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mynameisjaxx · 3 years

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Daichi x Y/N

(Stuff happens, so read if you want to.)

I'm currently a first year at Karasuno and it's almost time for spring break. Since starting at the high school, I had special circumstances at the beginning of the year. Mostly because my parents had just died and I had no other living relatives or god parents to take care of me. Due to the fact that I was 15, I was given the choice to stay at a half way home or to go out on my own. Knowing full well, I would never get adopted for being a teenager, I decided to opt out and remain living on my own. For the most part, it was okay, I would crash at a few friends houses every so often to wash my uniform in a place that had actual laundry detergent. It wasn't long until the manager at the store I worked at started letting me have the left overs that didn't sell.

I guess, he got the hint that I was shedding pounds like no tomorrow. So one night, he flipped the sign to close and asked me to step into the back room.

"Hey, kid, how's it going?" He started.

"I'm okay." I shrugged.

"Don't lie to me, now." He lit up a cigarette.

"Well, if you gotta know, I'm currently living with the snacks I you let me have and couch surfing." I narrowed my gaze.

"What happened with your folks?" I look up and through the wisps of smoke, he was looking into my eyes and waiting for an answer.

"They're dead."

Silence. It last a few minutes and then he took a pull.

"Sorry, kid."

"Yeah, it's not something I'm ready to talk about." I wipe the single tear that fell from my right eye.

Tch.

"Alright, I have an idea, but only if you feel absolutely 100% comfortable with the idea."

"Shoot."

"I have a spare room, if you want you can stay there, instead of couch surfing or staying out in the streets." He takes another pull.

"I don't know, I don't feel right about just staying there. Is there someway for me to repay you?" I look up to him determined.

"Well, you can take on some extra chores around the house and we can call it even." He shrug.

"Alright then Mr. Ukai, thank you so much!" I bow.

"Don't worry about it kid, I just don't want you to end up hurt somewhere. You've been really good working for me the whole summer, and I see you like a little sister." He puts a hand on my shoulder with a light squeeze.

"I promise that I will do my best to not be a burden." I declare.

After our chat, I spend my time minding the store until closing time. I double check the floor and restock what's low and keep the journal of the day's sales. I make sure to keep everything organized before putting together a list of the things we need to order for the next week. Keishin came out with the broom and the mop, he swept and I mopped the floor behind him. We were done rather fast and put away the cleaning supplies. Stepping through the back of the store we take out the trash to the dumpster and then walk a little to the house behind the store.

"Well, this is home." He says.

"It's very nice."

"Thanks." He closes the door behind us, we remove our shoes and I walk in barefoot, taking my socks off and feeling the cold floors.

"Hey put these on, they should fit." He hands me a pair of gray slippers that seem my size.

"Thanks." I slip them on and he shows me around the house.

"So, living room is here, to the left is my room, the right is yours. The kitchen is down the hall and the bathroom is also down the hall. The is a small backyard if you ever want to sit outside and take a break." He rubs the back of his neck.

"Wow." Amazed at how neat and warm the house felt.

"Yeah, I haven't the heart to change a few things because its the way my mom left it. I just do upkeep." he shrugs.

"Well, I will be sure not to move things too out of place on cleaning day." I make a mental note.

"I appreciate that. For tonight, I'll make dinner. What do you want to eat?" He peers into the fridge.

"How about I make dinner and you tell me what my chores are while I work?" I counter offer.

"Oh, Okay." He steps aside.

I pull out the left over rice he has in a tupper ware, the shaved steak left overs, 3 eggs and a mixed veggie tray. Julienning and then sauteing them for a little color, I add the shaved steak to mix in with the juices from the veggies, adding a pinch of onion powder and a few dashes of soy sauce, I stir until the white rice has an even browning.

"So, we would be alternating cleaning duty, you'll get bathroom and kitchen and I'll do living room and front of the house. Following week, we switch. Cooking is up to you. I'm limited in what I know how to make, but it seems like you can definitely throw down in the kitchen." He motions to me.

"Well, I had to learn while my parents were at work, I made myself dinners." I smile.

"That's very smart." He compliments.

Adding the rice into the meat and veggies and adding a splash of water to make the rice a little fluffy again, I cover it. Cracking the eggs into a bowl and scrambling them before hand.

"So, you learned all this from being home alone?" He grabs plates out of the cupboard.

"Yep, we would have left overs and I'd take them to make them into a meal for myself. I hope you like it." with a half smile as I add the eggs to the same skillet. While the eggs cook into the fried rice, I clean all the utensils I used to cook, leaving just the wooden spoon I was using to help mix everything. Almost like a 6th sense, I could feel that it was ready, so I turn off the heat and proceed to spoon out a few into each bowl.

"It smells delicious!" He takes a whiff before carefully putting the steaming hot food into his mouth and hums something that sounded like 'yum'.

"Glad you like it." I laugh a bit.

That was my first night, it was very nice. It really did feel like having an older brother, despite knowing that I was practically alone in every sense of the word. He really made me feel welcomed. We worked out a deal for when I would get to school.

So while I did some early morning shifts to help prep all the sandwiches and meat buns to be sold for the day, he would take care of the store and then I would do homework while I worked the counter and he would take his break and go over to the house and prep dinner for us later.

It's been about 2 months with the same routine and there was this man, Takeda. He comes in once a day to ask where Keishin was and if he could spare a moment, everytime, he was turned away until yesterday. Kei actually agreed to whatever that Takeda man asked him to do.

"I'll be at the school gym tomorrow, so I want you to go there straight after practice. I'm not letting you out of my sight, kid." He sighs as he goes towards the back room.

"Oh, okay, but who will mind the store?"

"I'll get my nephew to watch the store." He pulls out his phone and dials a number.

"Alright, well, I'm off to school, sandwiches are ready to be stocked, coffee is in the machine brewing for the day, and the meat buns are in the steam tray." I put on my shoes.

"Alright, hon, have a good day at school and don't forget to meet me at the gym." He shouts after me as I jog out to school.

The school day was boring and quite frankly, I was just hoping to see what was going to happen after school, but I still managed to take down good notes in class. I wonder why Takeda wanted Keishin. Guess, I'll find out later.

The day ends and I bolt out of class and head to the gym, right outside is Takeda and Keishin, talking a bit.

"Hi, y/n." Takeda bows.

"Hello, Takeda Sensei."

"Lets see what we are working with." Keishin grumbles and puts out his cigarette.

Inside were boys, shouting and running around. They were playing a 3 4 on 4 game of volleyball. There were 3 boys I recognized as my senpais since one of them gave me a tour around the school my first day and introduced me to the other 2. Sugawara was very nice and detailed with directions, Asahi was super shy and told me I was scary until we spoke a bit more and then there's Daichi. He was just, woah.

Suddenly I'm down on the ground, my chest hurt a little. I wasn't sure what just happened. I definitely got the wind knocked out of me, somehow.

"Woah n/n! Are you okay??" Keishin bends down to check on me.

"Y/N!" Daichi runs over and slides right beside me.

"We are so sorry." I hear the boys shout in unison.

I cough a bit trying to breathe. Daichi helps me sit up.

"Hey, Kiyoko, toss me my water bottle!" Daichi looks at the blue haired girl.

She nods and tosses the water bottle at him and he catches it with ease.

"Here drink some. It'll help" I nod and do as he says.

A sip and I try to breath but it sounds like a heavy wheeze. He takes my loose hairs and tucks them behind my ear.

"It's alright, take your time." He stands.

"Alright, Ennoshita, sub for me. I'm going to look after her during this set." He takes my hands into his and helps me to the bench. He sits straddling the bench and pats the space in front of him.

"Sit with your back to me." He orders.

I do and his chest is warm. I hum.

"Alright, I'm going to rub your upper arms and I want you to take deep breaths with me." He whispers into my ear.

I could feel my face turn red and my chest tighten, but I nod.

After a few breaths, I feel much better. At some point I had closed my eyes and he had stopped moving his hands on my arms and just held me.

"Hey, earth to y/n. You okay now?" He whispers, bringing me back.

"Yes, thank you, senpai." I reply.

"Please, call me Daichi." He insists.

"Well, now that you are a bit better, please go to the bathroom and check if you're bruised, if you want take Kiyoko with you. She'll be able to help with ice or if you would prefer a salve." He motions to her and she comes over.

"Okay" meek and quiet, I leave with Kiyoko to the bathroom and she comes in with me.

Unbuttoning my school uniform, I see the yellow and blue starting to form.

"What would you like for me to do? Salve and bandage or just an ice pack?" She offers, cleaning her glasses on her volleyball jacket.

"Whichever would make the bruise slow down faster." I shrug.

"I'll get the salve and bandage, wait here." She hurries out.

She returns and quietly buzzes about, tending to the bruise.

"Thank you, senpai." I mumble.

"Of course, let me know if you have any discomfort." she guides me back to the gym and I sit quietly on the bench and watch the rest of the 'set'. In between sets, Daichi comes back over to me and asks me once more if I was okay and I nod, choosing to keep talking to a minimum since my chest was still in some pain.

"So, you have yourself a coach, Takeda." I over hear Keishin shaking hands with Takeda Sensei.

"Thank you. The practice game with Nekoma are in a few weeks. Here's the details and I will need you to come by the office tomorrow so we can formally fill out your paperwork as new head coach of Karasuno's boy's volleyball" He's super excited.

"Alright boys, line up." Daichi commands.

"Thank you for coming." They say in unison.

"Boys, let me introduce you to your new coach. Coach Ukai. he's the former Coach's grandson, he also happened to play for Karasuno when he studied here." Takeda lets Keishin take center stage.

"Alright, so the rematch against Nekoma won't be for another few weeks, and I have 'til then to whip you into shape to even be close to a tied game with them. I have faith in what I witnessed today that we will beat them. Maybe not in our first game but definitely in our second." Keishin riles them up.

"Come on, clean up and then you are free to go home." Daichi claps.

The boys grumble. Just like that time passed in a flash, somehow in that time I became the co manager of the team with Kiyoko and we've become really good friends. Though I know I won't see her around much after this year, with her being a third year and all

The practice game came and the boys played their hardest, in the end, they lost making it really close to a tied game. They were absolutely devastated but definitely not discouraged. After the game, Keishin treated them to dinner. As a way to show them that even in their losses they will learn and adapt, but for now eat and work on your strength. Some of them cried and others remained stoic.

It was weeks later that Takeda slipped by the door and announced that Nekoma had invited us to join in on their training camp. Takeda and Keishin shared a glance, one I knew all too well. 'The I'm not sure we can afford it' look. An idea popped into my head, so I decided to go up to Kei and whisper it.

"Doesn't sound bad, I bet if you got the guys to help then it would definitely go a lot faster. I mean you've got the skills." He nods.

"Takeda, I'm not sure if you know, but y/n is a wiz in the kitchen, can they borrow the cafeteria on Thursday night? Y/N wants to have a bake sale for the team. Of course if the boys help out then I know they'll be in good hands." He pleads.

"What a splendid idea, I'll run it by the principal tomorrow morning and have an answer by practice. Just give me a list of what you wanted to bake and what the cost to profit is, I'm sure it will work out just fine." He looks at a determined y/n who's already scribbling away in their notebook the recipes and how much the items would cost, specially through the store as a vendor they knew they could get a bit of a discount.

On a new sheet of paper, they write down the cost to profit and hand over the menu to Takeda, who looks in awe of the menu.

"Are you sure you can make all this?" He asks.

"With help, of course. I just need to know if I have permission before I go asking the team for help." I nod confidently.

"alright then, I will pass this along." He puts it into his folder of to-do.

The following day at lunch I got the approval of cafeteria use for the thursday night which was in 3 days. Yachi who was the other new co manager created posters to put up around the school and town. The school wrote a check for the cost and I gave it to Keishin when we ordered the ingredients. The entire team agreed to help, even salty Tsukishima. It was a nice night, we took off of practice and spent the evening working hard. The boys followed my every order, I was running a tight ship that night.

By nightfall, we were all packing up the small bundt cakes in the wax paper and twine. The muffins were placed into boxes to contain them for the night and the sweeter things we baked, we left for the afternoon. The entire day Kiyoko and I were manning the cash box, and thanking students for buying and donating the change.

At the end of the day we had made back what we spent on ingredients and more than tripled our profit. We gave back the initial investment that the school spent and we took the rest to the bank. Got the coins changed into larger bills. Gave the money to Takeda who in turn, put it towards the bus to take us to the training camp and food for those two weeks. Even after that we had a little left over, which we had decided we would save for any club emergencies.

"We did it!!!" We announced.

"We're raised enough money to go to the training camp!" Yachi jumps up high like Hinata.

"Yay!" He jumps even higher.

"Rest up, we leave next Friday after school and get there by evening. We are going to be there for 2 weeks." Keishin reminds them.

Time flies and it was just a a few hours by bus to get there. It was finally here, training camp weeks with Nekoma and Fukurodani. Being the last to arrive, the Nekoma team are the ones to greet us.

Everyone is polite enough, though the tension between the captains is so awkward. It makes me want to be a turtle and hide inside my shell. Being here was incredible. The days were spent between exercise and practice games. There were many losses for the boys, but with each game they learned more about their opponents, which in turn they adapted their strategies.

The night before the last day Daichi approached me with a concerned look.

"What's wrong sen-Daichi." I tilt my head.

"Well, tomorrow there's the barbecue and I think we have enough, but I'm not sure. If there's a shortage would you mind going to the store with Kiyoko and two of the boys to help you bring things back?" He places a hand on my shoulder.

"Of course, what kind of a manager would I be if I didn't take care of my team." I laugh it off.

"Thank you for taking such good care of us, if it weren't for your idea, we probably wouldn't have been able to participate." He squeezes.

"It's no big deal, besides, Yachi's posters were also a tremendous help with donations and you guys helped me back and pack all those tiny pastries. It's my pleasure, honestly." I raise my hands in front of me.

"Thank you." He smiles and walks away.

Practice felt like it flew by and the coaches had already started the grills to heat them up. The captains of each team was manning the grills and making sure that everything was cooked to perfection. Daichi gave me the look so I took Kiyoko's wrist and she understood. Looking around the only two boys that seemed the least busy were Tanaka and Nishinoya.

It was a short walk to the store, but while we were there, we had a slight hiccup. Some guys from Fukurodani's regular students were there. They had chosen to hit on Kiyoko and she looked uncomfortable. I tried to distract them from her, but failed. It didn't help that Noya and Tanaka got involved, until I stepped in between and diffused the situation a bit.

"Listen guys, I know she is really beautiful, but she can't go out with you, because she is with me." I step in.

"Yeah, sorry boys. Can't split up the happy couple." Tanaka makes his iconic intimidation face and Noya has a demonic look in his eyes.

"Now, if we can all go about our respective days, that would be amazing." I insist and drag the boys away with Kiyoko and the food cart in tow.

We paid and we left, thinking it would be the last of it. We got back in time with the meat and more soda. The boys celebrated our return and immediately took the items out of our hands and began prep work while the last of the meat had just been put on the grill, but the time it was cooked, the meat we had brought was being put on. The rest of the afternoon goes on with lots of laughter and a light atmosphere.

It was evening by the time the teams had began slowly breaking off to go shower and hit the sack. The captains and a few members stayed behind to help with clean up. Between us we finished up in an hour and placed the trash into the dumpster. The sun had already set and the navy blue sky, like a blanket being pulled over the day to rest.

I wasn't tired so I didn't go back yet, instead I decided to walk around a bit, take in the last views of the school before morning, since we'd be leaving around 7 am to get back by noon and send the team home to rest and study for the exams the rest of the week had instore for us. Thinking over the checklist of things that I could do to kill time, I thought it would be a great idea to go to the store for a last minute run, pick up some cereal bars, or jell-o cups, some kind of snack that didn't need much prep incase the team got peckish on the ride home. Mostly because we weren't going to make breakfast, just pack up, clean and leave.

Apparently the boys from earlier just didn't know when to stop. They just had to follow me at a distance, but I didn't even realize it. It wasn't until I had gotten closer to the gym that they started vandalizing school property. I saw them, with their trash and the faint smell of alcohol hit my nose. I took out my phone and dialed Keishin but he didn't pick up, so I called Daichi.

"Hey y/n, what's up?"

One of the guys had ran towards me and I dropped what I had in hand and my cell phone, luckily it didn't cut off the call.

"Hey, back off, you can't be here."

"Like hell, we can do what we damn well please," one of them slurred.

"Come on cutie, drop the bluenette and come have fun with us instead."

That was all he needed to hear to grab the team and race outside to where I was. Surrounded and trying to find a way out. Nothing seemed viable so I did what I thought and tried to duck under their arms and run, but they caught me by my jacket. I unzipped it and left it in their grasp. I ran until I bumped into something that was soft but sturdy.

"Where are they?" A stern voice.

"Back that way" I answered with my eyes closed still waiting to hit the floor.

"Noya, Tanaka, and Suga, go in first. Rest of you, stagger in." He orders.

"Hey, they didn't touch you right?" He lifted my chin up and I opened my eyes.

"No, but it was really scary." Tears pinching the back of my eyes, just thinking about what could have happened had I not worn the volleyball jacket.

"Shhh, it's okay now. You're safe." He tried to comfort me.

"I tried calling coach but he didn't answer."

"It's okay, we told Kiyoko to stay behind and look for all 3 coaches." He pet my hair.

We stayed like that for a moment until he pulled away first.

"I don't want you walking back alone so come with me and stay behind me. I'll make sure they don't lay a hand on you." He promises.

"Okay" I hesitate.

So of course it caused a commotion and a brawl broke out. Someone called the cops and Noya, Tanaka and I were taken in because of the fight. Daichi had driven to the station with Keishin and Coach Nekomata. While there, the boys were placed in the holding cell while Noya and Tanaka and I were sitting, cuffed on a bench.

"I'm taking the fall, you guys just say it was me that did all the fighting and that they tried to attack you so it's self defense. Okay? I started the fight. You guys can't get into trouble, they'll kick you out of school or something. I'll be fine. So don't fight me. I am your manager and I will hear no protest." I turn to either side of me and they nod in defeat.

After questioning about what had happened I made up a story. About how I was walking back to campus and they were just drunk and spewing nonsense. I tried to get them to leave until one of them grabbed my wrist and I pushed him off as defense, which escalated when his buddies joined in and I fought back, having called my coach to alert him of what's happening. Noya and Tanaka said similar things so the detective gave us all breathalyzer tests to fact check.

We we let go after a few hours.

"Kids!" Keishin is waiting in the lobby to pick us up.

"We're okay coach, a little shaken and roughed up, but we'll be fine." Noya answers.

"Let's go back to campus and you can retell what happened." He looks me up and down to make sure I was okay.

Once back, we went to an empty class on a different floor than the one where everyone was sleeping. I retold what actually happened and the lie we told the cops.

Tch.

"But, they didn't touch you, right?" Kei knelt in front of my seat.

"No, Kei, I'm fine. Scared, but fine." I assure him.

"God, kid, I don't want to think about what could have happened." He engulfs me in a hug.

"I know" muffled into his chest.

Headed to the floor where the rest of the team was, they couldn't sleep. Too anxious about what happened. They try not to crowd me and I bow.

"I'm sorry for worrying you." A few tears slide down my cheek without meaning to.

A chorus of 'don't' could be heard and I couldn't help but feel relief. They ended up giving me a group hug and then they let go after a little. I smile and wipe the tears.

One of the boys managed to grab the things I had dropped and brought them inside. The bag from the store was pretty intact, but my phone sadly was not. It was cracked and had a few scrapes on the exposed metal.

I take my phone and put it in the bag with the things I got. Leaving to the managers room, the tears flow freely. It was scary. I was alone until the guys came to my rescue. I was too scared to lash out. I couldn't move. God I was so stupid.

"Hey, hey, you're safe now, honey." I heard a soothing voice.

"I know, but I could've screamed, done something."

"No, no, none of that. You called us, you did do something and escaped them before we got to you." He cups my face.

I sob a little, but he leans close and looks into my eyes. Its like I was over come with warmth. Like a security blanket wrapped around me. Taking even breaths he thumbs away my tears and gives me a small smile. I flush and my cheeks start getting warm, feeling the blush spread, I look away but he follows my gaze. So I place my hand on his wrist.

Suddenly our lips are just whispers away from touching.

"Are you sure, because I don't want you to feel pressured." our noses grazing each other.

"Kiss me"

It was the sweetest kiss. So soft and gentle, he was treating me like a fragile, porcelain doll.

"I-"

"How about when you feel up to it, I take you out on a date. I'll make it special."

"I would like that." I blush having forgotten all those scary thoughts.

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moonlitdesertdreams · 3 years

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Judgement Call (Din Djarin x OC)- Chapter XVIII

CHAPTER XVIII: IMPROBABLE

They departed for Nevarro as soon as possible. Kuiil had pursuaded Din to allow IG-11 and the Bluurg aboard, both which surprised Zakia to no end. She was endlessly amused by the Mandalorian's body language as Kuiil brought his own crew aboard.

Zakia was in charge of the controls for the first part of their journey, and she lifted them off of Arvala-7 and into hyperspace with ease. She climbed from the pilot's chair and clambered below deck, kicking off her boots as she neared the cargo hold. The Child cooed at her appearance, but was more focused on the sight across from him.

Mando and Cara were seated across from each other, a crate in between them as a makeshift table. Their palms were facing each other's, and Cara counted down from five before they clasped hands. Zakia laughed at them, placing herself behind Mando as the arm wrestling competition got underway. Both parties grunted with the effort, but Zakia could see Mando's arm wavering.

"I've got you, Mando." Cara managed, hair falling over her face.

The Mandalorian was right behind her teasing. "Care to double the bet?"

Zakia cocked a brow. "I don't know if that's a smart idea, honey."

"The peanut gallery needs to hush." Mando snapped playfully.

Zakia huffed a laugh, watching both sides struggle to victory. As Cara pushed the Mandalorian's arm further down, her arm twitched and she hesitated. Zakia was focused on tha table, and wasn't paying attention when she spoke up.

"What's with the reluctance, Ca- Cara? Cara?"

The shock-trooper suddenly jerked away from their match, both hands coming to grip at her throat. She choked, unable to get any words out. Zakia gripped Din's shoulder.

"What is-"

"No! No, no, no!" Din scrambled out of his seat, darting over to the bassinet.

Zakia watched in horror as the Child sat with one hand outstretched, fingers balled into a tiny fist. It was obviously the source of Cara's peril.

"Stop! We're friends, we're friends!" Din shook the Child once, and Cara sucked in a breath. Zakia rushed to the Child, catching Kuiil's eye as she did so.

"Cara is my friend!" Din was still yelling towards the Child when Zakia approached.

"That is not okay!" Cara yelled when she got her breath back.

Zakia stared wide-eyed at Mando. "He froze me the other day. You think his power is growing?"

Mando shook his head, shoulders heaving. "I don't know."

"Hm. Very curious." Kuiil interjected, coming to stand next to Zakia.

"Curious? It almost killed me!" Cara exclaimed, weakly lunging out of her seat.

"The story you told me of the mudhorn now makes more sense." Kuiil ignored Cara's hostility,

"What is it?" Zakia asked, searching the Ugnaught's face for answers. "He did this to me yesterday. Not choking, but he used this power."

"What it is, I don't know. But what it does, this... this I've heard rumors of." Kuiil tapped the Child's head carefully. Zakia took him from Din, though didn't coddle him as usual.

"What? When you worked for the Empire?" Cara spat, still clutching at her neck. Zakia whirled on her at the comment.

"We are currently running from the Empire!" The blonde said.

Kuiil held up a hand. "When I was sold to the Empire, in indentured servitude."

Cara managed to stand. "Yet somehow, you walk free."

Din tugged Zakia back towards him, and the Child squeaked. It could obviously sense the growing tension in the ship. "Stay out of it."

Zakia set her jaw and nodded, but didn't argue. It was no use making enemies with their allies.

"I bought my freedom through the skill of my hands. And the labor of three of your human lifetimes." IG-11 stepped into the room then, causing all of the occupants, sans Kuiil, to turn. "Do not cast doubt upon that of what I am nor whom I shall serve."

Cara didn't respond to him, eyes fixed on IG-11's still form. The cylindrical head spun once, but made no other move. Din managed to break the tension, stepping forward and nudging Zakia with him.

"Tell you what. I could really use your craftwork right now. Can you pad this container so the Child can sleep better?" The Mandalorian tenderly lifted the Child from Zakia's arms and placed it in the bassinet.

Kuiil gave the container a quick once-over. "I shall fabricate a better one. Then perhaps this Dropper can see how one can win their freedom with the skill of one's hands."

Din nodded, and reached for his partner. "Excuse us for just a moment."

"I'll be up top." Cara told them.

Zakia nodded before following Din to their small quarters. "What's wrong?"

Din waited until the door slid shut. "Have you seen him do it before?"

"The Child? Not until he stopped me yesterday." Zakia replied, leaning against the edge of their bed. "Why?"

"Just wanted to be sure. If something happens on Nevarro, I don't want him trying to attack." Din rubbed at the back of his neck.

"You're tired." Zakia observed, taking a few steps to close the gap between them. "Have you not slept since our nap before Sorgan?"

He shook his head. "No time."

"You can't govern your life on time, Din. You know this." Zakia tried her best to be reassuring, but the coming events hung over their heads like an anvil ready to fall.

"I can't let anything happen to you," Din looked up, "to the Child."

Zakia smiled, pressing into his chest. She wrapped a single arm around his torso, fingers knotting together in his cloak. Din's arms fell to wrap around her shoulders, and he tipped his helmet to rest in her hair. Zakia reached behind him to swat the lightswitch, and darkness enveloped them. Even with her eyes open as wide as they would go, there were no shapes or colors visible.

Din had beaten her to the punch for her next actions; Zakia heard the pneumatic hiss of his helmet's release before she could lift her hands. He leaned to the side to set it on their bed, and returned to her arms shortly thereafter. She closed her eyes when his nose nuzzled into her hair, moving gently down until he rested in the crook of her shoulder. Zakia brought a hand up to rake through his hair, dropping a kiss where she could reach.

"We should go above deck." He muttered into her shirt.

"I'm sure Cara won't mind if you take a minute to recover." Zakia stroked the hair at his nape, smiling when she felt his lips against her neck. She leaned back, and sighed when his lips found hers.

"I love you." He said, nipping her bottom lip gently.

Zakia smiled against his mouth. "I know. I love you too."

After a lengthy conversation with Din about the Empire remnants on Nevarro, Cara had descended into the cargo hold to prep for their landing. Zakia was sitting cross- legged in the co-pilot's seat, and stood when they broke into Nevarro's atmosphere. Din imagined there was little left except the nub of her fingernails, as she had been gnawing on them since they left their quarters.

Din couldn't fight the fact that his anxiety was high when it came to this mission. If Karga was lying- which was likely- there were a lot of Guild members who would be happy to pull the trigger on him or Zakia. He was grateful when she rested her hand on his chair, waiting patiently for the ship to land.

"You ready?" He asked, standing from his seat once the landing gear was stable.

"Yeah. Are you?"

The Mandalorian stood to his full height, dwarfing his partner. "As I'll ever be."

They descended below deck, where Cara and Kuiil had already mounted their Bluurg. Standing at the ready near the ramp, Din pressed the release and helped Zakia onto theirs. Shaking off the week's events, he hauled a leg over the animal and pulled himself up. The Child was in its new bassinet, which was rather reminiscent of the original one they found him in.

Nevarro was exactly as Din remembered, with rocky ground and a generally desolate atmosphere. They were in the middle of the flats, with the small bazaar far away in the distance. Zakia had a hand resting on his hip, hidden beneath his cloak. The new rifle he had purchased during their time in Mos Eisley was strapped over her shoulder, as well as her dual blasters and a spare on her ankle. Zakia was armed to the teeth, and it sent a wave of reassurance through Mando as they faced their old colleague.

"Sorry for the remote rendezvous, Mando. But things have gotten complicated since you were last here." Greef Karga was flanked by three hunters, all of which Din was unfamiliar with. Nonetheless, they didn't exactly exude amicability. "It appears that introductions are in order."

None of them replied. They stood as one silent front, and the intimidation factor seemed to be working as Karga continued.

"It seems we've both provided a security detail." Greef sighed, and finally lifted his hand to point at Cara. "I recommend the shock-trooper guards the ship. These lava fields are lousy with Jawas."

Zakia's fingers squeezed through his clothes. "She comes with us." Din asserted.

"But the town is now run by ex-Empire. If a Rebel Dropper is with us, they'll all get their hackles up."

"She's coming." Zakia reiterated Mando's words, glaring around his body at Greef.

"Fine. Fine. At least cover your tattoo. No need to flaunt it." Karga opened his arms and made a hard left in conversation topics. "Now, where is the little one?"

Their alliance all traded looks before Mando deemed it their best move. He lifted his vambrace and punched in the bassinet's access code. The domed object hovered to Karga, and the lid separated to reveal the baby. Zakia's hand left his hip to rest over her blaster, and Mando maintained his position to conceal her.

"So this little bogwing is what all the fuss was about." Karga reached into the cradle, gingerly examining their charge. "What a precious little creature. I can see why you didn't want to harm a hair on its wrinkled little head."

The Child was lowered back into the bassinet, and Zakia's fingers slunk away from the blaster to return to Mando's hip.

"Well, I'm glad this matter will be put to rest once and for all." Their former boss set his hands on his hips as the cradle hissed and closed. Din turned the tether back on, and the pram floated back to their side. "The sun drops fast on Nevarro. We can walk for a spell, camp out at the riverbank, then make our way into town at first light."

After it was agreed upon, Karga and his men led the trio of Bluurg and their riders across the lava flats. It was much easier traversing the terrain on the animal's backs, and Din was thankful for Kuiil's insistence on bringing them. The atmosphere surrounding the group was tense, made even more so by the conspicuous glances Karga's lackies sent in Din's direction.

"They're going to try and kill us." Zakia's right hand was holding tightly onto Mando's cuirass, the other wrapping itself into his tunic. "Take the reward for themselves."

Din tipped his head to the side. "I know. They don't stand a chance."

The caravan continued on into in the night. True to Karga's word, they lost light fast. Zakia wished they would have made it closer to town, but supposed some distance between the Imperials and them wasn't a bad thing to have. Karga's help built a small fire, and one ventured off into the night only to return with a large slab of meat. Zakia wasn't keen on the unknown product, but sustenance was necessary for their trip.

Battle stories were not told around this campfire. Everyone sat silently, pretending to be relaxed. Each separate faction formed their own half-circle. Cara sat at the far end of theirs, then Kuii, the Child, Zakia, and Din. Karga formed the end of his group, though he sat a mere foot from the Mandalorian. Kuiil fed the Child, who squeaked happily upon each delivery. Zakia kept her eyes on the mangy-looking hunters across the fire, even when she lifted bites of meat to her mouth.

"Looks like the little bugger's a carnivore." Greef said, pointing a shaky finger at the Child. "Never seen anything like it. They were ready to pay a king's ransom for that thing. Must be for some kind of high-falutin' menagerie."

Zakia rolled her eyes, peering around Mando's body to look at their old boss. "You never did like silence, Karga."

Din remained focused on the fire, though Zakia knew his eyes were following every movement in the group. "Let's go over the plan again."

Karga sighed, and Zakia leaned back to prop herself onto her elbows.

"We both enter the common house. We show the client the bait. We join him at the table. And one of you kills him."

Zakia raised a brow, doing her best impression of a rabid lothcat while trying to gnaw on the tough meat they roasted. "And there's no reinforcements? Even if I'm stationed a couple hundred meters away, when he goes down..."

"They're all ex-Empire. As soon as they lose their paycheck, poof! They'll all scatter." Greef sounded unconcerned, but the Mandalorian was not convinced.

"What if they stick around?" Zakia asked, adjusting the rifle as it lay next to her.

"They won't"

"That's not good enough." Even modulated, his tone was clear.

"If- for argument's sake- a few of them don't realize that I'm their best path to alternative employment and they elect to react impulsively, then these three fine Guild hunters, along with that battle-hardened shock-trooper will cut down anyone who bucks. And I don't recall many getting past your partner in the past."

Finishing her piece of tough meat, Zakia reclined on the small bedroll until her back was lying in the dirt. She gazed up at the starless sky, watching as pale streaks of gray clouds passed over. Din continued to drill Karga on their plan. He assured the Mandalorian there would be no more than four guards - a fire team- with the Client.

Zakia blinked lazily, and tried to keep her body from trembling with anticipation. Her and Mando had yet to work out the precise details, but she was confident her partner would want her far away from the Imps. It would be easy to find a building with a clear shot into the Imperial hideout, but the hard part was remaining undetected. If Karga was right, the job would be simple. If he was wrong however, they were in for a long day.

Eyes searching for Din's familiar figure, Zakia tugged on his cloak so the others wouldn't notice. He shifted in a way that acknowledged her prod for attention.

"You okay?"

The helmet falling forward in the front was her only answer, and Zakia allowed her hand to remain on his cloak as she turned to the sky. The few clouds illuminated by Nevarro's dull moon were nothing more than wisps, so Zakia froze upon spotting an opaque shape move across her field of vision. She lifted her head sharply, trying to follow the shape. Blue eyes tracked across the darkness, and faintly picked up on another shape. This one was larger, and was flying from behind the other group towards the fire. Zakia thought it to be scavenger birds at first, but squinted when the shap seemed to pick up speed as it neared the group. Karga was about the reach the roasting hunk of meat when she called out.

"Greef, get down!" Zakia was just in time, as the beast swung down to steal the meat.

It was incredibly large, and the force of its pass knocked Greef from his feet. The Mandalorian ducked to the side, arm falling to the far side of Zakia's body. A screech prompted him to stay there, chestplate rhythmically ramming into Zakia's back until she elbowed him.

"We have to move, there's- more!" Zakia pushed against his cuirass, leaping to her feet as Cara began firing out shots from an automatic blaster. The Mandalorian and his partner wasted no time drawing their own weapons. Zakia slapped the button to close the Child's pram, allowing Mando and Kuiil to cover her as she turned her back.

It was far too dark to make sense of anything between the dust and darkness. The group's movements were lit only by the light of their fire and their blasters. Zakia had just got her bearings when Kuiil's shouts echoed across the flat plains.

"No, let go of her! Drop her now!" They were shouts of anguish, and Zakia was horrified to see the beasts lifting one of their Bluurg off the ground.

The group's blasts began to focus in on the offending creature, but it was long gone before they had a chance. A brief bout of silence followed, and Zakia offhandedly glanced to ensure the Child was safe.

SCREEECH.

Something heavy impacted Zakia's back with enough force to toss her to the ground. Her blaster tumbled from her hand, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around her exposed neck to protect it. More yelling and firing reached her ears, but she was glued to the rocky ground. Another body was tossed down next to her, and Zakia was battered with gusts of wind that whipped gravel into her face. Some part of her fuzzy brain recognized the clanking of Din's armor, and then the familiar feeling of his hand on her back. There was a blast of heat above her head, and Zakia tightened the arms protecting her neck.

"Zakia." The Mandalorian's voice was measured. Calm, but urgency pressed into his tone.

He had seen Zakia get knocked down. When one of Karga's hunters was swiped from safety, his legs took her feet from the ground as the beast flew away. Protecting herself was the best option at that point- these creatures were clearly smart.

"Is it over?" She still had her arms locked around her neck, and Din's helmet fell forward in relief.

"Yes. They're gone. You just got knocked down when one took off. You're fine." The Mandalorian wrapped his hands around her arms and hauled her up, allowing her a moment to get her feet back.

"Shit." She cursed, "I saw them coming, I just didn't know what they were." Her body moved almost thoughtlessly to the Child's cradle, where she pressed the lid release. Zakia's hands lifted the baby, holding him tightly to her chest. "It's alright, kiddo."

Mando took stock of the remaining group. Cara was lowering her blaster, and Kuiil looked rather distraught. But it was a groaning from his left that caught Din's attention. Karga was on the ground, clutching at his forearm. Zakia followed his gaze, tongue pressing against her teeth as they all approached.

Kuiil was the first one there, followed by Cara. Din and Zakia approached after, and the blonde shook her head as she looked into the corner of his visor. Greef's arm had four gashes in it, infection sizzling outwards like hot grease.

"Poison." Zakia set her jaw, kneeling beside Kuiil.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine." Karga protested their doting until Zakia pressed on a tender spot. "Ow!"

"Hold still." Cara ordered. "They got you good"

Zakia let Cara take over the care, unsure of how to proceed. She had bandaged Din up more times than she could count, but poison was something she had never experienced. The shock-trooper fumbled in her belt, withdrawing a small med pack with a long needle. She gave Karga the first infusion, eliciting a wheeze from the injured party.

"How bad?" The Mandalorian asked, leering over Cara's shoulder.

"Bad." Cara confirmed. "The poison is spreading fast."

Greef squeezed his eyes shut, breathing heavily in measured bouts to maintain his composure. "So… this is how it happens?"

Cara, ever the lifesaver in these situations, looked at the Guild agent. "Don't be so dramatic." She looked to the other hunters. "I need another medpac! Got any other medpacs?"

A chorus of shaking heads later, the air grew tense. Zakia shifted uncomfortably, hands pawing aimlessly at the Child's robes. Normally a stoic figure, she found herself perturbed at Karga's situation. As if sensing her discomfort, the baby in her arms shifted, wiggling wildly in an attempt to leave her arms.

"Hold on." Zakia leaned down to allow the Child to stand on the ground. Knowing he had a tendency to hover within reach of the Mandalorian, she let her eyes wander back to Cara.

"It's still spreading. This isn't working." Cara held the med scanner in one hand, and paused when the now-free Child approached her side. She turned to Kuiil. "Get this thing outta here."

The Child extended a hand then, catching the attention of everyone surrounding Greef's supine form. Kuiil urged them to leave him be, and everyone watched warily as the tiny green creature stretched towards Greef.

"He's trying to eat me." Karga whined. Zakia snorted, nudging Mando in a weak attempt at lightening the mood.

More than a few seconds passed before anything changed. The Child laid his hand on Greef's arm and closed his eyes. Zakia could see the concentration on his tiny face, and gripped the crook of Din's elbow when their ex-boss's skin began to knit itself back together. The poisoned flesh reverted back to smooth skin from its blistered state, and even Greef seemed surprised as his pain slipped away.

The baby shook with the effort, eventually falling backwards onto his bottom. Zakia hustled towards him automatically, sweeping his exhausted form from the dirt. No one spoke, only stared at the unmarred flesh of Karga's arm. The shock was clear, and the uncertainty surrounding the tiny quarry skyrocketed.

Zakia only focused her wide eyes on the baby in her arms, whispering a silent prayer for the hours to come.

#din djarin x oc #din djarin #din x oc #din #star wars #the mandalorian #mandalorian #grogu #baby yoda #greef karga #kuiil #cara dune #moff gideon

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perfectirishgifts · 3 years

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Pandemic Project: Rust-Oleum RockSolid Garage Floor Coating

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/pandemic-project-rust-oleum-rocksolid-garage-floor-coating/

Pandemic Project: Rust-Oleum RockSolid Garage Floor Coating

Rust-Oleum RockSolid floor coating in Silver Bullet.

COVID confinement has turned my everyday life upside down. As a car reviewer, I am frequently on the road, off driving some new vehicle in a far-off place. Home projects get pushed to the back burner, or languish half-finished until I have time to attack them in short bursts. Staying home for months has been a challenge, so I decided to turn it into an opportunity.

About three years ago, my wife and I moved from our small house in Los Angeles to a big old farm house in the suburbs of Detroit. One of the great attractions (for me, anyway), was the presence of a barn/garage on our property. I have had plans to turn the two garage bays in the barn into clean, pleasant spaces to store our cars, motorcycles, and tools. Time has marched on, and the garage dream has remained elusive.

Finally, I had time to undertake the first phase of the project. I allotted a week to clear out one of the garage bays entirely, and to clean, prep, and coat the garage floor.

My garage project — before.

When we first bought our house in Los Angeles, one of the first projects I undertook was to coat the garage floor, and I never regretted it. I used a Rust-Oleum garage floor coating kit, and when we sold our house ten years later, the floor coating looked as good as new. The benefit of coating the floor can’t be overstated. Beyond the cosmetic upgrade over bare concrete, epoxy-coated concrete is much easier to clean and to keep clean. Dust doesn’t accumulate the way it does on bare concrete; moisture beads up and doesn’t soak in; spills wipe up easily and oil leaks don’t leave stains. A strong epoxy floor is also resistant to chipping and cracking. I knew any garage project wouldn’t satisfy me if I didn’t take the time to coat the floor first.

Things change over ten years, so I did some research to find the best solution. I had a few parameters. This would be a DIY project, with me as the “Y,” doing it myself. It had to be simple, safe, fast, and affordable. And I wanted results at least as good as my last garage floor coating project.

I looked at Rust-Oleum’s line of products first. The company has several lines of garage floor coatings designed for homeowner use, from Rust-Oleum Concrete & Garage Floor Paint (a self-priming acrylic paint), to EpoxyShield (a two-part water-based epoxy), to RockSolid (a two-part solvent-based epoxy).

I investigated other options.

Garage Flooring LLC of Colorado sells a two-coat Polyurea kit ($780) for 500 square feet of coverage, sufficient for my 358-square-foot bay. I recognized the Garage Flooring logo from car shows, where I had admired their flooring tile systems and garage floor mats, but their prices were a deterrent.

Another company, ArmorPoxy, makes an epoxy garage floor coating product called “Armorclad.” It comes in a Master Kit with Topcoat with enough material to cover up to 600 square feet for $529. The Armorclad literature highly recommends using a primer coat before installing the epoxy, which brings the total up to $712 (and adds another step to the application process).

Rust-Oleum RockSolid Garage Floor Coating Kit.

I priced out the Rust-Oleum RockSolid system for my garage. At my local Home Depot, the RockSolid 180-ounce Gray Polycuramine 2.5-Car Garage Floor Kit was $214, and the RockSolid 90 oz. Clear Polycuramine Top Coat Garage Floor Kit (2 Pack) was $298, bringing the total to $512. The RockSolid kits came with the etching formula I would need; plus the foam rollers I’d need to apply the product.

I contacted Rust-Oleum for some expert advice. I spoke with Megan Newton, Rust-Oleum’s Director of Brand Marketing in High-Performance Coatings. My timing was good, as she told me, “I literally yesterday just finished painting my garage with RockSolid.”

I described my project to Newton, and told her that I was considering Rust-Oleum products for my garage. She recommended going with Rust-Oleum RockSolid, as she had for her own project. “We are the market leader when it comes to two-part garage coatings. RockSolid is our highest end. We also have one part water-based coatings again, but you’re not going to get the longevity that you get with a two-part epoxy like RockSolid,” she said. “There are a few competitors out there, but doing what we’re doing with RockSolid, there’s nothing like it in the marketplace.”

I told her I had looked at some competitors, but I wasn’t entirely sure what was different. “Our Polycuramine technology mixes multiple chemistries and resins to form this ultra-hard coating, she said. “It’s proprietary to Rust-Oleum. This great hard surface is twenty times stronger than regular two-part epoxy paint — even stronger than our EpoxyShield. It’s the best-looking and strongest garage coating you’re going to get. Having used it this past week, I got to say that it’s amazing how it changes the feel of a garage.”

Garage floor moisture test.

Newton had more advice. She emphasized the importance of preparation, and suggested that I conduct a moisture test before applying product. “It’s as simple as pie,” she said. “You can just take a nice plastic garbage bag, cut it up and tape a three-by-three-foot area of your garage floor and leave it overnight. In the morning, you pull that up. If there’s moisture on the bag, you’ll have to do one extra step, which would add to the process.” If I discovered that my floor seeped moisture, I’d have to apply a product like Rust-Oleum Moisture Stop, which penetrates into concrete to form a gel in cracks, pores, and capillaries to keep water from leaching through.

Since I had the positive experience in my last garage, I decided Rust-Oleum RockSolid was for me, and I embarked on my project.

Preparation is the key to a successful garage floor project, and it’s probably the least enjoyable series of tasks.

Before anything else, I conducted a moisture test, per Newton’s suggestion. Luckily, my garage floor turned out to be bone-dry. One barrier hurdled.

Next, I looked at the weather charts. It was late October in Michigan, which meant any and all weather conditions, from scorching heat to white-out blizzard, could strike. RockSolid needs to be applied when temperatures are between 40 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit in order to bond to the concrete properly. “This product is very weather-dependent,” Newton said. “You definitely want to have a good window of a few days with no rain before and after, and a few days without temperatures dipping below 40 degrees.” I studied the Weather.com app for the proper window, and saw a good week of unseasonably warm days and nights ahead. All systems were go.

An empty garage, ready for the project.

The only part of the project where I engaged help was in clearing out the bay. I engaged a crew of three men for two hours from HireAHelper.com for $298.05 (plus tip), and together we were able to clear out the garage bay to the bare floor. I considered it money well-spent.

The next step of the process was cleaning and degreasing the floor. I swept thoroughly, then wet the floor and applied Rust-Oleum Cleaner and Degreaser for Concrete. I used a push broom to scrub the floor, rinsed again, and then went after tough stains with more degreaser and a long-handled scrub brush. I brought out my pressure washer for another rinse – only to have the hose on the washer burst shortly after starting. A quick search of the Internet revealed my pressure washer to be discontinued, and the repair part unavailable. Rather than allowing this to derail my progress, I doubled down on scrubbing, and got to a satisfactory level of cleanliness. I used a big squeegee to get excess water out of the garage, set up a big fan to blow across the surface, and left the floor to dry for two days.

The floor has been cleaned and degreased.

Next up was etching. When I did my floor in Los Angeles, I used Muriatic acid to etch the floor, which Rust-Oleum no longer recommends using. Muriatic acid is a very hazardous, harsh chemical, not actually DIY-friendly. Instead, the RockSolid kit includes a bag of citric acid crystals for etching. I emptied the bag into a two-gallon watering can, filled with water, mixed, and poured the solution onto the concrete. Citric acid is still acid, so I worked with Nitrile-coated gloves, safety goggles, and rubber boots, but I didn’t need to be concerned about fumes or runoff into planting beds outside. Again, I scrubbed with the broom and scrub brush. After letting the acid sit for 10 minutes, I rinsed and squeegeed repeatedly until the etching liquid was diluted and gone from the surface. Out came the fan again, and I let things dry for two days.

Time to coat – wait, no.

Before I could apply a coating, I had to do some more prep work. My garage floor is 15 or 20 years old, and had developed a few cracks and dings. Now was the time to make repairs, before coating. Some of the cracks were narrow, a few were up to ½-inch wide, and deep into the slab. I got several quart containers of pre-mixed liquid concrete patch and some foam filler cord for the wider cracks. I packed the wider cracks with filler cord, and then filled all of the cracks with the concrete patch mix. Liquid patch filler is self-leveling in ideal circumstances, and should require little or no troweling. I used disposable plastic putty knives sparingly to smooth out any lumps and bumps. I also discovered that I had a few very deep cracks in the slab, cracks that simply swallowed patch filler endlessly, even when packed with foam filler cord. I bought a 50-pound bag of fine sand and poured it into the deepest cracks until they finally filled, then added foam filler cord on top before patching. That solved the problem, and gave me confidence that the cracks would not reappear. I let the patches cure for 24 hours before moving on to the next step.

Garage floor cleaned, etched, and patched.

Time to coat – really!

The temperature had been above 40 degrees overnight, and was expected to rise to 70. In October. In Michigan. Amazing. Perfect weather for epoxy coating and curing. Following the directions, I mixed the first of two pouches of material. First, I put it on the floor and rolled it with the Part A side up toward the Part B side until the internal barrier between the two sides burst. I then picked up the bag, and shifted the bag from side to side for three minutes, mixing the two parts of epoxy. I now had one hour to apply the epoxy to the floor. I cut a corner off the bag, and poured some into the back of the garage bay. I used a new, medium-quality four-inch edging brush to cut in the edges of a 10-foot section (medium-quality, because I knew that I’d be disposing of the brush when I finished this job, rather than attempting to clean it). I then poured more epoxy on the floor, and used the included nine-inch foam roller (mounted on my trusty old roller frame) to spread the material evenly, using W patterns. When I had finished half of the garage and emptied out one bag of epoxy, I paused to spread the decorative paint chips across the wet epoxy. I then mixed the second bag, and repeated the process on the remaining bare floor, following up with a broadcast of paint chips. I planned ahead so I could paint my way out of the room toward the door, avoiding the need to step on wet epoxy. I used all of the epoxy in the 2.5-car garage kit on my 358-cubic-foot bay. If I had had leftover material, the instructions say to let it dry in the package, and discard in normal trash.

The base coat has been applied and has cured for 24 hours.

I allowed the epoxy to cure for two days, though it was safe to walk on in eight hours and to drive on in 24 to 36 hours. I then applied the RockSolid textured top coat, using the same procedure as I had for the base coat. After another 24 hours, my garage floor project was done.

I love how this project turned out. It’s not perfect, through no fault of the product. My perfectionist’s eye can spot an area where the base coat is a little thinly-applied, and another spot where I might have missed applying the top coat. I wish I had broadcast the decorative chips a little more evenly, but my wife disagrees. She likes the random pattern. If and when I do another garage floor, I will recruit a helper with a flashlight to help identify these issues before the floor cures, and hopefully achieve a higher level of finish. In reality, though, it looks great, and even better, functions brilliantly. The total cost of this project, including tools, floor-patching materials, floor-coating kits, and excluding labor (the HireAHelper.com crew) was under $800. A professional installation would have run $3,000 or more.

The finished project — ready to be used.

I’ve used Rust-Oleum’s garage floor coating systems twice now. I’ll definitely use RockSolid again – once I can get my other garage bay cleared out.

More from Cars & Bikes in Perfectirishgifts

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sadrien · 7 years

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prince of cats

chapter four: my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

on ao3 || on ffnet 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

hey how is everyone? if you follow me on tumblr, you'll know i wrote like 8k for this fic in one day, and hopefully i'll be doing a lot more writing for it this week, so it looks like posting will be constant all the way through which is pretty nice!

thanks for reading! enjoy~

Marinette pulls her hair up into a messy bun as she makes herself a hot chocolate. It’s almost noon, and she slept far too late, but yesterday was a day. She had sat in Adrien’s kitchen for longer than she had ever imagined, familiarizing herself with the swoop of his hair and the way the corners of his eyes crinkle when he smiles.

And then she had gone over Alya and Nino’s and had screamed about it for almost an hour over dinner.

Marinette glances over to the window by the sink, where the window is cracked open. For some reason, she half expects Plagg to appear, purring and demanding something to eat. If she thought she had it bad before, after spending a few hours with Adrien, it’s infinitely worse.

She is totally and completely screwed.

Marinette takes her hot chocolate and makes herself comfortable on her couch with a sketchbook and some old markers that she needs to use before she can justify spending an outrageous amount of money on new ones. She really should be working on designs for work — the head designer had a theme for a new line that they were throwing around — but she finds herself reverting to old styles that she played around with back in collège and lycée. There’s something familiar and comforting about the draped evening dresses and elegant suits.

Men’s wear is boring and Marinette intends to fix it.

She’s scribbling out a jacket design that she absolutely despises when there’s a knock at her door. She sits back on the couch with a sigh, twisting up her hair and shoving her pencil in it to hold it in place.

She’s surprised to see Adrien standing in her doorway with an awkward smile. “Oh, uh, hi!”

He lifts a hand in greeting. “Hi, I’m here to, um…borrow a cup of sugar?”

Marinette raises an eyebrow. “You…are?”

“I…” Adrien rubs the back of his neck. “Would it be weird that I kind of just needed an excuse to come talk to you again?”

She blinks in surprise.

“I’m not good at this friend thing,” he continues quickly. “I was… I was homeschooled and when I went to university I didn’t really talk to anyone I didn’t already know—” Adrien stops and buries his face in his hands. “I’m just trying to say I have no idea what I’m doing,” he mumbles. His ears are steadily getting pinker and pinker.

It’s almost unbearably cute.

If Marinette hadn’t already been completely sold, she is now.

“Hey,” she says softly. Adrien looks up from his hands, face red. “I’m not doing anything today. Want to come in for a drink?”

He glances back into the hallway. “Not coffee, right?” he asks, smiling weakly.

Marinette steps to the side so Adrien can get through the doorway. “Coffee is disgusting.”

“You’re disgusting,” Adrien says. He spins in a slow circle, taking in her apartment. “This is nice,” he says softly. “I love your posters.” He motions to a Jagged Stone poster hanging in the center of the wall. It’s surrounded by other posters, ones she’s stolen from events when no one was looking or that Alya or Nino had bought her from the internet.

“Thanks,” Marinette says as she closes her apartment door. “I made it.”

Adrien’s eyes go wide. “You did?!”

She nods. “Back in collège. I entered one a contest where you had to design a poster for one of Jagged Stone’s concerts. The winner got two free tickets.”

“And?”

She smiles smugly. “Watching from the front row was incredible.”

“Wow,” Adrien murmurs. He looks back to the poster. “You’re amazing.”

Marinette ducks her head as she feels her face grow warm. “It was just some work in Photoshop, nothing fancy.” She had spent hours and hours on it, looking up tutorials on YouTube and asking for opinions from everyone she knew. It wasn’t nothing, but she has a million things she would do differently if she could redo it. “Anyway, I don’t have any coffee, but do you want anything to drink? I have milk and hot chocolate and like…water.”

“Water is fine if you don’t mind me invading your Sunday,” Adrien says. Marinette bites her lip as he wanders over to her couch, knowing her sketchbook is sitting open on the cushions.

She waves away her worries — if he hates or judges her for one bad jacket then they probably should stop trying to be friends immediately — and turns toward the kitchen. “I don’t mind,” she promises. “One sec.”

Marinette is pulling a glass out of the cabinet when Adrien calls out to her from the couch.

“Did you draw this?”

She blows air out the corner of her mouth and quickly fills the glass with water. “Yeah,” she says as she walks out of the kitchen. She hands Adrien the glass. “I did mention I was a designer, right?”

Adrien takes the glass from her, a crease between his eyebrows. “Why did you scribble it out?”

Marinette sighs and leans against the back of the couch. “I hate it.”

He frowns.

She reaches down and takes the sketchbook from him. She tilts it in the light, scrunching her nose as she studies it. “It’s too…” She points at the collar. “It’s just not working for me. It’s very…angular? But not…in the right…”

Huh.

“Can I have that pencil?” she asks, holding out her hand. Adrien hands it to her and she flips to a new page. “Give me like…less than…a minute…” she murmurs, scratching a new jacket on the page. It’s similar to the other one, but with better proportions, angles in different areas, a collar that isn’t so horrible.

She can feel Adrien’s eyes on her.

“You didn’t come here to watch me draw,” Marinette says when she’s got a basic sketch down. The most basic she can get, barely more than an outline. She tucks her hair behind her ear and looks up to see Adrien watching the paper intently.

“I don’t mind,” he answers almost automatically.

Marinette stares at him for a long moment. She tries not to get too lost in his eyes — she is, in fact, trying to read him and make a point right now — but it’s a challenge. “You said you came here for sugar,” she says eventually.

Adrien shrugs. “I needed an excuse. And I don’t have any sugar, so I figured that I might as well try that cliché.”

She furrows her eyebrows. “You…actually don’t have sugar. You drink your coffee black?” He nods and she grimaces. “First of all, that’s disgusting. Second of all, what do you do when it’s two in the morning and, like any real adult, want a mug brownie?”

Adrien blinks slowly, mouthing the words back to her. “Mug brownie?” he asks when his brain has apparently decided to work again.

Marinette puts down her pencil. “You’re kidding, right?” She takes in his slightly dazed and incredibly confused expression. “You aren’t kidding.” She gives herself half a second to consider before she closes her sketchbook. “Come on,” she says, motioning toward the kitchen.

“What are we doing?” Adrien asks, trailing after her.

“I have to teach you how to adult.”

✦ ✦ ✦

“If you’ve got random chocolate chips laying around,” Marinette says, “this is where you’d throw them in.”

Adrien frowns at the chocolate bar she’s handed him. “This is a chocolate bar.”

“Yes,” she agrees. “It is.”

“What do I do with a chocolate bar?”

Marinette rolls her eyes. “You are so lucky you have me, because you’re hopeless. How have you lived on your own for…how long again?”

Adrien laughs awkwardly. “I get it. What do I do with the chocolate bar, oh All-Knowing One?”

“Watch this.” She unwraps the chocolate bar and puts it down on the cutting board she always has out on her counter just in case. She pulls a knife from the drawer and starts chopping up the chocolate bar. “It’s magic. Almost like chocolate chips and chocolate bars are made of the same thing.”

Adrien crosses his arm across his chest and leans back against the counter. “Okay, I probably should’ve been able to figure that out myself.”

Marinette gives him a pointed look. “You think?”

“Why do you add more chocolate anyway?” he asks. “You said it was optional.”

“Why wouldn’t you want more chocolate?” she counters. “Also, it’s fudgier.”

Adrien hums. “You just have this memorized?”

Marinette nods as as she splits the chopped up chocolate in half and puts some in each mug. “Eventually you just know that you need two tablespoons of cocoa powder, because it’s three in the morning, you’ve been prepping for finals since noon, and looking at a screen for the directions is too painful. Memorization is inevitable. Besides, how else are you supposed to get through university?”

“Uh… Willpower?” Adrien suggests.

Marinette makes a face. “I’ll stick to my double chocolate chip cookies, thanks.”

“You know to make double chocolate chip cookies?” he asks in surprise.

“How are you alive?”

✦ ✦ ✦

As the mug brownies cook in the microwave, Marinette teaches Adrien how to make chocolate chip cookies. Not exactly her original plan for her Sunday, but it means spending more time with Adrien. Also, Alya and Nino will never complain about cookies.

She tries to keep the conversation flowing as they measure out ingredients and mix them together in a large glass bowl. Adrien is twenty four, just like she is, and moved to Paris a few months ago. He never really wanted to go into business, but he doesn’t know what he would’ve gone into if his father hadn’t offered him a job. He did like physics when he took it and he goes off on a ten minute tangent about gravitational waves.

When Adrien is passionate about something, he lights up like the sun. His eyes sparkle and he gestures with his hands, brandishing the spoon in the air. He talks quickly, backtracking and making asides and random commentary the entire time.

Marinette finds herself turning away to hide her smile an awful lot.

He asks her about designing and she somehow finds herself offering to show him some old designs sometime. He says he once could make a pillow. She laughs and says that she started out with a lumpy pillow that looked more like a very sad ball.

When the cookies are in the oven, the take their mug brownies and curl up on the couch in the living room.

Marinette flips on the TV and then looks over to Adrien. “What kind of movies do you like?”

Adrien pokes at the steaming brownie with his fork. “Honestly, anything. I’ll watch anything from bad Hallmark movies to action movies to Disney classics to comedies.”

She hums as she opens Netflix.

“What about you?”

“Whatever can act as background work while I design,” she admits. “I like to multitask.”

“That’s a good one,” Adrien says, pointing his fork at the screen.

Marinette stops on the movie he’s pointing to. “Anastasia?”

He nods. “Have you seen it?” She shakes her head. “Oh man, it’s a classic. Up there with Disney movies.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Really? What’s it about?”

“It’s a musical—”

Marinette scrunches up her nose.

“Hey, don’t make that face! Musicals are great!”

“Not usually my cup of tea,” she says with a shrug.

“Give it a chance,” Adrien pleads. “It’s about the lost daughter of the last Russian Tzar, but she doesn’t remember who she is. She’s just trying to find her family in Paris, she doesn’t realize she’s royalty.”

Marinette takes one look at his pleading eyes before she sighs and gives in. “I’ll give it a try,” she says, and hits play.

It’s worth it to see Adrien smile.

#marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #adrienette #miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic #my fics #proc ml #prince of cats ml

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opepin · 7 years

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june: week five

26: kevin woke up earlier than i did today o__o i rolled around bed and i was just so tired. i did wake up at like 6 am to pee and drink water because my mouth was so dry. kevin left to go to work and then realized he left his laptop and id at home LOLOLOL. so he had to train back and get them. i ate cereal for breakfast and then went to work and caught up on all the stuff that happened over the weekend. i also caught up with my financials and i’m so thankful that july is here so i can properly sort out my moneys lol. then i went back to work and started recording videos. i recorded and edited for the rest of the day. then i did ab exercises and snuck in a low-impact cardio workout...which i don’t think i should have done. ugh. :/ then i put chicken in the oven and made rice. i showered and got out just as the chicken finished baking. kevin got back from climbing and then showered while i chopped garlic and cilantro.

i ate dinner while he cooked. i got hungry so i finished leftovers and a chicken thigh by the time he was done. i asked kevin to take a quiz for me and he got real judgey about it -__-” like c’mon, it’s just a quiz. so then i just left him be and watched ‘crossroads’ in the bedroom. lol it was a good way to spend my evening <3 kevin apologized and then actually tried to take the quiz and them steamed soup dumplings for us. my mom called me and asked me about my foot and yelled at me out of love and asked me to move home LOL (that’s not happening). then i finished watching the movie, jammed out to britney’s old school music, and then brushed and went to sleep.

27: merp. i don’t feel like myself. i feel like something is wrong but i’m not sure? i woke up and went straight to work while eating breakfast. we had all-hands today so i took that time to do some internet errands. phil also said i didn’t need to work on monday so woot. i might work though. i was very productive and made one pagers for all the videos as well as exercises if necessary and i also pinpointed the next videos i could record and practiced using the new tools and ui. then i went straight into my arms and back workout. i talked to my mom for a bit and then baked chicken and showered. kevin got back and then showered and i ended up eating a chicken thigh and then we just went straight into making spring rolls and eating dinner. i told kevin how i’ve been feeling like we haven’t been spending quality time together as in time without reading fanfic or doing something else when we’re with each other. so we planned on doing more of that in the upcoming days. i watched some youtube videos and snuck in a 15 minute low impact workout to get my heart pumping a bit. i felt pretty bloated and sluggish today. i did my pt stretches and iced my feet as well. then i got into bed at 11:30 pm and started re-taking personality quizzes because why not? i got INFJ again for two quizzes and then a very confused one on the last one. apparently, i was on the cusp of extra/intro and intuitive/perceiving. i took it again and it said i was an ISFJ. hmmm. i got on the phone with hillary for a bit and then ended up sleeping right after. zzzz.

28: lol at this day... kevin and i slept in a bit and then i recorded a video before heading out to my doctor’s appointment. my appointment was super short because she saw my foot and ordered an x-ray for both my feet (just in case). then kevin picked me up and when we got back, i spent a good amount of time just finding imaging and radiology places to get my x-ray. the list using mycigna was crap because more than 3/4 of them were closed or did not do x-rays -__- why the eff were they on the results page when i looked up “foot x-ray - 3 sides”?! omg. i ended up just googling and finding a place close by and calling cigna to double check if they are in my network, which they were! i got on stand up and then made us spring rolls with the tonkatsu kevin cooked during my hunt and stand up. kevin went to get his hair cut when i was on my stand up and brought back bubble tea :3 then we ate together, i recorded another video, and then called cigna to make sure this location was in-network as well (i found two close by and i chose the closer one that i didn’t call about previously) and then i called the facility to make an appointment.

the receptionist told me i had to have a pcp at the location so she sent me to the registry and i got my information put into the database and called again to make an appointment. note that i was put on hold every time i called to make an appointment. the lady (didn’t know it was the same one) asked me if i was registered and i said yes and then proceeded to ask me who my pcp was... i told her i don’t have one with them and that i have an x-ray order >_O” she told me i needed to choose a pcp in order to make an appointment and sent me back to registry...wtf. i told registry what was going on and the lady was so nice and tried figuring it out. the thing is, that it was almost 5 pm so they were all about to leave but she took my call anyway. she tried getting in touch with the receptionist but rq’d and told me that they’ve been hard to get in contact with anyway and asked if i wanted to talk to the other location and patched me through. omggggg, that receptionist though. anyway, the radiologist actually picked up and told me that i didn’t need an appointment and i just needed to come in and it’d only take like 10 minutes LOL. omg gg me. she was really nice so i didn’t mind but it took me 30 minutes just to not make an appointment...

i went straight to work after and managed to edit my videos and spot another one i could record tomorrow. i feel partially productive but still... ugh. kevin also wasn’t that productive either. hmm i’ve also been noticing a rise in my resting heart rate again so there’s that. -__-” ugh, i’m feeling really negative because i can’t do my regular exercise routine. i’m gonna find a way around it though! kevin chilled on the couch while i did some low-impact cardio with my sneakers inside the apartment. i think they helped but it feels so weird not being barefoot :( then i did oblique videos and i got super tired. after my workout, i did my pt stretches. kevin and i made spring rolls with the leftovers and then we relaxed for the rest of the night. i watched the latest episode of world of dance while kevin cleaned up. then i showered and put ice on my feet while watching youtube videos and etc before falling asleep.

29: i’ve been having weird action-packed dreams ahha. well, i got up and then kevin and i ate breakfast. kevin drove me over to the medical center to get my foot x-ray after. it’s located inside this nice shopping center / mall thingy in the middle of quincy! :O there is also a five guys, jimmy john’s, and barnes and noble in there. we found out that quincy college is right there as well. anyway, it was a breeze checking in and kevin joined me after he found parking. the x-ray was much like getting them at the dentist. the lady helping me was super nice and told me i should get my results by tomorrow. kevin drove me back, i went straight into the tech time call (wasn’t necessary). i did drop out at some point because of the audio. i worked after i dropped and kevin went to work at fitbit after that as well. i managed to record two videos and edit them before the day was over. then i chopped up some kale and garlic while watching the newest episode of masterchef and then i did a low-impact and leg workout. my feet are feeling better! they feel safer in gym shoes now when i work out. then i showered and kevin made fried rice and saucy pork belly with lotus root. we ate dinner while watching gordon ramsay videos.

then i went into the room and did some online shopping at american eagle. after debating on which tops to get, i checked out and found out that 3 of the tops i wanted were sold out T_T so i rq’d and blech. i spent my whole night doing that... then i did my pt stretches, iced my feet, and then stayed up reading stuff on snapchat news...ahaha. kevin got into bed while reading fanfic and i wanted him to just go to sleep so i tried distracting him and bothering him until he was tired but it didn’t work and i just ended up sleeping ahah...

30: ...we woke up to the sound of the fire alarms blaringgggggg everywhereeee -__-” so we went outside and i was half blind lol. today was the fire alarm drills in deco and we thought it would only affect a few floors, but nope! so we went back, tried to go back to sleep but then the alarms went off again so we went back down and then we went back again and i brushed up and everything so i didn’t go outside blind again. the alarm went off so we decided to get into the car and get breakfast or something except that kevin didn’t brush his teeth yet so he went back up after the alarms stopped and then we drove to the townshend where we found out that brunch is only on sundays... so we told the waiter we thought we could get breakfast here and he was super nice and understood. we left to go to craig’s cafe down the street. i got tea and the last order of eggs benedict ;D kevin got two breakfast sandwiches. mmm the food there was good and so cheap! our meal was only around $20 haha.

we drove back and all the drills were done so i went straight to work. i had a food coma so i did some internet errands before returning to do work. kevin went climbing and i got the work i wanted to get done, done. then i prepped food for dinner and exercised until kevin got back. i continued exercising while kevin realized that we didn’t have coconut milk to make the kale coconut fried rice so then we just ate leftovers from yesterday. i showered and then i plopped myself down on the sofa and played some bravely default... i’m trying to get all of the genomes i can for the vampire class before heading into the ending, which is superrrr long apparently -_-” haha. it was like 1 am when kevin joined me and he tried playing ff-x but switched over to hollow knight. omg, kevin started playing ff-x on steam and it is beautisss! i have so many memories <3 then we both got really tired and went to sleep at like 2:30 am.

july01: we woke up at like 11 am and stayed in bed until 12 pm. we ate breakfast and then drove to get tickets to see wonder woman and then we went shopping at the mall! we were planning on going to faneuil hall and shopping at uniqlo but kevin was lazy and just wanted to drive over to the mall. we went to j crew first and got nothing there. then we stopped by auntie anne’s to get pretzels <3 i was very disappointed in the garlic parmesan one because it was literally just all powder :( we got cinnamon sugar nuggets so that kind of made up for it. we stopped by gap where kevin got two pairs of pants and then we stopped by the food court to eat the pretzels. then we went to american eagle and aerie. i got kevin to try on these joggers he was looking at and he fell in love with them LOL. i tried finding the shirts that were sold out online but i couldn’t find them so i rq’d. i walked into aerie and told kevin he could wait outside if he was bored and didn’t want to follow me. i managed to find the sports bra i wanted and got it :) i got one sports bra without needing to pay for shipping / buy more stuff for free shipping -- yay! then we stopped by express on the way back and i did my best looking for things to buy but everything had the cross over lacing trend and/or drop shoulders and i’m not about that life right now. i tried on a pair of scalloped shorts and i fit a xs at express o_o’ i didn’t get them because the scallops were too big. kevin managed to find 3 tees and a collared shirt that he liked :O he had a good shopping trip.

we went to target after and got some cherries, noosa, and i got some insoles. then we drove back, kevin changed into his new clothes, cleaned out his t-shirt drawer, and i tried on my sports bra and chilled until we needed to leave for the movie. oh, we snacked on some mantou and chicken strips and stuff before heading to the movie. wonder woman was awesome -- it was so action-packed and i was never bored. kevin kept laughing at the awkward scenes LOL. whenever i watch a movie with kevin in theaters and he laughs, i realize that i am with one of those people who obnoxiously laugh at the movies. i’ve gotten used to it now and it’s actually endearing to hear someone laugh that hard in the movies. anyway, after that, we drove home, i snacked some more and then got in a 45 minute dance cardio workout. my feet are healinggg but i’m still avoiding hard jumps and stuff like that. i’m so happy <3333 i showered after and then remembered i had to do pt stretches and then ice my feet so i did that and then quickly got ready for bed and ko’d at like 1 or 2 am...zzz. oh, kevin got hungry before we went to bed so he made himself a breakfast sandwich and i asked if he could toast english muffins for me so i could put jam on it. he did that and put jam on it for me. lololol, he put a lot of jam on it so it became so sweet and i couldn’t take another bite after taking my first. lolololol. so that’s how kevin gets through jam so quickly...

july02: we got up at 11 am or 12 pm again. then we ate breakfast. kevin was still doing his morning thangs so i went into the bedroom and called to make a reservation at the envoy hotel for his birthday (: i got us a room and then i put our bedsheets into the washer and took some surveys until it was time to leave for our monthly massage. actually, i made us leave later than we were supposed to because the washer wasn’t done and i didn’t want to leave our sheets in there, but i looked it up and stuff doesn’t grow mildew until 24 hours later so we were good to go. we actually got there at 1:31 pm, which was on time :OO it felt soooo good. my masseuse, who is also the boss lady, worked on my back and shoulders today and it felt great. she cracked my back twice and my right foot (injured foot) and was worried she was breaking me but all was well! kevin and i were so relaxed and tired after that. we drove home and then kevin gamed until i asked him when we were going to go grocery shopping. i was super tired and had low energy. i just wanted to sleep. it was a struggle getting out of the apartment again.

we went to kam man and i tried looking for tiger balm but they didn’t have any. kevin got most of the groceries and we picked up ingredients to make che thai because kevin was craving it. then we went to bj’s and looked through two coupon books while picking up paper towels and juice. we drove back home and then i made che thai while he put away groceries. we put chia seeds in there and made it with coconut milk and then set them in the fridge. kevin and i cleaned the apartment right after that. i did a deep cleaning of the kitchen and the bathroom. oh, i also started washing our laundry. just as i finished cleaning, kevin started cooking. i managed to find the zodiac dog crystal for my mom’s birthday. i hope it gets here in time before we fly out to chicago on the weekend. nancy invited me, mindy, and hillary to help celebrate ryan’s birthday so i’m excited (: i hope hillary comes~ it’ll be fun. i started stressing about what to wear though. i’m pretty sure i’m going to stick to wearing my adidas because i don’t want to wear shoes that my feet aren’t comfy in. it was a pretty productive sunday. i still felt tired and grody though.

we ate dinner and then i folded the laundry and helped kevin wash some of the dishes. then we cleaned up and showered and i spent my night watching cutscenes from ff-x while doing my pt stretches and icing my feet. kevin came to the sofa to play hollow knight and i ktfo on his shoulder. i woke up and then brushed my teeth and made part of the bed while kevin brushed his teeth. then he put he covers on the blanket and we went to sleep at like 2 am. @_@; lolol my sleep schedule.

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