#so i don't have the ingredients for it on the reg

[fabulous-fic-quotes]

“Is that what you told yourself when you did it? That he wasn’t my son and thus my wrath would not fall on you? Stupid quim” she recoils slightly and he laughs. It’s bitter and harsh and he revels in it. “He is my son, by choice, by love, by law. You damaged my child Dory. I want to strip your flesh from your bones and cackle while I burn it as an offering to Hecate. I could cast some powerful magiks with that particular ritual.” He leans forward as he speaks, letting the truth show in his eyes. Letting the madness dance in the vision of the bonfire. She shivers and he grins.

The black sparrow - TheIdeaOfSarcasm

#harry potter #regulus black #dolores umbridge #fic quotes #fic recs #alternate universe #canon divergence #Protective regulus #the black madness #because honestly if that's not a manifestation of it I don't know what else could be #buuut! #regs embodies it so marvelously #Umbridge was about to enter the “was an ingredient of a ritual” club #though she unlike harry would not have survived!

[p4p1l0nn]

“brew-tiful banter”

pairing: barista!jaehyun x reader (featuring jungwoo and doyoung)

genre: romcom, slice of life, comedy, mystery, friendship, coffee culture.

word count: 2.5k

a/n: not my top pick, but decided to let it see the light. take a peek, share your thoughts if you want. enjoy the read!

like any other day, jaehyun greeted his regulars with a warm smile as they entered the cozy coffee shop. the aroma of freshly brewed coffee hung in the air, creating an inviting atmosphere.

“hey there, sarah! the usual caramel latte to kickstart your day?” jaehyun grinned as he prepared her favorite drink.

sarah chuckled, “you know me too well, jaehyun. you coffee is my morning lifesaver.”

a new customer walked in, and jaehyun welcomed them, “welcome! first time here? our coffee's so good it should be illegal.”

the newcomer laughed, “i'll have whatever's the house specialty.”

“the house special? that's a bold move!” jaehyun winked. “how about a velvety mocha with a hint of hazelnut? it's our secret weapon.”

as the coffee grinder whirred in the background, jaehyun engaged with another regular, mark. “mark, my man! how's the novel coming along?”

mark sighed, “slowly, but your espresso shots keep the ideas flowing.”

with a grin, jaehyun replied, “that's what i'm here for – brewing inspiration one shot at a time!”

the mix of laughter, the clinking of mugs, and the hum of conversation filled the air, creating a lively ambiance. the smell of freshly ground coffee beans lingered, inviting customers to savor both the delightful banter and the rich aroma.

but that was before. the once lively jaehyun, whom customers adored for his infectious energy, had now transformed into a more somber version of himself. despite the change, his dedication to excellent customer service remained unmatched.

as he greeted customers, there was a noticeable absence of his signature enthusiasm. “hey there,” he would say, a faint smile attempting to mask the subdued tone. the nickname “brewmaster bummer” circulated among regulars, a stark contrast to his former title.

a long-time friend, jungwoo, sensed the change and asked, “you seem a bit off today. everything okay?”

he sighed, “just one of those days, you know? but don't worry, the latte is still going to be as perfect as ever.”

jungwoo nodded understandingly, “well, if you need someone to talk to, we're here for you too.”

the coffee shop atmosphere retained its charm, but a hint of nostalgia lingered. the smell of coffee beans mixed with an underlying melancholy, creating an unusual blend. despite the change in jaehyun's demeanor, his banter still resonated, though it lacked the sparkle it once had.

a new customer, unaware of the transformation, approached the counter. “hey, i heard this place has the best banter in town. what's the secret?”

jaehyun managed a small grin, “ah, the secret ingredient is a dash of wit and a sprinkle of charm. welcome to brewmaster bummer's, where even the gloomiest days can't dampen our dedication to good coffee and, well, decent banter.

“and as much as i want to serve our specialty, i'm sorry to say that we're closed,” jaehyun declared with his usual wit, a hint of mischief in his eyes. “jungwoo must have forgotten to put the 'closed' sign again.”

the customer sighed, “that's a bummer. i should have brought my friend earlier today, but she's too busy to even step foot in any store. i guess we'll have to come again then.”

jaehyun chuckled, “tell your friend not to worry. brewmaster bummer's is always here, and we'll have the banter ready for her next visit.”

as the customer left with a promise to return, jaehyun exchanged a knowing glance with jungwoo, who shrugged apologetically. the coffee shop may have been closing its doors, but jaehyun's spark of banter remained, leaving a lingering anticipation for the next day's interactions.

╴╴╴╴╴⊹ꮺ˚ ╴╴╴╴╴⊹˚ ╴╴╴╴˚ೃ ╴╴

“order for the brave souls, your bold double-shot espressos are ready!”

a guy who visits everyday with his regular orders approached the counter. with a cheeky smile, jaehyun handed him the cups.

“bold and ready, just the way i like it," he grinned, taking the cups. “fuel for conquering the day.”

curiosity got the better of jaehyun, and he quirked an eyebrow, “does your friend always ask you to get her order? i feel like i've been making these double-shots for weeks now.”

the guy chuckled, “she's a busy lady, always on the run. i'm just the coffee messenger.”

jaehyun laughed, “ah, the coffee courier! well, i appreciate your dedication to delivering the caffeine goods. by the way, i never got your name. no need for introductions, you might already know mine.” he winked playfully.

he joined in the banter, “yeah, jaehyun the banter. the name's doyoung.”

grinning mischievously, jaehyun couldn't resist a playful jab, “so, doyoung, when do i get to see this 'double shots of espresso' lady in person? is she avoiding the legendary banter brewmaster?”

doyoung laughed, “oh, she's a mystery. always on a caffeine quest, but rarely spotted in the wild. you'll just have to keep brewing those double shots, and maybe one day she'll reveal herself.”

jaehyun, leaning on the counter, feigned disappointment, “ah, the elusive coffee connoisseur. i'll keep the banter extra sharp for her eventual appearance.”

their banter continued, with doyoung sharing more stories of his mysterious friend's coffee preferences, and jaehyun adding his own theatrical twists to each tale. the coffee shop, usually filled with the comforting aroma of brewing coffee, now also echoed with the shared laughter of the banter duo.

as doyoung left with his usual order, jaehyun called after him, “tell the espresso enthusiast she's missing out on some top-tier banter!”

doyoung waved back with a smile, “i'll let her know. maybe one day she'll take on the challenge.”

╴╴╴╴╴⊹ꮺ˚ ╴╴╴╴╴⊹˚ ╴╴╴╴˚ೃ ╴╴

a few days passed, and jaehyun's mood seemed to uplift bit by bit. despite his persistent gloom, he managed to pull off the banter routine, but occasionally, a shadow still crossed his face. perhaps it was the absence of his favorite mystery regular, who hadn't made their double-shot order in days. the reason remained unknown.

one day, as jaehyun absentmindedly stared into the coffee beans, jungwoo, his ever-supportive colleague, nudged him, “hey, jaehyun, feeling the coffee blues again? missing the elusive double-shot enthusiast?”

he sighed, “yeah, it's been a while. wonder what happened to doyoung's friend. maybe she found a new favorite coffee spot.”

jungwoo grinned, “or maybe she's on a caffeine detox. you know, trying to banish the coffee spirits for a while.”

despite his lingering melancholy, jaehyun chuckled, “coffee detox? that's like trying to ban banter in here. impossible!”

jungwoo playfully continued, “maybe she's preparing a grand entrance. the return of the mysterious coffee lover, starring doyoung and jaehyun, the dynamic duo of banter and brew.”

jaehyun couldn't help but smile, “i like that plot twist. maybe we should spice up the banter even more. make her reappearance unforgettable.”

and there goes the ring, signaling a customer. jaehyun's eyes darted to the clock – exactly 4 pm. could it be—

“double espresso shots, please,” a voice requested, but it wasn't doyoung's.

jungwoo approached the counter with a friendly smile, “sure thing! we've got a thing for double shots today. what brings you here?”

the girl chuckled, “my friend got sick of me asking the same thing and told me to come myself.”

jungwoo's eyes lit up with recognition, “sounds familiar. are you perhaps doyoung's friend?”

caught off guard, you chuckled, “well, aren't you a detective in disguise? guilty as charged.”

jungwoo laughed, “you're the mystery double-shot enthusiast he's been talking about, aren't you?”

you nodded with a mock serious expression, “i am. i come in peace, armed only with an insatiable love for double shots.”

with a playful grin, jungwoo nudged jaehyun, who seemed momentarily lost in words. his sudden all-talk demeanor had vanished, leaving only silence in its wake. “well, lover boy, you heard her. make her the regular and show off your specialty.”

jaehyun, finally finding his words, chuckled, “alright, alright, the specialty it is. get ready for a taste bud adventure, espresso lady.”

as jaehyun prepared the coffee, he couldn't help but add, “i'll brew it with an extra sprinkle of magic, just for you.”

jungwoo teased, “a sprinkle of magic? watch out, jaehyun's turning into a coffee wizard. maybe he'll even add a dash of love potion.”

you laughed, “love potion in coffee? now that's a unique selling point. i'll take my chances.”

jaehyun worked on your regular order, jungwoo engaged you in conversation, “so, where's doyoung been? we've missed our fellow banter enthusiast.”

you shrugged, “oh, he's on a mission, exploring uncharted coffee territories. said something about discovering a hidden gem.”

jungwoo laughed, “hidden gem, huh? maybe he'll find the banter diamond mine. we could use some extra sparkle around here.”

you joined in the humor, “well, if anyone can uncover a banter diamond, it's doyoung. maybe he'll bring it back for the grand reopening.”

as the two of you bantered back and forth, jaehyun couldn't help but stare at you in awe. your playful demeanor and easygoing banter had injected a fresh energy into the coffee shop, and jaehyun found himself captivated by the newfound presence.

jaehyun gazed at you, his heart seemed to skip a beat, much like the rich aroma of freshly ground coffee beans that permeated the air. it wasn't just your captivating smile or the way your eyes lit up with each playful remark; it was an inexplicable warmth, akin to the comforting embrace of a perfectly brewed cup of coffee.

your laughter echoed in his mind like the melody of a well-steamed espresso machine, filling the quiet spaces with a delightful hum. jaehyun found himself enchanted by the way your eyes sparkled, reminiscent of the gleam on the surface of a freshly brewed espresso, rich and inviting.

he couldn't help but notice the graceful way you carried yourself, akin to the smooth and velvety texture of a well-poured latte. your presence was like the perfect coffee blend, a harmonious mix of sweet and bold, leaving an indelible imprint on his senses.

every word you spoke was a flavor note in his heart, a symphony of tastes that danced like frothy milk on the surface of a cappuccino. and as he crafted your specialty drink, he realized that, much like the meticulous art of brewing coffee, there was an art to the way you added a touch of magic to the ordinary.

perhaps it was the way your laughter lingered in the air, like the aromatic notes of a freshly brewed pour-over. or the gentle way you leaned in during the banter, reminiscent of the careful pour of a velvety flat white. jaehyun found himself lost in the warmth of your presence, much like the comforting embrace of a favorite coffee mug on a chilly morning.

and just like a well-prepared cup of coffee, you left an aftertaste — a sweet and lingering essence that made jaehyun yearn for more-

“oh shi-”

immersed in admiration of you, reality struck, and he yelped. his coffee daydreaming had led to an unintentional overpour, and a splash of hot coffee stung his hand. jungwoo, the good friend he is, burst into laughter.

“smooth move, barista extraordinaire!” jungwoo teased, laughter echoing through the coffee shop.

your playful grin hiding a hint of concern, quipped, “well, that's one way to spice up the brew, isn't it? hot coffee, hotter hands.”

jaehyun, now a mix of embarrassment and shyness, stammered, “w-well, you see, i was just, uh, lost in the aroma of the coffee, and then, um, things got a bit too dreamy . . .”

jungwoo, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle, chimed in with a hearty laugh, “lost in the aroma, huh? i didn't know coffee daydreams could be so dangerous. maybe we should get you a helmet, buddy, to protect you from those hazardous beans.”

“who knew coffee brewing could be such an extreme sport? i'll have to be careful around here, might get caught in the crossfire of a barista's daydream.” you playfully added.

the poor barista, still recovering from the coffee mishap, managed a sheepish grin, “s-sorry about that. i guess my mind wandered into the coffee fields without a map.”

jungwoo, still relishing the moment, teased, “more like into the coffee clouds. next time, warn us before you take a caffeine-powered trip, captain jaehyun.”

with a playful grin, he nudged jaehyun and added, “or is it because you're nervous? coffee daydreaming might be your secret escape from the mysteries of the heart.”

jaehyun, now fully embracing the good-natured banter, rolled his eyes, “nervous? please, i handle coffee pressure like a pro. it's just, uh, occupational hazards.”

you, shyly enjoying the banter, quipped, “well, captain jaehyun, if your coffee daydreams are anything to go by, i'd say you're navigating the coffee seas just fine.”

jungwoo, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, continued to playfully prod, “maybe you need a co-captain to help you steer through those daydream storms. preferably someone with a good sense of direction.”

the trio chuckled, the coffee shop once again filled with the lighthearted melody of their banter. as the laughter subsided, jaehyun, with a flourish, finished preparing your coffee and handed it to you.

“here you go, espresso navigator. a brew crafted with the precision of a well-charted course and the heart of a caffeine adventurer. may it fuel your journey until our next coffee-filled escapade.”

you, smiling at the banter, accepted the cup with a playful thank you.

finally, you prepared to leave, the banter had woven a comfortable atmosphere, and you playfully remarked, “well, my lunch break is up, it's my cue to leave. thanks for the coffee and laughter, boys. see you around.”

jungwoo, ever the jester, grinned, “anytime you need a caffeine pick-me-up or a good laugh, you know where to find us.”

jaehyun, still recovering from his coffee mishap, added with a sheepish smile, “yeah, and next time, i promise not to turn the coffee shop into a comedy stage.”

you chuckled warmly, “oh, i don't mind a bit of coffee theater. it adds to the charm. and by the way, even if doyoung warned me you both are double trouble, i must say, you're not so bad after all.”

as you gracefully walked out, jaehyun, struck by an unexpected surge of realization, dramatically grasped jungwoo, who nearly tripped in bewildered confusion.

“i forgot to ask for her number!” jaehyun exclaimed, wide-eyed and dramatically clutching his chest as if he'd missed out on the last bean in the coffee bag.

jungwoo, eyes rolling, retorted, “your moves are as weak as decaf. you didn't even bother with the name.”

their banter continued, a hilarious exchange of blame and accusations, transforming the coffee shop into a spontaneous comedy show. back and forth they went until, in the midst of their banter, the closing lines arrived.

“next time, maybe start with a simple 'hi, i'm jaehyun.' that might save you from tripping over both words and your own feet.” suggested jungwoo with a sly grin.

but jaehyun, seemingly lost in his own world, responded with a dreamy smile, “i think i might be in love.”

jungwoo, catching onto the shift in the atmosphere, raised an eyebrow and remarked, “love? you sure it's not just a caffeine-induced daydream?”

jaehyun, still smiling, shrugged, “who knows? maybe my heart just found its favorite blend.”

#jaehyun #jeong jaehyun #nct 127 #nct #jaehyun nct #nct jaehyun #barista au #jaehyun smut #nct scenarios #nct imagines

[llau-ren-ti-a]

Bad Batch Headcanons - Skin Conditions

I’ve had this on my mind for way too long now and I NEED to write it down.

For context: I think that their mutations and “enhancements” had some side effects and actually made them more sensitive or gave them some other issues, this is one of many. Maybe Regs have to deal with this too, but I’m running with the Bad Batch for now.

TW: skin conditions, acne, eczema, a little blood? self-harm and injury

Hunter

first of all - he has like the most sensitive skin ever

I’m talking unscented, only natural ingredients, ph-neutral, everything you can imagine

soap made from ash, lime and oil, like, really specific and gentle shit

but on the other hand worst mixed skin ever, goes from crazy oily to dryer than Tatooine at least once a week

he’s either looking like a glazed donut or a shedding lizard

he’d straight up put cooking oil on his face bc “oil is good for dry skin, right?

someone tell this man how to take care of himself istg

bandana hides his greasy roots

bandana may be tied in different styles to hide his dandruff

he‘s highkey insecure about it

he‘s shedding like a dog, his hair is everywhere

in the shower, on the bed sheets, in the food if he cooks

if he ever shaves, doesn’t matter where or how he’s getting the worst razor burn and ingrown hairs ever

he’s getting all the issues

also, a big candidate for body acne?

he gives me back acne vibes

doesn’t wash his bedsheets or towel nearly often enough

they actually all (accidentally?) share a towel and never wash it, I’m convinced

Tech

his skin is dry af like, eczema / neurodermitis / psoriasis dry

especially his hands and joints, like the inside of knees and elbows

and around his eyes, especially because of his goggles/glasses, but also in the corners

he researched everything but sometimes just can’t help it and almost scratches his skin off

Hunter makes him wear cotton gloves when he goes to bed

that’s why he never sleeps

Crosshair straight up ties his hands with bandages so he can’t scratch himself

also a very dry scalp / dandruff candidate

should spend all of his time moisturising

tinkering around the marauder and getting into contact with motor oils/hydraulic liquids/fuel only makes it so so so much worse

doesn't wear skin protection, especially not gloves because it 'inhabits his motor functions'

don't get me started on his nails and nailbeds, because I can see how inflamed and irritated the skin is

the skin also peels off

sweaty hands

has a lot of moles?

stresses about said moles

Wrecker

has the nicest skin ever

except for a big pore / blackhead here and there

usually around the nose or on his forehead

literally the guy who either doesn't use soap or uses the same bar of soap to wash everything

it works

healthy glow might be mistaken for oily skin but it's actually not

actually gets a sunburn often, especially on his head, but refuses to do anything about it

turns into a lobster on uv-light-intense missions

red skin, really tight and shiny

sometimes, if crosshair is feeling really mean he gives him a brotherly slap on the sunburnt shoulder

he gets mouth sores sometimes, like cold sores?

also very attractive to mosquitos? he sweats a lot

scratches his mosquito bites so there are little scars all over his body

really random but occasionally he gets like one big aggressive butt pimple and can't sit for a few days

is very vocal about said butt pimple

Crosshair

my beloved

he's also getting all the issues

had very bad acne as a cadet

especially around his chin and cheeks to the point he straight up refused to take off his helmet

now that he's done with puberty he has a bunch of acne scars left

still breaks out sometimes

very sensitive to water - he just washes his face like usual and suddenly breaks out because that particular planet's water is 'weird'

so much acne but dry af skin, it's hard to combat

skin picking as self harm

aggressive nail biter; not only the nails but the skin around it

he's actually one big hangnail

and his nailbeds and sides are always inflamed

toothpicks to stop him from picking his skin

or to try to stop him from smoking but this is not a mental health / addiction headcanon

I'm convinced he has the ugliest, driest old man elbows and knees, I just know that they look weird

Echo

technically a reg, I know

but his prosthetics sometimes don't sit right, so there's a lot of friction and a high risk of irritated skin, blisters and sores

he's so pale - not surprised at all if he gets sunburnt quickly

reminds everyone to use lotion / sunscreen

learned the hard way bc he listened to Fives

tries to keep everyone from making stupid mistakes

buir mode activated

Omega

baby

baby skin

for now

Echo attempts to keep her in check

gets one really bad sunburn and learns her lesson

can't move for 3 business days

also, not a skin condition but she spends 5 seconds in direct sunlight and is just covered in freckles

#bad batch #the bad batch #bad batch headcanons #the bad batch headcanons #bad batch hcs #the bad batch hcs #tbb #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #tbb crosshair #tbb echo #tbb omega

[up-to-some-good]

Tradition (1/12 9)

This is a bit of a departure from my usual microfics, but I wanted to do something Christmassy since it's that time of year. 12 fics feels a bit ambitious, so that number may change, but I'm hoping for the best for now. In the meantime, enjoy some baby wolfstar :)

Next Part

December 1971

It had started as an idea. Barely even an idea, really. A thought, maybe, sparking in a conversation about the upcoming Christmas break.

Remus had been complaining about their transfiguration homework, lamenting that it wasn't already Christmas, when Sirius scoffed.

"What? You don't like Christmas?" Remus asked.

"You do?" Sirius responded incredulously. "It's all boring dinners with old people you barely know, fancy food in tiny portions you don't even get to enjoy, and scratchy formal clothes. And, yeah, occasionally a good present, but usually my parents take anything good away the second I misbehave, so it's not really worth it."

A breath of silence went around the dorm.

"That's...not how Christmas usually goes," Remus said slowly. "At least, not for me."

James and Peter shook their heads too.

"I mean, yeah, we have a family dinner," Peter added. "But normally I sit with my cousins, and we get to leave early to play in the snow while the adults keep talking."

"And my mom normally makes an amazing meal," James said. "Turkey, roast potatoes, gravy, plus dessert. We usually have too much leftover to eat by ourselves, so we donate it to the local church for the homeless shelter."

"Yeah, I've never had to wear anything formal, or anything like that," Remus continued. "We just wear whatever's comfortable. It's just family, anyway. Do you at least have some fun traditions? Like sledding or something?"

Sirius frowned.

"My mother would never let me and Reg do anything like that," he answered. "In her mind, Christmas is about strengthening our bonds with the rest of the Sacred 28. So no fun allowed."

He went back to his essay with a frown after that, even as the others continued to discuss what they were looking forward to in the coming holidays. Remus kept thinking about it though, mentally listing out all his family's traditions and wondering how many Sirius had never experienced.

It was a thought, at first.

It became something more.

*

The night before term ended, Sirius found a note on his bed, asking him to meet Remus in the kitchens. Curious, he left the dorms immediately to find his friend. When he got there, he found Remus, surrounded by baking ingredients and concerned house elves, grinning widely.

"What's going on, Rem?"

"I don't think it's fair that everyone gets to have a fun Christmas, while you're stuck with your boring family obligations," Remus said, gesturing with a wooden spoon as he spoke. "So, we're starting our own Christmas traditions right now. You and I are going to make a gingerbread house from scratch."

Sirius burst out laughing. "I don't even know what that is! How are we supposed to do that?"

Remus picked up a piece of paper from the table and shook it in Sirius's face.

"My mother has sent me her recipe, with careful instructions on how to bake, decorate and construct the house. How hard can it be?"

What followed was several hours of baking and decorating, supervised by anxious house elves from whom the two boys refused to accept any help or advice, leading to several mistakes along the way. First, they didn't roll out the dough evenly, ending up with only half of the roof and one very thick wall. They struggled to separate the eggs and had to restart the icing entirely. Sirius had been snacking on sweets throughout the process, which significantly lessened their decorations. Finally, they misread Hope's instructions, and built the whole house before decorating, meaning their decorations came out slightly wonky despite their best efforts.

Regardless, once they had completed the house, they proudly carried it all the way to Gryffindor tower and showed it off to everyone in the common room, demanding pictures be taken of their 'work of art' before anyone could eat it.

Sirius pinned the picture of the pair of them with their house to the back of his journal, hoping his mother would never discover it. He had icing in his hair, and both of them were covered in flour and sugar - a mess his parents would never approve of - but they were laughing and grinning proudly at their work.

For the first time, Sirius began to see the appeal of the holiday season.

#wolfstar #remus lupin #sirius black #wolfstar fic #baby wolfstar #pre relationship #this may be a slow burn #we will see #christmas fic #1/12

[invisibleraven]

baking a birthday cake together / rulie

Reggie ambled into the Molina kitchen, and froze when he saw the covered counters and Julie standing in the middle of it. Her hair was up in a messy bun and an apron covering her clothes.

"Hey Jules, what's cookin' good lookin'?" Reggie asked.

Julie turned and had a somewhat harried look on her face. "Hey Reg. It's papi's birthday, and I told Tia I would handle the cake since she's doing the food and Carlos is decorating. But I have no clue what I'm doing."

"You want some help?" Reggie offered. "I'm a fair hand in the kitchen, I helped my MeeMaw enough times."

"Would you?" Julie asked, her shoulders slumping in relief. "I would love you forever."

Reggie hoped his cheeks hadn't instantly flamed at that, but given his tendency to blush, he figured it was a lost cause. So he did what he always did to deflect-made a joke. "You mean you don't already?"

Julie rolled her eyes and tossed another apron at his head. Reggie caught it and tied it around his waist. "Okay, so what kind of cake are we doing?"

Julie showed him the recipe for the Tres Leches cake, a favourite in the Molina household. Reggie had never made one before but it didn't look terribly difficult. He looked at the pile of ingredients littering the countertops and hummed. "First things first, look at the recipe and put away whatever we don't need. I'll pre heat the oven and start separating the eggs."

They started working side by side, and while Julie was less experienced, Reggie didn't mind guiding her on how to measure properly and even let her have the bowl to lick out. She scrunched her nose at that though. "That is a one way ticket to salmonella town, no thank you."

"You mean you don't know the joy of licking the bowl?" Reggie asked. "I used to do it all the time, no ill effects yet."

"I think I'd rather not take chances," Julie retorted. "Especially prompted by the guy who spent a weekend in hospital after eating dodgy street dogs."

Reggie winced at the memory. "Man, Sam and Ella did us dirty that day, I will admit, but that was meat-no delicious cake batter."

"I'm still good," Julie replied.

"More for me," Reggie said with a shrug, reaching in to get a scoop of the batter, but Julie stayed his hand.

"Nope, you still have to help me with this cake, you can poison yourself later."

"Fiiiiiiine," he sighed, putting the bowl down and helping Julie get the cake tin in the oven. "We can make the milk mixture while the cake is cooling, and then we have to fridge it for a bit to let it soak. We can do the whipped cream then."

"Sounds good," Julie nodded, "Means we have lots of time to do the dishes."

"Ugh, the worst part of baking," Reggie groaned.

"I know, but necessary," Julie agreed. "You can tell me about your baking exploits with MeeMaw while you dry, how's that?"

Reggie grinned, and found for once he didn't mind the dishes so much, Julie and him chatting the whole time, laughing over stories together to the point that they barely heard the timer go off.

"Time flies when you're having fun I guess," Julie said as she got the tin out of the oven, laying it down on the range to cool. "Let's finish those dishes."

And maybe Reggie convinced her to lick the milk mixture bowl-hey, no chance of catching anything there right? But he so wasn't sharing the whipped cream one.

"Oh come on! It's my cream!" Julie protested, chasing him around the kitchen, scowling as he held it above her head.

"Oh yeah, what'll you give me for it?" Reggie asked, waggling his eyebrows.

She grabbed his necklace and pulled him down so they were nose to nose, making Reggie gulp. His arms lowered, caging her in. "Maybe we can share?" he whispered, eyes gazing at her lips.

"Maybe we can," Julie replied, leaning in and giving him the tiniest of pecks before pulling back, and snatching the bowl from his limp fingers. "But you'll have to catch me first!"

Reggie giggled as Julie dashed off, and he took off after her, catching her pretty easily due to his longer legs, hugging her tight and placing the bowl off to the side. "You tease."

"Moi?" Julie asked, the laughter still in her voice, her eyes shining.

"Yeah, you," Reggie said, tilting her chin up, searching to make sure this was okay. But the light never faded, her smile still brillant. So he closed the distance between them, sharing a sweet kiss-even better than the whipped cream that they had made.

Well he assumed, because after a kiss like that, he totally let Julie have the bowl. He figured he could wait for the cake to taste it. Well that is until Julie smeared it on him only to kiss it off his lips, and well, Reggie would have to say, it was pretty darn good-but Julie was better.

#filled prompts #ficlet #rulie #julie and the phantoms

[jegulily-stuff]

Jegulily trying to kill a spider ( regulus just picks it up by the end and takes it outside )

This one's a little bit of multi-POV: Lily, James, then Reg.

Hope you enjoy :)

...

Lily dropped the eggshell powder into the steaming cauldron.

It fizzed up, from the centre out to the edges, then went flat again.

She stirred it.

The potion turned from burgundy to neon pink.

Lily groaned.

Again? Why does it keep doing that?

It was supposed to be pale pink.

And sure she'd made some substitutions to that recipe- but she'd done the calculations properly.

Lily turned off the burner and sank down onto her stool away from the cauldron.

She sighed.

Her eyes found a cobweb in the corner of the ceiling. A large spider sat crouched in the middle.

Lily blinked slowly.

Once when she was in primary school, back before she even knew about magic, they'd had an assembly about Robert the Bruce. He'd been King of Scotland or something like that.

The teacher had told them all a story about how he'd been hiding in a cave during a war, ready to give it up, but there'd been a spider there with him, trying to weave a web between the opposite walls. The spider kept trying and failing over and over, but eventually it succeeded, and seeing that, King Robert decided he wouldn't give up either and he left the cave and went back to fight.

It was supposedto teach them about perseverance or whatever.

Lily watched the spider in the web.

Maybe she ought to feel inspired to try again.

Not that her spider was doing anything.

Really what she ought to do was remove it from her potions lab. You weren't supposed to let bugs around your brewing. They could contaminate the potion.

Although this spider didn't seem likely to end up in the cauldron.

Hmm.

The recipe she was making actually used spiders' legs. She'd got a box of them, dried, sitting next to her silver scales.

Was the potion coming out wrong because she wasn't using fresh spiders' legs? Was the difference in weight between fresh and dry affecting the measurement?

She looked up at the spider.

"Sorry mate, I really need to try something."

Lily pushed her stool into the corner, grabbed a cup, and climbed up.

She strained upwards but the ceiling was too high for her to reach.

Looking around the room, she spied a large wicker box. That would be sturdy enough, right?

Lily balanced it on top of the stool.

It didn't wobble.

She had to use a second box to climb up the stack which creaked beneath her feet, but she got up to the top without a problem.

She heard the lab door open behind her.

"Hey, Lils, have you seen the-"

James cut himself off, staring at her.

...

He was across the room before he'd though about it.

"Merlin! What are you doing?"

James hovered at the bottom of the tower Lily was balancing on, arms slightly oustretched in case he needed to catch her. It looked so very unsteady.

"Well, as you can see, I, the great wizard Merlin, am currently standing on a box because the ceiling is too high."

The stack wobbled as she turned to face him.

"Do you want to, maybe, not do that?"

Lily waved him off. "This is fine."

"Is it?" He moved around the tower as it leaned, arms still out.

"Why are you fussing? I'm perfectly capable."

"I didn't say you weren't - that's just a bit precarious."

She rolled her eyes. "Tell me you wouldn't do this yourself without thinking twice."

I don't worry when I'm the one doing the stupid thing, he thought. But it wasn't a very good argument.

He sidestepped the question.

"What is it you're actually trying to do?"

Lily sighed. She pointed up at the corner of the ceiling. "I want the spider."

"I could just vanish it?" James said.

"No, I mean I want for my..." She waved her hand towards the cauldron and other equipment. "My potion's not going very well, but I think this might be the solution."

"You want to put the spider in the potion?"

"Yeah something like that - so no magic. Not even to catch it - or I won't be able to use it."

Potion's ingredients always had to be prepared by hand so the magical charge didn't affect their properties. It made the whole thing a bit tedious in James' opinion. If a task didn't have his attention, then it didn't have his attention, and all that.

He looked up at Lily.

"Well you can't reach it from there. And you absolutely can't build that tower any higher. I'll just get a broom, hang on." And he hurried out of the door.

He was back a few moments later, partially afraid she'd have just ignored him and put another box on the stack.

But she hadn't.

James climbed onto the broom and Lily passed him the cup.

"You know for some reason I thought you wanted the broom to sweep it out of the corner." Lily said, lowering herself to the floor.

"I'd never miss an opportunity to fly a broom somewhere I shouldn't."

And, yeah, Lily had been completely right about that whole hubris double standard thing.

He rose towards the ceiling on the broom, but as soon as he came close, the spider began to move.

It scurried across the top of the wall. James followed it holding the cup, but he was far less maneuverable.

There were a few pictures hanging from the picture rail. The spider managed to squeeze behind one.

James had to take a moment to unhook the picture frame and pass it down to Lily. When he looked back the spider had vanished.

"I think it went back up." Lily said, on her tiptoes as she looked.

James tried to catch up to it again, but it was so quick.

It skittered back and forth across the wall and ceiling, ducking behind picture frames and pieces of furniture.

James couldn't turn on the spot nearly as well. He knocked a stack of books off the top of a set of shelves. Lily only caught them because she was already casting a hover charm, levitating a piece of card to herd the spider with.

A few minutes later and they'd moved half the pieces of furniture in the room away from the walls, and they'd still not caught the thing.

James backed up to get a better view. He'd lost sight of it again. It was so slippery.

All of a sudden, his broom lurched and he was tipped forwards.

The tail had caught on the light fitting.

James managed to catch hold of the broom and not fall to the floor, but he was left dangling in the air.

He did finally catch sight of the spider though, disappearing behind the fixed bookshelf. Brilliant.

James hoped Lily wouldn't hold this complete failure against him.

She regarded him for a moment, eyebrows raised and then started laughing. He didn't have a free hand to cover his face in shame and it was all he could do to sigh in laughter with her.

"What are you doing?"

Lily's laughter turned into a sound of surprise. She turned on the spot.

James hadn't heard Reg come in either. (No one ever did. He walked around like a ghost.) But there he was standing in the doorway.

He still had his outside cloak on, hair slightly ruffled from the wind. He regarded them with some concern.

James gave him what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

...

Regulus looked at the scene before him in bewilderment.

Most of the furniture was out of place. James was up in the air, hanging by his fingers from a broomstick.

Lily was levitating several small objects at once. They began to sink slowly towards the ground as her attention fell on Regulus instead.

"Is there a problem?" He asked them. "I heard a crash."

"No, no." James said. "Everything's fine."

His legs were swinging over several feet of empty air.

Regulus eyed him doubtfully.

Flashing an attempt at a nonchalant grin, James did a pull-up using the broom as a bar.

"Just exercising - you know how it is."

Regulus tried to look unimpressed and not let his gaze linger on James' shoulders for too long.

He turned to Lily. "What's happening?"

She sighed. "We're trying to catch a spider. It's, uh... not going very well."

Oh.

Regulus wasn't entirely sure that justified the mess. Surely it couldn't be that difficult?

James dropped to the floor.

"I don't think I can do this anymore." He confessed. "That spider's a true warrior - I can't kill him, it wouldn't be right."

He looked at Lily, imploringly.

She nodded, a slow, resigned motion. "Yeah. I mean, one spider wouldn't have been enough to finish the potion anyway. Really, I need to order fresh spiders' legs from the shop."

"What's the potion for?" Regulus asked.

She hadn't said that she was making one today.

"Mary said her fingernails keep cracking. I thought I'd make her an ointment."

Regulus frowned.

"She's allergic to shellfish." Lily explained. "So I didn't want to use the crab claw recipe, even if the potion's not for drinking. I've made up a new version."

That made more sense.

"I missed having you in the lab, you know." Lily said. "It's not the same without someone to talk to."

"He was only gone for a few hours." James teased.

Lily pulled Regulus into her arms. "Ah, but every minute without him feels like a year. My poor heart can't bear it."

James laughed, and Lily pressed a kiss to Regulus' cheek.

"How was the press interview?" James asked him.

"Fine I suppose. I didn't have to say much. The reporters mostly wanted to talk to Simons since she's the captain. But obviously the seeker never gets to avoid the limelight entirely."

He hoped he didn't sound too worn out. It really hadn't been a lot of work. Somehow though, talking to people made him far more tired than anything else.

"Do you want to go settle down and play some cards?" James asked. "I'll make some drinks. You know, if we're done here?"

This last bit he addressed to Lily.

She hesitated for a second.

"Resistant as that spider is to going in my potion when I want it to, I can't really leave it in the room. Lab safety and everything."

"Where is it?" Regulus asked.

"It went behind the shelves." James said, pointing.

Regulus picked up a cup and a piece of card from the floor and walked across the room lightly.

Peering behind the shelves he saw where the spider was hiding. Carefully moving some of the books from the shelf, he scooped the spider into the cup.

Lily and James stared at him.

He tried to remain composed and not look smug, but he felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Regulus let the spider go outside by the woodstore. Shelter but not inside the house.

Then he went in to the kitchen and put the cup by the sink for washing up.

James was putting the kettle on the stove.

"You're welcome to come with me when I'm training, you know." James told him casually.

Regulus frowned. "Huh."

"I saw you looking - don't think I didn't. You can come watch me do pull-ups any time." He winked.

Regulus screwed his face up, heat rising to his cheeks.

Lily pulled him into her arms, laughing, and he hid his face in her neck.

#jegulily #regulus black #lily evans #james potter #fic #my posts

[jegaphone]

This post kind of went off the rails as I was writing it but I'm still having a nice time getting my thoughts down on paper so to speak, so here it is anyway! Read on for instant pot thoughts and chicken suggestions.

@thievinghippo also requested new chicken recipes, and I happen to be making one of my favorites tonight - Punjabi chicken curry! The specific recipe requires a set of spices that may be less likely to be in your kitchen if you don't cook Southeast Asian cuisine on the reg, and I don't want to reproduce a recipe in full that isn't already available online, but I highly recommend Anupy Singla's cookbook Instant Pot Indian. Everything I've made from it has been an absolute banger, and once you have the basic set of ingredients on hand the recipes come together quickly and easily. A lot of pureeing instead of chopping, and dumping stuff into the pot to simply set and forget rather than having to mind the stovetop. There are also many options for adjusting the spice levels to your tastes!

I've made some terrible instant pot meals - rubbery, watery, tough. I know a lot of folks who have given up on it as an appliance. I think the most important thing I've learned is to use recipes (at least as a jumping off point) that were truly designed and tested for that cooking method. Until very recently I hadn't really seen the point in buying cookbooks when so many recipes are available online, but man, the difference in quality is often SUBSTANTIAL. I do have some trusted online sources for recipes (I want to make a post listing them soon), but just Googling or using something like All Recipes is a minefield these days. I'm trying to make too many points at once here, but what I really want to get at for the moment is that the instant pot is Good Actually if you use it right.

In particular, chicken in the instant pot turns into easily-shreddable, juicy, flavorful deliciousness. Just throw in whole thighs or breasts (boneless or not) along with the other ingredients for chili, curry, stew, etc. It can also become pulled chicken sandwiches, or get added to a salad to make it a heartier meal. There are so many possible variations, but as a very general baseline...

2 pounds of meat

1 cup of liquid (broth, aquafaba from cans of beans, tomato sauce, or even just water - in my experience erring on the side of a little more liquid is better, since you can always drain some off, but you don't want anything to scorch if it's too dry)

1 tablespoon of Kosher salt

Set the timer to 10 minutes on high

For the curry I'm making tonight, I marinated the chicken in spiced yogurt, and then added diced canned tomatoes, pureed onion, garlic, and ginger, frozen peas, and a bunch more spices. About five tablespoons of spices in total for this dish, but that varies a lot by cuisine and what the spices in question are! I'm being purposefully vague because one of the skills I've most valued learning for day-to-day cooking is to freestyle with what I have on hand, rather than having to meticulously plan ahead for stocking specific ingredients. This does require having a stocked pantry of basics... another post for the future!

#jega cooks #anupy singla #instant pot #chicken

[soundcrusher]

Birds of a Feather AU Part 2

I don't know what hit me, but here's a second part!

This time, we get to see how Fools Shot and Second Fiddle are in this Au.

(Part 1)

Phoenix/Snow = Sg!Phoenix Phoenix/Red = Reg!Phoenix

.:():.:():.:():.:():.:():.:():.:():.:():.:():.:():.:():.:():.:():.:():.:():.:():.

Snow was just studying in his room, reading up on some notes he took during one of the lessons Fools Shot gave them, as he heard a shout from outside their room and a drop. “Looks like Red’s trap got another one…” Muttered the youngling, before storing his data-pad in his subspace and getting up from the berth. Walking over to the door and typing in the small code Red made him remember to deactivate the other small booby-traps his brother has laid out.

Looking at it, his brother would probably be great at anything, if he would be behind it just like he was behind his pranks and small traps. Either way, Snow opened the door and took a peek outside. Finding none of the usual crew members who would bang against their door at a time like this. No, standing in front of him, covered in some not bad smelling slime his brother made out of materials from the science lab, was Fools Shot. And Snow was quick to squeak out an apology, before darting back into the room and getting a rag for their captain. Which the old mech took with a chuckle.

“There’s not really a need for an apology, now is there? I told you two already, I don’t mind Red’s pranks. I would just like a heads-up first.” Said the captain with a soft smile, as he handed back the rag. It didn’t really help, there was still some slime sticking to his frame, but he still appreciated the gesture. Both of the Phoenixes were considerate in their own rights, but that wasn’t the reason why he came to their room. No, and Snow could see in his captain’s face that the reason for his visit was serious.

So, he stepped out of the room without a word, locking the door behind him, before following his captain down the halls. Clutching the older mech’s servo on his trembling ones, as he saw the stares of some of the passing crew members. Something that didn’t go unnoticed by Fools Shot and only made him walk faster to get Snow out of the halls and into his office quicker. And as soon as they were there, Fools Shot pushed the youngling in. Motioning to one of the chairs in front of his desk, before moving behind his desk and sitting down. Servos folded together on top of the surface, while regarding one of his youngest crew members with a smile. “Please, sit. There’s quite a few things I want to talk about.”

“And it doesn’t feel like it involves my studies…” Said Snow, as he sat down in one of the chairs. Curling up on it, by pulling his legs up and hugging them. And considering the chair was made to fit cybertronians bigger than a young flier, it was quite easy to do so. “… If it’s about me borrowing ingredients from the kitchen again, I’m sorry… B-but I left some energon treats as an exchange!”

Fools Shot was quick to raise his servos in a calming gesture. “Snow, it’s not that I want to talk about. It’s something else.”

“I-Is it about the stink bombs in Second Fiddle’s room? I t-told Red that it was a bad idea… He didn’t listen…” Snow muttered, before curling up even more. Hiding his face in his arms out of fear of what Fools Shot would do, or say. But to his surprise, the old mech only laughed. Causing Snow to raise his head in surprise.

“I was wondering why Second Fiddle was smelling like a… what’s the human word… wet dog? I think that’s the right one.” He said with a chuckle. “He was quite mad, I must admit, and it would be best if you two made a big bow around him, but I’m not going to punish you or your brother for a harmless prank. Primus knows I have done worse when I still was at the academy, even as a teacher.”

Hearing that made Snow visibly relax again. For a second, he thought that Fools Shot would hand them over to Second Fiddle for a punishment, or tell the second in command about who planted the stink bombs and who didn’t stop it happening. But the youngling was quick to tense back up again, after sensing that their conversation wasn’t over yet. “I sense a ‘But’ there… c-captain…”

There was a flicker of something, Snow could see it in the old mech’s face, but what exactly it was, he couldn’t tell. Fools Shot might be a lot more open than most of the crew, but he could also be hard to read sometimes. Especially now, with the captain sporting his more serious look again and watching him out of intense blue eyes that reminded Snow of one of the wild cyber-tigers he’s seen in a documentary once. It was enough for the youngling to make him curl up and hide again. Even as the intense stare ended and was replaced by one of concern.

“Snow… I noticed that you haven’t been to the medical bay for quite some time. Misdeed hasn’t said anything, he’s probably too busy, but Fix It noticed it. He was the one who brought it up to me, and it got me worried.” Fools Shot stood up after he didn’t get an answer from Snow and walked around the table. Kneeling down in front of the cowering youngling to have a better look, but to also appear less threatening. Should Snow feel trapped. “When we talked about tasks for you and your brother to do, you asked to help out in the medical bay. I still remember your bright smile during your first week, but it has changed, hasn’t it?”

Fools Shot waited for an answer from Snow, but nothing came from the young flier. At least, no verbal answer. So, the old mech changed his tactic, telling Snow that he could simply hold up one digit for ‘Yes’ and two for ‘No’, and that seemed to do the trick, because the youngling held up one digit. “I knew it, something has changed, but you don’t want to talk about it.”

One digit.

“Is it because of Misdeed?”

One digit.

“Has he hurt you?”

This time, Snow was hesitant, Fools Shot could see it in the way his servos tensed up, but as soon as he saw only one digit, his blood started to boil. How didn’t he notice it sooner? What kind of captain doesn’t notice that one of his crew was hurting because of another? “Do you want me to do something about it?”

Two digits.

“Snow… that question was unfair, because I WILL have to do something about Misdeed. He hurt you. And, yes, I know that most of the crew is rough, and you don’t have it easy with… well… your looks. And some have bad memories regarding the mech you and your brother share a likeness to, but that’s still no excuse to hurt you.” Fools Shot’s voice was soft, despite the burning anger in his spark. “Snow… are you scared of Misdeed?”

No answer.

“You know that no answer is an answer, right?” Quipped Fools Shot in an attempt to lift the mood, while he softly moved Snow’s arms away from his face. And his spark broke as he saw the youngling’s tear stricken face together with those sad optics that told more than words could. “Snow… I failed you as a captain and as a teacher, haven’t I?” He asked, before wiping away the tears. “But I won’t fail you now… do you believe me?”

One digit, and Fools Shot stopped asking after the last question. Instead, he returned to his desk and pulled out a data-pad, before explaining that Old Man had requested another pair of servos to help him down in the engine room. And considering the latest discoveries, he thought it would be best if Snow went to help Old Man. “I know, you hardly have any idea what to do, but we both know how much of a fast learner you are. You and your brother together. Also, working together with Old Man would mean that you get to spend more time with your brother. How does that sound?” It went unsaid that Fools Shot and Old Man planned this to make sure Snow wouldn’t be put in any danger. Fix It made it clear that something was going on in the medical bay. Something that no-one seemed to want to talk about, and while Fix It went after that, it was Fools Shot’s duty to keep the two young fliers safe.

Although, before Snow could answer, Second Fiddle entered the office with a smile and an energon cube. Greeting his co-captain and handing him the glass cube, before turning towards Snow. “Ah, just the mech I was looking for. You wouldn’t mind if I borrowed Snow for a while, would you? There are some things we have to discuss, alone.”

Fools Shot looked from Sow to Second Fiddle and back. There were still some things he had to discuss with the youngling, and he was going to say so, but the beast former beat him to it. Grabbing Snow by the arm and pulling the youngling out of the chair and after him.

And Fools Shot found himself calling Fix It. Asking the speedster to keep an optic on his second in command, because something was definitely going on.

—

Meanwhile, Second Fiddle was dragging the youngling towards ‘his’ office. Which wasn’t his official office given by Fools Shot, but rather a room he used for planning their hunts. It was the furthest away and easily overlooked if you didn’t know what to look for.

So, the room was ideal if you needed a secret conversation with a youngling who kept on messing up your perfect plans. And the second they were inside, Second Fiddle roughly shoved Snow to the ground. Fixating the youngling with a look that screamed ‘Move, and you’ll regret it’, and together with him opening his wings and spreading them out to their full length, it was enough to send Snow hurdling off towards the closest corner in fear.

“What did you tell him?” Second Fiddle’s voice was sickly sweet, as he slowly stalked closer to the cowering youngling. Watching him flinch away and try his best to disappear into the corner, but there was no escape. Both of them knew it, and with the birdformer blocking off any way of escape, there wasn’t even a chance for Snow to run and hide. Not that Second Fiddle would have let him run. He never let him run.

And he wouldn’t let him run, until he got an answer to his question.

“What did you tell him, Phoenix? Don’t make me angry. You know what happens when I get angry.” Chirped the co-captain, as he crouched down in front of Snow. Using his large wings to obscure the already scarce light and trapping the youngling in darkness. With the only source of light being the birdformer’s eerily golden optics.

“Phoenix!”

“I TOLD HIM NOTHING!” Screeched the youngling over and over, before his cries turned into pitiful sobs. “Nothing! I swear on Primus! I told him nothing! He just asked! He asked, and I said yes or no! I didn’t say anything!” But that wasn’t enough for Second Fiddle. Snow knew it. No matter what he said, it was never enough for the co-captain, nor was it enough for everyone else who helped with the hunts. They always wanted more, but never believed him when there wasn’t more to tell. And the silence that followed his outburst made Snow even more scared of what the mech in front of him would do. Especially with how silent the whole room has become, minus his own sobs and whimpers.

However, if there was one thing everybody knew about Second Fiddle, it’s that the co-captain never left out an opportunity to look down upon those he deemed beneath him, and or a chance to put someone in their place. Which means Snow, suddenly, found himself face to face with his tormentor. With the birdformer’s claws digging into his cheeks, as Second Fiddle made sure he couldn’t look at anything else except his face.

“Do you really think I believe you? You can swear on Primus as much as I care, maybe even pray to him, but we both know that he would never help a stupid youngling who’s only lying to his superiors.” Said the co-captain, before finally letting go of Snow and stepping away. Folding his wings back, as he circled the round table they use for their hunting plans and sitting down as soon as he was by his chair. “But for once I’ll believe your words. Don’t think though I won’t be able to find out if you lied to me, little bird. Differently from Fools Shot, I KNOW what’s happening on this ship.” With that said, Second Fiddle grabbed a nearby data-pad and went over their latest plans on capturing a rather hard to catch Autobot.

Snow took that as his cue to leave, and after finding his footing and forcing his legs to stop quivering, he bolted out of the room. Past the mechs and femmes who were already filing into the room and back towards a safer space. But, knowing Second Fiddle, Snow took a turn and didn’t run towards his and his brother’s room, but rather towards the engine room. Knowing full well that he would be safer with Old Man and his brother, than on his own.

And as he made it there, bursting through the doors and scaring Old Man and Red from his sudden appearance, Snow felt another fresh wave of tears well up in his optics.

“C-can I st-tay…. stay with y-you wo?”

#transformers #transformers ocs #birds of a feather au #birds of a feather #sg/phoenix #reg/phoenix #reg/fools shot #second fiddle

[its-vannah]

You & Me (Sirius Black x Reader, Regulus Black x Reader)

A/N: Hey, guys! I had an idea for an "interactive" story where you can (sort of) make your choices as you go. At the end of each story, you'll get two choices (one skewing more towards Sirius, the other Regulus). I hope you guys enjoy!

You and Regulus walked side by side in the open corridor, laughing about your last class. Somehow, Miriath Pomski had managed to catch his robes on fire by mixing the mixing the wrong ingredients together in potions. And it had provided for some much-needed laughter in the class.

As you turned a corner, nearing the Great Hall, a boy, perhaps a bit older than you and Regulus, ran up to the two of you, his hair settling just above his shoulders.

"Reggie, did you hear what happened in potions today?" He asked, his hands on his hips, panting from running down the the corridor.

With a sigh, Regulus nodded, "Yes, Sirius, I was there. So was Y/N."

"Who?" Sirius asked, his face masked with confusion.

You couldn't help but laugh, extending your hand, "Y/N Y/L/N."

Sirius blinked, caught in a trance for a moment, before taking your hand in his, shaking it enthusiastically, "Sirius Black. I'm Reggie's older- and handsomer- brother."

"It's nice to meet Reggie's older brother," You said teasingly, elbowing your friend at the mention of his nickname.

But Regulus wasn't having it. There was no way you were going to be friends with Sirius. Not on his watch, anyway.

"I haven't seen you around much, Y/N. Are you a Gryffindor?"

"I am, but I'm in Regulus's year, so that probably explains why we haven't met/No, I'm a Y/H, so that probably explains it." You answered, offering him a small smile, "Do you, by any chance, play Quidditch?"

A proud smile spread across his lips, "I do, actually. Recognize me?"

"I do, actually. I always wondered why you and Regulus seemed to go after one another. I guess now I know why. Brotherly love."

"If that's what you call it…" Regulus muttered under his breath, crossing his arms.

"Look, I've got to run to Defence Against the Dark Arts, but I'd love to see you again sometime."

Your eyes widened, "Wait, you're in Defence Against the Dark Arts next?"

"I am. Is something wrong with that?"

"No, it's just, I have it next, too."

"There's no way!" Sirius exclaimed, "Surely we would've noticed one another in there."

You shrugged, "Must've been focused on the lesson. But since we're both headed there anyway, why don't we walk together?"

"I'd like that," He grinned, adjusting the books in his hands.

Looking back at Regulus, you smiled, "I'll see you at lunch, alright Reg? Figured since we're going in different directions, I may as well walk with your brother. You alright finding Divination by yourself?"

But Regulus wasn't in the mood for teasing. Not now, anyway.

"I'll be fine."

"Reg…" You frowned, reaching your hand out for his shoulder. But he yanked his shoulder away, speeding off in the other direction.

Looking back at Sirius, you pondered going after him.

"He'll be okay. He's tough. A Slytherin, after all."

[Now, it's time for you to make your choice. Do you:

Go with Sirius to D.A.D.A. and talk to Regulus later

OR

Go after Regulus and turn down Sirius's invitation

? ]

#regulus fanfiction #harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #fanfiction #harry potter imagines #regulus black #regulus x reader #regulus #regulus angst #regulus x y/n #regulus black x reader #regulus black x y/n #regulus black x you #regulus black imagine #sirius black x y/n #sirius #sirius black #sirius x you #sirius x reader #sirius black x you #sirius black x reader #sirius black angst #sirius black fluff #marauders #hogwarts #fanfic #choose your own adventure harry potter

[caswellseyes]

Hiiii! 12 from the autumn prompts for whatever found family group you want?

hi!! tysm for this one, it was so fun to write! i went with sunset curve + willie cause i thought they'd be both cute and chaotic, which is my favourite thing hehe. also i'm very european and don't celebrate thanksgiving so all the dishes etc are based on one google search and one google search only lmao. anyway this is set in some sort of modern day au wherein sunset curve rehearses in bobby’s garage and the molina’s don’t own that house. enjoy!

12. All of us have shitty families so we’re doing Friendsgiving instead

“Bobby, can we make cranberry sauce?”

Bobby turns around, bringing the shopping cart he’s pushing to a halt. Reggie stands in front of him, crouched near a few boxes of cranberries.

They’re in the supermarket, doing some last-minute Thanksgiving shopping. Honestly, Bobby hadn’t planned on celebrating this year - his parents are absent, as usual, so it’s not like he could’ve celebrated with them - but when all three of his best friends mentioned crashing in the garage over the holiday, those plans had changed.

“I don’t know,” Bobby says, frowning. “Are you supposed to make that or buy it in a can or something?”

Reggie shrugs his shoulders, already digging out his phone to look it up. Bobby takes a moment to check his own. He has three more texts from Luke requesting extra dinner rolls - he sends a picture of the two packs in the cart and immediately receives a bunch of exclamation points - and a voice message from Alex.

“Hey, Bobbers,” Alex says when Bobby presses play. “So, uh, I just took the turkey out of the oven to rub the spicy butter stuff on it, which was gross, and it was still kind of cold? But it’s been in there for ages, so I don’t think it should be cold anymore? And then I asked Luke and he said the oven might be broken but it doesn’t look broken so I just put the turkey back in there and turned the temperature up just in case. Don’t worry, I put the fire extinguisher in the kitchen in case anything goes wrong.”

Alex pauses for a second, listening to someone in the room. There’s a muffled conversation before Alex continues the recording.

“Oh, also,” he says, clearly aiming for casual but not quite succeeding, “uh, Willie might be here? If that’s cool? It’s just that they didn’t have plans either cause Caleb is only doing this super fancy adult dinner and that sounds terrible and also boring so Luke and I thought they could join us, but obviously if you and Reg don’t want that then that’s fine too, but. Yeah. I’m gonna check on the turkey again.”

Bobby smiles to himself as the recording ends. He quickly texts Alex back that yes, of course Willie can stay, and that the oven acts up a little sometimes but if the turkey doesn’t turn out, they’ll have plenty of other food. Then, for good measure, he texts Willie to let them know they’re welcome as well.

“I think we make it ourselves,” Reggie says, dropping the package of cranberries in the cart. “We just need some orange juice and sugar.”

Bobby nods and adds the ingredients to the grocery list on his phone.

“So that’s green beans, corn, pumpkin pie, sugar, and orange juice,” he says. He pushes the cart forward again, Reggie keeping pace next to him. “Also, Willie is joining us.”

“Nice,” Reggie says, beaming widely. “I’ve been meaning to talk to them about that raccoon dream I had so they can interpret it for me.”

Bobby mulls that statement over for a second and then decides he doesn’t need to know. Instead, he steers them toward the green beans and leaves Reggie to pick out some good ones while he gets the corn.

They rush through the rest of the list, both eager to get home. Thankfully, both the store and the streets are fairly empty and they make it back to Bobby’s place in no time.

“Hey, Alex,” Bobby says, dropping a heavy bag of groceries in the kitchen. “How’s the turkey?”

Alex groans from the floor. He’s sitting against the kitchen island, legs stretched out and touching the cabinets underneath the oven. He’s glaring at the oven and the turkey in it intensely.

“I’m pretty sure it’s still frozen,” he tells Bobby. “But the mashed potatoes are pretty good.”

“Nice.” Bobby tosses the green beans onto the counter and puts the orange juice in the fridge. “When’s Willie getting here?”

“In a little bit,” Alex says. He pushes himself upright and takes the corn from Bobby. “They said they had something to do first.”

Reggie barges into the kitchen with the rest of the groceries. The dinner rolls - three packs, since they now had an extra person coming - are balanced on top of the bag he’s carrying.

“Hey, ‘Lex, wanna help me make cranberry sauce?”

Alex turns to Bobby and pulls a face. Bobby shrugs. Clearly, they’re on the same end of the cranberry sauce-hating spectrum, but Bobby is fairly sure they’re also both committed to doing whatever their bandmates want to make this a good Thanksgiving, so he’s not at all surprised when Alex turns back to Reggie and helps him unload the groceries, already talking about the kitchen utensils they need.

Bobby sneaks a bite of mashed potatoes and rushes out of the kitchen before Alex can stop him. 

“These are really good,” he yells, already halfway out the door. Alex’s outraged cry follows him all the way to the garage.

“Bobby!” Luke calls out as soon as Bobby walks in. “Awesome, can you toss me those streamers?”

Luke is standing in the loft. Clearly, he’s trying to hang up streamers between the loft and the wall on the other side, but they keep falling down. 

Bobby obediently picks up the streamers and tosses one end to Luke. It falls down the first time, but the second time, Luke catches them. While he fastens them on the loft railing, Bobby climbs on a chair and ties the other end around a little hook in the wall.

He steps back to examine their work and frowns.

“Luke, these say ‘Happy Birthday’.”

Luke bounces up to him. He shrugs.

“Well, you said to decorate the garage, and we don’t really have any Thanksgiving decorations, so I figured I’d just use a bunch of other stuff.”

Bobby looks around. True to his word, Luke had indeed used a whole lot of decorations. There are Valentine's Day balloons everywhere and an Easter tablecloth covers the table they dragged out here. The centrepiece on the table is a plastic Halloween pumpkin filled with confetti and a snowflake curtain from last Christmas hangs in front of the door.

It’s a mess. Bobby loves it.

He tells Luke as much, clapping him on the shoulder. Luke beams with pride.

Together, they make quick work of setting everything else up. They bring plates and cutlery from the house into the garage and set the table, keeping plenty of space free for the dishes. Then, once Alex and Reggie deem the food ready, they carry those in.

By the time Willie skateboards up to the house, clutching a paper bag, the only thing that isn’t done yet is the turkey. All four members of Sunset Curve are leaning over it, examining it as if it’ll magically be cooked.

“I don’t get it,” Alex says for the fortieth time, “I followed all of the instructions, and I put the butter stuff on it so often even though it felt really gross, and it’s still cold.”

“Maybe it’s meant to be cold?” Reggie suggests. “I mean, it always looks cold in the movies. I’ve never had Thanksgiving turkey before.”

Luke reaches out and pokes the turkey. 

“No, I think this is just still a little frozen,” he says.

Bobby sighs. The turkey hadn’t defrosted for nearly as long as it should’ve. They’d all agreed initially that that shouldn’t matter too much, but combined with the shitty oven in Bobby’s kitchen, it had turned out to be a bit of an issue.

“I think we just waited too long to take it out of the freezer,” Bobby says. He nudges Alex’s shoulder. “Good thing we have those amazing mashed potatoes. We won’t even need turkey.”

“Oh, the potatoes,” Reggie says dreamily. “‘Lex, is Willie here yet? I really want to eat the potatoes.”

“I’m here,” Willie’s voice says from the doorway. As one, Sunset Curve turns around to face them. 

Willie waves awkwardly, one hand holding the paper bag.

“Hi,” they say. At Alex’s motion, they move into the kitchen, quickly kissing him before turning towards the turkey.

“That does look a little frozen,” they say. “It’s okay, though. I brought chicken nuggets.”

“You brought what?” Bobby asks, not sure if he heard that properly. When Willie puts the bag down and unpacks two large takeout containers, both filled to the brim with chicken nuggets, it turns out that he did.

“Well, Alex called me about the turkey,” Willie explains, “and that everyone was helping get stuff ready, so. This is my stuff. Oh, and the bottom box has veggie nuggets instead, for Bobby.”

“You brought backup poultry?” Alex asks, a little amazed, “and vegetarian stuff?”

“Yep.” Willie says with a grin.

Luke and Reggie eye each other. Slowly, both of their hands glide towards the nuggets. Bobby slaps both of them away.

“Not till we’re sitting down,” he says sternly. Next to him, Alex has drawn Willie into another kiss.

“Dudes,” Luke says, causing Willie and Alex to break apart, “let’s go eat!”

Together, they file into the garage, placing Willie’s chicken nuggets in the middle of the table.

They sit down, pouring drinks for each other and passing dishes around. Bobby fills his plate with a generous helping of mashed potatoes and a bunch of green beans. The first pack of dinner rolls is already empty, so he breaks into the second before pouring gravy onto his plate.

When he’s ready to eat, he looks around at his friends. Luke’s plate is piled high with dinner rolls and Reggie has half the bowl of cranberry sauce on his. Alex has a little bit of everything, while Willie seems focused on the corn. 

It’s not the lonely evening any of them thought this holiday would be. Instead, they’re all together, enjoying a good dinner with friends.

“Bobby, did you want to say something?” Alex asks. 

Bobby shakes his head.

“Nothing. Just - Happy Friendsgiving, everyone.”

Reggie raises his glass, the others quick to follow suit.

“Happy Friendsgiving,” they chorus, clinking their glasses together.

Yeah, Bobby hadn’t planned on celebrating Thanksgiving this year.

He’s really glad he did, though.

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #bobby shaw #reggie peters #alex mercer #luke patterson #willie jatp #willex #michelle does things #michelle answers #things i learned for this: most cranberry sauce recipes use orange juice #i just #orange juice? really? #idk why that surprises me so much but wow i did not see that coming #am also very confused by people just. heating up corn? i only eat that cold and in salads? #food is weird #really craving some mashed potatoes now though #also chicken nuggets

[sirpleasedonotfuckthepastasalad]

"High Protein" Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 can (about 240g) of chickpeas, drained

1 can (about 240g) of cannellini white beans, drained

1 can (approximately 425g) of sweet peas, drained

8-10 oz (170-225g) of your favorite pasta (tricolor penne works great if you're an idiot like me who forgets there is pasta on the stove- I also used "Protein Pasta"- Probably a gimmick, but I'm trying- to help the beans/chickpeas along)

About 1/4 cup (60ml) of red wine vinaigrette, or adjust to taste (If you don't like red wine dressing, get something else, man- I literally do not care. It's your pasta, I'm just living in it.)

Instructions:

Gather your ingredients and drain and rinse them well. (Canned veggie water is so gross, hate it.)

In a large bowl, combine the chickpeas, cannellini beans, and sweet peas.

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. (Except fuck whatever amount of salt they tell you. Put at least twice that much.)

Once cooked, rinse it under cold water to cool it down before adding it to the peas and beans. (I know, I know, a cardinal sin, but that starch does nothing for this recipe and I want my pasta salad fast so fuck it.)

Add the cooled pasta to the bowl.

Drizzle the red wine vinaigrette (Or whatever vinaigrette or oil/vinegar combo you like) over the mixture and toss everything together.

Serve immediately or store covered in the fridge until serving.

Makes 3-5 Servings.

About the Recipe

If you've made Pasta salad before this recipe probably looks totally normal/ridiculous to you- but I made this recently, exactly as described and it blew my dick off, man. absolutely fantastic. And added on to that, this is a nice, light lunch, keeping me away from heavier/greaser foods that upset my stomach early in the day, without sacrificing being full. I have been tasked with consuming more protein, but there's no way in hell I am going to cook meat on the reg. That's for people with their shit together. The protein and fiber from the canned beans/peas, and the carbohydrates in the pasta make this meal pretty all in one. And because all you have to cook is the pasta, it's pretty much a one-pan meal- minus your strainer. You can also add anything you like! Pasta salad is one of my favorites because there are no rules! Next time, I'd like to add some cucumber and red onion- two of my favorite things to put in pasta salad, but a friend of mine says she thinks bell pepper and pepperoni would take it over the top, and my Stepmother said she would love it with some black olives, and tomato.

#recipes #recipe #pasta #food #easy recipes #cheap recipes #affordable cooking #Be nice or get blocked #health #cooking #simple meal prep #meal prep #meal planning

[ddejavvu]

🐍 academic rivals to lovers 😵💫

come celebrate 1.5K with me! today is regulus black day :)

🐍 mon étoile - send me a trope, and I’ll write about what it would be like with regulus! (ex. enemies to lovers)

--

okay but regulus is king of potions and you're the fucking queen. you're always at each other's throats trying to outdo each other but it's pointless, neither of you are ever able to finally vanquish the other once and for all, you're always neck in neck

one day reg sabotages your potion, tosses ground lacewing flies in and blows the entire thing up. thankfully, the professor isn't fucking stupid enough to believe that he wasn't the cause, knowing that you were more than capable of making a potion that didn't explode and knowing someone must have been behind it. unfortunately, you're still punished for creating such animosity in the first place, and you find yourself stuck in detention with Regulus only a few hours later

you're in charge of sorting out ingredients for classes the next week, portioning them out for each student and under strict orders not to use any charms. regulus is reluctantly sitting beside you on a stool, and he's pointedly making it harder for you by 'accidentally' tipping over the bottles you've filled or the cups you've portioned out

slughorn is asleep within minutes, literally slumped right over on his desk and leaving you unsupervised. you're tempted to use magic, but you're hyperaware of Regulus sitting beside you and know that he'd rat you out in a second if he had the chance.

so you don't give it to him. you continue agonizingly sorting ingredients by hand, growing more and more infuriated as regulus keeps fucking up the work you've just done

eventually you snap. you turn to him with fire in your eyes, demanding that he stop making things harder for the both of you, you only get out when i do.

he's just sneering at you, talking about how if you hadn't been such a klutz in class today, neither of you would be doing this. you're snapping back that he knows it wasn't your fault, that he was just a dirty cheater and insecure about not being able to triumph over you in class.

that does it. he's in your face a second later, eyes even more ablaze than yours are, hissing, 'the fuck did you just call me?' and you feel a brazen mix of exhilaration and dread swirling in your stomach as you stare at him from only inches away

it's inevitable, really, when you both lean forward, fury still hot in your eyes as they slip shut, lips crashing together all but eloquently. it's aggressive, it's competitive, it's rough, it's perfect. it's a wonderful outlet, you find, as you abandon the project in front of you, twisting on your stools to face each other and tug each other closer

you both decide that this is more important than potions, that your time should be spent in better ways than arranging slug's slime and herbs so you ditch your posts, ducking into the broom closet beside class to really get your frustrations out

#regulus black #regulus black x reader #regulus black imagine #regulus black fanfiction #regulus black drabble #regulus black dialogue #regulus black blurb #regulus black fluff #regulus black angst #mei's 1.5k follower celebration!! #mei's 1.5k celebration!!

[astorytotellyourfriends]

aaaaeiiiiiii so happy you're taking prompts <3 #67 "i did the dishes" Reggie/Luke, little angsty but domestic fluff

oh you want angst I’LL GIVE YOU ANGST (but with a happy ending) 

((minor tw for hinted past abuse, but it’s VERY minor))

-x-

Reggie walks into the living room still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Luke's laying on the couch mindlessly scrolling through his phone, but he looks up and smiles when Reggie enters the room.

"Good morning," he says warmly, even though it's well into the afternoon.

"Why'd you let me sleep so late?" Reggie says as he yawns widely.

"Because you clearly needed it," Luke says as he gets up from the couch and goes over to Reggie, pulling him into a hug as he presses a kiss to his cheek. "How about some breakfast?"

"Don't you mean lunch?" Reggie says with a soft smile as he and Luke head for the kitchen.

"Breakfast can be any time, I've told you this." Luke rolls his eyes as he slips past Reggie to get to the fridge, poking around inside and pulling out various ingredients to make breakfast.

Reggie leans against the counter opposite the fridge and glances around the kitchen, noticing that the sink is empty. He steps closer, a small wave of panic filling his chest.

"Luke? What happened to the--"

"The what?" Luke pops his head up and laughs. "Oh, I did the dishes."

Reggie turns his head and gives him a surprised look. "Uhh, since when do you do the dishes?"

Luke shrugs as he steps back from the fridge and knocks the door closed with his hip. "Since I thought it'd be nice to do them so you wouldn't have to?"

"But--" Reggie whimpers softly as his panic starts getting a little worse. He prefers being the one to do the dishes so he knows they're done correctly. The way his mom had taught him, the only way he'd ever known. It was his job, his duty. The one thing he could manage to do right, according to his dad.

"Hey," Luke says softly, dumping everything in his arms onto the counter so he can pull Reggie into his arms again. "Hey, Reg, it's okay."

"I just--" Reggie gasps softly and Luke hugs him tightly. "I'm sorry, I just--"

"Don't be sorry," Luke whispers as he rubs Reggie's back. Reggie whimpers a little as he wraps his arms around Luke, trying to tell himself to calm down. What Luke did was nice and he should be grateful instead of freaking out over nothing. "It's okay, Reg. You're okay."

Reggie shakes a little as he takes a deep breath, pressing his face against Luke's neck and breathing in his scent. It grounds him and reminds him that he's safe here. Nothing's going to happen to him as long as Luke's here.

"Sorry," he mumbles again, feeling sheepish as he pulls away from Luke.

"Hey, what did I say?" Luke tucks his hand under Reggie's chin, tilting his face up so he sees the smile on Luke's face. "There's no need to be sorry."

"I know, I just--" Reggie sighs and presses his forehead against Luke's, seeking out his mouth for a comforting kiss. "It's a hard habit to break," he whispers.

"I know," Luke whispers back, pressing another kiss to Reggie's lips. "But I'm right here to help, okay? I'm not your dad."

Reggie laughs softly. "No, you're definitely not."

prompt list | filled prompts

#ruke #luke x reggie #peterpatter #jatp #julie and the phantoms #jatp fic #justine writes shit #answered #Anonymous

[wanderlustrunnerr]

What sort of foods do you eat on the reg? I've been having some trouble with fueling my body lately and I was just wondering what sorts of things work best for you. Don't feel like you need to post specific intakes or anything, but just in general would be a huge help!

I realllllly LOVE sweet potatoes (super good for runners and you do so many things with them)!

I eat bars too bc I’m mostly on the go. So Lara bars are bomb bc they don’t have very many ingredients and gluten free and vegan. If I need protein (which I ALWAYS do) i get Luna bars. They have a little bit more than Lara bars but some aren’t gluten or dairy free (and I’m allergic to that shit)

I also try to hard boil a fuck ton of eggs the night before my work week bc they’re so easy and super portable.

Smoothies are good too! Bananas, fruit, spinach, almond milk, BAM… smoothie.

Trail mix. Also great!

I hope that helped :)

[scarlettameliaholmes-blog]

Hey girl! Your journey is honestly so motivating for me, I check in on your blog or instagram on the reg whenever I need a bit of a push. I've only recently started my journey but something im struggling with is meals. I live at home and my family don't particularly eat all that healthy at dinner times or lunch times and i don't really have the money to buy my own ingredients for my own meals. Do you have any advice to get around this? Thanks for the constant motivation girl! xx

Hey angel! 

Thankyou so much for messaging me sorry my reply is so late life’s got the better of me!

Yayayaya how exciting, this is the best decision you will make, proper nutrition is the best thing you can do for your body! Hmmm, things i suggest are you could offer to make your family dinner or just make your own. Or if your family are having a chicken dish for dinner, you could just ask to cook some chicken yourself without all the sauces and so on and add some brown rice and veggies with it?! 

I’m not particularly sure how your parents would take this, but maybe you could ask them if in each weekly shop they could purchase some vegetables for you and some brown rice or other quinoa (which will last a while) so instead you can add these to your meals?! Or even a bag of frozen vegetables !

Could you even let them know that you’re trying to eat healthier because you want to see if it makes you feel better and have more energy (which i guarantee it definitely will). This is a hard one because some people in the family don’t value nutrition etc. which is completely okay because we are all on different journies!

But I would say maybe offer to cook dinner, help cook and make lunches and suggest little alternatives to your Mum or Dad that would make meals healthier! And I’m sure they’ll appreciate it too!

[jegulily-stuff]

this is the most random prompt ever but I would love to see Jegulily all trying to fly on one broom and failing miserably <3

I liked this prompt a lot, thank you <3

Here you are:

....

"I promise this is going to work." James said, ushering his partners towards the middle of the lawn.

They both still looked unsure. Regulus was worrying his lip lightly with his teeth. But James was sure.

And he was prepared. He had the longest broom he'd been able to find in his parents' broom shed - not one of those agile little racing brooms. He'd thought this through.

"You want to enjoy flying, don't you, Lilyflower?"

"Of course." She said, with conviction. Then looked at the broom he was holding. "But I'm not sure how this is going to help with the vertigo..."

"You won't have to control the direction - and you'll have more to hold onto that just the shaft."

Lily's eyes lit up with amusement. "Oh will I?" She smirked. "I'll be able to get my hands on more than the shaft, is that right?"

James spluttered through a smile. "That's not what I..."

"Who's getting the stirups?" Reg asked.

"Huh?" James said. Lily was still repressing giggles.

"The stirups." Regulus prompted. "Practical concern - not an innuendo, if somehow it could've been. It's a one-person broom. So there's only one set of stirups."

He gestured to the smooth metal hooks by the brush.

"We aren't doing manouvers or anything, so I don't think it's important." James said. "We'll be staying upright."

"Yes we will!" Lily said firmly.

"I think Lily should sit in the middle." James said. "That ought to be the most secure-feeling spot. Unless you don't want to?"

"No, I think that sounds... good?" She said. "Or it sounds the least bad, anyway."

Regulus looked at James imploringly. "I'd prefer not to be at the back."

James reached over to pinch his cheek but he ducked out of the way. "You can steer. I'll be at the back." He turned to Lily. "If you feel unsteady, I can hold on to you, then you don't have to worry about keeping your balance yourself."

Lily opened her mouth as if to say that she'd be worrying about it no matter what, but then she steeled herself and took a breath. "Alright."

They climbed onto the broom. It was much more awkward trying to do that around other people, than it was on your own, but James was determined to make it work. Eventually they were settled, hovering a couple of feet above the ground.

They took off unsteadily, climbing higher into the sky. The broom was accelerating in off-putting, jerky movements.

"Sorry." James said, as it stuttered again. "It's an old broom. It probably needs warming up."

"I think it's me that needs warming up." Reg murmured. "I'm not used to this broom, or having two extra people on board. Sorry, Lily."

"S'fine." She said, not looking down. "We aren't very high."

They weren't exactly low either, but James wasn't about to point that out.

"I'm about to take us up higher." Reg said. "Unless you want to veto that."

"No, no." Lily said, stubbornly. "I'm fine. We should go higher."

Reg took them up over the roof of the house in a slow arc. The angle had them all leaning slightly backwards. James rested his feet in the stirrups for stability.

Lily pressed her back against his chest. The thin broomstick couldn't have been feeling like much of an anchor.

"Still good?" He said into her ear.

"I think my other solution was better." Lily said tensely. "I'm sure there must be a way to combine a Seasickness Potion and a Draft of Courage, to make something that'll cure vertigo."

She started muttering quickly about ingredients to herself, and James lost track of what she was trying to explain.

They swooped around the garden and over the walled vegetable patch. It was a bit of a slalom between the branches of the trees that grew around it. The broom jolted and dropped half a foot as they cleared the top of the wall.

Lily let out a squeak.

James was just adjusting his grip around her waist in reassurance, when the stirup under one of his feet suddenly came loose.

He kicked at empty air briefly.

It was an old broom.

But it wasn't really a big deal and James didn't want to cause unnecessary alarm, so he only redistributed his weight and settled back down. You only needed stirups for aerobatics after all, and they weren't doing that.

Unfortunately, James soon discovered that the problem was ever so slightly larger than he'd thought. The broken stirup had caused the binding on the broom's tail to come loose as well.

James heard a few twigs fall out and hit the roof of the greenhouse under them.

The broom began to lean heavily to the right. James could feel Reg trying to course correct it, but it seemed like he was losing control. He didn't say anything about it though, just tried harder to fix it. They did another shaky half-loop of the garden.

James could feel Lily's heartbeat rising where her body was pressed against him. He hoped his was calmer. Everything was still fine.

Or maybe not.

They tipped suddenly as Regulus had to do a more complicated manouver to avoid crashing into the oak tree the broom was dragging them into.

Without the stirups, James topppled backwards off the broom. He landed, bruised, in a large hydrangea, squashing some of the weaker stems.

Reg and Lily shouted for him in alarm. They'd both managed to stay aboard. That was some relief.

"I'm fine." He called back, as they careened away.

"What happened? Why did you let go?"

"The stirup came off. I had nothing to hold on to."

"Why didn't you say that?" Lily shouted.

The broom jolted again.

"I didnt want to cause a panic." James shouted, panicking. "Watch out for the chimney!"

Lily was clinging tight to Reg. The broom missed the chimney and clipped the top of the roof.

Should he grab another broom and try to intercept them?

"Can you get a wand and freeze the broom?" Reg called down.

Or that, that was a good idea too.

James snatched his wand from the picnic table where he'd left it, and tried his best to aim.

"Immobulus!"

The spell hit some of the broom's shedding twigs, which froze in midair.

He tried again.

Unfortunately, this time he managed to hit Reg.

The broom began to plummet.

James scrambled to cancel the spell, but by the time he managed it, the broom and its occupants were already crash landing in the duck pond.

He ran over.

"Are you alright?"

To his relief they both staggered to their feet in the waist deep water.

Reg had the root of a water lily tangled in his hair, and the whole plant came with him as he stood up.

Lily waded towards the edge of the pond.

James held out his hand to her. She reached up to him, but instead of letting him lift her out, she tugged him forwards as hard as she could.

James fell into the pond with a splash.

"Agh! Hey, come on."

"You deserved that." Reg said, picking plant matter out of his hair.

"You're not hurt are you?" James asked.

He shook his head. "Only my heart. Aren't you supposed to be my knight in shining armour and all that? How could you fail me like that?"

"I know what would make you feel better, sweetheart." Lily said to him.

And then she splashed water all the way up James' spine. He shook himself reflexively.

"Hey!"

Lily laughed.

He paused until she'd lowered her guard then splashed her back. Lily was already soaked from head to toe so it didn't have much practical effect. Emotional effect though? Well, it did exactly what he wanted.

Her eyes narrowed playfully, and he scrambled into a fighting stance.

The ensuing water fight was only ended when Regulus finally managed to disentangle himself from the water lily roots and promptly dumped the whole plant down the back of James' shirt.

They climbed out of the pond and sprawled on the grass.

"So," James said. "About your idea, Lils... A potion you said? Do you think maybe we ought to try that one?"

#jegulily #regulus black #lily evans #james potter #fic #answered #my posts