#still not over the time i said mcds and mcdonalds replied to me i was talking abt happy meal toys man 😭 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tgwltw · 6 years

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sniffles and cuddles.

requested by anon: Could you do Roy introducing his s/o (or hopeful future s/o) to Lian?

OKAY! This blew up. It’s a little over 2000 words and I didn’t expect I would be writing this much for this prompt to be honest. Sorry if the ending feels a little bit rushed, I swear if it was up to me, I probably would be writing more than intended and it would just look draggy. Anyway, thank you for sending in this prompt! Hope it’s alright with you and hope you enjoy it!

note: Single Dad! AU, modern AU

You smile to yourself as you stare at the table you have managed to quickly decorate: a few colourful, glittery balloons, a teddy bear that is hugging a bag full of candies and chocolates and that was about it really - you didn’t really add much to the table mostly because you didn’t want to make it seem to over the top. You wring your hands, finally feeling the nerves that has been building up - she isn’t even here yet and you are already this nervous! Although granted, you really want this to go well. The both of you do, truthfully.

A smile appears on your face, despite your nervousness, when you think about your lover. (Referring to him as your boyfriend seems a little bit… short-term and it definitely is not the term you would use to describe what Roy and you have, that’s for sure). When he had proposed the idea of meeting his daughter, Roy had been nervous - more so than the first time he relented to go on a date with you (let it never be said that you didn’t fight for what you want!) - but you had been ecstatic!

You knew just how much Lian means to him - almost most of the time, Roy would be talking about his daughter. There was just something about the way he loves and carries Lian with all of his heart that made you fell in love with him, became all the more attracted to him - it really was just something endearing about how he spoke about Lian that warmed your heart.

It was no secret between the two of you that often Roy’s relationship didn’t work because the moment they heard he had a daughter, one that was really young, most dropped him like hot potatoes, not wanting to be a ‘mom’ this young and you also understood just how much those words had hurt him because he really loved Lian, even if she was unplanned. The fact that he wants to introduce you to Lian means that he is willing to put his own heart at risk again and you definitely did not want to hurt him which is how you knew how serious Roy must have been when he asked if you wanted to officially meet his daughter.

The two of you agreed to have the meeting at Lian’s current obsession: McDonalds. The closest McDonalds was, thankfully, not far from where you work at and also nearby Lian’s pre-school which is why you had gone straight to McDonalds (after buying the little things that you hope might help Lian to warm up to you a tiny bit because even though you have yet to meet her, the way Roy talked about her made you feel like you know Lian very, very well) to get a table for the three of you.

When it was nearer to the time Roy and you had agreed on and you still have yet to receive a message from him, that is when you got worried. Roy would have told you if Lian decided she didn’t want to meet you (he had been slowly warming Lian up for you, which was really sweet of him but you wanted to win her heart on your own!) but he has yet to text you so you assumed the plan is still ongoing. But when it is fifteen minutes past the promised time, you checked your phone to read the last text you received from him; it mostly consisted of how he is looking forward to seeing you later and how he still has a meeting to go through at lunch. So you decided to do the next best thing: call Roy.

It takes a few tries until Roy actually picked up the phone but by then your nerves feel fried, with worry and fear. “Babe?”

Roy groans. “Shit, Y/N. I forgot, didn’t I?” His voice feels faraway and you would have been offended by his words had you not hear the crying in the background and you furrow your eyebrows. “Y/N, I am so, so sorry. I don’t think we can make it - Lian came down with the nastiest cold and it’s been really hard and I am so sorry? Can we reschedule?”

It breaks your heart to hear Roy sound so defeated, so tired and so filled with worry and concern for his daughter and being the understanding person that you are, you nod your head. “Of course, I don’t mind at all. Do… do you need any help, Roy?”

Roy doesn’t answer your question instead you can hear him trying to placate his daughter, coming her into eating her medicine but judging from the wailing you hear, he isn’t really doing much of a good job. “Sorry, Y/N. Did you say something just now?”

You begin packing your things - putting the bear and the chocolates in the bag - and gave the balloons to the little girl that had been eyeing them since she came in. “Call me later okay? Hope Lian gets well soon, Roy.” Roy makes a noncommittal hum and you hang up the call, pondering what you should do now that your plan for the night is cancelled.

An hour later, you find yourself standing in front of Roy’s cozy house with chicken soup, porridge an some shawarma for Roy (since you know he skipped lunch earlier). Your mother always made you some porridge and chicken soup whenever you were sick so hopefully, this will be alright for Lian. When you ring the doorbell, you almost wanted to just leave the food you brought since this is really the first time you have ever done something like this - inviting yourself over to Roy’s house. Half of you hopes he doesn’t mind you stopping by unannounced and the other half hopes he wouldn’t be too mad.

Roy opens the door a few minutes later, surprising you with how disheveled he looks and when he actually turns to look at you, his eyes widen in surprise. “Y/N?”

You give him a wary smile before handing the porridge, chicken soup and shawarma to him. “Chicken soup and porridge are for Lian and the shawarma’s for you.” You point out. “I’m sorry I dropped by unannounced but I got worried.” You really did - it was right there and then in McD that you realised just how far deep you have fallen for the man right in front of you and just how much you have grown to like Lian (even if you hadn’t met her yet!).

Roy stares at you with an unreadable expression before he reaches for you with his free hand, wrapping an arm around your waist, hugging you tightly and you carefully wound your arms around him, careful not to jostle the food too much lest it spills. Roy presses his lips on your forehead, leaning back to stare at you. “Thank you, Y/N. I - I really appreciate this.”

Before you can even reply, you hear the pitter patter of feet and you pull away just in time to see Lian standing by the door to the living room, sniffling and tearing up, wrapped in a blanket. Her face looks flush and she hiccups before crying out loud and your heart tinges with pain as she cries out. Roy immediately releases you in favour of heading over to his daughter.

Feeling slightly awkward by the door, you stepped in to the house, closing the door behind you. You follow after Roy and watch as he rubs Lian’s back as he tries to hold the four year old and balance the food as well. Judging from his attire, Roy definitely did not get the chance to change out of his work clothes either and that was probably not good for Lian either. So you place your hand gently on Roy’s shoulder, catching his attention. He sends you an apologetic look. “Why don’t I help?” You ask him as you kneel on the ground beside Roy. He stares at you and you gently take the crying girl into your arms - Lian must have been so out of it because the moment you took her in your arms, she latched her arms around your neck, crying into your shoulders and you could feel the heat radiating off of the little girl.

“Y/N,” Roy starts but you shake your head.

“I can handle her. Why don’t you go take a quick shower, eat the food and we can figure out what to do about Lian, okay?” You look at Roy. You can see the gears in his head turning as he contemplates your suggestion. You could see that Roy is hesitant but when you shake your head and usher him to leave, Roy relents but not before placing a kiss on top of Lian’s head, telling her how Daddy will take a quick shower and that she is safe with you around.

Lian sniffles loudly and tightens her hold on you so you rub her back soothingly, wondering what your own mother did whenever you were sick. You slowly stand up, moving Lian slightly so she is more comfortable in your arms as you made your way to the living room where the sofas have been pushed aside and in the middle, there is a foldable mattress where you assumed she had been resting just before Roy answered the door.

You made yourself comfortable on the sofa and cuddled Lian to you. Her crying has slowly ceased to sobbing and sniffling and her breathing is laboured too. “There, there, Lian.” You murmur as you rub her back, humming a tune your mother used to do whenever you were sick. You made sure Lian is comfortable and continued doing the same thing as your mother had and not before long, Lian is sleeping fitfully in your arms. It was better than nothing, you suppose as you stare at the little girl in your embrace.

Lian’s face is pressed against your chest, her hand fisting your shirt and even though she looks like a mess, she is still beautiful. You press your lips on her forehead, tightening the hold you have on her and continue humming the tune.

You aren’t sure how long you had been sitting there because the next thing you know, Roy is gently shaking you and you realised that Lian isn’t in your arms anymore, causing you to sit up straight in panic and Roy places his hands on your shoulders, stopping you. “Babe, Lian - “

Roy gives you a small smile as he takes a seat beside you. “She’s in her bedroom.” Roy tells you and he smiles, taking you by surprise. You blink a couple of times as you stared at him, unaware of why he is smiling like that at you. Roy reaches for your hand, intertwining your fingers together and he brings your hand up to his lips, kissing it, causing you to flush slightly from the sudden attention. “It’s been awhile since I’ve last seen Lian like that and - Y/N, thank you so much for being here for Lian and I.” He tells you earnestly and you shake your head, blushing at his compliment. “

“It’s nothing, Roy. I just hope Lian will feel better soon.” You yawn and Roy furrows his eyebrows. “I think I should head home now.” Roy shakes his head, throwing an arm around your body. You raise an eyebrow at him.

“It’s late, you’re tired and I really don’t want you to be driving home this late. How about you just sleepover here?” He asks, looking at you expectantly and you mull over your decision before slowly nodding your head. Roy smiles and presses his lips on your temple. “Come on, let’s get you settled in. I think I have a spare shirt that you can fit and some pants…”

(The next morning, when Lian’s temperature went down a bit, she greeted you with a smile and for the rest of the morning, demanded cuddles from you, to Roy’s surprise because he doesn’t even remember Lian being that affectionate with anyone).

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5hfanfiction · 7 years

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I have an über big crush on you

watt = longerr_hours check out my shit

So Lauren has no idea how to use uber. She’s always had the app, for emergencies like the one she’s in now (if being stuck at your ex boyfriend’s party at three in the morning is considered an emergency), but she’s never been in one and she isn’t quite sure what the process is.

Does she talk to the driver? Does she awkwardly sit there for the twenty minutes that it is then give them five stars to make up for the lack of convo? Does she sit in the back, or is that weird (no obviously you sit in the back, but like, still it feels weird).

She orders one, and it takes a second but then the driver pops up and she thought she’d have to approve of them but like, whatever, and when she click son the picture she’s shocked to see someone so young looking driving.

She has a 4.9 star rating and it says she’s been doing this for 9 months and almost two hundred drives so Lauren take sit she must be nice and eagerly waits to escape the party that feels it’s been going on for years.

It’s a small silver car, and like fuck off Lauren doesn’t know cars enough to know the car so don’t h8. But it’s small, and she makes a beeline towards it, dodging the other drunks on the porch and then she’s safely inside, and dace to face with the most beautiful person she’s ever seen.

“Why hello there, you seem in a rush,” pretty face giggles and Lauren doesn’t car show nerdy that is because it’s so cute coming from pretty face- Camila, her name said Camila.

“Yeah a little bit,” Lauren laughs, buckling in as Camila pulls off the curb and into the quiet neighborhood.

“Rough night? Or other? Or something you’re not going to talk to your uber driver about why am I being so pushy?” she jokes and Lauren can’t help but giggle at the girl.

She’s more gorgeous in person, the picture was pretty but it certainly didn’t do her justice, and Lauren wonders if she had a high rating simply because it was an honor to be looking at her.

“Something like that,” Lauren mumbles, still checking her driver out before shaking her head and continuing so she doesn’t seem rude. “My ex had a party and somehow I ended up there, there with him and it was just, my driver got drunk and I’ve been trying to leave for hours and, yeah that about sums it up.”

And like, she’s glad she got a young driver because she actually feels fine talking about that with her and it’s nice to tell someone else how unfortunate her night has been.

“Oh yikes,” Camila shudders, extra - ly but Lauren just giggles, glad she’s getting in a better mood already. “I’d have walked home hours ago.”

“I would’ve but I live on the west side of the campus so it’s a bit of a hike,” she replies.

(AN this is a made up campus i d on not know what campus would have a twenty minute erie from one side to the other i am sorry deeply but not really thx u)

“No way! I live by there too, what dorm are you in?”

“I’m in Kingsly,” Lauren replies with a fake gag and Camila laughs, nodding in agreement since that’s known to be a shitty area.

“I’m Dalton, it’s not that much better but anything is better than Kingsly,” she jokes as Lauren nods in agreement. “What year are you?"

And like, the girls kind of just click.

They talk for the whole twenty minutes and Camila thanks Lauren in the end for living close to her so she can end her night back home which Lauren accepts despite having not done it on purpose which Camila shushes her about.

Lauren spends the night thinking about Camila, and her cute little smile and her cute hair and her cute eyes and her cute self and well, it’s no shock when she finds herself ordering an uber two days later to the library just to see it Camila will get her. (She waits the two days so she doesn’t seem desperate.) And when she sees that Camila is her driver she may or may not do a little happy dance.

"Long time no see,” Camila grins as Lauren gets not the car. “First partying now library though, I have to say I’m shocked at the change.”

“Oh so partiers can’t be studious too?” Lauren jokes and they easily fall into conversation.

They fall into such good conversation about books and reading that Camila decides to follow her into the library to check out some stuff but that’s kind of a negative since Lauren didn’t actually plan on staying at the library (she just wanted to see Camila, can you blame her?).

After grabbing a book on something biology related though, Lauren looks studious as fuck and decides to check out. Camila offers her a ride back and Lauren can’t help but grin like a love struck fool when she pulls open the shot gun door and says she thinks they should “take this step in their relationship”.

And that’s how it starts.

Lauren pretending she need sot go places to talk to Camila, and Camila driving her there and filling her days with jokes and adorableness.

“Hey super star, what’s cooking?” Camila grins as she leans back in her seat and waits for Lauren to get in.

“Hallo,” Lauren smiles, not hesitating in unplugging Camila’s phone form the AUX she learned a while ago that Camila doesn’t mind and turning on her “good vibes” playlist. When “Close” by Nick and Tove Lo fills the air Camila smiles brightly and begins the journey. (Camila has a crush on him, she just won’t admit it, but Lauren doesn’t mind spoiling her with a song every now and then cause who tf don’t have a crush on Nick Jonas.)

She just wanted McDonald’s, and she knows uber delivers food too now, but she’d prefer to get Camila.

“So you really want that McD’s crap or will you let me get you Wendy’s instead?” Camila cuts in after a second of starting the drive.

Lauren huffs, pretending to be offended, but answers anyways, “Honestly that’s a hike though, unlike you I ain’t getting paid to spend time with you so I’m feeling the crap.”

Camila looks at the smirking girl for another moment before banging a u-turn and taking off for the city center that Lauren knows the Wendy’s is located. “My treat, the ride and food, consider it payback for you constantly paying my electricity bills with this shit."

"Wendy’s and the AUX?” Lauren grins, turing up the volume and leaning her chair back to recline, “my kind of date Cabello."

She loves eyeing Camila blush, so yeah, she says stuff like that a lot since it’s easy to get the other girl to blush.

And the thing is, they’re kind of kind of dating. Like they go out to lunch a lot now after that time, and usually Camila will cover the food since Lauren covers the gas and such. (One time Lauren even catches her sneaking bill sin to her purse when she goes to the bathroom to pay her back for the drive, and eventually they’re just texting each other to get lunch instead of doing the whole uber thing.

And the thing is, Lauren really thinks she might be going crazy for Camila. She really likes her and, well Lauren isn’t one to like somebody, she never has and she didn’t think she’d ever be the relationship type if she’s being honest, but something about Camila’s dorky charm and adorable jokes has her smitten.

She tries to tell her this, but every time she does she trips over hr words and ends up not committing.

When she finally does tell Camila about her crush, about what’s been on her mind, she does so in probably the most awkward encounter ever.

She’s cheap, so she always goes for the uber pools, but she’s never had to share a car with someone. Of course though, as soon as she opens her mouth about it her luck changes.

"Hey Lo what’s-” Camila starts but Lauren cuts her off, wanting to shoot the bull in the horns or whatever the fuck.

“I like you,” she starts as soon as she shuts the door to Camila’s small car. At Camila’s confused look she continues, “I really, really like you and I really have for a while and I, I know we only talk every now and then but I’m crazy about you and-"

And then the back door is opening, and the man to ruin Lauren’s time to shine steps into the car.

"Hey sorry, I saw her get in and didn’t know if it was the right car,” he smiles, gesturing towards Lauren as he straps his seatbelt on.

“It’s fine, it’s, it’s okay yeah it’s greta okay we can go now,” Lauren answers for a still shocked Camila who’s mouth is about flopping at this point.

“Lo I-”

“Drive Camz,” Lauren says under her breath, glad that the man is paying more attention to his phone than their conversation. “We can talk later… or forget it, let’s forget it thank youu.” And yeah, she books it from the car as soon as the car stops.

(She still gives Camila five stars of course and a five dollar tip for any mental trouble she put her through.)

Camila shows up at her apartment a few days later, no uber request, no call to let her know she’s coming, no knock really, she was just there as Lauren was going out for coffee and when she asked if Lauren would come with her the green eyed girl couldn’t find it in herself to hesitate.

They’d driven by the set up before, but when Camila pulls aside into the lot with the view Lauren thinks maybe this girl is meant for her (if she’s willing to do this cheesy, sappy shit).

It’s almost seven, and it’s mid November so it’s chilly and Camila’s brought blankets to wait for the sun to go down and it’s, quite literally it’s the most perfect thing Lauren could’ve imagined.

All awkwardness she could’ve expected after their last encounter is gone as she curls up next to Camila and eventually they’re cuddled up on the hood of her car talking about everything and nothing.

Camila ends up holding her, and she also ends up breaking the comfortable silence they fall into once it’s finally dark out.

“Can I tell you something?” Camila asks after a few minutes of silence. Lauren doesn’t bother lifting her head from the older girls chest, just nods into her because she’s too content in the moment to ruin anything.

She feels the deep breath Camila takes and notices the shake to Camila’s hand as it rests itself on her waist, curling around her to pull her just a little bit closest before saying, “I kind of have an uber big crush on you,” and yup, Lauren thinks she could fall in love with this girl without trying.

She does pull back then, but she doesn’t ruin the moment, she makes it better, finally connecting their lips after what’s felt like years, and what has definitely been worth it.

When she finally pulls back it’s because they’re both smiling too hard to keep kissing, so yeah, it’s kind of a perfect moment.

#UPDATE #one shot #AU #slash #camren #romance fluff #submission #I Have An Uber Big Crush On You

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scarlettlillies · 7 years

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Hetalia- Late Night Stream (PruEst)

Drabble #2 for @melveres! Well, this one can’t be considered as a drabble anymore. I got a little carried away with my words and it hit past the 1K mark. This one features some platonic PruEst. Hooray for silly titles!

I must confess, I really do enjoy Vinesauce and I kind of like of the idea of Prussia being a streamer? He seems to be big with social media and I bet he enjoys playing games every now and then. The pack mentioned is very real and is called Smash Bros. Infinite. It expands the character roaster quite a bit and is an experience like no other. If you have the means to, give it a roll and you too can play famous characters like Luke Skywalker, Ronald McDonald, Pepsiman, and Vegeta dressed as Luigi.

Prussia really needed a break.

He announced on stream that he would be taking a quick break to grab some food and prepare the next game. He let the stream run on, setting the background music to some early Neue Deutsche Welle music, a trait that his streams were famous for. There wasn't much he could eat at this hour but poking through the fridge brought him face-to-face with leftover pepperoni pizza and he couldn't say no. He didn't bother reheating it and simply ate it cold. He then grabbed a few soft drinks and retreated upstairs.

The sound of the front door bursting opening and some strained grunting noises stopped Prussia in his tracks as he was halfway up the stairs and quickly returned to the main floor to see what the ruckus was. He discovered Estonia had arrived home early and was struggling with his hands full of bags and a drunk Finland spewing a mix of garbled English and Finnish. Estonia was forced to drop everything and assist Finland to the sofa where he had him lay down on his side. He protested but it wasn't long after that he passed out and Estonia covered him with the blanket that he usually kept over the sofa. When Estonia turned around, Prussia was leaning against the living room wall with his drinks still in his hands.

“That didn't last very long.”

“He was doing vodka shots at ten. I knew then it wasn't going to be a long night,” Estonia replied as he walked past him and straight for the kitchen. He poured a glass of water and grabbed some aspirin tablets from the top shelf in one of the cupboards and quickly returned to the living room where he left them on the coffee table. “He's going to have a rough time when he wakes up.”

He grabbed the bags he dropped at door and headed back to the kitchen.

“I'll join you upstairs in a minute.”

Prussia nodded and headed back to Estonia's study where he left the stream running. He had been gone longer than he had intended to be and was now rushing to get the next game set up. He had a treat planned for them and he hoped the wait would be worth it for his followers. When everything was ready, he got cozy in his seat and cracked open a cola. He heard Estonia's foot steps on the wooden floor and the crunch of a paper bag. When he turned his chair, the familiar smell of fries and burgers caught his attention and Estonia offered him the bag.

“You're too kind Estland.”

“I got this for the both of us,” Estonia said as Prussia took the bag.

“You??” Prussia said in a confused tone with a raised brow, “You eat McD's? This is brand new information!”

Estonia rolled his eyes, “Contrary to popular belief, yes sometimes I visit fast food places for a quick bite.”

“At this hour?”

“Sometimes I make bad choices at eleven-thirty at night,” Estonia replied as he pulled another chair up to the desk. “Besides, I have a guest here who skipped dinner to stream. I'd be a poor host if I'd let you starve.”

Prussia snorted, “Thanks mom.” he replied as he passed one of the burgers to Estonia. He left the two medium-sized fries on the desk. He was quick to consume his burgers in a mere three bites before washing it down with some more cola.

“So what's playing tonight?” Estonia asked.

“I've got a massive mod pack for Smash that's has a ton of new characters. Seriously, you can name any popular character out there and this game has it. The memes are going to be endless tonight! You wanna join?”

“I'll pass. Maybe next time.”

“Suit yourself. You're missing out!” Prussia said as he put on his headset and cut off his music playlist. Estonia could see the chat going wild and chuckled at some of the silly comments being written.

“Yo! Sorry for the delay! I got caught up with something but things are cool now and I've even got a friend here joining me tonight. He's not going to be playing but instead just watching from the sidelines so don't panic if you hear laughter and it's not from me. But enough talk from me! Let's get started with the last game of the night!”

Prussia had such a strong and confident tone, just as he did in person, and it was so easy to feel pumped when he spoke. Estonia was not new to his streams- both he and America had taken part at some point as guests. He was not a frequent streamer himself nor did he watch them regularly. Work kept him busy and his attention was always towards to his other projects. But on the nights he struggled with sleep, they always seemed to be a good source of comfort. Estonia always had a good laugh whenever Prussia struggled with a game and listening to him get a frustrated made for good fodder whenever they got together. When Prussia asked him if he could use his computer and equipment to stream while he was out for the night, Estonia had no qualms about it and said he could use whatever he liked.

But sitting this close to him sometimes felt a little awkward. Their past relationship still lingered in his mind: the arguments, the beatings, working as a peasant boy under him and the humans he represented—they are things he hasn't forgotten. He wondered if Prussia felt the same way as he did. Did he ever feel uneasy around him knowing the things they've done to each other? He never had the heart to ask him. But when he hears the laughter and when he tugs at his arm saying “Did you see that?!” in excitement, all seems to be forgotten when Estonia joins in on the fun and adds in his witty commentary.

Estonia never expected to find a friend in Prussia— and he was sure the other man felt the same. But he had to admit, they made an interesting pair.

#hetaliararepaircentral #APH Estonia #APH Prussia #PruEst #Lilly's Writings #hetalia #melveres

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organicli · 7 years

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Day 10, Jodhpur part 1

Last night some friends we’d made at the hostel before said we should come and meet us for some drinks but when I asked less than an hour later if we were alright to come now, I didn’t get a reply. So rude. Stood up twice by this girl now; I won’t be chasing her anymore. I skyped my mum instead.

First thing this morning, we went to the train station in a rush to get the last few tickets on tomorrow’s train to Jaipur. It was quite stressful; I don’t want to be stuck in this town any longer than I need to be. The station was well air conditioned and there were dozens of people lounging on the floor, including one man with a bruised and swollen face like a plum. At the counter, we were sent right around the side and back of the set of buildings to the less well air conditioned reservation office and we waited behind a skinny oriental asian man, whose sweat had formed a perfect outline of where his backpack had been, and his travel companion, who had a paper mask covering his nose and mouth. I was relieved when we got our tickets.

Back out in the heat, we bought some drinks and I had an ice lolly while we looked for something cheap to eat. We came to a food court that looked unpleasant but seemed to be very popular so we gave it a go. I couldn’t even liken it to a McDonald’s or any other UK fast food because their restaurants have all gotten quite stylish. Think retro McD’s, or perhaps whatever comes to mind with the typical tacky American fast food joint. Brights lights illuminated the canteen tables and chairs and we were brought pav bharjis on white plastic trays with selections dividing the different components of the meal. We neglected the water in plastic cups for fear it was straight out the tap, perish the thought.

We had an argument after that. I thought we should get a cab straight to the ‘blue side of town’. Matt thought we should walk back to the hotel and ask how much it ought to cost to get there. I thought it was silly to walk all the way in the middle of the day when there wouldn’t be that much difference in the price. There was some miscommunication as to where we were going when we got in the tuctuc and we both snapped at each other and ended up being heinously overcharged for the half a mile back to the hotel.

Ive never had an argument with matt, or with anyone really, like this before. Nothing ever ascends into raised voices with me. My emotions get too much and i have to cry to release it and my words get small and communication is slow and painful. This time i needed to cry, briefly, before I stormed off of the tuctuc and before I ran up the seven flights of stairs, and then it was gone. Then it was just my anger and my heart pounding and my argument reiterating itself in my head over and over until i was ready to win. I was definitely, indisputably right here. I told myself that, making eye contact with myself in the bathroom mirror, having locked myself away so that we could both have time to cool off.

The tuctuc driver hadn’t actually known what I meant when I asked him to take us to the blue houses, despite them being what Jodhpur is famous for. The family at the guesthouse pointed us in the right direction and we started walking. We’d make up quite quickly. The city got so much more pleasant as we got closer to the old city; it was so much quieter and the pollution in the air diffused with every step. We soon started coming across blue houses. Most were pastelly shades but we found beautiful, bright aqua walls, minty doorways and cool sorbet blue steps dotted between. The streets got incredibly narrow, way too small for the ambitious drivers around here to even consider taking a tuctuc down.

Some old men in sandals sat at the foot of a gnarly tree gestured for us to go the other way at a fork we’d come to, a dead end at side door to the fort on the right. Around the other corner, after winding through the slithers of the blue buildings was a deep green lake, with stone steps at our end, reaching out to the dusty orange stones at the other, and the ring of the fort beyond. There had been no tourists around and only a few locals; I felt like we’d stumbled upon a secret. It was a slice of peace of in noisy city, quiet oozing out of the water.

It wasn’t without its flaws. There were still piles of rubbish littered along the sides and plastic bags floating in the murky waters. There are huge stinking piles of rubbish throughout this place. The sewers were overflowing in the some areas of the old part of town and others had huge stacks of rubble spilling down from a wreckage.

There were lots of children roaming this part of town hassling me and Matt for spare change. A little boy who can’t have been older than 5 threw a large rock at him as we were walking away, which didn’t make it above knee level, but he wasn’t happy.

We’d been making our way in the direction of the zip lining. It turns out that we actually don’t get free entry to the fort with it (so my moaning over that £7.20 yesterday was redundant) but we did get free entry to the grounds. We came in to the fort from the other side to the usual tourist entrance. The grounds were situated through a giant wooden door. They were incredibly peaceful; we came down the steps to a sea of green shrubbery and flowers and trees with big waxy leaves. The fort walls hugged the edges, with archways hiding cool alcoves. A few Indian men sat quietly sketching on a rug on an expanse of grass and dozens of squirrels jumped and played with each other, running around the grounds. The air was so much cleaner. If the lake was a slice of peace, this garden was a cake.

The zip lining was amazing and so much fun! We had views over the blue city and zipped across the green lakes encircled by the fort. I felt like a happy dog, with the wind blowing in my face as I rushed down the line. I wasn’t too good at stopping to begin with as I came hurtling towards the guy at the other end, but I got better. Matt just kept spinning around.

After the zip lining, we sat at the cafe by the garden and had an overpriced pepsi. It was so beautifully refreshing. It was cold. It was fizzy. It was everything one desires in a soft drink.

Then, we searched for a spot to watch the sunset. Finally, after being whistled down from our first viewpoint and ducking past a cricket game, we found a good one on the edge of the fort with two English girls and a group of young local guys. The sky was so hazy with pollution as the pink sun slipped behind the mountains.

#travels

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