#AND TOGETHER THEY ARE THE FLUFFY HUSBANDS!!!! WHO WONT LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

[law-d-water-trafalgar]

Bepos Girlfriend

Context: Polar Tang docks on a winter island and Bepo finds a girlfriend.

Law X Reader, Bepo x Mimi, fluff

-☆-

The Polar Tang had docked on a winter island. You and your husband Law walk on deck with a fluffy Bepo behind you guys. Soon the rest of the crew comes up and walks onto the island. While you Bepo and Law walk together looking for a very special winter flower that only grows on this island. Suddenly your observation haki kicks in. You have the feeling of being watched. You nudge Laws shoulder.

"What is it (n)-ya" Law asks you quietly.

"I just.. feel someone staring at us" your observation haki was much more developed than Laws and any of the crews. You see him gaze around trying not to look suspicious.

"I dont see anyone (n)-ya" he states. Suddenly you all hear snow crunches from behind a tree. Then out pops a smaller polar bear than Bepo. They walk upright to you all, putting you all on edge.

"Hello there" a female voice emits from the smaller polar bear. All of you in shock you decided to speak first

"Hello who are you?"

"I'm Mimi who are all of you?" She questions.

"This is (n)-ya, Bepo and I'm Law" Law says politely.

"So how are you talking?" You quizzically ask. Mimi then turns into a naked female human as you hold a hand up to Laws eyes not letting him look. You wrap your cloak around her.

"Where we come from you have to wear something on yourself so others dont see your genitals" you try your best to explain as Law swishes your hand away.

"Ohhh sorry about that" Mimi says looking you all up and down.

"What about him? Why is he wearing stuff?" She says pointing at Bepo. Bepo points to himself gaining a slight blush on his fur.

"Hes with my pirate crew that's the uniform" Law states blankly. You suddenly grab Laws arm and turn around standing pressed against his arm and leg.

"We have to recruit her to the crew" you whisper to your husband.

"What? Why in gods name would we do that?" He asks whispering back to you.

"Remember Bepo asking why there are no female polar bears? Its obvious Law he wants a girlfriend" you state clearly and you see it click in Laws head. Then you both turn around while standing up.

"So would you like to join my crew?" Law asks politely to Mimi.

"You mean leave here? I've been alone for so long. What's out there?" Mimi asks with wonder in her eyes.

"Theres all kinds of things out there from the clouds to underwater cities to islands of wonder. Tell her Bepo" you say trying to seal the deal.

"... uh yea what (n) said" Bepo fidgets with his paws blushing.

"If you will have me then I would love that!" Mimi exclaims.

"Are you hungry? Its freezing out here why dont we go inside?" You state and Law nods.

-☆-

Inside the Polar Tang

-☆-

In the mess hall you all sat watching Mimi drink warm soup. She had changed into a boiler suit that was super stretchy so when she transforms it wont rip. You gave her a bundle of brand new panties you had just bought. "You know Bepo is a Mink from an island on top of a gaint elephant. So he cant change like you can but we all like to cuddle with him so dont be shy about cuddling him" you perk up and say. Mimi transformed into a polar bear again with thumbs yes. She then gets up and hugs Bepo.

"I havent seen another one of my kind my whole life. I lost my mom early though" she says melancholy cuddling with a now blushing Bepo.

"Garchu" Bepo says.

"What?" Mimi asks in reply.

"Garchu is a form of hello or hi or you say it when you cuddle a Mink" Law states rather intrested in this turn of events. You lean over to Law and whisper.

"I think we should leave them alone" and he nods.

"Bepo can share a room with you. By the way were looking for a special winter flow-" Law was cut off by Mimi saying.

"Oh the flowers? I used to trade them for books in my cave. You can find then in the clearing by the waterfall" mimi states happily noming on Bepos ear.

"Garchu!" Mimi says while you and Law leave a blushing Bepo alone with Mimi. You follow Law as he rooms you out of the sub to the crew.

"Look in the clearing by the waterfall" Law announces to his crew.

-☆-

Meanwhile In The Polar Tang

-☆-

"Ah so your the subs navigator you direct where to go!" Mimi says happily as Bepo nods.

"So Mimi have you eaten any strange fruit before?" Bepo asks politely. Cocking her smaller head to the side she thinks then replys

"Why yes I did why?" She asks.

Bepo goes to the med bay as Mimi follows and finally finds the Encyclopedia Of Devil Fruits. After flipping through what seemed like hours she finally points to one.

"This is the one I ate" she exclaims jumping up and down.

"Hmm the Epithet Epithet No Mi, with the ability to transform into ones true self. So what were you before?" Bepo questions.

"Oh I was a polar bear who transforms into a human" Mimi states bluntly. Bepo just smiles.

"Do you know what a girlfriend and boyfriend is?" Bepo asks Mimi.

"Of course I read it in a book" she beams making Bepo blush.

"Would you... like to be my girlfriend Mimi?" Bepo asks fidgeting with his paws. She seems to think for a minute. Shes only read love stories.

"That sounds nice sure" Mimi says and hugs Bepo.

"Garchu!" She says nibbling on his ear making him wiggle around as he wraps his arms around Mimi.

"When we get into battles I'll protect you Mimi, and I'll teach you how to protect yourself too" Bepo says hugging her tight his dream come true of having a girlfriend.

-☆-

Back With Law And (N)

-☆-

"That's enough let's go back. We need to introduce you to our crews newest member" Law says bold and loud for all to hear. Everyone pirking up and hurrying wanting to meet the newest member.

-☆-

In The Polar Tang

-☆-

With everyone in the mess hall since it was the biggest place in the sub Law made the announcement gesturing to Mimi.

"This is Mimi a polar bear who ate the Epithet Epithet No Mi fruit who can transform into a human please make her feel welcomed" You smile at Law as he walks off to your shared room you follow. Once laying in bed you cuddle up to him, with his arms wrapping around you.

"Thank you, that was so sweet of you to let her join" you whisper in his ear making him shiver.

"It was perfect timing that's all. Bepo deserves a companion"Law says sweetly to you. After some snuggles of your, Law, and Bepo and Mimi in their own room everyone on the sub falls asleep.

#trafalgar law #law x reader #trafalgar d water law #trafalgar law x reader #law one piece #trafalgar law fluff

[vympirestake]

I LOVE Brahms(didn't like the second film😖) what do you think about Brhams SO who make a the doll a version of herself so it won't be alone anymore , and just filled with fluffy stuff(plus Brahms natural voice is sooooo sexy 😍😈😉)

I'm 🥺🥺

warnings: fluff

if anything could make brahms soft it would be seeing his sweet s/o taking such good care of his doll

showing it how to play piano, reading to it, even tucking it in at night all made brahms fall a little deeper in love with you

when he finally revealed himself, the doll had become somewhat neglected in your care and attention

thats not to say you forgot about it, its more that brahms requires a lot of attention and you simply didn't have time to handle both the doll and the man at once

your unintentional lack of care for the doll had begun to bother you, though

having taken care of doll-brahms for so long (and without anyone else for company) you got very attached to it

now seeing it alone and slumped over so sadly made your heart ache with a want to fix it

brahms does keep some doll supplies on hand, mostly for his own uses with upkeep and whatnot

for you, however, using those might be a bit risky as brahms would definitely find out your little plan way too soon

not to mention that he would likely be upset to find his (probably very expensive) materials had been used

so this can go one of two ways:

either you could buy materials from town to make a cloth doll

which would be great because a. its soft so therefore good for cuddle time and b. it would be fairly easy to make

or you could order a porcelain doll with the money from babysitting (given you won't need it as brahms isn't letting you leave anytime soon and he's definitely got cash) to keep with the style of brahms own doll

we do love a good matching couple

either way, once the mini you is in your grasp, brahms is in for a wonderful little suprise

*****

Everything was absolutely perfect.

The doll, shaped into your own likeness, that you had so painstaking prepared was finally ready. Now, seeing it placed next to the doll matching your husband's own features, you feel completed. Happy. And you just know Brahms is going to adore it, too.

Moving away from the newly acquainted couple, you make your way through the winding halls of your new home. It wont be long now before Brahms finds the two dolls. But you want him to be alone when he, eventually, does. For as much as you know he'll love it, you can never be completely certain on whats going on in Brahms's mind.

With that thought in mind, you find some menial housework to finish. Cleaning some dishes here, folding a few blankets there, simple things to keep you occupied for a short while. After having been in the house, and living with Brahms for long, you knew you couldn't know when he would show again. The gentle silence of the Heelshire manor that once kept you awake at night now lulled you into a quiet rhythm.

That is to saw, normally Brahms barely made noise when he walked, living in an old attic for the majority of your life will do that. But now his footsteps were heavy and clearly moving quickly through the manor halls. It was only a moment before the man was tugging your arm in the direction he came from, giving out small child-like noises and whines of your name the whole way. You, despite having just been throughly scared, giggled at his excitement and followed along.

"What is... this?" The dolls now sat before you two, Brahms finger pointed towards the newest addition.

"Well," yoy hesitated a moment before continuing, "that's a doll of me, Brahms." You took another moment again, watching as Brahms cocked his head to the side. "I figured since we're together, and your doll has been so lonely lately. I would give him his own, well, me."

You watched as the man before you processed this new information. He had also understood the doll has served its purpose and could now be semi-retired, given the current circumstances. But you weren't sure if he would like having a doll version of you around, especially considering how his own doll came into existence.

Before you could begin to explain yourself, Brahms lunged toward you. Nearly sending the both you flying to ground as he just about tackled you into a desperate embrace. Once the shock wore off you returned the tight hold you now found yourself in.

A quiet mumble then came from Brahms. "Thank you, I love them." His grip tightened then. Brahms had known completely that you love him. Though it wasn't until this moment, this simple action, that made him finally realize you love him and want to stay with him.

You let out a small huff of laughter, though at this point it could almost have been from sheer relief, and relaxed into Brahms chest.

It couldn't have been more than a moment that you two stood there enveloped in love and understanding before Brahms stepped away to finally inspect the newest addition to the manor. You watched with a wide smile how he so very gently felt the cloth of the clothes, then ran a delicate finger over the small cheek, before feeling over its hair.

After some time of looking over the mini-you Brahms finally looked back up. Despite the porcelain mask you could tell there was an aching smile on his face and you couldn't help but feel that you would do anything to make him smile like that forever.

#catch me rewatching the part where he yells at gretta to stay just to hear his voice again 😖 #mine #x reader #brahms heelshire #the boy #brahms heelsire x reader #yeah i said husband #ofc brahms finds a ring of his mothers and puts it on your finger one day #thats it yall are married congrats #this is so fucking late but to be fair everything i put out in the near futute will be so mass apologizes #i do be slow

[pervy-anon98]

Christmas Snow Crystals ❄️

Pairing: Touka Kirishima , Kaneki ken

Rating: Slight NSFW, fluff

..........................

Haise was sitting at his desk , looking throughout the papers. Investing after the long party he and the Quinx had. He was thinking about one person, one never left his thoughts, one with a fluffy short blue hair, one wearing an apron hugging her body in its best curves.
He wished so bad that she could have joined them tonight.


“I wonder how’s that person doing? Is she on a date maybe?” He muttered , smiling to himself yet feeling a little bit of disappointment.


He looked at the clear sky from the window, “she should stay warm if so”, he looked bitter.

How much he wished. He’d be that man with her. On her date.

To Haise’s less knowledge, That person, was looking at the Christmas tree, holding her hand together. Praying.

Her older brother stands behind her.

“What are you doing?” He says.

“Im praying for Kaneki” she mutters.

Her brother was silent.

“I pray that he is not suffering, i pray he isnt alone anymore” she says. Trying not to sound sad.

Im praying he comes back soon. He comes back to me.

She sighed, knowing it wont happen. She doesnt want to be selfish, she knows it wont happen.

But, when a year passes by, at this time.

Changes of fates happen. Prayers get answered.

She was sitting between his thighs. Her legs above his waist. Her Arms hanging behind his neck. While his holding her waist. Lips collided in simple lazy kisses.

They were sitting on their bed in their warm bedroom. While the sky was snowing it’s crystals flakes of snow. Outside their balcony.

The presents were laying under the Christmas tree, ones he had bought them earlier, set up in their living-room of their 3+1 apartment.

Kaneki kept saying that he bought a lot for the Aogiri kids and the 24th Ward children. Making touka realise he bought them from the Cafe’s savings. But she couldn’t be mad over that. Knowing those children will be love it.

She interrupted the make out they were having. “Apparently you bought presents for everyone, did you buy the stuff i told you to buy for the baby?” She said.

“Of course, they have been the first in the list of good children that mr. Santa ken has written this morning” he said. Resting his palm around the baby pump between them.

“Good to know, they cant come and finding nothing to wear in this weather” touka muttered against his lips, landing another kiss.

“Actually, i ... i also bought something for you” he whispered against her cheeks.

He reached out into his pocket. And pulled out a velvet small box. And handed it to her.

She gazed at the box in a confused look

“Its not Christmas morning yet?” She said.

“Its not a Christmas present in fact, i should have bought this before, as your husband “ he said as he brushed her bangs away.

“Open it” he said. As he brought his lips to her cheeks. Closing his eyes, loving her scent.

She did as he told her.

There was a silver necklace with a pendent. The pendent was a ring with a rabbit looking up at the moon and the stars at the upper corner of the ring.

Her eyes twinkled at the beauty of the pendent’s idea.

“Kaneki..” she spoke but she was silenced with a kiss on her nose.

“I have a weak spot for buying you everything with rabbits on them, i guess i picked this habit from you.” He smiled.

“Idiot, you didn’t need to spend money on useless stuff” she blushed at the cute little rabbit.

“I can’t” he smiled.

And he brought his lips onto hers again. And pulled her slowly with him to lay on the bed.

She broke the kiss for a breath. And looked at the hanging clock on the wall.

It was 12:01 a.m.

“Oh? I guess its Christmas now” she said and looked at him again. Nose brushing.

“Merry Christmas, Anata” she kissed him.

Making him giggle.

It sounds so good on her lips.

“Merry Christmas, Tsuma” he muttered. And laid her next to him, and kissed her again. This time, not intending on breaking it.

Emotions take over them, warmth wraps them, love fills them.

A year filled with hardships, it was the time now to see the results of bearing along the hardships.

Touka knows he wont leave anymore, and he will be the first ever person who wont leave anymore.

Kaneki knows that she loves him, and will always choose him in everything, will want him to stay. And she is the first person he’d ever felt from this feeling.

He brings his hand under her shirt. While kissing her, reaching up to get rid of her bra. As she unbottens his black shirt’s buttons.

They break off their kiss for a breath.

“Kaneki, are we going really to do it?” She smirked.

Kaneki brought his lips toward her jawline. Kissing it, slowly bitting it. Getting moans from her in response.

“It helps you in birth, thats what the book said” he whispered against her shoulder.

“Y-you should read less” she giggled but then was cut by moans when his hands reached up to palm her breasts.

“I would only read less if you stop wearing those complicated bras” he said. Looking at her breasts and turned on by Considering her breasts are more huge than before.

“Yeah, you wish” she looked into him.

He smiled, as he kissed her forehead. And proceed to do what he was aiming for.

That night. Was one of the nights he wanted never to end. It was a chapter in his life he didnt ever want to finish.

He wanted to stay there in her arms. In her radiant beauty.

........................

Haise looked at the documents in front of him. He couldn’t focus.

“I love her” The small boy said with the white hair.

“What?” Haise replied.

“I... I love her, yet she probably hates me” he said. Looking in distance through the window.

“W-Why would she?” Haise asked, not sure of who they are speaking.

“Because i...i broke my promise with her” he spoke. “She is treating you nicely because she is protecting herself..” he continued.

“Okay? But who?” Haise asked.

“You will know later, if she decides to” he said and disappeared.

Haise sighed and took off his glasses. Walked and Threw himself on bed.

He really was exhausted.

For sure, he was wishing someone would embrace him in warmth while he was dozing off in the cold bed.

But he never knew, a time into future, after two years. At this time specifically,he will be there laying on a bed for two, with the barista he liked. Sleeping on his arm. With a 1 year old baby sleeping on his chest.

After three, he will be there again, with his wife, with a two year old baby between them and a newborn baby in the crib next to them.

And so on.

Every Christmas night will be a night where the family gathers. Reminding him of the warmth.

Though it doesn’t continue when the babies grow, but for now he will savour it.

#touken #toukaxkaneki #haise x touka #touka chan #touka kirishima #tokyo ghoul touka #kaneki x touka #kaneki ken #oek kaneki #tg kaneki #kaneki kun #tokyo ghoul kaneki #tgre #tg headcanons #tokyo ghoul #fluff #smut

[asoiaf-winter-is-coming]

Tell Him Part 2 (Bran x reader)

Prompt: OMG Thank you so much,“Tell him” was amazing and I wanted to ask if ypu would like to make a second part? Maybe some smut in the night of the wedding,or maybe just a normal day before their wedding where people tease them about everything and they cuddle and lots of cute things. + Hi! I love love looove your blog and I wanted to request something for you. Can you maybe do a bran stark x reader based around the song perfect by ed sheeran and make it really fluffy and adorable? Thanks!

Note: Sorry this took so long! I’m not as confident when it comes to writing for Bran, but i hope you enjoy! Check out Part 1.

Part 1

It was two days before the wedding, and Winterfell was beginning to get busy. The kitchens were already starting to prepare parts of the feast, and later that day some of the great families would be arriving.

Despite how hectic the castle was, the Starks still managed to find time to break their fast together. You couldn’t help but fall in love with how close the Starks were as a family.

You hoped that one day you and Bran would have a family like the one he grew up in, with a great brood of children that would love each other just as much as their aunt and uncles had.

Bran was sat beside you, and you felt his hand reach for yours under the table, you couldn’t help but blush, squeezing his hand lightly.

Arya rolled her eyes at the sight, quickly picking up on Brans not so subtle hand holding “Bloody hell you two are sickeningly in love”

Sansa nudged Arya’s arm hard, and Catelyn sent a scowl in her direction, of course the boys just laughed.

Bran sent a smirk in your direction “To be fair Mother, I think Arya might be right.”

From the corner of your eye you could see Arya and Rickon both pretending to be sick, but you knew they were just as happy for you and Bran as everyone else – they just had different ways of showing it.

Catelyn gave you both a knowing look “We’re going to have trouble separating you two the night before the wedding, aren’t we?”

You bit your lip. You and Bran had planned to forgo that tradition, both of you not subscribing to the old wives’ tale that it may be bad luck.

Catelyn smiled at the look on both yours and Brans faces. “You may want to spend every waking minute together now, but trust me you’ll be sharing a bed for the rest of your lives. You’ll be grateful for the rest before the big day.”

Robb scoffed at that “It’s not like they’ve been sneaking into each-others rooms since-” Your eyes widened, and you swiftly kicked Robb in the shin, shutting him up.

Ned only raised an eyebrow at Robbs outburst, saying nothing. You suspected that both Ned and Catelyn were both being polite and not saying anything, though you suspected you would be teased for it after the wedding.

You spent the rest of the day curled up in thick furs with Bran under the heart tree in the Gods wood. You both had a book in hand, and sat in a comfortable silence.

“I can scarce believe that the next time we will be here it will be to get married.” Bran said in awe, pulling you closer to him.

You gave a slight smile as you felt his arm around you. “I’m going to miss you tomorrow” you sighed “It’s such a stupid tradition.”

“I know love” Bran said, kissing you on the forehead “But they do say absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

You shook you head, and let out a small laugh “Bran if my heart was any fonder of you I think it might burst.”

Brans gave a slight smirk “We’ll then I’ll have to think of a plan then wont I?” he said, leaning over and kissing you on the cheek.

It was the night before the wedding, and your stomach was in knots. You hadn’t seen Bran all day, and you couldn’t help but miss him. The next day would be the biggest day of your life – and you wanted him by your side going into that.

You sat at the end of your bed, with Summer besides you, your face buried into his fur. As much as you adored summer- you still missed Bran.

You were just about to give in and go to sleep when you heard a knock at the door. Summers ears pricked up and he moved towards the door.

You hesitated for a moment, before you heard the knock again. “Y/n? I have a surprise… hurry up!” It was Robb.

You opened the door to see the grinning faces of Robb and Bran Stark. Of course. You couldn’t help but grin too, at the man that would be your husband, and at the insane but wonderful family you would be joining.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to it…” Robb said as he shuffled out of the door way. “I can give you a few hours, but I’ll have to make sure Brans back in his chambers by morning.”

You nodded, acquiescently, knowing he was right, but wishing you could just have that night with Bran. Robb slipped the door closed behind, and you were finally alone together.

As soon as you heard the door click shut, a huge grin broke across both of your faces. You immediately wrapped your arms around Bran, who pulled you onto his lap.

“I can’t believe you’re here now Bran!” You said, nuzzling into the crook of his neck, as Bran wrapped his arm around your waist. “I look a complete mess.”

You could hear the smile in Brans voice as he spoke “Y/n you look perfect” He said and kissed your forehead. “You’re beautiful, sweet and stronger than any woman I have ever known, and I can’t believe that tomorrow I’ll get to call you mine. I love you.”

You couldn’t hold back the blush as Bran spoke, and held him tighter “Gods Brandon Stark, do you know how much I love you?”

Bran smirked “I’m guessing at least a little bit since you agreed to marry me.”

You rolled your eyes “A lot Bran. I love you more than I can say.”

You spent the rest of the evening cocooned together, talking about what you planned for your life together – what you might call your first born.

After Robb came and helped Bran back to his chambers you fell into an easy sleep, knowing that the next day would most likely be the best day of your life.

The ceremony itself was beautiful, and all of the Great Houses of the North had come to see the two of you wed. You had always love the Gods woods, so it felt fitting that it would be the place where you would finally be able to marry Bran.

The ceremony went faster than you had thought it would. You had thought it would feel odd, being a Stark rather than a Y/l/n, but when you saw Bran’s face, you knew that the name Y/n Stark fit you better than any other.

The families began to file out of the Godswood, but you lingered behind with Bran. Sansa turned around and gave you a questioning look, but you gestured for her to go on. You felt a funny kind of warmth in your chest when you realised she was now your sister by law, though she had always been your sister at heart.

Once the wood was empty, Bran wordlessly took your hand in his, and squeezed it tightly.

“I’ve loved you for so long Y/n, since I was a child, but I never thought I would be this lucky”

You opened your mouth to speak, to say how it was you that was the lucky one, but Bran continued.

“Y/n, you look perfect tonight.”

#bran stark #brandon stark #bran stark imagine #bran stark x reader #bran imagine #bran x reader #bran #the three eyed raven #game of thrones #game of thrones one shot #game of thrones imagine #got imagines #GoT

[semiramis-audron]

Dream life

Sometimes you have a dream that is so vivid and so long that it feels like you lived through a whole part of your life. But when you wake up, it’s gone. You know that you dreamt and that there were important things happening. But you are left with a pale and blurry afterimage, with the unpleasant knowledge that it was there and you have no way of recalling that dream.

"... I hope your flight home wont get delayed as well, honey. I miss you." she huffed through the phone, conjuring a smile on my face. "I really don't think there are thaaat many people trying to smuggle syringes onto planes, usually they're smart enough to hide drugs without things that the metal detector could pick up, right?... " ... and sometimes you have a rich idiot flying first class who didn't think twice about bringing his questionable material in the carry on luggage. "Honey, I know how you don't like it if things don't work out as planned, you don't have to hide it." True, but usually Darleen wasn't as miffed about it as she sounded now. Hopefully that annoying quirk of mine didn't rub off on her. "It's okay, really, I got here a bit late, is all. I'll sleep now, try to ignore the jetlag and in two days I'll be home." First a shower though, the long flight had left the back of my shirt all clammy. I had already gotten rid of it, and was busy getting out of my socks by now. "And then we have a whole month to ourselves. I can't wait!" even the smile in her voice was audible through the headset. Her eyes always sparkled when she smiled, it made me miss her even more. "I promise I wont leave the house again then, or at least not without you, okay?" she laughed a bit dirty and I imagined her shaking her head at me. "You're stupid and silly, husband. I sent you an E-mail with the contacts of the rental service your car is at. Be good and get some rest now, I got a lot of stuff to prepare still for when you come home. Pick something small and black and sexy, you know." "Thanks luv, have a good night." "Love you, lovebug." "Love you too, sunshine..." she hung up and I sighed.

Since a few months she had started helping out with my business trips and it was such a huge help. And made me feel even worse whenever I left her home alone. Not that she'd be bored or locked up, she had plenty of hobbies to occupy herself with, and her own job was quite demanding too. Articles and predictions for the various business magazines, that had saved our stocks a few times already. Taking that econometrics course was the best idea I had in my life... at least the best in my social life... She was pleasantly surprised that I hadn’t tried to flirt with her, so she had started to flirt with me to find out whether I was gay or just shy,  she thought I was cute when she found out it was the later. I was also there to pick up business stuff, not girls, but there was no reason to say no to her, really. I wasn’t going to find a girlfriend on my own any time soon and if she decided I was a good catch, why convince her otherwise? She was smart and also attractive, which according to everyone who saw us together was... less likely than winning the lottery. Which is pretty rude, because there were a lot of both smart and attractive women in my informatics course. Then again, intelligence and humour ARE attractive to me, so I might be blurring the line between physical and mental attractiveness... But Darleen, she knew she was attractive, still chose me, and was so modest. She was the nicest and kindest and most charitable person I ever met. Always offering her help, laughing at my jokes, never pressuring me into anything and just... hanging out at my place or letting me code at hers. And holding my hand at those very exhausting dinner parties and business soirées, drawing attention to herself when she noticed me getting overwhelmed. And the attention was like sunshine and water to the flower of her beauty, she blossomed and I was enjoying my time there much more, watching her being happy. It gave her such a glow. I always felt like I wasn’t good enough for her, she liked the stage light and I preferred working behind the scenes. But she assured me, we were perfect for each other, our somewhat different personalities complimenting each other. Opposites attract and such. It was her who gently nudged me to pose the question when I was worried she’d say no. Our wedding was beautiful, I cried when I saw her. She looked like a goddess in that white and golden dream of a dress. And so far our marriage was perfect, nothing like those clichés you’d expect. We didn’t have kids yet, but we still had a lot of time for that. We both had our jobs and loved each other possibly even more than before. Even worse so, that she took the time to arrange my business trips for me, with her own career booming. She had an impeccable sense of style and luxury, always knew the best places to book, for my somewhat anxious ass.

My toes greatly enjoyed the warmth of the heated bathroom floor in this hotel. Everything was spotless, even between the tiles. The air freshener was a small mister attached to the heating system. Sprinkling salt-water onto a hot stone. It smelled like actual ocean, instead of a chemical perfume breeze. My nose rejoiced... The mood lighting and warmth of the shower made me drowsier than I expected with a local time of 3 pm. I really needed that month off to get my biological clock in order again. Thanks jetlag..  Stumbling out in the most comfy bathrobe, and just sitting down to wait out a dizzy spell, I discovered that the bed was a soft, warm fluffy cloud. I was out like a light...

Naturally I woke up in the middle of the night, firing up the laptop and working for a few hours, until the breakfast buffet was open. Afterwards, since the air was still pleasantly cool before the midday heat, I dropped my laptop in my messenger bag and decided to head for the city. People ignored me, I was just another pasty faced British tourist. I checked out the rental service Darleen had picked out for me. It was easy to find, since they were also the main taxi service in the area, so their advertisement was all over the place. She even had booked a car already, just like I liked it. Nothing pompous or fancy, with a good grip on the streets, and easy for me to feel comfortable in, what with the different side the wheel was on here. I would come back there later to get the car, if I even needed to, the conference centre was only about two hours to walk from the hotel, according to google and the nights here supposedly were pleasant, I could easily walk there and after the expo closed, walk down and marvel at the night sky... For now I seemed just fine without the car, strolling down the boulevard and trying to get some sun on my limey skin and a little souvenir for my lovely darling. I made a point out of never coming home empty handed.

They had beautiful summer dresses in the windows of some shops, also bleached white straw heads with fake hibiscus blossoms on them, but Darleen didn't like it when I brought her clothes home as gifts. She usually didn't like the flowy style I tended to pick. She did like swimsuits and beach wear but again, our styles deviated, so that was not an option either. We should definitely come here for vacation though. She loved trying on different, form fitting outfits for hours. And while I was not a fan of shopping for myself, I sure do loved watching her enjoying herself... Luckily for me she did like to accessorise her dresses with jewellery. So that coral reef- styled golden necklace with a blue topaz in the gold smith' shop window would hopefully be a good gift, especially with the matching earrings they offered me for a top deal. Such tiny and delicate things, weighing almost nothing and yet so valuable. Sometimes it was saddening, that I didn't have the kind of style that went well with accessories and bling... They went into the messenger bag too, and I spent the next hour in a little café with a fruit smoothy in the shade.

The heat was getting to me, but the expo was only a short walk from where I was now, so still enough time to marvel at the local knick knacks before heading into the air conditioned building and checking out the competition and new gadgets on the market. My presentation didn't start until 8 and distracting myself by trying out VR headsets to strap your phone in and the newest augmented reality funsies helped to keep me from worrying too much. Naturally the prestigious plans of many internet and phone providers, especially in the mobile branch were advertised with great effort. The age of faster, better, bigger was definitely what they aimed for, and I was part of it. You spent the first three years of your career building and improving and fine-tuning apps and coding to make electronic transactions and advertising available to the broad public. Comfortable and save with the click of a button, social networking to link thousands of developers and establishing a broad connection for easy micro transactions. And then you spend the next five years trying to code ways to battle the incredible amount of fraudulent transactions, misuse, ad subscription traps and letterbox companies. Collecting and sighting data to weed out problematic third party providers and as soon as you do, they come back under five new names. Like a digital hydra of pop-up ads. It was an exhausting field of work, especially if your company was among the leading three to have created and worked on those issues. Our booth was swarmed, both by competitors, affiliates and of course delegates from companies interested to work with us in the future.

There were set dates I had to be at the booth for important meet and greets and I believe I handled those well, having switched into a more formal business attire and smiling professional, even if my bracelet told me to move from coffee to water because my pulse was through the roof... I managed to get some air in between, take a deep breath and check out the booths of other companies as well. People didn't know my face, they recognised the logo on and the name on my conference ID. I made regular detours to our booth to drop off the various promotional gift and VIP bags. I did love the lanyards and the pens, lanyards were just...  they had a certain fascination to them... I couldn’t explain it. Playing with the closing mechanism was calming... And the pens were very useful since I kept losing mine or breaking off the little clip when fidgetting with it in skype calls... So I could never have enough of those. It seemed wrong to buy them just because I couldn't be bothered to keep proper track of them...

I broke two behind the podium at my presentation, but my voice didn't waver. I had rehearsed it and prepared for deviations and questions that might throw me out of the loop. I knew what I was talking about 100%, that wasn't the problem. But my heart was beating in my throat. This conference room was huge. Almost a theatre. And live streamed online. If I had gotten any tan from my brief stroll outside today, it went unnoticed, my hands were ice cold and my face probable pale as a sheet, but well, I was always pale. When I was done answering questions on the stage and only had the 3 or 4 people come up to me, my legs were a bit wobbly. Soon it would be over. There was the obligatory shaking hands and being offered more business cards, while the rest of the audience flooded out of the hall already. I smiled, I listened, I explained. Took a sip from my waterbottle, contemplated some answers to slow my voice and politely rejected an invitation to a local sushi bar to wind down with some other CEOs. I just wanted to get back to my hotelroom and hear my wife and then drop dead.

Our representatives at the booth didn't mind me hanging around there while I called the rental service to ask if they could send someone to pick me up. My wife had paid the car in advance they told me, they didn't have any limo service available at such a short notice. She had made sure to instruct them that I was to be given this car and none else, and that i preferred to drive it myself. She was right. I usually did not enjoy being chauffeured around like a pompous billionaire. And I saw no sense in driving a sports car, since I wasn't a speed devil. Or a Maybach, since I didn't want the car for attention. Just driving from A to B. A comfy, save car was all I ever wanted. But I was exhausted from socialising and the climate was poison for my cold blooded British sensitivities. Not to mention that my jetlag still told me it was long past my bedtime. I'd be a hazard on the street like this. They refused to send a taxi because Darleen had been quite clear with her instructions and made it sound like she had threatened them with a non-fulfilment lawsuit if I were to be given any other car. Which, frankly I doubted, because I had never seen here in a state that was more than mildly annoyed. But they agreed to send one of their drivers to pick me up with my designated car. Which was all I asked for really. I was warned that I probably needed to wait a bit since he was new in town and didn't know the best routes yet. It gave me time to tie the gift bags together with lanyards and lug them to the parking lot. Where, surprisingly enough, the young man was waiting already.

He greeted me with a smile, when he saw that I was roughly his age. Even told me he had expected some old, wrinkly bald guy, not someone he'd have a beer and a game of Mario Kart with. I felt flattered and relaxed. If there was something that made me more uncomfortable than socialising with people, it was socialising with people who treated me like a raw, golden egg. Businesspeople were chummy sometimes which was okay, if it wasn't too unprofessional. But people whose services I paid for often ended up being weirdly respectful, almost terrified of me. I guess it made sense, there were some higher ups in my contact list with a rather short and moody temper, who had never delivered pizza or worked in customer service themselves. I would be rather save than sorry before escalation a customer as well... My driver was chill though, I gave him fifty bugs in advance to help me load my goodies into the trunk and not tell anyone about me curling up in the backseat in a fetal position to get some sleep on the way to the hotel. He laughed and slapped my shoulder, handed me the emergency blanket from the expired first aid kit (there was a second up to date one too, thankfully) and then turned to a radio station playing smooth tunes to lull me in. He promised to drive slow, so my pretty head wouldn't get bumped by the road too much. That made me feel flattered too, but in a weird way... He was really nice, I made a mental note to leave an awesome review on yelp for their company and maybe find a way to get him some extra credit or hook him up with someone from our resident office, if he wanted to change job. But my body sensed the chance to boot down and I slept like a baby the moment he switched the backseat light off.

I don't know what happened, it was probably a really weird and unconnected dream. Even though I thought I was awake for a moment at least. It was like several things happened at once, and my head just processed them too slow. I thought I was woken by one incredibly loud bang, like a blast - at the same time... pressure on my ears and intense silence but also a high frequency tone whistling unnervingly. My body was pressed deep into the seats, maybe we had bumped into something, but the force felt unreal... especially my upper body, my head, pushed back, I was being smacked right in the face, breaking my nose and jerking my head, like my brain being smashed against the back of my skull---

The dream stopped and I woke up, sorta, my legs were heavy and tired and I couldn't breeze, there was stuff all around me and it was hot everywhere, I choked on air and the smell off iron and burned rubber and then choked on liquid stuff in my throat and nose. I couldn't see, and I couldn't get up. I could move my arms but my legs didn't obey me. I think it was loud around me, but it sounded like someone was covering my ears with their hands. There was biting, cutting wind near my face sucking more heat in my direction from the other side and the urge to move away from there. My eyes were burning and watering too much too see, and I wasn't sure which way was up or down, it seemed to change all the time. I tried to crawl towards the cold. My legs barely helped propping me up, at least I wasn't hurt. The car door was open and I pulled myself closer to it, letting my weight drag me out, hands grasping for hold in the grass beneath, trying to pull my legs out. I felt a jostle and a sudden tug of gravity and then more blows to my side and front and back and my head spin and then the movement stopped but my head still spun and my face was in dusty muddy ground that tasted of iron and then I continued to sleep and the dream stopped...

#my writes #Atmon