a little bit mad that the Expensive Korean Skincare Product I purchased on a whim is actually making my skin noticeably clearer. me insisting for years that skincare is a sham and cheap facewash and moisturizer is all you need and now look at me. it comes with a tiny little shovel to scoop out the correct amount. I feel like an annoying YouTuber every time I wash my face. my face which has never felt better because of this stupid Expensive Korean Skincare Product

The boy next door. (pt2.)

a/n: no one asked for more but im just gonna keep posting as i write bc its fun :)

(everything is made up including names, family members and text messages)

_________________________________________________________

you look at the message from vinnie and smile.

"what are you so smiley about y/n?" you mom says in a jokingly way

"she met a boy at the ice cream shop" jack says sounding annoyed

"soooo whats his name, is he cute, how old is he, where does he live, i wanna know everything"

your mom has always been a little nosey when it comes to boys, especially ones that make you smile.

"mommmmmm" you say

"oh come on i just wanna know"

"okay fine" you give in "his names vinnie and he lives next door, he came into the ice cream shop while we were waiting and he complimented me on my ice cream choice"

your mom laughs and says; "he seems like a very sweet boy, why dont you invite him and his family over for dinner tomorrow?"

"we arent moved in fully yet mom" jack interrupts

"oh vinnie offered to come over tomorrow and help move stuff in, you can invite him and his family over for dinner when hes here if you want to"

your mom sits and thinks about it for a second. she's never liked asking for help "you know we could use the extra hands, if you want to text him and see if hes willing to come over around 10 and help unload boxes that would be wonderful. i'll make lunch too depending on how long it takes"

"YES!" you scream in excitement, "i'll text him right now and see if he can. love you mom!"

you run upstairs and let out a squeal. you where so excited to see your dream boy again.

you text vinnie and throw your phone on your bed.

"oh shoot!" you yelled. "if he does come over i have to clean my room i can have it look like this." you look down at your floor and see all the laundry scattered everywhere.

"im such a mess"

you put on your favorite playlist and start dancing while you clean your room.

*BZZ*

"mom! he said hes coming over tomorrow!"

"sounds good!"

you keep cleaning your room but eventually fall asleep because you had a long day today.

when you woke up you checked the time.

"ITS 10:45??"

your alarm never went off causing you to over sleep.

"i havent showered, i havent gotten ready, i havent done anything! and my room still isnt clean UGHHHH!"

you quickly throw on a pair of pajama bottoms and a crop top you found in your closet, you put dry shampoo in and throw your hair into a bun.

you grabbed your glasses and run down stairs.

"well good morning sleeping beauty" vinnie says to you staring at you.

"OMG YOU'RE HERE!"

"yeah you told me to come over... your mom is an amazing lady i must say, i also didnt know you wore glasses"

"MY GLASSES NOOOO!" you panic realizing you didnt have time to put your contacts in

"calm down its okay y/n. i like them." vinnie smiles at you.

"his smile is so pretty, and his eyes, wow." you think to yourself.

"y/n?" your mom says

"huh?"

"you okay? you zoned out for a second"

"OH yeah no im great." you realize you zoned out while staring at vinnie who was in a white tank top and is wearing a baseball cap. you couldnt stop yourself from starring.

"hey mom.." jack says "i found this in with the books"

you look at jack and realize hes holding your old bra

"JACK THATS MINE STOP" you gasp. oh boy that's embarrassing.

vinnie starts laughing and looks at you.

"stop laughing"

you're so embarrassed that he just saw that.

"dont worry y/n its okay. my dog had my boxers on her head after she went snooping in my room."

you can't help but to laugh a little.

the thought of seeing his dog with his boxers on her head is something you would pay to see.

"alright so is there anything else you would like me to move Mrs. Anderson?" vinnie asks your mom

"i dont believe so unless y/n or jack has anything to move" your mom looks at you and your brother waiting for a response.

jack breaks the silence and goes "nope, i think everything is in my room already."

"y/n do you have anything you need help unpacking or anything?" he looks at you and his eyes are this beautiful chocolate brown color.

"yeah i do actually."

vinnie and you head up to your room

"im sorry its such a mess i was trying to clean it last night but i must have fell asleep."

"don't worry about it, my room is way worse than this"

he reaches for a magazine he sees and giggles

"whats so funny? HEY PUT THAT DOWN!"

he laughs and sets it back down

"you know i think its cute."

"whats cute?'

"you, everything about you."

you roll your eyes and smile

"you're dumb Mr. Hacker, but you're cute as well"

"thank you Ms. Hacker."

"what did you say?"

"huh? nothing, anyways is that all you wanted me to help with?"

"yeah thats it thank you."

vinnie walks downstairs and you follow.

your mom is in the kitchen with your brother.

"oh vinnie before you leave, would you and your family like to come over for dinner tonight?" vinnie looks at you and then at your mom.

"i think they would be delighted to come over for dinner tonight Mrs. Anderson, i'll text them right now."

you go into the living room to watch some tv. vinnie follows and sits next to you.

*BZZ*

vinnies phone goes off

"they said they would love to come over, do you have a time in mind on when they should come over?"

"does 7:30 work?"

"that will work just fine."

looking at the time you realize you and vinnie have spent 5 hours together already.

"i should probably get heading home, i have to shower and get ready for dinner tonight, see you then everyone!" he kisses your cheek and heads out the door.

"bye vinnie see you tonight!" your mom and brother exclaim

"what a sweet boy" mom says

*4 hours later, 7:00 PM*

"Vinnie and his family will be over in 30 mins please make sure everything is ready and make sure you guys are ready aswell"

your mom has always been one to make sure everything and everyone looks good before any guest come over.

the door bell rings.

"y/n!! can you please get the door?"

you rush downstairs and open the door.

"hey y/n, wow you look good"

you curled your hair, put makeup on, and are wearing your nice fancy dress.

"hey vin i could say the same thing about you."

both of you are dressed up very nicely. he's wearing his blue suit and has his shirt buttoned down showing chest tattoo.

something about his tattoos drive you insane. you love them.

he introduces his family to yours

"i never knew you had a twin brothers." you say as your brother and his run off to the backyard.

"yeah they are a real pain in the ass"

"i know what that's like"

the two of you laugh

"this is a beautiful house you have jackie and you have 2 beautiful children as well" vinnies mom says to yours

"well thank you sandy im very blessed with what i have gotten in life, your 3 boys are such angels especially vinnie here. hes been very helpful today and i really appreciate it."

he smiles at your mom and then at you

"dinner was amazing, thank you for inviting us over and introducing us to your family, we are going to have a bbq here this weekend if you guys want to join." vinnies dad offers

"we will be there"

"awesome, well we best get going its late and we both have work in the morning, thank you again."

"yeah anytime! thank you guys for coming."

you say goodnight to vinnie and his family and head upstairs.

*BZZ*

New Message from Vinnie <3: you looked absolutely stunning tonight

To Vinnie <3: thank you vin, you looked very handsome tonight as well i must say, you look handsome every night tho.

From Vinnie <3: you're cute, goodnight luv sleep well :)

you set your phone down and smile. hes truly the best guy you have ever met.

Private Video (1/2)

A.C.E Donghun x Reader

Cw: smut, asmr

Rating: R

Word count: 3.2k

Not betaed. thanks to @silent5tar for reading it ahead of release <3

“I heard your channel is doing well.”

Sujin smiled over the edge of her mug. She had never really understood the appeal of ASMR, but she still supported your endeavors.

“Yes, it is. Next month I will invite you to dinner.”

“Oh, so you really make some money?”

Sujin raised one eyebrow. A look that fit her face well. Even in situations like this her words never came out accusatory.

“Not really, but I can take my best friend out for dinner anyways.”

She smiled as the waitress came with your cakes. No, the youtube channel did not really make money, if you consider the cost of the microphone and filming equipment but it was a good pass time. The feedback from people in the comments felt good too.

“Ah! I remembered something.”

Sujin leaned forward as if people in the cafe would pay attention to your conversation. Of course no one was looking at you.

“Do you remember Donghun?”

Yes, you did remember him. Donghun was Sujin’s ex-boyfriend’s friend. Well, friend is maybe said too much. They had attended some of the same classes and Donghun had hung out with him, and by extension you, sometimes.

“I do. What’s with him?”

“He asked for your number.”

That was surprising. You had talked a few times but mostly you had been there for Sujin, to spend time with her. Why did he want your number now?

“Okay. Why tho?”

She shrugged. At least she had not just given out your number to anyone who asked. A bit more information would have been though.

“No idea.”

You thought about it. Technically you knew him so it was not like you would give your number to a stranger and if you did not like where the conversation was going you could still block him.

“Okay, give him my number then.”

A few days later Donghun asked you to meet him for coffee. The place was in a particularly hip part of town. Every coffee shop here was the picturesque backdrop for some influencer’s instagram post.

You entered the shop and looked around. Donghun was nowhere to be seen. You got yourself a coffee and sat down. The place was cozy with its assorted armchairs and low tables. It would be perfect to come here and read a book. It was not too loud either at the moment at least. You sank into the soft cushions. The armchair felt like a lot of people had previously sat in it. The seat had sunken in the middle but it was still okay. A shadow appeared in your periphery.

“Hi, how have you been?”

A soft voice asked from the side and you jerked up. Donghun had arrived. His dark brown hair fell into his eyes as he smiled, looking down at you. He took off his jacket and hung it over the armchair opposite you. The jeans and plain black sweater looked stylish on him.

“I’m good thanks for asking.”

“Good to hear. I will just get a coffee too.”

He joined the queue for the counter. The coffee shop was not very full at the moment, most people just got a drink to go and left again. Donghun looked different from the last time you had seen him. His hair was longer and dyed a warm shade of brown. The small piercing in the side of his nose was new too. It gave him an even more soft, pretty feeling. He looked like one of those instagram influencers that you followed for their cozy aesthetics and beautiful faces. You wondered if he had a public instagram account and if yes, how many followers did he have. I would follow him. You made a mental note to look for his account later.

He returned with a mug of coffee and sank into the soft armchair.

“So, why did you want to meet me?”

“Ah, yes it’s been a while.”

He looked down at his mug that he held in his hands. Several delicate metal rings decorated his fingers. You could also see a bracelet peek from under his sleeves.

“I have seen your videos and I love your channel.”

“Oh, so you are a fan.”

Your tone was teasing and Donghun smiled.

“I guess so.”

Not a lot of people you knew had much interest in what you did on your channel. Most had never even seen an ASMR video. Sujin had watched some when you started but it was not something that she needed in her life.

“What are your favorite videos then?”

Let’s see if he really watched them or not. You had not done that many videos over the past year or so, maybe 30 videos, but you had enjoyed making them. He leaned forward a bit as he spoke.

“I really liked the one with the lid sounds. Those containers from lush sound really good.”

You nodded.

“Oh and the long one. I listen to it while working.”

Ah yes. The long one. The 3 hour monstrosity had taken forever to edit together. You had made some mistakes and it delayed the whole schedule you had set for yourself. It felt good to hear that your work was appreciated.

“There is actually something I wanted to ask.”

He leaned forward and met your eyes.

“I would love to try it too. Recording a video I mean. Would that be okay with you? Maybe you can publish it, if it’s good?”

So this was his ulterior motive. It made sense. The equipment was pretty pricey so, if you do not know, whether or not you really like recording, it would be better to try first with someone else’s microphones.There was no harm in letting him play around. You seized him up. Donghun would look good on camera, you were sure of that. Personally you only showed your face very few times. It was enough to have good sound and nice close ups of the objects. One thing about him stood up to you the most.

“I think I have an idea for your video already.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, how is next Saturday for you?”

You set up your filming equipment in the small living room. Well, more like the room had become a set and had ceased to be a living room. You had built a soundproof box out of plywood and sound absorbing foam. While it was technically removable, most days you just let it stand there. It was simply too bothersome to move it elsewhere.

Donghun arrived on time. He rang the bell and you let him in. Just as you had told him, he wore an off white sweater. There were some colors that had to be avoided when filming videos, because they did not look as good on camera. The background in the sound proof box was black so this would make him stand out.

“Hi, can I offer you something to drink?”

“A cup of tea, if you have it.”

While you made tea for both of you, Donghun inspected the set. A chair was surrounded by three walls of sound foam. The camera and the microphone were plugged in to your computer and ready to go.

“Here.”

“Thanks.”

He sat down on the chair as there was no other place for him to sit that was not the floor. He blew on his tea.

“So, what have you planned for me.”

“Have you ever seen a hand sounds video?”

These kinds of ASMR videos featured a person rubbing their hand together in different ways. You enjoyed listening to them a lot and while you would have loved to make one yourself, the thought of having people look at you hands that closely made you uncomfortable. Okay, maybe they were doing that already but it would be even more intense.

“Oh. Yes, I have. You think I will be good at that?”

“You have nice hands, so…”

Now that you had said that out loud it seemed a bit odd. As if this was something inappropriate. It implied that you had looked at him. He held up his hands and inspected them. Pretend like that wasn’t awkward. He nodded.

“So, when do we start?”

You closed the blinds on the windows and began to adjust the lighting. Donghun looked really good. His skin had a healthy tone and the long hair, freshly washed, shone in the lights. He had rolled up his sleeves, but you wondered if taking the sweater off would be better.

You gave him a monitor - some earbuds - so he could hear himself while recording. He started to test the microphone and looked surprised at the sound. You could not hear the sound of the microphone but it was okay. You would watch the recording a bit later. Donghun rubbed his fingers together and experimented with speeds. His hands were graceful and you could not help yourself but stare. Even if it was disguised as monitoring the recording.

“Can you come over I wanna try something”

You walked over to him, wondering what it was. He took your hand and pushed the sleeve of your shirt up. While close to the microphone, he ran his palm over your arm. A shiver ran down your spine. His hands were a bit more on the soft side and the way he rubbed your arm, even if unintended, put you on edge. It had been some time since you had had a partner and this felt almost too intimate.

Thankfully Donghun did not notice the effect he had on you because he was focused on the sound only he could hear. You controlled your breathing as it would be audible on the recording. Please stop being so handsome. The faint smell of shampoo and freshly washed clothes tickled your nose. It made your stomach drop.

Okay, but is it possible that I am developing a crush on Donghun right now? That was totally possible. You had always found him kind of attractive, but you had never spent that much time together.

“Are you okay?”

His voice was soft, only audible because it was so quiet. It brought you back to the present.

“Yes...yes! Sorry I…”

You cut yourself off. Don’t mumble. His fingers pressed lightly against the palm of your hand. Almost like holding hands but not quite. He got up, not letting go.

“Can we take a break?”

“Sure.”

You were very aware how close he was and of his fingers gently holding your hand. His eyes were a warm shade of brown that reminded you of chocolate.

“Let’s go then.”

A trip to the coffee place around the corner gave you a bit of time to sort your thoughts. Maybe you should ask Donghun if he was looking for a girlfriend. If he was, you could ask him out. There was no point in denying you felt something for him. Now, the only question that remained was, how could you ask subtly about his relationship status. You could not bring yourself to just ask. What if you made it awkward? What if he laughed in your face? No, you wanted to do it, indirectly. You would come up with something.

After you drank your coffees, you returned to the apartment. Donghun recorded for about two hours. You would have to cut some parts where a truck drove by or where the neighbors talked too loudly but it had looked good.

“Awesome, you did a good job!”

It was true you really liked the video and sounds you had recorded. You set the earphones down and looked up at Donghun.

“Is it really okay if I upload this?”

From a legal standpoint you could not simply upload someone else’s face to your Youtube channel. So you had to ask.

“Yes!”

He beamed as he put on his jacket. You did not want him to leave but could not think of a reason to make him stay. Donghun must be tired. Sitting in the chair for so long was surprisingly exhausting. You knew that from experience.

“Awesome.”

You saw him to the door. Donghun standing in your door was something you would like to see again. When he came back that was.

“It was fun recording today! Thank you for letting me do this.”

His smile was a ray of warm sunlight.

“No problem. I had fun.”

He stood in your door and buried his hands in the pockets of his pants. I bet the hair feels as soft as it looks. It looked like he wanted to say something, probably goodbye. The time was now.

“Would you like to grab a coffee sometime?”

He looked a bit surprised but a smile appeared on his face.

“Yes, I would like that.”

“Good.”

Your heart had skipped a beat when he had said that. Hopefully it would not be too long before you met again.

“See you around.”

The video with the title “Hand sounds with my friend” was a big success. Comments and likes poured in all day. One of the most upvoted ones read:

“I loved the part you did together. Can we get a part two? 😘”

The thought of Donghun running his hands along your skin was dangerous. It had felt so good. It had been two weeks since you had filmed the video but the memory was still vivid in your mind. The tickling of his fingertips brushing over your arm. The warmth of his hands and the smell of his hair were still there. You wanted to run your hands through the soft hair, wondering how it would feel. His head would tilt up and he would look up at you with those sparkling eyes. Maybe he would kiss your hands. Kiss your arm. Kiss your lips.

Your phone vibrated and you jerked from your daydream.

“Hey, do you wanna get dinner tonight?”

Donghun. As if your thoughts had summoned him…

“Sure, where do you want to go?”

Was this a date? You did not want to ask if this was a date or not. No need to make things awkward.

About 20 minutes before you had to leave for your maybe date, you stood before your wardrobe and weighed your options. The nice dress may signal your interest but could also be perceived as overkill for a casual date with a friend. Wearing a simple jeans and sweater or cardigan combo might seem too much like you were not interested and saw this more as a “friends going out to eat” situation.

You put on the dress. It showed way more cleavage than you remembered. You did not feel comfortable enough to wear it today. Jeans and cardigan it was. As fast as possible you changed.

In order to relieve some nervousness you went to the bathroom and started putting on makeup in record time. Usually you were too lazy to put on makeup but in situations like now it felt like armour. Whatever may happen today at least you looked your best.

The worry you had had about a look overkill dissipated, when you saw Donghun. He wore black suit pants, a white dress shirt and a cream colored blazer. A black silk shawl was tied like a ribbon around his neck instead of a tie. Your dress would have looked down right shabby next this. Donghun looked absolutely stunning.

“Hi!”

“Hello!”

He smiled a small smile. It made your heart jump.

You opened the glass door and entered. The restaurant was not very fancy and Donghun seemed out of place. One of the tables in the back was free and he walked towards it with unwavering steps.

He sat down and you took the chair opposite. You busied yourself with choosing something to eat. The laminated pages of the menu made your fingers even more sweaty. It’s not necessary to be this nervous. Calm down. But look at him! Is he playing a prince in a drama or something. Who shows up to a dinner with a friend looking like that?

It was true, he looked extra good today. The only logical reason seemed to be that he saw this as a date. Maybe it was a good idea to signal your interest.

“I really like your outfit.”

He looked down as if to check what exactly he was wearing.

“Ah, yes. Thanks. I was taking photos with some friends earlier.”

“Oh.”

You did not realize that you had said that out loud until he gave you a questioning look. Pretending to be suddenly very interested in the menu you looked down and hoping your blush was not visible.

The waiter took your orders and left. You still felt awkward and avoided looking at him by looking around the room. Some of the older men at the other table were clearly talking about Donghun. He, however, was not bothered by the way people looked at him. In general it seemed like not a lot could dampen his confidence. One time you had hung out with Sujin, her ex and some more friends, you had played some game. Your recollection of the night was not very good but the result of the game - or was it a dare? - was that Donghun had to put on one of Sujin’s crop tops. He wore it for the rest of the night even when you went to a club. Now that you thought about it, this was actually something you admired about him.

“I don’t think i have asked, but what do you do for a living?”

Donghun had mentioned working but you did not remember what it was that he did. As it turned he worked as a system administrator at a company not too far away. On the side he had an instagram account with a few ten thousand followers. Not a huge following but definitely something. You pulled out your phone and searched for his account.

“I will stalk your account later.”

“But don’t like all the old posts or people will notice.”

Eyes sparkled mischievously and you laughed. The few photos you had seen looked exactly how you had expected. All of them had a hard to describe coziness to them. Like the one of Donghun sitting in bed with a mug.

“How have you been doing?”

The food had arrived and you felt more relaxed around Donghun. He obviously did not think this was a date so there was no pressure on you to look your best. It was a bit disappointing but also a relief. You talked about your work and how you thought about changing jobs.

“Would you quit if your channel was making enough money?”

“hmm.”

You had thought about that before but reality was complicated.

“Right now i’m just doing it for fun but if it was a matter of paying the bills, I don’t think it would be as fun.”

Donghun nodded.

“It’s not very stable.”

“That too.”

If your channel did very well and you quit your shitty, but stable job, you would have to worry more about what videos would do well instead of enjoying what you do.

“Ah, speaking of the channel, I wanted to ask you something.”

Donghun looked up from his plate.

“The video we recorded did really well and people asked for another. Would you like to make another video with me?”

Play that little game // J Cody x Reader

First J Cody smut imagine ! This is pretty long, but I hope you’ll enjoy it. 

Request from @enjoy-the-destruction : Can I request a hell smutty J Cody fic where he like finds the reader's vibrator (that he doesn't know about) and doesn't tell them until he's going down on them and decides to surprise them by using it on them.

Words: 3.9k (oops)

Warnings: SMUT, male masturbation, fem receiving, fingering, vibrator, dom kink (kinda). YOU MUST BE +18 TO READ IT. 

Masterlist

Requests are still open and feed backs are always welcome ! :)

J and you have been together for a while now. Almost two years actually. Everything is going more than well. It’s the first that you feel this comfortable in a relationship. Your previous boyfriends were nice but, every time something was missing. Maybe you needed a little danger, like with J. You are so comfortable with him, you gave him the keys of your apartment. “It’s your home too now” you told him. J doesn’t show a lot his emotion usually, but this time you saw that he was truly happy. He kissed you again and again, more passionately each time. “Let the neighbors know daddy's home.” he joked, leading you to your bedroom as you laughed at his goofiness.

Today, J was out to clarify some business he has with his partners, and because Smurf asked him to fill some tasks. It’s around 4:30 in the afternoon when J drives back to your apartment to see you. He hasn’t seen you for a couple of days. He pulls to parking area at the bottom of your building, but doesn’t see your car. He takes the stairs to your flat and opens the door.

“Y/N ?” he calls, but the silence indicates him no one was home. J takes off his jacket and places it on the hanger next to the front door.

He started to wander in your apartment. It’s the first time he really pays attention to your  decoration and how you arranged every room. It understands why he feels so much at home, it’s cozy, smells nice like you, and has a good light. Everything is tidy but without being too manic. He goes in the kitchen and sees a plate of your famous cookies. He grabs one and bites into it. He exhales a moan of pleasure, always surprised of how delicious your cookies are. He thanks you internally.

He continues his little trail in your apartment and arrives in your bedroom. His favourite room. The bed is made, nothing lies around, the air is fresh. J opens your dressing, and slides his fingers on your clothes. He takes a dress out that was hanging. You never wore this one. It was simple, but very pretty. Perfect for a date night. He imagines you wearing it and wonders why you never put it on, since you’d look absolutely stunning. Actually you could wear a plastic bag, and you will still be the most gorgeous woman he ever saw, he thought. J puts back your dress in your dressing, noticing himself to remind you to wear it on your next date.

J is about to close the doors when a box, hidden in the upper right corner catches his eyes. He places the cookie between his teeth to reach with both of his hands the intriguing box. It isn’t big or small and doesn’t have any description on it. He puts the box on your bed and bites on his cookie, before opening it. He gulps when he sees what’s in it.

“Holy shit” he mutters. J takes the object in his hand, dropping the cookie on the floor. It’s a clitorial vibrator. But not any vibrator. It’s the one every girl is talking about. He just didn’t know his girl would own one. “What a dirty little girl” he smirks. He imagines you spread on the bed, legs moving from the pleasure, moaning and eyes shut. He knows exactly the face you make when he makes you come, but wonders if you have the same when it’s the vibrator. He suddenly feels insecure. Why would you buy that ? Was he not enough ? Were you faking ? He shakes those ideas away. There is no chance you’re faking it. Not when you scream the way you do when your orgasm hits you. He actually knows why you bought it. It’s for all of the nights where he can’t be with you, when he has a job with his uncles. You must feel lonely and terribly nervous, so you need a little distraction. J wonders then if you moan his name when you use your little toy. All of those thoughts give him a semi.

J feels his phone buzz in his jeans back pocket removing him from his thoughts.

Y/N ❤️ is calling

J coughs a little laugh “speaking about the devil…” He mumbles before picking up the phone. “Hi, love”

“Hi, baby !” you respond with a cheerful voice. You’re always happy to hear or talk to him. “What are you doing ?”

“Oh just… chilling at your place” he answers analysing the vibrator in his hand.

“You’re at my place ?” you are surprised he’s there on his own. Usually you’re with him.

“Yeah, is that alright ?”

“Yeah, yeah sure ! I’m happy you spend time there on your own. Does it feel like home ?”

“It sure does !” he laughs a little. “Where are you baby ?”

“I just left the office” you say relieved your day was finally over.

“Great ! Do you want to go on a date with me tonight ?” J definitely has plans for you and that toy of yours, for tonight.

“Oh no tonight I can’t. Remember, I told you I’m out with the girls. Sam finally quit her lame ass job, we’re gonna celebrate !” you chuckle. “Tomorrow night ?”

“Oh yeah I forgot sorry. Yeah tomorrow night is perfect. I’ll stay at your place tonight, you’re okay with that ? Don’t feel forced to come home earlier, huh ?”

“Oh my god, yes please stay ! I’ll see you when I come home… a tiny bit drunk” you chuckle.

“Alright, baby. See you tonight then. Have fun with your friends and be safe.”

“I will ! I love you, bye !”. J just had time to tell you the same words before you hung up. He slides back his phone in his pocket before putting the box in its place.

He walks back in the living room and seats on the sofa to watch TV, but it feels weird without you cuddled up in his arms. He doesn’t really pay attention to what’s on the screen, still in shock of your dirty little secret. He starts to be hungry and decides to order a pizza. In the meantime, J decided to finish some homework for college. Only you knew he was attending classes. You were proud of him going to college because you know how smart J is, but also because you were the only one he truly trusts. He tries to focus on his papers but couldn’t find the energy. He’s picturing you playing with your pussy, fingers holding tight the sheets, your pretty mouth in the shape of an O escaping the prettiest sound he’s ever heard, your moans. Gosh, that dick won’t calm down, he thought. Thank god, the delivery guy knocked on the door. J pays for his pizza and went back on the sofa to watch TV. A double distraction should be enough to keep him from the naughty thought he’s having. It worked. Until he feels tired and goes to bed. He’s lying where you give yourself pleasure. The pillows smell like a mix of your shampoo and your perfume. He slides his hand under the pillows and his fingers meet your silk pajamas that smell like your body lotion. You’re everywhere. He turns again and again in the bed desperately trying to fall asleep, but he seems to never find a good position. He thinks of something, though. Something that could relax him.

He slowly moves his right hand south and palm his shaft through his shorts. Is he really going to do this ? If you do it on your own why can’t he ? So J slides his hand in and takes out his penis. He starts his motions slow to gradually go faster. His chest panting and his teeth biting his lower lips, the thought of you intoxicates him. Flashes of memories of sex session he has, pops under his eyelids help him to reach his peak of pleasure. How can you do this to him when you’re not even here ? He thrusts his hips and strokes his dick a few times more before finally cuming in a low grunt. Fuck, Y/N, he exhales, as if you were the one giving him a hand. He gets out of the bed to go clean himself in the bathroom. “I can’t wait to make you come, angel” he murmurs to himself when he comes back in the bed. Finally relaxed, J can sleep. He is so tired, he doesn’t hear you coming home at 2 in the morning. You already regret coming back so late, knowing that tomorrow will be so tiring at your job.

The next morning, J is up before you. You’re woken up by the smell of breakfast and a little hungover. You grunt trying to figure out on what planet you are. You finally manage to rise from the bed and drag you to the kitchen. J chuckles when he sees you arriving, hair all messed up.

“Hello sunshine” he says not too loud because he know your head must be bangging. He walks around the central islot, a pan with pancakes in his hand and a spatula in the other, and kissed you on the cheek.

“Is it Mars, here ? I think I travelled in space last night…” you scratch your head and try to rearrange your hair. J giggles and leads you to your seat. He then serves you the pancakes and hot coffee. “Here, eat and drink”

“No, no more drinking” you beg, your elbows on the table as your hands support your head.

“I swear this drink will do you good” he kissed the top of your head and sits next to you. You grunt and sip on your coffee. It does feel good. “So… I guess last night was good ?” he smiles.

“To good... “ you sigh “Gosh, I should have never drank so much…” you complain.

“You always say that, Y/N” he responds making fun of you.

“But it’s so much fun !” you laugh. “And you ? What did you do ?” you ask taking another sip.

“Me ?” he panics a little. “Oh uhm, nothing much. Ordered a pizza and watched TV.” And casually masturbate on your bed, he thinks for himself. “Is it still good for tonight ? You know, our date ?” he asks shyly, like it was the first time he asks you on a date. It makes you giggle. “Yeah of course ! What time ? I’ll leave from work earlier today.”

“Great, I’ll pick you up at 7, ok ?” You nod, excited to go out with your boyfriend. “I gotta go” he rises from his chair gobbling up the last remnants of his pancake. He kisses you tenderly while putting on his jacket. “See you tonight !” you say as he walks towards the exit, but stops before reaching the door.

“Oh” he turns around a finger on his lips “Wear the dress I put on your chair desk for tonight. Would you do that for me ?” he winks at you, sending you shivers. You nod without saying anything. “Thank you, doll” he smirks and leaves. When the door closes you run to your bedroom to see which dress he chose for you. It’s the first he asks you specifically to wear something. Usually you ask him which dress he prefers between two choices, or the color of your lipstick, your hair up or down,... So him choosing himself your dress is new. You love it, though. And you love it even more when you see his choice. It’s the dress you bought almost a year ago, at the end of summer. You never wore it because it was too cool outside. But since summer is slowly coming back and the weather warmer, you can finally wear it. You leave the dress on the chair and go to the bathroom to prepare yourself for your day. You take two pills to help you get over your hangover, and leave for work.

The day pass and you finally go home to get prepared for you night with J. You thought about it all day, not over the fact he chose your outfit. It’s a small gesture, but it meant a lot to you. You throw your shoes away when you enter your apartment and go directly to your bedroom. You play some music that matches your happy mood and get undressed to take a shower. Once cleaned and relaxed, you go back to your room to choose some nice lingerie. You know how those date nights end: you, back arched, moaning and screaming J’s name. You end up choosing a lacy red wine set. You admire your body in the mirror before slide in the dress. You keep your makeup simple and natural with a touch of color on your lips. Just when you finish fixing your hair you hear J entering your apartment calling your name.

“Y/N, I’m home !” gosh you love hearing this sentence.

“Bedroom !” you respond. He enters a few seconds later. You smooth the dress he chose and turn to him. He freezes, mesmerized by you. “So ? Do you like it ?” you smile, a little insecure.

“Why the fuck didn't you wear that dress earlier ? You look magnificent, love !” he gets closer to you while admiring you from top to bottom. He takes your face in his hands and kisses you lovingly. The heat rises between you two, and it takes all of J’s strength to back away from throwing you on the bed and start right now what has been in his mind since yesterday afternoon.

“Let’s go, baby. We’re gonna be late” he takes your hand in his and lead you outside to get in the car.

J doesn’t really like listen to the radio when you both are driving, or even when he’s alone. He likes listening to you telling how was your day, the last book you read or anything else, as long as he can hear your voice. Silences are comfortable. In these moments, J lays his hand on your thigh, caressing it with his thumb. Sometimes you take his hand in yours and place it on your mouth so you can smell it and feel his skin your lips. This time, he lets you talk about your night with your friends and how fucking hard it was to keep your eyes open at work.

You arrive at the restaurant. You never been here before.The inside is very romantic with soft lights and candles on tables. The waiter leads you to your table and J helps you sitting down.

“So first you choose my dress, then you bring me to this new restaurant, tell me what’s going on J Cody” you joke.

“Nothing, I just want to please my girl” he laughs. My girl. You always lose it when he calls you that, and he knows it. You’re his and he’s yours. You nod trying to hide your stupid smile. Dinner was delicious, now it was time to head back to your place. J teases you all the way home, squeezing and caressing your thigh, complimenting you “You look so fucking pretty, baby.” You giggle and blush, but you make sure to tease him back, by slipping your fingers on your collar bone, your chest and close to your already wet pussy. You barely pass your door and J immediately grabs you by the waist, pulling you closer to him so he can finally kiss you properly. His lips are moving fast, his hands all over your body. You let out a moan and he takes it as an opportunity to slip his tongue to play with yours. Your legs are already shaking from the pleasure J gives, you don’t know how you’re gonna last the whole night.

He leads you to your bedroom but nevers breaks the touches and kisses. He makes you two fall smoothly on the bed, that’s when he slides one of his hand underneath your dress to feel your demanding pussy. “So fucking wet already” you moan at his words and touch wanting more. “You’ve been driving me insane the whole night with your beauty and now I finally get to do whatever the fuck I want with you” you whimper some more arching your back as he pushes your panties to the side. However his doesn’t quite play with your clit. Instead he just ghosts it, making you pout and weep in despair. “J p-please…”

He chuckles mischievously “what do you want babygirl ?” you whimper and wriggle under his body so that your bodies connect even more. “use your words” he orders

“your fingers… on my pussy…” you manage to say between breaths. He executes you request, finally placing lighty his digit your pulsating clit. He slowly press it before drawing circles more and more faster. “Like that love ?” you nod ferociously “you like that mmh ? when I play with your clit with my expert fingers ?” he whispers in your ear and you moan loudly confirming his question. “You want them inside of you baby ?”

“Y-yes, please J, please” you begin to thrust your hips but he stops you forcing you to stay still with his other hand. “Don’t. Move.” he grunts. He stops touching your clit and removes his hand from your pussy.

“W-what are you doing ? I won’t move I-” he shushes you with a kiss

“Shhh… I know, I know baby. You’re a good girl. I have a surprise for you I need to grab it alright ? Close your eyes for me huh ?” he gets up and gets out of bed

“A surprise ?” you say excited like a child and confused as you do as he says. You lay back on the bed waiting for him to come back. Your heart is beating fast thinking of what J has in store for you. The man is so unpredictable, the surprise can be anything. He comes back at the bottom of the bed.

“Bend and spread your legs for me love” you do as he says even if your legs are shaking they can barely support themselves. WIthin a second you feel something vibrating on your clit earning from you a loud gasp, your eyes widening. You knew exactly what that vibration is. You rise on your elbows only to see J on his knee, holding your new clitorial vibrator and a machivielous smirk on his face.

“What the fuck, J ? Wh-where did you find that ?” you ask trying to sound serious and put together. It wasn’t an easy task since the vibrations of the toy were making you feel so good.

“I found it yesterday when I was exploring your apartment. I haven't stopped thinking about it since then and how you’d look when you use it to get you off. I wanted to see your face when your orgasm hits. So I’ve decided to play a little with all my toys: this one and you.” He accentuates the vibrations on the last word. You are caught in a spiral of embarrassment and pure pleasure. You hide your face in your hands.

“No, no, no babygirl…” he takes off your hands of your face and place a kiss in your palms “I want to see you. Don’t be embarrassed, love. It’s just me.” he trails kisses on your inner thigh until his lips are just millimeters above your hot core. You could feel his breath tickling your entrance. You moan leaving behind you any trace of shame. Yes, it’s just J.

“J I- fuck… I want your tongue” you cry.

“Yeah ? Where do you want it ? Here ?” he licks the zone just underneath the toy. “Or here ?” J fucks you with his tongue and you grab his hair. Both options are amazing but you prefer the first.

“Under the vibrator” you expire. He starts back his lickings, sucking on your skin. You can’t stop moaning and gasping profanities and his name, as if you were warding off a curse. Your free hand flies on your nipple to give an extra sensation.

“I think I’m gonna try something baby, tell me if it’s too much” he tells you before you feel two fingers entering you. You stop breathing and no sound can come out of your open mouth. It is too much. But fuck it feels so good. “You alright love ?” he worries, not hearing you anymore.

“Y-y-yeah… mmh J… fuck yes ! Don’t stop, please, fuck” you let out all the words that were previously stuck in your throat. He moans and chuckles against your pussy giving you an extra vibration.

“Do you like all of this honey ? mhm ? The toy, my fingers, my tongue” you whimper in affirmation. “You’re such a little slut. Fuck I love it.”  

He works steadily on all the zones he’s giving you pleasure. He knows you by heart and that’s thank to you and him being vocal during sex. You always told each other what makes and doesn’t make you feel good. With time you both have learnt your lessons and attacked immediately each others different sensitive spots. When J masturbates you, he knows you like slow and steady at the beginning, and rough and fast by the end to reach your orgasm. He knows every reaction of your body, especially the one that tells him you’re close.

“J… I’m-” you still try to remind him

“I know, I know baby, I feel you” that’s when he starts to work his fingers faster and sets the vibrator on a higher level. You push his face even closer on your pussy and grind against it.

“Cum for me Y/N. Cum for me on my fingers, on my tongue and that little toy of yours. Show how much you love me. Cum. Now.” the wave of your orgasm hits you like a hurricane in which you drown. Your eyes roll to the back of your head and you try not to close your legs so you don’t crush his head. You scream again and again his name and curses as tears fill your eyes. He slowly stops everything to let you come to your senses. Your chest is panting fast like you just run a marathon. J leaves the toy on the side and checks on you to see if everything was okay. You open your eyes to see him suck the fingers he used on you. He then leans and trails a line of kisses from your tummy, to your sensitive nipple and your neck.

“How are you feeling ?” he whispers gently. How the hell does he do this ? Fucking you so hard you feel like you’re dying and then talking to you with the softest voice ever. “Was it too much ? Did I cross a line ?” he asks concerned. You take his face in your shaking hands, your fingers still clenched from holding the sheets so tight, and kiss him.

“I’m fine J. More than fine. I’m a little overwhelmed, but I’m alright. You didn’t cross a line.” you reassure him. He draws the sweetest smile and gives you back your kiss.

“Come on, let me clean you up”

“uh-uh” you stop him. “We’re not done yet” he frowns his brows with a wondering look. “Give me five minutes and we’re back at it.”

“But-” he tries to says something but you cut him.

“I still prefer your cock over this toy” you smirk. He smiles widely before kissing you.

“You’ll be the death of me Y/N”  

Crossing Lines

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating: Mature (implied sexual content + mild language) Pairing: Lance/Keith Note: The comeback no one expected with a series I thought was finished in 2018 and a fic I started in 2019 finally finished lol

There’s a nagging worry in the back of his head that this is not normal friends-with-benefits behavior, but it is easily drowned out by Lance’s sleepy smile when he shifts again to face Keith. He hides another wide yawn in his shoulder.

“Those kids wore you out, clearly.” Keith observes, trying to fight back his own yawn.

Lance smiles fondly. “It was fun to see them, to go back and be with everyone for a while. But I’m really glad you were here when I got home.”

AO3: (X) Part 1 of the series: (X)

Keith looks away from his computer as his phone buzzes against his leg. Pidge sits across the room at her desk, muttering to herself as she readjusts the device’s calibration – again. Their project was supposed to be at least 80 percent theoretical, but Keith knew the moment he was paired with Pidge that option was thrown out the window.

He flips his phone over just as it vibrates again. There’s a text from Shiro, asking him for the third time about a shirt Shiro insists Keith stole and Keith insists Shiro just lost, and a snapchat from Lance. Dismissing the text notification, he opens snapchat.

Most of the picture is just of a bright blue sky above him, but Lance’s face peeks out from the bottom, at an extremely unflattering angle. The selfie is taken at chest level while Lance looks down at the camera. His hair is pushed under a backwards baseball cap with frayed stitching along the edge and there is, what appears to be, a sparkly butterfly sticker on his cheek. Above his head it reads:

don’t blow up my apartment while im gone, mullet. i live there.

Shaking his head, he taps away the message. Pidge still appears absorbed in her tinkering and doesn’t notice as he takes a blurry picture of her.

we’re not that irresponsible

It only takes a few seconds for Lance to reply, no longer bothering with pictures and just texting back.

HA! but seriously, hunk’s been sending me worried messages all weekend

…Hunk had seemed particularly anxious the last time Keith emerged from Pidge’s room for a drink.

hm…like an hour ago pidge thought she had gotten the laser to work for real and did seem a little maniacal…

Lance replies with a supremely unimpressed expression, made, of course, all the more effective by the butterfly sticker. Keith snorts, but also half-heartedly wonders how easily he could get away with saving a screenshot of the selfie. He just saved one last night, of Lance cuddling with his parent’s dog ruined only slightly by the caption insinuating the dog had better breath than Keith, but he brushed it off with a lie about trying to lock his phone and taking the screenshot accidentally. He’s not sure if Lance believed him then, but he definitely wouldn’t believe it two times in a row.

Pidge loudly clears her throat across the room. Startled, Keith dismisses the message, and nearly drops his phone in the process. When he looks up, Pidge is looking at him over the rim of her glasses, with one brow raised.

“…Yes?”

“How’s that report coming, Keith?”

He glances back at his computer, at the three and a half pages he had finished of their ten-page report. “Fine.”

“Hm.” Pidge looks away, jotting down some other measurements on a pad besides her. “And how’s your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my-” Keith starts before he gives up with a heavy sigh. It’s a waste of breath with her. “Lance thinks we’re going to blow up the apartment. Well I guess actually Hunk does, and he turned to Lance for help.”

Pidge rolls her eyes, muttering something under her breath about worry-warts and ridiculous roommates. Keith smiles at the, somehow, simultaneously exasperated but fond tone she uses and turns back to his computer, tucking his phone under his leg again. But it takes a while to focus on anything other than blue eyes and familiar, silly banter.

It’s nearly three and a half hours later, though it hardly feels like it, when Hunk knocks at the door, tempting them out of the room and their work-stupors with the promise of pizza, the heady aroma already spilling out from the kitchen. They settle in the living room, Pidge and Hunk on the couch with Keith on the floor in front of them, legs stretched out under the coffee table. Pidge is still complaining around mouthfuls of burning cheese that they were almost done, if Hunk had just waited a little while longer, but Hunk turns on the sci-fi series they’ve been watching together and within ten minutes into the episode her complaints have turned into an analysis of how the character’s spacesuits work.

Keith relaxes against the couch as their familiar chatter falls around him. He’s a little lost in what is happening in the show, they’re further than he’s been able to get on his own, but it’s nice to share it with them anyways, especially with the way Hunk laughs triumphantly when he guesses the ridiculous plot twist twenty minutes early and Pidge keeps comparing the characters to people they know with frightening accuracy.

It only takes them an episode and a half to completely demolish the pizza, but when the third one starts up in the queue, no one bothers to reach for the remote. Full of good food and only half-paying attention to the show, Keith can feel himself being lulled to sleep right there on the living room floor. He fights against the urge as much as he can, but the last thing he remembers is the upbeat opening starting for the next episode, and then suddenly the episode is ending as he jerks awake, knocking his knee on the underside of the table, hard.

After his unfortunate waking, he extracts himself from under the table, gathering up dirty plates, despite Hunk’s protest, and taking them into the kitchen – the moving helps wake him up, even if his knee still hurts like a bitch. The stove clock reads 7:03. He slips through the living room as another episode is starting and goes to their bathroom.

As he’s washing his hands, his phone buzzes with another text. He opens the text as he exits the room. It’s a picture from Adam, Shiro’s fiancé, of Shiro sitting on the floor of what Keith is pretty sure is their laundry room, head buried in his hands. There’s a very dusty pile of something next to him.

The text says: we found his shirt.

Keith leaves the text conversation, trying not to laugh. Considering all the trouble Shiro gave him, Keith feels like he should be at least mildly annoyed by this instead of amused.

He turns the doorknob to the room in front of him and swings it open before he even realizes what he’s doing. He freezes, looking in at Lance’s dark, empty room. Distracted, he had apparently been moving through the apartment on autopilot – straight to Lance’s room. Feeling like he’s breaking some kind of unspoken rule, he takes a few steps in. Lance’s bed is still a mess of blankets and pillows, and there’s piles of books and discarded shoes covering his floor. He’s only been gone a few days, but his absence feels so prominent, especially like this, Keith can’t help but feel like something is wrong.

He’s texting Lance before he can think better of it.

when are you coming back again?

Lance’s response is almost instantaneous.

why? missing me that much already, mullet?

Yes, Keith’s head or heart, or maybe both, shout.

no just wondering how much longer we get to enjoy this peace and quiet he says instead.

whatever, asshole …….tomorrow night

Keith silently but firmly tells himself to stop being so damn happy about this news as he slips his phone back into his pocket. He takes one last look at Lance’s room before stepping back out into the hall and pulling the door closed behind him.

He just barely manages to fight the telling smile off his face before he gets back to the living room.

 Keith crashes at their apartment for the night, on the couch. Hunk and Pidge both try to convince him that he could take Lance’s bed and Lance wouldn’t care, but Keith is fairly certain he wouldn’t get much sleep if he was in Lance’s room – even if he would be alone – and insists the couch is fine. He wakes up once around 5 or 6 in the morning as Hunk is getting ready for his opening shift at a local diner but otherwise sleeps well until about 10:30. He wanders into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee before going to roust Pidge. He doesn’t mind mornings much, but he learned very soon into their friendship that Pidge is very firmly a “night owl,” and has no interest in trying to deny her nature. She’s lying upside down on her bed when he gets to her room, and somehow managed to kick all of her blankets off of the bed, except one, which looks dangerously close to suffocating her.

He stands in the doorway for a moment, just staring at her. “How do you even manage this?”

“Mmphf.” Sleeping Pidge replies, very firmly.

“Right.” Keith pauses. “I’ll come back when the coffee’s done, actually.”

With a little extra time, Keith hops in the shower. As soon as he opens the bottle of shampoo, he recognizes the familiar, fresh scent as Lance’s soap. He’s a little surprised Lance left his favorite soap behind, even if he was just going to his family home for a few days. He also isn’t sure what to do, looking around the shower space for other soap. There’s plenty, and surely none of them would care either way if he used a little soap but…

Is he totally over thinking this? Absolutely.

Does that realization help him make a decision about which soap to use? Absolutely not.

What feels like ages, but is hopefully only a few minutes, passes before he finally convinces himself to stop being ridiculous and just use the damn shampoo. He just grabbed Lance’s first, it was a coincidence and if Pidge noticed later…well, she would just have to accept that.

…Right.

He washes up quickly after wasting who knows how long second-guessing his soap choices and leaves the bathroom to the smell of coffee slowly starting to fill the apartment.

He has to break the nonexistent, unspoken rule his brain has built up in his mind a second time, and trespasses across Lance’s room to find some spare clothes he’s left behind for overnight stays. He pulls on some clean boxers and his jeans from yesterday, but after he’s pulled the worn Altea University shirt over his head, he realizes its Lance shirt, not his. There’s a small hole starting in the bottom hem and the white letters are fading and cracked from excessive wear. It was folded in his drawers, so Keith is like…ninety percent certain it’s clean, but it still smells like Lance’s cologne. Or maybe it’s his lotion or laundry soap or bodywash, but between whatever lingering scent Lance has left on his clothes and the smell of his shampoo still obvious in Keith’s damp hair, he suddenly feels overwhelmed.

He hates how much he hates that Lance is gone.

It’s just a couple of days. Why is he such a disaster? They’re friends. When was the last time he missed Hunk or Pidge this much when they were gone? Even with their friends with benefits arrangement, what made Lance that special to him?

Actually, that was a can of worms he wasn’t really prepared to open just yet.

Keith makes a hasty retreat – a calm, completely normal walk out of one room to another if anyone asks – back to the kitchen for coffee. He pours a generous amount for both Pidge and himself, before he returns to Pidge’s room to finally wake her. He’s not exactly eager to spend another full day working on this project, but he wants to get it done, and he officially really needs the distraction.

It takes another hour, even with the promise of coffee, to pull Pidge out of bed, and she insists on showering “to feel like a real person” before they can get back to work on their project.

Keith has gotten as far as turning his laptop back on and opening their report, rereading the last few paragraphs to remember where he left off, when Pidge returns to her room in some leggings and a baggy t-shirt Keith is pretty sure belongs to either Lance or Matt.

“How about food first?” she suggests.

It’s not exactly the distraction he was looking for, but he shuts his laptop anyways, pushing it off his lap before she even finishes her sentence.

 Sal’s is a small 24-hour diner just outside of Altea's central campus that makes it a popular place for both students and professors. Sunday morning, it is practically bursting at the seams, but it’s got good food for reasonable prices and Hunk, Lance, and Pidge had become regulars even before Hunk got a job in the kitchen. Within a few months of becoming friends, Keith had been invited along enough times that the waitstaff began to recognize him too.

Their wait for a table is reasonable, all things considered, and then Keith and Pidge have only been at the table for maybe three minutes before their waitress, Flora, drops drinks off at the table with a promise to be back for their orders in just a minute. Her long, red pony tail swings wildly behind her as she flits around the small space.

They hadn’t ordered anything, but Flora had been there for a long time and was used to their group stopping in, especially on weekend mornings when Hunk was working. But sitting on the table in front of them is two coffee mugs, and a tall glass of apple juice.

Keith and Pidge both stare at it for a moment, before looking to each other. Keith has a feeling the juice is making him feel a whole lot more…things than it is Pidge.

“I guess she just assumed?” Pidge finally says after a moment and goes back to the menu, as if she hadn’t memorized it within the first three months of their visits.

Keith pulls out his phone and takes a picture of the juice, sending it to Lance with a text:

from flora

Lance’s response comes in a few minutes later, interspersed with at least a dozen crying emojis.

i cant believe u traitors went to sal’s w/o me. tell flora i love her and one of u better drink that. we don’t let apple juice go to waste in this house

i am not telling her that. but i will drink the juice for u

Flora comes back to the table before Lance’s next reply comes in. “Just your usual’s today?”

Pidge hums and haws over the decision a few times, like she does every time they come, before agreeing to her usual order. Though she asks for fresh fruit as well today, just to mix it up.

He can feel his phone buzz against his leg almost the entire time Pidge is ordering. And again a few more times as he confirms that he would like his usual order as well. “But, Lance isn’t with us today so…nothing for him.” Keith adds awkwardly at the end.

Flora blinks at him a few times, surprised, before she snaps her fingers as if suddenly remembering something. “Right. I remember Hunk mentioning one of his roommates was out of town for a few days. Sorry guys, I’m just so used to your trio, or just you and him,” she says to Keith, thankfully not seeing the way Pidge wiggles her eyebrows and makes kissy-faces at him for the aside. “I’ll take that juice back for you.”

“Oh no, that’s fine.” Keith says, moving the glass closer to him. “It’s already poured, we’ll drink it.”

Flora arches a brow, but doesn’t argue with him. She promises their food will be out shortly and leaves the table.

“I can’t believe Lance didn’t request you deliver any messages to her for him, or insist we eat his chocolate chip pancakes in his honor too.” Pidge says once she’s gone.

Keith pulls out his phone, flipping it around to show Pidge the twelve messages he got while they were ordering. “Oh, I’m sure he did somewhere in there.”

 It’s hard to get back to work on a full stomach, but they power through it. Their shared determination to not have to worry about the project after today deters the usual urge to distract each other. Still, progress is slow, and they’re still working when Hunk comes home from work and peeks in to check on them. They pass on lunch when Hunk asks after his shower, and give non-committal answers to his questions about dinner plans.

Keith is entirely unaware of time and date and hell maybe even location by the time he drags himself through the conclusion but he is bordering on ecstatic when he finally saves the document for the last time and looks up from the computer only for Pidge to look up from her own work and meet his eye a few seconds later.

“Done?”

He nods, and she gives an excited “whoop!” stumbling off her desk chair to throw herself on the bed besides him. “So I just need to add in my input and double-check the details match up, right?”

He nods again, and she immediately scrolls to the top of the document to start reading. “Oh!” she jumps up again, grabbing her laptop from the desk and the notebook she was working in besides it. “Do you want to double check the equations and make sure the experiment outline matches the order you have everything in the paper?”

He is relatively confident in Pidge’s work, but he agrees, nonetheless, and the two settle against each other in the twin bed to finish their work.

 Keith isn’t sure when he dozes off, he doesn’t even really remember falling asleep, but when he wakes up, it’s dark in Pidge’s room. Both of their computers are on her desk and he’s alone in her bed. He sits up, half-heartedly feeling around the blankets for his phone to check the time.

“C’mon Mullet, you really had to move right then?”

Keith about jumps out of his skin at the unexpected voice, though he’d vehemently deny it if asked. Lance is sitting backwards in Pidge’s desk chair, pushed close to the door. He lowers his phone, smirking at Keith’s startled expression.

“I guess the deer-in-the-headlights look is fun too, but I was really going to enjoy lording the drooling-all-over-Pidge’s-sheets picture over you.” Lance teases.

Keith’s heart brain is doing some kind of stupid, fluttery thing over the boy across the room that he is pointedly ignoring.

“Shut up.” Keith mutters, even as he hastily wipes at his mouth. There’s nothing there. Asshole. He pushes himself off the bed. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Lance presses a hand to his chest in fake offense. “Really? You sleep through my grand return and when you finally bother to wake up, that’s how you greet me?”

Keith crosses the room, folding his arms over his chest and summoning the most unimpressed expression he can muster. “You know what I meant.”

Lance doesn’t seem deterred by the new height difference between them, or Keith’s attitude, crossing his arms over the back of the chair and batting his eyelashes up at him cheekily. He’s wearing the same baseball hat from the picture he sent Keith yesterday, but he’s got it on in the right direction this time, making him look minorly less like a douchebag. The baggy zip-up, which may very well be Hunk’s, over a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, and sweatpants isn’t really helping though.

“When did you get back?” Keith askes instead of commenting on his poor outfit choices.

Lance shrugs. “A little after five. Pidge said you started to doze off around four.” He adds before Keith can ask. “Hunk made stir fry for dinner.”

Taking that to mean Lance was actually sent here to wake him up for dinner, rather than simply coming to terrorize him because he was bored, Keith steps around him to leave. A moment later Lance stumbles off the chair after him, complaining all the way.

“Hey,” Lance calls after him.

Keith is already rolling his eyes as he turns around, assuming Lance has a few more jabs he wants to get out before they get to the kitchen, so he is wholly unprepared for Lance to hook a finger in the collar of his shirt and pull him close.

“Is this my shirt?”

It takes all of his self-control not to fly away from Lance’s hold, though the heat rising rapidly to his cheeks is probably giving away his embarrassment all the same. “Maybe? I just grabbed something from your drawers after my shower this morning.”

Lance has a look in his eyes that Keith recognizes as usually meaning something dangerous is in store for him. He leans in closer, stopping just before the bill of his hat brushes the top of Keith’s head. “Did you use my shampoo too?”

“I think you’re a little too obsessed with your things for someone wearing someone else’s hoodie.”

“Well I think you missed me while I was gone.”

Keith isn’t entirely sure who moves first, but one second they’re staring each other down daring the other to give in and the next he’s shoved Lance’s baseball cap off his head, burying his fingers in Lance’s messy hair while Lance’s hands have dropped to his waist, pulling him close with a bruising grip. Their kiss is uncoordinated and messy. Keith is ninety percent certain he was not the only one missing someone a stupid amount this weekend. His back hits the wall, and he faintly registers Pidge yelling something about her room from the other side of the apartment.

Lance rucks up his shirt, warm hands brushing over his sides, and Keith is dangerously close to wrapping his legs around his hips and saying fuck dinner.

They finally break apart for air and Lance laughs against his throat, the sensation sending shivers down his back. “I knew you missed me.”

“And what?” Keith asks breathlessly. “You were ambivalent about it all? I don’t think so. Not kissing like that.”

Lance pulls back to look at him with a surprisingly soft look. “I just wanted to hear you admit it,” he teases.

Normally, Keith would have a comeback for that, probably, but now he’s distracted as he runs his fingers through Lance’s bangs. “You have blue hair.”

Just the tips of his hair that are dyed, actually, not his whole head, he’s still surprised by the change. It seems a little silly, but it still looks good on him.

Lance, not one to be deterred by much, winks at him, striking a pose. “Hot, right? Rachel did it.”

“Yeah, it looks good.”

That does give Lance pause and he blinks at Keith and his easy admission a few times. “Er, well…we should probably go eat now. If just to reassure Pidge we aren’t defiling her room.”

 Dinner is great, as usual when Hunk cooks, and they sit in the living room with another show on in the background, but they fill most of the time talking about Lance’s trip and gossip in their department that Keith is somehow always unaware of.

It is well after eleven before conversation begins to fade and they start to disperse around the apartment. Keith is, maybe a little, embarrassed about it, but he doesn’t bother to hide his intentions to stay with Lance rather than going back to his own apartment now that the project is done. For once, Pidge and Hunk leave them be with minimal suggestive looks.

Considering the brief tryst in the hallway earlier, Keith isn’t entirely sure what to expect when they finally retire to Lance’s room, but Lance doesn’t seem to be in a particular rush to do anything. Keith shimmies out of his jeans and drops into bed while Lance puts on some kind of moisturizer. He strips down to his boxers after and Keith can see new, blue markings up and down his arms before Lance turns the light off. Predictably, a moment later there’s a crash and Lance swears. Keith leans over to turn on the lamp next to the bed. Lance is leaning against the footboard, rubbing his shin.

“What did you knock over this time?”

Lance sticks out his tongue. “Don’t worry about it. Move over.” He says. He doesn’t wait before he climbs over the end of the bed and flops down, half on top of Keith.

“I would have moved if you let me,” Keith says into his shoulder.

Lance hums in consideration before he shifts on the mattress. Keith lets him maneuver him around the bed, mostly curious as to what he’s doing, until they end up on their sides, legs tangled together and arms around each other. Lance’s head is pressed against his chest, and his hands are, conveniently, on his ass.

“Lance-”

“Shh,” Lance interrupts immediately. “I had to go a whole weekend without even being able to see this ass, give me a moment to enjoy it.”

Keith laughs despite himself, rolling his eyes. “You are ridiculous.”

Lance wiggles against him, sighing contently. “You like it.”

“Whatever.”

Absentmindedly, Keith runs a hand against Lance’s back, trailing nonsense patterns against his warm skin. Eventually, he looks down, just to make sure Lance hasn’t actually fallen asleep like that, and sees the blue drawings on his arm again.

“What is all over you?”

Lance lets go of him to roll onto his back and show off his arms. “After Rachel dyed my hair, Nadia and Sylvio wanted to match, but Lisa, their mom, wasn’t really thrilled with the idea, so we found these tattoo markers at the dollar store and they were washable, so we went kind of crazy.” Lance shifts so his side is up where the black outline of a shark tattooed into his waist is now black and blue. “They also colored in my tattoo.”

“Did you draw these?”

“Haha,” Lance elbows him in the side half-heartedly. “I drew the rocket ship on my wrist, and the constellations on my shoulder, if they’re still there, are from Veronica, but everything else is from Nadia and Sylvio. Oh, and Luis,” Lance points to a…something near his elbow.

“A flower?” Keith guesses.

Lance snorts. “A lion, according to him.”

“Not the most artistically inclined I’m assuming?”

Lance shakes his head. “Not at all. Nadia’s pretty good though,” he turns over his arm to show off a dog on his forearm. “That’s pretty damn good for a seven-year-old drawing on a moving canvas with dollar-store markers.”

They just spent the last few hours talking about this weekend with Hunk and Pidge in the living room, but Keith can’t help but ask more questions about his family and what they did over the weekend. He brushes Lance’s hair out of his face, and Lance settles deeper into his arms, waving his hands in the air as he talks about the piñata he had to fill for the party by himself, that was bigger than the birthday boy, and the balloon mishaps that had his mother ready to call the whole thing off more than once.

There’s a nagging worry in the back of his head that this is not normal friends-with-benefits behavior, but it is easily drowned out by Lance’s sleepy smile when he shifts again to face Keith.

“Did you guys have fun this weekend?”

Keith shrugs one shoulder. “As much fun as you can have the weekend before a Kolivan deadline.”

Lance grimaces sympathetically. “You finished everything though, right?”

“I think so. We were just checking each other’s work before I fell asleep. If there was more to do, I doubt Pidge would have let me sleep for long.”

Lance hides a wide yawn in his shoulder. “That’s good,” he tries to say, only to break off half-way through into another yawn.

“Those kids wore you out, clearly.” Keith observes, trying to fight back his own yawn.

Lance smiles fondly. “It was fun to see them, to go back and be with everyone for a while. But I’m really glad you were here when I got home.”

The admittance is so quiet in the still room, and almost immediately drowned out by the way Keith’s pulse races, blood roaring in his ears.

Lance had closed his eyes, but he opens them again and looks up at him curiously. Keith knows he has to be able to hear the erratic beating of his heart. He wonders if Lance is even remotely aware of how many lines they’ve crossed in the period of their relationship, if he thinks at all about how little like fuck-buddies they behave when they spend nights wrapped in each other’s arms saying soft things and doing nothing else and if it affects him at all or if this is just how he is casually intimate with everyone. And he wonders why he hates that idea so much.

“Can I kiss you?” Keith asks. It’s usually Lance’s question, but for once, Keith can’t help but ask, ignoring, for now, how overwhelmed he is.

Surprisingly, Lance is quiet, and just nods his agreement, watching Keith with wide eyes.

The kiss now is nothing like the ones they shared before dinner, slow and gentle where the others were rushed and near-frantic. Keith wraps both arms around Lance’s waist, and Lance cradles his face with one hand, threading his other hand through Keith’s hair.

“Good night,” Keith whispers against his lips as they break apart feeling like he’s doing something unbelievably stupid even as the words come.

Lance presses one more quick, closed-mouth kiss against his lips. “Good night.”

Keith flips off the bedside table lamp, dousing them in darkness.

He isn’t sure how long they lay in the dark before Lance finally relaxes and falls asleep, but it feels like at least another hour before Keith admits to himself, he can’t sleep yet and carefully extracts himself from the bed. Lance makes a quiet noise of displeasure in his sleep, but easily stretches out, taking up the empty space and doesn’t wake up.

Keith goes out into the hallway, thinking he’ll just go to the living room and calm down but a light shines through the crack of Pidge’s closed door and he finds himself drawn there instead. He knocks once and Pidge opens the door immediately, looking around the hall almost alarmed.

“Keith? What’s wrong? It’s almost four in the morn-”

“Pidge, I think I love him.” Keith interrupts. “I think I’m in love.”

Inside Out

A/N: Well in honor of Tony Stark’s birthday being today I wanted to upload this fic I wrote for a request I had in my inbox for a Tony Stark X plus size!Reader. I honestly cant think of anything else to say my brain is pretty dead haha.

Warnings: Body image issues, fat shaming, angst, fluff, awkward first date, supportive Pepper, no spoilers 

Word count: 2200ish

Pairing: Tony Stark x Plus size!Reader 

Summary: Tony Stark’s assistant hasn’t had much luck with dates.

Request for @lilacprincessofrecovery

Masterlist

Submit a request or ask me a question or want to be tagged

Being Tony Stark’s assistant had some perks, like living arrangements and pay, but it also had some down falls like having to deal with the man child’s temperament and the fact that Tony watched damn near your every move. This included every time you got stood up which recently, seemed often. Once a week you would get all dressed up, hair done, full face painted, and go out to wait for your date at some nameless restaurant and wait… and wait… for hours for no one to show. Each night Tony would be waiting for you to come back and stay up making sure you were okay.

Today though, you insisted it was going to be different. Pepper sat with you while you blow dried your hair and filled in your eyebrows “So, tell me about this boy?” Pepper pressed, hoping for as much detail as possible out of you.

“Well his name is Jake and he is a CFO for some bank around here.” You answered, “We’ve been talking all week, I’m really excited, he doesn’t seem like the other guys.”

Pepper nodded her head, she hoped you were right. Seeing you heartbroken at least once a week was starting to chip away at her own heart.

“We are meeting at this Italian restaurant at 12 for lunch.” You said and puckered your lips, observing your lip line and making sure it was even and clean. You looked at your phone for the time, 11:30, time for you to leave. You quickly grabbed your jacket and purse “By Pepper! By Mr. Stark!” You called from the door and with that you were gone without another word.

At the restaurant you waited for 15 minutes before Jake met you at the table, so far it was going better than your last 5 dates. “Y/N?” He asked pulling the chair out.

You nodded your head “Yes! You must be Jake.” You said smiling sweetly. The two of you ordered a glass of wine and made pointless conversation. The same pointless conversation everyone makes on dates; where are you from, what are your hobbies, favorite movies, etc.

“So, where do you work?” Jake asked.

“I work for Stark Industries.” You were proud of where you worked, Mr. Stark had done so many amazing things within the last several years.

“Oh wow, that is such a great company to work for” He added enthusiastically, you knew but retorted a humble answer, “You know I think I am going to quick use the bathroom before the waiter comes back for our food.” He said, “I’ll be right back.”

You checked your phone, and aimlessly scrolled through your social media feed, waiting for your date to come back from his bathroom break. After about 15 minutes you looked around, and sighed, you had no idea what was taking him so long and texted him asking him if he was okay. Another 15 minutes passed and there was still no response and no sign of him. You packed up your things and threw a fist full of money on the table to cover the glasses of wine you sucked down at an ungodly rate while waiting and left. Your drive back home was spent with you blasting music and trying to hold back your tears after yet another failed date.

You were greeted with Tony’s smiling face “How did it-” he started but was cut off by you pushing past him and throwing your jacket and purse on the floor and storming off into your room.

You unknowingly shut the door in Tony’s face and sat on your bed, wondering what was wrong with you. A ping on your phone knocked you out of your thoughts, it was Jake. You didn’t know why you opened it, you should have just ignored his message, but for some reason you opened it curious as to why he just up and left.

Maybe he had an emergency?

You should really post full body pictures on your dating profile.

Was all the message said.

You felt you stomach drop as your face scrunched in pain and you threw your phone to the side. You knew this was why he stood you up, your body, you had always been a bigger girl, ample hips, plush thighs that touched, a stomach, this was why you couldn’t get a boyfriend.

You hadn’t even noticed the knocking at the door until you could hear Tony asking to be let in. You got up and shuffled to the door, Tony sighed seeing your disheveled state, lipstick half gone, mascara running down your face, nose red, and pulled you into a hug. You backed up and shut the door before you accepted his hug and leaned into his shoulder crying and leaving tear stains on his tee shirt.

“What happened?” He asked sitting down at the edge of your bed.

“He showed up this time, but he left before we even could order food.” You answered hiccupping and rubbing your eyes. “Then he sent me a message a few minutes ago saying I should post full body pictures on my profile.”

Tony looked at you in disbelief “All right. I want you cleaned and ready to go in the next hour. Wear that dress you wear to galas.” He said standing up. You looked at him, confused at what he was telling you, “Well come on, hurry up.” He said and leaving you standing there in disbelief.

Within the hour you had fixed your hair and makeup as best you could and waited for your boss down in the foyer wearing your best dress. Soon Tony wandered downstairs clad in a grey suit and sunglasses and walked out to where his car was waiting. He sped up to walk ahead of you and opened the door “Come on,” He said and ushered you into the seat. You looked around still confused at what was happening.

“Where are we going?” You asked once he was in the car and already on the road.

“A date.” His tone was very matter of fact.

You looked at him shocked “A date?” You asked, “You are taking me on a date?” You let out a somewhat bitter laugh.

Tony glanced at you with a puzzled expression, “I’m serious.” He said, “It seems like these guys don’t know how much of catch you are.”

Your face flushed, and you looked down at your feet “I don’t know about that. Maybe they’re right maybe I’m too fa-”

“I don’t want to hear you finish that sentence.” He said putting a hand up “You really have no idea how beautiful you really are, you’re just too much for these guys to handle, they don’t know what to do with all this woman.” You smiled but kept our eyes averted.

You kept a watch out your window and gasped when a five-star restaurant pulled into view. You knew Tony didn’t have reservations, but that didn’t matter when you were Tony Stark. No wonder he had asked you to dress up so nicely. Once again, he walked around and opened the door for you and allowed you to hold the crook of his elbow as he tossed his keys to the valet driver and within minutes the two of you were seated at a table with an amazing view of the city. You looked at the menu and frowned, everything on here was so expensive, way more than you could afford “Don’t worry about the cost I’m buying.” He said, “It’s a date remember?”

You nodded your head, almost forgetting how these things worked after dealing with so many shitty dates. You didn’t know what to say “So, I scheduled the appointments for next week,” Naturally business was the first thing to leave your mouth.

Tony shook his head “This isn’t a lunch meeting, Y/N, I’m taking you on date.” He added putting his menu down and looking at you “What are your hobbies, where are you from? I want to know about you, you’ve worked with me for 5 years now and I don’t really know anything about you.”

You nodded your head, he was right, you knew almost everything about Tony down to what his favorite shampoo brand was “Well, I grew up just outside the city with my parents, I went to college for PR and I enjoy painting.” You continued, on and on, describing your family and college along with anything else that came to mind. The entire time he seemed genuinely interested, which was not something you were used to.

Tony nodded his head taking in all the information you told him and burying it in his vast mental bank “You like art?” He asked, “Have you ever been to the Metropolitan museum of Art?”

You sighed, out of all of your years living in New York, you had never once been to the Met “No… I haven’t.” You said sounding disappointed.

“Well then, we have our next date picked out then.” He said smiling.

You looked at him shocked “Our next date?” You asked, “I thought this was like a one-time thing…” you forced yourself to think of it as a one-time thing, a pity date for all the times you’ve been stood up, you didn’t want the disappointment of getting your hopes up for a second date.

Tony furrowed his brows “Y/n” He said, his gaze was intense “I am taking you on a date because I like you.” It was very much Tony’s style to bypass most formalities and get straight to the point “I see you come home ever week, one guy after another, breaking your heart and I can’t stand seeing it anymore.”

You sighed in relief as the waiter conveniently came to take your order before you could manage an answer, you looked at your menu and quickly scanned it as Tony made small talk with the young man taking your order. A grandiose picture of a steak with mashed potatoes and gravy, all the fixings caught your eyes, and you looked down at yourself and at Tony, back at the picture, then back at yourself and felt a surge of guilt push through you. Guilt for wanting to eat this glorious spread of food, you’ve eaten enough food today, you thought to yourself as you turned the page back to the salads and appetizers. You let out a puff of air “I’ll take a cobb salad.” You said smiling softly.

Tony arched his brow “What are you a rabbit?” He asked in a joking manor.

You shrugged your shoulders “I don’t know, I mean I had a big lunch…” you said trailing off

Tony handed back his menu to the waiter “Go on sweetheart, treat yourself today.” He said smiling slyly.

Your face flushed “Well…” You thought for a minute, thinking about what you had for lunch, oh right it was a nice big helping of tears and wine because you got stood up. “The steak dinner, rare?” You asked the waiter, he smiled and wrote down your order and refilled the two glasses of wine and went off.

The remainder of your dinner with Tony went very well, you two made small talk and were both surprised how little you knew about each other. Upon your arrival back to the compound Tony walked you back to his room, he sauntered by your side with his hands in his pockets, trying to act coy “When are you free next?” He asked.

You laughed “Well, I’m your assistant so I guess I should be asking you that…” You trailed off leaning against your door.

“Right…” Tony said trailing off “How about next weekend?” He asked “After the meeting with the marketing department?”

“So, Saturday at 11?” You asked, your mind was racing, you hadn’t been on a proper date in so long, how was he going to say good bye? Was he going to kiss you? Was he going to hug you? Give you a firm handshake?

“Yes, 11. Wear your walking shoes, we’re going to go to the Met.” He said and smiled, unsure on how to end things with you, he was never good at saying goodbye to people. So, he turned your head to the side and placed a lingering kiss on your cheek, it was sweet and simple and made your face flush. “Y/N,” Tony started, “As long as we are together, I don’t want you to ever feel less than, you are beautiful.”

You held his gaze, no man had ever complemented you so much in one night, let alone treated you this well, you didn’t know how to handle it “Thank you.” You said “I’m sorry, I don’t know how to handle complements.” You said looking down and playing with the ends of your hair.

A grin spread across Tony’s face as he looked at you, he loved the way your cheeks flushed and your eyes darted around nervously whenever he complemented you, it would take a while but Tony would make sure you would feel as beautiful on the inside as you did on the outside

Moon Monsters - Chapter 6

Genre: Fantasy Adventure, Romance (smut later), Comedy Rating: PG-13 Warnings: none at this time Pairing: Jungkook x reader, Jimin x oc, Taehyung x oc Notes: werewolf!bts au. Not idol!bts. Same goes for GOT7. Single quote marks ‘ ‘ are for thoughts and double “ “ are for talking. Additional Notes: I was the dork who Googled and made sure there were actually McDonald’s in Seoul before writing this. XD And I actually proof read most of this~

Tagging: @och-ako @jiminnies-baby @kfictionstories @justbangtanandjams @lizardsocial @breadcaaat

Summary: You’re the CEO’s new personal assistant. But there’s something strange about him and the company you work for.

SERIES MASTERLIST

Jungkook was normally a pretty light sleeper thanks to his sensitive canine ears. Always being on the alert and whatnot. But with the events having taken place in the last 24 hours, it was to be expected that he’d sleep in a little. He had the super human strength, hearing, anything you could think of, but this morning he slept like a rock.

What helped the most was you. The fact that you, his precious mate, was right under his nose; filling his senses with your delicious scent. Doe eyes fluttering open, he let out a subconscious yip of happiness in his groggy state and finally looked down to see that you were still comfortable as could be sleeping on his chest.

Dear god he was in heaven.

He could get used to mornings like these. Speaking of, it looked to be about mid-morning. Perhaps 9:30 ish? The sun was pouring its natural light in through the slated blinds and curtains both. The way the light fell on you made you look like an angel from heaven itself. Your hair was messy in the cutest way. And your face without makeup was his favorite. He was pretty sure you could be covered in mud and still look absolutely gorgeous.

Yep. He was whipped.

But he could care less. Because he was the happiest guy alive right now.

Just then, you started to stir, looking beautiful as ever while you did so. Your face scrunched up cutely in confusion despite your eyes still being closed; clearly already knowing something wasn’t right. Or rather that something was different. It only took you a millisecond of movement for you to pop your eyes wide open. Within a heartbeat, you were looking up at him and wow you were adorable.

“Jungkook?”

“Morning, beautiful. How’d you sleep?”

He didn’t seem the least bit phased by the fact that they were sleeping on the couch together. That there was so much physical contact right now. You were laying on top of him for goodness sake. Heat rushed to your face and you could practically feel it rolling off in waves, so you knew he had to feel it too. But he just laid there looking perfectly content.

“I um-----Yeah? I think?”

“Aigoo. You’re too cute. You ready for our big day today?”

It was more than obvious that you were flustered. Especially since you didn’t answer his original question. But at least he got the answer he was hoping for. It eased some of his worry and concern knowing that you got some decent sleep. With any luck, that was all because of him. His chest wanted to swell with pride at the idea of it all. Him, protecting his mate.

You knew you should have asked him how well he slept too but you were just in awe over how.....comfortable he was with this. They were coworkers. Sure they hung out after work from time to time but still. This was so......intimate? At least for you it was. Trying to gain focus and answer his question, you nodded a bit and said timidly in a small voice,

“Yeah. I think. But on one condition.”

Those last few words left your mouth and it surprised you both. You for your sudden burst of courage and him because he watched you go from timid and nervous to determined and firm. Watching him nod a bit in understanding, you then sat up and moved to where you were sitting next to him on the opposite end of the couch while he was still laying down.

“I get to pay for my meals today. If you’re going to buy all my stuff for me, then I’m at least paying for my meals. Or we have no deal.”

You knew you didn’t have much of a leg to stand on. You needed things. And a lot of them. Especially your toiletries. So you weren’t really in a position to make deals but you could only hope that he’d bite and show you mercy by accepting your conditions. It was the least you could afford at this point and you felt guilty beyond belief.

Jungkook was now sitting up as well as he sat there across from you; staring at you in thought and concentration. He was considering it. Playing it over in his mind.

On one hand, he wanted to refuse and insist on paying for everything. Then again, he knew you were pretty upset in the guilty sense from everyone paying your way through all of this. And he would rather see you happy. So if paying for your meals today would make you happy, then that’s what would happen. Smiling a warm smile, he nodded and held out his hand for you to shake.

“Deal.”

His hand was warm as it fit around yours perfectly. There was something there......a connection? Something about having your hand in his. There was this soft and warm tingling sensation that went up your whole arm and you wondered if he noticed it too. It actually caused you to let your hand linger in his. It was a lot similar to how you felt in Namjoon’s office when he announced that you’d be working together with Kook.

He knew you could feel it. The connection. The special connection that every wolf has with their mate. Oh how he wanted to just tell you now. Tell you everything. The fact that he was a werewolf and you were his mate. His mate picked by the Moon Goddess and Mother Nature themselves. Speaking of, man you smelled amazing. Your approaching ovulation was killing him.

“Okay! So let’s get our showers and we can have a nice early lunch. Your pick because I’ll eat anything. I’m like a garbage disposal.”

“Aigoo, Kook. You’re too skinny to be a garbage disposal.”

The two of you laughed as you playfully tried to shove him but of course he went absolutely nowhere and it only caused you to lean against him instead. To you this moment probably didn’t seem like much. However, to Jungkook it meant the whole world. Here he was, enjoying his best life. He had a great job, a great roof over his head, a nice car that gets him from point A to point B, and most of all, he had you.

“Alright, ladies first. Surprise me with a cute outfit too.”

Even though you yelped from surprise, the soft and gentle pats to your bum didn’t feel raunchy or inappropriate. In fact, it almost felt endearing. Did you really just admit to yourself that you liked your coworker patting your bum? Yeah. You’re pretty sure that’s what just happened. Good gravy your emotions were all over the place. What was wrong with you? Hopefully this shower would help clear your head.

Wrong. Very wrong.

You ended up smelling just like him. Well not exactly. For you had your own natural scent but this was the shampoo you could smell in his hair and the body wash mixed with his natural scent was intoxicating and here you were literally bathing in it. Yeah. So much for clearing your head. Boy today was going to be a long day. Were you ready for this? Probably not. The only thing you could really do was just take it one step at a time. One foot in front of the other.

It wasn’t that you didn’t like Jungkook or repulsed by him. Surprisingly enough, it was beginning to be quite the opposite. But you supposed that’s what was bothering you. Shouldn’t you be a little more skeptical of living with a coworker? Why did taking a shower in his bathroom seem so......natural? Things weren’t adding up and it was like you were fighting a brick wall. An invisible force of nature. That was silly, right?......Right?

You allowed the water to cascade down your body and over your face; the steam soothing to you. Perhaps you should just....let go? Stop pushing against this odd feeling of comfort. Stop questioning this sensation of tranquility and just.....let it be. Hell, maybe embrace it? You had no doubt in your mind that Jungkook would never harm you in any way. So why not just.....enjoy your stay with him till you find a place of your own again.

Meanwhile, said male was bustling about and getting ready for his day. He had already transferred some more money and picked out a pretty simple outfit for the day. He really needed to shave too. Ugh. For a wolf, he actually hated facial hair. So naturally the stubble he had was driving him nuts. Although he couldn’t help but wonder if you would like him better with a beard of some kind. Hmm....Hopefully one day he’d get to ask you that and it not seem weird or random.

Hearing the hairdryer, he smiled to himself. This was the life. Sitting at home, in his den, his nest, and just enjoying the peace and tranquility of it all. His beautiful and gorgeous mate grooming herself to perfection in the other room. God. Knowing you wouldn’t be able to hear, he let out a happy yip as his leg tried to bounce. His inner wolf was rolling around with happiness too. Man. Was this how Jimin and Taehyung felt all the time? Did their mates make them giddy like this?

“The bathroom is all yours, Kookie.”

Good gravy he just about got caught. There he sat on the couch nearly about to shift from pure happiness when you walked in looking like a goddess yourself. The smell of his body wash mixed well with your natural scent. He could feel drool trying to form around his tongue. Swallowing hard, he soaked up your attire for the day. Man he was going to lose it before the day was over.

You picked out a pretty sundress that was modest and conservative but it still hugged your body in all the right places. You had these really cute matching earrings and he couldn’t help but smile a bright eye smile as he stood up. Surely he must be so obvious. It was amazing that you hadn’t called him out on how much he was staring. Or perhaps you were just that adorably clueless. Walking over to you, he noticed how you looked a bit uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong, beautiful?”

“I smell like a man.”

“Ouch. I thought I smelled pretty good, thank you very much.”

“Yah. You know that’s not what I meant.”

This time when you tried to shove him, he let you win a bit and took a small step back from your outstretched arms. Laughing softly at your adorable pout, he stepped back into place as his hands gently found purchase on your shoulders. Smiling warmly as he faced your pouting lips, he said soothingly with sincerity,

“You smell fine, princess. And after today, you’ll smell like a beautiful rose instead of a pine tree.”

“Aigoo, you’re unbelievable. Shut up.”

Okay so he had to get that last little jab in there. But he just couldn’t help it. Teasing you and watching your face burn red and getting all flustered was one of his favorite things. Laughing and catching your hand when it tried to swat at him, he did what absolutely came natural to him and kissed the back of it.

And that was when you both froze. For different reasons. One in confusion and the other in panic.

Even though it surprised you, the action of Jungkook kissing the back of your hand didn’t bother you nearly as much as it should have. In fact, the only thing that was bothering you was.....why did it not bother you? In all actuality, it felt quite.....normal? Why? How? The two of you barely knew each other till you started working on the same floor as him. This made no sense at all.

‘Way to go, genius.’

Kook wanted to snap at his inner wolf but really.....his wolf was right. Way to go, genius. His knee jerk reaction was to let go of your hand like it was fire but he managed to keep what little cool he had and instead gently let go and cleared his throat. With a soft sheepish laugh and a rub to the back of his head, he said a bit nervously,

“Well I’m gonna go and wash in pine trees too. I won’t be long and then we can head out and get some food. I’m starved.”

And just like that he was gone; nearly speed walking his way to the bathroom. Letting out a puff of air you didn’t realize you had been holding, you took a couple deep breaths before immediately going into your new room and finding your phone. Your mind was swimming as you dialed the desired number. Pressing the phone to your ear, you subconsciously started to chew on the skin of your lips; a bad habit of nervousness.

“Hello?”

“Mama Bird? It’s me.”

“Oh! Yes yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t even bother looking at the caller ID. What’s up, sweet pea?”

“It’s.......I......I dunno.”

You sighed heavily and flopped onto your super comfy bed and stared at the canopy above you. It truly was a beautiful set-up, your bed was. Blinking in confusion and wonder, you finally managed to speak up again.

“It’s Jungkook.”

“Are you okay? Has he done something to you?”

“No no! It’s not that. It’s just......I can’t explain it. He......We were just talking and joking and laughing and then he-----He kissed the back of my hand. Am I reading too much into this? I’m so confused, Mama. I don’t know what to do or how to feel. I feel like I’m gonna----”

“Sweet pea. Breathe. Just breathe for me, okay?”

Listening to you take deep breaths, the petite female was smiling in sympathy. Jimin sat next to her on the couch and could hear everything thanks to his amazing hearing. They both felt for you; knowing what you’re going through. It was tough for the both of them when they first found each other. Jimin had no idea how to act around his mate without coming off as some kind of freaky stalker or something. And Mama Bird couldn’t understand this odd and powerful attraction to the male. It would seem you were suffering the same confusion.

“Did you like it when Kookie kissed the back of your hand?”

“Well.....I mean.....It was nice? I dunno! I shouldn’t though right? We’re coworkers! We’re just friends!”

“Do you want to be more than just friends and coworkers?”

“I------I dunno.”

The two laughed softly in endearment when they heard you whining on the other end of the line. You were just too adorable. Their adorable clueless cutie. But despite it all, they both knew Jungkook was going to have to tell you the truth eventually. With a knowing and warm smile that Mama Bird knew you’d never see, she spoke softly and in a motherly tone,

“Just go with the flow, sweetheart. Trust me on this one. Just let it flow.”

“Mama that’s not very helpful.”

“Just trust me. Now I gotta go. My cookies are going to burn if I don’t.”

“But I----”

But you never got a chance to finish your sentence and the line was already dead. Sighing and not feeling any more clarity than you did before, you let your phone fall next to you on the bed and stared at the ceiling in utter confusion; your heart beating a little faster than usual and your mind a blender.

Sitting up, you decided to grab your purse and make sure you had everything you needed before heading back into the living room to wait for your......whatever he was. You honestly had no idea anymore. Mama Bird’s words swirled in your head. Just go with the flow? Just let it flow? What did that even mean? Ugh. So confusing.

“Okay. I’m ready! Let’s hit the road.”

“Cookies are gonna burn, huh? Nice one, babe.”

“Oh hush. You know I don’t like fibbing. But I didn’t want to risk telling her too much because I don’t like fibbing. I didn’t want to blow your guys’ cover before it was time. Besides, it should be Jungkook that tells her. Not me.”

Mama Bird pouted cutely as she laid there in Jimin’s arms on the couch. It was just a relaxing Sunday day after the events of yesterday. Both were exhausted but being in each other’s arms helped tremendously. Jimin moved them to where they were once again laying down on the couch with her on top of him. Running his fingers through his mate’s hair, he spoke softly in his warm loving tone,

“You did the right thing. Hopefully she takes your advice.”

“I hope so too. She sounds like she’s really struggling right now.”

Suddenly, there was a squawk that shattered the peaceful silence of the living room that followed up with a,

“Jimin’s a pussy! Jimin’s a pussy!”

“I’m gonna skin Taehyung alive the next time I see him.”

Soon enough, you were climbing into the driver’s seat of your brand new Hyundai. It still felt so surreal but at least it got your mind off of your confused feelings for awhile. With both hands on the steering wheel, you were trying to get used to the fact that you no longer needed to insert a key to turn the engine on. Just the press of a button and done; car started. It was like stepping into the future or something.

“So where are we eating?”

“I just figured we could eat wherever was closest to the stores.”

“Works for me. Like I said before, I’ll eat anything.”

The longer you drove, the more Jungkook realized you were shopping on the cheaper end of town. Granted it broke his heart a bit and made him sad, but he understood your reasoning. It was plain to see that you had been forced to live cheap your whole life. Living from paycheck to paycheck. He wasn’t going to scold you for it, but he also had plans to.....broaden your horizons as he liked to think of it.

“Is this okay?”

You had parked them in a McDonald’s and honestly he couldn’t be happier. There was a nice juicy cheeseburger that had his name written all over it. Nodding vigorously with a bright bunny smile, he replied in a little more enthusiasm than he probably should have,

“Absolutely! Let’s go!”

At first, you thought he might just be putting on a show to make you feel better about your pick of cheap food. But upon seeing how his eyes lit up while staring at the menu board, you were beginning to think his eagerness was genuine and real. You watched him place his order and pay for it before taking his assigned number and stepping to the side so that you could do the same.

Your initial instinct was to pick a salad. You didn’t want to look like a fatty in front of him. But then again, that burger looked amazing. And so did everything else. You really didn’t want rabbit food today. It was then that Mama Bird’s words once again floated through your mind. And so the words that came flying out of your mouth ended up being,

“I’ll have what he’s having.”

Not too long into the meal, things were starting to get messy. Literally. Laughing behind his hand as he chewed on a particularly large bite of burger, Jungook tried to say between the chewing and the laughing,

“You’ve got it all over your face.”

“Shut up. So do you.”

But despite your grumpy reply, you could feel your lips trying to curl into a smile of amusement. So much for trying to not look like a fat kid. You hadn’t realized how hungry you were till you had completely cleaned off your tray of food. The cheeseburger had been absolutely delicious and everything else was just as good. You felt full and warm and.....happy.

Perhaps Mama Bird was right. You just needed to go with the flow. Let it flow.

“What are you thinking about?”

You blinked a couple times and noticed that the man sitting across from you was casually sipping on his drink; his face now free of sauce and sesame seeds. Around all of that were his eyes. Those doe, almond shaped eyes that were currently full of curiosity. Trying not to gulp in nervousness, you shrugged as casually as you could and replied as much,

“Dunno. Just......everything. I’m still really overwhelmed with the last forty-eight hours.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine how that must feel. But don’t worry.”

He reached across the table and gently took your hand in his; his thumb rubbing your skin soothingly. Your heart fluttered and you couldn’t fight off the blush that formed in your cheeks as you found yourself lost in his eyes.

“You won’t go through this alone. I’m always here for you.”

“Th---Thank you, Jungkookie.”

And to both your surprise, you gripped his hand back tightly.

As much as he wanted to sit there and chat and get to know his mate better, Jungkook knew the day was half over and they had a lot of ground to cover if they were going to make it back home in time to get any kind of rest for work tomorrow. Work.....Yes they would be working together soon. Which reminded him of one thing on his list. Boots. You had absolutely no nature gear. Like rubber boots. But they could do the clothes shopping later once you had gotten all your toiletries and other necessities.

“So let’s get out of here and get your stuff. Where to first?”

“I was going to head across the street here and stop in the store where my pharmacy is. All my medicine got lost in the fire. Plus this store is where I get all my beauty products and stuff.”

“Cool cool. Let’s head out, then.”

After safely crossing the bustling streets, you made your way into the store and headed straight back towards the pharmacy. Jungkook followed behind you and couldn’t help but want to drool over your backside. Gosh you looked gorgeous all the way around. It was so hard for him to focus when you looked this radiant.

“Well look who’s out and about. What are you two doing here?”

It was Taehyung and his mate, Black Widow. It appeared she must get her medicine from this pharmacy too. After having paid the necessary amount, the black haired female turned around to face you and Kook as well. Both her and Tae were sporting warm smiles and it made you feel a bit bashful. Why? You couldn’t explain but it made you blush shyly all the same. With a small wave of greeting, you replied timidly,

“I’m here to pick up medicine. They didn’t survive the fire.”

“Oh my. Sweetheart. I’m so sorry. It never even occurred to me. It was insensitive of me to ask.”

“Ani ani, Tae. It wasn’t. I promise you. Don’t feel bad.”

With him still flashing you an apologetic smile, Taehyung nodded all the same and then politely stepped aside with his arm around his mate’s waist so that you could do your thing at the pharmacy window. With a glance to his younger wolf brother, the suave looking male whispered into his mate’s ear,

“I’m gonna take Kook to one of the aisles for a talk, keep her company, will you?”

“Of course, TaeTae.”

With a swift peck to the lips, the older male let go of his mate only to drag a clueless and confused looking Jungkook down a random aisle. Of course it would be the liquor aisle. Just as the youngest was about to ask what the deal was, it was Tae who spoke up first.

“You imprinted on her?”

“It was an accident?”

“Kook......”

The younger of the two winced a little at the warning tone that was held in his older brother’s voice. Yeah. He was in trouble. But it truly was an accident....At least in his mind. It just happened so sudden. It came so naturally. Gulping, Jungkook tried to explain exactly that as he lifted his hands in defense.

“Look. Listen. It was so sudden and hyung it felt so natural. I couldn’t stop it.”

“Does she know you’ve imprinted on her?”

“No. Of course not.”

“So then you’ve imprinted on her without her consent?”

“Yeah.......Oops?”

“Yeah. A very big oops. Jungkook. This could have dire consequences for you. She will be fine but if she doesn’t return your affections......we could lose you, Kook.”

The youngest knew his older brother was just looking out for him and that this grumpiness and scolding session was all coming from love. But still. Jungkook never did well when being scolded. It was just the nature of being the youngest, he supposed. With his head slightly bowed in shame and his doe eyes glancing anywhere but at his hyung, he spoke softly,

“She’s worth the risk, Tae. I love her so much.”

“I know you do, buddy. Trust me. I’ve been there. But.....lucky for you....”

Taehyung waited for his younger brother to look back up at him before he added with a bit of a boxy smile,

“I can tell she’s got a thing for you too. She’s just fighting it, is all. It confuses her. Naturally so. That’s why I’m hoping Widow can maybe talk to her and kind of push her in the right direction. Your direction, pal.”

“Thanks, hyung. You’re the best.”

“So how’s things living with Jungkookie?”

You sat there in the small waiting area as you waited for your emergency refills of your medicine. Perhaps the fact that you had missed what was now two days worth of birth control was what was messing you up emotionally? You had always been super sensitive to your birth control; especially if you missed a dose. Looking over at Black Widow, you decided to tell her what had happened earlier this morning.

“Awe! That’s so sweet of him! How romantic! I ship you two, you know.”

“Yah. Widow! You’re not helping here.”

“I can’t help it. You guys are cute together.”

“But we hardly know each other. And we’re just friends. And coworkers. We’re coworkers!”

“So? What’s that got to do with anything?”

You pouted when you realized that you didn’t really have a solid or legitimate answer for that one. Squinting your eyes playfully at your friend, you watched her giggle and raise her hands in front of her in defense.

“Look. I’m just saying, Jungkook likes you. In fact, I think he has a crush on you.”

“Widow that’s ridiculous. Why would he have a crush on me?”

“Well for one, I’ve seen the way he looks at you. All heart eyes all the time. And not just anyone would do what he’s done for you in the last twenty-four hours. He moved Heaven and Earth for you, girlfriend. I don’t think he would have done that if he didn’t have some kind of feelings for you.”

You stared down at your hands in your lap. Maybe she was right. Maybe that’s why Jungkook had so easily kissed the back of your hand the way he had. Perhaps that’s why he was so comfortable with you sleeping on top of him on the couch? It made sense. As much as your heart confused you, what Widow was saying made sense.

“Just go with the flow.”

“You sound like Mama Bird.”

“That’s two against one. So just trust us and let things flow.”

Soon enough, your medicine was ready and it was time to part ways with Widow and Taehyung. They both gave you and Jungkook hugs before taking off for home. As they walked out of the store, Widow asked with a hint of concern,

“You think they’ll be okay? I did my best with her.”

“I think they’ll be fine. She just needs a little push is all. I have no doubt you worked wonders, baby girl. You always do.”

The young woman smiled with her eyes briefly shut so she could enjoy the sweet kiss to her temple as she walked to the car with her beloved. Once upon a time, she was in the same position as you were. It was Mama Bird who had helped her through it all. So she could only hope that she could help you through your journey down this fated path.

“Medicine? Check. What next, princess?”

“Shampoo, body wash, deodorant, face masks, founda----”

“Aigoo aigoo. One item at a time, love. Come on. Let’s head down the hair care aisle first.”

The pet name didn’t go by unnoticed as your heart fluttered a bit and heat threatened to rise up your neck and to the tips of your ears. However, you managed to squash the urges and focused on the rows upon rows of hair care products. Shampoo. Shampoo. You were looking for your usual when you watched a veiny arm move up to pick out a bottle of shampoo as you were asked,

“What about this one? It’s supposed to help keep your hair shiny and healthy.”

As he popped the cap up to take an experimental sniff, you turned your eyes to what mattered most to you; the price. You couldn’t help but notice it was a bit more expensive than your usual but it also wasn’t the most expensive either. Chewing your bottom lip nervously, you didn’t take long to cave before muttering shyly,

“Yeah. That one doesn’t look too bad. And the price isn’t terrible. It’s on sale.”

“Right? It’s like getting the best of both worlds. It smells really nice too.”

The shopping went on like this for the next half hour or so. You couldn’t help but notice the items in the basket that Jungkook was carrying had none of your usual items in it. You were going to walk out of here with brand new everything and you were pretty sure that’s how your new roommate intended it to be. And yet.....you didn’t fight it. You just went with it.

You went with the flow.

“Well this was a pretty successful shopping trip. You’re no longer going to smell like pine trees either. I call this trip a victory.”

“You’re such a dork. You basically picked everything out.”

“True, but you didn’t dispute any of them, did you?”

He laughed as your reply was to simply glare at him. Of course it was mild and only halfheartedly but still. You looked more adorable rather than threatening or scary. Facing your glare with puckered lips as if to smooch you, the both of you piled the bags into the trunk and had started to climb in the front.

However, something across the street caught your eye.

It was your old car. The one that went missing so randomly.

“That’s-----That’s my car! Jungkook there it is! What’s it doing there?”

“Hey---Wait----What---”

But you weren’t listening to him. All you could focus on was the sight of your car as it was parallel parked next to the sidewalk of the local park. It was an absolute mess. Someone had spray painted all over it. Graffiti of all kinds. All four tires were blown. The hood was popped open. A mess. An absolute mess.

Jungkook watched on and thank god you looked both ways before crossing the street. However, as he followed suit, his sensitive ears picked up on something. A ticking. A beeping. With wide eyes, he watch you get closer and closer to the car.

“NO! GET BACK! IT’S A B----”

He managed to grab you from behind as you approached the exposed engine. Not bothering to hide his super human strength and speed, he tried to get you as far away from the vehicle as possible. But he wasn’t quite swift enough.

The blast. It was numbing. Mind numbing. Especially for his hyper canine senses. Jungkook’s ears were ringing and everything swam in front of him. The sky, the trees from the park right next to him. Car alarms were going off and he could hear police and fire truck sirens going off. God. So much noise. He couldn’t think straight as he laid there sprawled on the sidewalk. He could only imagine how you felt.

Wait.......You.........YOU?!?!

What happened to you???

I’ll Sing a Song Beside You- 13

Read on Ao3!

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Chapter 13

He’s groggy when he wakes up, confused and off-kiltered. He immediately realizes that he’s not in his room, which throws him off a bit until he recognizes the smell. It smells like cookies and floral shampoo and home. Sighing, he stuffs his face into Marinette’s pillow, content to drift back to sleep. He doesn’t know how he got here but he’s assuming it has to do with an Akuma, and his consciousness means Ladybug defeated it already.

“I’m all for a good cat nap but I’m pretty sure you’re needed at a shoot,” Plagg says.

“Go away,” he counters, snuggling further into his girlfriend’s bed. “Wait, Plagg? What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean what am I doing here? I go everywhere you go.”

“Yeah,” he says, slowly sitting up, “but if you’re here, that means I’m—” Adrien looks down to find his two tan hands, gloveless and bare.

He yelps and scrambles to pull the covers up, as though his whole body were naked.

“Why am I Adrien?”

“Did the Akuma do something else to you? You’re not usually this slow. You’re always Adrien.”

“Yes, no, I’m aware of who I am. But why am I in Marinette’s bed as Adrien? What happened?”

“You got knocked out by a knitting needle,” Plagg says, flat. “Real heroic. And you only had a minute before the transformation would wear off so Ladybug brought you here.”

“Oh,” he says. He can kind of remember what happened before getting hit. It’s a little embarrassing that he was so easily taken out by an old lady with yarn and needle but if that’s the worst thing that happened during the fight then he’ll take it. “Did she, um, see who I am?”

Plagg holds silent, probably to be dramatic, before finally saying, “No idea. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“What do you mean you weren’t paying attention? You were right there!”

“So were you.”

“I was knocked out.”

“And I had cheese. We were both preoccupied.”

Adrien glares at his kwami for a solid 20 seconds before calling on his transformation. He’s needed at a shoot on the other side of the city and does not have time to fret about his identity.

So naturally, that’s all he does the entire shoot.

Right now he feels there’s a solid 50/50 chance Marinette saw his identity. He hasn’t been able to check his phone to see if she tried contacting him but even if there’s nothing there, that’s no indication of whether she knows or not. He needed quite some time to digest her reveal and he’s assuming it’ll take just as long for her, if not even longer.

He knows he was Adrien when he woke up but she might have dumped him and ran, meaning she wouldn’t have seen. The fact that he was in her room instead of his own definitely supports that theory. In fact, the more he thinks about it, the more it makes sense that she doesn’t know who he is. The only thing keeping him from writing the whole thing off is this nagging feeling in the back of his head.

By the time he’s finished, Adrien has a pounding headache and exactly 0 messages from his girlfriend. Tomorrow, at least, he’ll get his answers.

--

Or not.

He gets to school early; on the off chance Marinette actually makes it to school before the bell, he’s hoping they could talk.

He spends the next twenty minutes coming up with different conversation starters and reasons why he’s standing in front of her locker but he doesn’t come up with anything good. If she knows about him, he doesn’t need to do much but if she doesn’t then he needs a better excuse than, “you have a pretty cool locker.”

It winds up being all for moot when the warning bell rings with no sign of Mari. Disappointed, he reluctantly makes his way to class. Only to see Marinette sitting at her desk already. The moment their eyes meet, Marinette blushes and starts whispering to Alya.

That’s...certainly a reaction. But he can’t really say whether it’s because she knows or not because Marinette always acts weird around him.

He slips into his seat, once again too aware of her presence behind him. He doesn’t have a chance to talk to her before class starts so he’s left wondering.

Wondering whether she knows. If she purposefully avoided her locker so he wouldn’t be able to catch her before school—because obviously Marinette would be able to predict his moves if she knows who he is.

He wonders whether her reaction to seeing him was due to knowing he’s Chat Noir. Things with Marinette haven’t been easy since she rejected him but she hasn’t straight up avoided him like that in years.

Mostly, he wonders if he’s just overreacting.

“Adrien.”

Adrien startles in his seat and looks up to see the teacher staring down at him expectantly.

“Um, can you repeat the question,” he asks timidly. He can hear the giggles and whispers behind him as he gets reprimanded for not paying attention; Adrien Agreste always knows the answer and is always prepared.

After class isn’t any better. Alya grabs onto him before he can leave the room. “We were talking about eating lunch at the park today,” she says. “You in?”

Adrien glances at Marinette—who is staring at her shoes—before nodding to Alya. “Absolutely. I’ll meet you guys there.”

Even if he can’t speak to her one-on-one, he’ll have a better idea after spending some time with her.

He doesn’t have any other morning classes with her so he’s stuck with only his thoughts to entertain himself until lunch. Adrien takes longer at his locker than necessary, trying to psyche himself up for what will undoubtedly be an uneventful lunch but just the thought of having to see her again makes him anxious. Eventually deciding he’s just being dumb, Adrien takes a steadying breath and heads over.

Marinette, Nino, and Alya are all there by the time he makes it to the park. Adrien plops himself next to Nino.

“Hey! We didn’t think you were gonna make it,” Nino says, clapping Adrien on the back.

“Sorry, I got held up. What’d I miss?”

“Nino and I were actually talking about helping Rose with her… thing,” Alya interjects, nudging Marinette. “So, yeah. We were just waiting for you so Marinette wouldn’t be alone but now you’re here to keep her company.”

“Alya,” Marinette warns. But Alya is a woman on a mission. She rises, stares at Nino before he gets up as well and they make their way back to the school.

Clearly Marinette still hasn’t told her about their kiss or her secret relationship.

Adrien clears his throat and tries to come up with something to say. Even though there isn’t anyone at their table, there are still a lot of people milling about. They’re not private enough to properly talk.

“You have hair,” Marinette finally says.

Adrien looks up to see her beautiful, blushing face and feels his own face heating up. “Uh, yeah,” he says, scratching the back of his neck. What did that mean? Why does she have to be so awkward?

“It-it’s nice?”

“My hair?”

“Yeah. It’s good hair.”

“Thanks. You too. Have good hair.” He cringes. She’s somehow managed to infect him with improper grammar and stilted conversation.

“Thank you.”

They fall back into silence and Adrien wants to pull his ‘good’ hair out. He still, somehow, has no idea if she knows and it’s driving him crazy. He almost wants to reveal himself then and there just to figure it out. Not for the first time, Adrien finds himself praying for an akuma so he can properly talk to Ladybug.

Instead, he quietly mentions the time and the two trek back to the school without another word.

--

Marinette bumps into him at the end of the day.

“Oh! Adrien, I was looking for you.”

His heart picks up. There’s too many people around for this to be a confession but he can’t help but dream a bit. Why else would she be looking for him, after all?

“What’s up?”

“I—I didn’t understand the physics today. Would you be able to help me out?”

His face falls for a second before he plasters a polite smile back on. “Sure. I have fencing in about an hour so I was going to wait in the library. Would you like to join me?”

“I—I mean, I can but I was th-thinking we could go back to my house? We can have snacks and hang out in my room?”

“I don’t really have a lot of time. It’d be easier to do it here. I can always come over another day though.”

“No, it’s fine,” she pouts. “Let’s just go to the library.”

It’s not until they’re 30 minutes into physics review and Marinette gets yet another question correct that Adrien realizes he might be a bit daft. He could be looking for clues that aren’t there but Marinette doesn’t actually seem to be confused about today’s lesson. She might have only asked to get him alone. And he had to ruin it by taking her to a library filled with other students.

Adrien slams his head against the table and lets out a low moan.

“Are-are you okay?”

“I’m so dumb,” he whines.

He feels a slender hand grab his and he looks up to see Marinette smiling softly at him. He unconsciously leans closer.

“You’re one of the smartest people I know,” she says.

“I don’t really feel that way,” he says, slouching back onto the table.

“You are a tad dense,” she admits.

Adrien huffs out a laugh before sitting up straight. “Are we talking about the same thing?”

“I’m not sure? What are you talking about?”

Adrien stares at her for longer than is polite, hoping that her face will reveal what he is dying to know. “I’m sorry I made you come to the library,” he finally says. “I should have gone to your house.”

“It’s alright,” she says, patting his shoulder, “there’ll be plenty of time for that.”

--

Adrien is sorely tempted to visit Marinette as Chat but he knows she’ll get mad at him, especially if his hunch is wrong and she doesn’t know. He settles for taking taking a long shower to relax his nerves.

When he’s done, he puts on a pair of boxers, using his towel to ring out his hair.

“Aren’t you going to put on pants,” Plagg asks.

“I’m getting to it,” Adrien says. He absentmindedly checks his phone and is disappointed when he sees Marinette hasn’t texted him.

“You should probably get to it sooner.”

Adrien looks up from his phone to glare at his nagging kwami before letting out a very unmanly shriek. Ladybug is at his window.

He slowly makes his way over to her, opening the latch with shaky hands.

“S-sorry,” she says, blushing furiously. “I should have called before coming or something.” She’s looking anywhere but at him and he realizes that he’s still only wearing boxers.

“Oh, I, yeah. I’ll just, um, put clothes on. Hold on.” Adrien all but runs into his closet and grabs the first thing he sees.

He returns to see Ladybug sitting tensely on his couch. He sits as far away from her as possible on the couch and faces forward.

“So… Come here often,” he asks.

“You—” Ladybug lets out a long breath. “You’re the most ridiculous person I’ve ever met.”

Adrien grins and turns to face her. “I can’t seem to help myself when I’m with you.”

“I’m really embarrassed,” Ladybug says.

“Why?” If anything, Adrien should be the embarrassed one. For so many reasons.

“All the things I said about you as Adrien and Chat,” Marinette says. Adrien feels any remaining tension leave him. “And then I rejected you so I could date you, oh my gosh, I can’t even imagine what you must think of me.”

“I think you’re amazing. Honestly, it’s really flattering that you liked me twice.”

“Ugh,” Ladybug says, hiding her face in her hands.

“Are you upset that I’m me?”

“What kind of stupid question is that?” she asks, looking up to glare at him.

“You’ve been acting weird all day and now I’m making you uncomfortable.”

“I said I’m embarrassed not uncomfortable. This is better than I could have ever hoped for.”

Adrien’s heart flips in his chest and he slides closer to her, unable to stop himself. “I could say the same thing.”

Ladybug blushes and closes the distance between them, allowing their shoulders to brush. Adrien pulls his arm out so he can wrap it around her, revelling in the way she automatically leans into him.

“I used to have pictures of you all over my wall,” Ladybug says.

“Wait, what?”

“I told you that I liked Adrien Agreste. What I didn’t tell you was that I was borderline obsessed and took full advantage of the fact that my crush was a model.”

“I never saw them,” he says, his heart pounding for some unknown reason.

“That’s because I took them down whenever I knew Adrien was coming over and permanently took them down so I could invite Chat Noir in.”

“Oh,” is all Adrien can think to say. Then, “so, can I kiss you now, or…?”

Ladybug moans before sliding away from him. “You can’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“With your face.”

“What’s wrong with my face,” he asks, bringing a hand self-consciously to wipe anything offensive off his face.

“Nothing. That’s the problem.”

“Mari,” Adrien whines. He shifts a bit so he can lay comfortably on the couch with his head in her lap. She might have rejected his kiss but he’s still sure they’re good. Her hands absentmindedly running through his hair is enough of a confirmation of this. “Stop confusing me.”

“I’m not used to Adrien saying things like that. And knowing you’re Chat makes it so much worse. But I’m also still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’ve been dating Adrien Agreste this entire time? And, like, I want to kiss you but every time I let my thoughts wander too far I start to feel guilty. Like I’m cheating on Chat or something which is ridiculous because you’re Chat.”

“It took me a while to really let it sink in, too. We can slow things down until you’re ready.”

“You’re sweet but I used to have fantasies of making out with you in your room while I’m transformed and I really want to do that.”

Adrien abruptly sits up. “Oh my gosh, yes please. I’ve wanted that since I met you. Yes. Let’s do that now.”

Ladybug laughs before grabbing his shirt and pulling him into her. A chill runs down his spine when she wraps her gloved hands around his neck, sinking even further into each other. Fourteen year-old Adrien probably would have had an aneurysm by now. Present Adrien, though, can’t help but yearn for more skin-to-skin contact.

“M’lady,” Adrien asks, his mouth still feathering her lips, “would you be able to—”

She doesn’t even let him finish his question before she releases her transformation, leaving just Marinette and Adrien to stare at each other. Her bare hands slip under his shirt and she lets them travel up and down his back.

“I love you, Marinette Ladybug Dupain-Cheng,” Adrien whispers before tucking himself into her neck and gently pressing a kiss beneath her ear.

“You’re such a dork,” Marinette giggles. Her hands stop on his lower back and she nuzzles even closer to him. “I love you, too, Adrien Chat Noir Agreste.”

“Alright, I think I’ve kept quiet long enough,” Plagg says, flying over to them. “Can I have my cheese now?”

“Plagg! Really?”

He can hear Marinette’s laughter while he fetches the cheese from his mini-fridge and his heart lifts. There’s no more secrets between them—no more masks—and when he turns back around to the smiling faces of Tikki, Plagg, and Marinette, he feels himself grin back, finally home.

Heaven - or almost!   Day 10.

We ate fiery beef noodles at a place opposite our hotel for breakfast. Not quite sure whether the hotel doesn’t do breakfast or whether what they provide is not suitable for westerners, but they gave us a voucher for beef noodles as I said - if we wanted anything else, we had to pay for it ourselves as well as try to explain to the cook what we wanted. Everyone who came into the cafe seemed to get the same order, but the cafe threw in a somewhat strange, but perfectly fine, boiled egg each for us. We have noticed that many places have a lot of eggs floating in some sort of hot stock and the look of them turned me off a bit, but they tasted fine even if we got eggs that had been in the soup for a week - how would anyone know?

Then it was off to the mountains to the Heavenly Lake near God’s Mountain (Mt Bogda).  It was well over an hour’s drive to where we had to go through security and buy our tickets. Oops, they don’t take tickets from foreigners so we had to get checked out at the Police Station and after 15 minutes or so, we were suitably accredited and cleared to rejoin the queue to go through security again. You then walk across a courtyard and go through security again. I wonder what they could have missed the first time that we could have acquired in the 50 metre walk across the razor-wire enclosure that warranted the second examination? Chinese people seem highly regimented and simply cop whatever ridiculous bureaucratic procedures are applied. They all line up neatly until the door is opened and then the queue collapses and it is all push and shove to be first inside. They wedge themselves between us and surreptitiously edge forward or sidle around and between you and then try the same manoeuvre with whoever is next in line. Only problem is that 500 others are trying to pull exactly the same stunt on them. I have to say that the security nonsense is getting to me. You have to show your passport or ID card 10 times a day and everything has to go through the X-ray machine even if nobody is there to monitor it - even to get into our own hotel lobby. You get patted down with greater or lesser intrusion/excitement at least a couple of times a day and I have observed that as westerners, we get a lot more scrutiny than the locals.

We are now in the CORRECT station waiting 4 hours for our train. At the first X-ray station, they confiscated Heather’s dry hair shampoo, at the second X-ray station 50 metres later, they confiscated our plastic fruit knife and hair cutting scissors. They made us open all our bags and did a thorough job on Heather’s, but when my bags were all open at their insistence, they didn’t even lift the lid, just waved me through. But they were VERY interested in my binoculars.  They mimed a lot of birdwatching moves until I understood that I had to get them out of my backpack. They turned them over, shook them, peered through both ends, examined them again from every angle and eventually handed them back with true eastern inscrutability and a flick of the hand to send me on my way.

Anyway, back to the Heavenly Lake. We all lined up in our thousands and progressively boarded a cavalcade of hundreds of buses to be driven 10-15 kilometres where we all had to get out and walk/climb close to a kilometre through a slightly tacky ‘traditional village’ lined with stalls selling mostly non-traditional souvenirs, food and other wares. This path led us to a larger enclosed buying opportunity with some similar items as well as plenty of others, all at upmarket prices. We escaped with our money belt intact and finished our walk to where we lined up dutifully so a different fleet of buses could take us the remaining 30-40 km up the mountain to the lake. Interesting that we alighted the first bus maybe 15 metres from where we boarded the second one, but a sturdy fence and a plethora of police and security guards prevented anyone taking a short cut to miss the tourist trap. Despite it all, the walk wasn’t too bad and the hawkers not too aggressive although Heather was struggling a bit with the stairs in what turned out to be quite a hot day.

The lake was suitable heavenly - very beautiful set in very steep towering hills against the broad background of a regiment of snowy peaks to the north. The water was glacial (there are 2 glaciers in the part of the range we could see) and deep emerald - also just deep, 100 metres at its deepest with an average depth of 60 metres. We paid a small fee and joined a boatload of local tourists for a half-hour spin around the lake. (We haven’t seen a single westerner for at least 4 days.) It was a pleasant enough trip, but no commentary, even from our guide who we have marked down heavily on a number of counts.

Our guide recommended that we go to his friend’s place further up the mountain for lunch because the food near the lake was tourist food and very poor. A little apprehensively, we agreed and Rachid collected us in his car and drove us up to his village - a collection of yurts. It was quite nice up there in the forest, quiet and with fewer people than we have seen outside our hotel rooms since arriving. We selected a few items and he and his wife cooked them for us. Nothing special, but quite nice, more than we could eat and a little on the expensive side, but we are tourists after all. Rachid and his wife were very courteous, Kazakhs but living in China for 40 years.  Rachid (at least) spoke excellent English and Heather had quite a yarn with him while I looked unsuccessfully for birds - saw hundreds of black-eared kites, very like our black kites, but only a single rook apart from them.

After lunch, we returned to the lake and I had a short walk along the boardwalk while Heather rested in the blazing sun, then it was into the bus that took us all the way to the bottom without providing any further buying opportunities. En route to find our driver, we discovered a geological museum in the entrance hall near the bus station and spent an interesting half hour or so finding out a bit about how the mountains and lake were formed. There was a lot to see and read and at least one more floor that we never explored so had we known and planned things better, we could happily have spent a couple of hours in the area.

This probably all sounds a bit flippant but it was a really nice day. The mountains are truly spectacular. Steep and rugged, rocky and riddled with jagged aretes slicing the slopes in all directions, strata running at all angles, a hundred shades of green, but with heavily scarred areas of slippage - truly dramatic, quite breathtaking, absolutely beautiful. There were horses, cattle, sheep and goats in numerous places along the roadside, some of the most colourful stock I have seen. The sheep, in particular, came in black, greys, browns, white, creamy-yellow, a range of fawns and beiges and red, really red, at least Hereford red. Many sported a combination of 2, 3 or 4 colours.  I have never seen sheep like that before and the horses and cattle were almost as colourful. There was a small river and a couple of minor creeks rushing the snowmelt to lower pastures, and the trees and grass were a mix of dazzling greens and the shady glades looked very inviting in the heat. To add to the natural beauty, there were quaint pagodas perched high at the very precipices of some mountains, a scattering of yurts here and there, and a couple of temples near the lake. All very interesting and picturesque. It was an entrancing day in the country even if the administrative hassles were frustrating and really quite ludicrous.

There was a fair bit of debate on the way back to town about what to do next. Our guide said it was too early to go to the station and suggested we go to a water park, but we were both pooped and didn’t want to do any more walking or climbing any more steps. We also got the feeling that the driver didn’t want to extend too much and the guide said we should give him an extra 100RMB for his time. We weren’t worried about the money, but just wanted to sit down with a cold drink for a while so we finally settled on a bar and we shouted them both a drink.

We sat and talked a strange mixture of language, signing and interpretation and when we were sufficiently recovered, it was off to the station. Another long walk to get to the entrance and then the multiple passport checking, X-rays and security hassles got into full swing. An hour or so later, we were inside the ginormous waiting room with 4 hours to go and huge crowds occupying almost every seat. Interesting that half of them left on the next train and the rest left on the following one and we got very lonely all alone in the mammoth waiting room. Another young couple came in just before our train was starting to board and the four of us set off with our baggage to climb two sets of at least 100 steps each up to the platform. The other couple were young and strong, but ended up as whacked as we were by the time we finally made it to the top. More hassles about our tickets and passports, but it was finally sorted and the train got under way about half an hour later than intended. Not sure if that was just because of us, but soon after we got our papers back, the train headed out into the night.

It is now 1am and I am going to sleep. More drama are possible ahead at the border - a process scheduled to take more than 8 hours!!!

Vegas thing, part 9 

(Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

(My hockey blog, my AO3) 

Somewhere over the middle of the Atlantic, Zhenya sits in a darkened aircraft cabin, watching a movie mostly to try and quiet his mind. The other people around him are asleep, and he wants to be. His eyes feel gritty and his temples are throbbing, but he keeps watching uptight English people who do a lot of running around in long white dresses and staring longingly across rooms. He doesn’t remember much of it but one phrase lodges itself in his brain and keeps echoing over and over.

“I am half agony, half hope,” the male lead writes in a letter to the very sweet lady he should have been kissing two thirds of a movie ago.

Yes, Zhenya thinks. Exactly like that.

Walking into the terminal at McCarran International doesn’t feel real. Magnitogorsk to Moscow, Moscow to New York. New York to Las Vegas. Zhenya’s been traveling more than 30 hours, thanks to some nasty layovers. Reality feels like it’s warping and twisting out of shape.  He pays attention to what’s happening around him in International Arrivals as he comes down the tunnel, though. He always does, and it’s always worth it.

Three women in saris hug each other, crying. With happiness he hopes. A gaggle of tow-headed children wave around a glittery sign proclaiming “WELcome HoME Uncle MIke!!!!” A young couple makes out in the middle of the terminal floor, the girl’s bags scattered around their feet where she dropped them. People crane their necks, searching for loved ones from far away as passengers trickle in from customs. It’s beautiful.

Zhenya gets frightfully maudlin when he’s this exhausted.

He pauses for a moment to rub his face, trying to wake up. He needs to figure out which fucking carousel his flight’s luggage is on, he needs to call a taxi or something, he needs—

“G!”

Zhenya turns, and there he is. Sid. Walking towards Zhenya still in his tight black T-shirt from work, little gold name badge still pinned to his chest. He looks as tired as Zhenya feels, face drawn and grey.

He’s still the best thing Zhenya’s ever seen, and he opens his arms.

They collide and just kind of, sag into each other. Zhenya wraps his arms tightly around Sid, and breathes in the smell of his hair— stale perfume and cigarette smoke from the casino, cheap shampoo underneath. And even that’s wonderful, too.

Sid’s got his arms locked tightly around Zhenya’s waist and Zhenya feels him take in a deep, shuddering breath that means he’s trying not to cry. Zhenya doesn’t fucking care, his own eyes are already wet. He’s so fucking tired, and Sid’s here in his arms, and just—

“Come on,” Sid says roughly, extricating himself, and taking Zhenya’s carry on bag from him. “Let’s go home.”

Zhenya can’t believe his ears. “I’m go home? With you?”

Sid looks suddenly uncertain. “Um, uh. I mean, I guess you’re probably gonna book a suite or something, sorry, where—”

“No! No, just happy. Want to be with you,” Zhenya blurts hurriedly.

Sid smiles, just a little. “My place, it isn’t much. But, if you want, I want to be with you, too.” He appears to gather himself, before reaching out and threading his fingers through Zhenya’s. Quickly, as if he’s worried Zhenya might not want him to. “Let’s go get your luggage.” And he starts off, tugging lightly at Zhenya to follow. Zhenya fervently hopes he isn’t dreaming.

Sid glances back, and must catch sight of the silly grin splitting Zhenya’s face. He grips their hands together even tighter. “Missed you, G.”

“Me too,” Zhenya manages. “Miss you most. Agony,” he adds, remembering the movie on the plane. Sid blushes and it’s good to see color on his pale face.

“Come on.” And Zhenya lets Sid take him where they need to go.

Zhenya doesn’t remember much of the drive to Sid’s apartment. It’s a blur of glittering lights sliding by the car windows.  He gets a dim impression of a tiny shoebox of a place, with Legos all over the living room floor. He showers, because he feels unbelievably gross. The smell of the soap is exactly what he’s smelled on Sid’s skin before. He pauses in the hallway after, his entire body crying out for sleep, but, where? Sid comes in from the kitchen, arms folded nervously.

“There’s the couch,” Sid says. “But, also. My room.”

“Whatever you want, Sid,” Zhenya says gently. Sid’s shoulders slump.

“With me,” he says, and they look at each other for a moment, before Zhenya sways a little with exhaustion and Sid leads him back to his bedroom. Zhenya blacks out as soon as his head hits the pillows.

He wakes up disoriented, with no idea where he is. The heavy arm slung across his waist jogs his memory, though. Sid.

The room is pitch dark, no way to tell what time it is. He has no idea where his phone is, either. But he’s being aggressively spooned and he’s so elated by it that he grins into the darkness and buries his face happily into his pillow.

Due to their height difference, Sid has his face buried somewhere in the region of Zhenya’s shoulder blades, Zhenya lays as still as possible and tries to enjoy everything about this. The soft sounds of Sid’s breathing, the heavy solidity of him against Zhenya’s lankier body. The way his hold tightens a little when Zhenya shifts.

It scares the shit out of him when Sid snuffles a little and says, very clearly, “Sorry, alligators are illegal”, and then, a moment later, “match penalty.” He then resumes the deep, even breathing of sleep, and Zhenya lies there with his heart racing, warmly endeared and a tiny bit unsettled.

It’s less funny when, a few minutes later, Sid murmurs, “Avery. S’ok, bud. S’ok” and burrows even further into Zhenya, as though unconsciously seeking comfort. Zhenya lays his hand over Sid’s, and feels his heart ache.

Eventually, however, an almighty need to piss presents itself. Zhenya regretfully has to disentangle himself from Sid’s arms. He manages to find the bedroom door without crashing into anything, and carefully eases out into the hall.

When he makes it to the kitchen after, the clock on the microwave is blinking 4:48 am. It’s roughly a 12 hour time difference, no wonder he’s wide awake. He doesn’t want to rummage in Sid’s cupboards without asking, so luckily he finds a glass in a dish rack by the sink. He sips water from it slowly, leaning against the counter and gazing out of the little window above the sink at the strange, dingy orange glow of the sky. It never gets properly dark here, too many bright city lights, and it traps Vegas in a surreal false dawn all night.

His bags are by the door, so he digs out his phone, which is dead, and his charger. It bleeps a little hysterically with accumulated texts once the screen lights up. He stretches out as best he can on the smallish sofa and prepares to deal with them. First in importance are the ones from his mother, who is demanding to know if he’s arrived alive or not. He texts her that he’s fine, and that he’s staying with Sid. His phone rings almost immediately.

“Mama,” he whispers as soon as he picks up. “Do you have any idea what time it is here?”

“No, is it late?” she asks, not sounding very sorry.

“Try very, very early,” he replies. “And no, you can’t talk to Sid, he’s asleep.”

“Who says I wanted to talk to Sidney?” she sniffs. “Maybe I wanted to hear my son’s voice.”

“Mama,” Zhenya sighs.

That’s when Sid appears in the doorway, sleep-rumpled and blinking in the light of the lamp Zhenya had switched on.

“Shit!” Zhenya says, then, “No, not you Mama, just a minute.” He takes the phone away from his ear. “Sid. So sorry. I’m wake you up?”

“No, no worries. I don’t sleep so well these days, “ Sid says, and rubs at his eyes. FIX IT! FIX IT! Zhenya’s heart screams at him. If only he could.

“It’s my mama,” Zhenya explains. “Want to know I’m arrive safe.”

Sid smiles sweetly at that, “That’s great, G.”

“Sidney?” says his mother’s voice, tinny but loud enough to be heard without being on speaker. Zhenya rolls his eyes.

“You her favorite,” he tells Sid, who looks taken aback.

“Why?”

“I’m go home because of you,” Zhenya says. Sid flinches.

“Because I broke up with you.”

“No— well, little bit. But I’m go home because you make me want to be better person. Fix with family.”

“G,” Sid breathes, eyes wide. Zhenya reaches a hand out for him, and Sid comes to sit on the edge of the couch. Zhenya presses the button to put the phone on speaker.

“Mama? He can hear you.”

“Sidney,” his mother says warmly. “Darling. Thank you for being so good for my son.”

“Uh, hello Mrs. Malkin. It’s nice to meet you,” Sid replies stiffly. He’s got his hands folded in his lap like he’s a damn student in the principal’s office, and Zhenya needs to end this call so he can kiss him senseless. “What— what did she say?” Sid continues nervously.

“She say thank you.”

“I hope your little boy gets well soon. Let my Zhenya take care of you.”

“She say, hope Avery get better. Also, let me take care of you.”

Sid looks stunned, and then after he blinks a few times, Zhenya catches the shine of unshed tears in his eyes. “Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Malkin. Uh, spa— spasibo.” That’s too much, and Zhenya has to lean over to kiss his cheek.

“You’re so welcome, sweetheart. Zhenya, he sounds lovely.”

“He is,” Zhenya says. Then, to Sidney: “She say you welcome, say you sound most nice.” Even in the low lamplight, he can see Sidney’s blush. “Like I said, Mama, it’s heinously early.”

“Go!” She laughs. “Go be with your man. I want pictures. Or to Skype later. So does your father. Keep us posted on how Avery’s doing.”

“Fine, fine,” Zhenya says. “Take care, Mama. Love you.”

“Love you too, Zhenya.”  

He ends the call, and hug-tackles Sid into the sofa immediately. Sid laughs, and between the kisses Zhenya’s raining all over his face and neck asks: “What— what did she— please, G. What did she call you? At the end there.”

Zhenya raises himself on his elbows to look down at Sid. “Zhenya. It’s short name. Like Sasha for Alexander. Family, good friends call.”

Sid frowns a little. “Zhen-ya. Zhenya. That’s really nice.”

Zhenya buries his face in Sid’s neck because he isn’t quite ready for Sid to see the expression he’s currently wearing. “Can call me. Sounds good.”

He feels Sid card his fingers through Zhenya’s hair. “Zhenya.” The single word comes out warm and meaningful. Zhenya kisses him again, hard, lingering. Cheek, lips, neck. Sid sighs in pleasure when Zhenya moves to the spot just below his ear.

Zhenya lays his head on Sid’s chest, and they’re still for a moment then, resting just like that. Sid’s hand tangled in Zhenya’s hair and Zhenya listening to the even beat of Sid’s heart beneath his thin sleep shirt.

“My mom— “ Sid says, and falters. “My parents. When Avery was born, they were so angry with me. I was so young, it was an accident. My decision to keep him instead of putting him up for adoption made them furious.  But he’s my son. I wouldn’t give him up for the world. It just…was nice. Your mom. How sweet she was. How she mentioned Avery.”

“She’s best,” Zhenya says, keeping his tone light but roiling with righteous anger inside. “Sid best, too.“ 

“Charmer,” Sid scoffs, but he’s smiling, Zhenya can hear it in his voice. They lay there quietly for a bit longer.

“I need to leave to see Avery at seven. Come with me?” Sid says at last.

“Of course, Sid. Of course. We go together.”

Create Stories That Engage People and Move Them to Act

Create Stories That Engage and Educate

 Do you use stories to engage and educate your audience?  Would you like to see how powerful stories can be?This article should help you discover how to create stories for your business that move people to act.  One of the people I admire, Park Howell, is a brand story strategist who helps businesses grow through the power of their stories.   Park explores and unravels the mystery behind the mechanics of storytelling, a skill that every marketer should master.  You’ll also discover why this is important to social marketers.  Park shares what marketers need to know about storytelling for their business, and how to create stories that engage their audience.  Let's Examine the Story for Business   Park, an advertising and marketing executive, shares that it always frustrated him that it was difficult to understand why a TV spot or radio commercial was going to work.  His interest in stories began while working in advertising. Story for Business began about the same time Park’s middle son, Parker, went to Chapman University film school.  He read Parker's textbooks because he wanted to understand what his son was learning to prepare him for working in Hollywood, the most competitive storytelling place in the world. One of the screenwriting books was Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder.  Blake, who was the king of family-oriented screenplays in the 1980s than anybody else, had a prescription for the 15 beats to a story. Blake felt that a screenplay needs to be the same number of pages as the weight of a jockey (110).  Blake could tell you on each page what needed to happen.  Though it sounds formulaic, it actually worked very well for Blake and many other writers, and the approach fascinated him.   When Park was introduced to the writing of Joseph Campbell, America’s foremost mythologist, he noted how Blake had adapted Campbell’s The Hero's Journey, or what Joseph called the monomyth, a 17-step process for story structure.Reading The Hero’s Journey, Park realized that he was looking at a brand strategy plan.  Park understood that he was already following this story structure with his plan.  He wondered what would happen if he intentionally did this and adopted it as his outline for writing stories.  Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth is a 17-step process for story structure. Park reduced the steps of the Hero’s Journey to 10 steps for business, and adapted it to guide the creation of content to tell a story that would make a difference.  Park was amazed how well it worked so he fine-tuned it into what he calls the Story Cycle, a process that can be used for everything from brand strategy to creating a 30-second TV commercial.   Park Howell created the Story Cycle, which was based on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. In the social media world, you have mere seconds to communicate your story.  To get your story across you need to follow the three fundamental principles of the three-act play: start with a setup, introduce conflict, and resolve the conflict. If you can do that in a 6-second video, you will have connected with the deep reaches of your audience’s minds.   Why Marketers Should Care About Stories   Park believes that stories are people’s superpowers, and believes that the human brain is hardwired to constantly search for them.  Humans can go weeks without eating and days without drinking, but only roughly 35 seconds without their brains scanning their environment to create meaning out of what they see. Park explains how while his son Parker was studying film and Park was studying what Hollywood knows about story structure, his youngest son was suffering from encephalitis and brain surgery.   During that time, Park was reading everything he could about how the brain functions.  That’s when, what Hollywood knows about story structure intersected with the neuroscience of how the brain takes in, absorbs, and processes a story.   Understanding the connection between the structure of a story and how the brain absorbs and processes it is at the core of the Business of Story.  If you use your story respectfully, you can have tremendous impact where you live, where you teach, and when you sell.  It's imperative that you use your story for good, not evil, because you can move people in any direction you choose with the right story. When you hear a story, you automatically filter it through your experience as your brain's hippocampus searches your memories.  While the brain recalls your story, it runs non-stop scenarios to determine the best response, and then acts upon that scenario.  And it does that in milliseconds. Nature gave people stories to draw their rapt attention.  There’s a book called Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life by Winifred Gallagher, and story is the theme throughout the book.  Nature wants people to stay alive and procreate.  Running stories in real time and in dreams helps people understand what they need to do next.   How You Build Your Story   Park came up with his story structure by studying really smart people and connecting the dots.  One of those people is Randy Olson.  Randy gave up tenure at a University, went to film school, made some documentaries, and published several books. Randy’s mission in life, is to help the scientific world understand how to do a better job of talking in narrative form versus throwing out a bunch of stats and facts that don’t connect with people.   Park explains how he discovered a construct called, “And, But, and Therefore,” which he got from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.  When they find a script falling flat, they do the Rule of Replacement.  They take out the “ands” and replace them with “buts” and “therefores.” Park gives an example of what happens when you incorporate And, But, and Therefore into a story. Act 1, the setup is, “I got up to walk the dog and we ran out into the street and headed down to grab a cup off coffee.” Act 2 is, “But a car came careening around the corner and was heading directly for my poor pooch.” Act 3 is, “Therefore, I did the only thing I could do.  I reached down, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, jumped out of the way just in time for the driver to get off of his text and wheel his car back into the center of the road and off he went.” When you tell a story, you allow listeners to live vicariously though you, and they will learn a lesson from it. In this case the lesson is, “Next time I walk my dog, I’m going to pay more attention, especially to people who may be texting behind the wheel.”  Listeners then think about what the best way to get out of that situation would be if they find themselves in it. Place Your Customer in the Center of Your Story     If you’re trying to write a campaign and it’s not coming together, start with an And, But, and Therefore, placing your customer at the center of the story.  For example, Park says, “Sally would love to have longer, lusher hair.  She has tried all of the regular products.  But doesn’t like the harsh chemicals and how they irritate her scalp.  Because of that, our all-organic soy-based shampoo is the answer for Sally.” It’s the most basic construct that will work for everything from a presentation to a proposal, from an ad to a tweet.  Simply ask yourself what you are trying to say, then "Use And, But, and Therefore" to build the foundation for your story.  Once that is done, you can fill your story out with elaborate nuances. Park also goes deeper into story structure, and shares some historic comparisons.  Aristotle would say you have a beginning, middle, and end.  The philosopher, Hegel would say you have the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, which is the basic structure of argument.  Mozart wrote sonatas and invented the sonata-allegro form, which has exposition, development, resolution.  It doesn't matter what you call them. they’re all the same thing; a three-act play. Park further discusses the structure of story. You start with the setup or backstory in Act 1.  This is where you give context to your story.  You describe who is in the story, what is happening in the story, and where is it happening?  In Act 2, or the middle, you introduce conflict, which comes with the “but.”  Remember, without conflict, there is no story.   Your story ends in Act 3 with the resolution.  How is your story resolved?  What do you learn from this experience?  What is the truth?  That’s why every story has to have a moral that’s either explicit or implicit within the story. Begin with the end in mind, what you’re trying to share in the story will shape what goes into the beginning.  You need to figure out who your audience is and what wisdom you're trying to impart to them.   That tells you to what kind of story you're creating, where your story takes place, and how you are going to tell your story to emotionally connect with your audience.   When we examine how the TV show Seinfeld has stories within stories, it's easy to see that it’s complicated.  You can successfully include multiple stories on stage or within a lengthy PowerPoint presentation. To effectively weave in a couple of subplots or substories, simply go back to And, But, and Therefore for every one of them.  You need to establish the foundation, build upon it, and don’t stray from it.It's important to use your story to help you share information with your audience.  When you lead with data in a story, you set yourself up as an expert, and that’s a trigger for your sudience.  People fold their arms and they want you to prove it.  Use Your Story to Connect with Your Audience Your data does one of three things.  Data either reports an event that has happened, monitors an event that is currently happening, or attempts to predict an event in the future.  A weatherman can report nice weather yesterday, rain today, and a cold snap expected for tomorrow.Do you care about the data or do you care about the event?  You care about the event, because that dictates what you wear, how you’re going to travel, and what you have to look out for.  Data can’t destroy us, but events can.   Lead with the event and back your hypothesis of how the event plays out with the data.  You’ll prove your point and make your message more interesting.  Visit Our Web Accessibility Blog Visit Our Business Sustainability Blog Use Social Media to Tell Your Story Invite your audience to participate in your story by using visuals and you’ll get much more engagement on social media.  Begin with a visual that tells your story that you’ll play off of in your headline.  Whether it’s a post or a tweet, be sure to bring it full circle with a call to action.Have fun creating visuals.  Look for the oddest scenes to photograph and share.  While traveling,Park was watching his son try to catch a bird by putting a French fry in a trap made of a box, a stick, and string.  To trick the birds, his son pretended to look away from the trap.Park took a picture of this scene with his iPhone.  Posting it he added the headline, “How effective is your content marketing?” and put the Business of Story logo on it.  The visual was a complete story that engaged the viewer.  You need to create a visual story with a headline and branding for your business.  Zach King’s Vine videos, are great examples of short, complete, visual stories.  You don’t have to overthink short videos.  You have two seconds to set it up, two seconds for conflict, and then two seconds to have fun with the payoff.  It’s a mini-feature documentary that is six seconds long.   Read the full article

leaving on a jet plane

I’m so excited about this post! I’m leaving for Boulder in a few hours and I wanted to share what I’ve packed. I have this weird obsession with packing light when I travel. Before I went to Hanoi, I did extensive research and bought the largest carry-on backpack on the market (Osprey Porter 46, highly recommend!). Out of the 10+ flights I took while I was traveling, I only had to pay extra for exceeding the weight limit one time and that was on VietJet air. Budget airlines are known for having very light weight limits and I had gotten really lazy with my packing, so it was bound to happen. However, I love being able to hop on a plane without checking a bag. There is no greater feeling than jumping off the plane and skipping everybody at the baggage claim to get to the customs line first! Traveling with carry-on only saves so much time, money, and stress. 

So, here is what I’m packing for 5 days in Boulder. 

1 dress, 3 shirts, 1 pair of shorts, 1 bathing suit, intimates, and 1 sports bra. 

Peep those socks. They’re Katie’s and they have Bernese Mountain dogs all over them. Sacrificing fashion to save space, I’m wearing my tennis shoes and packing a pair of black sandals. Also wearing leggings, a t-shirt, and a sweater. Always wear your heaviest items on the plane so you can have more space in your bag. 

Here are my toiletries. I added a toothbrush (forgot to put it in the pic but I promise I brush my teeth). My toothpaste was too big so I’m just going to buy some there or borrow some from Gabby. I’ll also borrow soap because I haven’t found a smart way to travel with a soap bar yet. I ditched the hairbrush because I’ve stopped brushing my hair and it took up too much space. I have conditioner in the blue bottle, my lush shampoo bar, deodorant, mascara, lip balm, amber oil, concealer, coconut oil, highlighter, and homemade face powder. The face powder is a game-changer and it's made from corn starch and cinnamon. That’s it. I also have peppermint oil and water in the spray bottle. I mist it on my skin to cool down/freshen up and it also works as a nice breath mint. I don’t think you’re actually supposed to ingest the peppermint oil but I’m living life on the edge. 

All of that easily fits into this small purse! I also added headphones, sunglasses, a phone charger, wallet, and phone. It will fit under my seat and I won’t have to pay extra for a carry-on. I’m flying Frontier for the first time and they charge extra for seat selection, checked bags, carry-ons, oxygen, water, etc. If you want to save money you can skip all of that extra stuff and end up sitting next to a screaming baby in the very back of the plane, or over the engine if you’re lucky. But for real, maybe I’m cheap, but I just can't justify spending money to sit in a specific seat or take up space in the overhead bin. 

This is my safety razor! I bought it on Amazon from Bigfoot Shaves (hmm, I wonder if this product is marketed towards men or women??) and I loveee it. At first, I was actually terrified to use it. There are a few different things to consider when shaving with a safety razor. The angle is supposed to be 30 degrees, you aren’t supposed to push down hard, and you can never move the razor side-to-side. I haven’t cut myself yet and it’s so much easier to use than I thought it would be. The best part is that the razor blades only cost ~$6 for 100! You should change the blade every 5-10 uses depending on your hair type. The handle is gold and pretty and I feel like a total badass when I shave. It also comes with this cute travel case. I decided not to bring it with me to Boulder because I’ve heard that they’re easily confiscated by security, even if the blade isn’t in the handle. 

On another subject, I signed a least a few days ago to live in a studio apartment! I’m so freaking excited. It’s 425 sq. ft. and I’m so pumped to curate my space and have everything exactly as I want it. I have a goal to not buy anything new as far as furniture/decoration goes. I went to the Goodwill outlet the other day and bought 3 pieces of storage/furniture for $4! This place is indescribable. It’s wild. It’s like a playground for bargain hunters. People wear gloves and everything. There’s pushing and I got the sense that fights break out sometimes. The employees fill up these huge bins and people just rifle through tons of junk. Once you have what you want, it’s $1.50 per pound, but they usually just throw a random price on it. 

And that’s how I got these things for $4. 

It started with this weird piece of furniture that I thought was an OAP walker at first. I saw some potential for an end table or bedside table. Next, I found this unfinished wood organizer and a silver tray. I painted the tray gold and I’m deciding which one I like more for the top of the table. The gold tray wasn’t the exact color of gold that I wanted, and you can definitely tell that I kind of messed up the paint job/painted it outside while it was raining. This is why I don’t craft or DIY often.

These are the two options and I would love some feedback/opinions!

I’m slowly building my zero-waste kit and I’ll make an update about that soon(ish). There’s a huge tendency to go out and buy all of these items new, but I know that defeats the purpose. Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to transitioning to a more sustainable lifestyle. 

It has been six months since starting this blog, and now feels like the ideal time to give you all an update and help remind myself of what we’ve already achieved and what we want to work towards in the months and years ahead.

It’s also time again to spend a little more, in hope of saving a lot later. I’m also really keen to lessen our impact on the planet some more and in the process become a smidgen more self-sufficient.

Food, Shopping & Waste .

I am working more hours than I’d like, to pay off our little loan. However, we have found ourselves with a few extra pennies each week. Rather than continue to cut our food budget to the absolute minimum, we have decided to take responsibility and have set ourselves a few guidelines for the food we will buy in future.

Our food should meet as many of the following points as possible:

be organic

be vegetarian (but we’re still eating eggs)

be fair-trade

be as locally produced as we can find

have minimal packaging, especially plastics

There’s one exception to buying local, as I’m not aware of any coffee plantations in Spain.

Giving up caffeine is something I’ll work towards, but not before my hours drop back down. It’s also a bit too cold for us to grow olives here, something that has become a favourite snack of ours.

Organic, fair-trade and local produce tend to be a little pricier than normal products found in supermarkets, but we’ll also be supporting local businesses, small shops, and also local producers when buying fresh stuff in the bi-weekly farmer’s market. Which seems like a good compromise.

We’ve already come to accept that going totally moneyless is not a reality for us, not just yet. We will of course continue to reduce our need for money as much as we can.

And of course, we’re hopeful that the majority of our vegetables and some of our fruit will be home-grown… eventually.

Also, we hope to reduce our weekly waste. Something that has already happened without much thought. 80-90% of our weekly rubbish is recyclable and another 5-10% is organic.

After last summer’s worm massacre, we’ve yet to set up a real composting system. This is something else we will address. Having today spent some money on a decent compost bin, both one for the kitchen and one for the terrace.

I’m hoping to get all those rubbish numbers as close to 0% as I can. Composting kitchen waste and using reusable bags not just for carrying our groceries but for rice, oats and anything else I can find bought from larger sacks. Thankfully most of the organic shops have options for buying these plus nuts, quinoa, couscous and more in this manner.

So, we’ll try to make some sacks of our own to avoid using the plastic (supposedly biodegradable) from the shops loose produce section. We’ve also paid a bit more than usual for truly biodegradable bin bags, made from corn starch[!?] or something similar.

We’ve not gone fully vegan, but are still largely vegetarian. We eat eggs and have the odd treat of some cheese. Once in a while we still eat some chicken too. (More about chickens/eggs in the garden section.)

I’m currently looking into healthier options for our cat, the food we buy her now is expensive and processed. I have found a supplement that can be added to meat. Sure, we’ll still be supporting the meat industry and all the problems that brings, but my cat is a part of the family and deserves a healthy diet.

Keeping Warm.

We’ve given up on the olive oil lamps, not great light sources and yet amazing little heaters. I’ll try to find some way to use the parts and might come back to them next winter. The heating is now off and will stay that way indefinitely.

We’re also using our current small increase in financial stability to invest in beeswax tea lights. I hadn’t really thought about the ones we were using before, it was only when the last batch we bought produced a very nasty smell that we decided (much like our food) to go as natural/organic as possible.

I’ve found some that are sold with the option of not having the aluminium cups/containers. I have actually been keeping all of the ones we’ve used with the idea of an art project or upcycling of some sort in future. So, I can reuse them again for now with the new candles. I should do the same with our other light-candles, but we will use what we have first.

Power.

We found out where our power comes from, a nice move on our power company. Utter transparency and honesty, but not such a pleasant surprise. The breakdown was more or less:

20% renewable (a good start)

25% coal (the horror!!!!)

25% nuclear (oh dear!!)

I still need to translate the remaining 30% which came from several different sources.

Well, finding alternatives to both save money and not use this wicked electricity has become an even bigger issue for me.

Thankfully we have unplugged the fridge-freezer and the only major energy we use is my computer for work. Having eventually failed at trying a tablet and a low-energy computer like the Raspberry Pi.

The other three big items is the washing machine, and my husband’s Xbox and TV. He is very much willing to take on this lifestyle change with the exception of one of his favourite games. I’ve asked him to play less, but have promised not to ask him to stop altogether.

Let’s see how it goes, sometimes he says he wants a new electric razor and this and that. Maybe it’s old habits or maybe he’s just thinking out loud and not entirely serious about getting these things.

Currently we are generating our own power from the wood burning oven and kettle that both use heat to make power, plus the old small solar panels and a some wind-up torches.

In the future I’d really like a small wind turbine, rather than a questionable (environmentally-friendly speaking) solar panel and perhaps more human-powered options.

I’ve decided to donate my Kindle to my father, once I’ve read all the books, as I know he is interested in getting one. I’ll ask that he sells/hands it on in future and so my concerns over its sustainability should have been solved.

Cleanliness.

I have been using soaps and shampoos again, and I did need a shave last month.

I had a Xmas treat of a haircut too. I kept the top long, and just had the sides shaved. So, I can still see exactly how much my hair has grown.

I am not changing my mind about not shaving or cutting my hair, this was simply an end of year treat.

I am reading about making my own soap/shampoo and won’t buy new products. I need to be ready with my own by the time our supply runs out, or go a few weeks again without any.

I am still peeing in the bidet to save water, but once our compost bin is established I’ll be peeing there. I’m sure the neighbours will be giving me some funny looks, but I need to set up a screen for me to also have showers outdoors come summer.

It’s entirely possible for this screen to evolve into an outdoor shower and compost toilet cabin. I have been doing my research into compost toilets. And am wondering why these aren’t mandatory in all new buildings?! Well, it’s at the top of my wish-list but being one of the more pricey items, will not necessarily happen this year.

What about the garden?

I spent the princely sum of €0.80 to buy some garlic, lettuce, cabbage and a little more on a new apple tree, raspberry bush and I forget one more. We’ve planted seeds for some insect friendly flowers, more peas (our current ones were badly damaged in gales), cornflower, borage and chard.

I’m finally getting organized and have began making monthly planting schedules that I can refer to again year after year.

Some lettuce and cabbages I got at the farmer’s market €0.80 for all six and some garlic.

Some lettuce and cabbages I got at the farmer’s market €0.80 for all six and some garlic.

An iris, a survivior from our last house.

Some “Spanish Bluebells”, not really sure what these are. Some flowers we bought with us from our old house.

I also harvested some onions, but have replanted them to produce more. I was very excited to see five little onions had grown from the one I planted last year. Never have I smelt fresh onion before, wow!

We need to get more soil but have plenty of wood chippings left, and we’re avoiding spending money on more pots by upcycling anything and everything that has no other value or use. As part of our cutting down on rubbish, we now only have one bin, our old coffee maker, which no-one wants to buy, joins an old kettle, old cat litter box, mugs, vases, packets and more.

Having bees is a long way-a-way, given finding them locally has proven a headache. My source of worms has also disappeared, meaning I can’t get some once our compost bin has been established. :-(

And chickens? Given we still eat meat, and that I have found much cheaper starting options than I originally posted? Yes, they are back on the radar – but with no clear date in mind for when we’ll get them. I can always feed the kitchen scraps too, but will there be enough for feed and compost?

What else is new/old?

We’ve still got plenty of old pallets and wood to make more things but have no real need for anything just yet. Maybe our outdoor bathroom/screen or some pot containers. I guess there’s no rush to decide.

Sadly, I am still waiting for my Altered Nozzle, the sooner we get this and save some water the better.

We’re ready to sell on more items such as books and other odds, but having got sick of boxes, we recycled or upcycled them and will now just have to accept less for items than we had once hoped.

I’ve been checking through my social media and have lost access to my Tumblr, but I’m not currently too bothered by this. If you’re messaging me there, I won’t get it.

The future?

Let’s just see what happens with Instagram, vlogging and other social media, but for sure I am excited to continue writing here.

As I said, chickens sometime this year and hopefully bees who knows when.

Willow coppice for firewood is also on my list, but this may not be a reality until we have our own land… along with the wind turbine.

I plan on getting/making a camping shower for free hot water this summer, but in the meantime we will need the boiler and gas for short hot showers.

Other things for the longer future that require we own our home, need more land or basically money are a plant-based grey-water filtration system and that compost toilet.

I don’t expect many people dream and wish for a compost toilet, but I’m one of them now.

And of course, more crop plants.

  Phew. I think I’ve said enough. Thanks for reading this mammoth post. I’m so excited for the year ahead, and hope you continue to follow us on this journey.

Time to remind myself of what we've already achieved & what we want to work towards. #gogreen It has been six months since starting this blog, and now feels like the ideal time to give you all an update and help remind myself of what we've already achieved and what we want to work towards in the months and years ahead.