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sugar-petals · 4 years

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Cuddling With SuperM

↳ ❤︎ CARO’S NOTE: their concept is all about badassery i know but we’re dealing with seven angels so let’s talk about that shall we

warnings ⚠️ some light teasing, innuendo

length: 1.5k

taeyong

am i really telling you something ground-breaking with this:

so this guy’s truly adorable

turns into a baby what else is new

draws his knees to his chest and just enjoys the ride with his eyes closed

you can do whatever the hell you want

back rubs, head pats, foot massages, caressing the neck or underneath the chin which is particularly sweet

and a whole lot of tickling he’s kinda obsessed with this

excellent chef he is, taeyong enjoys preparing snacks for a set cuddling time or movie night

so what if this turns into feeding each other basically are you ready for that

this guy’s impossible face up close is hard to bear for the faint-hearted just mentioning that in passing here

because… he has that one yearning expression and his eye contact is very steady

bit of a duality here huh

but worry not because taeyong’s tiger inside is more of a cat actually, tyongkitty behavior guaranteed right there

he does do friendly head buts and yeah the eye contact is also a cat thing now that i think about it… it all makes sense now

ten, baekhyun, lucas and taemin are pretty cocky types of cuddlers, taeyong leads the more subdued fraction in super m

it’s the kind of cuddling that needs rainy weather and a cup of tea

ten

quality time right here

banter is always included ofc

or at least a lot of talk because with ten, conversation and cuddles go together

likes pets joining, three’s a party, a cat can always make a snuggly contribution

add a ball of wool to play around

like. a-you, a-me, and a cat right in between ya see

music is always playing in the background, always

ten’s body is very sensual… you can tell he’s a dancer by the way he’s adapting, how he’s feeling it, how he moves in general

the reflexes are just so different he has great feeling for what you wanna do next it’s his bodily intuition and he just goes along with it

what you gotta tell him though is to keep it lowkey with keeping his jazzy outfits on

a hoodie cuddles better than high fashion and spiked jackets

plus he looks adorably small in it so two birds with one stone

never forget ten is really tiny that sure makes a difference

reluctant little spoon, he keeps it face-to-face or sleeps on his back

ten is glad to be approached with hugs he’s not always doing the initiative

shy thailand angel ikr

but don’t complain if he farts because he absolutely will

goddammit chittaphon

kai

if it’s without a plushie something’s going wrong it always needs one

his favorite teddy’s gotta participate y’know he’s a social creature

in this home we don’t discriminate against plush bears

and yeah, his bear ear hoodie likewise he is sure to put it on

jongin tends to be rather taciturn because he wants to enjoy the body-to-body sensations

meaning, don’t interpret his frequent silence as awkwardness he’s just observing

is not above teasing… if his outfit is showing some skin he’ll invite you to touch the area

also enjoys you putting your hands under his sweater

he’s laughing like crazy and kicking his legs all giggly if you put your head underneath it and let it roam oh la la

yeah nini likes some wit to it for sure, and some steaminess in the mix it’s just a natural byproduct if we’re honest

dim the lights down low for this one…

but also light the candles alright

cuddling is more of a soft and steady thing there’s not much position changes going on

this is the couch not the dancefloor your honor

while we’re talking about that: jongin is a buff biatch my god

prep a water bottle to chug when you’re cuddling this guy is effortlessly hot

also know that kai will almost definitely snap a picture of you huddled together for the memory of it

baekhyun

unlike his memes, baekhyun’s cuddling behaviour is entirely predictable

will snuggle against your shoulder by default pretty much that’s his favorite area

stays glued there for two hours if you’re not busy

im not kidding

needless to say he needs a partner who can handle this level of clinginess

baekhyun can’t keep his hands to himself in general

neither can you

it’s groping x cuddling these two are a dead sure combination

keen to snuggle casually while he’s gaming, cross-legged on the ground with you massaging his back

likes to lay his head into your lap, too.

baekhug i mean back hug enthusiast. something inside his face has an inbuilt magnet that sucks him into the space between your collar bones

especially when you’re at the stove cooking

caution: love bites. lots of them. does this count as cuddles? probably. it’s not like he’s eating you or is he. oop—

what am i saying all he does is nibble alright

and oh yeah bring on the sweater weather. he can’t stay still in bed it’s gonna be a pillowfort building session though

you gotta exhaust him until he naps off lmao!

energizer bunny bf

mark

enjoys being fed watermelon during the process how else could it be

wait until this guy hears what harry styles’ watermelon sugar is all about his world will never be the same again

anyway

he’ll look so cute in his striped shirt and his round glasses awh

cuddling is his favorite way to show his trust and affection before all else

his favorite time to cuddle is before going to sleep

he usually hugs pillows so you can tell how clingy he winds up as

mark really sleeps and dreams better if you do that it has an astounding effect. cuddles are his perfect recharging if you will it’s just that he’s actually calming down through it whereas he can be nervous throughout the day so he needs that downtime

spooning is a given

what he enjoys the most about it is the warmth

markie easily gets cold sometimes he just needs that tune-up with you he’s like blink blink there goes my dose of daily heat beep beep

what the fuck

anyway again

talk about tune

just like ten he’s very talkative all the way verbal stimulation and mark lee just go together

if you compare him to taeyong there’s not much of a transformation going on mark lee on two legs is the same mark lee during cuddles it’s all copy paste

all in all a delectable experience, extremely cute and heart-melting, super m truly has a super mark

taemin

much like xuxi he has that permanent smile on his lips that tries to make you laugh

in fact taemin is hard to stop with his puns and his humor

ffs he is a true brat

taems can’t help but try to escalate this into a playfight every time

not that he doesn’t enjoy the calmer types of cuddling but he needs some action in the sack

enjoys praise along the way who are we kidding

the clothes you both cuddle in are very important alright, the fabric in particular

taemin keeps it expensive here it’s just the way he rolls

satin my dear

it’s just so satisfying to the touch

but also beware of his most lethal clothing choice which brings out his innate maknae charm the most

THE FLUFFY TURTLENECK

gyeahh

which he will use during special occasions to turn you into a cuddle monster ready to pounce him

give it up for shinee my loves they taught him well and sent him out to fluff up the world

what else is there okay we also gotta mention that cuddling consists of many little kisses here and there

taemin wants to get absolutely peppered

he is and stays a prince

lucas

ideal body type for cuddling except that it needs the right place, not the environment but the spot i mean, you can imagine

lucas can explode any smol-size couch or bed

don’t even think about trying to cuddle on regular chairs my god why would you live so dangerously

king size por favor

there is a lot to cuddle against it’s really a whole wonderland

those big ole thighs are practical cushions for anything really.

and his face is just so amicable it has to be kithed

his hands… his hands! you will feel maximum protection with those giant baby fingers around your hips i’m telling you

admittedly yukhei is hard to properly hug around the shoulders obviously that’s a drawback but hey his waist is lithe and tiny so hello there, very inviting

oh, that infectious smile.

serious cuddling: 0 — funny cuddles: over 9,000

and tasty cuddles because foodcas brings some fried rice every time oh yum

hates to go to work he really prioritizes you and cuddles go on for long long hours especially when you watch your favorite series

xuxi goes the extra mile, he will touch your hair a lot, just gently combing through it

and he doesn’t mind it when you do the same, he’s got the most angelic blonde locks after all

lu calls you beautiful all the time the cheesy mf is really pulling the standard compliment alright

cue jonas brothers sucker for you

ugh, boyfriend

mlist

#super m #superm #superm hc #superm scenarios #super m x reader #superm fluff #super m imagines #kai #lucas #baekhyun #taemin #taeyong #mark #ten

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crockettmarcel · 4 years

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Oh also quirks/hobbies headcanon for Lolly in the single dad!crockett au 🥺 -punksarahreese

lolly !!! my baby i love her <3

her favourite thing in the world is cooking with crockett, esp making beignets. she always puts way too much sugar on top, but crockett just laughs and tells her she’s done a good job and that they’ll almost be as sweet as her

she also loves drawing, and crockett has So Many of her pictures displayed around the house. he’s so proud of everything she does and he wants her to know it

she has a grape-flavoured chewy stick thing (?) that she carries everywhere with her bc she hates the regular rubber ones. there’s a whole box in her room filled with chewy necklaces that crockett kept buying for her and she kept rejecting bc she didn’t like how they tasted

when they moved to chicago, dee (crockett’s sister) gave lolly one of her cashmere sweaters to take with her bc she stopped wearing it and lolly was obsessed with it. lolly doesn’t wear it either unless she’s feeling rlly overwhelmed bc it’s way too big on her, but she normally uses it as a blanket or as a comfort item/something soft to hold bc it reminds her of dee and everything back home in new orleans

this isn’t really a quirk but in this version of the au, when lolly Does talk, it’s with a southern accent, and everyone in chicago thinks it’s adorable (because it is)

also she loves helping crockett in the garden. when she was a baby she’d just pull random leaves off plants and give them to him, but as she got older he taught her which herbs were which, and now if he tells her he needs a little bit of rosemary or some basil she’ll go and get it for him !!

baby lolly: i love my daddy so i’m going to give him four (4) leaves i pulled off this plant crockett: you’re the light of my life and i would die for you right now

(also final thot: she has a white bunny plush called bunbun that aria bought for her and she’s Obsessed with it. bunbun goes everywhere with her, no matter what)

#chicago med #crockett marcel #tiny love!au #ask #single dad!crockett #can you tell i'm obsessed with lolly #as far as i'm concerned she's canon and no one can change my mind <3 #also idk if i've mentioned but aria is crockett's mom

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yevonscribbles · 6 years

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Nocturnal

In which Edward has a rough day and a visitor helps lifts his spirits.

*****

Edward Rumpke was weary as he made his way up the stairs and fumbling with the keys to the one bedroom apartment he called home for the past two years. With a huff, he locked the door and dragged his tired body to the worn futon and collapsed with a heap. It had been a day. Normally the raccoon enjoyed his multiple jobs since it allowed him some flexibility and variance but today had been a marathon. From picking up hours at the french cafe this morning, then meeting with the stage director over in Tundra Town to finalize some lighting for a show that premiered this weekend at a different theatre across town, and finally bar-backing till the wee hours of the morning, Edward found the black bags under his eyes to be heavier than normal.

He should sleep but his nocturnal instincts were in full effect. Looking around, the raccoon tried to find the remote for his modest TV. With a sigh, he saw the small plastic device on the counter near the kitchen. Cursing under his breath, the masked mammal retrieved the device. Before he could plop back onto the welcoming warmth of the plush couch his pocket began to ring. After more mumbling and cursing under his breath, Edward reach into his pocket and pulled out his new phone that had been a gift from his girlfriend. The blinding screen flashed the number for the bar he had just closed down.

“Hello?” Edward grumbled.

“Oh, did I wake you up?” A cheerful voice belonging to the bar owner chirped. She was a small armadillo by the name of Amanda. “I just checked the deposit box but couldn’t find the receipts from the credit card… Oh wait I see them!”

Edward tried to hid is annoyance and take a breath. “There ya go… Anything else Amanda?” The raccoon began to pace around his small apartment, an annoying habit he got whenever he was on the phone.

“Nope. See you tomorrow night!” With a click, the phone went dead. Looking down at his phone that was a present, Edward smiled. The last two weeks had been interesting to say the least. He had sat his now girlfriend Judy Hopps down and had a serious conversation about his identity and their future. The following day, the raccoon had lunch with his new girlfriend and her work partner Nick Wilde. At Judy’s request, the rabbit bought a new phone for Edward so the new couple could keep in touch. Edward had accidently broke his old device in an instance of a nervous breakdown causing Judy a lot of grief.

Another buzz from the device caused the raccoon to look back to his phone, it was a reminder that today was “T-Day.” With a grumble, Edward went to his bathroom to prepare for his bi-weekly medication. If he was up and awake, he might as well get the shot over with and then finally get some sleep. He pulled out a spare towel and his medicine. Before he could fill the syringe, he received yet another call.

“Damn it…” The raccoon cursed. He expected Amanda to be calling again but to his surprise it was Judy giving him a call. He clicked the green button and answered the incoming call.

“Well good morning Judy… Why the hell are you awake!?” Edward smiled to himself. It was near 4AM and while his species was know to be active at night his bunny officer tend to keep regular hours.

“Hey Edward! I couldn’t sleep so I decided to exercise a bit… Mind if I stop by?” The energetic rabbit asked between breaths. Edward rolled his eyes.

“Sure, but it’s a little late to be running about? Wait, where are you?” The raccoon asked with some concern.

“Outside your building…” Judy said.

“Sweet sawgrass woman, you ran all the way here!?!” Edward moved to his window and opened the blinds. Sure enough, the slender form of the rabbit could be seen next to the main entrance wearing form fitting pants and an oversized tee shirt. “Isn’t that over an hour run?” He continued with some concern.

“One hour and thirty minutes actually… Are you going to let me in or do I need to run back home?” Judy said looking up to his window and waving with a wide smile. With a sigh, Edward went to the com system next to his door and pressed a button to unlock the door. With a jump, the rabbit ran to the door. “See ya soon!”

Edward smiled and unlocked the door to his apartment. Within a minute, a grey blur had wrapped herself around his waist in a tight hug. Instinctively the raccoon wrapped his paws around the muscular frame of his girlfriend. “What were you going to do if I wasn’t home?” The raccoon asked holding Judy close.

“Well my plan B was to go ahead and take a Zoober home, but I had a feeling you were still up. You usually don’t go to be till like 7 or 8 AM.” Judy said burying her face in his shirt.

“Am I that predictable?” He said, closing the door and leading the rabbit into his apartment. “And here I thought I was a mammal of surprises!” The raccoon said with sarcasm.

“Just a few surprises…” Judy said with a sly smile. “So could I interest you in cuddling watching movies till we both actually fall asleep?” The rabbit sat on the futon and gave her boyfriend a grin. She patted the spot next to her.

“That sounds wonderful but I need to take my medicine first.” Edward smiled and started to walk towards the bathroom. Judy watched the raccoon disappear from sight with a confused look.

“What kind of medicine? Did you need some water?” Judy asked.

“No thanks. It's my bi-weekly testosterone shot. Not exactly the funnest thing in the world but you do what you have to.” Edward called from the bathroom. Curiosity had gotten the better of the rabbit officer and she made her way to her boyfriend. She saw him sitting on the floor in his underwear patting away at a small amount of blood on the side of his leg with an empty syringe next to him. Seeming satisfied, the raccoon put a band-aid on the spot and started cleaning up around him. Looking up, Edward met his girlfriend’s eyes while she leaned on the doorway while a blush crept to his face.

“Real sexy isn’t it?” The raccoon said with a chuckle. Judy frowned and crossed her arms.

“That looks painful… Anything I can do to help?” The rabbit asked as her ears drooped to the side. She was still getting used to dating a transexual man. A few days after Edward had come out to her and they had spent the evening together the rabbit read as many articles as she could find about transitioning. Anytime the officer felt like she didn’t know enough about a subject she would get a bit obsessive in her research. Her partner Nick Wilde would normally spend the next few days listening to all the new information the rabbit had learned. The fox always said she could get obsessive.

“Nope! Just ready for cuddling.” Edward smiled.

“I could-” Judy began

“It’s fine-” Edward interrupted.

“But I read-” Judy tried again.

“Judy…” Edward walked to the rabbit and placed his paws on her shoulders. “I have been dealing with this all of my life and I have been giving myself these shots for about five years now. I am a big boy, I can take care of myself.” He gave the rabbit a quick nuzzle and made his way to the futon. Grabbing the remote and a fleece blanket, the raccoon plopped on the futon and turned on the TV. Judy felt her face warm and nervously made her way next to her boyfriend.

The raccoon put his paw around his girlfriend and looked down to meet her eyes. She gave a weak smile and said. “Sorry…”

Edward titled his head in confusion. “For what? Trying to help me? You’re fine Judy.” The raccoon reassured the rabbit.

“But it’s not fine! I always want to fix things when all I need to do is listen!” Dramatically, the rabbit officer threw her paws in the air. Edward found himself laughing at the display.

“I appreciate you trying to help. You will be the first person I will ask if I do need help.” The raccoon kissed his girlfriend’s head and pulled her closer. “Want to watch some Doctor Hooves?”

Judy gave her boyfriend a sideways glance. “Doctor Hooves? What's that? Is it like Grey’s Anatomy?” Edward felt his jaw drop.

“...You seriously haven’t heard of Doctor Hooves!?” He said flabbergasted. “Oh sweet summer bunny you are in for a treat!”

A few hours later, the pair had fallen asleep leaning their heads against each other as the sun began to stream into the closed blinds of the apartment. Their paws were intertwined as the soft sounds of snoring mixed with the sounds of an epic journey from the TV still running. Judy blinked and cuddled closer to the warm body next to her. Taking in her surroundings, her purple eyes laid eyes on the bandage on the raccoon’s leg. Gingerly she reached out and touched the plastic.

Judy Hopps bit her lower lip as her nose twitched. For the hundredth time in the past two weeks she asked herself if she could really do this? Could she really be happy with a transsexual man as her partner? Suddenly Edward stirred in his sleep and pulled the rabbit closer. He nuzzled his face into the soft shoulder of his girlfriend. Judy smiled and kissed his cheek and for the first time in two weeks the rabbit had an answer to all of her questions. It was worth a try.

*****

Hey everyone please enjoy some fluff with Judy Hopps and OC Edward Rumpke as they start to grown in their relationship! Thank you all for all the likes, reblogs, and suggest you have given me! Hopefully my writing is improving. Also we will have more random drawings (speaking of I should probably draw Edward...) Till then have an amazing Sunday!

#zootopia #judy hopps #oc #fanfic #fan fiction #edward rumpke #trans

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3one3 · 7 years

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The Sequel - 804

Moving Day

André Schürrle, Juan Mata, other Chelsea/BVB players, and random awesome OC’s (okay they’re less random now but they’re still pretty awesome)

original epic tale

all chapters of The Sequel

The new house was a total transformation from the one André and Christina bought in August. It no longer felt dated and dark inside. The colors and textures on the walls, floors, and ceilings were modern and soft and coherent from room to room. The air inside even smelled better. The wood paneled basement scent was gone, and all that wood on the ceilings was hidden under white paint. The worn wooden floors were replaced with a mixture of contemporary darker finishes and in some places, large tiles. The heavy, orangey, burly wood staircase and balcony above the foyer were simply gone- replaced with metal slats and small, refined, dark wood railings. Some rooms had new track lighting since many had no built-in lighting to begin with, and the kitchen had a big wrought iron chandelier filling some of the empty space made by the cathedral ceiling. The kitchen was really the most amazing aspect of the transformation.

The sunroom’s doors were changed out for windows, and the black cabinets and dark granite countertop went all the way around but for the stainless range with 7 different cooking surfaces. There was a built-in butcher block next to it, before the smaller of the two sinks. One of the areas between the windows featured some bookshelves for cookbooks or display items, and the other had glass-fronted cabinets for dishes and glasses. All the other storage was in the counter-height cabinets and in the enormous island in the middle, with the wine refrigerator and the breakfast bar. There was no space left for the regular refrigerator, the two ovens Christina requested, or the necessary pantry. Zoe decided to build a wall between the kitchen and what used to be the den and was supposed to become the new dining room. She put the appliances there with lots more cabinets to eliminate the need for the pantry, and even put a small gas fireplace in between. It shrunk the dining room a bit but the family never really had indoor sit-down dinners for tons of people. The kitchen was also where Christina decided to have her first cranky fit on Wednesday.

“Half the storage is too tall for me to reach,” she complained to André while Zoe was out of the room. “I have all these cabinets for pots and pans and utensils and stuff but if I put all the food over there then I can’t reach most of it without a ladder, and that’s the only place with shelves that are good for pantry supplies. You can’t dump seasoning bottles in a deep drawer. Even the shelves for dishes and stuff- I can only reach the first two.”

“So we’ll get you a ladder. What’s the big deal? You can have a little step that matches the cabinets.”

“It’s inconvenient! I don’t want to have to move a stepladder around with me while I’m cooking, or trip over it, or-“

“Well what do you want me to do about it, Prinzessin?” the footballer sighed. “It’s done now. This is the way it is. Do you want to waste energy being upset about it or move on?”

“Chriiiiis!” Zoe shouted from somewhere else in the house. “Come look at this!” Christina bit her lip in front of André, figuratively biting her tongue, and then stomped off in the direction of her decorator.

Why does she always have to find something to complain about? Today is the first day we start moving into this beautiful house and she has to find something wrong instead of focusing on everything that’s good, he grumbled to himself, following her and Lukas through the empty living room. He wasn’t enjoying the start to their new life. His wife missed her flight first thing in the morning and couldn’t even give a real explanation as to why, and then she made him wait for an hour at the airport for Stefanie to arrive from London with the dogs so that they didn’t have to come back to get her or wait for her to take a taxi to the apartment. They wanted to go straight to the barn and start getting it ready for the first horses coming the next day, and he had to remove the pitchfork from Christina’s hands and drag her over to the house just to show it to her. That drove him crazy. He couldn’t understand why she wasn’t eager to see their new home. He couldn’t understand why she wasn’t all excited and already talking about where to put the furniture. All she was interested in was spreading shavings in stalls while Lukas played in them, and installing hardware for hanging buckets and crossties and such. Stefanie and Tom had it all under control though. The younger rider was hanging the white boards for the feed room and the schedule, and the new stable manager was unloading a pallet full of grain. It was not as if between the three of them they couldn’t get the place serviceable for the 4 horses coming on Thursday. Tom managed to get horse show stabling ready for them in half a day, on his own, all the time.

All André wanted was for his partner to show some sign of looking forward to getting settled in their new home together. He knew it was going to be tough for her, and that she was still worried about the future, but he thought she should have been, at the very least, happy that they were going to be together every day again. That was something he anticipated with nothing but happiness. He couldn’t wait to have the family together without an expiration date. Christina was right there but her demeanor said she wasn’t enthusiastic about being there in the future, and that maybe her head wasn’t even there in the present. And the BVB man didn’t understand that either, because everything seemed normal and fine when they talked while she was in Mallorca. There was no sense that something happened with Juan, for example, that might be on her mind, or taking her away from the immediate moment. He was also sort of afraid to ask her about it, because there was a better than good chance it would result in a fight.

Lukas’ playroom evoked a smile on his otherwise cold and detached mom’s face. He got the old kitchen- the long and narrow room at the back of the house with tons of cabinets and lots of windows. There was no time to coordinate with Aidan to get him there to paint a custom mural for him on the short wall at the end, so Zoe did a pre-made wallpaper-like installation of a beautifully illustrated jungle scene instead, and got her painters to do some freehand vines reaching out from it down the two adjacent walls, curving around the cabinets and windows. She showed Christina all of the special features, like safety measures that would prevent Lukas from opening drawers and climbing into them and getting trapped inside, and the short white curtains on his windows. Even if he climbed on something to reach them, he couldn’t get them wrapped around his neck, and there were no blinds with a cord to get into trouble with. He had a built-in daybed, an upholstered chair in his size, two low tables, a blackboard on the wall, and his own TV. They opted to keep the black and white vinyl tile floor since it was good for playing on and easy to clean, and then covered some sections with rubber play mat and some with an area rug.

“You are such a lucky little munchkin,” Christina cooed to her son before setting him down so he could explore his new space. “There are like 40 animals hidden in the jungle for us to find and learn about,” she told him, referring to the densely packed scene with a jaguar, ocelot, different monkeys and birds, ground dwelling mammals, big frogs, and snakes. If he doesn’t grow up loving animals, it won’t be because we didn’t try hard enough. Most kids get dinosaurs or spaceships or something. This kid gets animal-themed everything.

“I think she likes it,” André stage whispered to Zoe.

“Oh, I love it! Thank you so much, Zo!”

“I thought I was going to get the congratulations for the kitchen,” Zoe demurred, teasing.

“Actually, I-“

“Meant to say that the kitchen is wonderful too,” André interjected before Christina could complain. She frowned at him, but Lukas “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy’d” her before she could then divert her complaint towards him as well. The little boy found the chalk right away and wanted his mom to watch him draw. Unbeknownst to her, Lukas had already checked out his playroom. He’d already been there a few times since the remodel was pronounced “complete”. Zoe showed his dad some of the features of the big boy play room during the art break. The old dining room, right off the kitchen, was converted into a new grown-up hang out spot, with room for the pool table and the leather couches from London, a big TV and a pull-down projector screen, media cabinets for gaming systems, the hub for the home-wide stereo system, a minimalist designed bar area, and French doors out to the patio.

Because the two boys had already had the tour, the bigger one hoped Christina would love the master suite as much as she did the playroom. Her dressing room was, in his opinion, way too nice for her. It was a true fashionista’s closet with a place for everything. It was dark and sort of sexy in there with the textured black baroque wallpaper, and the shiny black acrylic cabinets, wardrobes and shelves mixed with frosted glass, and the crisp, bright white of the mouldings and ceilings, her chrome-framed mirrors, and the complicated metal chandelier with black “crystal thingies” hanging from its various “arms”. Zoe showed him a gray rug that felt like plush bunny fur to him, which would have a home in there once Christina’s things were moved in. To André it was an aspirational closet, almost like the aspirational coffee mugs he got for her. It was a closet that could belong to a kind of girl she wanted to be but didn’t necessarily think she was yet- emphasis on the “yet”. He wanted her to feel like a girl with a sexy, cool-girl closet. She already was that kind of girl in his eyes, and she picked everything for the room herself.

The reigning World Cup champion couldn’t even get as far into the tour as the dressing room. She made it into the bedroom, which was nothing special since there was no furniture in it yet- just freshly painted slate gray walls, neutral ceiling with some new recessed lighting, and fresh matching neutral wall to wall carpeting- and then responded to Tom’s summons back to the barn. The hay guy was there with 400 bales to drop off, and no helper to unload it. He had a motorized conveyor belt tool to move bales off his enormous truck, and needed Tom and Christina to organize and stack it in the garage off the side of the indoor. They didn’t have a lot of room for it alongside all the heavy equipment, some of which hadn’t even been delivered yet, so it had to be stacked high. Tom wanted to build big towers and use the forklift to get the bales up there, and needed the boss to climb up and move them into place. That was the end of the guided tour. Zoe didn’t have time to wait around. She had other projects going on and was about to surrender four whole days to getting the Schürrle house set up when their belongings started arriving on Thursday. André thanked her again and assured her that Christina really appreciated everything she did for them, and that she’d probably be more forthcoming with that gratitude once the furniture and other decor was all installed and it looked more like a home than a house- more like something to which his wife could have an emotional reaction.

He offered to help with the hay even though he didn’t really want to. Espen was there so he didn’t need to babysit Lukas, and Stefanie borrowed the G-Wagon to run back into Dortmund to deliver payment for her and Kyle’s new apartment and get the keys before the leasing office closed. His wife told him that he wasn’t allowed to do that kind of physical labor, and he didn’t know how to take that. On the one hand, she was right. It wasn’t a great idea for him to stack hay bales. Tom ordered orchard grass, Timothy, and some alfalfa, so each bales ranged from 50-70lbs. André didn’t need to add lifting and carrying heavy hay bales to his workout, and to his already troublesome lower back problems. He wasn’t dressed for it either. So he stood around helplessly and watched Christina work harder than he thought a girl with that kind of dressing room should have to, and in truth, he knew she didn’t have to. That was Tom’s job and nobody would bat an eye at a rider like Christina expecting him to take care of it. Nobody would expect a rider like her to put on gloves and get sweaty. The footballer appreciated that she was willing to put in the hard work, to do her share, to cultivate the teamwork and sense of family in her stable, and to refrain from seeing herself as the top of the management chart. He also wished she would just let the others deal with it so that they could see the rest of the house together, or do anything together, really, and he had a hard time not seeing her willingness to work as a willingness to avoid the house, or even to avoid interacting with him because she knew he expected her to have more to say about the house and the move and she still didn’t want to talk about it much.

Christina was exhausted by dinnertime. Stefanie helped when she got back, but her coach did a lot of the heavy lifting until they all realized how stupid their arrangement was. There was no need for André to stand there and do nothing when Tom could show him how to operate the forklift and thus free himself up to do some of the backbreaking work. He didn’t bother trying to get Christina to do it because she was perpetually afraid of using the heavy equipment and either hurting someone or breaking it. They got their 11 metric tons of hay put away neatly, as well as a few hundred pounds of extra grain, installed water and feed buckets in all the stalls, put up brackets for salt licks, hooks for halters, crossties, and hanging tack hooks, installed hoses, and unpacked new supplies like brooms, shovels, muck buckets, and cleaning products. That was all stuff they decided to just buy new instead of bringing it over from London, where some of it would still be needed anyway. Tom and his family were all moved into their new house, and Stefanie went home with him for the night. Espen took Lukas, Lucky, and Spencer home in her new Audi AWD wagon provided by her employers as part of her relocation benefits package. André took Christina out for pizza because she said she was too dirty to go anywhere nicer.

“You should have a nice bath when we get home, or a long hot shower,” he suggested as she rubbed her lower back and typed something on her phone in their booth-for-two.

“Mm.”

“Who are you talking to?” And why can’t you pay attention to me on your first day here?

“Daniel.”

“Oh.”

A solid three minutes passed without any further communication at the table. They ordered pizza and salad and neither thing turned up to break the silence. The waitress didn’t stop by. Christina never put her phone down. After the first 60, every subsequent second made her husband’s irritation grow. He just wanted to converse with her, and exist in the same place. It wasn’t even necessary to talk about the house or the barn if she didn’t want, though that seemed ludicrous to him given the circumstances. That was the main thing happening in their lives in that moment, so to ignore it would be weird. André felt like Day 1 of her living in Germany was Day 1 of her punishing him for making her move- like she was intentionally being cold, obstructing, and disinterested to make sure he understood that she didn’t want to be there and blamed him for her having to be.

“Should I have gotten my own table?” he asked snidely when he got tired of waiting for the iPhone in the Givenchy star and stripes case between them to be put down.

“Wha?” the rider asked asked, still absent.

“Are you going to be on your phone all night? Do you want some privacy? Should I sit somewhere else?”

“Why are you so rawr?” she asked back.

“I haven’t seen you in weeks and you can’t put your phone down for 5 minutes to acknowledge that I currently exist in the same general area as you do?” André questioned with plenty of accusation.

“Daniel keeps asking me questions about-“

“Don’t care.”

“Then don’t ask me for an explanation.”

“Great.”

“What is your problem?”

“You.”

“Of course. I’m always the problem. There’s always a problem. We can’t not have a problem. I can’t come here a single time without a fight.”

“Do you even want to be here? I think that’s the problem. Every single time you come here, you don’t want to be here.”

“Right now? No, I don’t wanna be here. Why would I? Why would I want to sit here with you while you get passive aggressive and sour because you need my attention immediately and can’t wait? What are you, 4? You can’t sit quietly for a few minutes? Even Lukas doesn’t have a tantrum over having to wait. He’s two.”

“Next you’re going to say this attitude right now isn’t because you don’t want to live here and the time is up and now you have to.”

Deep breaths, Christina advised herself, trying not to overheat. André infuriated her. It started earlier in the day when he couldn’t summon even an ounce of sympathy for her over the high cabinets in the kitchen. Then he was disappointed that she wanted to go do the work that she was there to do. His inability to entertain himself for 5 minutes while she talked to Daniel about a chronic lameness issue with one of his horses that she had experience in dealing with failed to impress her too. For the player to then accuse her, again, of not wanting to live with him, made it all so much worse. She was tired of fighting with him, and sick to death of his insecurity and belief that she didn’t want to be there. One day he’s going to accuse me of not wanting to be with him and it’s going to make me want to say he’s right, she thought, staring blankly into his unique blue eyes while a busboy put down empty plates for them and a metal pizza stand so that they’d still have room once their pie was delivered.

“Do you want to try this conversation again?” she suggested once the guy left.

“Don’t talk to me like I’m one of your students, or some kid,” her husband warned.

“I pretty much don’t want to talk to you at all right now. Would you prefer that?”

“Fuck you, Chris. Fuck you being like this. I don’t even want to know you right now.”

“Well I’ll just leave you to enjoy your dinner without me then,” Christina offered with a pleasant smile before taking some cash out of the card wallet in her jacket pocket to leave on the table on her way out. She went outside and around the corner to request an Uber ride to the apartment. Her heart was broken by what she perceived as André’s biting heartlessness, and each piece of her heart was filled with anxiety, because if they couldn’t even get through one day without fighting then their new life together on their new estate was doomed. The whole thing felt like a huge mistake. It was as if she was voluntarily committing herself to an immediate future full of the unhappiness and depression she’d been working so hard to defeat and eradicate from her life. She needed a shower and the counsel of her best friend. All of her luggage was in André’s car, so when Espen let her in she borrowed a t-shirt from his closet to put on after the shower, and locked the bedroom door to keep him out.

He was furious with her for leaving him there and embarrassing him, and for leaving a fight instead of resolving the situation. Most of all he was furious in general that Christina had developed some resolve and wouldn’t take his berating her anymore. A few months earlier she would have cried at the table, or pleaded with him to not attack her. She didn’t even seem to get emotional at the pizza place. André asked to have the food packed up to-go, and he brought it home to eat, not for her. Her luggage remained in the car.

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