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justporo · 7 months

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A Night of Staying In

After all the doom and gloom in other writing I really needed some cutesy fluff to feel myself again - and also to give Astarion and Tav a break.

Summary: So have Tav and Astarion just enjoying a cozy night in - also Astarion gets a carrot hurled at his face.

Pairing: Astarion/GN!Tav Warnings: Mention of sex, a carrot gets thrown and then murdered Wordcount: 2,2k

Delicious smells of slowly cooking meats and vegetables, spices and a forgotten mint tea were wafting through the kitchen of your cozy little townhouse.

You were bustling around the well-equipped kitchen. The apron you were wearing was full of stains and its pockets full of cooking utensils – even a half-full spoon absent-mindedly tugged away in one of them. It was slowly leaking through the linen with something on it that looked like blood – but was simply a tomatoey sauce. Your hair was messily put up in a bun, but several strands of hair had fallen out of it and you looked only so far from a mental breakdown.

At the kitchen table Astarion was sitting with a lantern, bowing over an embroidery project. He had the very bright lantern you’d gifted him specifically for this purpose directly next to him, but he was still squinting at his work and holding it so close his nose was almost touching the fabric. He looked a lot less demented than you but still very absent-minded.

Fabrics and threads were strewn all about the wooden table. Different needles were glinting everywhere on it too. One could only hope that those would be remembered at some point – preferably before someone stuck them in their fingers.

Next to him were also laying some loose papers, a feather and an ink pot with lots of writing that was then crossed out again and also some small little doodles on the corners – one for whatever reason happened to be a goose with a knife in its beak.

You had several pots on the iron stove and something about to go in the oven as well. Critically you were moving around between all of these things, clattering with copper pot lids, jars of ingredients and spoons to try the food (always in the same pattern: grabbing a new spoon, trying something, putting the spoon in the dish bowl full of dirty water – then having to grab a new spoon). You had some potatoes boiling and in another pot you had been cooking a mixture of vegetables and beef for quite some time. You wanted to recreate a recipe of cottage pie that you had once tried many years ago in a tavern and had kept reappearing in your dreams. And now you finally had the kitchen and the tools to try and cook it yourself!

But it seemed impossible to get it right, this already being your fourth attempt this week. The vampire had already been moaning that you had basically force-fed him the meal because you had no way of eating that much pie on your own. It was not, that the finished pies hadn’t tasted well, but they just weren’t like you remembered. But you started to think that it might be your memory that was tricking you and not your cooking skills.

You went to try the pie filling again after adding some more spices and dash more red wine (directly from your goblet because you didn’t seem to remember where you put the bottle).

As soon as the spoonful hit your tongue you knew you had done it – finally.

You shrieked and immediately heard another shriek behind you in reply. You turned around to Astarion with glee and saw how the vampire was staring at you angrily and shaking his hand. It didn’t take a genius to figure out your sudden excitement had caused him to stab himself with his needle.

“Darling, can you maybe not scream like a dying goblin, I was concentrating!”, he hissed at you. Your joy evaporated at his flare of anger – so you turned around again, grabbed a left over half of carrot and threw it at Astarion – and maybe a bit more forceful than would have been necessary.

But he was still a rogue and dodged the vegetable easily. It flew against one of the cabinets and then to the ground. There it stayed until Scratch came into the kitchen, drawn there by the sudden noises. The dog sniffed at the piece of vegetable, then grabbed it and went off again.

“Oh really, are we at the ‘I throw stuff at my lover’ point of our relationship now, love?”, Astarion replied to your responsive outburst of anger with a raised eyebrow. “Am I going to have to sleep on the sofa next?”, he continued sassily.

Your hand itched to grab more produce – there were some potatoes still laying around and they made for excellent improvised throwing weapons. But you saw the smirk that played around the vampire’s lips. So you settled for a verbal rebuttal.

“Don’t be such a prick and you can keep sleeping inside”, you said and flipped him off. Then you turned around again to your cooking and grabbed – yet another – spoon and scooped up some of the filling. The vampire mumbled something under his breath about he wouldn’t have to be a prick if you didn’t make him prick himself.

“Oh, that would be so gracious of you, my dear lady, if I was still allowed in your shining presence”, Astarion then said loudly as you were busy with the pots. The tone still very sassy but you heard the playfulness in it now and knew he was now only teasing.

You went over to him, with one hand under the spoon full of hot goodness that immediately started dripping and burning your hand. You winced but kept going.

“Here, try this – I think I got it now”, you said as you stood in front of Astarion who had put down his needlework for the time being. He threw you a pained look: “Love, if you keep feeding me this I think I might actually start to get a pot belly.”

You snorted at him and eyed what you could see of his upper body. “Pretty sure, you will never have to worry about this kind of thing. Now. Try. It”, you answered and insistingly came closer with the spoon.

Astarion sighed, gave you another suffering look and then let himself be fed. His doubtful expression quickly changed to what you interpreted as pleasantly surprised.

“Alright, I take everything back, that was well worth the scream of enlightenment, my sweet. That tastes wonderful”, the vampire said and grinned at you.

“See, wasn’t so hard, was it”, you said and gave him a quick peck on the lips as you could see his face changing to annoyance once more at your petty remark.

You threw the spoon in the dish bowl and rubbed your hands on your apron and started to get everything ready for the final step of the recipe. Meanwhile you said to Astarion: “So, darling, could you write down the following: one and a half cups of red wine and three instead of two sprigs of thyme and just loads of black pepper.”

“Of course, my darling chef”, Astarion replied cheerfully and grabbed the feather and papers laying next to him to write it down. “Any other changes?”

“No, this will be it”, you responded and happily clapped your hands before you put your filling in a cast iron pan, mashed and seasoned the potatoes and then put them down as the topping of your pie. The final touch was some hearty cheese sprinkled on top. Then you put it all in the oven.

In the meantime, you heard the feather scratching over the paper.

“What are you doing, Astarion?”, you asked as you took off the oven mitts from pushing the pan in to cook.

“Just putting the recipe in clean writing for you, my heart”, the vampire replied as he kept looking through older versions and notes on the papers. Brows furrowed as he was concentrating on it.

“That’s sweet, love, thank you”, you said to him but he didn’t reply and probably hadn’t even noticed. Of course – if you said something actually nice you fell on deaf ears.

So you decided to thank him with another gesture. You grabbed another goblet to pour your vampire a cup of wine but as you looked around to find the opened bottle you saw that it had been next to Astarion with an already filled cup all along.

You gave up and sat down across the table with your own cup of wine as Astarion finished up writing. You put one leg up on the bench and hugged it to your chest, head on top of the knee and watched the pale elf.

“Here you go, my sweet”, the vampire exclaimed cheerfully after a few more moments and handed you the finished recipe that was now written cleanly in his neat and beautiful handwriting. ‘Tav’s specialty cottage pie’ stood atop the page and next to it was a little doodle of some steaming hot pie.

You smiled broadly at Astarion: “Thank you, darling.” Then you shortly leaned on the table, almost climbing over it to give him a kiss while carefully trying to avoid the needles.

“Do you sometimes wonder how we ended up like this?”, you softly asked him after you had read through the finished recipe.

“Like what?”

“Well, like this – all domestic. I’m cooking, you’re embroidering, we’re bickering like an old married couple, drinking wine and just enjoying a cozy night in instead of wreaking havoc somewhere out there”, you said and waved vaguely in the direction of the city beyond the walls of your home. Then you took another sip of wine.

“Let’s be honest with ourselves, we’ve been bickering like that from the moment we met”, Astarion answered and looked at you sternly. You shrugged in agreement.

“As for the rest – well, are you enjoying the way we spend our nights like this sometimes? Because if you’re bored-“

“No no, I’m enjoying this an awful lot. It’s just – this is somehow the most unlike turn of events don’t you think? Like, I sometimes can’t believe we actually ended up in the version where we’ll live happily ever after”, you said and cradled your face in your hand not currently holding a cup of wine.

At your words a warm and adoring smile crept onto Astarion’s face.

“Are you though?”, you asked then.

“Hm?”

“Are you enjoying these kinds of nights?”, you asked Astarion again and lifted your head up to look straight at him.

The vampire looked at you, smile still playing around his lips: “Well, my love, after two hundred years full of godsdamned shit I am enjoying this sort of mundanity quite a lot. And I enjoy it even more because I get to spend it with you. I might even enjoy doing the dishes with you later on – unless you don’t splash me like last time.”

You smiled at him too now, broadly – feeling incredibly lucky that you had indeed taken all the right turns that had led you here, to this: sitting at this kitchen table with the love of your life, talking about doing the dishes.

“But if we ever get bored, my sweet, I have quite a lot of ideas on how to spice things up”, Astarion continued afterwards. The smile morphed into a lewd smirk and his red eyes sparkled mischievously: “For example, I could dramatically throw everything on this table to the ground, rip all your clothes off and have my way with you on this table until you forget your own name.”

His voice had suddenly become deep and smooth like dark molten chocolate. You bit your bottom lip as the mental image of his words set in and you just stared into his eyes point blank. Astarion still looked at you, not breaking eye contact, and his teasing smirk only growing.

“Nah”, you made after some more moments, “not tonight. My cottage pie would burn.” Your tone was matter-of-fact and you drank some more of your wine while still looking into the vampire’s eyes.

Then you both broke down laughing. So much so that you had to wipe tears from your eyes by the end and Astarion had his face buried in one of his hands while silent fits of laughter still shook through him.

“Alright”, he said and bit his lip, one of his fangs showing adorably as if he was a cat, “I’ll write it down for another date night then.” You broke out laughing again.

Until you could actually smell your food burning. With an “oh shit” you jumped up and pulled the pan out of the oven – you had saved it just in time.

You got out some plates and forks, and put some generous servings onto them. As you turned around your gaze fell onto the table full of Astarion’s embroidery supplies. Astarion saw your look, then waved it off, dismissing it.

He grabbed one of the filled plates from you and grabbed your then free hand to lead you to the living room. Scratch was there laying on his designated blanket, chewing on his favourite ball. Some telltale orange spots telling the tale of the fallen carrot.

You settled down on your sofa with your food – you swinging your legs over Astarion’s and getting cozy.

And this is where you stayed: eating until you felt like your belly might burst, joking until you were crying again, talking until you got so tired you almost drifted off into dreaming right then and there. And when you had went to bed: holding each other until you woke up in the other’s arms again.

#astarion #astarion x tav #baldurs gate #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #astarion x reader #astarion x mc #baldurs gate astarion #astarion x oc #astarion x you #fanfic #fanfiction #astarion ancunin #bg3 spoilers #tav #one shot #drabble #poro fics

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smute · 3 months

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random hill to die on and i could honestly make a 3 hour viddy essay about this but here's the short version: "save some pasta water for binding your sauce" is probably one of the most misunderstood cooking tips ever. yes, its an old trick and yes, its something that can be helpful under very specific circumstances but at this point almost every pasta recipe i come across seems to mention some variation of it and in most cases it's complete nonsense.

firstable, let me explain where it doesnt work: adding pasta water to a random sauce (tomato for instance) will not make it thicker. whatever miniscule amount of starch you're gonna have in there wont make a difference when you're also adding ladlefuls of water at the same time. its pasta water not cornstarch slurry. and thats not something you want in your tomato sauce anyway. tomato paste is an excellent emulsifier all on its own (along with egg yolks, mustard, butter, cream, milk, and many other dairy products) so in order to thicken a tomato-based sauce you have exactly two options: evaporation or more tomato paste, which basically amounts to the same thing: less water, more everything else.

pasta water on the other hand can be useful for diluting a sauce (tomato or otherwise) that has been cooked down too much. while adding wine or juices (or just plain water) for deglazing makes sense at the beginning of the cooking process, watery things added to an almost finished sauce will simply... water it down (duh) and (in the case of wine, vinegar, etc) introduce unwanted raw flavors. there's also a good chance that cold liquids won't mix well with the sauce and ruin the consistency. for this, broth works very well, but pasta water would be a more neutral option flavor-wise. the salt and temperature honestly make the biggest difference here. plus, pasta water is something you're probably gonna have on hand anyway as you will likely be boiling your pasta shortly before serving.

the same goes for loosening any other emulsion, like an emulsified butter sauce or carbonara for example. this shouldn't be necessary but if your egg and cheese mixture clings to the pasta a little too much and everything just clumps together, a small (!!!) amount of pasta water can help the sauce reach a creamier consistency without diluting the overall flavor too much.

however. the Pasta Water Trick (TM) that everyone talks about but so few recipes seem to get right goes like this: you finish cooking your pasta in the sauce and you also add a little bit of pasta water to that mixture. a single cooked spaghetto will probably yield more starch than an entire cup of pasta water, and cooking your starchy pasta for a minute (or just tossing it) in the finished sauce will make a huge difference for the consistency. that alone can be enough, you can stop right there. but now you run the risk of binding too much liquid. this is where the pasta water comes in. it's hot, salty, starchy, and it's right there on the stove, so it's perfect for making sure your sauce doesn't disappear completely. THATS ALL

btw. all of this works a lot better with fresh pasta and a lower water to pasta ratio. fresh pasta gives off more starch than dried pasta, and it works even better with homemade pasta that's still covered in flour. the cloudier the water the better.

in any case, pasta water = a little bit of starch + a whole lot of water (and salt). thats why it only makes sense to use it in situations where you need both the starch AND the extra liquid (and salt) or if you know that you'll evaporate most of it later on. think of pasta water as a better alternative to cold water or as something that you can use when you dont have any other cooking liquids on hand. and always keep the salt in mind.

tl;dr: pasta water can be a useful tool for emulsification but if anything it's a thinning agent rather than a thickening agent.

#smute: ''here's the short version'' *writes one million paragraphs*#anyway #needed to get this off my chest #&

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chrisevansonly · 1 year

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Uhhh hiii!!!🥺

Can we get some fluff protective bf Chris when you (the reader) hurts yourself after Chris scared you? (Nothing big just like a scratch or sprain?)🥺🥺🥺

Just A Bruise

pairing: chris evans x female reader

summary: prank wars are usually fun and games until someone ends up with a little bump…

warnings: none really, minor injury, very sweet chris

a/n: hi lovely anon, thank you for requesting!! i’m getting back into my inbox finally, i know i’ve been slacking with that recently, so I apologize! i’m going to try and work through that, and I might do a harry blurb to this too cause i found this request v sweet<3

Anyone that knew Chris knew he was an avid prankster from videos with his brother, to his friends and other family members, so naturally you were more than aware that he would more than likely get you in on his antics. You were quite a calm person, usually sticking to yourself and your work most days, Chris always loving that softness you added to your shared home, but deep down he loved how easy it was to scare the absolute shit out of you.

There were few times where you weren’t having it, whether it be after a bad day or if you were under stress with a deadline for work, but today probably topped the times he probably should not have scared you.

He was lucky you were as forgiving as you were.

After finishing up some much needed files before you took 3 weeks vacation to travel some of Europe with Chris and his family. In retrospect you should have realized your missing boyfriend was up to something when the house was too quiet, because although there was always a certain sombreness to the house, Chris still managed to fill it with noise.

“Chris?”

Huffing softly you walked down the stairs and moved towards the living room, he was still nowhere to be found, up until you turned past the couch and he jumped out from behind it yelling

“Boo!”

He laughed as you screamed, a hand coming up to your chest but that soon stopped after you tripped backwards on the corner of the love seat and landed straight on your hip, hitting the corner of the coffee table

“ow ow ow”

You lay flat on the floor a mixture of laughing and crying because honestly you were in some pain

“Fuck..honey-y/n you okay?”

“I hate you.”

He knew you were joking but he couldn’t help but kneel next to you, his hands holding your face gently as he wiped some of the tears away

“I’m so sorry baby, really are you okay?”

Blinking up at him you nodded

“My hip hurts, but i’m fine”

Chris helped you up his features full of regret as he watched you wince, his hand moving to check your hip noting the deep black and purple bruise that was beginning to form

“Here, sit on the couch i’ll get you some ice”

“Chris i’m-”

“Please..”

You could see how bad he felt, and despite it being an accident you did as he told, settling yourself down onto the couch waiting for him to bring you some ice. Moments later he’d brought over some water, an ice pack and a few snacks for you

“Here…got some snacks, water and some ice for your hip”

You smiled patting the spot next to you

“Thank you my love, it was an accident you know, I forgive you”

“I still hurt you”

Letting out a quiet laugh you leaned over to press a kiss to his cheeks

“Chris baby, I love you, it was an accident, maybe let’s take a break from the pranks…at least until my hip isn’t falling off?”

That got a laugh out of Chris which made you feel a bit better knowing he really did feel bad for hurting you

“I love you too, I can do that..no more pranks”

Did you really think he’d be able to hold off on the no pranking rule until your hip felt better? No, but you had some of your own tricks up your sleeve, and maybe the hurt hip would come in handy more than you thought it would.

#chris evans #chris evans imagines #chris evans x fluff #chris evans x wife reader #chris evans x reader #chris evans x y/n #chris evans x female reader #chris evans x girlfriend!reader #chris evans x wife!reader #chris evans x you #chris evans x midsizereader #chris evans x plus size reader #chris evans fan fiction #rueswrites #ruesanswers #ruesanons<3 #ruesasks

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oneatlatime · 5 months

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The Earth King

As always, commentary off.

No. Sokka. No. Stop. This is your stupidest idea yet. I want to LEAVE Ba Sing Se.

Sokka. Listen to your sister. And your other sister.

Toph embodying my will manifested on screen.

What makes you think the Earth King is going to listen to four teens and their fluffy dog? When I put it that way, this is Scooby Doo. Scooby Doo plus Momo. Does that make Momo Scrappy Doo?

We're going back to Ba Sing Se. Great. Yay. I'm so excited.

It is rapidly becoming apparent that Sokka has lost his mind.

Surface to air rocks is funny. I'll give it to them, that's good.

This fight scene music is fantastic.

Aang took a level in badass at some point without my noticing.

I know these hats are inspired by real historical hats, and so I really shouldn't make fun, but these look like the lovechild of a toilet brush and a feather duster.

This fight is majority Toph and Katara. RIP the egos of these several hundred Earth Kingdom soldiers.

Please ensure your fluffy little butt is securely stored in the overhead bins before takeoff.

There's no way these guys are still alive. This is what was done to Jet, doubled. They dead.

The girl who doesn't even want to be here is doing all the work. Typical.

My congratulations to Toph, Katara, and Aang for demolishing an army without breaking a sweat. If only season 1 Katara could see you guys now.

I said in my previous write up that Zuko doing something good always comes back to bite him. I didn't mean it this literally. Did he have to take the jug out with him, or was that for the drama?

Good job guys!

Soka steals my job and points out the fulfillment of the Beat Up Sokka quota.

His earthiness has an interesting set of priorities.

So... is this episode just going to be talking?

He brainwashed your friend? Did you miss that he killed him too?

I said in my last write up that Long Feng was Avatar's first competent villain, but the tone he takes with the Earth King is so unsubtle that I'm thinking of rescinding that claim. Unless the King is so dumb that subtlety isn't required?

Toothprints. Sokka the idea guy coming in clutch. Too bad his brain wasn't engaged at the start of the episode.

Appa is a herbivore. Confirmed. Although he should have fangs for aesthetic reasons. Fanged Appa would be metal.

This king is a confusing mixture of endearing and infuriating.

No mere fever will prevent me from doing mundane actions in the most dramatic way possible!

Way back in the 90s there was a print ad for Chevy trucks that I remember seeing in magazines. It had a shirtless guy in jeans sitting on the bed of his truck in a field, pouring a bucket of water over himself. It was kind of at sunset and had a very late summer vibe. I had completely forgotten about it until I saw Zuko's bucket shenanigans in this scene, at which point I was abruptly -ABRUPTLY- reminded of how much time little me spent staring at that ad.

OH MY GOD. The King doesn't know about trains!!! BLASPHEMY.

Huh. So the King isn't stupid, he's just horrifically naive.

Positive attitude Sokka is kind of frightening. I do not like.

If I told this King that I had a bunch of puppies in my windowless van, he would totally fall for it. So much about the Earth Kingdom suddenly makes sense.

That one guard is having a doozy of a day.

Did the King just show a smidge of self-awareness? Wasn't expecting that.

Who is this? I have no idea who this is. I didn't realise how integral the scar was to the character's design. Give it back.

Yikes. A bunch of shmymbolism. I suck epically at decoding shmymbolism unless it's really spoon fed to me, so I'm not even going to try to understand this dream beyond 'poor guy has a really bad fever.'

Has anyone seen the Spencer Tracy movie Father of the Bride? There's a bit where he has a dream that the floor on the way to the altar does pretty much exactly this. Hungry floors must be a common dream experience.

Pretty.

If the King is really this completely ignorant of the war, who's been directing the army?

It's pretty neat that Sokka is the spokesperson of Team Avatar, and that no one disputes that.

Aang says "there's a comet coming this summer," but I heard "comic" and I know they made tie in comics for the show, so I was like "ooh a crossover episode!"

"You're already vulnerable. The Fire Nation won't stop until the Southern Water Tribe falls. You can either sit back and wait for that to happen, or take the offensive, and give yourself a fighting chance." -Sokka's dad speaking to the men of the Southern Water Tribe, while his son listens perhaps a bit too closely.

If the King really was completely in the dark about the war, how does he even know who the General is? Did Long Feng have the power to keep the General from mentioning the war?

"Your majesty I'm General How, head of the Council of Five." "What's that?" "It's in charge of your army." "Right. And what's the army up to these days?" ... " ...I planted a lovely tomato garden this year."

I love that earthbenders don't wear shoes, and that it's culturally normal. Makes an intriguing visual contrast to their fancy duds.

I have GOT to know what Mushi the teamaker's secret file says.

Toph can't read guys.

Sokka, Katara, I get it. You miss home too. But how would anyone at all from your tribe know to send a message for you to Ba Sing Se? Last time you all touched base, you were headed to the Northern Water Tribe. And those guys sent you off to Omashu, not Ba Sing Se.

Nitpick time! Katara starts reading the text of this letter out loud before she unrolls it.

Katara's voice acting while she's reading the letter is sweet. She's so excited.

Iroh. Priorities. Tea can wait.

"Huh? What's happening?" "You huffed a bit too much cave slime under Lake Laogai. Just ride it out."

This vase is lit like a main character.

"You're going through a metamorphosis my nephew." Iroh, he's a bit too old for that talk. Hang on I just realised that Zuko went through puberty on that ship. I bet that was rough.

I don't trust this. This news is all too good.

Aang referring to them all as "the family" hurts a little bit.

It is unbearably sweet to let Sokka go see their dad while Katara helps the Earth Kingdom plan, but Katara sucks at planning. Then again, the Earth Kingdom sucks in general, so maybe having a sucky planner will be a net improvement?

Either way it's good little sister content.

But there are six Kyoshi warriors. I counted in Appa's Lost Days.

Oh they didn't

Attack hug!

Airbender Zuko is a very effective jumpscare. Don't blame him for freaking out.

You know it's bad when finding the scar intact comes as a relief.

Nope. Don't trust it.

Fuck this guy.

Long Feng even eats rocks maliciously.

Fuck these guys.

Oh they did. Fuck these guys.

Final Thoughts

And just like that, it all went to shit. Or it will.

I was braced to be annoyed by how conveniently quickly the Earth King got with the program, but it actually fits well into the rest of the episode. Instead of a thing that goes improbably well, it's the one thing that goes right in episode filled with set up for everything falling apart. That bothers me less.

This episode was actually fun. At least until the end. It was mostly talking and Zuko on a bad trip. But it was win after win for everyone but my Ba Sing Se hating self, and it's always good to see your favourites having a good day. But! I have a glimmer of hope! So long as Sokka and Aang aren't completely written out until they return to Ba Sing Se, at some point I'll get some episodes outside of the city. And I have Appa back, so things aren't too bad in the grand scheme of things. I wonder that Appa wasn't upset at having all his people back for five minutes then having them split up again.

I do not like positive thinking Sokka, and I especially don't like that I have no idea where he came from. That point wasn't set up at all. I want my baby cynic back.

If letting Appa go was enough to trigger Zuko's morality crisis to the point of physical illness, why didn't letting Aang go in The Blue Spirit, or choosing to chase after Iroh rather than the Gaang in The Winter Solstice Part 1, cause a similar illness? What is different about this time?

Toph was once again the voice of reason in this episode, or rather my personal audience insert. Although it did surprise me how excited she was to see her mom. I thought that sending bounty hunters after their own daughter was kind of unforgivable, but either Toph doesn't know, or she's a more forgiving person than I am.

I realise now that this should have occurred to me when I watched Appa's Lost Days, but what idiot didn't take the Danger Ladies into custody when the Drill was stopped? btw I keep calling them the PowerPuff Girls in my head.

This episode was simultaneously a finale to a lot of threads and an introduction to a lot more. It was a chance to breathe between crossing the finish line of the 'find Appa' quest and starting the 'season finale' quest. It was also structured backwards. The big fight was like six minutes in. The 'what are we doing this episode?' was one of the last scenes. But it still works. I'll be interested to see what I think of this one when I rewatch it. It was such an info dump that I wonder if my opinion of it will be different once I watch it with all of the relevant facts known to me already. Either I'll appreciate the episode's other parts like the comedy, or I'll be bored. We'll see.

Two episodes left this season! I don't think I'll be getting to those before next year. See you all in 2024! (time needs to slow way down)

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #the earth king

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ageofwagner · 10 months

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Clone a Jake

pairing: Jake Kiszka x fem!reader

summary: Jake surprises Y/N with a special gift to keep her fulfilled while he's away on tour.

warnings: 18+ MDNI!! oral m & f receiving, sir kink (kinda), explicit language, slight overstimulation, use of sex toys, slight degradation, bad grammar. (lmk if I missed anything!)

word count: 5.2k+

a/n: hey guys! I've had this idea for too long and I just had to write it for all my Jake girlies (gn) <3 since this is the first one I’ve done, any feedback is greatly appreciated! also, let's not talk about the research I had to do about cock molds <3

masterlist

The beginning of the Starcatcher World Tour was just a couple weeks away and while Jake was eager to get back on stage and do what he loves most, he was torn about having to leave his love behind once again. Though Y/n has been there by his side since the beginning, it never got easier having to part ways when he had to leave for months at a time while touring the world.

Y/n was always supportive of Jake and the rest of the band, who she considers to be just like her own family; she joins them on the road when she can, though it isn't nearly as often as they had hoped. While the two are together, they are inseparable in every sense of the word, it's as if their souls were designed from the same stardust; a perfect match.

The nature of their relationship came with its fair share of obstacles, between the differences in time zones and long days, it was difficult, yet the two of them always found time for each other. Communication, while long distance, was an obstacle that could be easily overcome, but the one thing that Jake felt he couldn't remedy was the physical aspect of their relationship.

It was no secret that Y/n and Jake were usually all over each other, often times Sam would make a point of loudly gagging at their PDA wherever they went. It's safe to say that, while apart, the lack of intimacy was something they both hated. There were always other ways for them to recreate some semblance of intimacy, and relieve each other despite the distance, but it never came close to the real thing. Suggestive texts and late-night facetime calls got the job done but the lack of physical touch was hard, and Jake hated leaving his girl alone and unfulfilled. The two of them were no strangers to experimenting with toys in the bedroom, but Y/n had always insisted that it could never match the feeling of him stretching her, no matter what she tried while he was away.

Jake kept mulling over the idea of how he could keep his girl satisfied while on the road, knowing how much she loves the feeling of him filling her up. Keeping what Y/n had said in mind, Jake thought of the possibility for him to create a personalized dildo for her to use while he was gone, that way she could still be full of him no matter where he is. He did some research, seeing how he could pull it off, and quickly discovered there are several kits available for you to customize your own sex toy. Selecting the first website, he laughs at the title 'Clone-a-Willy' He finds exactly what he was looking for, adding the item to his cart and selecting the fastest shipping option available, eager to give it to his girl.

Jake anxiously waited for the package to arrive and hoped that Y/n wouldn't accidentally open it thinking it was one of hers, or ask him what it was. Thankfully, the package arrived while Jake was home alone; he didn't have much time so he quickly opened the package, read the instructions, and began mixing the molding powder with water. He ignored the initial feeling of embarrassment before prompting himself to get hard, just thinking about Y/n using a replica of his cock had him rock hard within minutes. He filled up the cylinder with the molding mixture and carefully inserted his cock, holding it there for two minutes. After removing his member from the mold, and piecing the remnants of his dignity back together, Jake got to work mixing the silicone and skin color powder before pouring the mixture into the mold. Finally, he carefully inserted the vibrator which he had added as a little something extra to make his girl feel good. The dildo needed to sit for 24 hours so Jake decided to hide it in the back of the closet in his office until then.

The next day Jake was eager to check on the mold, he had less than two weeks left with his girlfriend before he had to hit the road again and he wanted to test it out on his girl before leaving. He carefully peeled the mold away and found that it turned out perfectly, much to his relief. While attempting to ignore how bizarre it was that he was holding a silicone replica of his cock, he hoped that his girl would love it almost as much as she loved the real thing. Jake couldn't keep the secret much longer, so with a crooked smile on his face he pulls out his phone and sends a quick text to Y/n, cluing her into the gift he got for while he's away on tour.

To say that Y/n was intrigued by this was an understatement. She knew that they had less than two weeks before he would be leaving for a few months, and though she always insisted that he didn't need to get her anything, Jake loved planning small moments together and would surprise her with things like these more than usual in the months leading up to a world tour. Y/n stared at the clock urging the minutes to go by faster, it seemed like hours before it finally hit 6:00 and she eagerly made her way to her car, shooting Jake a quick text letting him know she was on her way home.

Y/n walked through the front door to find that there were lit candles throughout their home, a vinyl quietly playing from the living room, and the smell of Jake's homemade pasta that she always said she loved so much. She smiled to herself while kicking off her shoes and padding through the house to find Jake with his back turned to her, quietly singing along to one of her favourite songs, this man really does not miss any detail she thought. She slowly crept behind him wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing his shoulder causing him to jump at the unexpected contact. She giggles at him "Hi honey" she says sweetly, he turns around and melts into her embrace, gently cupping her cheek before placing a kiss in her lips, "Hi" he smiles, turning back around to finish the dinner he made for them.

Y/n moves to stand beside him, studying him carefully "So..." she begins, he raises an eyebrow at her urging her to continue, "What's the occasion?" he smirks at her "Who said there had to be an occasion? I just wanted to spoil my girl" he says, winking. She feels her face heat up, despite being together for 7 years, Jake still made her blush like a school girl with a crush for the first time.

After finishing dinner and a bottle of wine, Jake popped open a second, topping up their glasses as they moved to the living room, lit up solely by candles, the soft hum of a new vinyl playing in the background. He moves to sit next to Y/n on the couch and she turns to face him, perching an arm on the back of the couch, resting her hand on her palm as she looks at Jake, noticing he seemed to be lost in thought.

Jake finds himself suddenly apprehensive about the whole idea, how was he supposed to bring up the surprise? Would she hate it or think it was stupid? What if she took it the wrong way? What if- "Hey, did you hear me?" he blinks a few times, not realizing he spaced out, "Sorry" he chuckles. She inches closer resting her hand on his knee, "Is everything okay love?" he meets her gaze, sighing "Yeah, it's just" he pauses trying to find the right words "I got you something, the surprise I mentioned earlier, and I'm worried you won't like it" he looks at her nervously. "This," she gestures to the dining room and candles "Wasn't the surprise?" he laughs "Of course there's more, I'd give you the world if I could. You know that" She leaned forward, tightly clasping his hand in her own, "First, you didn't have to get me anything" she gently scolds "and second, whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it, especially since you put so much thought behind all of this" she assures him "It's a bit unconventional" he admits making her laugh softly "I've never been one for what's conventional" she smiles "C'mon Jake, you won't scare me away" he studies her for a minute before standing, collecting their wine glasses and placing them on the table, he extends his hand for her to take, "right this way then" he winks, all nerves temporarily dissipating her her reassurance as he leads her to their shared bedroom.

Y/n stands by the edge of the bed, waiting for Jake to make the first move. As if he could read her mind, he steps closer moving her hair from her neck and tucking it behind her ear as he leans in to trail kisses from her jaw down her neck, grazing his teeth and biting gently before kissing over it again. He pulls away to see her biting her lip, and he makes a noise of disapproval, "You know the rules" he scolds, leaning in, he takes her bottom lip between his own, biting softly. "I want to hear every noise that comes out of that pretty mouth of yours, understand?" he pulls away, waiting for her confirmation, "Yes sir" he smirks at her already seemingly fucked out state, the lust clear in her eyes "good girl"

Jake slowly moves them backward until the back of her knees hit the edge of the bed, she lays back as he slots himself between her legs, taking his time biting and kissing from her neck down to her navel at an agonizingly slow pace.

She whines at his teasing, squirming under his touch as he places a kiss on her clothed heat, making his way up her body and taking her lips in a searing kiss. He drags his tongue across her lips asking for entrance and quickly takes control as she wraps her legs around his waist, fumbling to undo the remaining buttons on his shirt. As she pops open the last button he pulls away, both breathing heavily, she looks up at him, a mixture of confusion and frustration painted across her face as he gets off the bed.

He turns to face her with a smug look on his face, "you ready for your surprise?" she huffs at him "I just want you." she moves off the bed, standing inches in front of him before whispering in his ear in a sultry voice, "can the surprise be your cock?" she takes his earlobe between her teeth, pulling slightly. "I've been a good girl, sir" his breath hitches as he leans in, their lips barely brushing before he orders "Go lay down, I'll be right back" leaving her with a light smack on the ass.

Jake makes his way to his office to retrieve the gift from its hiding place, feeling reassured by her desperation for him, maybe she would love the gift after all. He walks back into their bedroom to find his girl in nothing but one of his shirts, groaning at the sight of her with her legs spread just enough to see she had removed her underwear as well.

He sits on the edge of the bed gesturing for her to join him, she bites her lip in anticipation as Jake pulls out a black gift bag "Close your eyes" she does as he asks with a giddy smile on her face "now give me your hand" he takes her extended hand, directing it towards him so she can hold the bag, "use your other hand and slowly reach into the bag" she can feel her pulse quicken, hesitating slightly before carefully sticking her hand into the bag.

As she pushes past the tissue paper she feels something long and firm, wrapping her hands around it she feels ridges on it, wait it almost feels like-"What does it feel like?" she heard him whisper as she continued to examine the item; she trailed her fingers up to the top and instantly knew what it was. But why did he get us another one? They already had a collection of various toys to experiment with. "I don't-" she cut herself off, trying to organize her thoughts "Jake, you didn't have to get me another, we already have" he started fidgeting with his hands, worried that she didn't like the gift.

Trying to keep his nerves down he instructs, "Keep your eyes closed for a minute and focus on what it feels like" she obliges, furrowing her eyebrows in concentration as she examines the item with her hands. She pulled the dildo out of the bag, wrapping both hands around it, trailing her fingers underneath the length of it she gasped quietly. Jake held his breath in anticipation as she repeated the motion, feeling his cock twitch at the sight of his girl stroking a replica of him.

Y/n knew what it was as soon as she felt the underside of the dildo, it felt exactly like Jake's, it was unmistakable; she had always loved running her tongue along the underside of his cock, the prominent vein that would throb as she gave him head. Her mind was swirling with questions as she repeated the motion, Jake's eyes were glued to her every movement, only tearing them away when she began to speak again, "I don't underst- how did you...is this you?" she stutters out, unable to sort the thoughts racing through her mind.

"Open your eyes" She opened them, her gaze immediately falling to her hands, examining the personalized toy carefully, "how did you do this? It looks and feels so real" he shot her a smile, "I'll answer all your questions later, right now I'd like to test it out, just to make sure it works"

Y/n looks at him with a smirk on her face, "So you're telling me I now have two of my favourite cock, to use however I'd like?" hearing her say that made his cock twitch yet again "anything you want. Tonight is all about you."

She sat up straighter, thrumming her finger on her chin, feigning contemplation, "strip," she demanded, though it sounded like more of a question; Y/n was rarely in charge as they both loved when Jake was in control in the bedroom. He smirked at her as he stood, slowly slipping the already unbuttoned shirt from his body, letting it fall to the floor as he moved to undo his belt. She felt her wetness pooling between her thighs as she focused on his hands sliding his pants down and stepping out of them.

She quickly slid from the bed and perched on her knees, already working to remove his boxers when he grabs both her wrists, scolding, "Babe tonight is supposed to be all about you" She sat back on her heels as she looked up at him "so we'll do anything I want, right?" he nods in confirmation, she inches forward pulling his boxers the rest of the way down before looking up at him through her lashes.

"Good because I really want you to choke me with your cock" Jake's gaze darkened as he called out her name in a warning tone "It's what I want" she replies sweetly. Jake's demeanor shifted "Then you know what to do, ask nicely" She grinned up at him in victory, "Can I please suck your cock, sir?" he smirks "Such a good girl, go ahead."

Y/n wasted no time wrapping her hand around the base of his cock, she pumped him a few times before running her thumb over his reddened tip, collecting his precum. She looked up to find him staring intently at her as she put her thumb in her mouth, making a show of slowly licking it clean, "no teasing" Jake gritted out between clenched teeth. She pumped him a few more times while holding eye contact, challenging him.

Leaning closer, she licked a bold stripe on the underside of his cock from base to tip, coaxing a shuddered breath from him. Unable to wait any longer, she took his cock in her mouth, swirling her tongue around the tip as Jake moved her hair out of her face, holding it in a makeshift ponytail while Y/n worked to fit his length down her throat, inch by inch. He made sure not to hold back his moans, knowing how much it turned his girl on when he let her know how good she made him feel.

His head fell back, a deep moan coming from his throat as Y/n took him all the way down and swallowed around his length, trying not to gag. She took a second to adjust, focusing on breathing through her nose as she moved back, almost releasing him from her mouth before deepthroating him again. Jake tightened his grip on her hair, holding her against his base, groaning as he felt her swallow around him again, gagging.

He released his hold allowing her to breathe before she took his full length down her throat once again, a surprised moan falling from Jake's lips as she looked up at him with pleading eyes. He quickly understood what she wanted, adjusting his grip on her hair, he moved to thrust his hips into her, "Does my little slut like it when I fuck her throat, hm?" She let out a broken moan in response, the vibrations making Jake's cock twitch in her mouth, causing him to abruptly pull out.

Y/n took a few deep breaths as she glared at him "I wasn't done" he smiles at her as he extends a hand to help her up, "As much as I would love to cum in that pretty mouth of yours, I'd much rather cum in your pretty pussy" Y/n could feel her face heat at his comment, subtly trying to relieve some tension by rubbing her thighs together. Jake noticed her movements, a cocky smile on his face as he taunted, "I bet that pussy is weeping for me, isn't she?"

Pulling the shirt she stole from Jake over her head, she climbed on the bed, propping herself against the pillows and spreading her legs, "Wanna find out?" Jake stood there admiring her, his eyes exploring her body as he joined her on the bed, "that's my girl" he stated proudly, slotting himself between her spread legs.

Leaning in, he trailed kisses down her neck, biting harshly just above her collarbone and placing a kiss overtop the forming bruise. He continued until he reached her chest, taking time to pay extra attention to each of her nipples, sucking them into his mouth, biting slightly as she tangled her fingers in his hair, moaning his name. Jake continued kissing and caressing his way down her body at the same agonizing pace, he shifted lower down the bed so his face was hovering directly above where she needed him most.

Looking up at her with a teasing smile, he blew cool air on her soaked core, making her squirm. Her voice was dripping with desperation as she moaned his name, wiggling her hips toward him, begging him to relieve the building tension. Jake would normally punish her for using his real name instead of 'sir' but tonight he loved hearing her so desperate for his touch in the way she begs for him and how her body responds to his slightest touch.

Desperate to taste her, he licks a bold stripe from her entrance to her clit, swirling his tongue around the bud before sucking it into his mouth. Y/n let out a breathy moan, reaching her hand down to lace her fingers in his hair, pulling him deeper into her core. Jake moaned at the sting, the vibrations causing her to squeal and clamp her legs closed around his head. He pulled away, slapping her thigh, "Spread your legs and keep them open, I'm not done tasting you" She spread her legs wider giving him the opportunity to spit on her pussy, watching it run down to her entrance as he dove back in, collecting as much of her wetness as he could on his tongue, shaking his head side to side making Y/n scream out his name, tightening the hold on his hair.

Jake began rutting his hips into the bed, trying to find some relief for his aching cock. The taste of her combined with the noises she was making was almost too much for him, but he was determined to make his girl cum at least twice before he would allow himself to.

He could tell she was getting close as she began frantically grinding her hips into his face and tugging his hair harder while he devoured her. He flexed his tongue, teasing her entrance before sliding his tongue fully inside her. She arched her back repeating his name like a mantra as he continued to fuck her with his tongue, moving his hand to rub circles into her clit.

She whimpered "Fuck Jake, I'm so close" he hummed in response, speeding up his motions as she bucked her hips more frantically into his face until her orgasm finally came crashing through her. The force of the orgasm had her legs trembling as Jake continued to lap her up until she attempted to close her legs, signaling her overstimulation. He pulled away with a cheeky smile on his face, glistening with her release.

Eager to get him closer, she pulled him up crashing her lips into his, moaning at the taste of herself on his tongue, "I need you, Jake. Please" He kissed her again, reassuring her "I'll take care of you, don't worry" He reached for the toy that was temporarily forgotten about at the side of the bed, "do me a favour and get this all nice and lubed up for me, okay?"

Bringing the dildo to her mouth, he tapped it on her lips twice, she opened her mouth sticking out her tongue as Jake slid it in. They maintained eye contact as he slowly worked the toy in her mouth. The action of thrusting the dildo identical to his cock into her mouth made him feel like he could cum right then and there. After another minute he pulled the toy from her mouth seeing it sufficiently lubed up.

Jake ran the toy through her folds slowly, teasing, until finally pushing into her entrance. His jaw slacked as he propped himself on his knees between her thighs, watching the toy stretching her easily. His eye flick up to find his girl with her head thrown back, one hand massaging her breast, the other gripping the bed sheet and allowing her moans to flow freely.

Using his other hand, he rubbed soft circles around her clit, her hips jerking at the added stimulation. A combination of his name and curses spill from her as she nears the edge of her second orgasm.

"Jake-fuck I'm gonna cum" she whimpers breathlessly. He speeds up his movements, adding more pressure to her sensitive clit as he plunges the toy inside her, eager to see her fall apart by his hands once again.

She cried out his name as her orgasm washed over her for the second time, Jake slowed his movements, "that's it baby" he praised as her thighs began shaking.

Carefully removing the toy, Jake looked up and smiled at his girl's fucked out state, he shot her a wink before leaning in and capturing her lips in a kiss, "now that was a great investment" she breathed out making him laugh, "Oh baby we're not done with it yet" Y/n pouted at him, "Jake, I love the toy and don't get me wrong, it'll be my best friend while you're gone. But right now I need you" Jake feigned hurt as he responded, "You didn't think I was gonna neglect my girl, did you?"

Jake took his aching cock in his hand, stroking it a few times before lining up with her soaked entrance and sinking fully inside of her in one thrust. Both of them let out a loud moan; Y/n had missed the warmth of him as he stretched and filled her, and Jake had to fight hard not to cum too quickly as he had been edging himself for the past hour.

He kept a steady pace as he grabbed the toy again and put it in her hands, "I want to see you gag on my cock while I fuck you" She felt herself clench around him at his words, "If it gets too much you can stop okay?" she nodded at him before relaxing her jaw, taking as much of the dildo down her throat as she could.

Jake felt his cock pulse at the sight, groaning a string of curses as he tightened his grip on her hip with one hand, using the other to apply pressure to her oversensitive bud. The unexpected stimulation caused her to jolt, gagging on the dildo, she pulled it out, a string of saliva falling down her chin as she took in the sight of her boyfriend over her.

The toy had been long forgotten as she pulled him by his shoulders so their faces were just inches apart, "I'm gonna cum" he grunted as felt her walls clench around him, "Fuck baby, you want me to fill you up?" she whimpered in response, "Fuck, yes Jake!" determined to make her cum before himself, his thrusts became more erratic as he got lost in the feeling of his girl wrapped around him. "Let go baby" he encouraged as she came for the third time, he buried himself deep inside of her, feeling his release fill her up.

He remained seated inside her as he caught his breath, both of them basking in the silence, completely blissed out. After a couple minutes Jake slowly pulled out, making Y/n wince at the loss. He dipped his head down between her legs as she attempts to clamp them shut, "Babe no I'm too sensitive" he looks at her with pleading eyes, "Just a taste?" she lets out a laugh but obliges, letting her legs fall open.

Jake drags his tongue through her folds, collecting their shared release. His goal wasn't to get her off again, but instead to clean up the mess he had made. He loved the taste of them together, something that was completely unique to them. He repeated the action a few more times before moving to hover over Y/n once again, "I'll never get enough of tasting you and I together" he says before crashing his lips onto hers; she moans into his mouth at the taste of their shared release.

Pulling back, he stares at her with a loving look in his eyes, Y/n becomes very aware of how fucked out she must look, "I know, I'm probably a mess right now" She shied away from his gaze, he shook his head, "Beautiful," he corrected as he peppered her face with kisses making her giggle.

Jake stood up begrudgingly to grab a towel, soaking it in warm water and making his way back to clean up whatever mess was left. Before getting back into bed, he grabbed a new pair of boxers for himself and a fresh shirt for Y/n, both cleaning up before cuddling in bed once again. Jake put his arm around her as she rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as he rubbed circles into her back, both exhausted from the day.

"I love you so much," Jake says, pressing a kiss on the top of her head, she craned her neck to look up at him, "I love you more" he shook his head, a smile on his face as he leaned down to press a kiss on her lips.

"Jake?"

"Yeah love?"

"What made you think of getting this for me?"

Jake thought for a moment before replying, "I know it gets hard when I'm away for so long. Obviously, it won't fill all aspects of our relationship that are affected by me being away but I figured at least this way you can feel me, even when I'm across the world" he winks at her before his expression turns more solemn, "It kills me that you can't be there experiencing it with me"

Y/n took a moment to process what he had said, "It was an incredibly thoughtful gift, I didn't even know you could do that" She laughed before continuing, "It is hard when you're gone but knowing that you're living your dream makes it worth it" she smiled at him, "plus, you already know that I will be coming to any show that I can" She moved to straddle his lap, lowering her voice, "After all, I have to show you what you're missing when I'm all alone with nothing but a silicone copy of you"

Jake groans, "I don't know how I'm going to manage, just think about you using that toy, feeling me, while I'm away" She giggles at his exasperation, "Seriously! I might have a permanent boner this tour! I could give Josh a run for his money!" they both burst out laughing.

"Did you really think I would use this gift without sending a little something for you? This was a gift for the both of us" he pulled her further against him, eliminating any remaining space between them, "I love the way you think, woman" he chuckles, placing a kiss on her temple"

"Okay one more question," she tries to conceal her laugh by clearing her throat, "so...how exactly did you make this toy?" she questioned with a knowing smirk.

Jake looks away, his face twinged pink with embarrassment as he clears his throat, "I'd rather not talk about that" she laughs, "it was worth a shot"

After a few more moments basking in each other's embrace, Y/n wiggles from his grasp, scooting to the edge of the bed, Jake questions "Hey where are you running off to?" She peeled the shirt from her body once again, "taking a shower, wanna come?" she asks in a suggestive voice "Hmm, round two?" he suggests hopefully, "I love the way you think...sir" she winks before running to the bathroom.

Jake quickly follows her lead, coming up behind her and circling his arms around her waist, "Oh, and one more thing I forgot to mention" She turned to look at him, a curious expression on her face, "it vibrates too" he smirks.

Y/n groans in response, "You, Jacob Thomas Kiszka, will be the death of me."

Thanks for reading <3

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kcrossvine-art · 2 years

Text

whats crackling? whats snackling? in the near future, possibly YOU! This next one might be good for those of yall who dont have big kitchens. Today on our cooking review revue is Golden Hill pears from the Redwall Cookbook-

(for crackling and snackling purposes you can find the original recipe at the bottom to follow along)-

MY NAMES CROSS NOW LETS COOK LIKE ANIMALS

SO, “what goes in to Golden Hill Pears?” YOU MIGHT ASK

sugar

water

4 medium pears (peeled, halved, cored)

ground allspice

As you can guess by the ingredients, golden hill pears are just caramelized pears. Am a huge fuckin fan of caramelized stone fruits- peaches, pears, plums,- but contrary to my normal method of using an oven to achieve the desired syrupy goodness, this recipe calls only for a little sauce-pot and lid!

AND, “what does Golden Hill Pears taste like?” YOU MIGHT ASK

If you've had caramelized fruit before you'll get the gist, however, these are on the higher end in terms of taste 100%

The allspice is such a brush of warmth and comfort

Tastes like cuddling the person you love in front of the fire

Caramel taste is even throughout

Would be so so so good paired with a nice pulled pork stew

And warm apple cider would be perfectionx2

A fulfilling end to a fall season that passed too fast

. Where pear halves called for, strained and used canned pear slices (0% added juice) . Where sugar called for, used fine granulated sugar . Tripled cooking time for initial caramelization

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Go fucking hogwild with the allspice honestly, i used about 2 soup-spoonfuls of it and couldve still probably done more. its up to personal preference but its damn good.

Also; cooked way more evenly than youd think. Once the initial caramelization was done each 'batch' of pears cooked pretty quick.

SO, it took me about 3 tries to get this right as the book describes itself. My first mistake was letting it get to a golden brown color, as the book says you should, because by the time the sugar and water is that color alone in the pan, it is already way too late and is going to burn by the time you add the pears in. You need to add the pears in a bit earlier than whats going to feel right- when the mixture becomes a strong yellow-ish color id say?

The second time, because the first try had burnt, i tried lowering the heat/going against the books advice and stirring throughout. In all previous times ive caramelized something it was good to get some motion in there, so i figured if it burnt before maybe the issue was too much heat and no movement. This didnt work. This instead somehow created massive sugar crystals which over the period of about 30 seconds (once reaching temp and adding to the pan) quickly hardened and had to be chipped away until it broke off the spoon and the pot. Im not a scientist i have no fucking idea.

It mightve tasted good and been a cool cake topper but at this point we were 40 minutes in with no delicious pears so we werent wasting time with tasters.

Third attempt; corrected from previous mistakes. Watched the saucepot like a fuckin HAWK, didnt stir or disturb the pan, had it on medium heat for about 21 minutes until it started turning yellow, added the pears and allspice in immediately, covered and simmered it. I had 2 cans of pears that i strained and patted dry of excess fluid, so with 2 seperate batches for the one pot. I think the second batch came out richer but there wasnt too much a difference. Both came out lovely to eat with the syrup drizzled over top.

All in all, from deciding to make them to having them in my belly, and subtracting failed attempts, id estimate it took about 30 minutes? It would be longer if you prepared the pears yourselves, along with the cooktime for them probably, but its not neccesary for this recipe.

It tastes fuckin good and would be excellent in living situation where all you have available is a portable hot-top. I could see myself making it again now that i know what visual cues to look for.

I give this recipe a solid 8/10 (with 1 being food that makes one physically sick and 10 being food that gives one a lust for life again.)

🐁 ORIGINAL RESIPPY TEXT BELOW 🐁

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons sugar

4 medium pears, peeled, halved lengthwise and cored

Generous pinch ground allspice

Method:

Put the sugar in the bottom of a heavy saucepan and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water over it. Cook over medium heat without stirring until the mixture reaches a golden brown caramel, about 7 minutes. (Swirl the pan if the caramel colors unevenly).

Standing back, pour in 1/4 cup of water, taking care as it will spit.

Add the pears and allspice to the pan, cover and simmer until the pears are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pears to a serving dish. Raise the heat and boil the syrup vigourously for 1 minute.

Pour the syrup over the pears and serve immediately, or let cool and then chill before serving.

#cross cooks redwall #food recipe #caramelized #digital art

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alloftheimaginesblog · 10 months

Text

Headcanons for being Robin's cousin and Steve Harrington falls for you...

You come to stay with your cousin Robin since your parents are splitting up and everything's just a bit messy and complicated so you go stay with your aunt and uncle and cousin.

Growing up, you and Robin were always best friends, crazy and always getting into some sort of trouble and it wasn't any different years later.

You and Robin were still close, the two of you regularly called or wrote to the other, so it was never awkward when you weren't together because you had always been the best of friends.

Robin immediately tells you about all the insane stuff that's happened in Hawkins, she can't hold her own water, and you're amazed.

It's not long before you meet Steve.

And my god, he is gorgeous.

Pretty much instantly, Steve is yours. He gawks at you, hissing to Robin, "That's your cousin?! Holy shit!"

Robin rolls her eyes, "Dude you promised you wouldn't fall for them!"

But it's too late.

When you start chatting and getting to know him, it solidifies the deal and the two of you are making heart eyes across the table at one another from day one.

Seeing the two of them together is hilarious, the bounce off the other so chaotically and adding you into the mixture makes things three times as bad.

It's then you meet the rest of the gang - Dustin and his friends, Nancy and Jonathan and Eddie.

You know all about Nancy and Steve's history, Robin told you everything, so the more you got to know Steve and the more you saw the two of them together, the more jealous you got. Nancy was lovely, beautiful and strong and it was clear that there was a lot of love and history between them so naturally you were a little jealous.

One night, after a party at Steve's, you and Steve, drunk as all hell, start to have a deep conversation. You talk about how hard it's been dealing with your parents divorcing, dealing with the anger and the hurt from that had been awful. Steve talks about how even though his parents are together, he feels isolated and alone. A boy in a big house all alone. His parents don't really care, don't really contact him unless it's something important... He holds a lot of anger around that and the two of you grow closer.

It doesn't take long until Steve confesses his feelings to you. Before he does though, he asks Robin if it's okay. He doesn't want her to feel uncomfortable but she gets it from both sides - literally. She knows how much you like him from your rants and raves about him and he's the same.

You and Steve get together but there's a nagging feeling in the back of your mind and Steve can tell. He doesn't push but one day, it all comes spilling out. You tell him about your worries that he still has feelings for Nancy, that if given the choice he'd pick her again over you.

"Never. (y/n)... I loved Nancy, yeah, I didn't think I'd get over her... until you came to town. The day I met you, I knew there was something about you and I was right. You are batshit insane sometimes it's scary what your mind comes up with, you're hilarious, you understand me, you relate to me... It's you I'm in love with, not Nancy, not anyone. If given the choice, I'd pick you again and again."

From then onwards, you trust him one hundred percent and even find yourself in some crazy, mindboggling situations.

#prompt #headcanon prompt #headcanon #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington #stranger things imagine #stranger things #imagine #harrington

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thatchubbypillow · 5 days

Text

What might Dan's characters smell like?

Gosh I can't believe I'm writing this😂Idk...this idea of imagining how different characters smell like just hit me today and I thought I should write it down. Well, it's probably because recently another fellow Dan fan asked me when I met him did he smell like anything and I couldn't give an answer...So umm...here we go.

※I'm a fragrance enthusiast so this is gonna involve a LOT of notes/ingredients...

※Imma just write my favorite characters first...

David Collins

Oh my...David. My favorite David. A mixture of light and dark. I love designing note pyramid for character like this. In the beginning of the movie he's...citrus, extremely fresh, bright, uplifting, probably bergamot and bitter orange, a tad bit of neroli for the gentleness. But then, also lavender and musk, for the universal charm.

When the suspense kicked in, there's wormwood...and oakmoss, maybe galbanum too. Just the hint of coolness that send chills down your spine. But on the surface florals aren't completely gone. Louder lavender with subtle, powdery orris root are still covering up the others.

Then finally, the identity was revealed, the florals gone, oakmoss grew stronger, vetiver and dark, damp patchouli took over. Patchouli was always there but you couldn't see it in the beginning. It's determined to stay. It'll haunt you on your sleeves and shirt collar for many days.

I haven't read the original novel but I'm just gonna write this part according to the tv series I watched. Edward is very reserved, so definitely not something too loud. Aromatic green/floral, possibly.

Edward Ferrars

But the first impression he gave us was...quite refreshing, and..."balmy"? Idk if I'm using the right word but...sort of like that. His scent must open with adorable grapefruit and yuzu notes.

Then heart notes...maybe honeysuckle and narcissus. Please don't be mislead by their names, I only meant the scent themselves. Maybe a bit of jasmine as well, but very light, only a trace underneath other florals.

There should be the scent of grass. Or just the faint smell of freshly crushed leaf from a bitter orange tree. You know, the kind of scent that make you feel like "there's still good things on this world"...

Base notes are also very modest. Probably cedarwood. Plus a bit of sandalwood and vanilla perhaps. But the vanilla is very soft, not sweet at all, just smooth and creamy.

David's personalities and "aura" changed quite a bit through 3 seasons...I'm just gonna pick the Season 3 cult leader David.

David Haller

I usually don't prefer amber/resinous stuff but for this setting I might pick some...

For starters I think his cult base should smell like a mixture of incense, sandalwood, myrrh, oud, maybe some sweet smells like honey, benzoin, vanilla or even some spicy notes like cinnamon...just to make people feel "at home". And then for himself...

He's a cult leader after all. So there should be some...blue chamomile, chrysanthemum, possibly iris and violet too...added to a very smooth, soothing sandalwood base. But of course he has a pretty dark side. So let's say...a bit of leather and civet and castoreum and patchouli too. Not too much animalics though, just giving some depth to the leather note.

Sir Lancelot

A charming knight on the outside but a clueless cute little cinnamon roll on the inside. Man, this one is quite hard to imagine with scent...hmmm...

I'd say rose is his core note. Like, not the modern kind of overly sweet feminine rose, but more like, rose water mixed with scent of leather and herbs...However, if we took it out of the historical context, and focus on the character himself's personality, I would say that he just really reminds me of lychee and raspberry, especially lychee, like it's a bit of tart at first but mostly very sweet and juicy, and it matches perfectly with rose note...

Alexander Lemtov

Well, I think for such a glamorous and fabulous character the answer should be quite obvious...still lavender. But this time lavender is mixed with more sweet and alluring note, like vanilla and tonka bean, cinnamon and tobacco, and warm amber notes and musk, probably a dab of civet as well...oh and rose should be there too...

Lemtov is also extremely wealthy so who knows, maybe he'll just drop in some carnation and saffron just for fun...and it's not like they don't suit his vibe, he's quite spicy after all...🌶️But, well, even though oud is also very expensive, I personally don't think Lemtov is "the oud type of guy", it's too straight for him🤣

Well, that's uh...five Dan characters that I'm most familiar with, I might write more but I'm not sure how many people will be interested in this weird sort of fantasy-diary-essay-whateverthisiscalled-thingy so Imma just leave it here...😅

(Also I'm not familiar with Downton Abbey so I'd rather skip it...🤨)

(Do you guys wanna read Frank's version? I wouldn't say he's my "favorite characters" but it could be fun😂)

#dan stevens #david haller #alexander lemtov #david collins #sir lancelot #edward ferrars #movies #tv shows #fictional characters

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stayandot8 · 1 year

Text

Track Eight: Drive

Genre: Smut

Relationship type: established boyfriend/girlfriend

Important Contents: Warning: Smut ahead. Minors, do not engage. 18+ only.

WC: 2.0k

Next part I Last part I masterlist

8. Drive

This man was making me insane. When I got the text inviting me to come over for dinner, I expected him to actually be here. Claiming he was stuck working on something for the new album with Changbin, he promised he would be home an hour ago. I could only watch so much TV before I was texting him again, letting my mind wander to what we would be doing if he was home.

Me: I was promised dinner :( Come home to me

Channie ❣️: I’m sorry baby, we’re almost done here

I only had one thing in mind to make him come back faster. Now it was just a matter of which color he would be in the mood for. I decided on the light purple, appealing to his softer side so he wouldn’t be that mad at getting this while he was at work. But it was his fault he was still at work so I can’t say I felt too strongly. All he really needed was the top half so I pulled out the bra and threw it on and pulled my hair to the side, readying for the picture. Once I took one I was happy with, I hit send before I could think better of it.

Me: Does this speed up the process?

It took him a while to respond. I had almost given up until I felt my phone buzz. The text was in the form of a link to their song ‘Drive’. I had heard it before but I was unsure which part he was referring to until my phone buzzed again.

Channie ❣️: 0:33

I turned on the TV and pulled up Youtube to find it. I pulled the video for and skipped until I found what I was looking for. I turned on the captions and stopped. I smirked to myself. This was going to be fun.

Me: Is that a threat or a promise?

Channie ❣️: A need.

Me: You have the day off tomorrow?

Channie ❣️: I do now.

I left that frame on the TV for him to see when he came up and as an added touch, I left the bra hanging on a knob on a drawer of the dresser that the TV was standing on. I scattered my clothes on the floor in a trail to the bathroom and closed the door. This was either going to end well for me or very very badly…

Leaning against the door to let my heart calm down,I let my eyes roam around the room. They settled on the shower curtain. A shower was a good idea, right? I thought it might help cool me off seeing as I didn’t know how long Chan was going to be but boy was I wrong. Stepping into the hot water, my skin was already on fire in anticipation. I had just rinsed the body scrub when I heard the door open and close. I froze in my place under the water, feeling my pulse in every part of my body. I heard a shuffling of clothes and the curtain pulled back to Chan, his face hard as stone, while his body was bared in its entirety. He just stood there, staring at my nakedness while I was doing the same to him. I leaned my back against the tiled walls and bit my bottom lip, just admiring the artwork that was his body.

He stepped in to corner me against my place on the wall, putting an arm on either side of my head. The mixture of the steam and his proximity was enough to make my head spin but I couldn’t help but look up at him through my lashes, my mouth moving to the side in a smirk. His eyes flickered to my mouth as he licked his lips and lowered them to my ear.

“Do you know how hard it is to have to focus on music when I know you’re here looking like that?” He whispered, sending shivers down my spine.

“I can’t say I know what you’re talking about.” I bat my lashes at him in my best attempt at innocence. He saw right through it, right through me. As always.

He hadn’t smiled since he had stepped in the shower with me, his breath mixing with mine as he hovered over my mouth. My chest was rising and falling rapidly, his teasing becoming almost unbearable with him being so close.

“You don’t? It wasn’t you that sent me that picture of that delicious piece out there hanging from my dresser? It isn’t your lips that I’ve been thinking about wrapped around me all day? It wasn’t your chest that I’ve been dying to leave marks on so everytime you look in the mirror you know you’re mine? It isn’t your taste that’s been lingering on my tongue, desperate to taste you again? That’s not you?” The smirk was wiped off my face at his words, now completely at his mercy.

“If it wasn’t me, you’re in big trouble.” I said under my breath as I sprung my mouth forward in search for his, finding his soft lips ready for me. His fingers found my waist and pushed me back against the wall as he kissed everywhere he could access without fully bending over. Tracing my jaw, my neck down to the spot that made me gasp. He sucked and nipped at it, fully biting when my hands found his hair. I let out a yelp, desperately trying to keep my strength in my legs to stay standing. Those devil lips found their way down to my chest, sucking on the perked nipples they found. He sucked hard on the skin around them, leaving purple and dark red marks in his wake. I whimpered, trying to get those hands where I wanted them as I felt my core tighten around nothing. He ignored my whining, changing nipples to leave marks on the other side. His hands were busy on my ass, massaging and kneading to their owners' content.

“Chan…Ah!” I yelped again as he pulled my nipple between his teeth away from me and let go, his eyes wide watching it bounce back. He licked his lips and did it again, my sensitivity becoming too much. He could tell when my yelps became pathetic whimpers that his job was done, satisfied in the knowledge that I wouldn’t be able to wear a bra for at least a couple days. The smirk on his face was the closest to a smile I had gotten as he lowered himself to his knees, now face to face with my core. His eyes traveled to his handiwork then further up to my eyes, now just as dark as his. I flickered between his lust-filled eyes and the erection hitting his abs, waiting to be touched.

“This is the dinner I was looking forward to.” His eyes stayed on mine as he lifted a leg over his shoulder and started kissing his way up my inner thigh to where I needed him most. As he drew nearer, he slowed his short pecks to longer, open-mouthed kisses, building the coil wrapping itself around my entire lower body. I had to rest my head on the wall again as my eyes rolled to the back of my head. My whole body shuddered as he gave a long lick up into my folds, collecting all of the wetness that had gathered there. He gave a loud hum as he brought his fingers up and collected more, bringing his collection to his lips. My eyes came back down to the show happening below me just in time to see him clean off his fingers and thrust them into my entrance. I let out a sharp gasp of surprise and he started moving ever so slowly. His mouth attached itself to my clit, swirling his tongue around it and sucking gently. My hands buried into his hair, gathering a tight grip. I gave it a small tug to spur him on and he finally smiled at me, the sucking on my clit no longer gentle and his fingers picking up speed. My climax found me quickly and he let me ride his fingers through it, still lapping at my release.

When he had his fill, he released my leg and shut off the water. Still in a daze, I felt myself being picked up, my head resting on Chan’s shoulder and my arms around his neck as he carried me out of the shower and laid me on his bed. I felt the bed dip as he climbed on top of me and nudged my legs apart and nestled himself between them, kissing his own path up my stomach and placing gentle kisses on his marks. His lips traced my collarbones up to my neck in the spot in between my neck and shoulder, licking and nibbling until I was moaning his name softly

“Chan…Please…” He brought his mouth back to mine and kissed me, taking my arms and bringing them above my head and holding them there with one hand. His other guided his erection to my waiting entrance, his precum mixing with my arousal and making it very easy for him to slide inside of me. The hum of contentment of being filled so well left my lips involuntarily at the same time as his groan.

“Baby..” he groaned out as his hand rejoined his other and intertwined our fingers. All I could do was nod as he started moving, rejoining our lips in a passionate kiss. He snapped his hips at an angle that made me arch off the bed into him, moaning into his mouth. My legs came up and wrapped around his hips, allowing for a deeper angle for him to hit that spot again. He searched for it and found it almost immediately. I clenched my walls around him, making it his turn to moan into me.

“Faster, baby. Please.” He picked up his pace, the headboard now hitting the wall. I moved my head back to the wall and without missing a beat, Chan whispered against my throat,

“Nobody’s home.” I loved the way he could read my mind. At the evil glint in my eye, he smirked and thrusted harder, reattaching himself to my neck. Everything he was doing with the intimacy of our fingers being intertwined brought me close to my second climax of the night.

“Chan, I’m…”

“Me too, baby. Come with me.” And I did, him thrusting as his own release spilled into me. Coming down from the mutual high, he rolled off me and stumbled back to the bathroom to grab a cloth to clean me with. Once he finished, he tossed the cloth on his nightstand and collapsed beside me. Both of us were breathing quite heavily from the extraneous activity. As I rolled to rest my head on his chest, we heard the front door open and loud voices shouting and laughing as they came closer. My head popped up to check if the door was locked.

“It’s locked.” He responded to my unspoken question, stroking my hair as I resumed laying on his chest.

“We should probably put some clothes on though. They’ll probably wonder where you are.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t care. I’m ready for round two though.” He popped an eye open at me, his smirk back and bigger than ever.

“Round two?!” I snapped my head at him.

“I said ‘day and night’, didn’t I?” His smirk was turning into a grin at my shock.

“Chan, the guys are back. I can’t do full-on round two with them here. They could hear me!” His smile didn’t waver.

“I know a really nice hotel room. About a 20 minute drive from here.” Well that was a different story… I felt the grin coming back to my face.

“Oh really?” I said, getting up from the bed and smiling back down at his lounging body. God, I could stare at that all day. I let him see my eyes travel down to his growing erection and licked my lips. I returned to his eyes, now dark again. “Bang, this is going to be the longest 20 minute drive of your life.”

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weixuldo · 1 year

Text

Enigma// ch 13

anakin x reader

a/n: sorry for the wait!!! i started a summer job and i’ve been hellllllaaaa busy lol- dw tho, im still writing!!

You have a relaxing dinner with Ahsoka until the end of the year approaches

warnings: cursing, cannon disabled character, insecurity, mention of periods, possible pregnancy mention,

_______________________________

More time passed and you prepped for finals; luckily this year you were able to exempt most of your sit in exams and instead only had one big project and a 20 page thesis due.

You had been feeling nauseous for the past few days but the 20 page paper’s deadline was looming over you, so it was probably the stress from that. You also hadn’t had much time to eat, so you could also just be hungry.

You ignored the feeling and went back to typing.

The paper was almost done, only two more pages then you were free for the weekend.. Just two more.

Ring Ring

Ahsoka was calling, you finished the sentence you were on before picking up the phone.

“Hey”

Hey hey! Are you busy tonight?

“I should be free after one more page of this thing”

Damn! Congrats! You've been at that shit since mid terms! I think that deserves celebration!

You laughed, hopefully she wasn’t proposing a party because you weren't quite feeling up to that.

“What do you have in mind?”

I dunno… wanna just grab take out and eat it by the koi pond? I kinda just want a chill night before I have to start practice for nationals.

“That sounds wonderful”

Cool! I'll see you at 6:30?

“Sounds good to me!”

Oki bye bye!

The end of the line clicked as she hung up and a small smile settled onto your face; even though you hadn’t known Ahsoka that long, the two of you just clicked and were almost always on the same wavelength.

Some of you wanted to tell her about Anakin, but you just felt like at this point it would add drama to the already stressful end of the year.

You were seen as the baby of the friend group, so you wouldn’t know how they would feel if you and Anakin officially confirmed the relationship…Also Ahsoka could be a little dramatic at times and you were afraid she would become too involved and make jokes or treat you and Ani differently.

And you had known Anakin long enough to know that those small changes would piss him off and he might accidentally take it out on the relationship.

You got back to your computer when you got a really bad cramp in your abdomen.

Oh fuck, you hadn’t gotten your period on its normal week so apparently its deciding to come now…great, something else to add to your delightful week.

You finally finished your paper and let out a long groan as you stretched your back. You grabbed your keys and headed down to meet Ahsoka outside the dorms. Once the two of you met up and got your food, you walked to the koi pond on the northern side of campus.

The sun was setting and the sky was a mixture of beautiful oranges and pinks; you took a seat on the iron bench that overlooked the gardens surrounding the koi pond.

“This is so nice, I needed to chill,” Ahsoka said, breaking apart the cheap wooden chopsticks that came with her bento box.

“Yea, I feel ya” you said opening the box of lo mein you ordered.

“Ya know, I cant believe i’m gonna be graduating in just a few weeks… Like what the actual fuck, I swear I was just a freshman like two weeks ago” Ahsoka baffled as she watched the fish swim laps around the pond.

“Oh yea, I wanted to get a brunch with all of us next sunday before I have to go to nationals, would you be able to come?” she added.

“Yes! I’d love to” you responded, before remembering that would be one of the last times you would see her before her graduation.

“I’m going to miss you so much Ahsoka” you said sadly, “Will you keep in touch?”

“Does a fish need water? Of course y/n!” she smiled; “you’re my best girl friend; sure sky guy and Ben are nice, but they're not another girl. And I like Satine alot, but she's older and in a totally different place in life than us, ya know?”

“Yea, I’m glad we met too” you smiled.

You conversed over random topics and future plans-

“Do you think you’ll party a lot next year?” she asked you

“Hmm, I don’t think so”

“Why not? Don’t you wanna find a partner or atleast a hook-up?” She asked, biting down on her last California roll.

“I’m actually pretty content, I think most of my party phase was exhausted freshman and sophomore year”

“Yea, I get it, I really only kept going out cause the team likes to go to the big parties. Kinda changing topics though, are you interested in anyone this year?”

You froze for a split second before bringing the noodles to your mouth, “Not really, I mean I’ve been seeing this guy off campus, but I wanna keep it on the dl and so does he” you responded (you didn’t have the heart to completely lie to her).

“Ooo, is he cute? How old is he? What's his name? Does he have socials? I gotta make sure he’s good enough for my girl”

“Hah, that's a lot. Umm, I think he's cute, he doesn’t use social media much, and he’s just a bit older” (yeah right, more like twice your age).

“Ok….what's his name?” she asked again, a devious grin on her face.

You smiled and looked away, “Ahsoka, I love you, but I can't tell you, I promised him we’d keep it under wraps… He’s a very private person”

“Do I know him?” she definitely was gonna guess it if she kept at the questions.

You took all the power you could to construct a final lie, “no, I met him on a dating app”.

“Oh, never mind I guess, I’m happy for you!”

Phew.

You were not practiced in lying.

“Thanks, I really like him… I think I may be in love…I’ve never felt this way before” you smiled.

“That’s amazing, y/n. Will I meet him some day?”

“Of course”

The rest of dinner was pleasant, until your stomach started hurting again.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I think I'm just gonna get my period soon” you said.

“Wait, shouldn’t you have gotten it like two weeks ago?”

Huh?

“Yea, remember, we’re kind of synced, You’ve been starting yours half way through my cycle since like September”

“Oh, I think it's just late from the stress”

“Hopefully so” she laughed, “Wouldn’t want that mystery man to have knocked you up”.

She was joking, but something in you became worried… it had been a long time since your last period… and you and Anakin had been pretty busy…but wait

Anakin couldn’t have kids.

The doctors said so.

But what if…

You shook the thoughts from your head and asked Ahsoka if she would come with you to the drug store to pick up some tums for the stomach ache.

She went off to go look at the shampoo because she needed some more and you sneaked off to grab a pregnancy test.

While you were in line you decided to update your boyfriend on the night’s conversation

“Hey babe, just fyi Ahsoka was asking about who i was seeing so i lied and said a guy from tinder, just wanted to lyk”

In no time your phone buzzed

Alright, thanks for covering, have a good night princess.

“Goodnight my love”

___________________________________

The week went by and you only had the project to finish. Most of your academic stress was subsided, but your personal stress grew by the day.

You hadn't opened the pregnancy test you got last week… you couldn’t bring yourself to.

Maybe it was because you hadn't had time…

oh who were you kidding?

You were scared.

But if you were pregnant, you should probably find out soon. Right?

Right.

You went into the bathroom and locked the door.

This was it.

The moment of truth.

***

a/n: so this ch was more of a filler to get to the next few chapters…. the plot is thickening and i hope your interest stays!! ty again for reading :)

taglist: : @dnamht @sxoulohvn @angeelcoree @wtf-andys @httpeachesblog @katsukiswrld @jetiikote @poisonedsultana

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daphnedauphinoise · 1 year

Note

Daphne,

Please would you mind sharing your foot care routine, my winter feet are in a dire state

No problem :) I actually need to get back into this old routine. Here is the routine from my drafts:

1. Cutting your nails

I won't say I am a woman who get embarassed or can be embarrased but I don't think I can ever live down the humiliation of when I turned up to my podiatry appointment and my podratist took one look at my nails and say 'I think I will cut them for you'. She did explain to me that though I had cut them, I still left them too long and long toe nails is a bad foot practice but oh my god, never again! I know it sound wierd but there is a correct way to cut your toe-nails and it is straight across. Any fancy shapes might lead to ingrown nails and they are painful.

I find toenails to grow quite slowly so I cut my every two weeks but I tend to fully clean my toenails at least weekly. You should not be letting those black fuzz under your toenails grow. Letting your shower water run inbetwee you toes is not enough and you should be using soap and a nail brush whenever you shower to clean your feet.

2.Foot Soaks

Epsom salt

Vinegar

I try and do these foot soaks weekly as they are actually really good at relaxing you. I just get a bucket and put the same about of salt ratio as I do in pasta water and let my feet rest. You don't really need anything fancy as epsom salt works just fine, but it does have to be epsom salt. This is because epsom salt is a mixture of magneusim and sulfate so it will actually do something for you (relax your muscles and cramps etc). I also like to add one cup vinegar as well to my foot bath. Vinegar has anti-bacterial properties so adding this makes it hard for bacteria to grow on your feet.

3. Foot Exfoilation

Cheap face scrub

Pumic stone

Exfoilating foot mask

This is where we will get rid of the dead skin cells. There are two ways you can go around doing this: physical and chemical exfoliation.

I don't think you need to buy any designated foot srub because they all tend to work the same. Personally, I just buy the £2 St Ives face scrub but use it on my foot. After I have soaked my feet, I dry them just so they are damp and I scrub the hell out of my feet.

For chemical peels you can either use some sort of peeling acid or a exfoilaiting sheet mask. The common peeling acid that people use is the Ordinary acid one and I find to be good for the skin around your toenails.

I like using an exfoliating foot sheet mask as well but this is probably every 6 months at the earliest. A lot of these sheet masks get marked up and some sites and brands sell these for £20 and again, there is no need to pay this much. Your local saver beauty store or poundland/dollar tree should have them for around £1-£2 and that is the only amount anyone should be spending on these. Reminder, you really do not want to over-exfoliate your feet. Your feet is meant to have hard skin because it serves a purpose for your body and health.

4. Moisturising

I think you get the point by now but, you don't need anything fancy. I think of my massive tub of Vaseline as an equivalent to the Holy Trinity and I use that. At night, just before I am about to sleep I mix vaseline and a thicker moisturizer (body butter works amazing too) and I massage my feet with the mixture. Foot massages are actually very important for your overall health. Then, I pop on some fuzzy socks and I sleep.

5. Beautifying your feet

After you do all this your feet should look nice and pretty but if you want to take it a step further you can make sure your toe nails are nice too. I like taking off the hardened skined around my toe nails which one of the tools I mentioned in my nail routine post.

I would never suggest or encourage anyone to go get a pedicure so I myself, just do everything at home. For sanitaion reasons, I don't like using the same nail polish that I use on my hand nails on my toe nails and nail salons are just so so unhygenic.

I heard a feet pic seller once say (from an old magazine) that what earns her the most money is either a french manicure or soft pink nails. So that is what I do :)

I am really going to emphasize this here, you don't need anything buy anything. Literally, everything you need to make your own foot routine, you can find in your home already. Should you want to buy anything, there is no need to spend anything more than £5 per product ( though you still wouldn't see me do this) and buy something you can use for many other things eg. vaseline.

If you have any concerns regarding your feet, do go to a podraitist as they can help. Make sure you are always wearing comfortable shoes and that you are walking properly.

Anyway love,

Daphne xoxo

#you ask for daphne's answers #daphne’s beauty tips

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goldenavenger02 · 7 days

Text

all lights turned off can be turned on

for @badthingshappenbingo. Prompt: headache/migraine

But when Aang stepped outside and Iroh started to remove the dusty, sweat-stained armor, he couldn’t stop himself from pleading with Zuko’s unconscious body.

“What have you gotten yourself into this time, my dear boy?”

Takes place during The Promise.

“Zuko?” Aang asked, watching as he pulled himself to his feet with his hands on his knees.

“So…I was right then…? All along…my decision was right?...”

The panting breaths were cut off as he fell forward with a sickening ‘thud’ that had Aang racing forward with a shout of Zuko’s name before he collapsed to his knees and turned him on his back.

‘You can’t die now,’ Aang couldn’t stop himself from thinking as he pushed past layers of armor and clothes to press his fingers against his neck, holding his own breath to feel for any sign of life, ‘not now.’

“Is he hurt?” Katara’s voice cut in as she fell to her knees beside him, but Aang pressed his teeth against the edge of his bottom lip until he finally felt the sluggish pulse under his index and middle fingers.

“He-he’s alive,” Aang stuttered as he pulled away before looking over to see the faces of Fire Nation soldiers, protestors, and the Earth King himself with a mixture of concern and confusion, “Katara, we have to get him out of here.”

“Give me a few seconds to see if it’s safe to move him.” Katara insisted as she bent the water out of her water-skin, forcing Aang to bring himself to his feet before digging into his pocket and blowing air into the small bison whistle.

He turned to hear Sokka, who had finally managed to push past the crowd only to skid to a stop when he saw what was unfolding.

“Is he-?”

“He’s alive, but we need to get him out of here,” Aang cut him off as Appa flew overhead to find a place to land, “can you, Suki and Toph get things settled down here? Katara and I will be back as soon as we can but we need to-”

“Yeah, we’ve got it covered,” Sokka insisted as Katara gave the two of them a sharp nod, “you two get him to safety.”

“Thanks,” Aang breathed before turning to lift Zuko under the arms while Katara grabbed his legs; once the two of them were on the saddle, Aang shimmied over to the reins and flicked them with a “yip-yip”.

“Where are we taking him?” Katara asked, presumably still examining Zuko’s unconscious body, but Aang kept his vision fixated on the horizon as he spoke, trying to calm his racing heart.

“The Jasmine Dragon.”

…

Iroh had planned to make himself some dinner and a pot of tea after closing the shop before locking the doors for the night; his newest venture in owning a tea shop had rejuvenated something in him that he thought he had lost many years ago.

Even if there was that tiny tug in his heart that constantly insisted on checking in on Zuko.

He hadn’t seen him much since he took the throne in stride a year prior, but he still received and sent two letters a month.

Zuko would update about policies in a way that felt too formal to convey any of his personal feelings and Iroh would update him on the Jasmine Dragon, but found himself adding a sentence or two at the end about letting him know that his doors were always open regardless of what his nephew asked of him.

And as the Fire Nation hawk flew away with his latest letter, Iroh pleaded with the spirits to work their way past Zuko’s stubborn and self-sacrificial tendencies.

That night, after eating yet another dinner in the solace of his own company, he got up to lock the doors, only to be broken out of the quiet by the all too familiar roar of the Avatar’s sky bison.

He hadn’t heard that sound since their entire group had arrived after the war ended a year ago; before Iroh could think it through fully, he found himself making his way outside and hoping that it was good news that couldn’t wait until the morning.

The small hope was crushed by the sight of Aang and Katara hefting a limp Zuko out of the saddle; he couldn’t stop himself from approaching and resting his fingers on his nephew’s wrist for one, two, until he could breathe at the feeling of a weak but steady pulse under his fingertips.

Now that he could breathe clearly, he met the eyes of the two teenagers and said, “let’s get him inside” before holding the door open for them; he had so many questions in his mind, for all three of them, but his nephew’s current state was the most pressing situation at hand.

Iroh pushed back his curiosity and let the Avatar lay his nephew down on the bed in the guest room, but when he stepped outside and he started to remove the dusty, sweat-stained armor, he couldn’t stop himself from pleading with Zuko’s unconscious body.

“What have you gotten yourself into this time, my dear boy?”

He wasn’t surprised by the sight of hollow cheeks and dark circles, signs of stress that had prevented basic self care for what was looking like months; he wasn’t as gaunt as he had been in Ba Sing Se, but that was only a minor relief.

Iroh knew that his nephew would sleep for a long while still, so he pulled the green blanket over his boney shoulders and extinguished the candle before walking out and starting a pot of ginseng; as it steeped, he could hear the quiet whispers between Katara and Aang, but his ears were too old to decipher the words.

When he brought over the three cups and the pot to the table they were sitting at, however, he couldn’t stop himself from speaking as he poured the tea.

“I think it would be best if you two explain what happened today.”

The tea shop went silent for a few minutes as he watched blue and dark gray eyes connect, quietly trying to work out where to start.

He had witnessed that same look years ago between Lu Ten and Zuko, and again with Zuko and Azula, but unlike disagreements between family and trying to decide who would take the fall, this was tinged with a great deal of sadness and guilt.

“I owe you and Zuko an apology, Iroh,” Katara finally spoke while turning her eyes towards his, her finger tracing the rim of her cup, “he…he asked Aang to make him a promise last year and I knew that Zuko had changed, but I still pressured Aang into agreeing to it. I viewed it as a safety net, a worst case scenario that would never come true,” she paused and looked back at the gray eyes for a split second, resting her hand over one of Aang’s before she added, “I should have never done that, and I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” Aang added, squeezing Katara’s hand gently as he spoke, “Zuko and I were so busy disagreeing that I didn’t even stop to think how everything was affecting him. I should have told him no but I…” he sighed, resting his head in his hands, “I didn’t want to fail everyone again.”

“I only have one question for you two, then. What did my nephew ask of you?”

“I think it would be best if he told you,” Katara responded with her hand drifting to the Avatar��s back, “he wasn’t in a great headspace, and I think it’s only gotten worse.”

Iroh nodded and took another sip of his tea; in front of him weren’t world leaders or fearless warriors, they were teenagers with the responsibility that had fallen on them from the war still weighing heavy on their shoulders, just like his nephew.

“Zuko will be alright once he gets some rest; while I am sure he will not blame the two of you, you can ask for his forgiveness when he wakes,” Iroh assured them, successfully coaxing the Avatar’s face out of his hands, “as for now, I forgive you and I offer you two a place to sleep if you would like.”

“We would love to, but we have to decline,” Katara insisted as she stood, “Yu Dao is still in really bad shape.”

“Yeah, she’s right,” Aang agreed and stood as well, “but I’ll be back as soon as I can. Thank you, for the tea.”

“Of course. Would you like some to-go?”

A pause as they made the silent but conversational eye contact again before Katara looked back at him with a nod, "That'd be great, thank you.”

Iroh silently prepared a bag of leaves with a small note attached on how it was best prepared before handing it to the waterbender, but as Aang reached into his pocket to pull out money, he held out his hand in refusal.

“No need for that. A friend of my nephew’s is a friend of mine.”

Aang’s face going from a soft smile to a guilty frown as he removed his hand from his pocket made Iroh wince; it wasn’t helped by the whisper of “I hope he still is my friend when he wakes up” before Katara ushered him outside, once again leaving Iroh in silence.

But unlike the comforting quiet of a few hours ago, it was now filled with an agonizing dread as he simultaneously hoped for Zuko to stay asleep and awake at the same time.

…

As the days passed with The Jasmine Dragon staying closed so he could be at his nephew’s bedside, Iroh’s concern about just what Zuko asked from the Avatar only grew as he made good on his word to be back as soon as he could.

It was only at nights, for two to three hour intervals with one of those hours being spent at Zuko’s bedside, but he still stayed true to his word.

He had a feeling of what Zuko had asked of Aang, but even if he was wrong, which he could only hope for despite how much his hopes had been crushed in the last few days, he knew that it had to be too much for the Avatar to go through with it.

And he had a strong feeling that it didn’t involve Aang going against his vegetarian diet.

He had learned about that during a game of Pai Sho on the third night; despite only being fourteen, Iroh could admit when he was finally playing against someone with a similar skill set and it was actually a challenge.

So before Appa landed in the grassy area behind The Jasmine Dragon, Iroh made sure to make extra food and set up the pieces for another game of Pai Sho; it hadn’t been lost on him that the focus on the pieces had allowed the Avatar to relax for the first time since he showed up with his nephew limp in his arms.

By the time Aang had landed, Iroh was waiting by the door; in the time off from working, after he had gotten Zuko to awaken enough that he could get him to drink something, whether it was water or possum chicken broth, he had been busying himself by coming up with new ideas for the menu.

One of those ideas, involving tapioca balls steeped in tea and milk, was finally ready to be tested and he was hopeful that Aang would be willing since there was no meat involved and he had seen the young Avatar practically inhale food once assured that it would not result in him breaking his diet.

“I have the Pai Sho board ready.”

“Thanks, Iroh, but…” his voice trailed off as his fingers wrapped around the medallion that he usually wore around his neck, “I need to talk to Roku first. He and I have unfinished business now that things are settled in Yu Dao for now.”

“For now?”

“King Kuei has agreed to negotiate, and Sokka and Suki calmed down the protesters, but we’re waiting on the Fire Lord before we move forward.”

“I see,” Iroh nodded, unable to stop himself from glancing at the closed door that his nephew laid behind before returning his gaze back to Aang, “well, I wish you luck with Roku. I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Thanks, Iroh.” Aang nodded before pulling out his glider and going upwards toward the roof, giving him the go ahead to return inside and start preparing his latest beverage.

The last thing he expected as he worked was the soft ‘creak’ of the guest room door followed by Zuko stumbling out with one hand on the door frame and the other against his forehead while he squinted in the light.

“Uncle?”

Iroh moved around the counter and gently wrapped a hand around Zuko’s arm, feeling just how shaky he was under his soft grip, “let’s get you something to eat.”

“But Yu Dao, my people, they all-”

“Your friends got the situation calmed down for now,” Iroh cut him off, knowing that the hand still pressed against his nephew’s face was indicative of a headache, “you need to sit. You need to eat.”

He knew that the exhaustion that he had been subjected to was still weighing on him when he stilled again with a whisper, “okay”, but it gave him the opportunity to lead him over to one of the booths.

Iroh returned to the kitchen to quickly warm up some of the steamed buns that had been brought earlier in the day by a frequent customer, an elderly man named Jianhong, who had informed Iroh that his granddaughter had been one of the protesters in the city and had been witness to the events unfolding.

“I am a believer in letting the younger generations handle these things,” he explained as he handed him the full wooden steamer, “but with your shop’s temporary closure, my daughter suggested I bring you and your nephew some of her steamed buns.”

He returned with a plate, a pair of chopsticks and the steamer, going back for the teapot, teacup and one of the green blankets which he draped around Zuko’s shoulders silently.

Iroh expected the blanket to be shrugged off in some form of defiance, but his heart only sank when Zuko pulled it tighter around his shoulders before opening the steamer, making him look younger than he had in years.

“Did you eat already?”

“Eat as much as you need to, nephew.”

Zuko nodded and pulled two buns onto his plate with the chopsticks before starting to take small, calculated bites out of one; Iroh busied himself with filling Zuko’s cup, the smell of peppermint and ginger starting to fill the air around the booth until his nephew found his voice.

“How did I get here?”

“Aang and Katara brought you to me after you collapsed,” Iroh supplied, filling his own cup, “you have very good friends. Friends who care about you very much.”

Zuko nodded silently and took another bite; it was all too reminiscent of their time on The Wanyi, where they spent their dinners in near if not total silence which left Iroh patiently waiting for another outburst of teenage emotion to break up the quiet.

“I know,” he finally spoke after taking a few sips of his tea, “I…I wish I had been a better friend.”

“That is very similar to what Katara said when she told me what happened.” He watched his nephew’s back stiffen in response and he knew then that he was uncovering the roots of what had propelled him down the path of isolation.

“How much did she and Aang tell you?”

“They told me what they knew and they asked for my forgiveness. But they also told me that the rest of it would be better if it came from you.”

When the look in Zuko’s eyes shifted to a face pleading for forgiveness, it brought Iroh back to the White Lotus camp, to seeing him for the first time in months with tears on his face as he apologized, insisting that he would do whatever he had to in order to make it up to him.

Iroh reached forward and rested a hand on Zuko’s shoulder, hoping that the gesture was enough assurance to tell Zuko that in his eyes, he was already forgiven.

“I just wanted to find out what happened to my mother. My father…he brought it up during the eclipse, to bait me into staying until after the sun came out. It worked, the sun came out and…” his hand went up toward his chest, towards where his sister had tried to end his life with lightning.

‘Ozai shot lightning at him. Ozai tried to kill him.’ Iroh dropped his hand.

“After my coronation, I confronted him in prison. I demanded to know where she was,” Zuko stopped to move onto the second steamed bun, his bites growing smaller as his emotions grew larger, “he dangled it in front of me like a treat for a deer dog, occasionally giving me slivers of information.”

Zuko set his chopsticks down on the table and rested his head against his hands once again, the squint in his eyes making it obvious that the headache he had woken up with was still lingering.

“After that first conversation, I…I decided to use Aang as a safety net, I made him promise that if he ever saw me start to turn into my father, to…” he cut himself off with a wet sniffle, the sound of him processing everything that had happened, “to stop me, permanently.”

Despite having his suspicions, the words still made Iroh’s heart skip a beat with shock.

“That’s when I stopped sleeping, I guess. If it wasn’t nightmares, it was assassination attempts. Ozai, he told me that being Fire Lord changes you, that he was the only one that could help me navigate it and I was foolish enough to believe him, to do what he said, that being the Fire Lord meant that what I chose was right.”

Zuko pulled his head out of his hands, his golden eyes filled with tears as they met Iroh’s.

“But in Yu Dao, when Aang went into the Avatar State to fulfill his promise, I realized that I was still doing exactly what Ozai would have done; attacking the innocent and breaking foreign ties instead of going back to planning things out, revising things.”

“These things are never a straight line,” Iroh finally said when Zuko all but slumped onto the table, any sign of the royal presence he had adopted in the last year siphoning away with the reserves of his energy, “but if you have patience, you’ll find the right path. Of course, it helps that the Earth King has agreed to negotiations.”

“How do you know that?”

“Like I said, Zuko, you have very good friends,” Iroh couldn’t help but smile as he stood to wash his teacup, “Aang has been here every day since he brought you to me. Of course, my ears aren’t what they used to be, but I believe he is on the roof right now.”

“The ro-,” he found his back finally untensing when he heard a chuckle escape Zuko’s lips with his nose pinched in between his thumb and middle finger with a mutter of “typical airbender” interspersed in the small laugh.

“If you are feeling up to it, I should let him know that you’re awake.”

“Yeah, good idea.” Zuko muttered, using his hand to massage against his surely aching temples.

Iroh started to make his way to the door, but found himself stopping with his hand wrapped around the knob, “nephew?”

He turned to see his nephew peering up at him with one golden eye and a raised eyebrow, the other one staying closed under the lights; unsurprising, his left side had been sensitive to light for years now.

“Drink some more of that tea. It’ll ease that headache,” he watched as his nephew sputtered on nothing, trying to get his confusion out, but Iroh shrugged before he had the chance, “there is no need to continue to suffer when the pain is manageable.”

And with that, he made his way outside to be greeted with the sight of smoke coming from the roof and what looked like tears running down the Avatar’s face in the moonlight.

“Aang! Guess who just woke up?”

“About time!” Despite what had looked like tears, his enthusiasm was real enough that Iroh chose not to press further, “how’s he doing, Iroh?”

“Why don’t you come and see for yourself?” He offered, making his way back around the counter to prepare the new menu item he was testing, watching as Aang’s face lit up when he looked over and saw Zuko sitting at the table with the green blanket around his shoulders and the teacup pressed against his lips, “thank you for bringing him to me, Avatar. He really should have come earlier, on his own. Sometimes he forgets he has a place here.”

Iroh knew he wouldn’t get any form of protest or embarrassment from his nephew who was consumed in both guilt as well as a raging headache, but he couldn’t stop himself from adding, “He may be the Fire Lord now, but he is still a stubborn boy.”

#bad things happen bingo #headache/migraine #avatar the last airbender #comic: the promise #whump #my writing #angst #fic #zuko #uncle iroh #aang #katara #minor kataang

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patchesnpins · 2 years

Text

ʟᴇᴛ'ꜱ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴛᴏ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ

ᴀɴᴏɴ ᴀꜱᴋᴇᴅ: could I please get something with Will and a male reader where Will rides on his bike with him, maybe a confession of feelings too? no stress to do this if you have too much, just thought it'd be cute! thank you!

☾⋆*:｡ a/n: oh this is the cutest thing ever, excuse me really getting into the autumn theme with this one but I thought it would be cute. currently pretending in this fic that Will didn't move away to Cali and is still in Hawkins

☾⋆*:｡ details: SFW//w.c: 1.9k//Will Byers x gn!reader (could be read as gn or male but fem aligned dni)

The brisk Autumn air rushed past your face, filling your lungs with air that chilled you to the bone but made you feel so alive. With no blaring hot sun like the summer or the icy bite of snow in the winter, you’d rolled your bike out of its hibernation in the garage to ride it around. Driver’s license be damned, you grew to appreciate the after school bike rides through the winding asphalt streets.

Shifting the pedal backwards, the bike comes to a halting stop before a boy kneeling in the fallen leaves. You could recognize that bowl cut anywhere, the first thing you’d picked out from the crowd of freshmen flocking into school years ago. Horrible haircut aside, he was sweet and kind with a sharp sense of humor that sent you reeling the first time it showed its colors.

There was no Hellfire meeting today, you would’ve never heard the end of it at lunch today if there was. And Will wasn’t one to be stuck after school with detentions.

“Something up with your bike?” You squat down beside him and he flinches, too caught up in his confusion to notice your arrival.

He opens and closes his mouth like a fish out of water as he collects his thoughts, motioning to his bike with a now more neutral expression. “My tire popped, I thought it just got deflated but I found a hole.” You can already see him adding up the cost of getting a new wheel in his head with his furrowed brows. “I need to get home soon but it’ll take me forever without my bike.”

The buses had already left so Will was stranded, and you knew his family worked almost too much to come pick you up. “Shit.” You mumbled, not entirely meaning to say it aloud but it slipped past your lips.

“Yeah, shit.” Will huffs out a laugh, far from genuine. You reached out to check the wheel yourself, fingers brushing against his and you shivered slightly. His hands were freezing cold, shaking ever so slightly as he dug his thumb into the hole in the rubber wheel. You stole a glance of his worry filled face, his cheeks dusted with a light rosy pink from the chilly air nipping at his skin. He was barely dressed for the weather and your own worry grew with every subtle shiver.

He was chewing on his lip, a mixture from nerves and trying to keep his teeth from chattering. With a sharp sigh, you pull your knitted mittens off and shove them against his chest. “Here. Now come on.” Leaves crunch under heavy boots as you rise to your feet, rounding towards your bike and pulling it from its spot on the ground. You toss a leg over and sit, patting the back of the bike. “Hop on.”

“What?” Will looks at you like you’ve gone mad and you can’t help but laugh.

“Come on, you can ride on my bike and I’ll bring you home. You can call your mom and have her pick up your bike on the way, you need to be back soon don’t you?”

Will’s nervousness cracks for once and he allows himself to laugh, still toying with the mittens in his hand, only stopping when he realizes he’s tugging at the loose string of yarn. “I mean, I guess. I haven’t ridden on a bike with someone in forever. Do you think I’ll even fit?”

“Don’t know till you try.” You pat the seat one more time. You’re praying that he says yes, a bit of company on the ride home was something you wanted. And with the one and only Will Byers? Your face split into a wide smile in anticipation.

“Fine, just take it easy on the turns.” Will smiles and carefully shuffles over, kicking up leaves then swinging his leg over the bike like yours. He slips on the wooly soft mittens over cold bitten fingers that ache to the bone. They’re comfortable and bring him instant warmth, they feel like that one sweater he loves when you wear it and hug him, wrapping him up and a gentle safety stitched together carefully with love.

You steady the bike, waiting for Will’s careful touch that never came. You purse your lips, your heart sinking a slight bit and shooting a look over your shoulder. “You gonna hold on or what?”

Will’s eyes blow wide with a hint of panic, you can practically see the thoughts swimming through his head behind the glassy brown orbs. His adam apples bobs and he does weird combination of a nod and shake of his head. “You won’t mind? I mean- yeah but only if-”

You roll your eyes. “God Byers, unless you want a first hand experience of face planting into the ground then I’d hold on.” Your heart turns light when he cautiously wraps his arms around your waist, gripping tightly to his own sleeves and very lightly pressing his chest against your back, careful as if he’s making sure to leave you an inch of space. “Maybe it’ll help you warm up.” You tack on and hear his breath catch in his lungs, kicking up the kickstand and rolling forward before he could really react.

Your shoes catch on the pedals and you both wobble down the driveway of the school, slow but growing steadier by the minute. The cold breeze of Autumn has returned, turning your eyes wet but it felt good, the chilly contrast of that and that sappy warmth of Will Byers clinging onto you. His previous worries had seemed to melt away once the bike had started rolling, now pressed firmly against your body and chin tucked in the crook of your neck.

You gnawed at your lip, tasting bitter metal on your tongue soon enough with a sharp bite. Will wasn’t even doing anything, he had gone quiet since he hopped on the bike, allowing himself the silence to admire the golden colors of the trees around you two of the cinnamon like smell that stuck in the air. Jack-o-lanterns decorated the many porches you cycled past, gruesome expressions staring into the street.

“Isn’t that a dragon?” You hum, squinting at a particularly well made jack-o-lantern.

“I think so?” Will leans forward, his cheek almost pressed against yours and you can feel the soft coldness of his skin. He adjusts his grip, holding onto your jacket in a knuckle tight grip. Both of you know the other has noticed it but no one minds it enough to say anything.

Will had always been cute, he was also soft smiles that turned your insides to mush and sweet gestures that bounced around your head all week long. When he held your hand under the lunch table after a rather stressful day or swiped the paint from your cheek during art class you felt yourself falling a bit more for him each time. He had jokes that were quick and sharp like a blade, ones that’d take you till hours after the conversation to think up.

Will was sugar and spice, he left a sugary taste on your tongue and a sappy feeling in your gut whenever you both hung out. You couldn’t push it away even when you tried, he was addictively sweet and you found yourself not getting enough from your hushed conversations in class and days spent lounging around in each other’s bedrooms.

Those words popped into your head a handful of times, and each time you pushed it down like it was a bitter insult. It wasn’t the right time, it was never the right time for you to say it no matter how often it bubbled up uncontrollably in your throat. Will Byers was your friend, it didn’t matter how many times you caught each other’s blushing faces or touches that lingered too long.

He was your friend. Best friend at most.

At the moment, his hand was lingering at your stomach, jacket crumpled in his hand as he rubbed his thumb over the soft material. The crunch of leaves under the wheels and the subtle whir of your bike was all you could focus on to distract yourself, the warmth of your face was a feeling you hated on a cold day but you could do without it in this moment.

You spotted his house in the distance, slowing down a bit as your bike cruised down the Byers driveway towards the front door. There weren't any cars in the front and just from the feeling in the air it felt empty. The brake squeaked and whined, coming to a delayed stop and Will hesitated slightly before clambering off quietly, his leaving a fading warmth on your stomach and you silently mourned the loss of him against you.

“See you tomorrow?” You search for a way to make the silence less awkward, giving him a slight wave that he returns.

“Yeah- see you tomorrow.” His smile seems a bit forced, like he's trying to cut himself off with a quick and simple good bye. He lingers for a moment, hands clenching and unclenching by his side before he starts off towards his front door. Sticks and leaves crumple under his shoes as he takes a few steps away, pauses, then turns back around.

For a moment you wonder if he was forgetting something, had he not taken his house key with him this morning? Or did he leave one of his books behind with his bike on accident? Words hang from his mouth but he can't get them out, his face twitching and nose scrunched up ever so slightly. Your heart flutters at how cute his confused expression was.

He starts forward, fumbling anxiously with the mitten on his hand. Your mouth falls open. “Hey you don't need to give-”

His hand, now missing a mitten but warm and soft, cups your cheek gently as he leans in. His lips pressing against yours cut you off and all words slip from your short circuiting brain, sparks flying as you immediately surge forward into the kiss. His lips are so soft, as careful and as sweet as the rest of him, plump and soft and they slot together with yours just perfectly. There's still a hint of hesitation, his inexperience shining through the way your noses knock together but you couldn't care less with how intoxicating the kiss was.

He pulls back, eyes flickering back and forth like he's too scared to look you directly in the face. Ashamed and scared you'd hate him, but you'd never felt warmer than in that moment. You feel cold without him, the Autumn wrapping you up in its chilly arms the minute you both pulled away. “Thank you,” he croaks. “Thank you for the ride home.”

He smiles and the last functioning part of your brain makes you smile back, eyes crinkling much like his own do. He spares one last glance before running up the stairs to his door and inside.

Your hand balls up, suddenly noticing the wooly feel of the mitten in your hand. Still warm from Will, only one can be found. In his awkward panic he’d only managed to give you the one mitten. You smile.

You'll have to get that other mitten back from him sometime…

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#stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things fic #will byers #will byers x reader #will byers x y/n

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