#came across these three while shopping for stuffed monkeys

[firefox-official]

do not separate them

#came across these three while shopping for stuffed monkeys #original

[ageofevermore]

Adore You

summary → in which Harry goes away for a few weeks and upon his highly anticipated arrival home your daughter doesn’t recognize him. 

word count → 1.7k

note → this was meant to be set when Harry’s in Italy, but I screwed up so he went to Miami instead. 

add yourself to my taglist 

Harry had been away for weeks, leaving you home alone with Goldie and a recently adopted goldfish named Finn. The coast of Miami was beautiful from your little corner of the world back in London but from speaking with Harry so frequently, his experience had been filled with bad luck and pissed teenagers. He had been productive in developing new business relations, but he missed you both immensely.

Goldie wasn't handling the separation well either. She had spoken to Harry on the phone nightly, but even then she was inconsolable between every nap and clung to your torso desperately. Your little daddy's girl was in desperate need of a proper cuddle, yet the man for the job was oceans away.

His flight was set to come in Monday, narrowly avoiding a wicked storm as it passed directly over London. Goldie had been reassured for weeks upon weeks that Daddy was coming home soon, but every night she pitched the same prompt that he was lost at the shops.

Her sweet worry had come from memory of a trip down to the shops a few months back with you and Gemma. She had dropped her favorite stuffed animal out of the trolley and had gone hours without saying anything, only when you got to the car did you notice the missing stuffed elephant.

You promised her night after night that Daddy wasn't lost at the shops, but every morning her little green eyes filled with tears upon his prolonged arrival home. When Monday came it would have the same reaction as Christmas, only making the wait even harder to bare.

The sun was setting overtop of London, signaling another bedtime prep filled with sniffled and mindless babbles. At almost two Goldie wasn't all the interested in talking. She could formulate coherent words and short sentences, but you and Harry knew her expressions well enough to cater without verbal assistance. Some would consider her spoiled, and you couldn't completely disagree.

Bath time had become an acoustic concert, Fine Line playing softly as yours daughters preferred lullaby. Her little green eyes were barely open as she soaked in the overpriced bath bubbles, your hand never straying far from her back in fear of her tipping over from exhaustion. When you had drained the bath water and covered her little body in Harry's sworn by lavender baby magic lotion, she was asleep against your chest in minutes. The night was stripped of routine whining and crying, and that almost made it worse.

She just couldn't understand that daddy was coming back. Three weeks was the longest she had ever gone without him, not that she would remember his absence having been a newborn, but this four week excursion was weighing on her patience.

You went to bed that night with a heavy heart, ready to have your husband home and warming the bed beside you.

-

Monday had finally come.

You had woken up that morning to Goldie. It had been months since your daughter woke up crying, startling you into consciousness. Your first instinct was to grab the baby monitor, but that had been forgotten downstairs after a fight to the wash room last night. Rushing to your toddlers aid, your baby was laying on her stomach, reaching for the two pacifiers she had dropped over the edge of her crib.

"Monkey." You cooed, catching her attention. Your palms were up towards the ceiling, ready to pick her up and hold her close. At this point you were just as desperate for Harry as she was, and cuddling with his mini-me seemed like the best coping mechanism. "I miss Daddy too." You promised her, allowing yourself to tear up briefly.

"Dada?" She pleaded, clammy hands pushed against your cheeks and squishing your lips together into a fish pout. Any other day she would have laughed at your tight featured, but her little eyes were filled with too much sadness to find humor. "'ome?"

"Yeah. Daddy's coming home." You promised, nuzzling your nose against the soft blush covering her cheeks. She didn't seem to believe your promise, not that she had in the four weeks since he left, but she laid her head down on your shoulder and let her lashes flutter anyways.

Your morning carried on as it normally did, however it was hard to push aside your desire for Harry. Breakfast had taken thirty minutes, whereas it typically took close to an hour. Goldie was fussy, you were running low on diapers, and the laundry had still yet to be done. Tasks were piling up as weeks went by without your best mate helping you along.

You had set Goldie up with some cartoons in the play space downstairs, finally getting to the cutlery keeping home in your dishwasher. It couldn't have been six minutes since you stepped away, but already had your curious toddler gotten into something. The sound of plastic hitting the wooden flooring an obvious give away to her clumsy discovery.

"Bubba." You cooed, bending down to your toddlers level when her eyes filled with tears. She had just dropped a cup of water all over herself after whining that she didn't need a lid. You couldn't find the strength to be cross with her trembling face, so you forgot about the puddle on the floor, instead cuddling the confused and frustrated mini-Styles to your chest. "A few more hours, Gold."

After you had fixed her up with Harry's new merchandise and requested princess slippers, she clung to you miserably. Her nose continued to rub against your collarbone while curious fingers shoved into your shirt and held tightly to your bra. She had been doing the same thing for months, finding comfort in being so close to you.

You had sorted through a load of laundry with her in your lap, curiously poking at the warm clothes as they came from the dryer. She had tried to help for a few minutes before tugging at your shirt, little eyes begging to nurse.

You had only just pulled your shirt back down and over your bra when the front door opened. Just over two months ago Harry had gotten the rusted hinges fixed, therefore giving him the capability of sneaking up on the two of you.

A grin broke out across your face, wanting nothing more then to rush into the arms of your husband, but having to be mindful of the fussy baby on your hip. You set Goldie down, thankful that she didn't wiggle her way back into your embrace, and turned her body towards Harry. He was dressed in your favorite grey sweatpants from Nike, and a black shirt, his worn adidas shoes loosely tied around his feet.

"Whose that, baby girl?" You cooed, brushing your fingers through her golden locks of hair. She giggled, ready to run when suddenly her face crumbled and she fell backwards into your embrace. Your brows crinkled, looking up to share a worried frown with Harry.

Goldie had never had that reaction towards her Daddy.

"Monkey," You cooed, "What's a'matter?" You picked her up, holding her tightly against your chest with panicked thoughts.

Walking her closer to Harry despite the increasing volume of her terrified sobs, your husbands heart looked like it had shattered into a million pieces. His hands, usually adorned with a multitude of rings were bare, and clammy as he wiping down the sides of his sweats. You passed the toddler off to him, wincing when she desperately grabbed a handful of your hair.

"No Mama." She cried, reaching out for you. You had seen her get worked up with strangers before, but that was always during tour when somebody would grab her from Harry after sound check. "No."

"Calm down, Petal." Harry tried to soothe the toddler, a hand pushing her face into his neck the way he knows she loves, "Just me, s'just Daddy."

You scanned Harry sadly, watching him try his hardest to calm the waterworks. Your eyes fell from his, down to the sculptured patch of light hair above his lip. Your heart hammered when you realized why your daughter was so distraught, and you giggled. She didn't recognize him, used to his bare face or occasional stubble. Stepping closer to the struggling pair, you gently grabbed one of Goldie's flailing limbs.

"Look. Hey, hey we don't hit, Indie." You reprimanded softly, bringing her little hand up to softly caress Harry's mustache, "It's just Daddy. I know, he's got that silly thing on his face, but it's just Daddy."

Harry knew you weren't fond of his mustache, you had made that very clear the minute you saw the first picture. What he hadn't prepared for though, was the possibility that his little love wouldn't recognize him. She was quite skittish, much like he was as a child, but he figured with your anxiety, he gave his little Goldie quite the fright.

"Be right back, love." Harry handed you the clingy toddler, rushing off towards your en-suite with a simple kiss to the forehead. Your eyes followed as he went, but you stayed with Goldie by the door. You figured familiarity was best right now, having never been in this position.

It was a few minutes later that Harry came back down, freshly shaven and barefoot. Goldie had calmed down since he left, but her usually bright eyes were puffy and red.

"Look at Daddy." You cooed gently, coaxing her into turning her head and looking towards the man that loved her more then anything in the world. You knew that if push came to shove Harry's first priority would be Goldie, and seeing him so distraught earlier only highlighted his complete adoration for her.

The blonde toddler in your arms squealed, whining and reaching out for Harry to hold her. You grinned widely at your husband, happy to see them both so relieved and ecstatic. Once he was close enough for Goldie to reach, she thrust herself into his arms. Her head down his chest and her hands went to wrap around his ringlets, sighing contently into his hold. Her little green eyes red, but filled with such love and admiration.

"Dada." She babbled, leaning closer to place a wet, open mouthed kiss on his collarbone. She had done the same thing nightly, and Harry hated how much he missed his slobbery kisses while in Miami.

"Yeah, Daddy's home, baby love."

#harry styles #harry styles blurb #dad!tony #harry styles imagine #husband!harry #fine line #harry styles fluff

[fettsvette]

When She Wakes Up

Fatherhood was never something Boba Fett had envisioned for himself, nor had he particularly wanted any part in it. That all changed when he met his daughter for the first time.

Pairing: Boba Fett x Sintas Vel Words: 2.2k Rating: General Warnings: Mentions of pregnancy and childbirth

Can be found on Archive of Our Own here.

  Mando’a terminology

ke barjurir gar’ade, jagyc’ade kot’la a dalyc’ade kotla’shya - ‘train your sons to be strong, but your daughters to be stronger’

  ba’buir - grandfather

bu’ad - grandchild

buir - father

ad’ika - little one

kov’nyn - headbutt/forehead press

    -

  “I slipped on myself, no help from anyone else

I fell in love 

And I was humbled

  There she is

Isn't she everything?”

  Frank Turner, “There She Is”

    -

  She was so kriffing small .

  Boba didn’t think he’d ever seen another human being this tiny, this helpless. 

  Not that he’d been around very many babies in his lifetime. 

  There had been the infant clones on Kamino during his childhood, of course, but his father had never let him stray too close to the lab facilities. Not that he’d wanted to, anyway. The rows and rows of little bodies, floating suspended in translucent goo, as well as the hundreds upon thousands of children that shared his face, and the men who shared his father’s, had always scared him a bit. 

  Boba Fett didn’t consider himself to be someone who often felt fear. He could count the times on one hand, most of them occurring during his earliest years, instances of cautiously peering around his father’s leg at strange visitors or waking from imagined terrors in the night, wailing for Jango to come to his rescue from the other room.

  But he’d never felt as scared as he did in this moment, right now, gazing down upon this little pink-hued creature wrapped in a blanket of nerf-wool, fast asleep and dreaming. His daughter .

  He hadn’t even been this terrified when Sintas had first told him that she was with child, his child, nor when she’d begun to experience violent bouts of nausea every morning, nor when her belly had begun to tellingly swell beneath her clothing. Boba had felt strangely detached from the situation for the entire nine months of the pregnancy, and it was only in hindsight that he realized he had been afraid . He and Sin had only been married a year - barely knew each other, really - and they were both so young. So young. They were hardly more than children themselves. And now they were responsible for another life, this fragile creature curled in a plastene bassinet, gently tinkling mobile of miniature stars and planets hanging overhead.

  Sin had said that the name ‘Ailyn’ meant ‘graceful.’ She couldn’t remember in what language, but she’d seen it in a mothering book somewhere, some sickeningly sweet maternal tome she had browsed through in a secondhand shop in town. The child - a little girl, they’d discovered - would take her surname, ‘Vel.’ Boba hadn’t protested when Sintas had made the announcement - yes, that’s what it had been, she hadn’t even asked his opinion - nor had he questioned the decision. It would be safer for the baby, Sin had elaborated, and Boba had agreed. Yes, the baby’s safety. Our baby. Although his wife was just as involved in the bounty hunting trade as he was, Boba had already made quite the name for himself, at only sixteen. He had enemies, heartless barves who wouldn’t hesitate to harm an innocent infant solely to exact their revenge. One of the reasons he’d settled down on Concord Dawn in the first place was to escape that unforgiving life, and bestowing the decidedly infamous name of ‘Fett’ upon a defenseless babe was no way to honor that choice. 

  So ‘Ailyn Vel’ came to be.

  Boba hadn’t been there for the birth. He’d been on duty with his fellow Journeymen, out in the middle of nowhere keeping watch over one of the many agricultural sectors that had fallen victim to pirates as of late. His comlink had crackled to life as he and the squadron under his command had been patrolling the bush, the superior officer on the dispensing end ordering him to get back to base at once; his wife had gone into labor, and it wouldn’t be long now before he became a father. A father . His comrades had congratulated him, pounded him on the back and wished him well.

  ‘Ke barjurir gar’ade, jagyc’ade kot’la a dalyc’ade kotla’shya!’ one of his fellows had shouted at him as he roared past on the speeder bike that would take him back into the city. ‘Train your sons to be strong, but your daughters to be stronger!’ 

  Boba wondered if he was strong enough to raise a daughter, let alone train one.

  By the time Boba had arrived at the medcenter, Sin had already given birth. He’d missed it by several hours. The child was healthy, robust, had been squalling like a Kowakian monkey-lizard and waving her tiny fists in the air, seeming almost enraged at having been unceremoniously evicted from her dark, warm home - or so the attending medical droid had claimed. The machine had greeted him in the hall outside of the center’s maternity ward, already aware that he was the husband, the father; whether it was due to information that had been provided upon Sin’s admittance, or because of his noticeably frazzled state when he’d arrived - drenched in sweat, breathing heavily, helmet tucked precariously under his arm - he couldn’t be sure.

  Sintas hadn’t stopped bleeding afterwards, the droid had told him, and several medics had to intervene. Sensing Boba’s rising panic, his urge to smash its hydraulics against the wall and force his way into the birthing room beyond, the droid had clarified that she was fine now, recuperating comfortably, but that it was unwise for her to receive visitors at the moment. Yes, that included the husband, but he would be allowed to go in soon. The newborn girl, however, had been whisked away to the medcenter’s nursery to be poked and prodded by the maternity droids, to be bathed and swaddled and left to rest until it was time to be brought back to her mother.

  And there Boba found himself, standing in the otherwise empty nursery, gazing at this prone form tucked away in a sterile cradle, sleeping soundly, blissfully unaware of the man peering down at her. Boba allowed himself to exhale a shaky breath. His daughter. Ailyn.

  “Would you like to hold her, Master Fett?” 

  The metallic voice’s inquiring tone jerked him out of his dazed stupor. The droid stood at his side, searching his face with an uncanny mechanical imitation of human compassion. At first Boba stared, not quite understanding what the droid meant, until it stooped and lifted the baby from her cot, holding the swathed infant out to him. 

  Boba had never held a baby before, and had no idea how to proceed. The droid had anticipated this and shuffled forward, holding the newborn in the crook of one durasteel arm, guiding Boba’s hands - his rough Journeyman’s gloves having been stuffed haphazardly into a pouch in his flight suit - into the proper positioning with its other.

  “Support the head; the muscles in the neck are underdeveloped at this early stage of life. Keep one arm under the body, and the back must be kept straight - raise the infant level to your chest, like so. I shall leave you with her momentarily while I confer with our staff on the mother’s condition. Please wait here.” 

  And suddenly, Boba was alone in the room, his daughter in his arms. Ailyn snuffled at the sudden change of positioning, the sensation of soft human touch versus the cold alloy of the nurse droid. Boba gave a start, expecting her to start shrieking, but she simply let out a soft coo and turned her head to the side, closer to her father, drawn to the warmth radiating from his body. The newborn was small yet compact, a tuft of downy black hair already present atop her head, long lashes framing eyes still tightly squeezed shut, pouty lips pursed, dreaming milk dreams. 

  Boba stroked the side of a finger along the infant’s rosy cheek, downwards from her closed eyes to the soft bow of her mouth. Soon the little face would be marked on each side by distinct tattoos, three dark stripes arching across her skin, the qukuuf of the Kiffar - her mother’s people. Ailyn already bore the shape of Sin’s face, the high cheekbones and sharp chin. Her nose, however, was a perfect copy of his own - the bridge flattened, and slightly upturned at its tip. Boba found himself musing if this child would also inherit his Concordian accent, the same one he’d acquired from his father. A fierce ache lit a fire in his chest at that thought, and he wished Jango had not been so brutally cut down in his prime, that he could have met his son’s own little one, that he had lived to see himself become a ba’buir, with a bu’ad to fawn over and spoil endlessly . He briefly wondered if this very moment had possibly been mirrored sixteen years prior, between his father and newborn self. Had Jango Fett been nervous before being presented with his baby son, needed help learning to cradle him, worried that he wouldn’t be a good father? Boba found the idea strangely comforting. Shifting his hold on the baby gingerly, Boba hesitantly reached one digit out to poke at a little fist that had freed itself from its swaddlings. He couldn’t believe how tiny the fingers were, curled over as if in deep concentration - the little knuckles, the miniscule fingernails. It was while studying these details, perfect miniatures of his own hands, Boba heard a sniffling grunt, and flicked his view to the baby’s face.

  Her eyes were open.

  They were her mother’s eyes, Sin’s eyes, bright blue and already alert, and Ailyn was studying him intensely. Slowly, almost as if she was experimenting with the newfound use of her hands, she reached out and grasped Boba’s index finger, clutching with surprising strength for such a small creature, and she blinked up at him slowly. 

  Boba’s heart seemed to momentarily stop, and his vision instantly blurred over with hot tears. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried, was beginning to think it was no longer within his capabilities. After a moment, he spoke, and he was surprised at the level of emotion in his voice.

  “Hello, Ailyn… I’m your buir . I’m going to take care of you. I won’t ever let anything happen to you, I promise you that. I swear it on my life, ad’ika .”

  Boba bent to press his lips to the crown of her head, taking in the sweet, clean smell that only newborns seemed to carry. Not wanting to relinquish this feeling just yet, he touched his forehead to hers in a gentle kov’nyn , choosing not to notice the tears that had soaked into the baby’s blanket as he closed his eyes in pure paternal indulgence.

  “Master Fett?”

  Boba turned at the call, Ailyn cradled in his arms, to regard the medical droid standing in the doorway. He didn’t know how long it had been there, silently observing him and his daughter, but he found that he didn’t really care. He hastily wiped at his eyes with the back of one hand before readjusting his hold on Ailyn, wordlessly regarding the machine.

  “My apologies, Master Fett, but I’ve just been informed that Mistress Vel is awake and well enough to receive visitors. I can take you both to her now, if you wish.” The droid offered, extending its arm and bobbling its head subserviently. 

  Boba looked down at Ailyn - her eyes were shut again, his finger still enclosed within that tiny fist. He had only just met his daughter, but he already knew he would do anything she asked of him, gladly give up his life for her. Was this what fatherhood meant? Was this how his own buir had felt upon being presented with his son, so long ago in Tipoca City? Not taking his eyes off his newborn daughter, Boba nodded silently, and stepped forward to let the droid escort him down the hall, where Sin - his wife, the mother of his child - awaited them.

  There was still much that Boba Fett didn’t know about Sintas Vel - their courtship and subsequent marriage had been a whirlwind, and stars … now they were parents - but he knew that she was beautiful, and a crack shot with a blaster, and that he trusted her at a time in his life where he thought he could only trust himself. And he knew that he loved her, and that he loved Ailyn, this incredible new life that they had created together. 

  Perhaps that was more than enough.

#boba fett #boba fett fanfiction #sintas vel #ailyn vel

[rainydayhogwartsimagines]

Hey so I really don’t know how to request stuff, but like I love your posts and I love Freddie so here we go

Freddie and the weasleys go visit the muggle world but the States and meet this amazing girl (aka y/n) while at a carnival. He falls head over heels the moment he sees her and they talk for a while, he believes she’s a muggle, however when they go back to hogwarts, she ends up being the new transfer student :o

But it’s okay if you don’t do it! It’s just a little idea maybe you can take some inspo off it ❤️

America was a lot bigger than Charlie told the Weasleys... And Harry. It was massive as they stood on the side walk. "airplanes. How fascinating!" Arthur said making all of the kids groan in response. "We. Know." Ginny sighed. "You talked about it for three hours on the plane!" Ron whined.

"Mum! Dad!" Someone said from across the street. He ran over and waved. "You guys made it!" Charlie said. "Yes and we're quite tired, where are we staying?" Molly asked. "Oh, it's two blocks from here, come on." Charlie said. The group walked, looking around at the scenery. "A carnival is in town tomorrow, you guys are totally going." Charlie said. Fred rose a brow. "Carnival? Like something from the movies?" He asked. "What expecting a summer romance?" Charlie asked jokingly. "No I--" Fred then noticed the long haired girl walking down the steps of the subway, face looking focused as you walked. "No." He cleared his throat. "Ohh he saw something pretty." Ginny teased. "Shut it." He said, roughing up her hair.

Fred didn't think much about the carnival idea. In fact this trip over all wasn't very exciting to him. Ron and Harry shared a room, Fred and George shared one and Ginny was the lucky one on her own. Fred looked out the window and Charlie walked in. "You guys ready to goooo?" He asked. "Yeah. Tell me this won't be dull." Fred said. "It won't be dull." Charlie assured.

So there Fred stood, screams of citizens going on as they rode rides, attractions that muggles of course found interesting with their naive minds and then... You. Fred didn't think much of this but you sat at a picnic table talking to someone. Your hair was in a ponytail, pulled back by a black ribbon and you wore a red cardigan despite the warm weather. Your smile was something he was captivated by, his lips parting as he saw it. Charlie rose a brow, following his brother's gaze before you looked over. "Charlie!" You said running over. Fred blinked.

"Y/n! Hi!" Charlie greeted. You gave him a small hug and you chuckled. "Glad to see you came, Sam's over there if you wanna talk to her." You said with finger guns. He chuckled and shook his head. "This is my brother Fred. Keep his sane will you?" Charlie asked. "I got it! Go go!" You shoved him to the table and ran back over. "What was that about?" Fred asked. "Charlie has a thing for my friend. This was a set up." You chuckled. You turned to Fred. "So you're Fred. Where's George?" You asked, cocking your head to the side like a confused dog. "...You know about George?" Fred asked. "Yeah, Charlie talks to me all the time." You nodded. "George is with Ginny." Fred said slowly, looking at you. "What's wrong?" You asked. "I... How do you know Charlie?" He asked. "My dad owns a coffee shop that I work at during the summer and Charlie is a regular." You said. Oh... So you were... A muggle.

Fred nodded and you rose a brow. "So, you wanna do something?" You asked curiously, bouncing back and forth on the balls of your heels. "uhh... Sure.. I don't know anything here though." He admitted. "Well in two hours there's going to be a banana derby." You said. Fred blinked. "A what?" He asked. "Spider monkeys riding on the back of dogs like it's a derby." You said. He blinked and gaped slightly. "What the hell are you Americans on?" Fred asked. "Freedom.... Too much freedom. But freedom." You answered. Fred snorted and you both started laughing.

"Well what's there to do now?" Fred finally asked. "Well there's rides but they're way too fucking loud and have a tendency to break down." You said. "No." Fred shuddered at the thought. Course he could easily fix something. "There's food that will cause you to probably die by thirty." You said. Fred rose a brow before seeing a kid walk by with a deep fried oreo. "I am understanding this 'too much freedom' comment you made." Fred said with a shudder. "There's games that are totally rigged but still kind of fun." You said. "That sounds kind of appealing compared to rotting your insides and potentially having a hospital trip." Fred said. "Rigged games it is!" You chuckled.

Fred followed you around, watching you laugh at many failed attempts with a baseball and hitting targets. "God your bad at this." You laughed. "Okay, you try it then!" Fred laughed. You picked up a baseball and hit the target making Fred raise a brow. "America's favorite pastime." You said, throwing the next ball up, it falling back into your hand and you hitting the next target. "How are you doing that?" Fred asked. You chuckled and stood behind Fred. "straighten your legs a little." You instructed. "Now pull your arm back." You said, guiding his arm with your hands. God they were so soft and small. "Wow..." You muttered, feeling the muscle that Fred had. Quidditch was a God send in this moment. "Like something?" He asked with a chuckle. "Throw the ball idiot." You blushed, letting go. He hit the target. "Pick your prize." The attendant said in a monotone voice. "What do you want?" Fred asked. "....Uuuh.. that weird ass mole platypus looking thing." You said pointing to the unidentifiable stuffed animal. "It's also a backpack." The attendant muttered. "BRO THAT'S SO COOL" you gaped, pulling it onto your back. Fred snorted, seeing you hop around with the creature on your back. If Fred weren't at a muggle based carnival he would almost call the backpack a niffler.

Fred spent most of the evening with you, talking to you and discovering you actually were moving to Scotland soon. Charlie befriended you so you'd know at least one person out there. "Why are you moving?" He asked. "Mom got a new job out there. She's an archeologist." You said. "Ah." Fred nodded. "what about you, what do your parents do?" You asked. "Uhm." Fuck, how should he answer that? "Mum's a stay at home mother and my dad... Works a desk job." He said. Not technically a lie. "Hmm." You nodded. "What do you want to be exactly?" Fred asked. "Welll... That's a little hard to explain." You admitted. "I'm used to weird." Fred chuckled. You smiled slightly. "Uhm... I want to study--" "Y/N!!!!!" someone called making you sigh. "I'll be right back." You huffed.

The girl from earlier was talking to you, smiling and you rolled your eyes. You came back over and snorted. "What was that?" Fred asked. "Charlie asked Sam out. Officially." You laughed. "and she needed to tell you?" Fred asked. "Sam tells me everything. I'm really going to miss her when I move." You said with a sigh. Fred put his hand over yours and you looked up, Fred giving you a reassuring look. You smiled at him and he kissed your knuckles. "On the bright side... I can see you in Scotland." Fred said. You smiled at that comment and laughed. "I suppose that is true."

The evening carried on, you and Fred watching the insane event of a 'Banana derby' before spending time in a photo booth. Fred had never taken muggle pictures that stayed still. He was smiling at you in most of them. But something crazy happened. You smiled back at him once you realized he was looking at you and before either of you knew it, his lips were on yours. The last flash made you two aware of where you were. You let out a breathless laugh against his forehead. "This is absolutely wild." You said. "I tend to like wild." Fred said. "Well clearly, you just kissed me." You snorted. You climbed out, handing him a photo strip. Fred smiled and you put another strip in your wallet.

"Fred! Time to go!" Someone called. You shifted and he pressed a kiss to you one last time. You savored that feeling. The warmth, the hold he made sure he had on you to make you feel secure, his breath. All of it. "Fred!" Someone called again. "I'll get your address and write to you from Charlie." You said. "okay." He said with a slightly pained smile. He ran off and you shook your head with a smile.

Fred was positive he wasn't going to see you again though. After all... You weren't a wizard. You wouldn't be walking the halls of Hogwarts, you'd be somewhere in Scotland with your family. Fred seemed disappointed as he thought about it more. He wasn't going to see you again.

The day finally came when he sat at the breakfast table in the burrow. Charlie was there to spend time at home for a little while. "So I heard from a little bird that you got along with Y/n." Charlie said. "Yeah." Fred said, seeming sad at the mention. "She's a crazy girl that one, she wants to do what I do." Charlie said. "What fake job did you give her?" George asked. Charlie rose a brow confused. "Wait, she's not--" "Get the car ready Arthur, they've got to go soon." Molly said. "God I miss hogwarts." Charlie said. "Honestly, me too." Bill agreed. Fred got up, getting dressed and finishing packing.

The train ride was long and silent, his thoughts of course drifting to you. What was Charlie going to say before Molly cut him off? He swore for a couple of seconds he saw you on the platform. He knew that wasn't possible. He sat in the great hall, head on his hand. "Oh my God, Fred. Stop moping." George sighed. "Sorry." Fred said not thinking. Dumbledore went through the sorting of first years and he applauded in silence. "And before we begin the opening feast I'd like to introduce Gryffindor's newest member." The door opened behind Dumbledore and Fred's eyes widened as you brushed ash off your cloak. "Y/n L/n.... Uhm... What happened?" Dumbledore asked as you coughed out smoke. "Charlie Weasley happened." You said making a few people laugh.

Dumbledore used a quick cleaning spell and you were as good as new before you saw Fred. He swallowed, looking at you and you stepped down, him getting up and practically sprinting to you. He scooped you into his arms and you laughed. "Surprised?" You asked. "When the hell were you going to tell me you were a wizard!?" Fred asked, cupping your face. You furrowed your brow. "Charlie never told you-- I am kicking your brother's ass." You said making him laugh. "I work part time with your brother during the summers. I'm on a scholarship for dragon studies. You seriously haven't heard about the girl who has the weird friendships with the dragons?" You asked. "Oh my God that was you!?" Fred asked. "Yes!" You laughed before Fred scattered kisses across your face. You smiled and George blinked. "SHE'S REAL!?" he asked making Fred look over. "YES YOU MORON!" Fred said making you laugh hard.

He spent his morning showing you around, him keeping an arm around you, or holding your hand the entire time. Fred would sometimes just look at you. No talking. No comments. Just look. And he knew instantly by listening to you that you were the one.

Taglist: @amhyeah @newtaholic-staygold @bbeauttyybbx @fleurho @yodeadxss @mariah-can-dream

#fred weasley x you #fred weasley #fred weasley x reader

[starrosefics-archive]

Treasure Bin: Prologue

Summary: MK receives what seems to be a peace offering call from his estranged sister. In reality, it’s a call for help. On the other side, Macaque approaches old allies.

Notes: Very much inspired by Drunk Adora from She Ra. I kinda got this idea after @herhighnesstheprincess suggested MK might come from a demon/magic family while discussing MK’s family over at @ninja-knox-ur-sox-off. There is Spicynoodleshipping in here, but (past) Shadowpeach is the main focus.

-_-

The room was long, narrow, and dark. Stacks of shelves and drawers took up the space, all containing various objects. The shelves themselves looked old and worn, with a repeating character drawn carefully out in small, easy to miss places. At the end of the room, a spiral staircase came up to the ceiling. There was silence. And then a mechanism creaked, allowing a circular door in the roof to open.

There were footsteps.

A young woman descended down the staircase, eyes set on her phone. It was open to a picture of the girl and a younger male, both dressed in fancy clothes. She stared at it before pressing the contacts. Her thumb hovered over a single contact.

Little Brother MK, with a smiley face next to it.

She paused at the bottom of the staircase, considering. Then she sighed, stuffing her phone in her pocket. “Maybe tomorrow,” she said to herself. 

She strode down the room’s length, passing shelves without a glance. She paused next to what looked like a portal before moving on. The girl didn’t turn on any lights, having come down here long enough to have no need. She finally reached a desk at the end.  Here, she flicked on a lamp. The light revealed papers frantically scattered around, with an old binder sitting next to a modern laptop.

Her name was Bao. She had just inherited this warehouse of magical objects and the shop above. Her great aunt had passed three days ago, leaving the shop to the last generation she knew wielded the magic that ran through their family’s veins. Bao had seized her chance.

Except, that meant she was stuck running a shop with no clear organizational system. The only person who understood was now very dead. Bao sat down at the desk, booting up her laptop. She typed in her password and pulled up a spreadsheet.

So far, all she could find was that there were new, old, and very old things in the shop. Not only did Great Aunt Tetra’s shop make magical objects but they also held onto them. Like a pair of old staffs, with the only note reading in ancient Chinese the other two’s. Bao glared at the mess on her desk, willing everything to make sense. Her phone dinged, but she didn’t bother to give it a glance.

This wasn’t the first attempt her parents had tried to call her and it wouldn’t be the last.

“Okay...so maybe she used that other system?” Bao said, opening the binder. She flicked through it, growling at the lack of answers. “C’mon, I know that the other stuff is in the other warehouse-”

There was a whoosh.

She froze. After a confused blink, she turned in her chair. “Hello?” she called out. There was nothing there. Bao shrugged after another confused moment, turning back to her study. “If worst comes to worst...” she hummed after giving the binder another look.

Well, she could always just...burn down the shop-

There was another whoosh. This time, she heard something tinkling. “Hello?” she called out. She stood, flicking on her phone’s flashlight as she headed down the room’s length. Bao shone the light into the shelves, hand reaching towards the two yo-yos hanging on her belt. 

“Hello? Are you a customer? I’m sorry, but the shop’s not open tonight. You can check in next week.” Bao paused when nothing was discovered. She sighed, rubbing at her temple. “You’ve been staying up too long.” she said to herself. She turned to head back to her desk.

At that particular moment, something slammed into the floor right in front of her.

Bao screamed, scrambling back away from the spiky end of a staff. On instinct, she grabbed her yo-yos, returning the attack by sending one flying up to where the wielder must’ve been. The other she started spinning until it appeared she held nothing but a teal circle. The staff was pulled up. The yo-yo sent up wrapped around something and she yanked.

Instead of dragging whomever it was down, she was slammed into the shelf. She was forced to release both yo yos to dodge the artifacts sent down. Something banged into her head. Bao let out a grunt, staggering back as she held her head. She glanced down to see it was one of her yo-yos. She grabbed it, eyes searching until she found the other.

The staff returned and she ducked, forced to again dodge a multitude of objects. Why was this room so narrow?!

She glanced around when the rain of objects died. The staff was gone again. There was a dark chuckle.

Behind her.

She slammed her fist up, hitting something that disappeared like smoke. She barely had a moment before Bao felt something slam into her back. She flailed, managing to send it up and off her. There was more, all kicking and hitting, but ultimately easy to get rid of. When she had a moment to breathe, there was another chuckle.

Enough.

She vocalized this statement with “ENOUGH!” She grabbed one of the yo-yos and sent it spinning. Her bond weapon followed her command, banging off surfaces but always following the chuckles. She only had a moment to regret this.

All the characters the weapon had banged into lit up in red, allowing them to be read. Destruction.

And on the ceiling, there was a statement that lit up in red.

Let all be destroyed so it can be renewed.

“Fuck.” Bao continued this swear as the characters started to explode, one by one. She pulled the yo-yo back and scrambled out of the fire’s path, heading for the staircase. But the fire had already reached it, meaning when her hand wrapped around the railing, she let out a yelp at the hot metal.

Well, there was no other way.

Bao pulled out the other yo-yo and sent both of them up. The strings wrapped around and...

-_-

The shop, carefully hidden in a small courtyard, lit up in flames.

Something whirred through the roof, allowing Bao to hit the courtyard. She panted for air, thoughts scrambling to rearrange themselves. She sat up with a groan. Everything ached from her sudden escape.

She glanced back to consider the still on fire shop. Well, she had been thinking about just destroying the place- 

Something cracked and Bao shot to her feet, whirling the yo-yos into glowing circles. She stood there, tense as a board before giving up on simply standing there. She scanned the courtyard, looking for any sign of her mysterious attacker.

There was nothing.

Bao sighed, grabbing the yo-yos and hooking them back on her belt. She reached inside a small belt pouch, grabbing a pen and a stack of Post-Its. Walking back towards the shop, she started to sketch out a new character. The character simply read Renewal. It would bring back the building and the objects but hopefully allow her to actually organize-

She wasn’t alone.

And by the time Bao realized this, they were already swarming.

This time, there was no way to get them off. 

A dark chuckle rang across the courtyard as Bao struggled. A dark-furred monkey stepped out of the shadows, considering the jar he held. The sludge inside glowed gold. Combined with the fire, the glow lit his face menacingly. His shadow clones shoved their now bound and gagged prisoner forward. “Well, look who I caught.”

Bao’s gagged fury died down as she met the purple gaze of Macaque.

She whimpered.

“How about you and I talk about your opening time?”

#monkie kid #macaque #original character #shadowpeach #six eared macaque

[shortace]

Alien Pooping Boy

CHAPTER ONE

There was a flash of light in the sandpit, a glowing purple dot which rapidly doubled, trebled, quadrupled in size. It was so bright that the two kids making sandcastles - and knocking them down again with gusto - had to shield their eyes. It was in this moment, while neither of them were looking, that a boy emerged from the sphere of light and tumbled into the sand. With a loud pop, the light vanished, leaving the boy shaking sand from his ears and nostrils.

‘Where’d you come from?’ asked Benny, sandcastles forgotten. He’d knocked his glasses crooked, and his red hair stuck up in all directions. 

‘Mars,’ said the newcomer. ‘Where am I now?’ He had a slight greenish tinge to his skin and hair, and when he stood up, he was about up to Benny’s shoulder. 

‘Mars?’ blonde-haired Alice repeated doubtfully. ‘There aren’t people on Mars.’ 

‘Of course not; there are Martians on Mars!’ the boy said. Alice supposed that made sense. 

‘Well,’ she continued, ‘You’re on Earth. That’s the planet next to Mars.’

‘What’s your name?’ Benny asked. ‘Is it something weird and Martian, like Fleebleblop?’

‘It is Fleebleblop!’ the boy said. ‘How did you know?’ He finished getting sand out of his clothes, hair, and mouth, and started shaking one hand vigorously. 

‘We should tell the teachers that a boy from Mars appeared in the sandpit,’ said Alice. 

‘What’s a teacher?’ 

‘They’re the adults who teach us and look after us at school.’

‘What’s school?’

‘It’s the place we go so that adults can teach us and look after us.’ 

Fleebleblop nodded and looked around. ‘School is sandy,’ he noted. He hopped out of the sandpit, onto the grass. ‘But now I’m not there, so I don’t need to worry about your beaches!’

‘Teachers,’ Alice corrected him.

‘Anyway, school isn’t just the sandpit,’ Benny said. He pointed out the buildings, the monkey bars, and the carpark. ‘It’s all this.’

Fleebleblop pointed a finger into the distance, and Benny was about to tell him that what he was pointing at wasn’t part of the school. It was a vegan pie shop. He wondered if they had vegan pies on Mars. But before he could speak, the alien boy’s fingertip opened up and something brown oozed out and fell to the ground. ‘Sorry,’ Fleebleblop said. ‘Teleporting makes me nervous, and then I just have to poop!’ 

Alice and Benny stared at him wordlessly. 

‘That’s poop?’ Alice asked after a few seconds. ‘From your finger?’

Fleebleblop blinked. ‘Where else would it come from?’ 

And Alice found herself, for once, lost for words. 

CHAPTER TWO

The bell rang, calling the students back into class. Benny began to run immediately, by habit, but Alice grabbed him by the hair, nearly pulling him over backwards onto his bottom. ‘We can’t just leave… Fleebleblop…’ she said. ‘What’s a Martian kid going to do alone on earth?’ 

‘Poop through his finger?’ Benny suggested. 

‘I already did that,’ Fleebleblop pointed out. 

‘I poop lots of times a day,’ Benny said proudly. ‘Don’t you?’ 

Fleebleblop admitted that he did, especially when he’d eaten too many bumbleberries. 

‘We don’t have time for this, we have to get back to class!’ Alice insisted. ‘We need to make a quick decision!’

‘I’ll come with you,’ Fleebleblop decided. By this time the playground was nearly empty, and their teacher would miss them shortly if they didn’t turn up in class. Alice didn’t see another option. They couldn’t let an alien kid wander around on his own; anything might happen. 

‘Okay,’ she said, ‘but don’t say anything. Just try to look normal.’ 

‘And no finger-pooping in class,’ Benny added. 

‘What about nose pooping?’

Alice and Benny stared at him, horrified. 

‘Just kidding! Only people with Martian weevilplops do that, and I’m perfectly healthy!’ 

The two earth kids both sagged with relief. They grabbed the Martian by his shirt and started dragging him towards their classroom. He ran awkwardly, as if he wasn’t used to moving that way. 

‘Hurry up!’ Alice yelled. 

‘Can’t I cartwheel instead?’ 

‘Will it be faster?’

‘Yes.’

Alice and Benny let go of him, and true to his word, he cartwheeled and tumbled at high speed across the schoolyard. 

‘This isn’t exactly looking normal,’ Benny muttered. But nobody was around to see, and Fleebleblop was walking upright again by the time they reached the door to their classroom. 

To Alice’s immense relief, their teacher Mrs Baker had her back turned and was writing on the whiteboard as they came in. She didn’t notice that an extra child had turned up in her class. She was slightly blind and a little bit forgetful, but she could still count. They sat towards the back of the room and made hushing motions at the alien. 

‘So what do we do in a classroom?’ Fleebleblop asked, not bothering to keep his voice down. Perhaps the gesture for “shush” was something different on Mars. 

Mrs Baker turned around and squinted at the rows of children. ‘We do as we are told,’ she said firmly. Several children sniggered.

Alice whispered to the alien boy, glaring at a couple of other kids who turned around to stare. ‘Just keep quiet and still,’ she said. 

Fleebleblop frowned. ‘I am not good at quiet and still,’ he said, although he did speak a little more quietly than before. Not much, though. 

‘Mrs Baker,’ another kid piped up, ‘there’s some weirdo in the back row. He doesn’t even go here.’ 

Alice and Benny froze, as all heads turned directly to Fleebleblop. 

CHAPTER THREE

It took a few seconds of squinting, but finally Mrs Baker saw the strange boy sitting between Benny and Alice. ‘Who might you be?’ she asked. 

‘He’s my cousin,’ Alice blurted quickly. ‘His name’s Fred,’ she added, at the exact same moment that Benny said ‘His name’s Bob.’ 

Mrs Baker raised an eyebrow. ‘Does Fred-Bob have permission to be in my class?’

‘Fleebleblop,’ Fleebleblob corrected her. ‘Although Fred-Bob is a good first try, well done!’

Most of the class giggled. Mrs Baker did not. Her frown intensified. 

‘I’m from Mars,’ the boy continued. ‘What’s a cousin? Is something wrong with your eyebrows? One’s up and one’s down.’ He waggled his own eyebrows to demonstrate that his could be either both up or both down. By this time the giggling among the students had progressed to full laughter. 

Alice tugged desperately at Fleebleblop’s arm. ‘Just be quiet,’ she pleaded. Benny was too horrified to speak at all. ‘You’ll get us in trouble!’

Fleebleblop turned to her, returning his eyebrows to normal. ‘Where’s that?’ 

‘What?’

‘Trouble. I promise I won’t take you there; my teleporter is still recharging.’ 

‘It’s the principal’s office,’ Alice said miserably. 

‘Uh-oh,’ said Fleebleblop. He still didn’t know what she meant, but her tone and face made it clear it was nothing good. ‘Now I’m nervous.’ He glanced at his finger.

‘Oh no, Fleebleblop, not here!’ Benny yelled, seeing the alien boy’s finger stiffen to a point. ‘Not in class!’

But he was too late. The nervous alien was already pooping from his finger. At least he was pointing it downwards this time, but still, with the attention of the entire class and Mrs Baker on him, he couldn’t possibly hide it. 

Mrs Baker’s face turned red, then purple. She seemed lost for words for a moment, before finally managing to yell, ‘Principal’s office! Now!’ She didn’t specify who, but Benny stood alongside Alice and they both grabbed Fleebleblop and ran. 

CHAPTER FOUR

In the corridor, out of earshot of Mrs Baker, they slowed down and stopped. 

‘I don’t think we should go to the principal’s office,’ Benny said. ‘How could we possibly explain?’ 

Alice tried to imagine Principal Cook’s face if she told him that an alien from Mars had pooped through his finger onto Mrs Baker’s classroom floor. ‘You’re right,’ she agreed. ‘But where else can we go?’

‘Where do you live?’ Fleebleblop asked. ‘In caves? Up trees? I want to see Earth homes.’ 

‘We could take him to my place,’ Alice said doubtfully. ‘Mum’s at work. You’d have to promise to poop in the toilet, though.’

‘What’s a toilet?’

‘It’s a special place for pooping.’

Fleebleblop was awed. ‘A special place, just for pooping? Like, a whole building?’

‘A sort of chair in a special room,’ Benny explained. ‘With water in it.’

‘A flooded room with a chair for pooping! That sounds amazing.’ 

‘The chair has water, not the room,’ Alice told him. The notion seemed just as exciting to Fleebleblop. 

He nodded excitedly. ‘Take me to the pooping chair at your home.’ 

Now that the terrifying visage of Mrs Baker was several minutes in the past, Benny couldn’t hold in a laugh. It would be several months before he stopped calling toilets ‘pooping chairs’, and his parents never figured out why. 

Alice’s house was quite close to the school; she usually walked there alone each morning, and she had a key in case she needed to get home alone too. So it was simple enough to bring Benny and Fleebleblop along, hurrying them inside before the boy from Mars accidentally pooped through his finger again. His eyes widened at the sight of a television, microwave, books, and a stuffed elephant. But he couldn’t be distracted from the notion of a water-filled pooping chair, so Alice showed him straight to the toilet. 

‘Why a chair?’ he asked. 

Alice looked at Benny desperately. 

‘People from Earth poop through our butts,’ he explained, pointing at his own just to be extra clear. 

‘Ew!’ Fleebleblop exclaimed. 

‘Why, do you eat through yours or something?” Benny asked.

‘No! We just sit on it!’

The next few minutes were spent in enthusiastic verbal descriptions and comparisons of bottoms. Alice left the room in disgust, and the conversation which ensued is best left between the two boys. 

CHAPTER FIVE

When the boys had exhausted the topic of bottoms and poop, at least for the moment (it’s a big topic and is always worth revisiting), they joined Alice in the kitchen. She was staring at the clock, trying to remember the difference between the big hand and the little hand.

‘I think,’ she said, ‘we’re going to be in trouble soon.’ 

‘Where is this Trouble place?’ Fleebleblop asked again, confused. 

Alice ignored him and continued. ‘Pretty soon, someone at school is going to notice we’re not there, and that we never went to Principal Cook’s office. And then they’ll call our mums.’ 

Benny paled. When his mum got going, even the neighbours cleaned their bedrooms. ‘What are we going to do?’

‘We need to decide what to do with Fleebleblop.’

‘Play a game with me?’ the alien suggested. 

‘You can’t just hang around Earth pooping through your finger forever,’ Alice said. 

‘You can’t make me not-poop!’

‘The poop isn’t the point.’ It was a little bit the point, but Alice felt it better to gloss over that. ‘If anyone finds out about you, they’ll put you in an orphanage or a zoo or something.’ 

Benny thought being put in a zoo sounded pretty neat, but he thought better of saying so out loud. He spent a moment imagining living in the penguin enclosure, before returning to the matter at hand. ‘Can’t you just go home?’ he asked Fleebleblop. 

Fleelbeblop pulled a face. ‘I suppose. When my teleporter recharges. It’s boring there, though.’ 

‘Boring is better than dangerous,’ Alice said firmly. ‘You don’t want to end up in the chimpanzee enclosure.’

‘No,’ Benny agreed. ‘Penguins would be loads better.’

Alice wisely ignored this. ‘So we need to keep you safe and hidden until your teleporter recharges. How long does it take?’

‘One or two Martian days. What’s a penguin?’

Two days?’ Benny repeated. ‘That’s ages. How do we keep an alien who poops through his finger hidden for two days?’ 

‘Penguins are a type of animal,’ Alice explained. ‘They’re birds.’ She stood a little taller, proud to recite an Interesting Fact: ‘They’re the only birds that can swim and can’t fly.’ 

‘And their poop really stinks!’ Benny added. His family had been to see the Penguin Parade last year. The smell was his clearest memory. 

‘But they’re really cute and curious and friendly,’ Alice defended the absent birds. 

They didn’t sound so bad to Fleebleblop. ‘Is the zoo really that bad?’ 

CHAPTER SIX

By this time the three of them were getting hungry, and Alice realised that keeping Fleebleblop hidden was only half of the problem. They would have to feed him, too, and both her mum and Benny’s were likely to notice if too much food disappeared from their kitchens. 

‘What do Martians eat?’ she asked, peering at the contents of the fridge. 

‘Gumbleflaps are my favourite, but pobblejums would be nice too!’

They ended up with Vegemite sandwiches. Fleebleblop said Vegemite tasted like ambiliplums, which were a highly poisonous root vegetable. ‘I’m glad this won’t kill me!’ he said through a mouthful. ‘It won’t, right?’

‘Of course not,’ Benny said, spraying his friends with crumbs. 

‘Now, we need ideas,’ Alice said firmly when they’d all finished eating. ‘Benny, clean up here while we talk. I need to concentrate.’ 

‘I’m going to use the water-filled pooping-chair first,’ Fleebleblop announced excitedly. ‘Do you want to watch?’ 

Benny nearly said yes, before catching Alice’s eye. ‘Um. I guess not.’ 

‘Benny, does your cousin still have that cubby house?’ Benny’s uncle Sam had built an incredible cubby for her daughter in their backyard a year or two ago, and most of the neighbourhood kids had spent a night or two camping in it. 

‘Yeah, she practically lives in it.’

‘Can you keep her out of it for two days?’

Benny snorted. ‘Not without chaining her to something.’

‘I think it’s our best option. We need to come up with a way to keep her out of it.’

‘We could just tell her about Fleebleblop,’ Benny suggested. ‘Jade’s no snitch.’

Alice nodded, thinking about it. ‘Maybe. But we’ve got a more immediate problem…’ 

By the time the end-of-day bell rang at school, Benny had found a spare school uniform for Fleebleblop - it was a bit big on him, but it would do - and the three of them were lurking outside Mrs Baker’s classroom, ready to mingle with their classmates in the chaos of leaving. Fleebleblop, for now, was playing the role of a new student whose parents were working, so Benny had kindly volunteered to take him home for the afternoon. Alice was a bit worried that Benny’s parents might be suspicious of him being generous and helpful without prompting, but perhaps, if pressed, he could ‘admit’ that Mrs Baker had asked him specifically. That seemed even less likely, but it was the best they could come up with. 

The bell rang right on time, and dozens of identically-uniformed kids poured from classrooms. Alice, Benny, and Fleebleblop had no trouble adding themselves to the stream of mini humanity and heading to the gates to be collected by their families. 

CHAPTER SEVEN

Benny’s dad collected him that day. He’d left work early, as he often did on Fridays. Adrian was an accountant, and often told people that it was more interesting than it sounded. It wasn’t. 

‘Dad, this is Fred, he’s new in town and his parents are working, is it okay if he comes to our place for a couple of hours?’ 

Fleelbeblop beamed widely, but remembering his strict instructions from Alice, he said nothing. Adrian couldn’t help smiling in return. Fleebleblop had that kind of smile. 

‘Sure. We’re having pizza. You like pizza, Fred?’

Fleebleblop stuck to his vow of silence, and nodded furiously, still beaming, despite having no idea what he was meant to like a piece of, exactly. 

‘Not a big talker, huh?’

Fleebleblop looked desperately at Benny, who only shrugged. He looked back at Adrian and mimicked Benny’s shrug. Adrian grinned, shrugged, and turned to walk the boys home. 

‘He’ll talk about poop and toilets all day,’ Benny muttered behind his father’s back, ‘but ask if he likes pizza…’ he rolled his eyes. He turned to wave at Alice, who had been picked up by her grandmother. She mouthed good luck over her shoulder as they each went their separate ways. 

‘So where did you live before this?’ Adrian asked with the usual adult clueless politeness towards children. 

Fleebleblop almost forgot his promise to Alice, and began, ‘Ma…’ 

‘Marysville!’ Benny interrupted. He’d been there once to visit some old friend of his mum’s. The adults raved about the scenery, but Benny thought it was boring. 

‘Oh, that’s a pretty spot,’ Adrian said, predictably. Fleebleblop just nodded and beamed some more. 

Back at Benny’s house, Fleebleblop met his mother and his dog. Pets were unknown on Mars, and he almost burst with excitement without being able to speak. The dog licked his face, and he licked it back. Adrian looked at him a little strangely, but let it pass. 

But he couldn’t hold his tongue in the face of pizza. ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted,’ he told the family. ‘Plus you can ask for another piece of pizza, and the phrases sound the same! Food is so much fun on Earth!’

‘On Earth?’ Benny’s mum, Benita, said, confused. 

‘He likes to pretend he’s from Mars,’ Benny explained quickly. 

Benita and Adrian smiled. Kids, eh? 

After dinner, phase two of Alice’s plan was activated. Benny told his parents he would walk Fleebleblop - Fred - ‘home’. In reality, he took the alien boy to his uncle Sam’s house. Living in a small town was boring, but at least everybody was close by. 

‘Hide in the bushes there,’ Benny told Fleebleblop, before knocking on his uncle’s door. ‘Don’t speak or move or poop until I call.’

‘But I think I need to…’

‘No!’

Benny knocked, and was relieved when it was his cousin Jade who opened the door. ‘Hey Benny-boy,’ she said. ‘What’s up?’ 

He took a deep breath. ‘This is weird and you’ll think I’m nuts, but I need a favour.’ 

‘For my favourite cousin? Why not.’

‘I’m your only cousin.’

‘So you have to be my favourite.’

‘Okay, so anyway -’ Benny turned to the bushes where Fleebleblop was hiding and motioned for him to come out - ‘this is Fleebleblop.’

‘He’s what?’

‘Part of the favour is not asking too many questions,’ Benny told her. He felt like it was something Alice might say. 

She sighed, but nodded, and let Benny explain the situation. She began with the politely interested face adults use when kids tell them stories, but it wasn’t long before she was looking completely bamboozled. ‘A kid from Mars who poops through his finger. Seriously, Benny?’ 

Fleebleblop felt that it was the right moment for a demonstration. He’d been needing to anyway, after the pizza. He held up a finger. 

CHAPTER EIGHT

Jade was less than keen on giving up her cubby house, but being a full year older and wiser than Benny, she eventually saw the necessity for it. She shared Benny’s belief that living with the penguins wouldn’t be so bad, really, but had to admit that freedom was probably better. The grown ups must never find out about Fleebleblop, and it was her duty as an under-18 to let him sleep in her cubby. 

Benny’s uncle Sam was a builder by trade, and the cubby was as snug and safe as any real house. On an inflatable mattress, in a sleeping bag, Fleebleblop was more comfortable than he’d ever been. But he still had trouble sleeping. It had been a day full of new experiences and new people. They’d mostly been good, and he’d had fun, but the unfamiliar can be unsettling no matter how much fun one has. His natural good humour had been prevalent all day, with friendly people around, but some anxiety made itself known while he lay alone in the dark. He was a long way from Mars.

It felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, when he heard something outside. There was a long wailing sound, and something scratching at the wooden door. Fleebleblop sat up, hearts racing. He had three, and they were all telling him to be scared. But he reminded himself that Benny or Jade would have told him if there was anything dangerous around here. He took a few deep breaths, and went to the door. There was a small gap between the door and frame, and he put his eye to it and looked out. 

What he saw was surprisingly small, for the noise it had made. It was black, furry, and had a long tail that waved gently behind it. It seemed to detect Fleebleblop’s presence at the door, and looked up. It made the wailing noise again. 

Fleebleblop gathered his considerable courage, and opened the door. The creature slipped inside immediately, through a gap the alien boy would not have thought wide enough for it. 

‘Hello,’ he said, feeling a little silly. The animal glanced at him, then stretched and made itself comfortable on his mattress. It started making a different noise, a deep vibrating sound. And then, apparently, it fell fast asleep. 

‘Did you just want a comfortable bed?’ Fleebleblop asked the sleeping creature. ‘Me too. I suppose we can share.’ He still had some apprehension about lying next to an unknown animal - was it a penguin, or a chimpanzee, he wondered - but it was small and sleeping, and he thought it could hardly be much of a threat. He carefully lay down beside it. It’s warmth and purr lulled him to sleep in minutes. 

CHAPTER NINE

He woke in the morning to the sound of people talking outside the cubby. The small animal was gone, although a warm spot remained. Fleebleblop opened the door to see Alice, Benny, and Jade sitting on the ground. Benny had promised that somebody would be there in the morning, but seeing all three of them was heartwarming for a boy so far from home and everything familiar.

‘Good morning!’ he said, and all three turned to face him, smiling. Well, Jade looked a bit annoyed, but she was trying. 

‘Did you sleep okay in there?’ Alice asked. She had spent a few nights in there herself, and knew it was very cozy and comfortable, but she couldn’t help worrying. 

‘There was a little black animal who insisted on sleeping with me. But it ignored me,’ Fleebleblop told her. 

Jade giggled. ‘That’s Muppet. She’s a cat.’

‘Cat.’ Fleebleblop tried out the word. ‘What does it do? Is it tasty?’ Martians don’t have pets. 

‘Probably,’ Benny said, ‘but we don’t eat cats. They’re too cute.’

Alice had a niggling feeling that there was more to it than that, but she let it pass. ‘It’s Saturday, that’s a day off school,’ she told Fleebleblop, ‘so we can just about do anything. Do you want to go to the playground?’

‘The ground plays?’ Fleelbeblop asked. ‘What games does it play?’

‘No,’ Jade explained, ‘a playground is a place you go to play.’

There were four playgrounds in town, but only one had swings, and Alice insisted on swings. They were her favourite, and she thought Fleebleblop would like them too. They were halfway there when Fleebleblop touched her shoulder for attention, and looked at her guiltily. ‘I need to… you know…’ He was beginning to learn that, on Earth, pooping wasn’t done in public, or talked about much. But he wished he could just point and let it go. 

Alice looked at the hand he’d touched her with. ‘It’s the other hand, right?’ 

He said it was; apparently on Mars it was the height of rudeness to touch someone with the hand that needed to poop. 

‘Well, there are toilets at the playground. You can wait five minutes, right?’ Alice knew that most girls eventually ended up sounding like their mothers, but she hadn’t expected it quite so soon. 

‘I think so,’ Fleelbeblop said, although he wasn’t sure how long a minute on Earth was. He could probably wait three Mars minutes. 

It was a warm sunny day, and it seemed like half the neighbourhood kids were out and about. The four of them were just another group heading to a playground, except that Fleebleblop was holding his finger with a worried expression. 

‘Hey Alice!’ a kid called, passing by. He was the one who’d ratted out Fleebleblop in class. ‘How’s your weird cousin?’ he laughed, then spotted Fleebleblop in the group. ‘How’d you do that poop trick, that was brilliant, Mrs Baker was so mad!’ 

‘Alice…’ the alien boy said, looking meaningfully at his finger. ‘I can’t wait anymore.’ Alice groaned, as Fleebleblop pointed the finger at the other boy. ‘And it isn’t a trick,’ he said. The tip opened up, and Benny had a brainwave. He pushed the alien forwards, so that he was standing right in front of the bratty boy from class. The poop landed right on the boy’s shoe. 

‘Now, run!’ The three humans raced away from the scene of the crime, Fleebleblop cartwheeling after them. 

CHAPTER TEN

They arrived at the playground puffing and giggling. 

‘Did you see the look on his face?’ Benny crowed.

‘Classic!’ Jade exclaimed. 

‘We’re going to get in so much trouble,’ Alice said, for what felt like the hundredth time recently, but she was giggling while she said it this time. Fleebleblop didn’t bother asking where it was, this time. He was already losing interest in the prank of a whole minute ago, and was captivated by the play equipment and the possibility of future fun. 

‘Which thing is the swing?’ he asked.

It turned out that swinging, being pushed as high as Benny could manage, was terrifying. ‘Benny, you know what happens when I get nervous!’ Fleebleblop yelled from the zenith. 

‘Knock yourself out,’ Benny called back, laughing. 

‘That sounds painful!’ 

Benny took a few steps back as poop began to rain from the sky, flying in wide arcs as Fleebleblop swung back and forth. 

‘You said this was fun!’ the alien wailed at Alice. Fortunately for him, with Benny seeking cover from the poop rain, the swing was slowing down, and Fleebleblop jumped off awkwardly. ‘I am never doing that again. That was worse than teleporting.’ His legs shook, and Alice felt bad for laughing. But not bad enough to stop. 

‘Try the monkey bars,’ Jade suggested, dangling upside down. 

Fleebleblop peered at her, twisting his head to try to make her look right. ‘I can see the bars, but where are the monkeys?’

‘We’re the monkeys! Come on!’

Fleebleblop liked the monkey bars a lot more than the swing. He was strong and nimble, and had excellent balance. 

‘It must be all the cartwheeling,’ Alice guessed. She vowed to practice her own cartwheeling, as the alien swung past her. 

‘I’m hungry,’ Benny announced. ‘We should go to my place and grab some lunch.’

‘Can we have pizza again?’ Fleebleblop asked enthusiastically. ‘A piece of pizza!’ Such a fun phrase to say. 

‘There’s none left. We’ll make sandwiches or something.’

‘Vegemite!’ cheered Fleebleblop. Earth food was incredible. 

‘What will we tell your parents this time?’ Alice asked. ‘Do Fred’s parents work on weekends?’

‘We’ll go to my place, and have a picnic in the cubby,’ Jade decided. ‘Nobody will notice or care how much food we take. Picnics are like that.’ 

‘Who is Nick?’ Fleebleblop asked. ‘What are we choosing him for? Will he make the sandwiches?’ 

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Fleebleblop waited with Alice in the cubby, while Jade and Benny raided the kitchen. Muppet, the black cat, reappeared and jumped straight onto Fleebleblop’s lap, making him jump. 

‘What do I do with it?’ he asked. 

‘You pat her,’ Alice said, demonstrating. ‘But be careful, if you touch her tummy she’ll probably scratch you.’

Fleelbeblop wasn’t sure why that should worry him. The creature was tiny and fluffy and very cute. It certainly couldn’t do him any damage. But Earth was strange and unpredictable, so he avoided the cat’s tummy anyway. Muppet purred under his touch, and Alice reassured him that was normal. ‘It means she’s happy.’ 

‘I’m happy too,’ Fleebleblop announced, beaming, and began making his own purring noises. 

Jade and Benny appeared in the doorway, each carrying a wicker basket filled to overflowing. Dad’s been baking,’ Jade explained. ‘There’s a cake and some muffins and fresh bread. But mum made me grab some fruit, too, so we’ve got strawberries and apples and some other stuff.’ 

‘Vegemite?’ Fleebelblop asked. 

Benny grinned. ‘I made a Vegemite sandwich just for you.’

The four of them attacked the piles of food with gusto, and before long there was little but crumbs left. Fleebleblop exclaimed over every new thing, finding blueberries particularly to his liking. Finally, as Alice set aside the last muffin, too full to finish it, a strange bell-like sound filled the cubby. 

‘What’s that?’ Benny and Alice asked simultaneously. 

‘That’s my teleporter, it’s recharged!’ said Fleebleblop. He showed them the watch-like device strapped to his arm. ‘I can go home!’ 

Alice felt a confusing mix of sadness and relief. Trying to keep Fleebleblop safe and hidden was stressful, but he’d certainly made life interesting. ‘Do you have to go right now?’ she asked. 

‘I should,’ he said regretfully. ‘It’s been fun here, and you guys are weird, but I miss home too.’

Alice nodded, accepting ‘weird’ as a compliment. ‘Well, it’s been fun. And weird.’ 

‘We’ll miss you,’ Benny said, surprising Alice, who’d never heard him express emotion beyond hunger or boredom. 

‘You can come and visit me next time!’ 

‘We don’t have teleporters,’ Jade pointed out. 

‘I’ll send you some,’ Fleebleblop promised. ‘Can I take some blueberries?’

‘No, you’ve already eaten them all.’

‘Oh well. Off I go, then!’ Fleebleblop stood up. He hugged Jade first, who returned the favour with some confusion. Then it was Benny’s turn. And finally Alice. Alice blinked back tears, trying to show her new friend a happy face when she pulled away from his hug.

The alien boy beamed at all his new friends, and pressed a button on his teleporter. A sphere of purple light grew from it, growing until it was as big as Fleebleblop himself. ‘Thank you all, I’ll miss you!’ he called, as he cartwheeled into the light. And, with a pop, the alien and the light vanished completely. 

Alice, Benny, and Jade sat in silence for a moment, just looking at each other. 

‘Nobody’s ever going to believe this,’ Jade said finally. 

‘That’s okay,’ said Alice. ‘We’ll know.’

THE END

#alien pooping boy #the fowl twins #deny all charges #artemis fowl #fanfic #i changed the title slightly to avoid issues with disney #but eoin colfer himself thinks the story is great #not to brag #but i'm totally bragging

[doc-pickles]

i won’t hesitate (for you) chapter six

Jo is happy, at least she feels like she is. When someone from her past shows up, will her and her daughter's world ever go back to normal? Or will things change for good?

The loft was dark, only one solitary light shining from the kitchen as Link let himself into the apartment. He set his keys and the groceries he had bought on the dining table, his feet moving quietly through the large room in search of Jo. When his eyes finally found her, his heart sank with a deep sigh.

Jo was curled up in the king size bed, one hand curled around a ratty grey sweatshirt and the other holding her burgeoning stomach. She had been crying, if the dimmed lights and lack of noise weren't enough of an indicator, the tear tracks and damp pillow below her were. 

“Josie,” Link plopped himself on the edge of the bed next to Jo, one hand coming up to run through her brunette locks. “What’s wrong? Besides the obvious.” “They kicked,” the words were barely loud enough for Link to hear, but he knew exactly what was running through Jo’s mind. “They kicked me today and you know who reached over to feel it? Jackson, because he was eating lunch with me. Jackson felt my baby’s first kick.” As the words spilled out of her mouth, tears began pouring from Jo’s eyes again. Link kicked his shoes off quickly, climbing behind Jo on the bed and bringing her into his embrace. Her hands gripped tightly at his shirt, sobs escaping as she buried her face in his chest.

“Why wasn't I enough? What did I do,” Jo cried out, her voice breaking as she asked Link a question he didn’t have an answer to. “Why didn't he love me enough to stay? I need him, I can’t do this without him, Link. I need Alex back. I can’t raise this baby without him.”

+

“So I heard you put Karev on a celibacy vow following your steamy elevator rendezvous.”

Jo looked up from her phone, choking momentarily on her coffee. She gawked at Amelia Shepherd, who was now sitting beside her in the cafeteria. A bright blush spread across Jo’s cheeks as she brought one hand up to try and cover it. Leave it to her big mouthed best friend to tell his wife her dirty secrets. 

“Jeez, Link really doesn’t keep his mouth shut,” Jo groaned, a smile sneaking up on her face. “Yes, I told Alex we can’t have sex again until we… settle into things? I just don’t want that to complicate things. And they’re already pretty complicated as is.”

“Better you than me, I couldn’t imagine doing that,” Amelia settled one hand onto her growing stomach, a laugh escaping her as she looked back to Jo. “I’m working with twice the hormones though, so I think it’s a bit different.”

Amelia and Jo had grown close the past three years, Jo spending a large amount of her pregnancy hanging around Link, Amelia, and Scout as she mourned the end of her marriage and tried to wrap her mind around bringing a child into the world. The older woman had been a great source of comfort for Jo, always knowing exactly what would get through her hormone ridden mind when Link fumbled his words.

“You’re lucky I like you, I wouldn’t tolerate this line of questioning from anyone else you know,” Jo snagged one of Amelia’s garlic fries, turning back to her phone. “Have you and Link come to an agreement on baby names yet?” “No and I’m ready to kill him,” Amelia groaned, smacking Jo’s hand away from her fries. “You don’t even like garlic fries, keep your sticky fingers away from mine.” “Hey you can always do what I did and drive your husband away to his ex wife so you can name your baby by yourself,” Jo grinned at the shocked expression on Amelia’s face. “Oh you should see your face! Priceless!”

Both women began to laugh then, a few heads around the room turning to stare at them in confusion. Amelia tried in vain to cover her laughter, which in turn only made Jo laugh harder. 

“You’re horrible,” Amelia choked out, taking a sip of her water as she lovingly shoved Jo’s shoulder. “In all seriousness, I think Link and I are both coming around on Parker.”

“Awww that’s adorable! See, I knew you guys would agree on something eventually,” Jo’s pager beeped then, prompting her to stand with a groan. “I’ve got a 911, we’ll talk later. Keep my godson safe in there!”

Jo hurried down to the ER, eyes scanning the room looking for Owen. When she finally spotted him she jogged over, entering the room that he and three nurses occupied. 

“Hunt! You paged?” Jo’s eyes flitted down to the little boy on the table in front of Owen. He couldn’t have been more than ten years old, his body bruised and bleeding as he lay unconscious before Jo. His curly black hair was matted with blood, making him look years younger and even more vulnerable than he already was.

“Ethan Walker, 9  years old. He was walking home from West Seattle Middle when he was jumped by three guys. He’s beat up pretty badly,” Owen relayed the info to Jo as he continued to check out the boy. “I paged neuro and peds too, you’re the first one here. Looking like a possible spleen puncture.” Jo lifted the boy’s shirt, heart dropping as she saw the state to his chest. She wouldn’t be able to get a good idea of how extensive the damage was until they got him open, which seemed the only option at this point. Her heart sank, imagining how worried she would be if it was Harper on the table. Now that she was a mother herself, pediatric cases gripped Jo’s heart more than usual. “We need to take him into surgery, I just want to wait for Peds to confirm what I’m seeing here before we go up,” Jo relayed to Owen, one hand coming down to push some stray curls out of the little boy's face. “Poor baby, he didn’t deserve this.”

“Hey what’ve we got,” Alex walked into the room, a deep sigh leaving him as he looked at the state of their patient. “Jesus… Jo, what’re you thinking?” “That we need to move out because he was jumped in our neighborhood,” Jo looked up at Alex, a grim expression on her face. “We also need to get him up to the OR as soon as possible. There’s definitely a spleen puncture and I’m thinking that his lungs were nicked too, his O2 levels aren’t looking great. I won’t know more until we open him up.”

Alex nodded, one hand coming to grip the side of the gurney while the other found the low of Jo’s back. He could feel the tension radiating off of her, she was always upset when kids came in now. Unfortunately that meant that cases they worked together were not happy occasions, something Alex tried to combat by comforting Jo as much as possible. 

“Okay let’s move team,” Owen called out, him and Alex pushing the gurney out into the hallway with Jo trailing behind them. “Jo, I think his parents are here, can you fill them in and meet us in OR 2?”

Alex looked up to the trauma bay where he saw two distraught looking women, both staring helplessly at their patient. Jo nodded quietly, rushing past Owen and Alex to speak with the women. Alex’s heart ached for her, knowing that talking to parents was not something Jo loved. But he pressed on, following Owen towards the elevator and only turning around once when he heard one of the women sobbing loudly.

Today was going to be a long day. 

+

“Hey can you put toaster strudels down on the grocery list?” 

Alex looked up from his place on the floor, staring at Jo with a confused expression. She was seated on the couch, head buried in a magazine about experimental surgeries. He was shocked that she was acting so normal given the events of the day before. 

Yesterday had been brutal for him and Jo, the little boy who had been jumped coding twice in surgery and now laying in a medically induced coma in the PICU. Jo had sobbed into Alex’s arms last night, heart broken that they had to inform his parents that their son might not wake up. 

“You don’t like toaster strudels,” Alex pointed out as he took the wooden block that Harper handed him. “You said cooked fruit freaks you out.”

“They’re for Harper, obviously,” Jo scoffed at Alex, but he gave her a knowing stare which prompted her to roll her eyes. “Fine, they’re for me. Shut up.” 

Alex had learned a lot since returning to Seattle. He had discovered that Harper loved asparagus but hated applesauce, that she stayed with Link and Amelia every other Thursday, and that she couldn’t sleep without her green stuffed monkey Chester. He had also learned that Jo’s tastes had changed drastically, something she blamed on her outrageous pregnancy cravings permanently changing her taste buds. She now enjoyed jalapeños, sauerkraut, and toaster strudels, things she had never taken an interest in before. 

“Wait, didn’t you say you were going on a diet,” Alex watched as Harper began to build her block tower on his stomach, her small hands constantly coming to press down his rising and falling chest. “Harps, I can’t stop breathing, it would upset your mother.” 

“I can start that next week, we need to buy strawberry toaster strudels when we go shopping tomorrow,” Jo grabbed the highlighter tucked behind her ear and circled something on the page in front of her. “I’m thinking chicken alfredo for dinner. Thoughts?”

Both Alex and Harper turned to look at Jo, noses scrunched up in the same fashion. Jo had to hold back a laugh because the two looked absolutely identical. One thing she had loved about having Alex back was that she was able to see the similarities between him and their daughter up close. Before, if Harper would do anything even close to Alex’s mannerisms it would send Jo’s mind into a dark spot. But things were different now, a good different, but nothing like the life Jo had grown used to. 

“Babe, I love you, but your taste buds should not be controlling our dinner choices,” Alex turned to Harper, a grin on his face as he began to tickle her. “Was she starving you the whole time? Force feeding you sauerkraut and chicken alfredo?” Babe, I love you.

He hadn’t said it since they had reunited, but the way Alex had slipped the confession so casually into their conversation made Jo’s heart skip a beat. He loved her. Of course she loved him too, as crazy as it made her feel she didn’t think that she had ever stopped loving him. But hearing him say it out loud confirmed everything she had hoped for the past few weeks.

Jo couldn’t help herself as she set her magazine down and crawled across the carpet to lean over Alex, a grin lighting her face up like the Fourth of July. Harper had grown tired of her father and was now distracted with a coloring book she had found in her toy box,

“You look like a psycho murderer,” Alex chuckled, one hand coming up to caress Jo’s cheek. “Why’re you grinning at me like that? Were you waiting until you lulled me into a false sense of security to murder me?” “I love you too,” Jo whispered, her lips coming down to meet Alex’s. When she pulled back, Alex was staring up at her with a look of adoration. “You said you love me, I love you too.”

“Let’s buy a house,” Alex whispered, his eyes scanning Jo’s face. “Let’s move out of this shitty neighborhood and buy a house with a backyard and a big kitchen.”

“And a few extra bedrooms,” Jo suggested, eyes meeting Alex’s with a sly grin. “You know, just in case?”

“Just in case? You wanna tell me something, Jo,” Alex laughed as he pulled Jo towards him, quickly flipping their positions so she lay sprawled out on the living room rug. “You hiding another baby from me somewhere around here?” A squeal of laughter left Jo, her eyes squeezing shut as Alex let his fingers come up to her sides to tickle her. She was happy, truly happy for the first time in… well a very long time. Her hands came up to grab Alex’s face, eyes meeting his with a sincere look in them.

“You’re staying, right? Not going anywhere again?” “Of course I am, I love you and I’ve already missed out on too much,” Alex grinned, his crooked smile lighting up his face. “I want a great big future with you and Harper and however many more babies you wanna give me.” “Easy for you to say, you didn’t have to go through 31 hours of labor,” Jo rolled her eyes, bringing Alex in for another kiss. “Next time I get to yell at you instead of Meredith. I’m still not sure she’s forgiven me for the names I called her.”

#greys anatomy #alex karev #jo karev #jo wilson #jo x alex #jolex #jolex fic #hesitate #jolex fanfic #nina writes #greys anatomy fanfic

[dimensionwriter]

My Little Buddy

My Little Buddy

Male Orc x Female Reader

Warnings: (Future) PTSD, Triggers, Extremely fluffy

Summary: You decide to check out the shop across from you and meet the owner.

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PLEASE READ UNTIL THE VERY END OF THIS POST. PLEASE.

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Was the shop across the street new? You don't remember it being there. And why was it a stuffed animal shop?

You remember that the building across from your fabric shop had been trying to sell for months, but no one bought it because of how worn down it was. The amount of repairs that needed to be done was not worth it, in your opinion.

But there you stood, staring into the window of the shop that seem to be radiating from all the colours inside. On front display, in the window, were three shelves holding a wide range of animals: tigers, bears, monkeys, even some dragons and unicorns.

You quickly went to your tiptoes to look over the display to see inside. The wall across the window were a bright pink with the horizontals walls being a baby blue. In Front of the pink wall was a counter that had a cash register on it. There seem to be a door on the side, blocked by the counter, that may lead to a worker's room or maybe the boss' cabinet.

On the blue walls sat revolving circular shelves with animals on it. The animals didn't match up to the real life animal's original colour. Some of them even had sparkles woven into the fur.

The cutest one had to be a light brown teddy bear with gold threads mixed into its fur. On top of the head was a tiny black bow on it's right ear. Maybe that's why it was in the very middle of the window display.

You always wanted to try your hand in making toy clothing. That should be a good enough excuse to check out the store.

Pushing open the door slowly, you were met with a warm vanilla and cinnamon smell. It almost smells like a bakery, in a sense.

The shop was a lot cooler than the outside, which was quite a relief from the heat of summer. The shop had a slight comfortable feeling to it, even with all the colours.

"Um, excuse me," you whispered, looking around for a clerk. There wasn't anyone on the main floor that could help you with a sale. You were kind of curious to see who own the shop.

Maybe a tiny woman who collected stuff animals as a child. Or maybe it could be a monster, some of those had been showing up in the area. Wouldn't it be adorable if it was a bunny monster running shop.

"Hello, is anyone here to help me check out," you said finally yelling. You were met with the sound of loud banging and yelping following suit. What were they doing back there?

"Sorry," a voice yelled from behind the door. It was quite deep and grumbly. So, the owner was a man! Maybe it was an old man who used to make toys for his children and wanted to continue the passion.

The only other door, other than the entrance, in the shop swung open. What stepped was not what you expected.

It was the buffest orc you have ever seen in your life. The biceps on his arms were bigger than your entire head and he wasn't even flexing! He had a rippled stomach that had so many abs that you didn't even try to count it.It didn't help that he was giant too. He had to bend over to stumble into room.

A giant dark green hand clamped down on the counter as he tried to balance himself. Dark long hair covered his face, but parted at the side of his head to reveal his high pointed ears. But the right one seem to be cut in half.

"Sorry, I was…umm," he trailed off looking up at you. His hair slowly cascading away from his face allowing you to get a good look.

His face was two skin tones: a dark green with white patches. Going from his right temple through his right eyelid across his nose and stopping at his left cheek was a giant red scar. Other scars littered his face, but were tiny compared to the giant one.

His eyes widened as he looked at you. His left eye was a light brown shimmery colour, but his right eye was completely white. Maybe something caused that and the scar going through it.

To conclude, the man looked like he should be standing at the gates of hell, ready to rip apart any of the damned souls. This man could probably overthrow your town with his left hand only. He did not match the scenario.

"Sorry, I was looking for someone who work here," you mumbled in slight fear as the orc continued to stare at you with a blank widen panic look.

"I-um-I. You-you here. A-A-A-wait.Gosh darn it, I don't have a shirt on!" He yelled finally realizing that only half of his body was covered. The green and white skin on his face started to turn dark blue as he begins to frantically look around the counter.

You stood there, in slightly fear, as this hulk of mass rampaged through the counter as if he was ransacking a village for all it had.

"I'm sorry. Give me a moment," he squeaked slapping his hands on his chest. They barely covered the hulking mass of his torso, but he tried to.

In one sweep move, he swung the back door open again and ran through it. You expected the door to break in half from how hard he slammed it shut.

Maybe it was a mistake coming here. This is not what you expected when you came into this shop. This place feels scary now that you know that a man like that resides here. Hopefully, he doesn't scare off the customers that come down this strip.

"I'm so sorry. I-I was baking and-and it was hot back here," the deep voice rumbled into the room. You looked up from the floor to see the orc was looking at you through the cracked open door. "That wasn't very professional of me."

His voice was full of power, but he spoke in the quietest voice possible. Even through the crack in the door, you could see he was hunching over with a blue blush spreading onto his cheeks.

"It's fine really. I didn't mean to interrupt," you said quickly feeling bad. You just judged this man just on the way he looked. "I was just wondering if I could buy the little brown teddy bear in the window."

His eyes lit up and a giant smile came to his face. "Give me a second, please."

The door shut in front of him leaving you alone in the shop again. A bunch of banging from what could be assumed was metal pots or pans drifted from the closed door making you worry.

The door slammed open causing you to jump. The orc stumbled out again, but this time clothed. He was wearing a bright pink shirt with white bear smiling on it. Written above the bear was "Vyzer's Village" and under was "Home of the world's softest protectors".

"You said you wanted to buy something," the orc who think may be Vyzer, affirmed stilling huddling down as he made his way from behind the counter. You nodded your head and use your left arm to point it out.

"Yeah, I work in the fabric shop across the street and notice this shop. Always wanted to try my hand out in making clothes for toys, so why not try a stuffed animal," you joked giving him a small smile.

His face lit up at your words. His green skin seem to be gleaming with a more calming blush spreading across his cheeks.

"That's a great idea. I never thought to put clothes on them before,"he said, giving you a giant smile. You eyebrows furrowed down when you finally looked directly at his lips. His left tusk was broken in half, but had a golden cap on top of it. What caused this man so many scars?

"You said you wanted the brown bear. The one with golden threads in him?" He asked tilting his head causing the black hair to slide across his face. A small white clump, of what looked to be flour, sat on top of his head.

"Yeah, he looked too cute. I might try to do a tiny golden suit," you commented casually watching the orc move towards the display. You were kind of worry he would knock the display down with how big he was.

But he proved you wrong as he squatted down low, so he was more leveled with the display. He stuck his arm as far as it would go in front of the display before his forearm bumped the window. And with his index and middle finger, he pinched the arm of the bear and carefully slide him out. He was so giant but carried himself carefully.

"If you don't mind me asking, could you bring him by again when you finish? I would love to see Mr. Gold dressed up," he mumbled staring down at the bear in his hand. The bear was only the size of his palm, but he carried it with so much delicacy.

"Of course," you said walking towards the counter, ready to be ringed up. He moved a little faster towards the counter, but you noticed there was more of a bounce in his step. "But don't be surprise if it doesn't look that good."

"What? I know for a fact that it's going to be amazing," he extolled looking at you as if he actually believed in you. "I see that your business booms everyday and your customers walk out looking so happy. So I have no doubt that whatever you make is going to exceed my expectations."

You stood there in complete shock as you took in everything he just said. He spoke so highly of you, but he doesn't even know you. And you were thinking lowly of him just because of his size. You honestly feel like the worst person in the world. This man is an absolute sweetheart.

"Thank you so much. I'm sure your business must be doing well. Seeing as how beautiful all these products look," you complimented looking around the shop. Everything seemed so welcoming and lovely that it was no way that it could fail to attract customers.

"You're actually my first customer," he muttered under his breath avoiding your eyes. He bent down under the counter for something, making him miss your surprise face.

"How long have you been open?" You asked leaning over the counter to look at him. He looks up at you with a small smile.

"For a month or so," he quietly ventured while standing up. He tower over you again causing you to lift your neck up to look at his face.

"How!" You accidentally yelled exasperated. With this amount of good product, he had to have at least a dozen customers. What could possibly cause people not to come in?

"I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm not exactly the friendliest looking creature. Which usually result in them running out of the shop or walking away if they see me. So, you're the first to see me and still want to continue with a transaction. And I thank you for that."

Do you hear that? That's the sound of your heart shattering on the spot.

"That's so rude to do. I do admit that my initial impression weren't that positive of you, but seeing how nice and welcoming you acted, it instantly changed my mind," you spoke from the heart. You didn't want to see this business fail just because of some prejudice people.

"Ah-um," he stuttered looking down at his hands. His black hair slide down in front of his face as he seem to struggle what to say.

"See, you look so adorable right now. How could anyone be scared of you?" you joked leaning forward to look at him from under his hair.

His eyes widen as he stumbled back trying to cover his face. The dark green skin turned dark blue while the white patches turned more of a light blue. See, adorable.

"I-I should get you a box for your purchase," he declared turning around and walking out the back. Some low mumbling followed by a muffled scream caused you to smile more. Guess he sees the back room as a safe haven.

Glancing around the shop, you could see all the great toys sitting on the shelf. They've been on the shelf for longer than a month. That's so sad. Maybe you could...

"Okay, I found my boxes-" he stopped as he looked at the counter, which now had three new animals on it: a rainbow unicorn, yellow alligator, and a shimmery blue whale.

"Can you add these to my purchase?" You said smiling while pushing the small pile of animals towards him. He stood there frozen as he looked down at it.

"You don't have to. Really," he said with a shaking hand as he pushed them back towards you. You instantly put your hands behind the pile and pushed it towards him

"I absolutely insist," you said with a giant smile. You used more force causing the pile to move towards him.

"I'm flattered, but it isn't necessary," he playfully growled at you while pushing the pile harder towards you.

You may run a fabric shop, but that doesn't mean you're someone danty. Those fabric comes in huge rolls that can weigh a lot. So, you got some meat on your bones.

You used all your strength to push the pile forward. You even leaned your entire weight on it.

The pile quickly moved back causing the orc to let out a startled yelp. He jumped back and released his hands from the pile.

As the pressure released so quickly from the other side, you didn't have time to stop yourself. So your entire body shot forward with all the force you were using.

As Newton 1st law states, an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an imposing force. But in this case, the imposing force was Vyzer's chest. And you could confirm that he was as solid as he appeared

"So," you said trying to hold in laughter as you looked up. Your body laid flat on the counter with the top of your upper body resting against his chest. Your hands almost landed in a low zone that wouldn't have made this a funny situation, but you were capable of shooting them to the sides in time to avoid that.

"I guess I get to purchase the animals. Guess lifting up fabric makes your stronger than some stuff animal maker," you said full on giggling now. This is the best way to introduce yourself to a neighbouring business

"Ahh," he croaked out frozen. You lifted your eyes up and were met with an amazing view. His face was that pretty shade of blue, but was darker around his cheeks. His lips were pulled back, like he was trying to hold in laughter. But the light shaking in his body told you he was close to breaking.

A light warm feeling started to spread through your chest as you looked into his mix matched eyes. Even his scars seem to blend in more with his image and he just seem to radiate this happiness vibe.

He really was a cute orc. You started to wonder if he was single, but doubted it. If someone were to simply talk to him, they would fall heads over hell in love with him.

"Fine, I'll let you have them," he laughed out. His laugh was low and reminded you of fading thunder after a lovely storm. "But you better take care of them."

You laughed as you slide off the counter and back onto the ground. "Of course I'm going to take care of them. I mean when a cutie like yourself make it, how could I not?"

He let out an adorable yelp from your words causing him to drop the pile of animals he just collected.

"Hot fudge," he lowly mumbled bending down to pick up the animals. From this new angle, you could see that the blush even made its way up his left ear. You could even make out a little colour in his little right ear.

"I'm going to be getting a lot of practice with these animals. I promise to not stick them with the pins if you like," you joked again, placing your elbows on the table. He avoided looking at you as he started to scan the tags hanging from the animals.

"Are-can I see them? If you want to, not trying to force you to communicate with me," he rambled quickly scanning and placing them in the box. Your eyebrows dropped down in distaste at his words.

"Of course I'm going to stay in contact with you. You're such a sweetheart. I think everyone needs someone like you in their life," you said honestly. His hands flinched before they relaxed again.

A small tiny smile painted onto his lips giving you another glance at that broken tusk. How does a man this sweet hold so many scars?

"The same could be said about you honestly," he muttered lowly.

You didn't hear what he said, but you just gave him your own gentle smile. He finally looked your way before coughing and looking at the register.

He said a price, but you barely listen as you pulled your card out of your pocket and handed it to him. His index and thumb gently grabbed it before swiping it in the card reader.

"Here you go. Thank you for shopping here," he said shyly as he handed over the box. You grabbed it and accidently, not really, ran your fingers across his hand.

His eyes widen and he dropped the box into your waiting arms. "It was a pleasure honestly. I can't wait to start designing their clothes. And I will make sure to show you as soon as I finish," you declared walking backwards towards the door. A giant smile slipped onto his face and he tried to cover it with his hand, but you still saw.

"I'll look forward to it," he said from behind his hand. You nodded and pushed through the see through door.

You never would've guessed the new shop would be like this. You walked out with 4 new animals that you were honestly in love with. And a giant crush on the shy orc residing in it. You were going to be seeing a lot more of this shop in the future.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

This is a series. Had to get that out quickly before I lost you, a valued reader. But yeah, someone pitched this idea to me in my ASK and I fell in love with this character and idea. So this will become a series just like Mechanical Heart (if you haven't read it, I would recommend it. I love Axel to bits). Also, in the near future, I will be doing comissions. So, if you want a story, than I will be willing to write it for a small price. You can try to pitch me an idea for a story in my ASK or SUBMISSIONS, but I won't be doing all the ideas sent to me. And to conclude this beautiful beginning of a series, let me remind you that my ASKS are open and if you have a question for me or my characters, send it. I want to try out HC's and what not best to do them on than your own OCs. Anyway, thanks again for reading my story. Please like it and comment anything you felt about this story. I love to read you guys comments. Thanks for reading again.

#exophilia #monster love #monster boy #monster romance #oc x reader #reader insert #monsta x #monster x reader #monsters #my oc stuff #my writing #tetro #monster x human #my ocs #my ocs are my children #reader x oc #dimensionwriter #monster x girl #writing #monster #monster boyfriend #orc x reader #orc character #orcs #orc x human #my little buddy #teddybear #soft boy #awkward shade of green

[anubislover]

Of Friendship, Captains, and Wedding Dresses

It was rare that Luffy asked to go shopping with his navigator. The hyperactive captain usually didn’t have the patience for following Nami around a peaceful town as she tried on clothes, instead complaining that he was hungry or bored and why couldn’t they go on an adventure? It was best to let him go off on his own whenever they reached an island with decent enough shops, as it saved her the headache and trouble that came with reigning him in.

This time, though, the rubber captain had practically begged to go with her, agreeing to carry all her bags and not mention meat once. Three hours in and he’d kept that promise, not even complaining that she was taking too long trying stuff on or haggling down the prices of navigation equipment. Once or twice, he even gave an opinion, even if it wasn’t much more than “the color’s nice” or “can you fight in that?”

To be honest, it had Nami worried.

“Why’d you want to come shopping with me, Luffy?” she asked as she handed him another bag stuffed with shoes. Sparkly sandals with three-inch heels had caught her eye, but she had intentionally taken her time deciding between the turquoise and the teal, testing if her captain would say anything. Throughout the grueling twenty minutes he’d sat patiently, not commenting that the difference between them really was miniscule.

Stretching his arms to make room for her latest purchase, he merely shrugged. “I just wanted to spend time with you. Is that ok?”

“I mean, of course, but wouldn’t you rather explore the island?”

“I can do that with Usopp and Chopper later. Robin says there are some cool beetles in the forest that are supposed to come out at night, so I’ll have a midnight adventure!”

A giggle escaped her lips. That sounded far more like the man she knew. Maybe she was overthinking things; they’d spent two years apart after Sabaody, and since the crew had reunited there hadn’t been much opportunity for leisure time or hanging out. Luffy often asked her to play games with him, but between the maps she had to draw, tending to her mikan trees and the New World’s dangerously unpredictable weather, she rarely accepted, knowing she had to be ready for a storm or other disaster at any time.

Even when danger wasn’t imminent, she wasn’t always around; Law had gotten into the habit of “running into them” quite regularly and spiriting her away to his ship to make the most of their “alliance.” Hell, part of the reason she was so anxious to go shopping was because he’d started ripping her clothes off in the heat of the moment, which usually meant she had to borrow his shirts and hoodies just to get back to the ship. The sight never failed to leave Sanji in tears, and even Luffy had started looking grim at how often she returned in the surgeon’s clothes.

Regardless, something was clearly up with her captain. Maybe Luffy just really wanted to spend some time with her, and he felt shopping was the only way since he could never manage to stay quiet long enough to join her in the library and she didn’t trust him with her precious mikan trees. Or maybe he felt bad over how often his reluctant friend ruined her clothes and wanted to make it up to her by acting as a pack mule. After all, she regularly repaired his hat when it got damaged. Mentally, she made note to play one of his silly games next time he asked. If he was making this much of an effort, she should too.

Strolling down the street, she glanced about, trying to decide where to go next. There was a bookstore, a patisserie, more shoe stores, and some dress boutiques she definitely wanted to check out, but maybe they could duck into the toy store for a little while and see if they could find a new beetle-catching net. Best to reward good behavior now so he wouldn’t get antsy and ruin the rest of her shopping plans.

“Hey, why don’t you try on those dresses?”

Glancing over to the shop window Luffy was pointing at, she did a double-take. A high-end boutique loomed before them, gorgeous white gowns featured prominently in the display window. Lace veils draped softly across the mannequins’ shoulders, and gem-studded tiaras and jewelry caught the early afternoon sunlight.

Jaw dropping, Nami stared at him. “You want me to try on wedding dresses?!”

The captain seemed bemused at her reaction. “Why not? You like fancy dresses, don’t you?”

“Yeah, except I’m not getting married, Luffy!”

“But you looked pretty in the one you wore on Thriller Bark.”

“I’m not saying I didn’t, but I wasn’t exactly happy with the idea of getting married then, what with the kidnapping, remember?” she cried, too flabbergasted to smack him over such a ridiculous idea.

Crossing his arms (which was no simple feat, given how they were covered in her bags) he cocked his head to the side. “So, you wouldn’t marry someone who kidnapped you?”

“Of course not!”

A look of relief crossed his face. “Good.”

Sighing, Nami rubbed her temples in exasperation. Perhaps she was overreacting. Luffy was generally clueless about girly stuff like weddings and romance, so maybe he didn’t realize how crazy his suggestion had been. All she had to do was distract him with something else, and he’d drop the topic entirely. There had to be a food stall or butcher shop nearby…

“But if you did get married, you’d have to leave the Sunny, right? I mean, husbands and wives usually live together, and if he were on another crew…” he trailed off.

An unusually serious expression had taken over her captain’s perpetually smiling face, and her frown deepened. “What’s all this about, Luffy? Are you worried about Big Mom coming after Sanji-kun again?” It certainly crossed her mind often enough. She didn’t blame the blonde cook for never telling them about his past, or his royal lineage, and even if he had, none of them could have predicted he’d nearly get married off because of it. “I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen; for better or for worse, she’s more likely to kill him on sight than make him marry any of her daughters.”

“But Sanji seemed to like Pudding. What if they do get married? When people get married to someone on another crew, they leave,” Luffy replied, chewing on his lip in thought. “I mean, Baby 5 left ‘Mingo to be with Sai. How am I supposed to become King of the Pirates without my nakama?”

A surge of sympathy welled up inside her. Had Luffy ever been to a normal wedding where no one was being forced or blackmailed? If not, it made sense that he’d be paranoid, given the horrible examples they’d dealt with.

“Luffy, from what Law-kun’s told me, Baby 5 was treated like crap by her crew, especially Doflamingo. He called her family, but really, he was just using her. Don Sai just gave her a way out, kind of like how you helped me break away from Arlong. People stay with the captains that make them happy.”

“Hmmm, I guess so.” Lifting his head, his expression remained pensive. “And if she’s already married, no one can take her away and make her join their crew, right?”

Nami had yet to meet Baby 5 personally, but from what Law and Robin had told her, some concern was warranted; after all, the woman had gotten engaged eight other times simply because a man had “needed” her, not because she loved them. Even though he despised Doflamingo with a burning passion, Law had admitted that his former captain murdering her various grooms had probably been for the best. Luckily, the respect and emotional stability Sai provided was doing wonders. Nami had heard from Bepo that when the Heart Pirates had crossed paths with the Happo Navy not long ago, Baby 5 had ignored Law’s request for a glass of water for a full twenty minutes.

Of course, she’d eventually caved and brought him a whole barrel of water, but progress was progress. Law was apparently so impressed he hadn’t even glared at her when she slapped him. Nami was just glad they both seemed to be healing from the mental and emotional scars Doflamingo had given them.

“Well, I can’t say she won’t get kidnapped, but you can be sure her husband will rescue her, and she won’t be joining any other crew,” Nami assured with a smile, hoping to finally put this rather strange conversation to bed. “Being a good husband is like being a good captain—if a man looks out for his wife’s needs, protects her, and cares for her, she’ll do the same, and he’ll never have to worry about her leaving him.” Of course, there was more to it that, but she really didn’t want to explain the more intimate stuff to him. She wasn’t even entirely sure he knew what sex was, and she had neither the energy nor patience to give him the Talk.

Her words seemed to make something click in Luffy’s mind, and the serious glint returned to his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders, put down her bags, and sank to one knee.

“Nami, will you marry me?”

The navigator’s hands slapped over her mouth in utter shock. People started to cheer, a small crowd forming around them to offer congratulations. There was a flash, and Nami noticed a photographer out of the corner of her eye, probably hoping to cash in on the “happy couple’s” moment.

A thousand emotions surged through her, most of them varying shades of confusion, with a heaping helping of fury mixed in. What the hell was he doing? Marry Luffy? Was he delirious from hunger? Was this a prank? Would she be Monkey D. Nami? Where was the ring? If he became King of the Pirates, would that make her Pirate Queen? Did this entitle her to a bigger share of the treasure? How long had he been planning this?

What the hell would Law think?

Unfortunately, before she could give voice to any of the jumbled thought spinning about her mind, a completely different question came from the crowd.

“Wait, isn’t that Straw Hat Luffy?”

“The pirate?!”

“Holy crap, and that’s Cat Thief Nami!”

“Call the Marines!”

“Shit!” Nami cursed, and Luffy seemed to agree, grabbing her hand (and her bags) as they made a run for it, the gaggle of well-wishers swiftly turning into an angry mob.

Later, when she had calmed down and was safely back on the ship, she’d have a good laugh over it. Only someone like her captain could cause such mayhem with a simple marriage proposal.

That wouldn’t be for a while, though, as she was too busy freaking out while winding through the confused crowd until Luffy managed to pull them into an alley long enough for her to throw up her Mirage Tempo and render them invisible.

So much for a day of retail therapy, Nami groused, watching the mob stampede past, shouting that the Straw Hat pirates were in town. A couple of them poked their heads into the alley, but the illusion held true and the mob moved on, calling for someone to contact the marines.

The danger having passed, she dropped the illusion and smacked Luffy over the head with her Clima-Tact, at last free to focus her full wrath on her companion. “Monkey D. Luffy, you’ve got five seconds to explain why the hell you just proposed to me in front of everyone!” she whispered harshly, hands gripping his vest so hard she was pretty sure it would rip. “You didn’t even get me a ring! You should know I’d never say yes to anything that’s not at least 200 karats!”

“Shoot, I knew I forgot something!” he said, snapping his fingers.

“What you forgot is that I asked you a damn question! What the hell were you thinking?!”

The murderous look in her eyes told him she wasn’t in the mood for games, and he immediately panicked. “That if we get married, no one can make you join their crew!”

“Idiot!” she growled, slamming her fist down onto his head. “You think that’s reason enough for us to get married? You’re not even my type! You’re…” she trailed off, struggling to find the right words. Luffy was a lot of things to her, but a potential romantic partner was definitely not one. He was immature, reckless, a fool, and one of the most ridiculous men she’d ever met. He had no fashion sense, couldn’t be refined if his life depended on it, and had no appreciation for treasure or the finer things Nami coveted.

On the other hand, he was also loyal, caring, strong, fun-loving, always able to make her laugh, and perhaps one of her closest friends. The bond they shared was unspoken and unbreakable; one that had kept her at his side throughout his insane antics and dangerous adventures. She couldn’t say he wasn’t handsome, either, especially on the rare occasions when he cleaned up and wore a suit. And sometimes, when he was being particularly heroic, maybe her heart would flutter a little bit, but she was sure that was purely admiration that her silly friend was willing to put everything on the line for what he believed in.

Finally, she settled on, “You’re my captain.”

“So, you wouldn’t marry a captain? But you said being a good husband is like being a good captain…”

“Luffy, explain yourself right here and now or I’ll tell Sanji-kun to only make vegetarian meals for a month!”

“I’m just…do you want to join Law’s crew?”

“What?!” Shocking as the question was, Luffy not calling him Tora-o nearly short-circuited her brain. Even though she’d mostly dropped the silly nickname, the rubber man insisted on using it no matter how much it annoyed the doctor. Heck, it was probably the exact reason why he kept it up. It was pretty amusing to see how flustered and grumpy Law got over something so silly.

Using his proper name meant that Luffy wasn’t joking around.

He rubbed his arm nervously as he stared at the ground like a scolded puppy. “I know he’s smarter and more serious than me, and you’re always complaining about how I attract trouble, and his powers are a lot better at keeping you safe and are great for stealing treasure…”

Seeing her normally happy-go-lucky captain so pensive diminished some of her anger, and her fingers fell away from his shirt. “Luffy, there’s no way in hell that I’m leaving the Straw Hats, not even for Law-kun. And what’s any of that got to do with marrying you?”

“Well, Sanji’s been crying about how someday he’s gonna ask you to be his wife and steal you away from us. Whenever he shows up, you always make time for him, even though you always say you’re too busy to play with us. Then Usopp said Law told him he’s gonna marry you and you’ll have sixteen kids together and—”

“Usopp’s a damn liar and Sanji-kun’s completely overreacting! I’m sorry if I haven’t been spending as much time with you, but you’re being ridiculous!”

Earnest black eyes finally met hers. “But last time he came by, I heard you call him ‘Captain Law.’ You don’t call me ‘Captain Luffy.’”

Red bloomed across her cheeks. She only called her lover “Captain Law” when they were roleplaying; he’d be the enemy pirate threatening her crew unless she convinced him to spare their lives. Luffy must have overheard them last time Law’d cornered her in the cargo hold. She really hoped that was all he’d heard. Law loved dirty talk, and he got particularly graphic when she called him “Captain.” She’d nearly died of mortification when Robin had stumbled across them one time. If her dim-witted, loose-lipped captain had been eavesdropping…

Oblivious to her embarrassment, Luffy continued, “I mean, I get you two are together, but he’s always talked about stealing you away. It’s my job to protect you in every way I can.” There was a flash of fear in his eyes as his fists clenched. “Rayleigh said not every problem can be solved by beating people up, though. So, I thought if I married you first, no one could take you away, and I’d stay your captain. Sanji said we needed to do something fast before you got your heart stolen, otherwise you’ll be under his spell! I didn’t know Tora-o could use magic!”

I’m going to kill Sanji-kun, she thought viciously. Maybe Law, too. I told him we needed to be more discrete! Surprisingly, she wasn’t really that mad at Luffy anymore; she was almost impressed that he was trying to solve a problem with his head, not his fists. Plus, his reasons were so stupidly sincere it was almost like getting mad at a child. “Look, Law-kun and I might be in a relationship, but even if he asked me to join his crew, I’d stay with you; the Straw Hats are my nakama, remember?”

“But if we got married, he wouldn’t even ask. He’d know you’re a Straw Hat forever.”

“He does know it; I made that very clear to him when you two were constantly forcing me to wear your hats.” She owed Law an apology, though. He’d insisted Luffy was staking a claim on her, yet she’d brushed off his concern as petty jealousy. He was possessive and paranoid, but for once, it seemed justified.

Actually, no, she wasn’t going to apologize. If she admitted he had been right, he’d be insufferable for months and there was the high probability that he really would kidnap her.

Her reassurance wasn’t as effective as she’d like. “He’s not the only one who might take you away, though. Lots of guys want you, like Absolom and Sanji’s brothers, and Shiki tried to make you join his crew because you’re such a great navigator.” Ducking his head, the brim of his hat cast his eyes in shadow as he whispered, “I used to think I was strong enough to protect everyone, but I was wrong. I couldn’t stop Kuma from sending away my nakama. I couldn’t save Ace. I don’t want to lose you, too.”

Her heart bled a little at his voice. She’d never seen him so insecure. He was always so happy-go-lucky, but this must have been eating at him for a while. Yes, Law was more serious and imposing and intelligent, whose crew was obedient and would never dream of talking back like the Straw Hats did to Luffy. When people looked at him, no one questioned whether or not he was the captain. He was a sharp dresser, devilishly handsome, quick-witted and exuded cool confidence. One could even argue he had cooler powers, and he could use a sword, and he was a doctor. To the untrained eye, Law was everything Luffy wasn’t.

She was suddenly reminded of something Luffy had said back at Arlong Park.

“I can’t use swords! I don’t know how to navigate a ship! And I can’t cook! Or lie! And I’m pretty sure I can’t live without being helped!”

At the time, those words had been a statement of defiance, proclaiming that he was ok with his weaknesses because he was strong enough to beat the Fishman, but a lot had happened since then. Was he scared of losing people because he knew he needed them? Or was he scared because those limitations might be what cost him the people he loved? If he’d been a little stronger, or a little faster, or had powers like Law’s, would they have been separated back in Sabaody? Would Ace still be alive?

Nami wanted to hit him and hug him at the same time. How dare he question her loyalty? How dare she not notice one of her closest companions had been hurting?

One thing was certain; she definitely had to make more time for this idiot if he thought she wanted to leave.

She settled for squeezing his shoulder comfortingly, promising, “Being someone’s wife would never affect my loyalties. I swore a long time ago I’d help make you Pirate King; after all you did to save me from Arlong, it’s the least I can do. So you don’t need to marry me, Luffy. Besides, you shouldn’t marry someone you aren’t in love with.”

“Robin says that plenty of people have gotten married without being in love to strengthen alliances,” he replied with a grimace. “It’s everywhere in her books. And Tora-o always insists we’re in an alliance…”

It was shit like this that made Nami all the more annoyed that Law refused to just admit he and Luffy were friends. “Well, that’s not for us. He’d be an absolute idiot to suggest it, because he knows you wouldn’t just hand me over like that. It’ll be a cold day in Hell when I let a couple of reckless, stubborn captains use me as a bargaining chip.”

Her stern declaration seemed to help him relax, though he still looked thoughtful. “You said you shouldn’t marry someone you don’t love, but you didn’t say you wouldn’t marry Tora-o.” Dark eyes stared at her curiously. “Do you love him?”

“Wha—I don’t know, Luffy!” she said, exasperated. “I mean, we only just accepted we’re in a relationship and not just sleeping together.” She really wasn’t sure what she felt for the dark doctor. In the beginning, it was just sex, but the more they ran into each other, the more she found herself enjoying his company even when he didn’t have her pinned to the nearest flat surface. Once she got past the creepiness, he was pleasant company; she enjoyed hearing about his adventures with his crew and even some of the medical procedures he’d done in the past, so long as he didn’t get into the gory details. Whenever she talked about weather patterns or natural phenomena, he never brushed off her explanations as “a mystery” and at least tried to pay attention. Lately, she especially liked how he’d quietly read in the library while she worked on maps with Bepo or kept her company while she picked her mikans, content to just be in her presence. She even found herself missing him at random times, wishing she could just hear his voice or see that cocky smirk.

Was that love? Did Law feel the same warm contentedness when she was around, the same ache when she was gone? Or was he less attached, simply pleased to have a gorgeous and intelligent bedmate to make his alliance with Luffy more tolerable?

She really didn’t like the way her chest tightened at that thought. This kind of introspection was way too heavy for what should have been a nice, relaxing shopping trip; it was much better suited for a late-night glass of wine with Robin. Given Luffy’s now-apparent fear that she’d leave him for Law, he was definitely not the right person to discuss her confused feelings with.

“Whether or not we’re in love, I don’t see marriage on the horizon anytime soon,” she assured, though her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “They call it the old ‘ball and chain’ for a reason. Getting married to anyone would totally cramp my style! Wedding rings especially repel the dumb creeps in bars I like to steal from. So, quit worrying so much, ok?”

More astute than she gave him credit for, he didn’t buy her forced cheer. “It’s just—I don’t want you to leave, but I also don’t want you getting left.” For a moment, Nami swore she could hear Luffy’s teeth grind together. “Back in Fuchsia, a few people started calling Makino-chan terrible names. The mayor said it was because she loved someone who left her behind, and he didn’t marry her first. Ace offered to marry her so they’d stop, but she turned him down, so we beat them up instead.”

An understanding frown touched her lips. “Are people calling me names?” If they were, there would be hell to pay.

“I heard Tora-o call you a few of them.”

“When?”

“When I heard you call him ‘Captain.’”

Her blush returned tenfold as she screamed inside her head. “Ok, Luffy, Law-kun has permission to call me those names, but only when I call him ‘Captain.’ It’s…kind of a game we play.” She really had no interest in explaining the ins-and-outs of her and the Surgeon of Death’s dirty talk and roleplay to the rubber man. Hell, she’d been uncomfortable enough explaining it to Robin, and she knew for a fact the older woman was into way kinkier stuff. “But I absolutely understand why that upsets you, so if you ever hear it again, just stop listening and walk away. Preferably to the other side of the ship.” Mainly because Nami was certain, if the hard look in his eye was anything to go by, Luffy would beat the crap out of her lover if he didn’t. Which was sweet, she had to admit.

“It’s a game?”

Nodding emphatically, she replied, “Yes, it’s a special, secret game only he and I know about, and it can only be played with two people.”

Luffy actually rolled his eyes. “I know you’re having sex, Nami. I’m not stupid.”

He laughed as she buried her face in her hands, the beet red tips of her ears clashing horribly with her copper hair. “Shishishi! Rayleigh told me there are people who are into some pretty weird stuff, so I shouldn’t judge, but it’s ok to step in if I think someone’s getting hurt. If you’re ok with Tora-o saying that stuff, I promise not to punch him for it. I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t being mean to you!”

“Thank you,” was her muffled response. She wasn’t sure if she should be grateful that his mentor had taught him about sex or horrified. The old man was kind of a pervert, but at least she didn’t have to treat Luffy like a little kid. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she managed to meet his eyes. “I swear, I’m ok with it so long as it’s in private. If you ever hear him or anyone else call me stuff like that in public, though, bash their face in.”

“Can do!” he said enthusiastically, toothy grin once again splitting his face. Rubber arms wrapped around her, pulling her against his chest in a near-crushing hug. “I don’t want you to leave, but I promised Genzo I’d never break your heart. If you want to marry Law…”

Despite the blush lingering on her cheeks, a small, warm smile curved her lips. “I’ll tell you what, Luffy; traditionally, if a guy wants to marry someone, they have to ask her father for permission. Genzo’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a dad, but there’s no way Law would go all the way to the East Blue for that. So, as my captain, I’m letting you stand in for him.”

“So, if Law doesn’t get my permission, he can’t marry you?”

Normally, Nami was the sort of woman who would be annoyed at the idea that any man felt he could dictate her love life, but for Luffy, she’d make an exception. If it eased his fears and ensured she would never have to deal with this conversation again, she didn’t mind so much. It would probably be a moot point, anyway; Law didn’t seem the marrying type, and while she wasn’t against the idea, at the moment she was more interested in having adventures and fulfilling her dream.

Still, that didn’t quite dispel the image of her walking down the aisle in a beautiful white dress with a handsome, tattooed doctor waiting for her.

A loud growl interrupted the moment, and Luffy pulled away, rubbing his head bashfully.

“I know I said I wouldn���t mention meat…”

“Well, things seem to have calmed down, so let’s get you some food,” Nami laughed, pulling him out of the alley. “I’ll even treat, just this once.”

“Really?!”

“Within reason, and only because it’s cheaper than a wedding banquet.”

It didn’t escape her notice that a certain straw hat was plopped onto her head by the time they reached the food vendor, nor did it escape Luffy’s that she kept it on the rest of the day.

#one piece #One Piece Fanfiction #monkey d. luffy #nami #nami (one piece) #Cat Thief Nami #mugiwara no luffy #lawna #law x nami #lawnami #lawxnami #marriage proposal #humor #angsty #fluff #brotp #my brotp #straw hat luffy #luffy and nami #one piece shipping #one piece luffy #fanfiction #fanfic #archive of our own #ao3 #AO3 fanfic #luffy would do anything for his nakama

[stopplayshuffle]

MINI MANSIONS CONCERT: WHY CONFIDENCE MATTERS IN WHAT YOU LOVE

 On Monday, June 24th 2019, I attended a Mini Mansions concert at The Independent in SF CA. I’ve seen Mini Mansions perform live before when they opened for Arctic Monkeys at the Bill Graham Civic Center in SF on October 20th 2018. However, this is my first time seeing them at their own show for their own tour. That night was incredible, not just because of their performance, but because I got to actually meet two members from the band.

If you are not familiar with who Mini Mansions are, I’ll give a bit of background. Mini Mansions is a music trio made up of keyboardist/vocalist Tyler Parkford (touring keyboardist for Arctic Monkeys), bassist Zachary Dawes (the Last Shadow Puppets), and guitarist/vocalist/ (former drummer?) Michael Shuman (bassist for Queens of the Stone Age). Mini Mansions is a side project for the three members since, as you can see, each of them are involved in other projects.

I became familiar with them through Arctic Monkeys, since Alex Turner was featured in their 2015 album, The Great Pretenders (track 6: “Vertigo”, if anyone was interested in what song). Then I saw them perform live when they opened for Arctic Monkeys. This isn’t their first time opening for them either, since they opened for them before in their previous tour. Needless to say, they have a strong relationship with those Sheffield lads. While standing there and feeling curious to what their other music was like apart from “Vertigo”, I came to find that their setlist was pretty good. Their music is unique, which is too simple a word to describe the kind of music they make. It’s like vintage ‘60’s rock n’ roll distorted with psychedelic elements, accompanied with groovy bass lines (compliments of Zach Dawes), poppy piano hits (thanks to Tyler Parkford), and bluesy guitar riffs (from multi-instrumentalist Michael Shuman). I am a huge fan of vintage rock/pop, like the Beatles, Beach Boys, you get the picture. So hearing something that is similar to that kind of music will most likely capture my interest. And I was definitely interested in Mini Mansions.

The concert itself was pretty cheap, about $15 a ticket. After spending about $105 for Muse, $120 for Mike Shinoda, and about $70 for Arctic Monkeys, I was pretty stoked how affordable this show was. I didn’t want to stress myself out by trying to arrive 4 hours early to get a decent spot. My mentality was, whatever spot I get is what I get. My sister, Jenni, and I arrived at the venue about 45 minutes before they opened the doors, and to my surprise, there wasn’t a lot of people waiting in line. There were maybe about 6 or 7 people waiting before us. I’m guessing everyone else had the same mentality as I did going into this concert. I was relieved that my feet wouldn’t be worn out from waiting so long, and I now had the energy to withstand the entire show. When we were finally let into the venue, I walked straight to the front of the stage, not using my peripheral vision to catch anything weird or exciting. While standing in front of the carpeted stage with a tape that ran across the edge reading “NO DRINKS” my sister tapped me on my shoulder and asked, “isn’t that Mikey working the merch booth”? as she pointed towards the corner that was diagonally across from where we were. I was like, “No, I don’t think so”, because why would a band member work their own merch booth, right? At least that’s what my dumbass thought. But then I squinted my eyes towards the direction she was pointing at, and as my eyes were adjusting in that dark room, with only a dim light hovering around the merch booth, I could tell from the gelled back hair that it was indeed Michael Shuman. He was wearing an all-black outfit: black moto jacket, black t-shirt, black skinny jeans, and black shoes. Pretty casual. This is the exact opposite to the outfit he will later change into when he will perform, which was a white satin suit with some watercolor accents on it.

It was like having two personas, one being the regular guy selling band stuff and the other is the performer. I thought it was cool that he was working the merch booth because he wasn’t acting like he was too good to sell his stuff.

Jen asked me if I wanted to buy something, and despite the fact that I needed to save as much money as possible to have enough for my rent and other bills for the summer before school starts I said, “Hell yeah I wanna buy something!” But at the same time, I kept staring at the front of the stage, and I was apprehensive because I got a decent spot for the concert. The woman next to me told me, “You totally should, they’re really nice, I mean I’ll try to extend my arm out as much as possible to save your spot”. God, what a nice woman. I thanked my fellow concert friend and walked up to the line. There was only two people in front of me and they seemed to be a couple waiting next to each other, so I wouldn’t have to wait too long. But the girl took a while figuring out if she wanted a black Mini Mansions shirt or a white one. At this point, Zach Dawes was also at the booth helping his buddy, Mikey, out with making sure he had enough merchandise at the table. She asked Zach for his opinion, “which color do you like best?” And Zach, with his calm voice says, he liked both of them. I don’t even remember which color this chick went with, but they finally left the line, and I was finally next. I was standing face to face with Mikey Shuman, with only a plastic banquet table in between us. My eyes kept darting from his face to the posters to the left of him.

He actually spoke first and said, “Hi. How are you?”

And like a square I responded with, “I’m good, how are you?

“I’m good!” He said back, “What can I get you?”

“Uhh, may I have that poster please?” I pointed to the poster, which was signed by all 3 members.

“You may” with a dip at the end of “may” (what a polite gentleman).

(I put the poster on the stage so I can take a picture of it. No one was playing yet, btw. But that’s how close I was to the stage).

I didn’t want just a poster, (which I didn’t plan on where I was putting while watching the concert) I wanted something with it, so I asked Mikey if I could buy the CD that had Mini Mansions written in yellow on the top left corner, with a stuffed toy bunny on an illuminated plate. It was their first full length album they ever released, and I didn’t have that album yet. Which by the way, is hard to come by. It was sold out on Amazon for a while, and sold-out on their website too. I tried going to Rasputin Music a few months ago at the mall where I live to see if they had it. The cashier said there was something by Mini Mansions there, but I couldn’t find anything. I tried looking at a record shop in Santa Cruz, but no Mini Mansions CDs there either. I think it may have been available again on their website, but I waited on buying it, but I don’t remember exactly why. I think I wanted to avoid shipping fees and wait for it to be prime available on Amazon. Or maybe I was hoping I will find it in a record shop around where I live.

Anyway, I asked Mikey for the CD and he asked, “This CD right here?” He pointed to the CD.

“Yeah”

He then looked in another box, and when he put the box down empty handed he said, “Wow that was the last one”.

“Cool!” I responded with, like the fucking shy idiot I am.

It took me a while to get this album, I’m glad I waited so I can actually buy the album from the band themselves, but I wish I could’ve responded better.

(Photo of CD taken after the concert on my desk)

What happens next is so surreal that it took me a couple of days to comprehend that it happened. It’s nothing even that spectacular it’s just something that had never happened to me before. He tapped on the tablet the items I was purchasing and told me my stuff was going to be 35 bucks. I handed him my card and he actually swiped my card into the card reader sticking out from the tablet and asked, “Can you sign right here, please?”

This was mind-blowing to me, because I’m thinking shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t I be the one asking you to sign me stuff. But I signed the tablet, in a way like I’ve never been excited to sign my name to a purchase before. I couldn’t believe I was buying band merch from the actual band member himself, it was awesome. After he gave me my stuff, I handed them to my sister and asked him if I could shake his hand. The guy puts the tablet down and sticks out his hand and I’m fucking touching Mikey Shuman’s hand. I thanked him, and if I wasn’t enough of a square, my sister noticed an awkward silence and finally said, “I think you guys are great and I’m really excited for the show!” Both Zach and Mikey said thank you and both shook Jen’s hand. I thanked Mikey again and leaned over to shake Zach’s hand and went back to the front of the stage.

Obviously, I was excited that I met two of the members from the band. I couldn’t believe I actually talked to them. But I still felt unsatisfied, not with them of course, but with myself. I want to be a music journalist and interview bands and study music as a career. Because I have anxiety issues, including a bit of social anxiety, I am always awkward and shy when I meet people, which does not help me in the long run at all. There were so many things I could’ve asked Mikey: What do you like to play more, bass, drums, or guitar? I love how bluesy you get in The Great Pretenders, what was the inspiration for that?  I couldn’t even ask him something as basic as, hey how are you liking SF this time around? Anything weird happen to you yet? Ever been to Oakland? My God I suck. I could’ve even said, Wow, this is the last CD? No way? How lucky am I? Such a missed opportunity to connect with the band, and actually work on my people skills when I meet musicians for the job I want. Despite the fact that I wish I could go back in time to alter how I met Mikey and Zach, I was still grateful for the encounter I had. It’s not a common thing for me to meet the people who make the music I like.

Their performance was also great. After watching two openers, Tyler Parkford finally came out, but to set up his keyboard directly above me. He bent down and plugged some wires in. I’m sure it’s creepy having people stare at you while you’re doing something, so I looked away so he can do his job. But at one point I looked back up at his direction and while he was standing behind his keyboard, he looked at me and I smiled at him. I was happy that he smiled back. Unfortunately I never got to talk to Tyler that night, but I’m hoping I will in the future.

After Mikey sound checked all of the equipment, they began to play. They started off with “Freakout!” which is what they started with when they opened for Arctic Monkeys. The song isn’t super intense but has an upbeat tempo that is perfect for getting the crowd going. They mostly played songs from The Great Pretenders, but incorporated a few from their upcoming album, Guy Walks into a Bar… So we were getting that mix of relaxed familiarity from being able to sing along with the songs we already knew, and the excitement from the new songs from the album that has yet to come. A variety of uplifting emotions that was getting the crowd pumped. The song I connected to live the most was “Works Every Time”. “Works Every Time” is from their upcoming album, but they released it on their EP with the same title first. Since the song had been out for some time now, I was already familiar with it, and enjoyed the calm soulful singing of Parkford and swaggering bass lines of Dawes. The kind of sound that someone can listen to while driving late at night. But hearing it live was a different experience for me. The dreamy tone from the piano was more upfront, maybe because I noticed it more? I don’t know, but it was lovely.

Zach was a little shy when I met him, since he didn’t really say much; however, on stage he wasn’t shy rocking out those bass lines with his buddies. The guy has mad rhythm with his bass, and he didn’t look nervous on stage. If he was nervous, then I couldn’t tell because he played each song so naturally. I know if that was me up there, I’d probably mess up a lot from nerves, since I can barely sing right while singing karaoke with two friends.

When it came to the more fast tempo songs, especially “Mirror Mountain” all the guys got really into it, but Mikey was not shy of wailing around and screaming loud into the mic. I enjoy watching him get this intense honestly, [even though a couple of the audience members who I talked to at the Bart station after the show told me, at another Mini Mansions concert they went to in Sacramento, were afraid of Mikey potentially kicking them sometimes while he was rocking out, but luckily he didn’t]. His punk rock energy bounced across the entire stage, and as a direct result I got pumped watching him go. There was a point during “Mirror Mountain” when he bent down real close to the edge of the stage. He puts the mic close to his lips, and his palm held the back of an audience member’s nape. He sang close to this young man’s ear, and the young man smiled, probably from the attention he was receiving from Mikey, but he was also leaning back, possibly because he was trying not to get too close to him. Looking back at it now, I didn’t know what was going through that kid’s head, but he seemed unsure of how to react when the singer/guitarist for Mini Mansions was singing physically close to his face. I wouldn’t know either, to be honest, if that was me.

Needless to say, there’s a level of boldness that is needed to get that close to someone, without having that internal conversation wondering if you’re doing too much or just enough. He just did it.  While performing, he used his entire body (from his voice to his legs) to express himself, and while some people would think that’s too much or bold, either way, people are looking.

But that’s the thing when you express yourself in something you care about, may that be writing, food, books, or music, it will show. With Mikey, Zach, and Tyler they used their talents to create this interesting concoction of vintage inspired contemporary indie rock. They went with what they had, released it, and was able to perform it in about every part of the world.

In the end, they are going places with it, this thing that they love, or at least what it seems to me they love. In other words, they just went for it. I wish I could possess at least half the confidence of what they have. Maybe if I did, I would’ve been less awkward when I met Mikey and Zach.  Now, I’m not saying confidence is the only thing a person needs to pursue what they want, but confidence helps push someone toward what they want. With confidence, you can stand on a stage and exercise your skills in front of people, you can be yourself without the fear of judgement, you can talk to someone you’ve never met before and have a great conversation. With confidence, you just go for it.

#minimansions #mikeyshoes #tyler parkford #zach dawes #concert #indie #music

[bxcketbarnes]

New Puppy

Pairing: Ashton Irwin x Reader

Author: @ninja-stiles

Words: 2356

Request: “96 and 99 with Ashton or Luke would be cool I think(:” by @vertigomelody

Author’s Note: This is my first 5SOS fic and I’m really hoping y’all will like it. It’s really nerve wracking to start writing in such a large fandom. But, I love these boys so much and I’ve missed them so much. Enjoy!

You were sitting on the floor, grinning ear to ear as you played with the new puppy you had just gotten from your parents. The dog you’ve had for half your life had gotten pregnant by one of your uncle’s dogs and tada… now you have a cute little black lab named shadow. Cliche, I know. You had sent at least ten pictures to one of your best friends, Michael. Yes, Michael Clifford of 5 Seconds of Summer, Michael. You two have been friends ever since you moved to Australia when you were a young lass. You and Michael grew up together, eventually befriending Luke and Calum in middle school with him. Then they started their band and you were so proud of them. They were all set… except they needed a drummer. That’s where Ashton Irwin came into the picture. For a while, you two had been good friends, but in the last year or so, you guys couldn’t be in the same room together without starting an argument over something stupid.

Your phone ringing snapped you out of your thoughts, looking down at your phone to see Michael face timing you. You chuckled softly, answering his call as he was grinning ear to ear. “Hello to you too, Mikey.”

“Yeah, yeah, where’s the pup?” He asked immediately and you mocked hurt, placing a hand on your chest as you kept the camera facing you.

“Well, if you’re going to speak to me in that tone I don’t think you’re allowed to see Shadow,” you grinned evilly and Michael groaned, leaning his head back as you heard Calum laughing.

“I’m sorry. Hi, how are you? Good? That’s good because you have a fucking cute puppy. Can I see it now, please?” He asked, giving you his best pouty face as you nodded your head, turning the camera around to show the puppy who was currently playing with a stuffed toy. “Oh look at him! He’s so cute.”

“You know you guys can just come over, so you can play with the doggo,” you told them, earning a few “yeses” coming from Michael and Luke.

“Alright, we’re coming over! Be there in ten minutes!” Mikey called out and you gave him a thumbs up before hanging up.

You placed the phone on the arm of the couch, looking down at Shadow as he shook his head with the stuffed monkey in his mouth, giggling at the sight. You were really glad they were in NYC for a couple months as they worked on their new album. It’s been so long since you’ve actually seen your best friends… and Ashton. It honestly sucks that you’re in this feud with Ashton because to be completely honest you’ve had a crush on him for so long. He was so funny, sweet, kind to everyone and also very very good at drumming. Sometimes you wish you knew what had happened between the two of you, so you could fix it, but he was too stubborn to tell you.

There were a bunch of knocks on your front door, hearing Mikey yelling from outside as you rolled your eyes, getting up from the couch as you opened the door. “Finally! It’s freezing outside,” Mikey muttered playfully, inviting himself in as he went straight towards the puppy. You laughed, inviting the rest in as your eyes came into contact with Ashton. You gulped, giving him a tight-lipped smile as he just nodded his head, walking past you.

Your eyes went after him, watching as he sat on the floor with Michael, petting Shadow lightly as he was smiling at something his bandmate said. A hand on your shoulder snapped you out of your gaze, glancing towards the person. Calum gave you a sad smile, bringing you into a hug as you just sighed deeply, closing your eyes. Calum gives the best hugs… especially when I’m down.

“I don’t understand what I did, Cal,” you muttered to him, resting your hand on his shoulder blade as Calum rubbed your back.

“I know, love. Maybe he’ll tell you if you just talk to him about everything,” Calum offered and you pulled away from the Aussie, crossing your arms over your chest, shrugging your shoulders.

“I don’t know. He seems pretty determined to stay as far away from me as possible,” you frowned, closing the front door before making our way towards the couch. You sat down on it, hugging your knees as you watched the four boys sit around Shadow, gaining the puppy’s attention as he wagged his tail, going to each of the boys. “Do any of you want a drink?” You asked and they shook their heads.

Even though neither of the boys wanted a drink… you did. Seeing Ashton, knowing he hates you for some reason just makes you crack open a bottle of wine. Once stepping into the kitchen, you grabbed a wine glass from your cupboard, setting it onto the island before reaching for the white Moscato that sat on the top of the fridge.

Ashton rested his arm on his knee, glancing at his three best friends as they played with Shadow, glancing towards the kitchen to see you taking a large gulp of wine before placing the glass back onto the granite island, running your hands through your hair. His eyebrows furrowed together as he watched you.

“Ash? Hey,” Luke mumbled, snapping his fingers in front of the drummer’s face as Ashton looked away from you, glancing towards his blonde friend. “You okay?” He asked.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll be right back,” Ashton muttered, getting up from the floor before heading into the kitchen, keeping his eyes on you as you finished the glass of wine, pouring yourself another glass.

You jumped, seeing a body standing on the other side of the island, glancing up to see Ashton standing across from you. “Jesus, you scared me,” you whispered, placing the bottle of wine into the fridge before standing back in your spot on the island.

“Listen, I really don’t like you, but you have a puppy so I’m going to be over a lot,” Ashton stated as your eyes widened, your heart pounding against your chest.

“U-Uhm, okay,” you muttered, playing with the stem of the wine glass, feeling his stare on you. “That’s fine.”

“Ash! Hey, dude, we gotta go,” Mikey came into the kitchen, bringing me into a hug as my heartbeat calmed down a bit. “We’ll see you soon, okay?” He asked and you nodded, going to give Luke and Calum a hug as well. You gave Ashton a small wave as he returned it, the four of them walking out of your house as you closed the door behind them, leaning your back against it, letting out a huff of breath. Jesus Christ…

It’s been a couple weeks since the boys have been to the house, well all four of them at once. Mikey and Ashton, surprisingly, have been over a couple times but didn’t stay for very long. You looked out your living room window, watching the snowfall heavily from the sky. The weatherman said there’s a storm coming in the next day, so you went shopping for a bunch of food yesterday in case you couldn’t leave your house in the next couple days. Shadow yelped from behind you and you glanced back, smiling down at the pup as he wagged his tail, the stuffed monkey laying on the ground in front of him.

“You wanna play?” You asked in a giddy voice, bending over slightly as you grabbed the monkey, throwing it a few feet from him. You grinned as you watched him go after it when your doorbell rang. You look towards the door, furrowing your eyebrows together wondering who could be visiting in this weather.

Opening the front door, your lips part slightly as Ashton stood in front of you, hands stuffed in his pockets as the hood of his sweatshirt that hugged his body. “Hey, Y/N. Is this a bad time?” He asked and I shook my head, inviting him inside.

“No, no. Come in. I was just playing with Shadow,” you told him, closing the front door as you shivered, the cold draft coming through as Ashton shrugged his hoodie off, placing it on the coat rack. The two of you sat on the floor by Shadow, sitting in silence as you decided to play some quiet music to make the room seem less awkward then it is.

An hour of sitting, barely speaking and you swear to god it couldn’t get any more awkward. Ashton was getting ready to leave as you continued to sit on the floor, petting Shadow’s sleeping body as you bit the inside of your cheek, wondering if things would ever go back to normal.

“So, we’ve got a bit of a problem…” Ashton mentioned as he looked back at you, motioning you to come to him. You got off the floor, walking over to him as your eyes widened, not realizing how much it had snowed in the past hour. You can’t even open your screen door it was that high.

“Holy shit,” you mumbled, combing your fingers through your hair as Ashton placed his sweatshirt back on the hanger. “Looks like you might be stuck here for a while.”

“Yeah, hey, I’ll have that drink now,” he mentioned, looking down at you as you nodded, the two of you walking into the kitchen.

Four glasses of wine later the two of you were sitting on the couch, rather closely, chit-chatting. “S-So, I have to ask, Ash,” you started, taking another sip of wine to gain courage as he smiled down at you, waiting for you to continue. “What did I do for you to hate me so much?” You asked, biting your lip softly as his face fell, a sigh leaving his lips.

“It was nothing you did and that sounds awful especially since I was a dick to you for the past year. I-I, this is embarrassing but, I was jealous of the friendship you had with the boys. I mean, I didn’t grow up with you guys or go to school with you, so I felt a bit left out for a long while and somehow I finally just snapped, thinking that if I was a bit rude to you that it’d make me feel better,” Ashton explained, looking at his glass as you frowned, not meaning to leave him out like that.

“That was certainly not my intention and I’m sorry you felt that way, I really am. D-Did it help?” You asked, leaning your arm against the back of the couch as he furrowed his eyebrows. “Did having you be rude to me make you feel better?” You cleared up and he sighed, shaking his head.

“No, not really. It honestly made me feel worse because we were such good friends before this happened and I saw you in the kitchen when you had us over a couple weeks ago and I felt so shitty,” he muttered, gulping the wine in his glass as you licked your dry lips.

“It’s okay. I forgive you… if that’s what you’re looking for,” you smiled, resting a hand on his as Ashton smiled, nodding his head.

“Thanks, Y/N. I can see why the guys like you so much,” he chuckled and I shrugged my shoulders. You could feel the weight off your shoulders being lifted as the two of you had at least four more glasses of wine and began conversing like you used too, smiles and jokes all around as you guys managed to get even closer somehow, your knees touching one another’s. Your eyes kept darting up towards his hair, dying to run your fingers through it as you finish your glass of wine, setting it down on the coffee table before getting comfortable once again.

You took a chance, lifting your hand to his hair as you comb your fingers through it, Ashton’s eyes widening as you felt a little tingly, not knowing if it was the wine or just nerves. “Your hair is so soft,” you whispered, slurring your words a bit, moving some of it out of his face as Ashton’s Adam's apple bobbed in his throat, finishing the wine that was in his glass as well.

“Alright, it’s time for you to get to bed,” he chuckled, taking the two glasses, bringing them into the kitchen. That last glass of wine really hit you as you stood, grinning ear to ear as you watched Shadow go into his cage, mumbling incoherently at him as Ash locked him in. The curly haired man walked over to you, chuckling slightly as he wrapped an arm around your waist, helping you to your bedroom.

“Have I ever told you how much I love your dimples?” You asked, looking up at the cute drummer.

“No, you haven’t, but thank you,” Ashton muttered, his cheeks blushing a bit as he smiled, a dimple indenting his cheek as you guys made it to your room. He laid you on the bed, tucking you in as your hair covered your face. Ashton began walking away when you reached out for his hand, slipping your fingers through his, stopping him in his tracks.

“Stay with me? Please?” You mumbled, moving some of the hair out of your face as his eyes widened, glancing between the bed and your bedroom door. Ashton sighed, nodding his head as he walked to the other side of your bed, slipping in beside you as you turned to face him. “Thank you…” you whispered, scooting closer to him as you rested a hand on his chest, cuddling into his side as you could feel his heartbeat quicken, falling into a deep sleep.

#ashton irwin #ashton irwin imagines #ashton irwin imagine #ashton x reader #ashton irwin x reader #ashton irwin one shot #5 seconds of summer #5sos #5sos imagine #5sos imagines #5sos blurbs #5 seconds of summer blurbs #ashton irwin blurbs #ashton irwin fluff #ashton irwin angst #calum hood #michael clifford #luke hemmings

[haikyuu-imagines-and-others]

I think I'll just send it in now, just in case. XD I'd like to put in a fluffy request for Iwaizumi spending the day with his wife on her birthday. Children are optional, though if you decide to add them, maybe 2 boys. Kek. Ohh, and I won't stop you if you wanna add NSFW stuff in there, because 1.) birthday, and 2.) Iwa-chan. XD --Pls spoil Shyjime, at least on her birthday ♡ (the 6th, same as his seiyuu tbh lmao, shameless)

Ahahahahaha I am super late with this one, but I hope you don’t mind my swinging around for this birthday! Happy birthday, lovely!!!! Thanks for requesting! - Admin Satori

Iwaizumi Hajime:

Maro (Myself) - Son (8)

Reiji (Courteous Child) - Son (7)

Tired, aching muscles pulled your consciousness away from the numbing sleep - bringing you back into the world of the aware, into the loud house you called your home. The home of your loves, your sons, and your husband. But you woke alone, in an empty bed, your hand making contact with the cool sheets of a vacant spot. You frowned and slowly opened your eyes, glancing over your shoulder to see that yes, indeed, Iwaizumi was missing.

A loud slamming of the backyard door made you close your eyes, pulling the blankets even closer to your chest as you tried to catch just a few more minutes of sleep before-

“Mama! Look!”

Too late. It’s time for you to wake up.

The sight before you, before your sleepy, bleary eyes, confused you at first - you couldn’t remember buying your sons that shade of brown shorts, and the smeared design of their shirts looked unfamiliar - Had Iwaizumi gone shopping with them while you were asleep?

“We picked flowers for you, mama! Daddy says its your birthday!” Maro smiled widely at you, holding a few barely intact flowers; After blinking a few times, you realized they were from your backyard flower bed - ripped from the ground so cruelly, their roots still clinging onto the soil you’d initially surrounded them with.

Reiji, your younger son, clamored onto the bed, kneeling next to your torso before laying his own torso over yours, making you let out a oddly pleased groan at the added weight. “Reiji, sweetie, you’re heavy.” But your son only giggled, pushing his face against the side of your head and blowing into your ear, giving you chills and making you whine as you tried to hide away from his tactics. “Nooooo, boys, let mama sleep.”

Your sons were not having it though, now both of them were on the bed, Reiji on top of you, Maro nuzzling his way into your arms and humming happily when you reciprocated his hug, resting your head on top of his. “Mama! Happy Birthday!” A gentle smile came to your lips as you finally opened your eyes completely, the effort making them feel heavier than before, but you didn’t want to miss out on their sweet smiles aimed up at you. “Mama, what are you going to do for your birthday? Are you going to go to the park?”

“Are you going to have a party?”

“How about cake, are you going to have cake?”

“And mama, what about-“

“Boys.” A deep voice suddenly piped up, making the three of you jump in surprise and hold onto each other tightly before looking at the doorway where the voice had come from. Iwaizumi smiled fondly at the three of you, shaking his head in disbelief when his sons gave him sheepish smiles - smiles that matched yours exactly. “I told you to let your mother sleep.” Maro mimicked his father with a giggle before hiding his face in your chest, holding onto you tightly when he sensed his father come closer to the bed, “Oi! What was that? You want to make that face again, Maro?” Although he tried to seem scary and intimidating - fatherhood had made your husband all smiles and genuine laughs.

Maro turned his head to regard his father out of the corner of his eye, “Nothing, daddy!” Now his smile was feigning innocence, and Reiji hid his face in your hair, trying to keep his knowing smile a secret from their father.

You held Maro close, your other hand wrapping around Reiji before you turned on your back, now holding Maro against your side and Reiji on your chest. Although he was very heavy, he was your baby. And he’d always be your baby. So you would cuddle him for as long as he’d let you. “Can’t we all just get along? And maybe take a long nap together? That sounds like my ideal birthday present.” You closed your eyes again, feeling your body relax into the mattress under you as your sons got comfortable.

Regardless of their movements, their mouths kept complaining, “But Mama! We just woke up! We got to go do something fun!” You moved your hand from Reiji’s shoulder to press against Maro’s face, shushing him silently, but he continued. “Please mama! Let us go play at the park! I wanna show Reiji how to do the monkey bars!” Voice muffled now.

“I know how to do the monkey bars, Maro! I’m not a baby!” Reiji whined, his own voice muffled by your shoulder, giving his brother an irritated look from the corner of his eye - a look that mirrored Iwaizumi’s almost exactly.

Suddenly Reiji was picked up out of your arms by the back of his shirt, and Maro was hefted by the waist into the air, resting on his father’s hip. “Ah! No! Mama, save us!”

You hummed, yawned, and waved them off as Iwaizumi took them into the hallway, “See you later, babies.” You smiled. But they were still whining in the hall, and you let out a loud, continuous groan as you pulled the covers off of your body, and padded into the living room.

“Ah! Good Afternoon, ______-chan!” You rubbed your eyes quickly and blinked a few times, a little more than just surprised at Oikawa standing in your living room. “I came for Maro and Reiji. Iwa-chan says it’s time to go to the park.” Then he gave you an obvious wink.

But you didn’t know what he was hinting at. “What?”

Oikawa seemed perplexed at your confusion, “You…. You don’t know what I’m talking about?’

You shook your head, “No idea, Tooru.”

Just as Oikawa was about to go into great detail of the plans set for you birthday today, Iwaizumi walked back into the living room and stuffed the bag of milk bread straight into Oikawa’s open mouth. The former setter gave his best friend the stink eye before taking the bag out, “That was very rude, Iwa-chan!”

“Get the hell out of my house, Shittykawa. You got your advance payment, now get.” Oikawa’s tinkling chuckle made Iwaizumi’s lips twitch in a reluctant smile. You watched the exchange between the two friends intensely, not understanding what they were possibly talking about but knowing you were immediately involved in whatever was planned. “Maro, Reiji!” Both boys turned on their heels, their chills rushing down their spine at their father barking their names, but when they met their father’s dark green eyes, they relaxed; He was worried. “Don’t go wandering off. Uncle Trashykawa is a terrible baby sitter.”

“Hey! Iwa-chan!”

“I mean, just look at Yukio.”

Yukio pouted as he stared up at his uncle Iwaizumi, “I am 100% better than my daddy!”

“Hey! Yukio-chan!” Oikawa ushered the three children out of the house, “Okay, okay, okay, let’s get going before I get even more bullied. You’re all just so mean!” Then the door was closed behind him and your children, leaving you and Iwaizumi completely alone. For as long as Oikawa had the right of mind to stay away from the house.

The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy, thick with something you knew all too well. Chills erupted across your skin as your eyes caught the way Iwaizumi now turned to you, his dark green eyes almost predatory as they zeroed in on what you’d gone to bed in. “Isn’t that my college practice shirt?”

Your eyes widened as you pulled the fabric away from your chest, looking at the text displayed across the front. Yeah. It was his alright. “Don’t you mean ‘our college practice shirt’? I’m pretty sure this one is mine.” Iwaizumi was closer now, having taken the opportunity of your distraction to approach you. Why did it feel like those few steps closer had stolen your breath?

Iwaizumi smirked as he continued to walk towards you, now completely caught in his act. Now he stood before you, broad shoulders above your line of sight, russet skin yours for marking, taught muscles just begging for your clawing nails. The audible gulp didn’t go unnoticed by him, in fact it made him lean his head down close to yours - brushing his lips ever so faintly against yours. A ghost of a kiss. “Is that so? You sure? I think it may be a size or two too big on you…”

Then he was pulling away, his hands tugging at the edges of the shirt, the action making the fabric grow taught in the front so he was able to see the quietly fading print, “N-no… It fits just perfect… I … I got it too big so I can use it for sleeping.” Why were you continuing with this?

“I think you’re lying….” His warm hands, way warmer with the heat of the moment, snuck under your oversized shirt, making contact with the skin of your hips. “How much was it?”

The question threw you off, having already completely lost yourself in the feel of his hands on you. “H-huh?” Your voice was hoarse already, and he hadn’t even take off the shirt yet. But could you really blame yourself? You had your husband of 8 years standing in front you, still looking as chiseled as he did in high school…. In your shared… empty…. home….

Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow at you, leaning in closer, his lips against your ear now, “I asked…. How much was it?” He intentionally enunciated his words, each syllable sending chills down your spine.

Why wasn’t your brain working properly? Was it the lack of oxygen as you held your breath the closer he got? Was it the way your heart was beating out of your chest, so loudly you were sure he could hear it? “Uh…. It was free… You got it at practice.”

A loud, amused sigh escaped his body before he was lightly tapping his head against yours, “Way to keep your story, babe….” The intense trance was over, broken in an instant, but his hands were still warm, still lightly stroking your skin, making their way up from your hips to the dips of your waist. The shirt was being drawn up with his raising arms.

You let out a huff, lightly nudging your head against his, “You confused me…. It’s not my fault….” He laughed quietly, and the sound filled you with warmth. “My husband is way too sexy to be confusing a little old woman like me.”

Iwaizumi snorted and turned his head, his lips making contact with your temple, “Old woman?” He rolled his eyes to himself, you looked just as delectable since the day he first saw you. Almost 10 years ago. Standing outside the gymnasium with your best friend while she waited on baited breath for Oikawa to blow her off. You’d been the only one he saw in that moment. Even now, he could remember the anxiety of watching you interact with Oikawa; Every time Iwaizumi set his eyes on something, it almost seemed as if Oikawa was 3 steps ahead on the same path. “Let’s see how flexible this old body of yours is.” But you’d noticed him almost as soon as he you.

“Hajime!” You squealed as you were suddenly hefted into his arms, over his shoulder, your ass high in the air while your hands quickly, hastily, pushed against the small of his back.

“Don’t think this is the end of your birthday, either, _____. I have the whole day filled to the brim with plans…..” The feeling of your hands pressing against his back, your left right beside his head… His hand moved from the back of your knees to cupping your ass, a confident, satisfied smirk on his lips when he heard your surprised gasp, “That’s if we can manage to pull ourselves from bed…”

So… not as NSFW as I was originally thinking… but I like it :D I hope you have a wonderful birthday, Shyjime!!!!!!!

#admin Satori #haikyuu!! #haikyuu!! scenario #Iwaizumi Hajime #Domestic

[samwinlover-blog]

Penny For a Cup- Part 7

Masterlist Here! Part One Here Part Two Here Part Three Here Part Four Here Part Five Here Part Six Here

Pairing: Sam x Reader Characters: Sam, Reader, Dean Warnings: fluff, light swearing, businessman!Sam, barista!reader, coffee shop AU, carnival AU Summary: The reader owns a little coffee shop in New York city called, The Manhattan Mocha, and Sam Winchester is a frequent costumer of hers. She’s always had a slight crush on the sharp business man who comes in for coffee everyday, and has even memorized his order: black coffee, double shot of expresso- intriguing and mysterious just as he is. A/N: Feedback is appreciated:)  Tag List: @amanda-teaches @myplaceofthingsilove @evyiione @mogaruke@aliensdeservebetter @spnfanficpond @27bmm @craving-cas @spectaculicious @bambinovak @writingthingsisdifficult @padackles2010@mamaredd123 @milkymilky-cocopuff @iwantthedean @zeppo-in-a-trenchcoat@spntrista @d-s-winchester @just-another-busy-fangirl@winchesterprincessbride @waywardjoy @supernaturalyobsessed@whywhydoyouwantmetosaymyname@sandlee44 @fangirl1802@kittenofdoomage@evyiione@winchestersmut@purgatoan@mogaruke@therewillbeblood@megansescape@taste-of-dean@leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid @scarlet-soldier-in-an-impala@deathtonormalcy56@wildfirewinchester@notnaturalanahi@jensen-jarpad@impalaimagining@fangirlextraordinaire@itseverythingilike@jesspfly@lovekittykat21@mysteriouslyme81@mrswhozeewhatsis@aiaranradnay@supernatural-jackles@girl-next-door-writes@spnsasha@27bmm@spnfanficpond @amanda-teaches@myplaceofthingsilove@spectaculicious@bambinovak@writingthingsisdifficult@spn-imagines-to-feel@spn-ficfanatic@cleverdame@saxxxology@jensen-jarpad @keepcalmandcarryondean dancingpanda137

*Leave Feedback HERE*

When the two of you approached the booth, a sign that read Ring Toss! started flashing in bright red. Looking down at the game itself, you saw that it was pretty simple- all you had to do was get a ring around a bottleneck to win the grand prize. 

“Hi there! I’m Kailee, wanna play? 20 rings are 5$ and 40 rings are 8!” A blonde haired girl that looked to be around your age perked up from inside the booth. 

Sam smiled and handed her a 5, “20 please,” Before turning to you and whispering, “This looks easy enough,” 

“Getting cocky?” You joked and wiggled your brow at him, earning an equally as goofy look from Sam in return. 

The first 10 or so rings he threw were duds, even though some of them got pretty close. They would rattle around the top of the bottles, look like they were about to go in, and then go flying in the opposite direction at the last minute. Neither of you were idiots, you knew the game was probably rigged, but it was still pretty fun to watch Sam try to win it. 

“Okay so maybe this is harder than it looks,” Sam turned to you and laughed as he held up his second to last ring, “Wanna help me?” 

“I was waiting for you to ask!” You took the plastic ring from his hand and started eyeing the bottles lined up in front of you. 

“On three?” He asked, tossing the ring up and down in his hand as you nodded in response. 

“Okay, one... two.... three!” Both of you threw the rings into the sea of bottles below and watched as they bounced from top to top. You kept your eyes trained on your own as it missed and clattered to the ground. Letting out a defeated sigh, you turned to look at Sam’s, and found that it had actually made it. 

“Sam!!” You gasped, pointing to the far end of the game where his ring hung around the neck of a bottle. 

“Congratulations!” Kailee appeared from some corner of the booth, “You’ve won the grande prize!” 

She pointed to a row of hanging stuffed animals which all looked bigger than you, “You can pick from any of these six! We have a monkey, panda, giraffe, elephant, bear, or unicorn!” 

Sam turned to you, “Which one?” 

“Hmmm,” You looked up from prize to prize, deciding between the monkey or the unicorn. After another few seconds you’d made up your mind, and turned to Sam with a grin, “I’m thinking monkey!” 

“Alright then!” Kailee reached up and plucked the monkey from the air, before handing it to you from across the booth. 

Turns out your first assessment was right, it was almost bigger than you were. When you took it with open arms, you actually had trouble seeing over the thing’s head- that’s how huge it was. 

Peeking over the monkey’s enormous ears, you said to Sam, “This is the biggest prize I’ve ever gotten, oh my god!” 

“I know,” He laughed and rose his brow, “It’s like bigger than you,” 

“As much as I’d love to parade this thing around the carnival, wanna go put it in my car?” You asked and saw him nod yes before the two of you started walking in the direction of the parking lot. 

When you got back, and your arms were free of that enormous monkey, you turned to Sam and asked, “Want to do some more rides?” 

“Hell yeah,” He responded, grabbing your hand and walking back into the rollercoaster section of the fair, “I saw a few that I wanted to do- how do you feel about Zero Gravity??” 

“Yes let’s do it!” You grabbed his hand back and picked up the pace, to which he only laughed and started jogging along with you. 

You’d only been on Zero Gravity once before, but you’d loved it the first time around. It was this enormous wheel that spun, in fact it whirled around so fast that you stuck to your seat from the motion. Normally you would have been worried about getting sick on the ride, but you’d eaten a while ago so you put the thought out of your head. 

When you got to the ride, it was even more glorious than you first remembered. Pink, purple and neon blue lights flashed just about everywhere you looked, and you found yourself entranced as you got into place for the ride to begin. 

There weren’t actual seats on the ride, just smaller pockets where you stood that were roped off. A small chain that wasn’t even touching you was all that was holding you back from going flying, and to be honest it exhilarated you. 

Looking to your left, you saw Sam through a chain linked fence that was separating the two of you, “Excited?” 

“Definitely, I’ve never been on one of these rides before,” He responded and linked his hand through the fence, to which you did the same. 

“I’ve only been once, but it’s super fun!” You assured him. 

When the ride started to spin, it was slow at first. Slow, bluesy carnival music played over speakers, and you felt really relaxed. Not until about a minute into the ride, did everything pick up. It spun faster, the music switched from blues to rock, and you felt yourself being pressed back into the wall- the sheer force of how fast you were spinning actually pinning you in place. 

You wanted to turn your head to Sam, but you were so stuck in place you couldn’t even do that, so you settled on staring at the flashing lights above. Pink, purple and blue shone brightly in the late afternoon light, and looking around the ride you saw that most other people were staring at them as well. 

About 5 minutes later, the ride slowed and then eventually came to a stop. The music turned off and you felt yourself free from the wall, so you turned to Sam with a laugh, “What’d you think!?” 

“I liked it!” He responded, “Gotta say I liked The Thriller a lot better though,” 

“I kind of did too,” You agreed, “Let’s do something more like that next, yeah?” 

He nodded and you continued, “Actually I saw a few near here,” 

“You’ve been paying attention, huh?” He let out a small chuckle and smiled as the two of you exited the ride. 

“Haven’t you?” You reached for his hand and then pointed your other in the direction you wanted to go. 

But in response he just smirked and turned to you, “I’ve been a little distracted,”

#sam x reader #sam winchester x reader #dean winchester #sam winchester imagines #penny for a cup #businessman!sam x barista!reader #businessman!sam #coffee shop au #supernatural au #sam winchester au #sam winchester #supernatural #spn #writing #fanfiction #prompts #angst #fluff #smut #introspection #aesthetic #books #authoring #author #writes #creative writing #creativit #creativity #writing ideas #writing prompts

[vintageeskimos]

Ahhh beautiful Florence. The time of Renaissance art, and the Medici family.

This post is the continuation of my trip with Ashley, Emily Mac., Emily D., Rachel, Mallory, and now Megan! If you haven’t read my first post about Bologna, I recommend you do so here.

We left Bologna and took a 30 some-minute train ride to Florence. I have always been in love with Florence. It is a city I could revisit over and over again. To be honest, this was my third time in this gorgeous city. Most of us girls have been here before as well: Ashley, Megan, Emily Mac., and Rachel. So it was only Emily D. and Mallory whom have never seen it’s beauty.

In short here is what I recommend:

Florence:

Yellow Bar – not a bar, but a restaurant that serves homemade pasta daily

Monkey Bar – awesome dive bar

Viktoria Lounge Bar – modern bar lounge w/ great cocktails & service

Ditta Artigianale -Best cafe/bar to grab a caffè, brunch, and/or breakfast 

50 Sfumature di Gusto – my favorite restaurant in Florence

Once we arrived, we found our way to our airbnb. Unfortunately, it was too early to check-in so we decided to find a place to grab a bite. Nearby we found a place called Yellow Bar.

I didn’t realize until we sat down and everything, but Ashley and I have been there before. Crazy thing is when we studied abroad in Rome, three years ago, we each had a class that brought us on a class trip to Florence. And both of our classes ate at this exact restaurant where they make fresh pasta daily. I can see why we ate here because it is good AF. The only downside is that it is always packed with tourists, but in a big and famous city, such as Florence, you will always see them roaming around.

I knew exactly what I wanted as soon as I saw them making the fresh pasta: Freshly handmade gnocchi con gorgonzola (potato pasta with gorgonzola cheese)

(Left: The amazing gnocchi con gorgonzola)

(From left to right: Ashley, Mallory, Emily Mac., Rachel, Emily D., Me)

(Left: Ashley and I fooling around on snapchat. Right: Drinking every last drop of my wine)

Yellow bar is the place to be when you are hungry in Florence. Nothing fancy in atmosphere, but super appetizing food.

As you can tell, Megan wasn’t dining with us because her train from Rome was arriving a bit later on. After we filled our stomachs with food, we made our way to our Airbnb.

Now let me tell you something, this Airbnb looked AMAZING in photos online, but the internet doesn’t do it justice. The place was HUGE and every window in the apartment had a breath-taking view.

I was obsessed and if I was a millionaire I would have bought that place right on the spot. Between the huge kitchen, spacious bedrooms, comfy living room, incredible views, and location, I was hooked.

The company that owns this apartment must have many within the city because they have a lot of people working for them. A guy named Nico checked us in and recommended a lot of places for us to go that weren’t swarmed with tourists

Here is what he wrote down for us:

Bars:

Mayday– ask for Marco

King Grizzly

Clubs:

Yab

Bamboo

Life Club

Restaurants:

Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco

Santo Bevitore

I Raddi

Sostanza

Antico Noé 

Gelato:

Vivoli– 100 years old

Procopio– try pistacchio (local “mercato di sant’ambrogio”)

Perché No

Leather Shops:

Mercato di San Lorenzo “Medici”– the famous leather market of Florence (I don’t recommend it because it is sketchy AF and contains hit-or-miss type of products. Maybe check it out and buy a leather wallet or pretty scarf, but don’t go big)

Borgo Dei Greci – on that street there are shops

To be honest, we didn’t stop by any of the places (besides the leather market) because we didn’t have enough time in Florence to see, do, and eat everything. But I still have this list in my possession and next time I return I will be sure to check them out! Feel free to as well and let me know what you think!

Once Vico cleared everything about the apartment we settled down and relaxed for a bit. Megan called me soon after letting me know she checked into her bed & breakfast. Megan planned to stay one night there and the second night at our place because Emily Mac. had only planned to stay one night in Florence so she could visit her friend in Germany.

Megan came over to our place and was amazed just as we all were when we walked in. Before we knew it, the sun was down and dinner was on our minds. We have been eating out so much that I thought of preparing a home-cooked meal to save some money. It also helped that our kitchen was gigantic and there was a grocery store literally below our apartment complex. I wrote down a list of things to buy and we made our way to the grocery store.

Thank god it was so close, but the steps leading up to our apartment were killer- at least we got some exercise in.

My menu of the night included:

parmigiana di melanzane

platter of mixed cheeses

platter of mixed meats

salad

olives

bread

a lot of wine & prosecco

I was really excited to start cooking, but like what I have said before in my previous post:  I love to cook but I am pretty bad at it (sometimes…well maybe according to Italian cooking standards). But THIS time, I got it pretty damn right…

(Left: Our antipasto Right: Megan slicing the bread)

(I mean LOOK at that beauty! It truly was a masterpiece)

I am getting hungry just looking at it to be honest. Once we finished dinner, we bought more bottles of prosecco to prepare for a night of craziness. I cleaned up everything as fast as I could, Ashley blasted a sick playlist of songs, and all us girls got glammed-up.

Another amazing thing about this apartment that it has this long bright vanity in the hallway where us girls can throw our makeup on our faces. Here are some drunkenly taken photos of us pregaming and prepping…

(Left to right: Rachel, Ashley, Mallory)

(Left to right: Emily Mac., Rachel, Ashley, Mallory, and Me)

Now this is where it becomes a bit difficult to remember (at least in the order of things). I am pretty sure the first thing was we met up with Megan because she went back to her apartment to get ready after we ate dinner. So we headed in that direction towards her place. From there I am pretty sure we just followed the crowd or maybe I looked up a bar on TripAdvisor near me, but regardless we ended up at this place:

Monkey Bar looked really cool from the outside. It is like a metal-rock-alternative dive bar where you can grab an awesome beer or down a few shots. We decided on shots (tequila of course) I can’t remember the bartender’s name, but he was really cool and we had an awesome conversation with him about politics and music- he even took a shot with us.

Before we knew it we were roaming along the streets looking for the next bar to hit up. I am pretty sure the following bar we ended up at was Viktoria Lounge Bar

It was filled with people and even had a DJ playing old-school songs (meaning songs we jammed out to in middle school). It is a really hip modern bar with friendly staff and yummy cocktails. I realized that this was the exact same bar Luigi and I went to when we were in Florence the last year.

(Left: I forgot the name of the cocktail, but damn it was lovely)

(Top right image-from top left to bottom right: Mallory, Emily D., Megan, Rachel, Emily Mac., me, and Ashley)

(Bottom right image- from left to right: Rachel, Emily Mac., and me)

We stayed there for a decent amount of the night. Many cocktails and shots later, we decided to walk back the way we originally came and stopped at a club that seemed pretty poppin’.

 The Red Garter was this Irish pub meets Live Karaoke club. We entered the bar to discover a sea of Italians and Americans all over the place. I also realized it was another place that Luigi and I also stopped at while we were in Florence the year before. It was so difficult just to reach the front bar. Once we got our drinks we walked around to the back where some random drunk Americans were belting out “Livin’ On a Prayer”. Quickly, we turned back into the previous room where the music actually didn’t hurt our ears. Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice place to dance, meet some people, or to get hit on by Italian men, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I knew I needed to be drunker to have more fun there.

(Photos provided by Google Images)

Once we had enough of sweaty people we took a breather outside and walked towards one of the bridges that connects Florence across the Arno river. It was so beautiful with all the lights along the waterside we took drunken photos of all of us.

After all the snaps and laughs, we made our way back to our apartment in search of food…Unfortunately some of the girls spotted this “pizza” place but it was the most disgusting pizza I ever saw. I mean they were hungry and drunk, so I don’t blame them for making the spontaneous decision of eating it. Afterwards, they all regretted it. Also, I am pretty sure they overcharged the girls knowing that they were drunk which really pissed me off. We finally arrived at the apartment and I reheated all the leftovers of the parmigiana di melanzane and stuffed my face.

The next morning I opened my eyes to a stunning view right outside my window:

(No exaggeration, also no filter)

I also woke up next to Emily Mac. beside me which was a huge problem once I looked at the clock. She was suppose to take a really early flight that morning to Germany, but overslept and missed her flight. Thankfully enough she was able to purchase a ticket for the next flight to Germany that day and was out the door before most of the girls were awake.

Rachel and Emily D. were actually awake when she left because they both preplanned and purchased tickets to see Michelangelo’s Davide. They invited me as well when they bought the tickets, but I already had seen him twice and figured I would save the 20 euros.

I am usually an early-riser because I sincerely appreciate an nice cappuccino and warm cornetto (croissant). I searched on TripAdvisor for a local bar I could grab some colazione (breakfast).

Little did I know, but I found one of the best bars there was for breakfast: Ditta Artigianale. This cafe/bar was top-notch coffee and food. Real artisan coffee beans and products used throughout their entire menu. Ashley, Mallory, Megan, and I had a very appetizing breakfast.

(My go-to breakfast: Cornetto alla crema & un cappuccino (Croissant with cream and a cappucccino)

We waited there for Rachel and Emily D. to show up so they could grab something as well and then we all went back to the apartment so Megan could settle in with her things. At the apartment we discussed about what we wanted to do for our last full day in Florence. Mallory was pretty tired from the night before so she wanted to stay at the apartment to sleep and would meet up with us later. So Rachel, Emily D., Megan, Ashley, and I strolled around the majestic streets of Florence with our first stop being the famous Duomo-Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. 

The cathedral and Duomo is unbelievable to look at. It’s so detailed and gigantic, it’s hard to believe how they constructed it thousands of years ago! It is really cool to see it in person again because I had just finished watching the first season of the new tv show, I Medici (Medici: Masters of Florence) which features the famous and handsome actor, Richard Madden as Cosimo Medici (previously known for his role as Robb Stark in The Game of Thrones). The show is set in the early 15th century and revolves around the Medici family and how they became filthy rich and legends of the Renaissance era. Cosimo Medici commissioned Donatello to help design and Brunelleschi to lead construction of the Duomo. It was a crazy idea back then, but with help from the Medici bank account (literally they invented the bank and owned everything), it became possible.

This leads me onto the next portion of our Florence stroll: The tombs of the Medici family and the San Lorenzo leather market. My friends- Ashley, Megan, Rachel, and Emily D.- all wanted to check out the leather market while I went to see the tombs of the Medici family. Thankfully, they were right next to each other so it wouldn’t be a problem meeting up later on.

Here is a lovely photo of the girls, standing on the steps just before the market, promoting their new single, “Meows of Florence” brought to you by a drunk night in this gorgeous city:

(Top left to bottom center: Emily D, Ashley, Megan, and Rachel)

And here is a lovely photo of me standing at the back entrance of the Medici chapel:

So we went our separate ways and I entered inside the tombs of the Medici Family. Inside the chapel there were treasures of gold, silver, and plaques of tombs everywhere the eye could see.

There were gifts from Popes, kings, queens, royal families, and so many more. In my head I was thinking, “Damn, how could the medici family put all this stuff in their house?”. When you walk upstairs you enter into the Marble-licious (yes I just said that) chapel of the extended Medici family, but while I was there most of the tombs and statues were going through restoration.

I was standing in the middle of the room with my face towards the ceiling just in awe of everything around me. Talk about resting in peace!

The best part of the chapel are the breath-taking tombs of Lorenzo il Magnifico (Lorenzo the Magnificent) and his brother, Guiliano Medici that were partially finished by the one and only, Michelangelo.

On Lorenzo’s tomb (shown in bottom left image) Dawn is depicted as waking up from a long night’s rest with Dusk about to pass out from tiredness. On Guiliano’s tomb (shown in bottom right image) Day is portrayed as a super jacked buff man just chillin’ there with an unfinished face with Night shown as a beautiful sleepy sleek woman you would see in some Venus razor commercial.

I know my descriptions are really bad, but I like to write how I talk and that is basically it. I would highly recommend to check out the Medici Chapel if you have time, but definitely do some research before you go or at least book a tour so you know what you are looking at. This was actually my second time here with my first time being with my Late Renaissance Art class when I studied abroad in Rome.

Afterwards I met up with the girls in the leather market (which they were surprisingly easy to find). Some girls bought some little gifts to take home to their families and we continued walking towards the classic Ponte Vecchio.

Ponte Vecchio is this gorgeous old bridge- and I mean OLD. But today it is filled with hundreds of expensive, EXPENSIVE, jewelry shops. So in other words, it was a great way to spend some window shopping time. I can dream right?

We made our way to the other side of the city and browsed around some random shops. A couple of the girls got some nice gelato while I was in desperate need of an Arancino (fried rice ball with mozzarella). Unfortunately, arancino is a classic food item from the south of Italy, not the north. So when I asked these random Italian girls in a shop where I could find one, they looked at me like I had two heads. It was getting a bit late and our stomachs were growling so we wanted to grab some lunch nearby, but something that wasn’t too big. That being said because we planned to go all-out for our last dinner in Florence that night.

Along the river we found a cute tiny restaurant with a spectacular riverside view:

Il Ristoro Dei Perditempo

(Photos not mine, but provided by Google Images- except for the top left photo of mixed meats- that one I did take).

This tiny restaurant was owned by a very sweet family and their food was delightful! (Especially the fresh cut meats). Nothing blew my mind about the spot, but I would take this restaurant as a nice place to catch up with an old friend (A solid 4-star rating).

The sun was setting on a beautiful autumn day so we made our way back to our apartment, but of course stopping at some shops along the way. Here is what we ran into on the streets of Florence:

We finished our last shopping spree by stopping at Zara, H&M, MAC cosmetics, and a street market with local artisans. It was a great day spent in this hypnotizing city.

The night was falling upon us and we had to figure out a place to eat for our last dinner together. I originally tried to reserve a table at two other restaurants but they were already booked for the night. I don’t blame them because it was a Saturday. I finally found this excellent hole-in-a-wall restaurant with pretty convincing reviews on TripAdvisor:

50 Sfumature di Gusto (50 shades of taste)

I swear I found the golden ticket when it comes to restaurants. The food was PHENOMENAL and a feast for the eyes as well!

This was by far my favorite restaurant in Florence. 5-star rating for food quality and accommodating service. If you want to eat there definitely reserve, and DEFINITELY eat their meat/filet. I ate the filet with gorgonzola and it was life-changing.

We rolled onto our stomaches out the door- we were so full. Somehow we got back to the apartment and since it was our last night, Megan, Ashley, and I decided to get drunk…again. I mean, I didn’t know when we would all be together again so I figured why not? All the girls (besides Megan and me) had to take an early train to Milan to catch their flight home so being hungover wasn’t the best option. Emily D. and Mallory got a drink at MayDay that was just below our apartment, but I was feeling more party-hardy that night. To make things easier on us, Ashley, Megan, and I just decided to hit up the two places we went the night before: Viktoria Lounge Bar and The Red Garter. It was a night of shots and endless snapchat videos and photos…

I totally woke up regretting those last rounds of shots, but I got up in time to say goodbye to everyone. It was so sad really. I wish I could relive those moments again in Bologna and Florence, but I have high hopes for another Europe trip this upcoming summer/fall. After Megan and I said our goodbyes to the girls and our apartment’s stunning view, we trucked our luggage and hungover bodies to my favorite cafe bar, Ditta Artigianale for another deserved cornetto and caffè macchiato.

  It was getting late and I needed to catch my train back to Naples. Megan had a train to Rome right after mine so we walked together through the historic streets of Florence one last time to say goodbye to all those beautifully sculpted booties.

What a trip…until next time, ladies! ;)

Florence Ahhh beautiful Florence. The time of Renaissance art, and the Medici family. This post is the continuation of my trip with Ashley, Emily Mac., Emily D., Rachel, Mallory, and now Megan!

#europe trip #firenze #Florence #gocce di meriggio #italia #italian #italian food #italy #sarah thompson #travel abroad #travel guide #travel tips

[refusemyreality-blog]

Doin’ Good, Anon

“I cannot even tell my boss I grew up in a mobile home,” she says to me. She’s my sister, not quite three years my junior.

She’s at the top of a large non-profit in DC. She still shops at thrift stores, buys groceries at Aldi, and drives used cars. Her thrift is #TBT. It’s a matter of pride to pare down our closets and pay five bucks for a nice jacket. It’s a gift from our mother who garage saled, goodwilled, resaled us through childhood and adolescence. We grew up “kind of poor,” like one pair of flip flops for warm months, one pair of quality mary janes for church during the school year. When we ruled the trailer parks, rugrats on bikes, we wore twenty-five cent knotty knit jumpers from garage sales or my hand-me-downs. It comforted me to be stacked three girls to a bedroom. 

My sister and I had one authentic Cabbage Patch to our names. The third one of us got one my mom made from a kit. Cute as ours but not the brand and it did have that funny nose- two little upraised handlebars instead of a pert little nose. My sister’s had a funny name though. She could have sent in adoption papers to have it changed, but she kept it. At least the sister with the handcrafted patch doll got to name her own.

We each had stuffed animals of our favorite type. She had a mother-child monkey set. The baby sucked its thumb. All other toys were in the shared pool: battered tin kitchen set, Fisher price put-together train, riding horse, mini-tupperware dishes, fake food and grocery cart, plastic record player, Muffin Family Bible storybooks, and a box of cast off dresses for costuming.

Mom cut coupons on Sundays after dad picked out the parts of the paper he read with us on our orange swivel chairs in the living room. We’d help her organize them on those rare occasions she let us. Every morning, mom brushed our long locks into tight ponytails and trimmed the ends in the bathroom of our trailer (Baby curls trimmed by yours truly in great-grandma’s white bathroom while our parents were visiting. My mother discovered it the next morning and never let me forget that the gorgeous sweat curls around my sisters’ faces had be shorn away by me. Like I’d absconded with their beauty and made them plain jane white girls too early.) 

I was the oldest of seven kids (eight if we count the one wasn’t born). Most of them came home to the trailer and several came in seventeen months succession. (Them winters was cold?) The big fat break between this sister and me is one of the longest. Almost three years, because mom was sixteen when my dad knocked her up. They married a few weeks after he graduated high school. While she finished up her junior and senior years, my grandmother babysat me. My parents cleaned up before this sister. They quit toking up, smoking, found Jesus and moved into a bigger trailer across the street. 

This sister has a MA in Non-Profit Development from a swanky Philadelphia private university. She’s newly minted on the board of an East Coast private college in her denomination. She keeps her hair in a bob that she never has to curl. She barely blows it dry. She wears almost no makeup except black mascara to emphasize her eternally thick long lashes. She looks exceptional in a scoop neck shirt because she has thin broad shoulders that make her clavicles stand out. That’s a white girl beauty standard.

She carries herself like a queen. She’s barely been in debt since high school. She’s a saver, not a spender. A half-glass of wine makes her tipsy so she rarely drinks. She’s never smoked. Her skin has always been flawless except for that one well-placed beauty mark. 

People say she and I are alike. We share traits. But not beauty. I’m thicker in the face. I have dad’s nose and everything about his side of the family. Bulbous nose, dangerous incisors (they’ve been ground to look more normal but still stand sentry in front of all my other teeth. We were too poor to get the traditional American braces. This makes me relate more to the Brits. Mind my gap.) I have narrow shoulders, thick bones, mousy brown hair that gets nappy on the underside. And zits, still. 

I’m over forty and I still get zits. In high school I slathered them in toothpaste all night (some brute pranked me and said toothpaste would dry those red bumps. They only grew.) During the winter I smeared orange foundation from Big Lots over them. In the summer I baked them in the sun, then slathered more orange foundation on them.

But it’s not the variation in beauty that matters. It’s her comment.

“Why? You raise money for poor mothers and children.” Her organization gets women off the streets, provides medical care, connects mothers and children to basic assistance along with housing and education. I thought our upbringing motivated, at least in part, or that it would give her cred.

Granted our poverty is not like the women of color she raises money to help. We grew in Rust Belt white urban poverty.  My mom organized and handled the church food pantry so she could work for the with government cheese and donations like endless pints of Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey, dented cans of vegetables and freezer burnt gas station sandwiches that we ate once there were six of us. (Gardening to feed six kids? She’d have to crazy on caffeine. She gave up on gardens after two years of building a house while home-schooling the lot of us.)

We were never homeless. We had a safety net. My grandfather owned the trailer court. He gave my parents “free” rental space in exchange for tapping my dad for snow plowing, road work and cement laying on my grandfather’s schedule, of course. (Um, yeah, I’m gonna need all day Saturday to help me lay cement for.... Sigh. My father just wanted a day off. Maybe that’s why he volunteered to lead worship, Saturday night church school, the youth group and a crap ton of outings for our church.)

When dad got itchy to get out of the trailer life-- Quote: “I don’t want boys coming to pick my daughters up for dates in a mobile home park.” -- grandpa gave my mother her inheritance of five acres of land and we moved into a camper for nine months so my parents could build the house. Not have the house built. No. They built it. The aunts and uncles and grandparents and church folk kicked in so we could have a real house. 

So we grew up thrifty, boot-strappy, bleeding heart volunteering-types. Most of my siblings work with at-risk populations. Two work with addicts who have mental illnesses. My dead sister worked with high school girls in lock-up till she had kids and couldn’t afford daycare. Her husband works with teens on disability. One sibling is a nurse. Another sibling a programmer who adopted two kids with physical disabilities from the Philippines. 

I teach at risk high schoolers. Most of my students have failed so many classes or grades they are just waiting on eighteen and the right to drop out. The ones who stay have babies, parents who are dependents, crippling anxiety and depression or other mental illness, full time jobs, a history of missing thirty or more days of school most years, or physical illnesses or disabilities. Almost all of them grew up in need. When my assistant principal pitched the program, she recruited me because we both grew up white poor. I didn’t want to say yes. Teaching general education high schoolers is daily triage. And, I would be aiming right for the hardest luck cases. 

My other grade level teachers begged me not to go to the program. I tried some hang-ringing and soul searching and self-cajoling because this group of kids takes all my energy, but I couldn’t say no. I grew up around these kids, with single moms who have bad chunky highlights and don’t use the helping verbs before participles because they speak Hoosier. I might have been one, but I had what many of them don’t- a lot of breaks: my parents stayed together, my mom and dad kicked the TV out of the house and made music, talk radio and books our entertainment, then mom home-schooled us (with a rigor that surpasses most elite private schools, like “You will read the ENTIRE history textbook, answer all the questions and ace those tests. I don’t care how boring it is. Oh, and yes you will do thirty algebra-trig-geometry problems a day. I know you are cheating on the evens because the answers are in the back of the book and you didn’t show your work. Do you think I’m stupid?”). 

We had a healthy diet, mostly. My mom and dad gardened a big ass garden and my mother canned most of our vegetables for years. She sweated with the pressure cooker and the bulging veins of a constantly pregnant woman while shooing us outside to either A) shuck the corn so she could freeze cobs, B) ride your bikes and stop letting all the cold air out. Do you think we are air conditioning the neighborhood?, or C) swing on the swings, go the park or just disappear peacefully for a while because I’m canning while a baby is attached to my boob. 

Just after three pm, my father arrived from the warehouse. We’d spy his orange VW Rabbit coming down the road and run into the house slamming the aluminum screen door several times in succession and scream as we ran down the hall to “hide” so we could jump him as soon as he entered the house. Dad’s return highlighted our day. He’d shrugged us off after a lot of giggling and my mother chewing us out for waking whichever baby was sleeping. Saturday nights, after church, when we had popcorn and ice cream were the sanctioned “attack dad” nights. We throttled him with our pillows while he tried to tickle us. He laid on the ground while we beat him and he crawled at us threatening to tickle more than achieving it. Just the threat of his tickle made our sides hurt from laughing. Then he’d lay there, tossing us up and over his head in a twist, time after time until the butter brickle ice cream high, from servings the size of a tub of margarine, wore off. 

The next morning, he made us pancakes and fake maple syrup and took us to church where we slept off our sugar haze during a two or three hour song and sermon service. In the middle, we saw some Pentecostal action- flags waved, people dancing in the spirit, blowing a shofar (an animal horn), and getting anointed then “slain in the spirit.” In other words, we had extraordinary loving parents with a great work ethic and a network of friends who spoke ancient tales and metaphors to embed in us all the advantages that working poverty can offer. Most of my students lack those safety nets.Our poor life wasn’t perfect but it was good. I keep thinking it was a life worth living and one worth telling.