramen!”

She cracked a grin and skipped down the aisle, going to the register to pay.

“Wait! I’ll pay.”

“That’s very gentlemanly of you, but since you’re being nice enough to share, it’s my treat.”

He looked ready to fight her on it, but before he could move, she grabbed him by his sweatshirt sleeve and dragged him over to the eating counter.

“Sit.”

He huffed and sat down.

She smiled warmly at him. “Good boy.”

His heart lurched into his throat. So endearing.

He watched as she paid and prepared the ramen. Everything she did was graceful. Even though she was right — they were in fact wearing matching outfits — her long legs, tiny waist, and the little peek of her abs made her look irresistibly sexy. He’d seen plenty of beautiful girls, but none of them made him feel so….warm.

He ached to touch her, to run his fingers through her soft hair, to hear her giggle again, to stay there in the convenience store and know all her secrets, to tell her all his secrets.

He couldn’t remember ever being so affected by a girl before, especially not a girl he met 5 minutes ago, and he was still thinking about it when she was back, steaming cup of ramen in one hand and pair of chopsticks outstretched in the other.

She spoke while he was rubbing his chopsticks together, “I’m Rose by the way.”

Rose. He rolled it around in his head and concluded that her name was beautiful too. He reflexively went to remove his face mask and tell her his name, but his hand stopped mid-motion, a million thoughts running through his head. What if she knew who he was and turned into a scary fangirl? Even worse, what if she knew who he was and hated him? What if, what if, what if…

Rose knew the strange boy was going through a little crisis, since normally guys would jump to give her their name, usually followed by their phone number and a horrible pick up line, so she played it super cool and pretended to be focused on her chopsticks as she snuck peeks at him.

After another second, he made up his mind that the risk was worth it. So taking a leap of faith, he slid off his hood and pulled down his mask.

“I’m Jungkook.”

He had a great face. Flooffy hair, big doe eyes looking into Rose’s intently, and very soft, kissable lips—wait, what?

She allowed her eyes to trace his sharp jawline once — self control! — before finding his eyes again.

“Jungkook? That’s Korean, right?”

Quickly covering up his surprise that she didn’t seem to know who he was, he smiled timidly back at her.

“Yea.”

She smiled widely this time, as brilliant as the sun.

“I’m Korean too! We can stop using broken Japanese to talk to each other.”

He laughed then, and Rose internally squealed when she saw his cute, bunny teeth.

A little shy, but curious nonetheless, Jungkook asked, “Do you live in Korea then?”

“Sort of. I have an apartment in Seoul, but I travel a lot for work, so I sort of live everywhere and nowhere. What about you?”

“I live in Seoul, but I’m kind of the same, traveling all the time.” He was still cautious of revealing too much. He didn’t think she was pretending not to know him, so he wanted to protect this refreshing anonymity for just a little while longer.

He was about to ask her another question when they were interrupted by the jarring sound of an iPhone alarm.

“Ramen’s done!”

Rose practically dropped her phone in excitement while silencing her timer. As if he wasn’t already overly fond of her, she had to go and do a little dance while tearing off the lid and stirring the noodles, making him swoon.

She could feel his eyes staring when she glanced up at him through her eyelashes. “What? This is my happy dance.” He only chuckled.

She twirled a huge bite of the steamy, spicy, delicious noodles and opened her mouth wide, only to be interrupted by his chopsticks rudely stopping hers.

“Hey!”

“Shouldn’t the oldest get the first bite?”

Rose put her chopsticks back in the cup, and her eyes turned sharp. Uh oh, Jungkook activated sassy mode.

“First off, we’re not in Korea so those rules don’t apply. Second, you’re definitely not older.” Triumphant, Rose waited for a comeback.

Smirking, Jungkook only asked, “What year are you?”

Not about to be fooled, Rose countered, “You first.”

“How about we both say it on 3?”

Exasperated and hungry, Rose agreed.

“1…2…3…”

“’97”

“’97”

“Ha!! We’re the same age.”

She quickly turned her attention back to the ramen. Considering for a second, she held up the folded ramen lid to him. “We can take the first bite together, if we drop the honorifics.”

Not really caring who takes the first bite, Jungkook only wanted to get to know her better, and he was more than happy to get closer to her. “Deal.”

If anyone were to walk by the 7/11 in Ginza at 3am that night and look into the window, they would have seen two people, heads bent toward each other, eyes gazing into each other’s and smiles growing on their lips as the steam from a cup of ramen warmed their already blazing cheeks. The fluorescent lights cast them in a warm glow, and time itself seemed to slow to honor the serendipity that brought these two souls together so that their story could finally begin.

The cafe I work at just got shut down because of the coronavirus and it's really stressing me out... could you write Beej/Dewey comforting a reader in a similar position?? (Your writing is amazing, btw 💕💕) sfw is fine

I know, I’ve still got Dewey songfics to get through. I wanted to bang this one out though, because I think a lot of us are probably in the same boat. I chose to write Beej because I thought he could provide a helpful perspective, and because that fandom has helped me through so much already. Thank you for requesting this, I hope it helps, even in a small way.

Words: ~1,525

Lawrence Beetlejuice Shoggoth was not a morning demon. Few demons were. Beetlejuice preferred the darkness of night, when his solitude wasn’t so blatant. During the day, he had to watch people crowd cafés and sidewalks and movie theaters, and everyone seemed to be paired or grouped off. It felt as though he was the only lone person, and he wasn’t even a person. He was a powerless demon, doomed to walk the Earth with nothing and nobody. All he could do was comfort himself with the blackness of night – the knowledge that if he could just reach far enough, make himself strong enough, he could make people see him. He wouldn’t be as invisible as he was.

At least, he had been before you had summoned him. Now, Beetlejuice didn’t mind mornings so much, as long as he spent them with you.

Normally, you woke up slowly. Very slowly. Four alarms and three snooze buttons slowly. Once you had accepted your daily fate, you would pull your phone into bed with you and scroll through social media. Beetlejuice would eventually get bored of you staring at your screen and nose at your arm, sometimes going so far as to whine “Pay attention to me!” So you would for as much time as you could spare before you absolutely had to get up for work. Your demon boyfriend would follow along behind you, tugging at your waist and nipping at the back of your neck and altogether being a pain until the moment you walked out the door.

This morning was different, though. This morning, the sun woke you up before your alarms, and you checked your phone. Beetlejuice slept on beside you when you saw your coworker’s text, your boss’s email, and listened to your boss’s voicemail. They all said the same thing.

Trying not to wake the sleeping demon, you slipped out of bed and into your slippers. You shuffled quietly out of your bedroom, quietly shutting the door behind you.

Beetlejuice woke up around when your second alarm would normally have sounded. He groaned into his pillow and reached out to where you should have been lying. Nothing. “Babes?” he asked softly. No answer. Beetlejuice lifted his head and looked around, blinking the sleep from his eyes. Sunlight filled the room – neither of you had thought to shut the curtains last night, you had been distracted. But Beetlejuice couldn’t find much satisfaction in the memory when he didn’t know where you were.

The warmth of your side of the bed had mostly faded, but it still contrasted the coolness of his arm sharply. Even though the blankets were cozy, they had nothing on the warmth you brought to his skin.

Confident that you couldn’t have been gone long, and more nervous than he would have liked to admit about why you might have left, Beetlejuice swung his legs out of bed. The demon’s feet never met the floor, however. Instead, he floated through the bedroom, through the wood of the door, and out into the living room. There he found you, curled up on the couch and holding a mug of some hot liquid he couldn’t smell, staring blankly out the window.

“Y/N?” Beetlejuice called uncertainly. You made a soft noise, acknowledging his presence and nothing more. Your eyes never strayed from the trees outside. “Hey, what’s going on?” He took in your pajamas, your messy hair, the dark circles under your eyes. “Why aren’t you getting ready for work?”

His voice was so small, and you wanted to reassure him. Right at that moment, however, you simply did not have it in you. Without speaking, you leaned over and picked up your phone from the coffee table, pulled up your voicemail, and played your boss’s message through the speaker. Slowly, Beetlejuice came to hover beside the couch.

The message was straightforward and as sympathetic as it could be. It used all the buzzwords – ‘covid-19’, ‘public safety’, ‘mandated closures.’ Your boss made it clear that this was a public health crisis, but must have read this message from the email you had received. Just listening to it made what little tension had managed to leak from your shoulders in the time you had been sitting there flood back in.

“Closed?” You nodded and set down your phone. “For the next two weeks?”

You nodded again, and swallowed. “At least,” you mumbled.

“What are you supposed to do?” Hearing the breath your took then, how ragged it was, Beetlejuice immediately dropped the question. “Oh.” He chuckled softly, clearly trying to lighten the mood. “Y’know, this reminds me of the black plague.”

You flinched. “God, Beej, don’t say that.”

“No, really. There was this thing in Italy where everybody had to just stay home. Nobody in, nobody out.”

“What happened?”

“It worked!” You frowned up at him.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, well, they also burned down every house where people were showing signs of the plague with the family inside, but–”

“Beetlejuice!” His mouth snapped shut. He stared at you, tension clear on his face. “Jesus Christ, now is not the time.” Finally, his brow furrowed with a troubled understanding. This was serious.

Normally, his breather would have laughed right along with him. As it was, you had the overwhelming urge to take a shower. To replace all the oxygen in your lungs with the steam. To scrub down your apartment, your street, the whole damn block until it was spotless. Virus-free.

You were so occupied with the enormity of the task and the amount of bleach you would need to accomplish it that you didn’t notice Beetlejuice moving. Before you realized what he was doing, the demon had taken the mug from your immobile hands and set it on the coffee table. He closed the curtains, switched on a lamp, pulled a few DVDs from the entertainment center and set them beside the television, and he was trying to move you from your position on the couch.

“BJ, what are you doing?”

“You’re taking up too much room. I need to sit down.”

“Beej–” As quickly as you started to protest, however, you gave up. There was no real point – you had nothing else to do. You scooted toward the edge of the couch and let Beetlejuice settle down between your side and the couch back. He was still in the soft black and white pajama pants and white tee you had given him to sleep in months earlier. He loved those clothes.

Beetlejuice turned onto his side and waited for you to do the same. Then, he pulled the blanket down from the back of the couch and draped it over both of you, slipped an arm under your elbow and around your waist, and tangled your legs together. He leaned forward and nuzzled your hair.

“What are you so scared about?” he whispered.

“Not having a job. Not being able to leave the house. I mean, what if I run out of food? What if I run out of meds? What if I–?” Beetlejuice felt the sudden tension in your arm over his, and he lifted his head to get a better look at your face.

“What?”

You took a shaky breath. “What if I already have it, and I just don’t know yet?” Beetlejuice went slack behind you, but he shook his head.

“You got a fever?”

“No.”

“You breathing okay?”

“Mostly.”

“Then you’re fine.”

“But–”

“Hey. You’re fine right now.” Beetlejuice gently rubbed his hand back and forth, soothing over your waist and your stomach. He kissed your ear, then returned to nuzzling at your hair. “Stick around here with me, we’ll get you through this.” A tear slipped from your eye and landed on the couch, but you said nothing. “And if you die–”

“Beej.” You tried to say it sternly, but it came out sounding far too weak.

“–I’ll still be right here with you.” He shook you a little at the waist, trying to get you to look up at him. “Right?”

You sniffled, but nodded. “Right.”

“Right. Hey, c’mere.” The demon pulled you back into him even more firmly. You held his arm around you with both of yours. He stroked your stomach with his thumb and brushed your hair back from your forehead with an extra hand. Beetlejuice closed his eyes and nestled his nose into your neck, breathing slowly and unnecessarily, taking in your early morning scent.

Dozens of thoughts were trampling your mind. Your job, your budget, your rent, your health, your friends. Over the last few months, you had been so careful to allocate every dollar, to look after every symptom. Now…

Beetlejuice sighed against you. If it were at all possible, your body automatically relaxed even farther into his. He might have been dead, but he was here. He was here and he was solid and he was willing you to believe that everything would be okay. You had never fully understood his ability to make you feel the way he could, but just for the moment, you let him. Maybe (hopefully), eventually (someday), everything would be okay.

.

.

I’ll edit your essay.

Tags List: @skiddyyo @paxenera @a-okay-rj @the-geeky-lady @darkblueeyedperson @hannah-de-lioncourt @ironmansuucks @missihart23

If you would like to get on the tags list, here is the post.

Title: What Happens at Frat Parties Chapter 4 Pairing:  Huwumi Rating: E Word Count:  3,004 Read on Ao3 Summary:  

For Hawks, getting the girl has always been easy. He’s popular, attractive and part of the frat house that throws the best parties. When Dabi’s sister shows up one night, Hawks realizes not everything comes as easy to him as he thought. And while Fuyumi thinks Hawks isn’t her type, as time goes on, she finds his advances harder to resist. Maybe there’s more to him than she realizes.

Fic under the cut!

Hawks assumed he'd been insufferable all week.

"Dude you've been insufferable all fuckin' week," Dabi snorted, lighting a blunt.

Confirmed.

"I swear to fuck if you ruin this party, I'm going to murder you," Dabi continued, yanking on a large floatie to put in the pool, presumably for himself.

"What could I possibly do to ruin it for you when all you're going to do is float around and smoke?"

"You'll find a way," Dabi said, narrowing his eyes. "I know you've been moping about my sister rejecting you all week, which, disgusting, but if I have to hear you sad sigh one more time, I'm going to rip out your damn vocal chords."

"You know I can still sigh even without a voice-"

"Shut it. Just find someone to fuck tonight so your dickbrain can be satisfied."

Hawks opened his mouth, about to protest but Dabi continued. "And don't you dare fuck my sister."

"I'm not! She wants nothing to do with me!" he retorted quickly.

"Good. Ew. There are plenty of other fish in the sea or girls about to be in our pool. Pick someone else," Dabi said, taking a long hit on his blunt.

"I don't know. Maybe I should stop," Hawks said, grabbing a drink and sitting at the edge of the pool. Music thumped in the background, something upbeat Mirio had picked. He dipped his feet in the water, swinging his legs back and forth. In just a few moments, the pool would be filled with plenty of beautiful girls dressed in the most perfect bathing suits, droplets of water rolling down their skin, wet hair clinging to their cheeks. It was ideal, more than ideal.

And yet...

"Stop what? Fucking women? Yeah right. Maybe when I stop smoking," Dabi said, flopping onto the floatie. "It's the summer, not existential crisis hour."

He hopped into the pool, shivering when the water floated around his chest, leaning against the edge of the pool. "I know," he muttered.

"Look here, guyliner," Dabi said, sitting up enough to look at Hawks.

"Guyliner?" Hawks snorted, tiling his head.

"Yeah," Dabi said and gestured wildly to his own eye, right at the corner. "You always got that shit on your face."

"My... eyes just look like this," Hawks said, rolling them.

"What?" Dabi blinked. "Okay. Anyway, I'm not gonna help you get your mojo back or anything. So have a few more beers and find some cute girl and you'll forget all about this week and my sister. Which is still disgusting by the way."

"I guess I should let the magic of summer and alcohol do its stuff," Hawks sighed, draping his body over the edge of the pool.

"Exactly."

"You're a horrible friend, you know that?" Hawks snorted.

"Yup. Thank you!" Dabi smirked, puffing out a large ring of smoke.

Hawks didn't know why he cared so much about what had transpired between him and Fuyumi. She was pretty, sure, but it wasn't like he hadn't been with other pretty girls. Maybe it was the fact that it had been ages since he'd been rejected by someone. He sighed, running his wet fingers through his blond hair, taking a long swig of the beer.

Voices echoed from their front lawn, groups of people starting to walk up to the house. Mirio and Tensei were by the entrance of the gate, greeting the guests like it was some sort of formal event.

Hawks waved, nodding as friends walked into the yard, a few immediately rushing into the pool.

"Hey! Don't ruin my shit!" Dabi said, attempting to keep his balance in the floatie, holding his smoking blunt high above the water.

Dabi was right. Not that Hawks would ever say that out loud, but he needed to not think about stupid shit. He had no reason to be attached to Todoroki Fuyumi. She rejected him, which meant he could move on to someone else. Easy peasy.

Or it would've been if Todoroki Fuyumi wasn't walking into their backyard right now looking like an absolute goddess.

Her white and red hair was partially covered by a straw sunhat, her pale skin glistening in the sunlight. A soft white ribbon was tied around the hat, draping over the side. Her legs were covered by a pink wrap, tied around her curvy hips, covering the lower half of her white suit with red polka dots. It was a one piece, covering the entirety of her body, but it scooped low, her cleavage barely covered by the bow tied in the front. She looked good. Stunning even... especially in this compared to the rather... frumpy outfits he had seen her in before this.

His jaw dropped, his mouth open. He was lucky his damn drool stayed in his mouth.

"I know that look," Dabi snorted. "Glad it only took one beer for you to get over your damn self and- ...what the fuck."

Hawks could only assume Dabi's gaze had fallen upon the very person he couldn't take his eyes off of.

"Why the hell is Fuyumi here?!"

Because Hawks had finally gone to hell for being a shit and this was his torture.

"Stop staring at her, creep!" Dabi growled, flicking the side of Hawks head.

"Ow!? I wasn't!"

A blatant lie.

It hurt more to tear his eyes away from her than it did to stare. It sucked that she was way hotter than he'd originally guessed.

"I swear to fuck if I catch you again I'll rip your dick off. And don't talk to her because she's coming over here."

Indeed she was. Hawks rolled his eyes, taking a long swig of his beer. He wasn't going to purposefully talk to her, especially since every time he did something went wrong. No. He'd already made his decision to find someone else for the night...

But her hips...

The way the bathing suit sat snug on her curves. It was killing him and his dick that Dabi would rip off if he knew the dirty thoughts rushing through Hawks' mind.

"Oi! 'Yumi! What the hell are you doing here?" Dabi groaned, letting his head fall back into the water as he stared at her.

"Touya..." she sighed. "I'm not-"

"Dabi."

She clicked her tongue.

"Touya-"

"Fuyumi. You're the smart one of the two of us. How hard is it to remember what to call me?"

She rolled her eyes, folding her arms over her chest, which only made Hawks flick his gaze back down to the water.

 Don't look at her chest. Don't look at her chest. Don't look at her chest.

If he chanted it hard enough he probably wouldn't do it. Probably.

"Oh, it's got nothing to do with memory," she huffed out. "I just don't want to call you that stupid name."

"Stupid? It's better than Touya."

Hawks didn't really know Dabi's hang up about his name and he didn't bother to ask; he knew he wouldn't get a serious answer.

"Anyway," Fuyumi said, ignoring the question. "I'm not here for you-"

"Oh fuck, please tell me you're not here for Hawks."

"Huh-" Hawks blinked, and shot his head up, staring straight at Fuyumi. Her cheeks were heated as she glanced between both of the boys.

Hope; a cruel emotion, flickered in his chest.

"What?!" Quickly she shook her head. "I'm not here for him either! Nejire wanted to see Mirio and Tamaki so she asked me to come with her."

"Oh, carry on then," Dabi said, flicking his hand as he pulled his head up and took a long drag on the blunt still smoking in his mouth.

Fuyumi rolled her eyes. "Glad to have your permission," she said, turning from both of them.

"Hope you, uh, have fun," Hawks said, waving his hand one time. She glanced back towards him, nodding awkwardly before turning back to head to where Nejire was.

He loved looking and sounding like a total moron.

Watching her walk away, he gulped down the rest of his beer and slammed the bottle down on the side of the pool.

He needed 20 more of those to make this night better.

~~

Even in a one piece, Fuyumi felt exposed. She hated the summer, she much preferred to be bundled up in sweaters and jeans, comfortable for the winter. Today, the heat was practically unbearable, and the last thing she wanted to do was swim in the pool where her brother and his idiotic friends were hanging out.

"'Yumi, you look like you're dying," Nejire teased, gently nudging her friend.

"It's just a little hot," she said, gently adjusting her hat.

"I know the solution to that," Nejire hummed. "We should grab drinks!"

"Just some water for me-"

"No, no... no no no!" Nejire squeaked, hooking her arm through Fuyumi's. "We're going to make you a real drink!"

"Neji!" she said, stumbling forward with the girl as they made their way over to the bar.

Fuyumi wasn't much of a drinker. Meaning she drank never. When she did, it was usually a disaster.

The last thing this party needed was a disaster.

"Girl, you need to allow yourself to have fun. I'll make you a drink and you'll feel refreshed in no time," she said, grabbing a few of the bottles on the table.

"I didn't realize 'refreshed' and 'drunk' were synonyms now," Fuyumi teased, trying to watch what Nejire was doing as she dumped ice into two drinks.

"Having one drink to take the edge off is not going to get you drunk."

Oh how wrong she was.

They were joined by Mirio and Tamaki, though Tamaki had yet to say anything, and Fuyumi found she preferred to let Nejire and Mirio do most of the talking. For now, she focused on the drink. It was nice in a way, the cup keeping her hands cold at the very least. And though the liquid was sharp when it rolled down her throat, it was surprisingly refreshing, sending a cool feeling throughout her body.

At some point, Nejire refilled the drink when she refilled her own, laughing with Mirio about some final exam they both were certain they aced.

By the end of the strange green colored drink, Fuyumi was feeling far more 'refreshed' than she expected. Her skin tingled, a slight buzz tickling through her veins and she could feel her heartbeat throbbing against her forehead. Somehow the sun felt even hotter now and Fuyumi was done avoiding the pool.

"Uh, Yumi? Where are you going?" Nejire said, the moment Fuyumi took a step away from her.

"It's still too hot, I'm going swimming."

"Are you sure about that?" Nejire asked.

"Mhm," she said, untying the wrap around her waist as she tossed it to the side. "Can't take it anymore." She placed her hat on the ground with the pink wrap, leaving them by Nejire as she walked to the water and stepped into it.

She sighed as the cool water floated over her, immediately cooling her body. She sighed happily, running her hand over the top of the water.

"I'm surprised you decided to come back over here."

Gasping, Fuyumi jerked her head up, looking directly into the golden eyes of Hawks, a smirk pulled across his lips. Aviator sunglasses shimmered in the sunlight atop his head, his bare chest dripping with the water from the pool.

He really was too handsome for his own good.

At least, that's what Fuyumi was certain other girls thought. Not her. He was average. Nothing special.

Even though her eyes trailed up and down his body against her will.

"I was hot," she said finally, as if it registered to her brain that she needed to answer him.

"Heh..." he chuckled and she rolled her eyes, leaning against the edge of the pool.

"Don't," she said. "I don't need your fake flattery."

"Fake?" he sighed, moving to the edge of the pool. He folded his arms over the edge and smirked at her. "Who said anything about fake?"

"I know your type. I know what you do to get girls out of this pool and into your bed." She clicked her tongue and flicked water at his face. It was a bit blunt, but the alcohol had removed her filter. "I just want to cool off," she whined, pushing away from the edge, she dunked herself completely under the water. Coming back up, she smoothed her hands over her hair, slicking it back.

"Look," Hawks sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I'll leave you alone okay. I promise I was just going to say the suit was cute, nothing weird."

She glanced down at the red polka dots. "This? Cute?"

"Yeah, it looks good on you," he said casually.

Was this how he won all the girls over? Simple-minded compliments to girls who didn't always feel good about themselves.

Well, Fuyumi wasn't going to fall for it. Not anymore than she already kinda, maybe, sort of, was. She cleared her throat. "Well, thanks."

"Yeah, I gotta... get out of here anyway. Your brother will kill me if he sees me talking to you," Hawks said, snorting as he began to walk by her.

"What? Did he say that?"

"Yup. Multiple times. Threatened to rip my dick off too and I'm not about to let that happen."

Fuyumi wrinkled her nose. A disgusting image quite frankly. "Are you really... scared of my brother?"

"Scared!?!" He immediately turned around, coughing a bit, as though a bug had flown into his mouth. "I'm not scared. I just don't feel like listening to him bitch about shit. Shigaraki bitches enough for all of us.

"Plus," he continued. "You've made it pretty damn clear you're not interested. I'm not gonna harass you. I have more tact than that." He almost looked sad as he said all that, his golden eyes flickering against the sun.

"Oh," she said softly. "I see." Why did she sort of share the sentiment?

"You don’t have to look sad about that,” he smirked. "I’ll make sure to ask you for one date from time to time."

He really was handsome.

Her heart continued to throb against her forehead and for a moment her stomach dropped as she imagined what it would be like to kiss him. Her eyes trailed down to his lips, which were pursed tight against his teeth as if he was deep in thought. She had heard so many rumors from Nejire and others; about what a good kisser he was and for a moment she let her mind wander.

Him pushing her against the edge of the pool, hands cupping her jaw, thumb caressing her cheek while he slotted their lips together-

"Yup. Anyway, do you want anything?" he asked, shaking her from her daze.

"Uh? Anything?"

Like a kiss? Or even better, an actual conversation? She thought he was about to leave her alone.

He raised his eyebrow when he realized she was clearly confused. He spoke again, "To drink?" he asked.

Oh no, she was good when it came to alcohol. Already she was starting to wonder if this was a pool or a whirlpool.

What the hell had been in the drinks Nejire had poured for her?

She quickly shook her head and floated away from the stairs. The faster she got away from him the better. She was certain it was the alcohol clouding her brain because she never would've ever considered thinking about kissing Hawks. And now... it was all her brain could focus on.

If only she could just try it once and be disgusted by it so she could get it out of her system.

No.

That was just what he wanted her to do. He was probably praying to some sex god that she would come to him and beg him to take her. Well, she certainly would show him.

"Fuyumi, are you okay?" Hawks asked, floating after her in the pool. His fingers cut through the water, leaning against the edge.

"No! I will not sleep with you!"

"Huh?" Hawks stood, or, floated rather, in front of her, blinking once and then again.

Good, she totally threw him off. Victory.

But then she realized when she actually said. She froze, swallowing as she felt the heat rise up to her cheeks. Had she really just said that?! He hadn't even asked, even though she was certain he just assumed which was dumb of him but saying that was not very smart of her either. She tried not to groan or roll her eyes as her mind stumbled into a panic.

Why was he staring at her? Did he think that was what she had been thinking about this whole time!?

"I promise..." Hawks began, finally regaining some form of speech. "I wouldn't do anything you didn't want. I'm not that much of a jerk," he said and for a moment she sensed a hint of sadness laced in his tone. She probably could've read it better if he wasn't starting to spin in front of her.

"You just seem a little... drunk," he admitted. "I was worried-"

Worried? She highly doubted that.

"What? No? I'm fine! I'm not Touya... oh... excuse me, Dabi!" she huffed.

"You don't drink often, do you?" he teased softly, leaning in towards her.

Oh gosh, he really was handsome.

"No," she said, holding the word out for far longer than normal. "I didn't drink much today."

"No, I meant in general-"

"I just need to find Nejire and I'll be fine," she sighed, pushing herself towards the stairs.

"Okay, just be careful-"

She clicked her tongue cutting him off. "I don't need to be careful, I'm perfectly fine." She pushed herself out of the pool, stumbling forward when she realized her body felt a bit heavier now she was standing on land.

But Fuyumi didn't need Hawks' help; not at all.

Identity Crisis  | Chapter 3: Grounded

“Beginning clinical trial 10.F—G in three...two...one...”

The liquid dropped from its contained, secured case the moment the buzzer went off, the sound piercing and sharp. The feel of it always got to him; dense, thick, slimy, and somehow worse than all the times that came before. Like a raindrop, it hit the back of his hand with a pluck.

It was hot.

It was always hot, burning against his skin, sizzling at the touch. He had lost count of the chemical burns that scattered along his body, scars that told stories of the many attempts he endured in the pursuit of health. Life. A chance.

The irony wasn’t lost on him. No, never in the battery of tests he subjected himself to was it ever lost on him. He was destroying his body in the attempt to heal it.

It wasn’t ideal, and certainly not his first choice in the grand scheme of things. But they didn’t have time — he didn’t have time. There was no animal testing or research studies that could be done before reaching him.

Not if he wanted a chance.

So he closed his eyes, tight. Tight enough to feel the muscles in his face twitch and scream and beg for the release that he wouldn’t give until he heard the word ‘success’. He held his breath and bit his tongue through the searing pain that spread across his skin, rendering his fingers numb and his wrist rigid with immobility, all as he waited.

It always felt like an eternity. He would often think of Emily in these times. Deep, mahogany hair that countered her smile of pure sunshine, one he’d still picture every night before going to sleep, accompanied with the purest, brightest blue eyes he’d ever witnessed before. Even now, decades after becoming nothing more than a memory to him, she kept him calm. As long as he had her memory —

“Host organism Symbiote cytoplasm results produce...another failure for organisms protoplasmic material in binding with subject.” The voice, albeit calm, professional and tame, was nails on a chalkboard to his ears. “The changes formulated to the cell structure from clinical trials 9.E—G appear to be unsuccessful.”

His eyes stayed closed, though the pressure on his eyelids lessened greatly. He could feel the burning begin to fade on his hand, the tell-tale sign that the liquid had dropped off, running down and off his skin like water in the shower. It would fall down into a drain placed beneath his feet, where the earth shattering disappointment made it feel like his legs had wavered despite the ground staying still.

His heart beat heavily and he fought to control the emotion, taking in three deep breaths to remain composed. Each lifted his chest high, pulled his shoulders back taunt. He kept those blue eyes in his mind, fighting to remember exactly what shade they were. Always close to sky blue, but never quiet so pale. Vivid, like ice.

“How would you like to proceed, Mr. Osborn?”

And with that, he opened his eyes to the world around him, no longer able to stay in the memory of a better time and place, a memory of warmth and content. His environment was sterile and cold, a lot like the expression he wore on his face. Because if twenty-eight years of owning and running his own business had taught him anything, it was to never show weakness.

“You are...highly credentialed, Doctor Frye.” Norman grabbed the towel offered to him by one of the many scientists standing nearby, slowly but confidently wiping his hands with it. “I have the upmost faith that you will figure it out.”

The towel was damp, saturated with a cooling gel to ease the burns that blistered on his skin. He smeared it generously across the back of his hand, stepping down cautiously from the platform where he stood. The other techs began to scatter, leaving all but one white-coated doctor standing amidst the departing crowd.

“Sir, with all due respect,” Doctor Frye started, “I have been surveying the progress on this project since day one. And since we’ve discovered that this Symbiote bio-structure won’t bond without the DNA markers of it’s original conception, you continue to try and change the cell nucleus of the genetic make-up with no success.”

Norman approached him with long strides, confident steps that spoke more than his words ever could. He cocked an eyebrow high in the air and discarded the towel to the side.

Doctor Frye held his tablet firmly in his grip as he continued, “This is the tenth failure, and the tenth time my team has played God to the membrane of an organism that cannot thrive without the mutation markers of its birth host.”

“And as we are both aware,” Norman was quick to respond, his tone smooth yet firm, “the birth host perished two years ago with an autopsy report that showed no remaining embryo fluid in the sack. Is that a fact you fail to recall or do you simply prefer that I remind you the cause behind our perennial struggles?”

There was something unique in Doctor Frye that Norman respected. For starters, the man was never afraid to stand up to him, talk science with him, throw equations back and forth. He had intense grit, a dedication to his craft, dare he say an unhealthy need to be present at the job at all times. It played greatly in his favor, the unfortunate passing of Frye’s wife, leading him to divulge all his time into his work. It kept the good doctor focusing on the cure Norman so desperately needed.

“That spider was our last chance at finding success with this project, Mr. Osborn,” he reminded, his voice going so far as to pitch with unnerve. “Without injecting the mutated cells directly into your bloodstream, there’s no way this Symbiote bio-suit will bind to your genetic DNA. It requires the mutated markers of that radioactive spider.”

As the doctor spoke, Norman began to roll down the sleeves to his white button-down, taking care in buttoning the cuffs back together on each arm. He never once looked down during the task, keeping his eyes focused intently on Frye, frowning a bit as he digested what was said.

“Your vacillation is disconcerting to hear, doctor. It seems you’ve forgotten that sitting beneath my entrepreneur credentials lays a scientific genius with doctoral degrees in chemistry and electrical engineering. So when I say this can be done, I say it with more than just words,” Norman’s words were even, clinical, nearly emotionless. “I say it with the knowledge and ingenuity to substantiate the matter.”

Aggravated, Doctor Frye shook his head with animated exaggeration, spinning around as Norman began to walk past him.

“You aren’t listening. You don’t — !”

Norman calmly turned to face him, so close that it physically startled the doctor, his muscles so tense it showed in his lips.

“This Symbiote is a living organism. And like all living organisms, you can work with its biology,” Norman insisted, his tensely knitted eyebrows the closest thing he had shown to frustration so far. “I would advise that you not allow any defeats to keep you from pushing forward onward to success.”

Deliberate to linger on a hard stare that created a sheen of sweat across Doctor Frye’s forehead, Norman gave a curt nod when the time felt right. Only then did he walk passed the man, careful to avoid bumping shoulders.

He made it to the door before a voice was heard again. It wasn’t unexpected. Norman would have paused there in anticipation regardless of what sound came his way; the doctor had grit, after all.  

“You have to give me clarification here, Mr. Osborn. Why can’t you lend my team the formula for the OZ Experiment Arachnid No. 00? We’ll create it from scratch, we’ll give the Symbiote the DNA markers it requires to bind and latch onto it’s subject matter,” he paused for a beat, his throat constricting as he stressed,  “You, sir.”

There was enough hesitation from Norman to make it seem like he had been pondering up a response. In reality, he had one ready to go long before the man had ever asked the question. It was a sore subject. It had become the bane of his existence. The loss of all his files, the OZ formula, the records of the arachnid experiment from years ago that could easily save his life — gone. And why?

“Because, Doctor Frye,” Norman said, swiping his badge to gain access out of the laboratory, “those records were recently loss in a very unfortunate...water-logging incident. Now carry on. I expect progress by the morning.”

The heavy weight of the door closed loudly behind him, an echo that shot through the air. Norman was walking down the halls before it had even slammed shut.

— — —

Can I just say...I’m really going to enjoy writing this character?

(¬‿¬)

A New Role

Final Fantasy VII (mostly Crisis Core) Pairing: AeriSeph Rating: Teen Prompt: From @uchihacollector​ : “AU wish. New fandom, if you are brave: Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core. There is a full HD video of the game (like 3h) on youtube. All the important characters are introduced in like the first 30 minutes. I want to request a Music AU in a big city, of characters YOU like. I think you'll like Angeal.  College AU for @auyeahaugust  Author’s Note:

Listen. It’ll just be easier for us all if you go into this knowing Sephiroth is a little OOC and that I really don’t care. More notes about the AU at the end!

“Again.”

Aeris jerked awake, the echo of his deep baritone rattling around the silent room. It had been two weeks since classes ended and three weeks since his final, but she hadn’t escaped his grasp yet. The dreams didn’t mean anything, just washes of color and different landscapes that didn’t make sense, all to end with her nervous and anxious and waiting for something before hearing his bitter disappointment pull her out of sleep.

She threw off the covers and stalked to the kitchen, looking for peace a glass of water might offer.

Sitting in the small kitchenette, she let the silence of the night embrace her. Being awake at 3:30 in the morning should be a good thing, like coming home late from a party or catching a midnight showing at the theater.

Intense dreams and haunting voices and humiliating memories of repeated failures? Not a good reason to be awake and hopefully, she’d get back to sleep soon. Last time she woke up to his voice demanding perfection, she watched the sun rise. Not this time. Not going to happen again. She was going to finish her water, wash her face, climb right back into bed, and go back to sleep. No way was she going to let him keep the control he somehow held over her.

Aeris downed her glass, sipped a second, then washed the cup and left it in the sink. She took her time washing her face, ears, and neck, and even went further to apply moisturizer and a night cream. She changed into comfortable pajamas, turned the air down low and the fan up high, and crawled under the warm comforters. On her side, head against a soft pillow and her body curled around the sheets, she closed her eyes, slowed her breathing, and banished every thought that wasn’t getting to sleep.

Somehow, she did.

*

“Hey, Aeris! Over here!”

Taking a breath, she made her way through the tables until she found Zack. She knew there was going to be a group – he somehow managed to get her to agree to meet him and “a couple friends” for drinks and she couldn’t get out of it. Sly man knew her work schedule. So she put on a smile and a cool sundress, hoping the comfortable fabric would help keep her at ease with whoever Zack managed to bring out.

She spotted his messy black hair instantly and didn’t look at others until she got closer. A few other undergrads lingered around, but Zack was sitting with three of the TAs. Him being one of them.

Her steps stuttered, but she continued on. She’d had classes with Angeal and Sephiroth, the former being one of her favorites and the latter being an experience she wish she didn’t remember, but hadn’t had Genesis. The guitarist didn’t teach many and instead focused on his own course load. How he managed to foist those responsibilities onto the other two, she didn’t know.

Angeal smiled warmly in welcome, shifting down the bench to offer her a seat next to Zack. She took it, grateful to be sitting between two people she knew, but it put her directly across from that icy green stare.

“Took you long enough!” Zack said before she could open her mouth, his heavy arm draping over her shoulders. “I almost thought you were going to stand me up.”

“Please,” she protested. “You’d just show up at my door and drag me out anyway.”

He laughed and it helped her ease her shoulders. Just a little. If Zack was here and carefree and laughing, she might be able to relax and enjoy herself, too.

“It’s nice to see you out of class, Aeris,” Angeal said from her left and she turned to offer him a smile.

“You, too! Though I’m certain you usually don’t enjoy hanging out with your students during breaks.”

“You’re not my student anymore,” he reminded her. “Not after that perfect score you got on my exam.”

Her cheeks heated, a little bashful under the reminder. She’d studied her ass off for that final.

“I trust you know Sephiroth and Genesis?” he asked, nodding toward the two men across from them.

“Ms. Gainsborough was in one of my classes last semester as well,” Sephiroth answered for her, his deep voice just as captivating here as it was in her dreams. She suppressed a shudder at the idea of adding more statements to pull her out of sleep. “She did rather well.”

Aeris blinked. She did well? According to his demeanor over the last half of the semester, as well as every word, every demand, every bit of attention he’d ever given her, she’d barely scraped by!

Genesis’s chuckle broke her from her surprise. “Seems you enjoy scaring all of your students. You really enjoy making them feel like they’re failing?”

Thankfully, Zack jumped right back in. “Aeris? Fail? She’s the only reason I passed my theory class.”

“No,” she forced, latching onto the new topic with an urgency she tried to hide, “the only reason you passed theory is because Angeal was kind enough to accept your late work.”

A few other classmates took that moment to drop in, finally moving the conversation from her. It was easy to enjoy food and drinks and tales of how others were faring, though it wasn’t easy to ignore the quiet stare from across the table.

He didn’t say anything more and when she left, she gave herself a mental pat on the back for not quivering in her seat.

*

Meeting up with the grad students became a weekly thing. It was apparent Zack had become good friends with them over the last semester and enjoyed hanging out. He seemed determined to rope her into it, too. She tried not to mind too much. It was a nice interlude between the boring summer that was only disrupted by her job on campus.

Angeal had a wonderful sense of humor, something she’d known during classes, but hadn’t been privy to being on the receiving end of. Genesis was just as flighty in real life as he appeared in forums, but the man was still a genius when it came to manipulating the guitar strings. She still couldn’t understand how he heard the hidden keys to perform his runs in, but she definitely enjoyed watching the process. Maybe one day, she’d get him to teach her.

Ha! Maybe.

Sephiroth was still just as much a mystery as he had been during the semester. Quiet and contained, he seemed content to watch her with those eerily bright eyes, letting the silence say all he needed to say. Thankfully, she didn’t get caught under that spell often as Zack kept her laughing. But despite the voice still in her dreams and the memories of his disdain over her failure to master the keys so fresh in her mind, intrigue grew.

A month into their meetups, Aeris was late. Way late. Work had been long and the weather had been terrible and by the time she got home, she needed nothing more than a shower. The hot water had felt better than she realized and forty-five minutes after their usual meet up time, she pulled open the doors to the bar and peeked inside.

For once, the flash of silver hair and searing green eyes had her breathing a sigh of relief. She hadn’t missed them.

As she got closer, she realized it was only Sephiroth at the table, a single glass of amber liquid in front of him. Looking around, she wondered if the guys were at the bar or if they were over playing with the high-tech jukebox, but she couldn’t find them anywhere. Did they already leave?

Hesitantly, she approached the table. She wasn’t certain her company would be welcome if they were the only ones there, but it seemed rude not to check on him anyway. Maybe everyone else was running as late as she.

“Where is everyone?” she asked as she took a seat, ignoring the nerves skittering over her skin.

She’d never get used to the potency of his stare from this close.

Instead of answering, he waved over the waiter and let her place her order. Seemed he welcomed her company even though he didn’t seem to put any stock into it before.

“It appears to be just us this evening,” he finally answered once the waiter left after delivering her drink.

“Really?”

A nod, though not surprising. He didn’t waste many words.

“I’m sorry I’m so late, then.” The cider was clean and crisp on her tongue and just what she needed after such a long day. “I didn’t realize you’d be sitting here alone.”

“I don’t mind.”

She offered a wry smile. While he might not mind his own company, she seriously doubted he didn’t have a problem with tardiness. “I got caught in the rain on my way home from work,” she explained anyway, “then lost track of time in the shower. By the time I realized what time it was, I rushed here as soon as I could.”

Sephiroth watched her in silence, his gaze touching on her wet hair, her makeup-free face, and the clean clothes she tossed on before returning to her own green eyes. “Aeris, I don’t mind.”

Her smile softened, an unsettled quiver running through her at the sound of his voice curling around her name. “Thank you for waiting for me.”

He held up his glass in answer and she clinked her bottle against it. Maybe enjoying a quiet drink with Sephiroth wouldn’t be so bad.

“Did you really believe you were failing my class?” he asked suddenly.

Blinking at him her mind raced, remembering what Genesis joked about that first time. It wasn’t something she expected him to discuss — Sephiroth had a strict stance on his teaching style and it hadn’t been something he hid. She’d known what to expect the moment she received his syllabus.

“It was hard not to,” she answered with a tight smile, a probably failed attempt at laughing it off. “You…you were demanding and sometimes, it seemed like nothing we did would ever be good enough. Not that I think that was necessarily a bad thing,” she rushed to clarify, hoping desperately she didn’t offend him and ruin whatever sort of truce had been built since the end of the semester. “I learned a lot and I know some of those lessons I won’t forget.”

He didn’t respond and she didn’t expect him to, so Aeris filled the silence by sipping more of her cider. It didn’t feel awkward or tense, not like she would have guessed after having this conversation, but Sephiroth was still studying her in that quiet way of his.

“How long have you known Zack?”

Well, that was out of left field, but it was a much safer topic. “Going on three years. I had the unfortunate luck to sit next to him during our first music theory class and he’s stuck by me since.”

“And how long have you been dating?”

She furrowed her eyebrows. “We’re not dating. Haven’t ever dated. He’s just a friend.” Cocking her head to the side, she thought back over all the times he would have seen them together. Nothing jumped out at her that would signal any bond other than a platonic one. “Why?”

Something that looked like satisfaction crossed his features and he waved for the waiter again. “Would you like another one?”

Now he was just messing with her. Sephiroth always left everyone to order their own drinks, but she decided to take the bait. Whatever it was for.

“Sure.”

*

“You really don’t have to walk me home.”

He still didn’t say anything and unlike the beginning of the night, Aeris didn’t mind his silence. Of course, that was probably due to the three ciders with no dinner buzzing around the edges of her consciousness.

“Seriously, Sephiroth, I’m three blocks away. I can make it there on my own.”

Still nothing. Not a single word as he shoved his hands in his pockets and continued escorting her down the sidewalk.

“You usually leave in the opposite direction,” she pushed. “You don’t have to waste your time, it’s perfectly okay.”

That effort to get her way fell flat as he leveled her with a stern stare, not a single pause in his step.

Taking in another breath, she tried a different approach. “Look, it’s really nice of you, but I’m used to it. Zack usually parts ways here and heads on home and it’s really not—”

“Zack lets you walk home alone?” he interrupted and judging from his tone, it was not something she should have told him.

“Sephiroth—”

“For the last month, you’ve been walking home alone?” he asked again, his voice even colder.

“It’s really not that big of a deal—”

“Aeris.”

Her jaw snapped shut, wisely deciding to cease her arguments. There was the tone, the same tone she heard in her dreams. The demand for perfection when her fingers fumbled over the keys or when her hands hesitated just a little too long and knocked off the rhythm. She’d heard that far too many times during the semester over the soft sounds of the piano and she knew better than to argue.

It seemed Sephiroth was determined to see her to her door and judging from the clench in his jaw, he wasn’t going to accept any other option.

They walked in silence, this one more tense than the small ones they fell in at the bar. She didn’t know what to think of this. Was he really that polite? Or worried about her safety? He hadn’t shown anything that would amount to this before, but she wouldn’t lie — it was nice to have the company. Usually, once Zack disappeared, she all but ran the remaining blocks to her building and darted up the stairs to her floor. Having Sephiroth there was…nice.

Which was weird. His company hadn’t ever been a soothing one, nor had she relished all the times he’d stood at her side while she struggled through a new passage. Maybe it was because his displeasure wasn’t directed at her that made it easier for her to enjoy it.

Aeris figured he would see her to the building and be done, but one glance at his expectant face told her otherwise. Pulling out her keycard, she swiped it through the scanner and led them both into the building. It wasn’t terrible to have his presence behind her and for once, she made her way to the elevator instead of the stairwell.

“I usually take the stairs,” she found herself explaining. “It works off some of those calories and I have this super irrational fear of being stuck in one alone, but I’m not alone now and it would be an awful way to repay your kindness to have you climb up six flights unnecessarily.”

He said nothing, though the corner of his lips twitched. She counted that as a success.

The elevator ride was quiet, too, and the floor of her dorm empty when the elevator arrived. She had been lucky to keep her dorm through the summer months instead of moving to a different one, but no one else on her floor had stayed that summer. She hadn’t thought much of the privacy before then, but with Sephiroth still at her side, she was grateful to be away from prying eyes.

“This is me,” she announced, fishing her keys out of her small purse as she came to a stop in front of her door. Fitting the key in the hole, she unlocked the door and finally turned to him. “Thank you for walking me up.”

He didn’t say anything, just continued watching her in that quiet, calculating way of his.

“Sorry for making you walk all this way.” She still couldn’t believe he was standing there in her hallway. “And now you have even further to go before you’re home and you really didn’t—”

“Aeris.”

She grimaced, the sudden softness in his tone exposing how ungrateful she was being. “Sorry! I just— uh…” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

With one last look, she let herself into the apartment, locked the door behind her, and sank to the floor, wondering what on earth just happened.

*

“Sephiroth, you live in the other direction. What are you doing?”

He fell in step beside her again, much to the confusion of the rest of the group, particularly Zack.

“Walking Aeris home.”

Three questioning stares flicked from him to her and Aeris fought not to squirm under the scrutiny.

“You don’t have to, I—”

“Leave her to walk alone,” he interrupted, his tone short.

Damn, Sephiroth was not happy. She knew he hadn’t been content with her answers the last time, but she hadn’t known he would hold such contempt toward Zack about it now.

“Well, I mean, it’s only a few blocks—”

“I am walking her home.”

Silence stretched between them, only amplified when Genesis started snickering. Aeris kept her gaze in the direction of her building, not wanting to see whatever thoughts were flickering across Angeal’s face, and definitely not the contention between Zack and Sephiroth. Finally, something gave and she assumed it was Zack because the three of them began the route to her dorm.

Tension eased as soon as Zack parted ways, hollering a tipsy goodnight and leaving them to their devices. It wasn’t comfortable to be alone with Sephiroth, so very aware of his tall frame beside her, but it wasn’t as awkward as it had been the week before. It seemed she was slowly growing accustomed to his presence.

Into the building, up the elevator — oh, this really was such a relief to use instead of the staircase — and to her door again. Key into the lock and it seemed much less tense than it had the week before. Almost as if she enjoyed his silent company watching over her.

“Thank you for walking me up—”

His thumb and finger gently grasped her chin, angled her face up, and he silenced her with the soft press of his lips against hers. He only touched her in those two places, but heat seared down her body as if he had pressed against her completely.

“Have a good night, Aeris,” he whispered against her lips. His breath coasted her skin in a soft caress before he released her, watched her get safely inside, and then left.

That night his voice floated through her dreams, and for the first time ever since she started hearing him in her sleep, she slept the whole night through.

*

She saw him three more times before he pressed her against her door, then left. Another two times before she invited him in and he pressed her into her sofa, then left again. Aeris didn’t make it two days before she texted him, met him at the door to her building where he pressed her against the wall, the elevator door, and then finally into her mattress, and then he didn’t leave until morning.

Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis are all grad students: Sephiroth and Genesis for Jazz Instrumental Performance (piano and guitar) and Angeal for Music Theory and Composition with an unofficial jazz emphasis. Zack’s undergrad major is Instrumental Performance in percussion and Aeris is Music Therapy. I think. (Honestly, I haven’t given a whole lot of thought to her major, but that really fits her and I like the idea of it. She just excels at theory, so Zack stuck to her like white on rice. Also, Zack’s starting to take up more and more jazz classes, so I think he changed his focus from classical to jazz, too.) 

Angeal’s the best theory teacher the school has. Sephiroth got stuck teaching a piano class and isn’t really happy about it, but did what he needed to do for his scholarship to keep paying out. Genesis somehow finagled his way out of teaching and I think it’s because he forewent the scholarship, paying out of pocket through student loans and money he makes from performing gigs in the city. Or maybe he got the scholarship anyway and plays favorites to the dean. Who knows.

For Aeris’s fear of the elevator -- I think her fear of the sky makes perfect fucking sense in the game considering she’s from the slums and never, ever sees the sky, but I’ve heard a lot of criticism for it. So instead of ignoring it (because really, it makes so much sense and I’ve seen it in people who have never seen the ocean looking at the beach for the first time), I translated it into a silly fear she’s aware is silly because we all have those.

A lot of this is based on my own experiences, though it ends a whole lot better than my real life friend being hit on by our real life TA. Know your comfort, kids! If you’re okay with a former grad student hitting on you during summer when you’re no longer their student, have fun. If you’re not, reject their advances. If they don't listen, buckle down with supportive friends, dig your heels in, and put that grad student in their place. They'll back off. And if they don't, you blast that all over everywhere because the university/college will pay attention to that shit on social media. You’ll be fine, I promise, especially if you have good people at your back.

I wanted to add more to this drabble, but the more I got to know the characters in the game, the more I almost sent Aeris after Angeal because oh man is that boy one fine tree I’d love to climb. But I figured this idea would fit Aeris and Sephiroth best and I like the idea of Angeal getting it on with another grad student while quietly lusting after Zack. Whatever works. 

I’m aware this seems OOC for Sephiroth, but it makes sense in my head. That’s probably due to the large amount of backstory and other scenes in my head that didn’t make it out. HOWEVER this is supposed to be a drabble and it’s already over 3k words, so I tried to cut out everything else and keep it short.

And that’s it for the long author’s note. Let me know what you think!!

Chapter 55.2 The Reader and Protagonist Definitely Have to Be in True Love

Warning: This chapter is NSFW. It’s also a bit bloody. If you have a low tolerance for that, you might want to skip this part. 

This is by Reika of BC Novels.

Chapter 55.2 Reader: I think I can salvage the situation.

The implication was not said but a strong sense of crisis was in Du Ze’s heart as he struggled and stammered: “Xiu, this is not... it’s impossible--”

Even if only his instincts are left, Xiu knows that it would be difficult to continue this way - the man he wants to mate with is only the size of his claw. The dragon race’s innate knowledge provided a solution to his dilemma. Each dragon inherits knowledge from the previous generation about how to use his body correctly and effectively. Whether it’s spreading his wings to fly, or using the dragon language, or… changing into human form.

Du Ze felt the weight on his body lighten as the dragon claw that pinned him down disappeared - it wasn’t lifted up, it disappeared. Du Ze had just sat up when he was pinned to the ground again by a hot body. That person’s long, cool hair slid down Du Ze’s body, and his skin felt smooth and supple, like the silver dragon’s scales. Du Ze was surprised. The body pressing down on him was that of a man. Did the Moe Lord suddenly switch channels?

In a flash, his chin was kissed by that person. Du Ze’s eyes were wide as he saw that the person had red eyes - it’s the silver dragon’s red eyes. The master of the red eyes grabbed Du Z’s chin and forced him to open his mouth. He kissed Du Ze deeply; his tongue domineering, like a king inspecting his territory, showing a strong possessive desire. Du Ze frowned uncomfortably. The kiss made him suffocate so he stretched out his hand to try to push him away, but because of their position his fingers only touched the side of Xiu’s face - there was a thin piece of skin there shaped like a fin where the ears would be on a human.

There is no doubt that the man who is pressing on his body is Xiu in humanoid dragon form. Du Ze's sense of crisis did not abate. Even though he had changed into human form, Xiu’s every movement is full aggression; those red eyes of his were full of extreme longing and madness.

“!”

With his mouth covered by Xiu’s mouth, Du Ze’s painful cry was stopped in his throat - without any preparation, Xiu had thrust into his body. At that moment Du Ze was in a trance as he felt like he was split in half and every cell in his body was screaming in pain.

Finally inside Du Ze body, Xiu was extremely excited. He can hardly wait to enjoy his possession. Xiu was repeatedly thrusting into Du Ze. Every slow stroke made bright red liquid pour out. Xiu withdrew until he had almost completely pulled out, then thrust it in deeply. However, no matter how hard he invaded, he still felt unsatisfied.

A lot of blood flowed out from the place where their two bodies met. Xiu let go of Du Ze lips then put his head down on Du Ze’s body and breathed deeply. That scent made him feel crazy and his eyes became so red they looked like they were bleeding.

He wanted to fully enter this person’s body until there was no room left that he didn’t fill.

Du Ze was finally released from Xiu’s mouth, but at this moment he could only passively accept his fate. That place seemed to be torn in many spots. Du Ze feebly closed his eyes; the pain made him sweat and the sweat flowed into his eyes. He thought he had already experienced the most cruel thing, but Xiu’s next move made him suck in a breath of cold air. He felt Xiu's fingers insert into his back door. A slight gap slowly opened in the tightly fitting part and a hot thing was trying to squeeze along into that gap.

Du Ze tried to look behind him but it was too dark and he couldn’t see anything. He could only use his trembling hands to touch it. When Du Ze realized what it was, his entire body went slack.

WTF! WTF! Yi Ye Zhi Qiu, you bastard! The dragons are a type of reptile and they have two ****s?! This young man will die! This young man will really die!

Du Ze trembled as the looked at the red eyes. He said hoarsely: “Xiu... Don't do that, okay?”

Xiu's ear fins spread and fluttered like wings in his excitement. The man under him with messy black hair was covered with traces of him. The black-haired man was trembling and making soft sounds like whimpers, making a person want to bully him more. Xiu held the hand that Du Ze had not yet retracted and continued to push the other half into Du Ze’s body, making them look like they were moving together in unison.

Du Ze’s fear had reached the extreme. He tried to crawl away from Xiu but was immediately dragged back. The man pressed into his body so tightly that Du Ze could not even struggle. With the other half inside, Du Ze’s entire body began to tremble and he was rendered speechless. The pain in his rear made Du Ze afraid to breathe. He felt like a piece of paper that was slowly being torn apart. If he so much as inhaled harder, his whole body might shatter.

When Xiu's sex had fully entered, Du Ze thought he would faint, but perhaps because of the dragon blood his consciousness was still clear. The two hot things stuffed in his body, pressing against the inner walls, were always touching that sensitive place inside him. Du Ze’s eyes overflowed with tears and he was not clear what the feeling in his body was anymore. He could only gasp out some meaningless syllables as Xiu pulled out.

The dark cave echoed with wet sounds and ambiguous gasps. Du Ze whimpered. Buried in his body, something shot out a boiling hot liquid. His body’s exit was still blocked so the liquid flowed into his body with a strange feeling of swelling and fullness. Du Ze struggled for a bit and Xiu slipped out a little, but Xiu immediately pressed on top of him.

The feeling of the liquid inside his body is too weird. Du Ze finally can't help but cry. Hearing Du Ze crying, Xiu’s vertical pupils contracted. He forced it in and couldn’t help but shoot inside again. After the first round, the Xiu was still not satisfied. He was still buried in Du Ze's body and started up again. By this time, Du Ze has collapsed and lay inert under Xiu’s body, letting the other do whatever he wanted.

The scent of blood and sex permeated the whole cave. After he came for the third time, Xiu finally became a little sober. He looked down at the silent Du Ze under him and pulled himself out. A large amount of cloudy-white liquid was mixed in with the blood. Xiu changed back into his dragon shape and used his claws to cut the edge of his scales. He fed dragon blood into Du Ze’s mouth. The black-haired youth’s pale face finally became a little rosy. The silver dragon hovered over Du Ze, red eyes staring at his most important treasure.

When Du Ze’s 0-point restore ability activates, he can continue to mate with this person.

He likes the taste of Du Ze.

In his lair, just this one treasure is enough.

*******

The author has something to say:

Protagonist: After you have your 0-point restore, we can continue. Readers: ... I think I can save it. Author: (profound look) The dragon nature is kinky.

********

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A New World (pt 1)

Pairing: Thorin Oakenshield x Reader Request: Reader from our world, dies in a car accident and her soul is send to middle-earth decades after Thorins death. She is confused why she is in erebor and from the corner of her eye she suddenly notice something moving further deeper into the mountain. She follows whatever is guiding her straight to durins tomb. She feels someone behind her and when turning around, she sees Thorin standing there curious look on his face asking who she is and why she is there. While explaining, thorin realize that Mahal has done this. Their souls being bound together, although they were in different worlds and it was only after death they were allowed to find each other. Lots of fluff 😀 Warnings: Somewhat Graphic Descriptions (of an Injury), Car Crash Word Count: 2723                    *Posted 29.7.17

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 (Coming Soon - hopefully)

Crash!

Your head snaps back.

The front of your car crumples like tinfoil. Air bags smother your face. You gasp, then cough as you inhale the powder that exploded out with the airbags. Car alarms blare. You can see the other driver slumped over their wheel. Your right leg is throbbing, forcing you to ignore the destruction. You don’t want to look down at your leg but you have to. Maybe it’s nothing. Please be nothing, you hope.

But you can’t see anything other than the dash of your car pressing into your hips. You try to wriggle your legs free, but your muscles are putty, bruised putty. You clench your teeth. Your arms are aching and bleeding from a thousand little cuts probably made by the flying glass. Still, you force them to pull you over the gear shift and into the passenger seat. Your head swims with adrenaline and exhaustion.  Your arms shake. Panting, you rest, head just reaching the end of the passenger seat. You take a deep breath, steeling yourself. Grunting, you flip yourself over. You look toward your legs.

You scream but you don’t. Your mouth is open and in your head, you’re screaming, but no sound is being made. You’re just silently screaming your agony and horror.

From the knee down, there’s just blood.

Blood.

Dripping, running, splashing…

Light falls on your face.

Someone must have pried open the passenger door. You can hear whoever it is trying to get your attention. You gasp. They may have opened the door, but the air seems to have run out. You gasp but there’s nothing for you to breathe. Your vision swims and shifts in and out. In and out. Like a kaleidoscope.

“I can’t feel a heart beat!”

You close your eyes.

You open your eyes.

You blink. You were not in an emergency room. Instead tall walls of solid, grey stone curve over your head. You were lying on a soft, warm cot. Three other cots wait, unconscious occupants in each. White covers are pulled up to each occupant’s armpits. The man to your right has gauze wrapped the majority of his face, but just you could just make out the blackened, burned skin. And facial hair. Lots of facial hair. The two on your left were just as hairy but had no noticeable injuries. Based on the scent coming from the one closest to you, a wound was festering. You turn your head away and breathe through your mouth. It wasn’t like he could do much about it.

At the foot of each cot, including yours, long embroidered tapestries hung. Each one depicted different locations. Fire breathing dragons soar over craggy mountains and giant eagles dive into sparking lakes. Glistening fish jump out of frothy rivers. Various creatures peek out of shadowed forests. Something about each scene seems familiarly unfamiliar, but you can’t place it. You rub your eyes. Maybe you had a concussion.

Between each tapestry, tall lamps with small flickering fires stand at the ready like thin soldiers. At the far left wall, large bunches of herbs and glass vials of variously coloured liquids waited for some medieval wizard or witch to walk through the tall wooden door that stood innocuously at the opposite end of the room, blocking you from whatever waited on the other side.

Ugh. Now you were being paranoid. Maybe you really had suffered a concussion.

Clenching your jaw, you brace your hands on the bed and haul yourself up into a sitting position. You swallow and tightly squeeze your eyes closed. Your mind aches as you remember the blood and pain. After taking a deep breath, you whip the clean, white sheets off your legs. You cautiously place your hands on your right thigh, keeping your eyes firmly shut. Your hands curve around your leg as your fingers slowly trail down it. You pause at the knee, thumbs resting on the patella, fingers resting at the back. Your hands tighten until you know your nails will leave imprints. Forcing your muscles to relax, you let your hand continue their route. [Too intense?]

They continue to your shin. And your ankle. And your toes.

Your eyes flash open as you stare at your right leg. Your whole, intact, same-as-it-was-before-the-accident leg. You flex your foot. Rotate your ankle. Wiggle toes.

Was it all a dream? But the rest of your body proves it wasn’t. Colourful bruises, healing cuts and aching muscles confirm that the accident must have happened.

The tall wooden door opens. A short, wide man enters. It wasn’t that he was fat, he was just… wide. He looked like a human battering ram. Or a short line-backer on steroids. A hairy line-backer.

Braided, chestnut hair hung down just past his shoulders. Long side burns stretched down from each temple to the jaw bone, with every hair neatly woven into additional braids that then twined around a poufy mass of carefully brushed beard hair that just reached his waist. Two smaller braids pull the man’s beard hair to the sides, revealing glimpses of a cheerful, smiling mouth.

Apparently facial hair was a thing here. …Wherever you were.

“How ye doin’, lass?” A surprisingly melodious voice escapes from the squat man.

“Umm, I have a lot of questions,” you admit.

He chuckles.

“This is not at all how I imagined the afterlife,” you throw out your hands to encompass your surroundings.

His brows furrow. “Afterlife? Lass… ye’re not dead. Ye’re in Erebor. This is one of the infirmary rooms”

Your mind short circuits. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Ye’re in Erebor,” he repeats slowly. “Ye were found amongst the fallen during the searches. A lot of fighters were injured during that last fight. They brought ye here fer me ta patch ye up.” He pats your hand comfortingly.

“But-,” you struggle to understand what’s going on and how you could have ended up in Middle-Earth. “I-… Erebor? As in Lord of the Rings, hairy feet hobbits, hot elves, Middle-Earth Erebor?” You shake your head “How?”

His eyebrows lift at your descriptions but he just gives you a half smile. You know you’re kind of freaking out, but nothing is making sense. “Yeah. We would have dropped ye off in Laketown or Dale, but with them just reclaimed from the Easterlings, twas easier ta bring ye here. Hope ye don’t mind short dwarves; ye’ll find ‘hot elves’ are in short supply.” His facial hair lifts as he laughs, but you can hear a note of melancholy.

“I haven’t met a dwarf that I didn’t like yet,” you answer truthfully. Sure, he was the first dwarf you met, but that didn’t mean you were lying.

Easterlings? You scramble to remember everything about Erebor and dwarves. You hadn’t read Tolkien in ages, and while you were pretty sure you knew enough general information to get by, you couldn’t quite place when Easterlings had tried to take Erebor.

“Could I ask what age and year it is?” you inquire politely.

He peers at you in concern, “Oh lass… Ye don’t remember.”

Feeling a bit guilty for lying but deciding amnesia would give a better excuse for any of your ignorance, you answer, “Not really… I remember my name though; it’s Y/N.”

Patting you hand again, he sighs, “Well, my name’s Frór. Maybe ye’ll remember – some do, some don’t – but ye’re welcome here fer as long as ye need a place. Now, let’s get ye some food.”

“Thank you.” You accept his proffered tray of soup and bread. As you eat, he explains to you what’s happening in your new world.

It was 3019 in the Third Age. Almost 80 years after the reclamation of Erebor. And the year that the One Ring was just destroyed and Sauron defeated. Yay, Frodo! Despite this, the kingdom was in mourning. The King Under the Mountain, Dáin Ironfoot, and King of Dale, Brand, had both died in one of the final battles against Sauron’s forces.

Between trying to figure out what you were going to do in this world and new life, moving out of the infirmary and occasionally helping Frór out with the injured or sick, you would explore Erebor.

It was during those explorations that you met the new King Under the Mountain, Thorin III. He was hiding from the stress of his new responsibilities and you were running form the oncoming existential crisis you could feel coming. Eventually, you wound up sharing meals and thoughts. He was afraid of failing his people and torn up with the sudden loss of his father. And you? Well, you were mourning the loss of the comfort and familiarity of your previous life while trying to find your place in this new one. Still, somehow sharing these fears soothed the both of you, and, after a little convincing, he became the only one to know that you were actually from a different world, rather than an amnesiac. You became friends and confidants.

So, watching him stand miserably alone at the head of his father’s monument during the funeral made you hope that he found his One soon. Because then he’d have someone to support him help him, no matter how lost or sad he felt. Because then, maybe you would too. You look away, guilt at your selfishness leaving a sour taste on your tongue. But your chest aches as you could see the loneliness you felt every night reflected on his face and slumping his shoulders. Hand slowly rubbing your chest, you slink into the shadows.

Something cool brushes your shoulder. Surprised, you turn towards it, only to see nothing. Just a shadow moving amongst the shadows, slipping out of view. Probably another just person wanting to mourn in private, you theorise. You start to walk the other way planning on ignoring whoever it was and just wander the halls of Erebor. But you see the shadow again, just from the corner of your eye. You stop. For some inexplicable reason, you feel as if it’s beckoning you, urging you to follow. You think you should be worried at how compelled you feel, but you don’t. You just float after the unknown person and their shadow.

Wandering deeper and deeper into the mountain, you try to talk yourself out of trailing this stranger like an idiot. …and a stalker. But no matter how many times you tell yourself how stupid you’re acting, you follow.

Eventually you end up in the middle of a large, well-lit room. Giant fire places heat the room at each end. Large marble columns march down the length of the room, towering over long rectangular stones. Carved frescos depict battle scenes and life events on the sides of each stone. On top, large stone men lay as if sleeping. At their feet, names and epitaphs were engraved into the stone. The newest had the name Dáin II Ironfoot, son of Náin, son of Grór.

You gasp softly. You are in the Durin Tomb.

Your eyes search for the owner of the shadow, but there is only you. The need to follow has dissipated, and you rub your arms at the realisation that something or someone wanted to down here. With the tombs of Durin’s Folk. Despite your unease, you walk up to the closest tomb. Your breath stutters when you see the plaque. Thorin II Oakenshield, son of Thráin II, son of Thrór. Thorin. From the Hobbit.

You walk towards the head of the stone man resting on Thorin’s tomb. Fingers tracing the stone temple, your ribs suddenly are too tight. Something about this man, or rather his stone statue, steals your breath. It doesn’t help that he looks exactly like his actor. [A/N: sorry, a little Richard Armitage love there] But even made of stone, you can see his determination, loyalty, pride. Staring into his stony face, you lean closer. You’re not thinking, just feeling. You press your cheek to his cheek. Your body heat warms the stone. You close your eyes. For a moment, you can pretend that he’s alive. You can pretend that you feel his breath against your ear. Hear his voice murmur your name.

“What are you doing?” A low, gravelly voice asks.

You spin around.

Large leather boots with pale fur trim stand in the darkened doorway. Shadows hide the possessor of said boots, but something about the stranger makes your heart pound in anticipation rather than fear. Something about him makes you want to join him in the shadows, press your body into his and let his warmth soak into your bones.

“Ummm.” You brush away the irrational thoughts. Ever since coming to Middle-Earth, you were having the oddest thoughts. “Just visiting?”

“You kiss the tomb every time you visit?” The stranger’s deep voice takes a humorous, lilting tone.

“I didn’t kiss him! I just-,” you pause. You just pressed your cheek against a stone replica of Thorin II Oakenshield and pretended he was alive and that he would say your name as if he loved you because for some reason you wanted, needed him to be alive. Yeah, you couldn’t tell this stranger that. He’d think you were crazy, and even if you weren’t strangely drawn to him, that probably would not be received well.

“You just?” The stranger steps out of the shadows. Except he wasn’t a stranger. “You just wanted to press your cheek to his and pretend that he was alive and holding you? Because for some reason, you ache for him. You feel drawn to him. You want to hold him tight and never let go.”

“Thorin?” You place a hand on Thorin’s tomb to steady yourself. Your heads whips back and forth between the stone and actual face. “Thorin Oakenshield, son of son of Thráin II, son of Thrór?”

He nods. “Do you?”

You stop giving yourself whiplash. “Do I what?”

“Do you… Do you hope… long, hunger, yearn, want, pine, need me as much as I you?” Still at the doorway, his hands reach up, grasping, as if to catch your soul and hold you tight. “Do you….” Carefully walking up to you, he lifts his hand, hovering it by your cheek. You close your eyes and tilt your head. Your lips press a kiss into the base of his thumb. His finger curve around your cheek bone and jaw.

 “Y/N?” You startle. Thorin’s hand drops to the pummel of his sword as he turns to face the intruder.

“Thorin!” You stride over to the young king and bussing his cheek. “Thorin III Stonehelm meet Thorin II Oakenshield. Thorin, your cousin Dain’s son, Thorin.” You gesture to each one as you introduce them.

Both Thorins frown but grasp the other’s forearm in greeting.

Thorin II nods starts to slide an arm around your waist, but you manage to slip away.

“Well, I’m sure you have many things to discuss, like how you’re,” you tip your head towards Thorin II, “here.” You make your escape despite Thorin II’s attempts to grab you.

In the hallway, you press both hands to your chest. You close your eyes, but all you can see is his dark eyes and sharp cheekbones and… Your eyes blink open, heart drumming even faster now.

You’d just the met the man and yet, somehow, you’d developed the largest crush you’d ever had.

“I am honoured that you carry my name,” Thorin II tells his cousin’s son. You perk up, ears twitching. You know you shouldn’t eavesdrop, but how else will you learn anything?

“Thank you.” Thorin III’s voice catches. You beam, happy for the young dwarf. You knew he was worried about living up to the grand legacy of Thorin Oakenshield, Reclaimer of Erebor.

Both men clear their throats. You giggle softly into your hand.

“I shouldn’t be here for too long.”

Your blood freezes in your veins at Thorin Oakenshield’s proclamation.

“I’m just here for my One. Apparently, someone messed up and we couldn’t meet while I was alive, but Mahal says that should be all straightened up now.”

Your heart drops. That’s enough eavesdropping. You walk back to your room and bury your face into your pillow. So Thorin was looking for his One, it wasn’t like it really mattered to you. Yeah, you had a crush, so what, you’d get over it.

You keep lying to yourself, even as tears slipped down your face.

A/N: I’m not really recognising dwarvish vs men heights, just because of personal preference. Also, yeah, I did write Thorin Oakenshield meeting Thorin Stonehelm, Dain Ironfoot’s son. I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity. About the Request – Sorry this isn’t an oneshot; it kind of got away from me. And I know this is more of an establishing the story section, sorry. I’m planning developing the romance/adding the fluff in the second/later part(s). But thank you @deepestfirefun for the resquest! Again, sorry about making this longer than you’d initially asked (and I lied, this probably will be longer than two parts). And for taking longer than I said; it’s hard to finally post

New Post has been published on http://www.theprepperjournal.com/2017/05/20/13-tips-oatmeal-food-stores/

13 Tips for Using Oatmeal from Your Food Stores

Editor’s Note: This article was generously contributed by R. Ann Parris. If you have information for Preppers that you would like to share and possibly win a $300 Amazon Gift Card to purchase your own prepping supplies, enter today.

Oatmeal – Jazzing Up the Ubiquitous Prepper Cereal

Being inexpensive, rolled oats can help us save money now, and it’s a good one to stock up on for the same reasons – cheap, filling and full of endurance-granting slow-release energy. I’m not a big fan of “just” oatmeal as a hot cereal. It’s just … well, boring. Too, I anticipate plenty enough spoon-and-bowl meals from beans and rice, boiled wheat or barley, or soups in a crisis, whether it’s a personal crisis or a widespread disaster. I’d rather avoid more as much as possible. The humble rolled oats tub actually helps me there in a big way.

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Using mostly things that are also already in my storage or that are easy and inexpensive to obtain, I can churn out desserts, snacks, sides, dinners and breakfasts that are interesting and varied, and don’t really taste like oatmeal. Oatmeal also has a lot of soothing and absorption properties that gives it some handy topical uses.

Using Oatmeal to Extend Meats & Meals

Mix in flakes of oatmeal and-or lentils and ground beans to extend things like meatloaf, meatballs and the hamburger in stews. Oats also make a fabulous replacement for breadcrumbs that would be used as binding or for coating meats.

Add it into Stovetop or homemade bread dressing or stuffing to increase the healthy fibers and calories, and the feelings of satiety from meals.

Grind coarsely or finely and add to flours for bannock, breads, muffins, and biscuits. Zucchini bread, carrot cake and other sweets can take as much as a quarter of the flour in oats without a significant change in texture or flavor. Pancakes, pie crusts, dumplings, cookies and cobblers can all have part of the flour replaced, especially with oats processed to a fine powder.

Fifty-fifty mixes or greater will be far more noticeable and may require additional liquids, but it also increases the heartiness of foods, helps us feel fuller and keep that satisfaction longer over stripped bleached flours especially, gives us healthier, natural arcs of energy, and lowers the glycemic index of foods while helping stomachs process.

Ground oatmeal can also be used to thicken soups, stews and gravy, just like ground beans or lentils that are too old to soak up water efficiently.

Easy Non-Cereal Recipes

Oatmeal has a lot of applications for cooking, without resorting to a bowl of hot cereal. Most of them can be done with a Dutch oven, campfire, rocket stove, or a solar oven or Wonderbag cooker if we don’t have access to our stoves and ovens.

Ash cakes can be made out of pretty much any flour. Using some salt, milk, egg or fats will improve flavor, but the bare-bones way of doing it is to mix just a little water at a time with flour or meal – or in this case, oats – until we can form a patty, then flopping it onto a cooler section of ash. Rolled oats will do best if they’re ground to a flour or if they’re allowed to soak a bit first. As a plain, just-salted version, they make a bread we can have with soups or meats. A little sugar or fruits, and we’re getting closer to a cookie. Alternatively, we can top them with honey or jams, fruits, sweetened cream, or something like a chili or bean medley.

Baked Oatmeal Muffins – A basic recipe with add-in’s for interest and variety is here https://brendid.com/healthy-oatmeal-muffins-no-flour-no-sugar-no-oil/ along with additional links. You can also find dozens of recipes as simple or complicated as you like, with and without other flours and oils, with just about any search. They turn oats into a fast, easy finger food that’s readily portable.

No-Bake Cookies are a staple in some lives. With just a few ingredients and few utensils dirtied, we can use up our oats to satisfy cravings for a fork or finger food as well as a sweet treat. Given the speed with which they disappear as either drop clusters or sliced squares at BSA and adult gatherings these days, during a disaster they’ll be a for-sure hit.

Oatmeal bars can be found as Amish Baked Oatmeal or other standard baked oatmeal, such as this one http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/baked-oatmeal. Oatmeal can also be turned into homemade granola bars. They’re out there in the internet world as soft chewy bars or crunchy options. All of them are adaptable to the fruits, nuts and seeds we have on hand or prefer. There are also homemade granola bars that make use of cereals that store well such as Rice Krispies, Cheerios, or Chex, which can increase the variety even more.

Crunchy granola clusters like this one that has healthier ingredients and a few extra steps and this one that uses lower-cost and easy-to-source ingredients with fewer steps in the process have a lot of versatility. There’s a lot to be said for the ability to turn out a nice snacking portion while using up inexpensive oats, today and later. And, if you’re giddy for it, making mini clusters to throw in as a homemade cold cereal can help provide a different breakfast meal even with a spoon.

Fruit crisps – A basic oatmeal crisp recipe such as this one has a lot of versatility, both now and during a personal crisis or a widespread disaster. We can use it with any pie filling we have, or regular canned fruits we strain or thicken the syrups. We can also use it to make stuffed apples, pears or peaches. It can go over cubed, mashed or pureed pumpkin or sweet potatoes as well, or can be used as a topper for a baked sweet potato. Oatmeal crisp is pretty versatile and forgiving, so we can add a quarter to a half extra oats to our recipe if we want a somewhat heartier and healthier version, or just to help us use up a few more of our rolled oats.

Cookies, Pizzas & Pie Crusts – Cookies are pretty cool as they are. Made thick and gooey, they can be a pretty hearty dessert by topping with dried or canned fruit or pie filling, with or without heavy or whipped cream. We can spread them out in a pie pan to make a quickie crust, use a crisp recipe for a pie crust, or we can bake them as a big, wide cookie to then slice up as a dessert pizza topped with cream cheese, frosting or glaze and then whatever fruit, nuts or morsels floats our boat.

Southern Oatmeal Cake – There are numerous versions of oatmeal cakes, although they’re pretty similar. It’s not the prettiest dish in the lineup, but it’s gooey happiness that can satisfy our sweet tooth without enormous expense. For an easier version that’s more storage friendly or to create some variety, we can alternate the topping with tubs of German chocolate cake frosting, reduced sweetened condensed milk, or just honey if coconut isn’t available. It’s also pretty darn nummy just with some heavy cream, whole milk, whipped cream, or clotted cream on top.

Fried Oatmeal is like fried grits. It starts with the cereal we all know, then it gets packed in a glass or a lined bowl, chilled so it sets up, and later, gets turned out and sliced, then fried in grease, butter or oil. The amount or depth of oil in the pan can change the texture some. The size of the slice both in thickness and width-by-height can affect whether it’s a plate meal like pancakes or if it can be picked up like happy French toast fingers for a non-spoon meal. As with pancakes, waffles and French toast, the topping options become endless – fried “dippy” eggs, sweetened syrups or fruits, chocolate or strawberry milk syrup, cinnamon sugar, and sausage bits and honey are favorites in our house. Chopped nuts can be included in the cereal or added on top for a little bit more texture yet.

For additional ideas about using oatmeal, do a search for savory recipes. Even when it’s served as a bowl of hot cereal, inclusions like grated radish, sprouts, fish, and tomatoes and peppers can increase the variety we’re seeing with our rolled oats and help prevent fatigue from them.

Oats Outside the Kitchen

We can really feel our oats sometimes. Probably most of us have already seen or use – possibly regularly – a product that makes use of some of oats’ best qualities. Just as oatmeal is a pretty soothing and mild option for breakfast, it has a lot of uses externally, too.

Oats can be added to bathwater or used as a paste to relieve:

Dry, itchy skin (for animals, too)

Bug bites

Burns & sunburn

It can also be added to soaps for its soothing qualities, or turned into an exfoliating scrub.

Combined with baking soda, we can use ground oatmeal flour as a dry shampoo, scrubbing it in with our fingers, then brushing it out. The two absorb oils and relieve any itching, which can be an excellent low-weight and inexpensive option during sweaty garden seasons should water be in limited supply.

That dry shampoo can also safely be used on cats and dogs, to save money on no-rinse shampoos, to avoid stressing a pet with a shower bath, to treat flea or grass allergies, or to avoid getting them wet in cold weather.

Satchels & Sachets

When we don’t really want to turn a bath into an oatmeal pot to scrub, or don’t have a tub available, we can make little balls of rolled oats, with or without additives like baking soda or herbs and oils to gain relief from skin irritations. We can use them in showers, baths, creeks, or just dampened and dabbed on affected areas.

Those, too, can be used on our pets to treat hot spots, bites, and irritated skin.

Satchels of rolled oats can also be used to:

Absorb odors in shoes, closets, bags, coolers

Absorb moisture from containers before sealing, or sealed with important items

Heat relieves some of the discomfort from cramps, headaches and muscle pains. Pouches can also be filled with warmed dry oatmeal to create in-the-glove or pocket hand-warmers.

Using Up Oats

Oats are a major part of prepper food storage kits because they’re inexpensive. They store well, last well past supermarket best-by dates, have a lot of health benefits for the gut and cardiovascular system, and the fiber and whole grains of rolled oats help us feel full for longer as well as provide slow-release energy that can keep us moving through long days of work or travel.

Happily, they’re also pretty versatile, and with a little creativity we can use them to stretch our budgets now as well as increase our food storage.

There are probably fifty million more recipes out there for making oats without a steaming bowl and spoon, from breads to desserts. There are probably another dozen helpful ways to use it up outside the kitchen. These are just a few of my favorites, due to the ease or the effectiveness of them. Feel free to tag on your additional favorite non-cereal-bowl recipes and uses outside the kitchen.

New Post has been published on Planet Market

Make-Up Tips For the African-American Woman

Hello and welcome. This is an article that is GREATLY needed. At least I think it is. I started wearing make-up around the age of 14 and when I started, it was the WRONG shade for my skin tone. So! I am trying to speak out for all the Beautiful, Brown-Skinned Black Women that have as hard a time finding make-up as I do. So, let me give you a little background on me.

First of all, Black is beautiful, and the darker the berry the sweeter the juice! That being said, at 14 I was a little blackberry without a clue. When I first started wearing make-up it was just lipstick and it started out being my mom’s Fashion Fair. My mother who is light-skinned and has a daughter who is dark-skinned. Needless to say her lipstick did NOT match at all. I was even referred to as a dark-skinned Ronald McDonald by a previous ex-boyfriend!

So, I believe that us brown-skinned and dark-skinned women need a little extra help because it is more difficult for us to find make-up that matches in drugstores, or make-up that is affordable. Plus Cosmo and Glamour and all of them always be talking about great make-up for spring, but uh, hello did you forget black girls like make-up for spring too? So, I feel your pain. I am a self-appointed make-up aficionado, and would like to offer my experiences as well as some products that are FABO and not so much fabo. So… without further ado, let’s get started!

JUST AN FYI: These are all make-ups that I have had to use through trial and error so I am sharing from EXPERIENCE!

FACE: I find it hard to find a good foundation, and full-coverage make-up that is affordable so here are some wonderful finds that I have found that are both.

1-Cover Girl Queen Collection Natural Hue Liquid Foundation- Spicy Brown

PROS- it is good at matching skin tones that have yellow or red undertones, spreads easily and if you only need moderate coverage gives you a good bang for your buck. It is affordable ranging about 6-8 bucks, and you can find it in most drugstores, and grocery stores.

CONS- If you have dark spots and blemishes, this will NOT offer you the coverage you need! Not even close, okay? It also wears off quickly so you would need to reapply often. The bottle is upside down with a little spout, so if you pour out too much, you cannot put it back in the bottle and in these times of economic crisis er’ little bit counts am I right ladies?!

Also, if you have problems matching your skin tone because you have BOTH yellow and red, or maybe blue and red undertones, this collection may not be for you because there is not a vast selection to choose from, so you might need to move on. Other shades that are good for brown-skinned to dark-skinned gals, and some of you fellas! Rich Mink, Sheer Espresso, and True Ebony.

2- Cover Girl Queen Collection Natural Hue Compact Foundation

PROS-It will give you more coverage than the Liquid Foundation. That’s it. That’s about all I can think of.

CONS-Unfortunately, it rubs off QUITE quickly. It is also tinted slightly differently than the liquid foundation so I found it harder to match my skin tone. Also, when it was warm outside it wipes RIGHT off, and revealed every blemish on my face! LOL, it also wipes off on your clothes, stains your hands, the whole bit. It’s moderately priced as well, so if you want to look nice for a date at night, going somewhere cool, it’s a quick fix, but I wouldn’t wear it to the club, or a carnival, anywhere that will be warm, or sweaty. It also comes in the same.

3- Black Opal True Color Liquid Foundation – Black Walnut

PROS-Awesome Coverage. There is quite a bit in the bottle so it will last you quite a while. It is an upright standing bottle with a generous opening, so if you pour out too much, it won’t be too difficult to get back into the bottle, so you can SAVE, SAVE, SAVE! I wear foundation every day, sometimes wash my face and re-apply if going out that night, and this bottle lasts me about a good two months or so. You will find that it ranges from about 8-12 bucks… depending on where you live. So it is a great buy.

CONS- If you have combination to oily skin, WEAR POWDER, and keep it with you! During these upcoming warm to hot days, you may look really greasy in the face. But if you keep Blotters with you, or powders, you should be okay. Also, it might just be that MY skin tone changes, so if that is the case disregard, but I find that when I go to buy a new one, the shade might not match like the previous one, so be mindful of that.

Another con is that Black Opal Products may be a little harder to find in stores than other products that I mention. I don’t know if it’s that they’re not that popular, or what, but whenever I look I always find them in either Rite-Aid, or CVS. So, happy hunting. Other colors good for brown-skinned girls… Carob, Suede Mocha, and Ebony Brown….. And for you borderline caramel to brown-skin girls, Hazelnut!

4-Maybelline Pure Make-Up (Shine Free Foundation with H2O) – Cocoa (Dark 3)

PROS- Very affordable, easy to find. Located in Most drugstores, supermarkets, Wal-Mart. Costs range about 5.99-10 bucks, depending on your region. Full coverage, doesn’t clog your pores, spreads easily.

CONS-Upside down tube, so you will have to be exact about how much is needed for your face, cause if you use too much… it will go to waste. Limited colors for darker skin tones. They only have THREE shades for women of OUR color. Dark 1- Tan, Dark 2- Caramel, and Dark 3-Cocoa. I have used the Cocoa. It is way too dark for my skin-tone.

However, the Caramel Dark 2 is too light. So, if you are pressed for money and don’t have the money to experiment, I wouldn’t waste my time on this product. They have FIVE shades dedicated to light, FOUR for medium and only three for us darkies??!!! Leave this product alone, unless you happen to match EXACTLY. Good luck evading the lady who tries to watch you when you try to sample the products in the store!

5- Black Radiance Color Perfect Oil Free Liquid Make-Up- Cocoa Bean

PROS-Very affordable! VERY! Somewhat accessible. Costs about 5.99-10 bucks, and you can find it in a lot of Beauty Supply stores, CVS carries it. Spreads evenly, good coverage, get quite a bit for your buck. Also, comes in a jar with an open spout, so if you have too much, you can put it back in there. Gives you a nice matte finish.

CONS- Cocoa Bean does NOT match my skin tone! But I also have strange undertones going on with my skin, so that could be why it is so difficult to match. When you apply this make-up it dries a different color, it’s crazy. There’s this… weird… applicator thingy, not sure what to do with it, but it just got in my way basically. Says it is good for all skin types, but I have very sensitive skin on my face, and I found that within thirty minutes my face was suffocating and I needed to wash it off. Other shades to try are Brownie and Mocha Honey.

6- L’Oreal True Match Super Blendable Make-Up- Nut Brown

PROS-Oh my goodness you guys this make-up was awesome! Spread really, really great! Matches wonderfully for a yellow undertone. Really does a brown-skinned girl justice. Light, so your skin can breathe. Good coverage for girls with blemishes. Pretty easy to find, and I say that with hesitance, because 7 times out of 10 they will carry all BUT the shades for brown-skinned. Um, I find them at Wal-Mart, Walgreens..and that’s pretty much it.

CONS- This product has SPF and I am VERY allergic to sun block so it broke me out something terrible. Kind of hard to find. It’s a little more expensive than the previous products mentioned. MMM, I would say about 10.99 and up. You may be able to find it on sale. Also, there is not a whole lot in the bottle, so use sparingly if you can. Other shades to try…. Soft Sable and Cocoa.

7- Revlon Color Stay Make-Up with Soft Flex – Mahogany

PROS- Pretty easy to find in most drugstores. Colors are good for brown-skinned girls. Kind of affordable. A little on the higher end but about 9.99-12.99 for this product. The coverage is okay… Not the best, but if you are looking for light to moderate coverage this is a good product.

CONS- Now, I found that Mahogany did not match my undertones that great. I know…. Again with the undertones. It dried and made my skin look a little grayish and chalky. There is not really a good selection to choose from for darker skin tones. Has SPF6, bad for me, but good for anyone who is not allergic. Also, again, if you don’t have the undertone problem…. Other shades to try… Cappuccino and Mocha.

And lastly but CERTAINLY not least…

8- Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse – Cocoa (Dark 3)

PROS- OH MY GOSH…… loving this product!! (sing song voice) this is the current make up I am using now! It def does what the commercial says. It covers your pores, and gives you a great finish! Maximum coverage! Need NO concealer, well… maybe a little bit, but I don’t use any. It is very affordable, anywhere from about 7-10 bucks. I found it right at the Kroger grocery store, so it should be available at most drug stores. It has a nifty little nozzle that squirts out and it’s really convenient. It is also whipped feeling, and I apply with my fingers.

It just glides right on, and begins covering all my pores and dark spots, and its not too heavy, I don’t have to put on a bunch. The top also comes off, so if I over-squirt, I can put it right back in the bottle. There’s lots in the bottle, and you don’t have to use a lot for coverage. I think I bought this bottle a month ago and I still have a little more than half a bottle left. It’s great! I love it. Hopefully this will be the end of the road for me, but usually it isn’t!

CONS-Again, it’s Maybelline, and you know they don’t cater to the brownies, so there are only three shades of this color which is aforementioned Dark 1, Dark 2, Dark 3. Dark 3 of this particular make-up works really well for me. Weird the other Maybelline product Dark 3 didn’t work, but oh well. That’s the only con I can come up with for this product so far.

So, in closing, I know a lot of people are saying well what about MAC? MAC, well first, MAC isn’t exactly what I would call easy or easily accessible. MAC is usually found at a counter in a dept store, or MAC store in the mall, and both close around 9 pm. I am a girl on a budget, and I can’t afford to pay 15-25 bucks for make up that doesn’t seem to last very long, actually. And also, with my sensitive skin, MAC gives me a rash. I have tried the Studio Tech Compact in NW50. If you don’t mind paying a little bit more then here are some other shades to try… NW45, NW47, NC50, NC55, and NW55.

PS, I have tried Clinique, the shade wasn’t worth mentioning because it made me look gray and gave me a rash. Fashion Fair is good too if you can find it, but again, a little out of my budget right now, and usually can only be found in a dept store or the mall. I haven’t worn it in years, so I do not remember the shade. But Fashion Fair offers a BUNCH of shades for us chocolates!

I hope this article helped a lot. I will continue to discuss blushes, concealers, lipsticks, and glosses, mineral powders, bronzers, eye shadows….ahh! Most DEF eye shadows, my favorite, and beauty tricks… some ghetto…. Hope you enjoy! Happy hunting ladies.

fitness 4 ladies

#Design

Headlines

Tired of politics (Pew Research Center) Some 55% of adult social media users say they feel ‘worn out’ by how many political posts and discussions they see on social media, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted July 13-19. This share has risen 18 percentage points since the Center first asked this question in the summer leading up to the 2016 presidential contest and 9 points just in the past year.

Harris seizes historic moment in accepting VP nomination (AP) Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president on Wednesday, cementing her place in history as the first Black woman on a major party ticket and promising she and Joe Biden will rejuvenate a country ravaged by a pandemic and riven by racial and partisan divides.

Portland protesters set fire inside county building as tensions continue to escalate (Washington Post) A crowd of protesters marched to a county building in southeast Portland on Tuesday night, where a handful of people in masks and all-black outfits threw rocks through windows and lit a small fire inside, marking the 83rd night of protests in Portland that have led to millions of dollars in damage to city property, officials said. Several hundred people participated in the peaceful protest before a smaller group broke off, police said, lighting fires in dumpsters in the street to block traffic and slow down police who later tried to clear the scene. Some sprayed anti-police graffiti on the county building and scrawled instructions to “aim here” across the windows on the first floor. A few masked people threw rocks through window panes, and someone tossed a flaming newspaper into the building, according to reports. The weeks of destruction and intense clashes with police following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in late May have spurred angry backlash from Portland officials and some residents. Tensions have risen in recent weeks following a period of relative calm after federal law enforcement left Portland last month.

Fires, Blackouts, a Heat Wave and a Pandemic: California’s ‘Horrible’ Month (NYT) How many things can go wrong at once? On Wednesday millions of California residents were smothered by smoke-filled skies as dozens of wildfires raged out of control. They braced for triple-digit temperatures, the sixth day of a punishing heat wave that included a recent reading of 130 degrees in Death Valley. They braced for possible power outages because the state’s grid is overloaded, the latest sign of an energy crisis. And they continued to fight a virus that is killing 130 Californians a day. Even for a state accustomed to disaster, August has been a terrible month. Across the state there were 23 major fires reported on Wednesday and more than 300 smaller ones.

Michigan to Pay $600 Million to Victims of Flint Water Crisis (NYT) The state of Michigan is expected to pay about $600 million to victims of the Flint water crisis, according to two people with knowledge of a major settlement that is set to be announced this week. The money would largely be designated for children in Flint who were poisoned by lead-tainted tap water after officials changed the city’s water supply six years ago, setting off a crisis that drew national attention and remains a worry for many residents. In 2014, as a cost-saving measure for a city in deep financial distress, officials in Flint, led by a state-appointed emergency manager, switched the city’s water supply from Lake Huron to the notoriously foul Flint River. Officials failed to add corrosion controls to the tap water, investigations later found, allowing lead and other chemicals to leach from the old, worn pipes into the drinking supply. It did not take long before Flint residents knew there was something terribly wrong with their water. It tasted metallic and often appeared to be green or light brown. Many people began feeling ill and experiencing skin rashes, hair loss and other mysterious symptoms. But when they confronted elected officials and demonstrated outside City Hall, their pleas were dismissed.

Cola crackdown (Washington Post) Spurred by growing evidence that being overweight increases the risk of serious illness with an infection by the novel coronavirus, a number of Mexican states are moving to ban the sale of junk food to children. On Monday, legislators in Tabasco voted to prohibit the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages and highly processed foods to anyone under 18, just 12 days after Oaxaca took similar action. The pandemic has created an explosion of awareness about why Mexicans are so vulnerable to certain diseases, prompting ambitious new bills in at least 10 states and Mexico City. The World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, have issued strong statements supporting the new laws, but pushback has been swift. Speaking at an event in Berriozabal, Chiapas, deputy health minister Hugo López-Gatell, the country’s coronavirus czar, described sugary drinks as “bottled poison.” ANPRAC, the national association of soft drink producers, issued a statement that he was unfairly demonizing the category. The food industry claims that mom-and-pop bodegas and shops that rely heavily on soda sales will be hurt financially by the new laws.

Ex-official says former Mexico president directed corruption (AP) In some of the most explosive accusations in recent Mexican political history, the former head of the state-owned oil company directly accused former President Enrique Peña Nieto and his treasury secretary of directing a scheme of kickbacks and embezzlement directly from the president’s office. Emilio Lozoya, the former head of Petroleos Mexicanos who himself faces corruption charges, alleges Peña Nieto and Luis Videgaray used the state-owned Pemex as a conduit to “fulfill promises made during the (2012) campaign,” among other allegations he makes in a leaked 60-page document whose authenticity was confirmed by Mexican authorities Wednesday. “Enrique Peña Nieto and Luis Videgaray Caso created a scheme of corruption in the federal government, in which the common denominator was that all the people who supported in some way the presidential campaign had to be recompensed or repaid,” usually in the form of cushy government contracts, Lozoya wrote. Lozoya also accused Peña Nieto and Videgaray of extortion, fraud and embezzlement. “The president and the afore-mentioned treasury secretary used me to create a criminal conspiracy aimed at enriching themselves, not only by (taking) government funds, but also by extorting money from individuals and companies, fraud and deceit,” he wrote.

Germany welcomes Israeli air force for first joint exercise (AP) Germany has welcomed military aircraft from Israel to its airspace for their first joint combat exercises in German territory, a milestone which both air forces praised Thursday as a sign of the intensive cooperation between the two countries. During the Third Reich, Nazi Germany murdered 6 million European Jews and others in the Holocaust. Relations between Israel and Germany were difficult in the first decades after the end of the war, but have been growing closer together over the years. Nowadays, Germany is one of Israel’s staunchest supporters.

Cocoa ‘Snow’ Falls on Swiss Town After Chocolate Factory Mishap (Food & Wine) Imagine walking outside to a light dusting of cocoa on the hood of your car, as the smell of chocolate lingered in the air. That sounds like the kind of scenario you’d find in the first chapter of an imaginative kids’ book, but it also actually happened in Olten, Switzerland. According to the Associated Press, the Lindt & Spruengli chocolate factory had a slight problem with its ventilation system while it made roasted cocoa nibs, and a combination of HVAC issues and high winds left a light sprinkling of cocoa powder on the surrounding streets. A Lindt & Spruengli representative said that “one car was lightly covered” and it offered to cover the cost of cleaning any affected property. The company also said that the cocoa dust wasn’t in any way harmful, and that the ventilation issue had since been taken care of. The Lindt-dusting wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the “small technical defect” at a chocolate factory in Werl, Germany that caused a literal ton of liquid chocolate to spill into the street. In December 2018, a delivery tank at DreiMeister overflowed, and West Street was coated with a tasty but problematic mess. The chocolate quickly cooled and hardened, which meant that two dozen firefighters had to use shovels and pickaxes to break it up and clear it out of the road.

Russian opposition leader Navalny hospitalized after suspected poisoning (Foreign Policy) The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is on a ventilator in an intensive care unit in the Siberian city of Omsk. His plane made an emergency landing after he became ill in flight and ambulances met the plane on the runway to take the unconscious Navalny to a local hospital. His spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh suspects that his tea had been poisoned prior to the flight. “We assume that Alexei was poisoned with something mixed into his tea. That was the only thing he drank this morning. The doctors say that the toxin was absorbed more quickly because of the hot liquid,” she wrote on Twitter.

EU offers support to protesters in Belarus (Foreign Policy) Speaking after an emergency meeting with EU officials on the crisis in Belarus, European Council President Charles Michel told reporters that the EU “stands in solidarity with the people of Belarus” and that “we don’t recognize the results” of the Aug. 9 presidential elections, which returned longtime President Aleksandr Lukashenko to office by a landslide amid widespread accusations of fraud. Feeling the pressure, Lukashenko is digging in his heels. He accused the EU of “fomenting unrest” in the country, and tightened border security to protect against what he claims are foreign agents infiltrating the protests. On Wednesday, he announced a new police operation to crush the demonstrations, though no further crackdown has yet taken place.

Flood victims take to social media as rains cause chaos in India’s Gurugram (Reuters) Heavy rains flooded parts of Gurugram, an Indian city that plays host to some of the world’s biggest tech companies, and residents took to social media to seek help by posting pictures of waterlogged roads and apartments. Gurugram, a satellite of New Delhi, is one of India’s wealthiest cities and has offices of global corporations such as Google, Facebook and Uber. It had been showcased as India’s “Millennium City”, but clogged drains and poor civic amenities cause flooding almost every monsoon season. The weather office on Thursday warned of “very heavy rainfall” over northern parts of India, including New Delhi and neighbouring cities, which could make the Gurugram floods worse. After torrential rains, residents used Twitter to post pictures of floating cars, floodwaters inundating upscale apartment blocks, and large sinkholes on roads that connect the city to New Delhi. TV footage showed miles-long traffic jams, overflowing sewage and three men rowing an inflatable lifeboat.

Hundreds of Police Killings in India (NYT) A father and son were hauled into a small police station in the southern Indian town of Sathankulam in June after arguing with police officers. When friends and family members went to the station, they heard screams emanating from inside, growing louder as night fell. The next afternoon, the two men, Ponraj Jeyaraj, 58, and Beniks Jeyaraj, 31, stumbled outside surrounded by officers, blood dripping down the backs of their legs. They had clearly been tortured in police custody, family members and lawyers in the town said. Father and son died hours apart, from severe internal injuries, a few days later. For decades, India has absorbed case after case of police brutality, torture and extrajudicial killings. Every year, scores of Indians are killed in what activists call “fake encounters,” and many more, activists say, are tortured to death in police custody. Around the world, the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis in May unleashed searing examinations of police abuse, racism and injustice—but not in India, where no large grass-roots movement has emerged to take on police brutality. For many Indians, day-to-day crime is the more pressing issue, and they often side with the police, even when there is voluminous evidence that they have abused their power. There is also a fear of speaking against the police. According to a lengthy report by the National Campaign Against Torture, an Indian rights group based in New Delhi, the capital, at least 1,731 people were killed in custody last year.

Jakarta’s move on hold (Reuters) Indonesia’s plan to relocate their capital city from Jakarta to a location in East Kalimantan province of Borneo has been put on hold, with the $33 billion effort—with construction set to start in 2021—being pushed back. The plan entailed civil servants moving in 2024, which has been pushed back as well. The objective is to relieve Jakarta—a critical city of 10 million—of the additional load of supporting the national government, as the city itself is sinking due to groundwater overextraction as well.

China says Taiwan hacking allegations are ‘malicious slander’ (Reuters) China on Thursday branded as “malicious slander” accusations from Taiwan about hacking attacks linked to the Chinese government, further adding to tensions between Beijing and Taipei. Taiwan said hacking groups connected to the Chinese government had attacked at least 10 government agencies and some 6,000 email accounts of government officials in an “infiltration” to steal important data. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian poured scorn on the allegation. “The criticisms from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities are malicious slander, pure and simple,” Zhao told reporters, referring to Taiwan’s ruling party. “China is a staunch defender of cybersecurity, and is one of the victims of hacking attacks.” The Chinese government routinely denies involvement in hacking and says it punishes those who do it.

Water already dwindling, Egypt’s farmers fear impact of dam (AP) In the winter of 1964, Makhluf Abu Kassem was born in this agricultural community newly created at the far end of Egypt’s Fayoum oasis. His parents were among the village’s first settlers, moving here three years earlier from the Nile Valley to carve out a new life as farmers. The region was fertile, and for four decades they made their living growing corn, cotton and wheat. Now 55, Abu Kassem looks out what’s left of his shriveling farm, surrounded by barren wasteland that was once his neighbors’ farmland—victims of dwindling irrigation in recent years. In the past, he and other villagers irrigated their farms through canals linked to the Nile River, Egypt’s lifeline since ancient times. But years of mismanagement, corruption and increasing population led to the loss of at least 75% of farmland in the village and the surrounding area. Now, Abu Kassem fears that a dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, the Nile’s main tributary, could add to the severe water shortages already hitting his village if no deal is struck to ensure a continued flow of water. For Egyptian farmers, the daunting prospect adds a new worry on top of the other causes of mounting water scarcity. Egypt is already spreading its water resources thin. Its booming population, now over 100 million, has one of the lowest per capita shares of water in the world, at around 550 cubic meters per year, compared to a global average of 1,000.

Baby's Health : Tips Parents Must Know

Baby's Health : Tips Parents Must Know

Baby's Health : Tips Parents Must Know

   There are consistently worries about a baby’s  health. Numerous guardians blow up to the littlest issue, yet parents  truly can't be too cautious with regards to baby’s  health. Perceiving the indications to the most well-known ailments is critical to early determination and treatment.

For our baby's health we should know :

Rubella or German Measles

Chickenpox

Roseola Infantum

Hacks and Colds

Ear infection

Heaving and Diarrhea

Clingy Eyes

Fever

Seizures

Mumps

Measles

Rubella or German Measles:

 It's occasionally alluded to as the 3-day measles too. It influences the skin and lymph hubs. It's not a similar infection that reason measles. It can go through a pregnant lady's circulatory system to taint her unborn child.

  Rubella disease may start with 1 or 2 days of gentle fever (99 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or 37.2 to 37.8 degrees Celsius) and swollen, delicate lymph hubs, for the most part in the back of the neck or behind the infant's ears. On the second or third day, a rash creates the impression that starts on the endearing face's and spreads descending. As it spreads down the body, it more often than not clears on the face. This rash is frequently the principal indication of sickness that a parent takes note.

  The rubella rash can look like numerous other viral rashes. It shows up as either pink or light red spots, which may converge to shape equally shaded patches. The rash can tingle and endures as long as 3 days. As the rash passes, the influenced skin once in a while sheds in fine drops.

  Its significance is the potential impacts on an unborn infant if contamination is procured during early pregnancy.

  The presentation of the MMR immunization has diminished the frequency of essential rubella contamination, and the quantity of seriously influenced unborn children. The brooding time frame is 14-21 days, fever is frequently gentle, and youngsters don't feel especially unwell, in contrast to measles disease. Lady who might be pregnant ought not come into contact with tainted youngsters.

Chickenpox:

  It happens regularly in the pre-spring and late-winter, is infectious and whenever presented to a contaminated relative, about 80% to 90% of those in a family unit who haven't had chickenpox will get it. Be that as it may, inoculation of kids with the chickenpox immunization that is currently accessible is relied upon to diminish instances of the malady drastically throughout the following couple of years.

  In spite of the fact that it's increasingly basic in children younger than 15, anybody, including babies, can get chickenpox. An individual normally has just a single scene of chickenpox in their lifetime. In any case, the infection that causes chickenpox can lie lethargic inside the body and can cause an alternate sort of skin emission further down the road called shingles, likewise alluded to as herpes-zoster.

  It's typically a gentle ailment in kids. The hatching time frame is 14-16 days, and there are frequently no manifestations other than the rash. The rash by and large just endures 8-10 days. A few youngsters build up a mellow fever in the initial 2-3 days. The spots show up in harvests, first as little knocks, and quickly changing into little rankles. The rankles before long dry and covering, and scabs structure over the top. Shield your youngster from scratching them or it could prompt scarring. Calamine creams are valuable to help diminish any tingling from the spots.

Roseola Infantum:

   It Affects babies under two. The infant will have a high fever, however show up well generally, and 3 or after 4 days the temperature will quickly drop to ordinary. Right now, after the fever has gone, a black out rash shows up which just endures 1 or 2 days all things considered. There are no inconveniences.

Hacks and Colds:

   Most kids will have at any rate six respiratory diseases every year. These are quite often gentle, last just a couple of days and have no results. Youngsters will essentially get a blocked, runny nose, may have a gentle fever and feel somewhat unwell. In youthful infants (who are nose breathers) encouraging can end up hard for a few days. Youngsters ought to be treated with Paracetamol or Ibuprofen on the off chance that they have a fever, and might be helped by nasal decongestants. There is seldom a requirement for anti-infection agents. Sometimes hacking, particularly during the evening times can be the principle side effect of asthma, and kids with persevering nighttime hacks should see a specialist.

   Sore Throat, Pharingitis and Tonsillitis: Very basic between the ages of 4-7 years of age. Indications incorporate torment while gulping and eating, ear infection, and fever. Giving them delicate sustenance to eat and loads of liquids. Kids should see a specialist in the event that they have a fever as well. Pharyngitis is brought about by infections thus won't generally require anti-infection treatment. Tonsillectomies are once in a while performed now.

Ear infection:

   Very normal in youngsters and children. It very well may be related or brought about by chest diseases, colds and hacks. In some cases there is no contamination in the ear, torment is because of the Eustachian Tube being blocked. At the point when blocked it doesn't keep up the right weight in the ear.

   Where there is a genuine disease, Otits Media, or Middle Ear Infection, the eardrum winds up red and kindled and can make the infant have a fever. Children may wind up crabby or hold their hands over their ears. On the off chance that you speculate your child has an ear disease, you should see a specialist.

Heaving and Diarrhea:

   Very normal, particularly on the off chance that you take your child on movements to outside nations. In the US and other created countries, spewing and looseness of the bowels are generally brought about by viral contaminations. furthermore, Diarrhea will regularly be watery. It might be hard to recognize from pee in a nappy.

  Your infant or youngster will generally just be wiped out an extremely brief time. It is imperative to treat them immediately to maintain a strategic distance from your infant getting to be dried out. More youthful infants are more helpless than more seasoned youngsters.

  Parchedness at first makes kids become unstable, at that point lazy, with indented eyes and careless dry skin. Extreme drying out makes little youngsters become prostrate with profoundly indented eyes and cold mottled skin. Mellow lack of hydration can be treated at home. Youngsters ought to be given oral rehydration liquids, which can be purchased at your neighborhood Pharmacy.

  These are powders containing salts and sugar and which are disintegrated in water. They permit brief inversion of drying out, and are more viable than water alone. No nourishment ought to be allowed for 24 hours, at which point the ordinary eating routine can be bit by bit restarted. Moderate to extreme parchedness requires hospitalization for intravenous liquid treatment. In tropical nations, adding salt to coca cola additionally acts meningitis is typically mellow, and infrequently causes any long haul issues.

Clingy Eyes:

  Very normal in youthful children. For the most part there is no basic disease, and basic salt-water washes are adequate. Cotton fleece absorbed saline ought to be utilized 2-3 times each day. The issue leaves in a couple of days, yet can be repeating.

  Conjunctivitis in infants is brought about by contaminations, which do require anti-toxin treatment. The eye will ordinarily be red and kindled with discharge, instead of essentially clingy with yellow emissions. For this situation you should see your PCP so the eye can be swabbed and proper anti-microbials began.

Fever:

  All youngsters get fevers and it's normally brought about by regular infections, for example, 'influenza, spotty diseases like measles or ear and chest contaminations. Youngsters feel awkward when they get hot, regularly cry, need encouraging and lose their craving. They ought to be given Paracetamol-based elixirs (Calpol in England) or non-steroidal mitigating pediatric elixirs like Ibuprofen to bring down the temperature.

   Keep your child cool with sodden lukewarm, not cold, wipes. Ibuprofen ought not be utilized for kids. You ought not surpass the prescribed day by day portion of any drug. Most reasons for fever will resolve inside 2-3 days. You should see your PCP on the off chance that your child requires anti-toxins where a disease is available, yet this isn't typically a crisis. In any case, if your kid ends up tired, grumbles of cerebral pains or neck solidness, is narrow minded of light or builds up a smeared dim rash, or various little spots, you should call your primary care physician right away.

Seizures:

  Occasionally pampers between a quarter of a year and five years will have a Febrile Convulsion, a concise fit with jerky developments of arms and legs, enduring under ten minutes, and by and large happens toward the start of febrile diseases. Febrile seizures are not epilepsy, don't proceed through youth, and don't cause or infer any kind of cerebrum harm. Kids ought to be laid on their front and their necks expanded, cooled and treated with suitable anti-infection agents. A rash can likewise be related with febrile sicknesses.

Mumps:

  A typical viral disease, frequently without any indications by any means. The brooding time frame is 16-21 days, after which youngsters become febrile and feel unwell and torpid. At this stage the endearing face's may swell up, because of augmentation of the parotid salivary organs over the edge of the jaw, just beneath the ears. More established youngsters may grumble of ear infection and trouble in gulping, and the swollen organs are regularly delicate and difficult. There is no particular treatment, and the swelling dies down in a couple of days. The MMR antibody has decreased the rate of mumps contamination. Meningitis is a typical confusion, where the tyke has cerebral pain, a hardened neck and narrow mindedness of light, however is an extremely uncommon event.

Measles:

  Much less normal since the presentation of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) immunization in the UK and US. Measles is an exceptionally irresistible ailment. The hatching time frame is around 10 days, at which point youngsters become febrile, snuffly, may hack, and may create Conjunctivitis (red eyes). Following three or four days a colorful rosy rash shows up, beginning the face and head, at that point spreading down to cover your infant's entire body. The rash can wind up smudged. It starts to blur by the fourth day, and the child step by step improves. Paracetamol arrangements (Calpol in the UK) can help decrease the fever, and alleviate a significant number of the indications. There is no particular treatment. Pneumonia and ear contaminations are regular intricacies, which ought to be dealt with instantly. Kids who become sluggish, start regurgitating or whine of cerebral pain ought to be taken to a specialist, as encephalitis (aggravation of the cerebrum) is an uncommon yet all around perceived intricacy of

   New parents need some direction and help with raising a solid and upbeat child. We have assembled the accompanying assets which you can use as a guide as you raise your new child. We trust this data causes you and your new baby

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Autoportrait of a Yellow American by Bonnie Chau

       I only remember one in ten dreams. I split open my chin the week before kindergarten class photos were taken. A cop looked at my driver’s license and asked me what my middle initial stood for, and I had to tell him it stood for nothing. A cop gave me his business card and told me to call him “whenever, for anything,” while I was in my car at LAX airport to pick up a friend. A cop yelled at me for “sitting there, fat, dumb, and happy.” I don’t wear my retainer, my glow-in-the-dark blue retainer. I turn statements into questions and questions into statements. In eighth grade, my mother threw away my favorite pair of Converse without telling me, because they were too full of holes. I had fluorescent yellow shoelaces in them. My sister hit me with a Ken doll so hard his painted-on hair came off, or this is the way I/we tell it. I had a stuffed polar bear named Ali, whose fur I was always clearing from his shiny black eyes. As a member of the Save-the-Manatee club, I adopted a manatee when I was twelve; her name was Lily, and she swam so slowly in the Everglades. I really made use of my elbows as a kid. I can’t smell anything, ever. I can only raise my left eyebrow. I don’t like fires, or saunas, or baths, or hot tubs. I feel a kinship with cacti. I die when I eat nuts. My grandfather used to have a special whistle he would whistle whenever he arrived anywhere. I am seduced by left handers. I am a Pisces. I am year of the (water) dog. I had an orange belt in kung fu, but it’s long since expired. I don’t find skydiving that thrilling. I am a late bloomer, I think about six or seven years behind. A man sitting next to me in a public library in France moved his newspaper aside to expose his penis to me, and I was so cool, so nonchalant about it, waiting minutes upon minutes before getting up out of my seat. I like the word sordid next to the word sorbet. I like the delicate shape and wobble of nasturtium leaves and poppy flowers. I can eat many jars of marinated artichoke hearts in one sitting. I played the piano for ten years, and now all that’s left in my muscle memory is Chopin’s Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2. I didn’t start sleeping with a pillow or putting liquids in my cereal until I was in my late twenties. I saw my first firefly six years ago. I claim to be annoyed by tall people who walk too fast because their legs are too long, but this has only ever been the fault of one tall person in my life. I don’t have a talent, yet. Twice in my life I have disappeared with men for too long, and the cops have been called. I fantasize about upending beverages and plates and trays of food over people’s heads. I spilled an entire glass of ice and diet coke over a sleeping baby’s face. I spelled ‘background’ without the ‘g’ for a very long time: ‘backround.’ And ‘crossaint’—I swore there was a saint involved. In elementary school, I would write the word ‘but’ with two t’s, and my teachers let me get away with it, because I was such a star student. I had a pair of pink leopard print cotton pants that I loved in first grade. I love many things about chameleons: their slow motion, their wandering eyes, their grumpy mouths, their funny hands, their skinny arms and legs. I may or may not blush. I was in Bowl Club in high school; I am a very bad bowler. I like the feeling of getting into a sun-warmed car after being in too-cold air-conditioning. I like the soft-as-clouds feeling of relief that is stepping into snow boots after being in ski boots. I’m not positive what getting your ears boxed means, but I read it first in Huck Finn, or Tom Sawyer. I read Gone with the Wind when I was twelve, and thought I was the shit for reading a thousand-page book, even though it wasn’t a particularly exciting read. I have five cousins. I have one sister. I have two nieces. My hometown was built on many anthills. The sound of my second-year college roommate peeling oranges in our dorm room and dropping the peels into the trash can used to drive me unreasonably crazy. I sleep on my back. I have been doing yoga, on and off, for eighteen years. I own three yoga mats. Maybe four. I own one dart board. I own two sets of darts, one on each coast. I dyed my hair black a couple of times in my early to mid twenties. I’ve lived in six cities for six months or more: Irvine, L.A., Angers, Newport Coast, Toulouse, Brooklyn. I think of a ripping sound when I think of a mango, the feeling of fibers being torn through teeth. I think the word ‘persimmon’ sounds soothing. I can’t drive stick. I believe I can carry off anything I feel like wearing. I believe in word banks. When I was young and listening to and judging my mom for her swearing, I imagined my future swearing self as more a ‘damn’ person than a ‘shit’ person, which has not proved to be accurate. Names of streets I have lived on: Avocado, Flintridge, Brigadier, Cavaillon, Bressigny, Grande-Bretagne, Glenrock, Brockton, Clark, Hyperion, Manzanita, Laveta, Hart, Stockholm, 9th, St. Johns. I prefer Manhattan clam chowder. I discovered a love for chicken wings and cocktail shrimp late in life. Some memorable past Halloween costumes: K-Fed, panda, pineapple, Bloody Mary, Pris from Blade Runner, Georgia O’Keeffe. I equate pain with healing. In times of crisis I turn to the biggest clichés: tattoos and haircuts. I think foods that combine both chewy and crisp textures are the best. In my thirties I have gotten good about making my bed, and flossing, and taking my vitamins. Most of the time I mix my whites and colors all in one load of wash. The city I grew up in just turned 45 years old, a couple of years ago. Mascots of past schools: Bears, Conquistadors, Trojans, Bruins, Lions. I’ve had two encounters with ghosts, one seen, and one felt. I have a matching tattoo with someone who lives far away, and this makes me both happy and sad. I have no piercings, although when I was young I thought I would be the type of person to have a million ear piercings, and although I had my ears pierced two short-lived times, when I was eight and when I was eighteen. I had sex with one guy who had his nipples pierced, and one guy who had his penis pierced. My duvet cover has a long story. I have a cactus named Jordan Cactuslano. I co-owned a Chia pet named Ralph Macchia-o. I’ve named multiple plants Milou. I like to say all the things I have done “for a living”—I recommend books for a living, I pour water for a living, I fold napkins for a living, I smile for a living, I make copies for a living, I clean up kid vomit for a living, I sing head-shoulder-knees-and-toes for a living, I edit horoscopes for a living, I bake tuiles for a living, I pipe out meringue seats for a living, I cut cakes for a living, I gift-wrap for a living, I note down what you’re wearing for a living, I gesture to things with an open hand for a living. I asked a lone cab driver waiting outside the Missoula airport at midnight, Are you for me? I lied to my diary. Ever since my short-lived diner waitressing gig at the House of Pies, I’ve preferred my chicken noodle soup with lemon juice squeezed in. For several years, every once in a while, I’d sit down in my bedroom and count how many people I’d had sex with. I have bad eyes. I have dry skin. I wear a size 7 shoe. My nickname in second grade was The Dictionary. Sometimes I wonder if I’m having a heart attack. I’ve had my heart broken twice. I sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door. I have many parallel lives. I used to dream of being a glassblower. I couldn’t stand the heat, so I got out of the kitchen.

A fever is a brief increment in your body temperature, frequently because of an ailment. Having a fever is an indication that something strange is going ahead in your body.

For a grown-up, a fever might be awkward, however typically isn't a reason for concern except if it achieves 103 F (39.4 C) or higher. For babies and little children, a marginally raised temperature may demonstrate a genuine contamination.

Fevers for the most part leave inside a couple of days. Various over-the-counter solutions bring down a fever, however some of the time it's better left untreated. Fever appears to assume a key part in helping your body ward off various diseases.

Indications

You have a fever when your temperature transcends its ordinary range. What's typical for you might be somewhat higher or lower than the normal ordinary temperature of 98.6 F (37 C).

Contingent upon what's causing your fever, extra fever signs and side effects may include:

Perspiring

Chills and shuddering

Cerebral pain

Muscle throbs

Loss of craving

Fractiousness

Lack of hydration

General shortcoming

Youngsters between the ages of a half year and 5 years may encounter febrile seizures. About 33% of the youngsters who have one febrile seizure will have another, most usually inside the following a year.

Taking a temperature

To check your or your kid's temperature, you can look over a few sorts of thermometers, including oral, rectal, ear (tympanic) and temple (transient conduit) thermometers.

Despite the fact that it's not the most exact approach to take a temperature, you can utilize an oral thermometer for an armpit (axillary) perusing:

Place the thermometer in the armpit and fold your arms or your tyke's arms over the chest.

Hold up four to five minutes. The axillary temperature is somewhat lower than an oral temperature.

On the off chance that you call your specialist, report the real number on the thermometer and where on the body you took the temperature.

Utilize a rectal thermometer for newborn children:

Place a touch of oil jam on the knob.

Lay your child on his or her belly.

Deliberately embed the globule 1/2 to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.5 centimeters) into your child's rectum.

Hold the knob and your child still for three minutes.

Try not to relinquish the thermometer while it's inside your child. On the off chance that your child squirms, the thermometer could go further and cause damage.

At the point when to see a specialist

Fevers without anyone else's input may not be a reason to worry — or motivation to call a specialist. However there are a few conditions when you should look for medicinal guidance for your infant, your tyke or yourself.

Newborn children

An unexplained fever is more noteworthy reason for worry in babies and in kids than in grown-ups. Call your infant's specialist if your youngster is:

More youthful than age 3 months and has a rectal temperature of 100.4 F (38 C) or higher.

Between ages 3 and a half year and has a rectal temperature up to 102 F (38.9 C) and appears to be strangely bad tempered, dormant or awkward or has a temperature higher than 102 F (38.9 C).

Between ages 6 and two years and has a rectal temperature higher than 102 F (38.9 C) that endures longer than one day however demonstrates no different side effects. In the event that your kid additionally has different signs and side effects, for example, a cool, hack or the runs, you may call your kid's specialist sooner in view of seriousness.

Kids

There's likely no reason to get excited if your youngster has a fever yet is responsive — looking at you and reacting to your outward appearances and to your voice — and is drinking liquids and playing.

Call your kid's specialist if your tyke:

Is drowsy or bad tempered, heaves more than once, has a serious migraine or stomachache, or has some other indications causing critical uneasiness.

Has a fever in the wake of being left in a hot auto. Look for therapeutic care instantly.

Has a fever that keeps going longer than three days.

Seems lazy and has poor eye to eye connection with you.

Approach your youngster's specialist for direction in unique conditions, for example, a tyke with invulnerable framework issues or with a previous sickness.

Grown-ups

Call your specialist if your temperature is 103 F (39.4 C) or higher. Look for quick restorative consideration if any of these signs or indications goes with a fever:

Serious migraine

Strange skin rash, particularly if the rash quickly exacerbates

Strange affectability to splendid light

Firm neck and torment when you twist your head forward

Mental disarray

Constant retching

Trouble breathing or chest torment

Stomach agony or torment while urinating

Spasms or seizures

Demand an Appointment at Mayo Clinic

Causes

Fever happens when a region in your cerebrum called the hypothalamus (greetings poe-THAL-uh-muhs) — otherwise called your body's "indoor regulator" — shifts the set purpose of your ordinary body temperature upward. At the point when this happens, you may feel chilled and include layers of garments or wrap up in a cover, or you may shudder to produce more body warm, in the long run bringing about a raised body temperature.

Ordinary body temperature shifts for the duration of the day — it's lower early in the day and higher in the late evening and night. Albeit a great many people think about 98.6 F (37 C) ordinary, your body temperature can differ by a degree or increasingly — from around 97 F (36.1 C) to 99 F (37.2 C) — and still be viewed as typical.

Fever or hoisted body temperature may be caused by:

An infection

A bacterial contamination

Warmth weariness

Certain incendiary conditions, for example, rheumatoid joint inflammation — aggravation of the coating of your joints (synovium)

A harmful tumor

A few medicines, for example, anti-infection agents and medications used to treat hypertension or seizures

A few vaccinations, for example, the diphtheria, lockjaw and acellular pertussis (DTaP) or pneumococcal immunization

Some of the time the reason for a fever can't be distinguished. On the off chance that you have a fever for over three weeks and your specialist can't discover the reason after broad assessment, the determination might be fever of obscure source.

Complexities

Youngsters between the ages of a half year and 5 years may encounter fever-prompted spasms (febrile seizures), which for the most part include loss of cognizance and shaking of appendages on the two sides of the body. Albeit disturbing for guardians, most by far of febrile seizures cause no enduring impacts.

In the event that a seizure happens:

Lay your youngster on his or her side or stomach on the floor or ground

Expel any sharp questions that are close to your kid

Relax tight apparel

Hold your youngster to avoid damage

Try not to put anything in your kid's mouth or attempt to stop the seizure

Most seizures stop without anyone else. Take your youngster to the specialist as quickly as time permits after the seizure to decide the reason for the fever.

Call for crisis medicinal help if a seizure keeps going longer than five minutes.

What is the distinction amongst icy and influenza?

Both influenza (flu) and cool are caused by infections, and they can have comparative manifestations. So how would we know whether a man has influenza or an awful icy? In this article, we clarify the distinctions.

Chilly and flu are the most well-known ailments in people, as per an article distributed in The Lancet. Consistently, 5-20 percent of the number of inhabitants in America create influenza indications.

The primary contrast amongst icy and influenza is that, for the most part, side effects of this season's flu virus are normally significantly more serious.

Every year, in excess of 200,000 individuals are hospitalized in view of influenza intricacies; influenza is in charge of around 23,600 passings consistently.

Quick certainties on colds versus influenza:

Colds and influenza share huge numbers of similar manifestations; the significant distinction being influenza is regularly more regrettable, and joined by a high fever.

As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the normal grown-up will have 2-3 colds consistently.

The rhinovirus is the most well-known reason for cool.

The distinction amongst cool and influenza

Frosty and influenza are caused by various infections, and, all in all, the manifestations of influenza are more regrettable. Additionally, there are less inclined to be not kidding inconveniences from cool, for example, pneumonia and bacterial diseases.

The primary contrast amongst cool and influenza manifestations is that influenza all the more regularly incorporates fever; the fever can be 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher and keep going for 3-5 days.

The extraordinary exhaustion related with influenza can persevere for a considerable length of time. Chilly indications are by and large milder and last around 1 week.

Likewise, runny nose or nasal clog is more typical with cool than influenza.

Heaving is another key distinction; spewing isn't typically connected with the regular icy however can be available in influenza.

In spite of the fact that the distinctions above are for the most part valid, without leading uncommon tests, it is difficult to know without a doubt whether it is influenza or chilly. For example, it is conceivable to have influenza without fever.

What is a chilly?

Nearly everyone knows about the vibe of having a frosty. Colds influence both warm and cool atmospheres similarly, and the normal individual will have had numerous colds from earliest stages the distance until later life.

Side effects incorporate a runny nose, sore throat, hacking and sniffling, watery eyes, a cerebral pain, and body hurts. There is no cure, aside from resting and drinking a lot of liquids, yet the cool should go inside 7-10 days.

There is ordinarily no compelling reason to visit a specialist, however a man with a debilitated insusceptible framework is more inclined to creating pneumonia as a complexity.

To abstain from coming down with or spreading a bug, individuals should wash their hands frequently and ensure they wheeze into a tissue or cloth, or into their elbow. This is the most clean as it stops the spread of germs, which can't live on attire or surfaces like they can on skin.

What is influenza?

There are three sorts of influenza infection, flu A, flu B, and flu C. Sorts An and B are the ones that reason regular scourges. One of the key indications of influenza is feeling hot or having a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or above. Be that as it may, not every person with this season's cold virus will have a fever.

Different side effects include:

cerebral pains or body throbs

regurgitating, queasiness, and potentially looseness of the bowels, particularly in youngsters

a sore throat and a hack

exhaustion

chills and shuddering

a congested or runny nose

A typical cool is less inclined to cause a high fever. With an icy, indications, for example, a runny nose or throat bothering will ordinarily enhance inside a couple of days.

The most effective method to treat influenza

The CDC take note of that the larger part of individuals who have this season's cold virus needn't bother with restorative consideration. Most can stay at home and maintain a strategic distance from contact with other individuals to keep the illness from spreading. Be that as it may, the accompanying medications are accessible:

Over-the-counter medicines - these can decrease fever. Tylenol can enable individuals with influenza to feel more good while they recoup. Tylenol is additionally accessible to buy on the web.

Solution antiviral influenza drugs - these are likewise accessible from a doctor. They are for individuals who are at high danger of genuine complexities and are not typically vital for successful treatment. They must be given inside a specific measure of time from manifestation beginning.

Home cures - to mitigate side effects, home cures, for example, steam inward breath, supporting sustenances like chicken soup, keeping warm, and other solace measures can be utilized.

A doctor will have the capacity to choose if antivirals are required. Individuals who have a tendency to be at more serious hazard incorporate newborn children younger than 2, individuals matured 65 years and more established, and pregnant ladies.

Crisis cautioning signs for influenza

Patients should look for restorative help on the off chance that they see any of the crisis cautioning signs.

Cautioning signs in newborn children incorporate trouble breathing, having no craving, and not creating tears when they cry, or having less wet diapers than normal.

Extreme side effects in more seasoned youngsters include:

breathing issues

somewhat blue skin shading

not drinking enough liquids

not awakening or collaborating

being irritable to the point that they would prefer not to be held

fever with a rash

On the off chance that influenza like indications enhance however then come back with fever and a more awful hack, the parent ought to counsel a doctor.

Hostile to influenza immunizations and different sorts of security

The most ideal approach to secure against seasonal influenza is by having a yearly inoculation, as this causes the body to develop the invulnerable framework with the goal that it can ward off the infection all the more rapidly.

This season's cold virus antibody is suggested amid pregnancy as it has been demonstrated safe. In the event that influenza happens amid pregnancy, it can have genuine difficulties for the unborn youngster and the mother.

Home cures

Various cures can enable individuals to remain agreeable at home until the point that the side effects have passed:

Saline nose drops can help alleviate a blocked nose. These are accessible over-the-counter or on the web.

Vapor rubs can make it simpler to relax. Different brands are accessible to buy on the web.

A vapor shower without hardly lifting a finger blockage.

Rinsing with salt water or sucking on a capsule can facilitate the agony of a sore throat.Throat tablets might be purchased on the web.

Tylenol and comparable prescriptions can alleviate a throbbing painfulness.

Various herbs may assuage side effects. Cases incorporate eucalyptus in capsules and licorice for sore throats. Not all the proposed cures are bolstered by research, and some must be utilized with mind.

Eucalyptus oil, for instance, is noxious if taken by mouth, and licorice isn't prescribed for ladies who are pregnant or breastfeeding. It is vital to converse with a specialist before utilizing any elective cure at home.

It is likewise essential to eat strongly, drink a lot of liquids, and rest.

My birthday was already almost two weeks ago?! How did this happen?!

On my actual birthday, I felt conflicted, and I wrote a very serious post about the consequences of a friend’s death 8 years ago. The day after, with sales going on for Ulta and Sephora, I thought, “Its basically still my birthday; I should treat myself.” Turning 23 felt so strange to me- in many ways, I still feel I’m still 17 or even 15… Six years doesn’t sound like a long time, but the difference between 17 and 23 really does! So I figured this year would be a good year to officially celebrate myself, by myself.

Last weekend, I visited my older sister in Milwaukee. We went to several stores (Ulta, Sephora, MANY thrift/vintage stores, and yes, TJ Maxx), and while I didn’t feel the need to get much from Ulta and Sephora, we found many great products at TJ Maxx- some I purchased for myself, and some my sister bought for me as birthday presents.

I know I’m chatty- so let’s get into everything I hauled!

It looks like so much! Let’s get into some details here.

Palettes:

Too Faced “Cat Eyes.” This was. TJ Maxx find for something like $10? It was quite discounted. I love Too Faced in terms of collecting, and this was one my sister ended up picking up for me! The actual quality is a bit… chalky and without excellent pigmentation, but there is a lot of potential for soft looks that don’t take much effort (read: perfect for work) with this palette.

Marc Jacob’s Stye Eye-Con 7 in “The Tease 202.” This was another TJ Maxx find, although I purchased this myself. This was $20 at TJM, compared to $59 at Sephora. I’ve been looking at this palette for several months now, so when I saw it for such a steep discount, I had to pick it up. It’s not the best palette (the mattes are a bit powdery, IMO, and the darker shades a bit patchy), but the colors are wonderful, the compact itself feels so sleek, and just… yes.

Tarte “Make Believe In Yourself” Eye + Cheek Palette. I actually purchased this from Sephora online with my 20% off VIB coupon. Yes, it’s a total glitter bomb, but it’s SO PRETTY, and I love glitter shadows. The highlighter in the middle (Believe) is also a wonderful highlight on fair skin. This definitely screams “festival,” but let’s be real; I’ll use it just as a pick me up on my days off work!

Viseart Petit Pro. Another Sephora 20% VIB purchase. I already had the Bijoux Royal palette (which I adore), and the idea of a travel-friendly Viseart palette excited me. The colors are quite warm and dark- but I’m thinking it’d be a perfect fall palette. The mattes are a bit hard, but the glitter/shimmer shades are amazing!

Lorac Pirates of the Caribbean Eye Shadow Palette. I purchased this from Ulta with a 20% anything coupon (plus, you know, 2x birthday points… and 2x Ultamate Rewards MasterCard points). I’m not 100% into the Pirates franchise (as I mentioned in my last FotM unboxing post), but I do like to collect Disney merchandise- and I absolutely LOVE Lorac’s formula and these colors looked very fun and easy to use. Very different from the Alice palette from UD (which was chalky, difficult to use, and came in troublesome packaging… even if it was very beautiful). No regrets here!

Lorac Pirates of the Caribbean Cheek Palette. Another 20% off Ulta purchase- yes, at the same time as the eye palette! The colors in this palette looked so fair-skinned friendly and yes, fun, that I really wanted to try it! My only concern so far is not being sure if the last color (in the right bottom corner) is supposed to be a very shimmery blush or a darker highlight 😉

  The other color products:

In order of swatch appearance, the other items I purchased were:

Spring Fling Argan Oil Lip Balm. This is a tinted lip balm that is shea-free and was on mega discount ($1.99 I believe) at Ulta. It’s a bit warm, but it’s lovely!

Nars Matte Lip Pencil in Sex Machine. This was one of those VIB sale purchases from Sephora. I had been considering which Nars lip pencil I wanted to purchase- Cruella, which was on my list for a while, actually came in a lip set I picked up not too long ago, and Sex Machine appeared to be the best spring-type shade for me.

MUFE Rouge Artist Intense in 43. Before I tell you how much this was- I want you to guess. It was at TJ Maxx…. for $6. SIX. Usually, MUFE lipsticks are around $20! I’ve heard that #43 is called “Moulin Rouge” and is an orange-based red; this one does NOT look like that at all, nor can I find it on sale anywhere online to check what it’s supposed to be… to me, it’s slightly cooler (not super cool, but slightly) and medium-deep. It is very beautiful, suits me very well, and whitens my teeth a tiny bit. GREAT find, IMO.

NYX Pin-up Pout in Bombshell. I purchased three other shades a while ago, and long story short, one of my colors (Almost Famous) was stolen by a kid at work, hidden in her pants, and used… so it went in the trash. I considered buying the shade again, but with summer approaching, I decided to go for a fun color- a hot pink that’s on the deeper side, so it looks almost red! This one was part of my Ulta order.

Ofra Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick in “Cape Town.” Ofra’s LLLL formula is one of my favorites, and I have it in a few colors that came in beauty boxes or part of sets- not colors I got to choose. When Ofra came to Ulta, I decided it was time to get another color, one that I carefully picked out myself. I settled on Cape Town because it was a nice plummy/berry color. They call it a cabernet with purple-pin tones. It’s one of my favorite, all-year-round colors!

Too Faced Melted Metal in Metallic Jelly and Metallic Violet. So these ones… they were also $6 each at TJ Maxx, and I was shocked to find both colors in packaging that wasn’t disgusting and not yet used/swatched. They appear to be on sale because the products themselves appear separated- they’re very light and very greasy feeling, which means I may need to pop the top off and mix them up in the tube.

Tarte Tarteist Pro Glow Liquid Highlighter in Stunner. I have the Amazonian Clay highlighter in this shade and love it- but I love liquid highlights (especially when paired with a powder on top) and wanted to try this one out. Ordered from Sephora during VIB sale.

Becca Pressed Shimmering Skin Perfector in Amethyst. I’ve been lusting after this since it was released (I LOVE lavender, violet, and any kind of purple hue on my face). I got it during the Sephora VIB sale, and I couldn’t be happier!

Origins GinZing Cream Eyeshadow in 16 Blue-tiful Burst. Yes, this is dark and feels quite navy, but I think it’ll be beautiful as a liner. I love using creme pots as liners! TJ Maxx find for about $10.

NYX Lid Lingerie Eye Tint in Whimsy. Liquid eyeshadows have become a thing recently, but not a thing I’ve tried yet. They are a little intimidating for my level of blending skills. I figured I’d start out with a NYX product, as the brand has a good success rate for me. This color is also super beautiful! This was an Ulta purchase as well.

Finally, the two non-color purchases:

Real Techniques Eye Brush Starter Set. This was another TJ Maxx find for about $8, which is half off the price from Real Technique’s website. I can never have enough eye brushes, as I hate washing my brushes…

NYX Honey Dew Me Up Serum & Primer. As somebody with dry skin, I’ve been curious about this serum/primer for a while- so the 20% Ulta sale was the perfect time for me to pick it up.

So there you have it- a massive haul, brought to you by my “Shoot, I’m 23” quarter-life crisis…. I mean… “treat yo’ self” mentality.

Haul // Birthday “Treat Yo’ Self:” Ulta, Sephora, and TJ Maxx Beauty Finds My birthday was already almost two weeks ago?! How did this happen?! On my actual birthday, I felt conflicted, and I wrote a very serious post about the consequences of a friend's death 8 years ago.