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cuddlepilefics · 2 years

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It's getting warmer, or is it?

Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Felix

Caregivers: dance-racha + Chan

In the early spring weather, it ends up being surprisingly colder than one would think with how sunny it looks and Felix is fooled, which his body isn't very pleased about.

No one’s POV.:

Felix had been looking forward to spring for so long. Sure, he loved winter and he loved snow but he also easily caught a chill, so the Aussie was excited to be able to go out without having to wear multiple layers. He didn’t want to admit it but the lack of sunlight had made him feel a little gloomy these past few months. During the holiday celebrations, he was happy and excited but when those were over and it was still cold and dark outside, he was ready for the seasons to change again. It was all a trick though, Felix realized when he woke up to bright sunlight streaming into his room and opened the window to let in some fresh spring air, only for his skin to instantly prick with goosebumps. Unwillingly he had bundled up in multiple layers again before following his friends to the company building. There was a thin layer of frost on the ground, which made Felix pout. He had hoped it would finally be getting warmer again. To his surprise, it did get warmer pretty quickly and by the time they went out for lunch, the dancer was sweating in his layers. Smiling that in the end, his wish had been fulfilled, he took off a few layers and stuffed the clothes into his bag.

After lunch, the group split up and Felix headed to the practice room with Minho and Hyunjin, still hyped that it was getting warmer. Feeling his energy renewed from the time he had spent outside, Felix went all out during their practice session. His hyungs were happy too to see their sunshine finally back to his usual self. His low mood recently had worried them but it seemed to be getting lighter now that it was sunnier outside. Using up all of his energy, Felix managed to sweat through his shirt by the time they called it a day and prepared to go back to the dorms. The Aussie’s mood remained light, despite the exhaustion as he glanced outside and realized the sun hadn’t set yet. It was still sunny, so when he struggled to pull his sweater from the bottom of his bag, he just shrugged and decided to walk home in his shirt. Sure, it was sweaty but it was warm outside and their way back was short. “Are you sure, you wanna go out like that? Didn’t you have a jacket or something earlier?”, Minho asked worriedly, slinging his bag over his shoulder. The older himself had put a warm hoodie over his shirt and knew his dongsaeng wasn’t as resistant to the cold. Felix picked up his bag, smiling: “Yeah, I’m sure. It’s getting warmer and the way’s short, so I want to feel the sun my skin.”

Minho and Hyunjin didn’t have the heart to tell him that he wouldn’t feel the sun on his skin as the temperature dropped rapidly in the evening, despite the sun still being up. The Aussie was right though, their way home was pretty short, so he’d probably be fine. Felix whined when they stepped out of the building and a cold gust of wind brushed across his bare arms. It had looked so warm but he could barely suppress a shudder. The sinking sun doing nothing to keep him warm. Although Hyunjin offered him his jacket, the younger declined. If he felt that cold, he could dig his own one out of his bag. His hyung shouldn’t be cold because of him. Call it laziness or stubbornness but either way, Felix did not dig his sweater out of his bag, deciding to rather suffer for a few more minutes till they got back to the dorms.

The trio parted at the front door, Hyunjin heading to the dorm he shared with 3racha, Minho and Felix to the other one they shared with the two maknaes. Though the Aussie didn’t want to admit it, he felt chilled all the way through and tried his hardest to suppress the shivers. He wasn’t in the mood for any ‘I told you so’ but Minho noticed the goosebumps and sent the younger to take a warm shower, not wanting his dongsaeng to fall ill. Felix gladly went straight for the bathroom, sighing when the hot water ran down his back. He was still frustrated that the weather had tricked him but it’d be fine, soon it’d be warmer and he wouldn’t be fooled like that again. After dinner, the Aussie made himself a cup of hot cocoa and huddled under his blanket to watch a movie. He would’ve expected with the blanket and hot drink, he’d warm up in no time but when he decided to shut off the light, he still felt chilled.

That didn’t change when Felix had to get up the following morning, gladly bundling up in multiple layers to keep the chills at bay. He was a little achy but blamed it on the practice the previous day. The mood was light when he joined his friends for breakfast but that soon changed as he hummed a low: “Good morning.” Felix hadn’t noticed until then that his throat did feel a little irritated and the greeting had come out even scruffier than his usual morning voice. Seungmin and Jeongin replied sleepily, while Minho asked the younger if he was feeling alright. The Aussie nodded, rasping: “Jus’ still not really ‘wake.” That earned him a soft chuckle as his hyung placed his breakfast in front of him. They ate in silence, except for soft sniffles coming from Felix, and Minho mentally slapped himself for allowing the younger to walk home in his sweaty practice shirt. The boy was most certainly coming down with something now and it would’ve been so easily preventable. Minho felt his worried confirmed, when he passed by the bathroom and heard the younger cough. It sounded muffled, like Felix was trying to quieten it by pressing his towel to his mouth but the older could hear him nonetheless.

Not liking where this was going, Minho through a bag of cough drops and pack of tissues into his backpack. The group would start the day with a few hours of dance practice and remembering the choreographies they were planning on working on, Minho could tell his dongsaeng would suffer, even more so than the rest of them. Felix had looked so tired and they’d be working on some of their most intense dances, he could only hope the Aussie would wake up properly till they got to the company building. Sadly, Felix didn’t wake up properly, his mind still hazy by the time they got there. His voice had only gotten worse after his coughing fit and the rest of the group was catching on too. As they were warming up, the Aussie accepted that his muscles weren’t simply sore from the last practice session but rather ached from the low-grade fever he was pretty sure he was running. It wasn’t nearly bad enough to speak up about his discomfort though and he instead forced himself to his starting position in the center of the room.

They had only gone over the dance once but Felix already felt winded. At some point, he had lost the ability to breathe through his nose, which somehow managed to run but also be blocked entirely at the same time, forcing him to breathe through his mouth. It left his throat even drier and made him cough more frequently. When Felix was hit by a particularly bad fit, he had to stop dancing entirely and sat down by his bag to wait it out and catch his breath, watching the rest of the group finish that run-through. Still a little out of breath, Chan made his way over to his fellow Aussie. “Hey, you doing okay?”, the leader asked softly, resting his hand on Felix’s arm. By now, the younger wasn’t sure, he still had the energy to pretend and eventually admitted: “I think I caught a cold.” – “You think?”, the older chuckled. It was more than obvious that Felix had caught a cold with how much he was coughing. His reddened nose and tired eyes even more of a confirmation. “I thought I was just tired but now I don’t feel so good”, the dancer sniffled, his voice low and thick with congestion. “Yeah, you don’t sound so good either”, Chan agreed, rummaging through his bag before handing the younger a tissue. Felix thanked him quietly before blowing his nose and wincing at the pressure in his sinuses.

Minho joined the two, handing Felix the cough drops he had brought along. He studied the younger worriedly before making eye contact with Chan, the leader’s expression mirroring his. Biting the inside of his cheek, Minho hummed: “You’re not planning on continuing this practice, are you? Because I don’t like how glossy your eyes look, it makes me think you’re running a temperature.” – “I-I don’t know”, Felix rasped, breaking into another painful cough. There was a steady hand on his back, Chan comforting the younger as his eyes watered from the strain. “I agree with Minho”, the leader stated with a sympathetic smile, “We’re going over the most intense dances today and you’re already in no shape to dance. You’d make yourself worse if you tried to push through, so I won’t let you.” Nodding defeatedly, Felix looked up at the older and whispered: “What am I supposed to do now then?” – “Your choice, you could go back to the dorm and rest or you sit out this practice and come to the studio with us later. I don’t know about the second option because you don’t sound like you’ll record anything anytime soon but I’m not going to exclude you if you want to stick around”, Chan offered. He knew the younger would easily get lonely when he was sick and all by himself, so if he wanted to watch their practice, he’d be welcome to.

Dreading the thought of being at the dorm all by himself till the late evening, Felix requested hoarsely: “I’d like to stay. Even if I can’t record, I’d like to see how the album is progressing.” – “That’s alright with me”, Chan agreed, “You should put on your sweater though, if you’re not moving around anymore.” The younger complied, slipping on an additional layer. He didn’t mind as he was feeling a little cold anyway. “Okay, so water, tissues and cough drops”, Minho mused, adding a pack of tissues to the small pile next to his dongsaeng, “Here’s my sweat-jacket too. You can put it on over your sweater in case you feel cold.” – “Thank you, hyung”, Felix sniffled quietly, wrist rubbing against his nose before he twisted to the side with a harsh sneeze. The older two blessed him and asked if he needed anything else before going back to practicing. The members took turns checking on their friend during their short water-breaks but Felix insisted he was fine every time someone asked.

He wasn’t though. The longer he spent in the practice room with the bright ceiling lights on and the music blasting on high volume, the worse he felt and he soon also changed his mind about wanting to go to the studio. His head hurt so badly and his eyes stung, all he wanted to do was go home and sleep. With the way his muscles ached, the hard practice room floor soon became unbearably uncomfortable and he waited for his friends to take a break, so he could talk to Chan again. He shuddered when the leader finally made his way over to him and looked at him with worry. Felix hadn’t realized that this wasn’t a break but rather his group packing up, to move to the studio. “H-Hyung?”, he asked softly, closing his eyes against the tears welling up in them, “I- uhm, I kinda feel worse and I think I’d rather go back to the dorm.” – “What’s going on?”, Chan frowned worriedly, rubbing the dancer’s arm as the first tear trailed down his flushed cheek.

He didn’t get an immediate answer but eventually, Felix shrugged, admitting: “I-I don’t even know. I’m just so tired and everything hurts and it’s all too much, the lights, the noise, everything, I don’t know.” Chan furrowed his brows and felt his dongsaeng’s forehead, sighing: “You’re definitely running a fever now, which is probably why you’re hurting and overwhelmed and yeah, I think it’d be best for you to go home and rest. Will you be able to get back by yourself though?” Felix shrugged again and shakily struggled to his feet. His head spun and he caught himself against the wall, which was all Chan needed to see to know he wouldn’t let the younger go back alone. “How’re you feeling now?”, the leader asked, when it seemed like Felix had found his balance. Running his sleeve under his nose, the dancer sniffled: “Tired an’ lightheaded. My legs feel so weak, are they shaking? Or does it just feel like the ground is so unsteady?”- “Alright, you’re definitely not going alone”, Chan announced, helping his friend sit down again, “Hang in there and I’ll figure something out, yeah?”

3racha all had to be present at the studio as they played a major role in the production. As the main vocalists, Seungmin and Jeongin would also be needed sooner rather than later, so it’d be most convenient for Minho or Hyunjin to walk Felix home. When the Aussie stood up again, he was even more lightheaded than the first time, so they decided that both dancers would take him back to the dorm before joining the group at the studio. Minho quickly packed his backpack and Felix’ bag before slinging both over his shoulder and linking his arm with Felix’. Hyunjin walked up to the Aussie’s other side and linked their arms too to ensure the younger wouldn’t trip and fall. “You ready to go?”, Hyunjin asked softly, taking in his dongsaeng’s pale complexion. Felix nodded. He wanted to get this over with as fast as possible as every second that he was on his feet seemed to zap his energy and he didn’t know how long he’d be able to keep that up. The trio quietly bid their goodbyes and the other members told Felix to feel better before they were off.

Their journey home was slow and torturous for Felix, his muscles aching worse and worse. Hyunjin took him straight to his room when they returned, while Minho headed to the kitchen, hurrying to prepare a pot of tea for his dongsaeng before they’d have to leave again. “Hyung?”, Hyunjin asked, walking up to Minho, “I took his temperature and it’s a moderate fever but I don’t think it’d be dangerous for him to have another blanket. He’s so cold, I wanted to get him another one. Do you keep any spare blankets around the dorm?” – “Oh, yeah. If you take this to his room, I’ll go and get another blanket”, the older agreed, nodding towards the teapot.

While Minho walked off to get Felix another blanket, Hyunjin took the teapot and a cup to the Aussie’s room and placed them on his nightstand. Running his hand through his dongsaeng’s hair, Hyunjin informed: “Minho-hyung is fetching you another blanket to ease the chills a little. Do you need anything else? Should I grab you some painkillers?” – “No need to”, Minho smiled stepping into the room with a blanket over his shoulder ad a box of painkillers in his hand. He placed the medicine next to the tea before spreading the blanket over Felix’ shivering form. “There you go”, the second oldest smiled, “Will you be okay on your own now?” Pulling the blanket tighter around himself, the Aussie nodded and rasped: “Thank you, hyungs. I thought I might get lonely but with how tired I am, I’ll probably sleep until you get back.” – “Alright, you can text us if you need someone to talk to, yeah? And I’ll convince Chan-hyung to send the first member, who finishes his recording, back to check on you”, Minho promised, “Feel better, Lixxie.” With that, the two older dancers left and Felix allowed himself to relax into his blanket cocoon, finally getting warmer.

#stray kids #skz #fanfic #fanfiction #sick #sickfic #fluff #comfort #dance racha #minlix #hyunlix #chanlix

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thirstyandbeautiful · 3 years

Note

au where y/n is michael’s colleague and she occasionally travels w the boys to gps and then oh no feelings and hormones come in! but who will she choose? if you can’t pick one, have both of course!

and maybe one day the three of them are training on daniel’s farm. everyone’s hot/sweaty/half naked and there muscles are on show and it leads to the hottest threesome 🥵🥵🥵

- 🥵 anon

So this one has been all up in my head thanks to all your beautiful brains- but I kinda went wild and put my own twist on it… hope you all enjoy!

Part two

Our Dirty Secret, Part One: how it all started...

You should’ve known that the catch of this dream job would rear it’s ugly head at some point.

It was just a bummer that that ugly head turned out to be a gorgeous one.

When you’d first met Daniel Ricciardo, it had been a complete surprise. You had applied for the personal assistant job with a private firm, and low and behold, the private firm was none other than the Formula One driver himself. To say that you were shocked would have been an understatement, it sounded like a stupid plot summary from Wattpad.

It was your dream job: traveling, perfect salary, perks on perks on perks.

So you were on cloud nine when you started and Daniel proved to be just as great as his personality let on. He was kind, funny and patient. The Aussie was a perfect boss and you quickly found that he took on more of a big brother kind of vibe. He was the boss, but it felt more friendly than that, and you understood why people fell under his spell so often.

He’d brought you on just before winter break, and had met and worked with you in the UK as the season wound down and the real vacation time came into swing. Daniel had expressed that this was the time he trained and focused on his other endeavors. And all that time was sent in beautiful, sunny Australia.

Insert: traveling perk.

He’d told you about the farm where you would stay with him, about what to expect, the beauty of the land, the perfectly hot weather, and Michael. And fuck if a hot personal trainer wasn’t just the cherry on top of this ridiculously amazing job opportunity.

Michael, his perfectly gorgeous, tall, ripped friend, and now: your coworker.

You were really looking forward to Australia.

“How long will you be gone for?” Your mother’s voice was supportive yet guarded.

“Like a month or two?”

“And it’s just going to be you and them on a farm?”

“Mom,” you huffed, “it’s gonna be fine.”

You could barely resist the bubbling excitement as you watched the gorgeous land and sunshine from your airplane window. You were arriving in the late afternoon and the setting sun was gorgeous. You wondered briefly if this was part of a ploy, or scam, or dream.

There seriously has to be some sort of catch.

The weather and landscape were gorgeous, the airport wasn’t a nightmare, and the ride to Daniel’s land was long but the time went quick since you were so infatuated with the view of the land you were getting.

If you had any reservations about how awkward or maybe uncomfortable you’d be living with a grown man in his home, they all went straight out the window by the time you fell asleep that night. Daniel was warm, welcoming and made you feel at home, constantly encouraging you to get comfortable, emphasizing how for these smaller parts of the year, his home was your home.

He promised it’d only get more fun once you fell into routine with him and Michael, who was visiting family off the farm and would be ‘home’ tomorrow.

You couldn’t lie and say you weren’t excited for the second Australian’s arrival. Who could blame you? There wasn’t a person alive that could look at that man and not feel at least a shiver.

“If you have sex with either one of them, I want to know everything.”

“Shhhh! Michael’s not even here yet, it’s just me and Daniel.” You hissed into the phone as you took a quick look around to make sure you were alone.

“Even better! Fuck them both.”

“Oh my god, why are we friends?”

“Cause clearly I have all the good ideas.”

You both laughed.

You’d made it a habit to go for walks in the morning, and resisted Daniel’s offers for runs. You’d never been a runner and you didn’t think the Aussie heat and expansive land would change your mind now. You dragged your feet up the walkway as you chuckled, a little bit of an anxious chill ran down your spine.

Today, Michael was supposed to come home.

You were excited to meet him for multiple reasons. Besides the obvious, he was the last part of what would become a normal environment for you moving forward. You would always be with him and Daniel, so once he was here, you felt like you could truly settle into your role.

And then of course, the obvious was how hot he was.

It wasn’t even decided that being around Michael Italiano would be easy, you just knew it was going to be.

So when you’d gotten to the walkway to the house and saw the spare car in the driveway, you’d sped up your pace until you finally reached the door.

Knowing the house like the back of your hand now, you headed for the main central part of the house where the living room, dining room and kitchen all met. It seemed like a good, neutral area to run into someone and meet someone new. Besides, you didn’t want to hunt around the house for him, you wanted things to be natural, comfortable.

And with absolute luck, there he was.

Michael stood at the end of the long wooden dining table, an array of things spread out in front of him. He had his hands on his hips, the white digits of his hand contrasted to the black shorts he had on, and the looseness of the grey work out shirt around his waist made you push down any flirty ideas the more creative side of your brain came up with.

You gently lifted your hand and knocked on the wall in the doorway to get his attention. When he looked at you, he didn’t say anything, so you took initiative.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” You brightly smiled at Michael as you closed the space between you and offered your hand to him, “I’m Daniel’s assistant.”

He looked down at you for a moment before shaking his head and briskly shook your hand, “Hi.”

As quickly as he said hi, your hand was dropped and he turned back to the counter where he had sorting supplements. He didn’t even mention his own name.

“Uh, what are you doing?” You asked in a cheerful tone, you really wanted to get along with all the people in this house, “Those are colorful.” you joked as you pointed to some of the vibrant pills on the table.

He just nodded.

“Are these for Daniel?”

“Yes,” he answered roughly, “but they’re none of your concern.”

“Oh no, I wasn’t- I’m not, I-” Michael tilted his head at you before a slight smirk pulled at his face as you continued to show off how flustered you were, “I was just curious.”

“Curiosity-”

“killed the cat, yeah I know.” you forced a laugh.

“Think it might be true?” He asked with an amused face.

Your eyes narrowed at him but you pushed down the urge to be confrontational, “Nothings true until someone makes it true.”

“Oh,” Michael nodded as he looked somewhere over your head, “what were you, a philosophy major?”

You felt your eyes narrow as your wit moved quicker, “What are you, a hitman?”

“Nothings true until someone makes it true.” he condescendingly parroted back to you, “What do you think?”

You pursed your lips for a moment before choosing to go with his weird direction of conversation, “I mean it’s a farm with no one around for miles, you might actually get away with it.”

“Miles.” He repeated under his breath with a scoff, “You are small,” you squirmed under his scrutiny as he openly surveyed you, “it’d be like a needle in a haystack.”

“Do you normally plan everyone’s death when you first meet them?”

“Nah,” he looked at you with a tight smile, “just the overly curious ones.”

“Afraid I might take your job if I learn about your skittles?” you gestured to the sea of supplements on the table.

Michael narrowed his eyes at you.

“Hello!” you both turned as Daniel strolled into the room, “Finally off the phone,” he sighed, “what’s for dinner?”

You looked between Daniel and Michael as Michael’s shoulders relaxed and he animately started talking about the food he’d picked up to cook with. You stayed quiet, unsure where you fit in their comfy dynamic, and looked between the pills and them to occupy yourself.

“That sounds good.” you mumbled, low enough for them to ignore if they wanted to but loud enough in case they wanted to hear you.

“Oh, yeah,” Daniel instantly pulled you into the conversation, “Mike is a great cook.”

You smiled at Michael as he looked at you blankly, “I don’t cook food for you, I cook for him.” He nodded his chin towards Daniel.

Your head tilted a bit as you took in what he’d said, even Daniel was silent.

“Mate-”

“I’m just fucking around.” Michael shrugged before he turned on his heel, “Now, let me finish my stuff without distractions.” He fanned his hands towards the two of you, shooing you out.

Daniel had nervously smiled and ducked back into his study. You were too embarrassed to follow him or talk to Daniel after that, so you walked out of the main, front part of the house and onto the dirt road. The reddish clay like dirt felt good under your sandals as you let yourself wander with your thoughts.

Michael had not been fucking around.

When you returned an hour later, you found that dinner had been made, eaten and there was a plate saved for you in the oven. While the little voice in your head told you to be happy that there was even a plate, you were kind of bummed that they’d eaten without you, even if you were gone for a bit.

Whatever, you just need a few days to all get used to each other, just give a few more weeks to get to know them better.

“He’s rude.”

“Figures.” Your friend sighed, “He’d probably bring about the apocalypse if he was the whole package.”

“Yesterday, he told me that I needed to change my shirt because he hates neon green.”

“You sure he’s not flirting?”

“We’re not children! I’m not going to fall for the whole ‘oh if he’s mean to you, it means he has a crush’, the man is rude, okay? Rude!” You panted.

“Wow, that’s a lot of feelings over there.”

Being around Michael Italiano was not easy, it was fucking infuriating.

For starters, he was just as pretty as you’d thought, and if you were being honest with yourself, pictures of him really didn’t do him justice. He was gorgeous. He was all porcelain, thick skin and muscles packed into a tall body with a sexy accent. Even now, after weeks of being on the farm, you still found a new vein or a new bulging muscle to get fixated on.

And fuck, could he cook. He was good at everything around the house too. On your more honest days, you were confused as to why you were even there, both physically and professionally, because Michael seemed to tend to Daniel’s every need. Not that you’d ever point that out to Daniel yourself, this job paid way too well for you to lose it from your own mouth.

So, yeah, Michael was hunky, but he was also a weird, standoffish asshole who was more Hyde than Jekyll. At least he was when Daniel wasn’t around.

You loved when Daniel was around, the man was great, but it also meant that Michael would be on his best behavior. When Daniel was around, Michael was nice, charming, funny. There was no difference in how he treated you and how he treated Daniel.

When Daniel was around, Michael remembered how you liked your smoothies, which fruits were your favorite. He let you have control over the remote and whatever streaming platform you were watching. Sometimes he’d even make you waffles cause he’d realized you’d finish a plate of waffles over pancakes any day.

But then when Daniel wasn’t around, when Daniel was on a call or in a meeting, or jogged solo, Michael morphed into the asshole version of himself. It annoyed you more because you saw how he could be, and then he reminded you how he was with you.

Like the other morning, when you’d tried to go for a walk with him.

You’d told the boys you were into hiking, so they’d indulged you a few times that week, so when you heard Michael call to Daniel that he was going for a light hike, you’d chucked a hoodie down over your head and met him at the door.

“What are you doing?” He looked at you as he lifted his keys off the hook.

“Aren’t you going for a hike?” you asked with equal confusion to his.

“Yes?”

You looked up at him, “Can I not come with you?” you asked, suddenly feeling dread and shyness creep up on you.

Michael tilted his head as his eyes narrowed, “Do I have to take you everywhere with me?”

“Go.” you growled.

You’d bit your lip and looked away, and cursed yourself when you flinched from the sound of the door as it slammed shut. Your eyes watered as you stood there for a moment to collect yourself.

The part of yourself that you’d labeled as childish got emotional over feeling left out, like you weren’t liked for some unknown reason.

“Hey, Daniel?”

“Hmmm?”

“Does Michael take a bit to warm up to people?”

“Wha?” Daniel looked up from the email he was reading, “What do you mean?”

“I just- nevermind.”

“Has he not been nice to you?”

“No! No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

The heavy footfalls should’ve warned you that it was him coming in hot, and not Daniel.

“You told Daniel I’m mean to you?”

You lifted your head so you could see over the edge of the hammock you were laid on, just to catch sight of a pissed off Michael.

“Fuck’s sake.” you grumbled barely above a whisper as you laid back down, “Daniel and his huge mouth.”

You’d told him that Michael wasn’t that bad, why did he have to go and talk to Michael about it?

In the days that followed that now exposed conversation with Daniel, you’d done a great job at staying out of each other’s way. It had actually felt peaceful to pass each other in the hallway having not uttered a word to each other. Until today.

“Hey,” a harsh poke to your cheek had your eyes snapping open, “I’m talking to you.”

You slapped Michael’s hand away from your face, “Can I help you?!”

“Now who’s being mean, huh?” Michael scoffed, “I’m gonna tell Danny you slapped my hand away, look-” he held up his perfectly intact, unblemished hand, “I think I see a bruise coming.”

“Oh my god, the past few days have been so nice, can we just go back to ignoring each other?”

“Yeah! That’s what I thought too, but now Daniel says you’re not feeling very welcome, that I’m being mean?”

“That’s not what I said,” You sighed, “why do you even care? Don’t you have some heavy stuff to lift or someplace to run in circles?”

You giggled as you heard Michael take a deep breath. Neither one of you were particularly innocent, you both pushed each other’s buttons, and while you resisted initially you now did not hold back. You were both pretty ruthless with your bullying.

“No!” you screeched as your hammock suddenly turned and you tumbled the few inches out of it and on to the cleared ground below, “Oh, you complete asshole.”

You pushed yourself to your feet, and looked at him, enraged by the smug smile on his face.

“What are you gonna do about it?”

You looked at him for a split second before you decided, and you took off running. You grinned as you looked over your shoulder at Michael’s dumbfounded face. He had really expected you to lunge at him.

“Where are you going?”

You skidded to a halt now that you had put a decent distance between each other, about 50 feet, and gestured to your dirt covered clothes, “Gonna show Danny that Mike is being mean to me.” you replied with a whiny voice and smug grin.

Michael’s eyes raked down your form, no doubt finally having noticed how much dirt and dust was caked on your light colored shorts and white tank top. You were a mess, and all because of him.

A scream left your lips as he suddenly bounded forward after you.

“Fuck you!” you yelled over your shoulder as you took off for the house.

You really thought you’d put enough distance between the two of you, but evidentially not. Michael was fast for all his heavy body mass, and by the time you’d jumped the stone ledge that signaled the end of the backyard, his fingers skimmed your hair when he reached for you.

By the time you went to pass the pool, Michael lunged.

You gasped as his hand grabbed your arm and you both skidded to a stop. Pulled to his front, you squirmed, the hard body behind you definitely powerful, but now focused enough to just lift you and chuck you in.

“No!” you yelled as his hands grabbed at your waist.

You were right on the edge of the pool, and the stone was still slippery from when Daniel used it earlier this morning. Michael might have thought he had you, with his brilliant idea to throw you into the pool so all the evidence of him flipping you out of the hammock was washed away. It wasn’t a bad plan, it really wasn’t.

But he underestimated you, and you knew he did.

Reaching back, you gripped his ribs and squeezed, making him flinch. In the slight lax of his grip, you ducked, bended your knees and folded yourself down. Time slowed down as your hands pressed to the stone and turned you until you faced the side of his knees. Lifting your feet, you claimed victory and kicked in the back of Michael’s knees, and sent him flying into the pool.

He pushed himself to the surface and wiped his face as you laughed and laid back on the stone to catch your breath.

“Unbelievable, my phone was in my pocket!”

The hard thud of his glitched and soaked iPhone beside your head made you laugh harder.

“Retribution!”

“How’s Michael?” Your friend asked suddenly during your phone call.

“Why?”

“Well, the two of you were in this weird mating stand off last I heard from you.” You could hear the laughter in her voice, “Have you two finally called a truce?”

“Nope, I still hate him and he still hates me.”

“Seriously?”

“Yup.” You smiled, “But now I give it right back.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” you hissed under your breath, “Can I just do it?”

“Fuck off.”

Michael poked one of his huge, hard fingers right into your shoulder, making you slap his whole hand away as he sniggered and walked around you with some of the wiring he’d ripped out of the wall. The wiring that you’d been working on, in a desperate bid to find a circuit to connect the AC to.

“We’re gonna die in here.” you sighed as you rubbed your overheated face.

“So dramatic.”

“Shut up!” You yelled.

While anyone looking in on this current spat between you and Michael may have chalked it up to the extreme heat rolling through your powerless farm house, this had actually become your normal. You and Michael bickered, fought, and cursed each other everyday.

It had been a month since you met, and you were done with the civil act. The two of you teased and poked at each other all day, every day, even in front of Daniel. Your boss, the optimistic fool, thought it was funny how you ripped into each other.

The most fucked up part was that now that the gloves were off, you two were less explosive and more comfortable being outwardly mean to each other.

“You’re like an old married couple who should’ve gotten divorced decades ago but won’t cause you’re a little soft for each other.”

That’s how Daniel understood your disdain for each other. All you knew was that things were the way they were because of Michael.

He is such a fucking dick, you thought.

And turned out tall, dark and pissy wasn’t that hard to figure out. Michael reminded you of every girlfriend you’d ever had, romantic and platonic. The constant need to be the ‘best’ best friend, to constantly show others how well they know their best friend, to constantly boast and throw it in the newer friend’s face.

It was even more infuriating since you weren’t Daniel’s friend, you were his assistant. Michael’s place as Daniel’s bestie was in zero danger from you, so his attitude towards you was completely unwarranted. Not that that stopped you from your little jabs about taking his job eventually.

The huge, brooding, annoyingly sexy Aussie was as big an asshole as he was a tease. You’d even told him as such a few times, finding the best way to land an insult was to emphasize how such a pretty face was stuck on such a jerk. You didn’t openly ogle him, but he was pretty and in super hot Australia, none of you wore a lot of clothing during the day.

Especially not today.

You groaned as you followed him to the other side of the house, trying to will yourself not to stare at the rolling muscles that spanned the back of his bare shoulders as you both practically dripped trails through the house.

“I already tried that side of the house.”

“Well, I’m trying it now.”

“But I did-”

“Will you shut the fuck up?” Michael groaned, coming to a stop in the hallway and almost making you smack into his overheated skin as he rounded on you, “Everyday it’s always ‘I can do this’ and ‘I can do that’ and I don’t need you doing anything for me, okay? Daniel’s not even here, I don’t get why you are.”

You scoffed and crossed your arms across your chest, trying to make yourself feel bigger as you scowled up at the taller man, “He spent the night babysitting at his sister’s place, it’s not like he’s in another country!”

“I wish you were in another country.” Michael groaned as he turned back around and continued towards the same spot you had tried this morning.

“Oh for fucks- I tried this side already!” You lunged forward and grabbed the wires that somehow hadn’t snapped regardless of all their pulling around the house.

Lunging at a fitness coach who taught agility? Not your best idea.

Michael turned so quick that you hadn’t even realized it until you were being hoisted in the air and turned in the hallway, your feet hitting the wall as he put you dropped you down on the other side of him and continued on his way. You’d lost your balance from the sudden change in your gravity and watched from your ass on the floor as he stomped away.

“Are you kidding!”

Michael just threw the finger at you from over his shoulder.

“Fuck you!” you yelled back futilely as you heard him laugh from several rooms over.

Normally, you ignored Michael. You believed yourself to be the bigger person, to be the actual adult of the household when Daniel wasn’t there. Unlike Michael, you could be sweet to everyone regardless of whether or not your shared boss was around. But Michael made everything sour, and with the heat already having pushed you to your end, you were ready to explode.

So you did.

“You know what, Michael?” You stormed down the hallway after him, “I am so sick of your stuck up, pretty face constantly looking down on me!”

Michael chuckled as you shoved the door to the home gym open, and didn’t even flinch when it slammed against the wall, “You have to look up at me, I’m bigger than you.”

“Fuck you, you oversized dick,” you growled as he shot you a teasing look and held his hands out to you, pointedly looking down at his own lap, “you wish your dick was that big.”

Michael’s eyes narrowed, “My dick is big and you know it, that’s why you walk around here with those big eyes of yours.”

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah, you think I haven’t noticed the way you look at me?” Michael sauntered towards you, all smug, “You act all professional, all mature, and you do a great job for Daniel, but I couldn’t count on both hands how many times I’ve caught you trying to get a look at me.”

“I already know you can’t count.” You retorted bluntly.

“Oh, wow, such a burn.” Michael dramatically responded, “I’m so hurt, so wounded by your mean, mean words.”

“Good!”

“Doesn’t change the amount of times I’ve caught you staring at my dick.” Michael hissed as he leaned toward you.

You leaned back, appalled but not overly surprised. It wasn’t your fault Michael was hot, but you had a strict rule about fucking douchebags so the only thing you could do was look. But you weren’t going to tell him that.

“You’re delusional.”

Michael chuckled, “And you’re horny.”

You slapped his hand away as his pointed finger got too close to your hardened nipples. It was too hot for a bra, and the only tank top you had that was thin enough for the heat that day was baby pink. It was thick enough that you couldn’t see the color of your nipples, but the lack of bra gave them a great view.

“They’re tits, that’s what they do.” You yelled back as you grabbed your breasts in your hands for emphasis, your voice faltered from your own touch.

“Is that what it is? You forget a toy at home?”

You gasped and shoved Michael back, “I’m not some asshole on some macho bullshit, I can think without my pussy,” you stumbled over your words before you suddenly slipped out, “I can go months without sex.”

“Says you.” Michael scoffed as he put his hands on his hips, his back straight as he stood at full height and looked down at you.

“Says me? Fuck yeah, says me, and fuck you! This isn’t up for discussion, you don’t know everything!” You looked up at him defiantly as he chuckled at your yelling, “You think you know what I need?”

“Yeah,” Michael quickly responded, “I fucking do.”

You both leaned into each other as your yelling got louder and louder.

“So, tell me, almighty Aussie, what do I need?” You laughed harshly, “What do I need that you could possibly give me?”

Quicker than you expected, again, Michael reached forward and sunk his fingers into the bun that was slipping further and further down your head and yanked you forward. You let out a surprised yelp as his lips touched yours, but that surprised sound melted into a moan between your lips as his tongue stroked your lip.

Suddenly, you were lifted and dropped on the bench you’d been standing next to. Now standing on the equipment, you were eye level with Michael. He leaned into your space, eyes deep and dark.

“You want it?” He whispered against your lips.

You rubbed your lips against each other’s and teased each other. You pressed your hand to his chest as his hands wrapped around your wrists. You had just licked his lip when he’d dragged the hand on his chest down to his waist.

Your breathing stopped as he closed his hand over yours, his thick cock hot through his clothes under your palm. Michael sucked on your lip as you squeezed his length. You felt pressure and heat fill your tummy as you felt up the solid meat in your hand. When had he gotten so big and hard?

“What do you want, baby?” He whispered against your mouth before briefly licking into your mouth, “Tell me.”

You whined and dragged your hand up his dick, feeling for the tip through his shorts.

“Mmmm,” Michael smirked and nipped the corner of your mouth as your eyes slipped shut, “go ahead, baby, check it out before you decide.”

Michael’s hands disappeared from your body until they were suddenly back again, one hand pulling your hand from his cock just to shove it down his pants. You gasped as you palmed the heated, stiff skin that filled his shorts. You couldn’t help but curl your fingers around him, gently tugging as you felt the weight of him in your hand for the first time.

Your hands paused as you looked him in the eye, he looked at you confusedly before you pulled at the waistband of his shorts, shoving them down his hips as you growled, “Fuck it.”

“M’gonna fuck you, darling.” He teased back as you tugged your shorts down your legs.

With a single hop, you had your legs wrapped around Michael’s waist and had your pussy spread above the cock you hadn’t seen but were ready to get plowed by.

“Shut up.” you growled as you pulled his face towards yours and kissed him.

Michael took a couple steps back and reached underneath you, his forearm felt like a live wire pressed to your thigh. Your heartbeat rose with the anticipation.

“Just like this?” Michael breathed into your mouth.

You shook your head before you forcefully grabbed his chin and pushed it up so you could nip and suck at his neck.

“Hey, hey, no marks.” Michael grumbled.

When you ignored him, his arms snuck under you, both forearms pressed to your heated, slick skin. You shivered against him as you felt the blunt, rounded skin of his tip press to your lips.

“Open pretty for me.”

You let the skin of his neck go as your eyes rolled back into your head. Your back arched as he sunk inside of you. You brokenly cried out as you gasped for air, not even having realized you had held your breath in the first place.

“Good girl,” Michael licked your cheek, “come on, take all of me.”

You shivered at his words, arching your back and opening your thighs a bit wider as he sunk further into you. You were wet, both from your horniness and from the heat, and you felt horribly but so deliciously overwhelmed by the stretch between your legs. Your entrance pulsed with contractions, your pussy desperately wanting more of the huge dick it was being fed so slowly.

You whined and wiggled. Patience was not your forte, and you the need for dick and your teetering inability to deal with the heat spurred you in motion. Ignoring the yummy sounds Michael made, you lifted your hips and tightened your thighs around his waist so you could thrust yourself down on him. The both of you whimpering and groaning as he was shoved deep inside of you.

“Fuck, if I’d known you’d be such a good girl…”

It was like a dam broke and you were suddenly both frantically moving.

You whimpered and shook your hips, sinking him into you a bit deeper as he thrusted into you. Your hips had stopped aching and had gone numb fast, and now you moaned as you desperately gripped his shoulders and ignored the burn of your heated skin and stretched muscles. You tried to keep up as you dangled off his dick.

“Ohhhhh,” you moaned high pitched, “it’s too much,” you whined, overstimulated, “too much.”

“Oh, no, no,” Michael growled, “I know you can take it. Never had a dick as big as mine?” His voice suddenly changed tones, making you dizzy, “You gonna be a good girl and take it?”

“M’ a good girl.” You whimpered, delirious with want and heat, “want all of it.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” he groaned as he snapped his hips into yours, “I’m gonna give it all to you. Tell me how you want it.” He’d slowed his thrusts to a deep grind that your back arched and toes curled.

“Deeper.” You choked out.

“You wanna ride me?” He asked breathlessly in your face. “Wanna see how much of this dick you can take?”

Michael threw his leg over the bench next to you and sat down, straddling it was you sat in front of him with your legs locked behind him. It was the perfect angle as Michael held on to your lower back and the both of you thrusted against each other.

“Ride my dick, baby, that’s it.” Michael encouraged, “Take what you need.”

The skin and light dusting of hair on his pelvis brushed against your clit, and the pleasure mounted faster than your head could understand. You pushed a hand behind you and leaned back, the other hand going behind Michael’s neck. From your slightly elevated position, you took Michael a bit deeper and fucked yourself on him rougher on the new angle.

“Oh my god,” you moaned and threw your hips forward, jerking his cock off inside you with each word, “more, more, more.”

“Fuck, right there, baby, come on.”

Michael’s breath brushed against your shoulders as he lowered his head and pressed his lips to your skin. Your slick thighs slid over his easily as you both used your sitting position on the bench to push and pull from each other. You were so close to cumming, but you were also still so hot, and you sweated so much.

You were so frustrated you whimpered, “I can’t, fuck, so hot.”

Michael growled, “No, no, you’re gonna cum.”

You cried out as he lifted you and threw his leg over the bench, turning the both of you until you were suddenly tilted backwards. Michael laid you on the floor underneath him, his arms around your waist as his knees bent and he leaned forward.

“Gonna fuck this pretty pink cunt until you’re creamy.”

Your heartbeat fell between your legs. There was no other choice but to just let him use you and enjoy the ride.

You screamed as he barreled into you, his scorched skin felt like it burned you as you rubbed against each other. His hips snapped forward and you felt the stretch around the rim of your pussy as his balls pressed against you, the hilt of him shoved into you so hard. You could feel the solid, thick vein muscle that ran on the underside of his cock rubbing against your entrance.

“You feel how deep I am, baby? Is this where you wanted it?” He hissed into your ear, “Stretch so nice for me.”

No man had ever gotten so deep in you before.

You whimpered, a constant needy sound orchestrated by his movements against you. It was just so good, too good. You began to feel even more overheated, and panted while you felt like your breath was being stolen from you. You hiccuped as you felt your wet hair under your neck, above you Michael glistened.

“So fucking hot and wet.” Michael groaned. Okay

You yelped when his teeth sunk into your shoulder and his hips lost pace, and instead of a steady rhythm he fucked into you with choppy thrusts. You cried out as were thrown over the edge from the mixture of pain and pleasure. The heat inside and out of your body threatened to burn you up as you came.

“Ohhhhh,” Michael moaned, his chest vibrated against your swollen nipples, “it’s too good,” your nails sunk into his shoulders as he rutted into you, so close to his own release, “pill, right?”

You mumbled an agreement, barely able to see the ceiling above you.

“Fuck yes.” He growled.

You cried out as he spread his thighs, forced your legs wider and made your hips ache. Nails dug into his skin, you both gulped for air as the sudden rush of cum filled you. You cried out, tingles of another smaller orgasm vibrated your cunt around his length as he filled you. His cock throbbed so hard you could feel it moving in you like a toy, and you couldn’t help but cry out as your ankles uncrossed behind his back and your thighs fell open, shaking erratically.

“Ahhhh,” Michael hissed as he unbowed his back and leaned back on to his knees, “fuck, fuck, fuck.”

You whimpered and reached for him, but it was too late. With a painful tug, his cock popped out from your tightened heat and you both cried out as he rolled on to the floor.

You both struggled to catch your breath while you laid next to each other. The panting was the only thing you could hear in the room, aside from the rush of your heartbeat in your ears, until a truly dreadful sound broke the silence: the front door opening.

“Why the fuck is it so hot in here?” Daniel’s voice boomed through the house.

“Fuck!” You hissed and pushed yourself to your feet. You ignored the ache between your thighs as you quickly ran around the gym and grabbed your clothes as quickly as possible, not sparing Michael a single glance.

“Have all my friends melted?”

Fuck, he’s getting closer.

You could hear Michael rushing around too now, but you still didn’t look at him, even as the gravity of what happened dawned on you. There was definitely no time to talk in that moment, so you grabbed your shirt from under the bench and ducked out of the room through the other doorway, and sprinted down the short hallway until you were in front of the back door.

Shoving your clothes on, you thanked every God and Goddess you could think of that you hadn’t worn that much clothing. Dressed in what you’d worn that morning, you carefully and slowly opened the sliding door. Once it was opened enough, you slipped through the gap and silently closed it.

The cool breeze brushed past your skin as you sat on the edge of the deck, your head in your hands as you realized what you’d just done.

Never again, you thought, never, ever again.

#w #hoe fairy #our dirty secret #mi #dr #ITS HERE #slutty sunday

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lu-undy · 3 years

Text

Valentine’s day 5 - Alternate Universe

My choice went to have Lucien be a baker in Paris while Mundy is visiting the city with his parents!

Here it is on AO3!

"Micky, please tell your mum I'm starvin'."

"Mum, Dad's starvin'." Mundy's head swung from left to right.

"Micky, tell your Dad that I'm done with this cathedral now and we can get some lunch."

Both father and son cheered as they exited the impressive Cathédrale Montmartre.

It had been a few days now that the Turner family had travelled from their native Australia to Paris, France. After years of saving, the farmers and the hunter managed to gather the amount they needed to take some very well earned holidays and see a part of the world that Caroline, the mother, had always dreamt of visiting.

And it was Mundy, the son, now close to forty years old, who had suggested the idea of the trip. In his line of work, travelling was usual and he had seen a few places, and a lot of species already. He knew that his mother had always dreamt of seeing the City of Lights and so, he pushed for the idea to become a reality.

At first his parents thought it was way out of what they could afford not only financially, but physically. They were getting close to their seventies! But Mundy insisted and told the tale of a lot of his patrons who were that age and older, yet still roaming the world.

Caroline and Mike, mother and father, eventually accepted the idea, and Mundy worked extra shifts in pubs, playing the saxophone in some bands here and there, to add a few notes in the piggy bank.

There they were now, the three of them, in the capital of romance. The cathedral they had just visited was on the top of a hill from which they could see the entire city of Paris splayed out and spread in le Bassin Parisien, the valley in which the capital was planted. It was easy to distinguish the business district with its towers of black and blue-ish glass, from the more residential or commercial areas. The Eiffel tower obviously pointed to the sky further away.

Mundy had turned out to be the official photographer for the trip. He just enjoyed seeing the delight on his parents' faces and took pictures of them doing absolutely anything. They had never travelled much and he wanted them to have physical memories of it. On some pictures, they were pointing at a monument, on these ones, they were trying to decipher the names of the streets with a map wide open under their eyes, or just sitting on a bench and enjoying a cone of ice cream. Yes, it was July and peak summer in France, which was quite a surprise for the Aussies, but a welcome one. They all preferred hot and sunny weather, and were used to it.

"Let's try this bakery maybe?"

Caroline pointed at a reasonably small shop. The front of it was Burgundy red with the name shining in golden letters.

"Chez Lucien".

[Lucien's.]

Mundy pushed the door and let his parents through. The jingle of a bell rang and immediately after, a wave of delicious smells washed their lungs and made their mouths water even more.

"Bonjour." The baker greeted them. "Que puis-je faire pour vous?"

[What can I do for you?]

"Bonjour." Mundy tried his best accent. "Do you speak English?"

"Oui, I do." The Turner family sighed in relief. They were now used to communicating in sign language but finding someone who could understand even a bit of English was just their luck. "How may I help you?" The baker answered with more than a hint of a French accent.

"Just give us a second, son. I mean look at all these good things, the smell's amazin'!" Mike said, his eyes running through the sandwiches, the quiches and pastries.

"Merci. Will it be to eat here?”

“Yeah, think so.” Mike answered.

“In that case, you may make yourselves comfortable at a table.” The baker suggested.

Mundy noticed there were only two tables inside and one on the pavement. They relieved themselves of their backpacks and came back in front of the glass.

“Do take your time and don't hesitate to ask me if you need me to explain anything."

"Thanks, mate." Mundy answered.

Caroline held Mike's arm dearly as they chatted and pointed at sandwiches here and there behind the glass. Mundy gave them a bit of space and had a look at the desserts.

The colours beckoned his eyes. Red strawberries, all the shades of brown chocolate, white sugar, green pistachio, orange apricot tarts, yellow lemon ones. And the textures looked very different too. Mundy wished he could try a few.

And what a powerful yet pleasant mix of smells. The smell of hot flour was drowning Mundy entirely. As he raised his eyes and looked behind the baker, bread of different shapes, sizes and colours were neatly arranged in wicker baskets. It was impressive.

"What's this one, son?" Mike asked, pointing at a sandwich.

"This has goat cheese, salad, and a drop of mustard with honey." The man in the white apron answered, and Mike and Caroline nodded. "Do you have any dietary requirements maybe? That might help you make the choice easier."

"Mike here has to watch out for sugar and cholesterol." Caroline said.

"Bah, I'm fine." Mike answered.

"Mike, the doctor said to watch out…! Micky, tell your Dad…!"

"Dad…" Mundy started.

"C'mon son, don't side with your mum! Men's solidarity!"

The baker smiled.

"I can recommend a classic French one, if you want a full French experience." He suggested.

"Sure!" Mike answered. "We haven't come all the way from home to stop at sugar and cholesterol!"

"In that case, I would suggest the classic jambon-beurre."

"John what?" Mike repeated.

"Jambon-beurre." The baker said. "Ham and butter. Now, I can make one with a light butter and lean ham for you."

"That sounds great, what d'you say Caroline?" Mike looked at his wife. "Can I get that?"

"My father himself used to have those when his diet became more strict." The baker explained.

"Oh that's very kind of you." Caroline said. "Sure, go for that. I will have the goat cheese and honey one, I never tried that combination of flavours."

"Very well."

Mundy had been watching the whole scene unravel before his eyes and was grinning. He was over the moon to see his parents so relaxed and enjoying their time. They had worked hard all their lives to provide for their only son and had rarely taken a holiday as significant as this.

"And you, Micky?"

"Huh?"

Caroline's voice had broken her son's daydream.

"Oh, uh, I'll get the ham and butter, the normal kind is fine for me."

"Very well, give me an instant." The baker gathered his ingredients and a bread knife. He prepared the sandwich in front of his hungry clients as they watched him.

Mundy found himself staring. The baker was a bit shorter than him by half a foot or so. He looked a bit older too. His temples were grey and his front tuft, which swung between his eyes as he cut the bread, was greying too. However, his eyes shone with a kind of vivacity, of life, that Mundy found made him younger than himself maybe. He had very light blue eyes with dark eyelashes - beautiful - a slightly hooked nose and thin lips. His hands were trained and used to his work as his efficiency showed, but Mundy guessed that he hadn't been a baker all his life. His fingers were too slim to have done manual work all their lives like his parents'.

"I guess you are visiting France for the first time?"

"Yeah, first time out of home since a long time, son." Mike answered.

"Where are you from, if I may?"

"Australia."

"Ooh, that is indeed a long way from home." The baker chuckled and Mundy saw a flash of his pearly white teeth.

"Yeah, the wife's always wanted to come and see it here, y'know, with it bein' the city of romance and all…" Mike explained and he held his wife's hand dearly.

"But of course." The baker placed the sandwiches on a tray. "Will that be all for you today?"

"Micky, ask your mum if we can get desserts."

"You could ask me directly." Caroline answered.

"Yeah but you'd say no to me, honey."

Caroline rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Fine, let us have a look at what you have, uh…?" Caroline adjusted her glasses, looking for a badge or anything to address the shop owner. His name was sewn on his apron, in black, cursive letters. "Lu…?"

"Lucien."

"Ooh, original name. Sounds very French, beautiful!" Caroline said.

"Thank you, Madame." Lucien bowed his head politely. "May I suggest the strawberry tart for Monsieur? It is mostly fruity and the dough has very little sugar. My most faithful customers do like it particularly."

"Yeah, looks very good." Mike said enthusiastically.

"I'll have one of these, uh…" Caroline pointed at the glass.

"Oh, éclair au chocolat. Do you know what éclair means in French?" Lucien asked.

"No?"

"It is a lightning bolt. As a child, my mother used to make me believe that they were called that way because of how fast I devoured them."

"Ooh, that is sweet…!"

Lucien put the mini tart and the éclair on the tray.

"And for you, Monsieur?" He turned to Mundy, who blushed under the piercing gaze.

"Oh, uh, I mean… Maybe one of these…?"

"Cannelé, they are called, because of their shape. They are typical from the South-West of France, where I come from. Have you ever tried them?"

"No, why?"

Lucien smiled.

"They are rarely a tourist's choice." He simply answered. "Here for you. I recommend enjoying those desserts with some coffee. Pray take a seat, I shall bring you your tray."

"Oh, thank you, dear." Caroline said and the Turner family sat around the table. Lucien closely followed. He added a jug of fresh water and glasses.

"Enjoy your meal, or as we say here, bon appétit." Lucien bowed his head and left his customers to enjoy their meal.

"Mum? Dad?" Mundy was holding the camera and took a picture when they both bit in their sandwiches. "There we go."

The Turners enjoyed their sandwiches and the fresh water. After all, it was summer and it was hot. Caroline reminded Mike to take his pills as usual and Mundy was sitting next to them. He loved his parents more than anything or anyone else and in truth, they were all he had. He had a few friends back in Oz, not a lot, but good ones.

"Son?" Mike's whisper pulled Mundy out of his daydream.

"Hm?"

"Can you please tell your mum to stop starin' at the baker like that."

"If I was a few decades younger…" Caroline whispered.

"Yeah, well, if you were a few decades younger, you'd remember that ring on your finger maybe, eh?" Mike teased.

"Mum, please… You're makin' it obvious…" Mundy nudged his mother's elbow gently.

Lucien was behind the counter, leaning on the wall on his side and reading a newspaper.

"C'mon, Micky, tell your Dad that he's handsome!" Caroline nudged her son back.

"Mum…!" He blushed.

"Yeah well, go and have sandwiches with him, then!" Mike answered.

"Oh I would!"

"Caroline!"

"Mike!"

"Mum, Dad, please…!"

"Nah, son, I've seen her stare at enough guys here. Since the moment we landed here and now, her eyes jumped from bloke to bloke like a bee from flower to flower!"

"Not my fault that they all look so charming! And I didn't say anything when you stared at that young sheila in the short skirt in the cathedral…!"

"Well…" Mike blushed, ashamed. "I'm a simple man…!"

"Besides, I'm not the only one who's starin', Mike."

"Hm?"

Caroline nodded in direction of Mundy, for whom the whispers of his parents had dissolved in the air. He had eyes and ears only for that baker. God, his mother was right, he was handsome!

Caroline was right on that people there in France were quite good looking and it made the journey all the more pleasant to the eye.

"Micky?" Mike's voice pulled Mundy out of his staring.

"Huh?"

"Well, I can't tell you to stop cause you got a ring on your finger but uh… make it a bit more, y'know, discreet…?"

Mundy blushed beyond his ears and lowered his head.

And that was the first encounter with Lucien, the baker. From that day on, the Turners would try to have their lunch there everyday. Caroline was the one to push for it. Not only did Lucien turn out to be an incredible guide for them, recommending good and inexpensive restaurants as well as little corners of paradise within Paris, but she could see the blush on Mundy's cheeks whenever Lucien talked to him.

In the evenings, Mundy would take a stroll outside, to give his parents some space. He would walk in the streets of the city, under the lamp posts, letting his feet decide where he should go. More often than once, he found himself not far from the bakery. On one occasion, Lucien was smoking outside of his bakery, as the sky was still bright. Mundy was paralysed with fear. He wasn't supposed to be standing there! He was supposed to be in his shop, and then Mundy could casually look through the window as he passed it, maybe even wave if he made eye contact with him. Yeah, that all made sense, but not Lucien being outside and-!

"Bonsoir, Mundy, wasn't it?"

[Good evening]

Mundy's blood froze. As he was panicking internally, his feet had continued walking until he was within a few feet from the baker.

"Y-yeah, hi."

"Do you smoke?" Lucien asked.

"Yeah, I mean, sometimes."

"Here." Lucien offered one of his cigarettes and Mundy accepted it.

"Thanks, mate."

"Come closer."

Mundy blushed when Lucien closed the gap between them and lit his cigarette up. He closed his eyes and all he could feel was the smell of the Frenchman's cologne, mixed with pastries and fresh bread.

Gosh… He thought as he felt his insides melt.

"Voilà." Lucien chimed as he put his lighter away. Mundy opened his eyes and he felt as if he had emerged from a dream to another one. Now, the ice blue eyes of the elegant man were on him.

"Y-yeah, thanks, heh."

"You like to walk at night?" Lucien asked as they both exhaled the bitter smoke.

"Yeah, it's nice and calm."

"And I guess it is your break from your photography duties?" The Frenchman chuckled.

"What?"

"You are the one carrying the camera all the time, and taking pictures of your parents. Do you have any of you?"

"Uh, yeah, we do have a few of all three of us together."

"I would be delighted to take more in my shop next time you have lunch here."

"Ah, thanks."

They stayed in front of the shop and smoked in silence, watching the few people in the streets come and go.

"Mundy?"

"Yeah?"

"I will soon close the shop. Would you like anything?"

"Oh, uh, no, I'm fine, thanks."

"Very well." Lucien put the cigarette between his lips and entered the bakery. Mundy wasn't sure he could or should follow him so he stayed on the threshold. He watched as Lucien disappeared through a door behind the counter. Soon after, the lights switched off in the shop and Lucien emerged. Mundy couldn't see him clearly in the dark but his silhouette stood out.

"Very well. This is it for today." He said as he came out and locked the shop. "I could do with some good coffee, would you like to join me, perhaps? I know a quiet café." Lucien turned to Mundy who was staring at him. "Mundy?".

He had never seen the baker outside of his natural habitat and a bit like a schoolboy who couldn't imagine his teacher living outside of school, Mundy was taken aback. It turned out that underneath the apron was a white polo shirt and now a beige linen jacket, with a matching hat and trousers.

"U-uh? Yeah? Sorry, you said somethin'?"

"You daydream a lot, hm?" Lucien chuckled.

"Sorry…" Mundy looked away and felt the heat of the embarrassment on his cheeks.

"It is alright, I do like to daydream too." He smiled as Mundy raised his eyes to him and the Aussie immediately averted his eyes. Oof, that grin…! "But you haven't answered my invitation."

"Y-your invitation?"

"Oui, coffee, with me?"

"You sure? I mean, I guess you're tired after work and maybe you want to go back home to your family or see your mates…?"

"I don't have one or the other." Mundy's eyebrows jumped. "You and your parents are the closest I have got to having friends for a long time. So, what do you say? Un café avec moi?"

[A coffee with me?]

"Oh, uh, alright. I mean uh, oui?"

Lucien smiled.

"Très bien, follow me."

[Very well]

The Frenchman led the way through the streets.

"So you left Maman and Papa at the hotel?"

"Uh, yeah. I try to give them some space. Mum's always dreamt to come here with Dad."

"Not with you?" Lucien asked.

"No, I didn't want it to sound so bad… I mean that she'd wanted to come here even before they found me."

"They… found you?" Lucien repeated as they took a turn.

"Oh Gosh, I can't keep my mouth shut…" Mundy mumbled to himself. "Sorry, mate, I-I meant… Ugh… Nevermind."

Lucien didn't insist.

"Here is the café." He pulled the front door and held it open for his tourist friend.

"Oh, thanks."

And it lasted for a couple of weeks, the nights out, sometimes in a café, sometimes just a tour of a neighbourhood with an incredibly patient and passionate guide.

"You like Paris quite a bit, eh?" Mundy asked under the dark blue sky lit by the Eiffel Tower. Lucien had taken him to the Champs de Mars, an open park just in front of the beautifully lit, iconic tower. They were both sitting on the grass.

"Believe it or not, I do not like it much."

"Really?"

"Oui."

"You know it well though, historical stuff and all."

There was a slight smile on the Frenchman's lips.

"Oui, unfortunately so, for some part of it. Non, what I have come to appreciate about this city recently is how you like it."

"What?" Mundy asked, embarrassed and confused. Lucien chuckled.

"You enjoy visiting Paris."

"Well, there's a lot of monuments to see, lots of history behind it, and it's a proper city. The Outback's very different."

"Tell me about it."

They exchanged a glance and Mundy's throat tightened. He could see all the lights on the Eiffel Tower shimmer on the Frenchman's eyes, like stars in a clear blue sky.

"Well… Uh…" Mundy looked left and right. "See everythin' around us?"

"Oui?"

"Imagine there's nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yeah, and imagine there's no grass but just orange dust."

"Hm…" Lucien looked keenly around him.

"Now add a few cacti, not too many, eh? And boulders. Just big rocks, basically."

"What shapes are they?"

"Any weird shape you can imagine. They're a bit like clouds, if you stare at them, you start seeing that they look like stuff but they don't really…"

"Oh… And what shapes have you seen?"

Mundy looked at Lucien sitting next to him. He had removed his hat and jacket. His polo shirt was white with dark blue stripes and he wore matching dark blue chinos trousers with beige loafers. Elegant, he was just so elegant…! What's more, he was lying on his side on the grass, resting part of his weight on his forearm, with one leg folded. Gosh…

"Uh… I usually see animals."

"What kind?"

"Sometimes, it's a gigantic wallaby, or a koala. But sometimes, it's stuff that doesn't even exist."

"Hm, like what?"

Like you, Mundy thought. No one had taken the time to go out with him, take the time to know him, go to cafés and odd little bistrots with him. No one had ever listened to his life in the Outback, no one had ever asked. And certainly, no one had done all that and looked half as gorgeous as Lucien. It was to the point where Mundy struggled to maintain eye contact with him for long. He would sometimes cross Lucien's eyes and avert his gaze the split second after. His feline, light blue irises were too much to take, especially because each time Lucien graced him with a gaze, Mundy could feel a punch to his guts and the blood rush to his cheeks.

"I-I don't know, it's a bit silly…" He answered, blushing and looking down between his crossed legs.

"Mundy…"

He froze when he felt a finger under his chin, pulling it up.

"Huh?"

"Please, tell me."

Gosh, not those eyes…! Oh and fuck it… Mundy couldn't refuse or ignore anything to those ice blue irises.

"Sometimes it's a mix of animals… Like something with the head of an owl, the body of a falcon, but legs like a wild cat. I know, it's ridiculous, ahem…"

"Non, not at all." Lucien answered and maybe it was all in Mundy's head, but he felt the Frenchman's index linger on his chin a bit before parting. The Aussie's jaw was electrified. "I find it poetic."

"D-do you?" Mundy's surprise was so obvious, so naive that it made Lucien grin sweetly. The Aussie uncrossed his legs and let them flow in front of him.

"Oui." Lucien laid down and rested his head on Mundy's thigh.

"Huh-?" Mundy gasped.

"Oh, am I weighing too much on you?"

"N-no, it's fine. I'm just-I'm just surprised, is all." The truth was that Mundy felt the heat in him surge as unexpectedly as Lucien lay on him. Was he just tired of holding his head on his palm? Was it friendly? Was it more? Was it a French thing?

"Hm. Look around you." Lucien said and Mundy did as he was told. It was the dead of night and not many people were out. "The city is almost empty. The Paris of the night is waking up and claiming the streets now."

"The Paris of the night?" Mundy repeated.

"Oui, people who shun the naked light of day because society shunned them first. Those are people whom morality and customs do not understand yet, people who are too free."

"What d'you mean?"

"Look at the pavement there." Lucien pointed and Mundy saw a few women wearing short skirts.

"Yeah?"

"Do you see these women?"

"Yeah."

"They are not women."

"What?"

"They are not women in what is most commonly accepted as the definition for it. They need the cover of the night to exist as they want to. I find it tragic yet strongly inspiring." Lucien went on. "They need the blanket of the dark night sky to wear the dresses, skirts and make-up that they want. We are not too different from them, you and me."

"How? You wanna wear a dress now?" Mundy joked and Lucien chuckled, his head still using the Aussie's thigh as a pillow.

"Non, we too are taking advantage of the night to be what the light of day prevents us from being."

Mundy's heart pounded in his chest. He was afraid he was understanding what Lucien meant, or maybe he wasn't at all and he was just hearing what the thin voice at the back of his head was whispering.

"Huh?"

"May I?"

Mundy sweated. Lucien had taken his fingers in his.

"Y-yeah, I think."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to force you - oh?" Lucien's eyebrows jumped and he then relaxed when Mundy pushed his trembling fingers shyly between his. Lucien held on to his hand dearly. "Mundy?"

"Mh?" The Aussie was screwing his eyes shut hard and was trying to calm his pounding heart and the rush of blood through his body.

"Merci."

[Thank you.]

His eyes snapped wide.

"What?"

"I said thank you."

"For what?"

"Everything."

And that night, they stayed on the Champs de Mars all the way up until the sun showed its first rays of light. At that point, they were both lying on their backs. The wide lawn was their mattress and the early hours of the new day captured the murmurs of what no one else but them should know.

It lasted for weeks, enough to make a habit out of it and to make Mundy think that it could last forever. Unfortunately enough, the holidays were coming to an end and Australia was calling the Turners back.

"You're not going out tonight? You should take a walk, Micky."

In their hotel room, Caroline and Mike were talking to Mundy.

"Your Mum's right, son. You could do with some fresh air."

"We spent our day outside. I'm tired."

Mike and Caroline exchanged a glance and went to the bathroom.

"I'm tellin' you, Mike, we have to push him out." She whispered to her husband. "He's as sad he could be."

"Yeah, I know, I know… But you're absolutely sure it will do him good?"

"Mike, I'm a sheila. We feel those things. Look at him…"

Caroline held the bathroom door ajar and Mike peeked through the slim opening.

"Doesn't he remind you of someone?" She asked.

"Hm. Yeah, course he does. Look at him lyin' on his bed, starin' at the ceiling. His body is here, his heart is elsewhere. He's exactly like me when I first met you, honey." Mike sighed. "Right, I'll get him out of this room. But you gotta help me."

"Ok, what's the plan?" Caroline asked excitedly.

"Follow me."

Mike took his wife by the hand and they exited the bathroom.

"Uh, Caroline, darl', d'you mind waitin' in the bathroom. This is guys' only talk."

"Fine."

Mike went to sit on Mundy's bed, next to him.

"Look, son. Uh… Your mum and I… Uh… We could do with a couple of hours alone if you… uh… If that's ok with you…?"

Mundy's eyes snapped wide and he sat up, looking his father in the eye and blushing. Mike was averting his gaze from his son, a bit ashamed.

"Oh…" Mundy answered. "Right, fine, I'll uh… I'll go have a walk. I'll be back in a couple hours then. Sorry."

"Good boy, no, no, don't apologise, it's fine." Mike said as Mundy put on his shoes and hat. "Take a bit of money with you and stay safe, eh?"

"Will do. Thanks, Dad."

"No, thank you, son."

Mundy exited the hotel and soon found himself in the streets. The sun was gently setting and the sky was orange with a few streaks of pink. The next day would again be very sunny.

Mundy didn't see it. His eyes were riveted on his shoes, his hands in his pockets, and his back hunched. He was in his own bubble and wanted to stay there, have some time alone to think.

About what? The obvious, of course. He was about to leave Paris, to leave France, to leave Europe, the Northern Hemisphere. He was about to leave Lucien and hadn't told him the dreadful news yet. Why? Because he didn't know how to tell him, especially now…!

Mundy sighed as he recalled the events of the previous night. They were on the quays of the Seine, the river that slithers through Paris.

"You can see almost everything from this river, eh?" Mundy realised.

"Oui, most monuments and important buildings you can see from here."

"Impressive… Oh…"

Lucien had slid his arm around Mundy's and his hand glided down until his fingers laced between the Aussie's. Mundy clenched his hand. He liked it way too much. Oh, hold on, maybe it was too much? He could feel his hand sweating…!

"S-sorry…" He pulled his hand off and wiped it nervously on his trousers.

"There is no problem." Lucien took Mundy's hand again. He pulled it up to his lips and kissed it.

"W-woah… Uhm…"

Lucien chuckled.

"You are such a delightful hint of the exotism I used to love…"

"What's that mean?"

They stopped walking along the river banks. Lucien went to the edge and looked at the streamflow for an instant. He removed his loafers elegantly and rolled his trousers' ends up along his calves. Mundy blushed. Contrary to him, Lucien didn't have a tan and being lighter in skin tone than him, he appeared almost snow white compared to Mundy. The Aussie watched as Lucien sat at the edge and let his feet dangle down. They were in the water up to his ankles. Mundy copied him and they were soon sitting side by side, their feet in the river.

Lucien leaned on Mundy's side and took his hand again. He held it dearly between both of his own.

"Mundy?"

"Yeah?"

"You are leaving a strong impression on me."

Mundy's eyebrows jumped.

"Y-you too." He removed his hat and leaned his head on Lucien's.

Silence fell for a while. It was soothing, hearing just the lapping sounds of the cool water licking their feet and their breaths.

"Lucien?"

"Oui?"

"Can I ask you somethin'?"

"You just did, and yes you may."

"How come you uh… I mean I don't want it to sound bad but… How come you spend all your nights with me? I mean, don't you have anyone waitin' at home? Family, friends? Even the weekends you spend with me. Y'know, it's ok if you wanted to not see me for a few days, I'd understand."

"I have very few friends. To be truly honest, I have none. The only person waiting for me back home is Perle."

"Oh, who's that? Family?"

"Better than that, she is my cat."

"Oh, you have a kitty?"

"The best in the world."

"What does she look like?" Mundy asked.

"Look here, I have a photograph of her." Lucien took his wallet off of his inner pocket and retrieved a small rectangular picture. It wasn't much bigger than a stamp. He handed it to Mundy.

"Oh, woah… Expensive she must be, eh. Gorgeous, long, snow white fur and light eyes, like you almost - huh, I mean…"

"Oui, she has blue eyes." Lucien simply answered. "You wouldn't know on the black and white picture. And I had no idea she was expensive, even though she is priceless to me."

"You didn't buy her off a shop or someone?"

"Non, I rescued her when she was a kitten, cold, shivering and skinny. Poor baby, she barely had the strength to mewl."

"Oh, woah…" Mundy handed back the picture and as Lucien stored it safely in his wallet again, the Aussie was devouring him with his eyes.

"I raised her as best as I could and we understand each other pretty well. She is my little baby, or as I like to call her, mon petit bébé."

"Uh… I… I mean…" Gosh, words jangled and mixed in his head. He had found a man gorgeous as a God, patient with him, who respected his shyness, didn't take advantage of it, didn't force him to do anything and loved his cat?

"Oui?" Lucien raised his fair eyes to Mundy and that didn't help the Aussie at all. His thoughts were broken, everything broke under those eyes.

"Uh?"

Lucien chuckled.

"It is fine. You don't have to say anything." He leaned his head on Mundy's shoulder and held his hand. "What about you? Do you have any relatives besides your parents?"

"Uh, no. It's just them and me. I got a few uncles and aunts. See them for Christmas with my cousins and their kids. And for the pets, we got a few dogs to keep the beasts away from the hens and geese. Mum has a cat too, Percy, he's black and white, with green eyes."

"What kinds of dogs?"

"An Aussie shepherd and a border collie. Good girls they are. We had a few through the years but dogs don't live as long as we want them to, eh?"

"Indeed."

"How old is your cat? What's her name again?"

"Perle, or for you, Pearl. She is now seven years old."

"Oh, a big girl."

"A wise lady indeed. My only companion since… A long time."

"Fair enough. Haven't had anyone to talk to for years too. I mean, apart from my parents."

"You don't have friends in Australia?"

"I do, yeah, but… Uh… Not like you."

"Well I don't imagine you have bakers who have become part time tourist guides there, hm?" Lucien teased.

"Nah, that's true. But uh, yeah, I mean… We've talked about anythin' for the past few weeks, right?"

"Oh oui, from cacti, to desert, to wild animals, Australian beers, dishes, weather, slang…."

"Yeah, and now I feel like I know Paris almost better than where I come from!" Mundy chuckled.

They looked in each other's eyes.

"We indeed have had conversations about anything with baffling ease."

"Yeah…" Mundy confirmed.

"Merci. It had been ages since I last felt such a pleasant connection with someone."

"Same for me."

Lucien had looked up at Mundy and stared. The Aussie hadn't noticed that the Frenchman's pupils dilated as they sank from his lagoon blue eyes, down his long, straight nose, to his rough, thin lips. Mundy was lost in the ice blue irises and time had stopped. Lucien did half of the work and pulled his neck up. Mundy could smell his perfume and his cigarettes, maybe a lingering faint aroma of hot flour too. But the Aussie had been oblivious and didn't meet the Frenchman half-way.

It had been roughly twenty-fours hours after these events now, and Mundy couldn't have got any of it out of his head. He was stuck there and then, his hand between Lucien's, his head leaning on the Frenchman.

And he found it ridiculous! Dinners in little, hidden bistrots, holding hands on the banks of the river Seine, pulling an all-nighter on the grass under the Eiffel Tower… What the hell had he become?

If his parents knew of it, if his friends knew of it, what would they all think? A holiday romance, nothing much? Pfff…

What hurt Mundy wasn't any of that. It was the fact that he had grown attached to Lucien. For him, it wasn't just a holiday matter, he wanted it to be more. Why? Because where on Earth would he find someone that would treat him so well and with whom he felt that he could share his everything? He felt safe with Lucien. He felt safe in a way that the hunter never thought he would one day experience because what that meant is that he was much more insecure about himself than what he let on…

Most people he knew would describe him as a nice bloke if not very talkative. They assumed he was just like that. But now, Mundy realised that he was just… shy. Part of him even thought that he was afraid. Of what? Of people, constantly watching and judging him.

He didn't like people and preferred animals in that respect. Animals didn't care that you were still mostly living with your parents, driving your father's van around the desert. Animals didn't ask about his job only to fantasise about it, use him for the night and throw him away. Animals didn't think they couldn't build anything with him because of his almost nomad way of life. No, animals cared for him because he cared for them, end of story.

"Bonsoir, Mundy. You took your time tonight, I thought you wouldn't come."

[Good evening, Mundy.]

The voice with the French accent broke Mundy's train of thought abruptly and he winced. He looked down at his feet and gave them an angry glance.

Well thanks for that… He was thinking. While he had been pulling on the thread of his thoughts like a cat on a ball of yarn, his feet had guided Mundy to the bakery.

"Oh, uh, y-yeah, sorry…"

"Are you alright?" Lucien asked, as Mundy still hadn't made eye contact with him.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

The Frenchman could have smelt that it was a lie from a mile away. He nonetheless ignored it and they both walked together along the street.

"What would you like to do tonight?" He asked.

"Don't know. You choose."

"In that case, there is somewhere that we could try." Lucien took Mundy's hand and led the way. He had an idea to cheer up his more-than-friend.

The walk was silent as Lucien decided against insisting. Mundy seemed the type to like silence and solitude well, which the Frenchman respected. He too had his moments where he would rather be alone.

Soon enough, they entered a café. Lucien quickly found a table and they both sat down, opposite each other. A waiter soon came. The Frenchman placed their order while Mundy was still brooding, somewhere between his own mind and nowhere… The waiter placed two mugs on the table and disappeared again.

"Here." Lucien took Mundy's hand and pushed it to the mug gently.

"Huh?" When his fingers registered the heat from both Lucien's hand and the mug, Mundy's eyes snapped wide and he landed back on Earth.

"Drink this."

"What is it?"

"Can't you tell?"

Mundy's sense of smell woke up as he raised the mug closer to his lips.

"Hot chocolate?"

"Oui, but not any kind. Try it."

Mundy did as he was told and took a sip.

"Hm… Very soft but not too sweet."

"As my mother used to do to me whenever I felt low, as a child. I kept the habit of coming here and having one whenever I felt like nothing else could help."

"Mh."

"Are you sure you don't want to talk to me about it, whatever it is?" Lucien asked after Mundy took another sip.

"I… I don't know…"

"Is it your parents? They seemed fine for lunch today."

"No, it's not them. It's me."

Lucien tilted his head on the side and his hand slid on the table until he cupped Mundy's, against the mug.

"Tell me, please."

Mundy sighed.

"I'll be goin' back to Oz. I-I'm gonna leave and… I… I kind of… I don't wanna." He mumbled, his eyes riveted on the hot chocolate. Lucien looked at him distraught.

"I see." He answered. "Do you really wish to stay here?"

"Y-yeah."

"You like Paris that much?"

Obviously, Mundy couldn't care less about the city. What counted was Lucien, and Lucien was staying there.

"Mundy…? Talk to me, please. I hate to see you distraught." Now, both of Lucien's hands were on Mundy's, wrapped around the warm mug.

"I don't wanna go, is all. It's childish and just plain ridiculous. But I wish I could stay and have… Have more tours of Paris.. With you."

Lucien's thumbs brushed Mundy's hands.

"I wish you could stay too, Mundy." Finally, the Aussie raised his head and met Lucien's sad eyes. "I have rarely felt the peace that I do with you. Your company is soothing for my now fragile nerves."

Mundy raised an eyebrow.

"What d'you mean?"

"There was a time where I was able to withstand a lot of pressure on my shoulders; the pressure of an entire country even. The moment it was gone, my body and mind collapsed. I didn't know anything anymore, even my own identity, what I was, who I was, was hard to grasp. It took years to come back from there. Years that I wouldn't have survived if not for Perle. I focused my time and energy on her. I devoted my attention to her and it distracted me from thinking too much about myself." He paused to catch his breath.

"Y-you got ill?" Lucien raised his eyes to Mundy.

"Oui, a kind of illness that no doctor knows exactly how to cure. A lot of soldiers go through it. They come back from the battlefields and they find it very hard to adjust back to civil life."

"You were a soldier?"

"Worse, but oui, I belonged to the army."

"How did you become a baker then? You were already one before you went to the army?" Mundy asked.

"Non, I was not. I had no skills besides those that I learnt in the army, or so few. You will mock me, but the idea came from Perle."

"Your kitty?"

Lucien nodded.

"One day I took her out to buy some bread with me. She was lying on my shoulders and when I was queueing to get my bread, she jumped out and into the back of the bakery." Lucien smiled as he remembered the events. "The baker let me through and we looked for her together. When we found her, she was asleep on a tray of still warm brioches."

"Aw, was that a long time ago?"

"She was somewhere between a kitten and an adult cat; a teenager, if you will."

"Ah, right. But how did you become a baker?"

"I apologised profusely to the baker and told him I would pay for all the damage and the pawprints… He told me he'd rather have someone to help him make all that again rather than take my money. So I offered my help. He taught me most of what I know now."

"Wow… Talk about finding work randomly, eh…"

"Oui, indeed. Since then, I have felt much better. Working put my attention and energy into something that brought smiles to the customers and apparently, to me too."

"So you got your own bakery goin'?"

"The previous owner of my bakery happens to be that man from the story. He was very old and decided to retire a few years later. He offered to let me buy the shop from him, which I did. I then changed the name to mine and redid some parts inside, the decoration mainly."

"Oh, I see… Wow… Great story you have."

"Merci." Lucien took a sip of his hot chocolate. "What about you? You said you were a hunter?"

"Yeah, but work is more and more rare now when you mainly do pest control and poacher scarin'."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't hunt beasts for trophies, fur or fun. I hunt and tranquilise whatever happens to be a bit too far from its natural habitat, load it on my van, and drive it back where it should be or in a reserve. As for the poachers, I scare them off of endangered species."

"So you don't kill animals?"

"Very rarely. Only for food when I'm out for days and far from home."

"Oh…" Lucien's eyebrows jumped. "I did not expect that. In fact, I didn't even know that this job existed."

"As far as I know, I'm the only one who doesn't actually kill the beasts. I get contracts that get me travellin' through the world quite a bit."

"Very exciting."

"Seein' the sights is nice, yeah. But uh, I miss my family quite fast and uh… It's not so much my family but… I feel a bit… Uh…"

"Lonely?"

Mundy nodded.

"Yeah…"

"I would recommend getting a cat," Lucien said. "But I am afraid that it doesn't completely fill the emptiness that you feel inside."

"I'd imagine so, yeah…"

Silence fell for a while as they both drank more of their hot chocolates.

"I would love you to stay, but your life, your family and your job are in Australia." Lucien said and his eyes met Mundy. They were both distraught and could hardly hide it.

"Yeah… And I don't know anythin' else but shooting a rifle." Mundy looked through the window. It was now properly dark outside and only the yellow lamps inside the old café provided them with some light.

"I am immensely grateful to you however."

"For what?"

"I wouldn't be able to put a name on it but you brought me some peace and you made me wake up in the morning with a new feeling; the eagerness of welcoming a new day that will for sure contain some spark of joy, namely, your presence, your… Hm, you."

Mundy blushed and turned as red as a brick.

"Y-you do the same. I mean, for me. I uh… I'm not just happy to visit the city with my parents. I'm uh… I'm happy in the evenings, with you."

They hadn't realised until then but they were holding hands on the table, the mugs had been pushed aside.

"I wish I could stay, I really do. But uh… Yeah, without a job or anythin', I can't."

"I understand and, for what it is worth, I would love for you to stay too." Lucien hesitated but thought that it might be his last evening with Mundy. He looked around and could see the few customers in the café were far from them. "And not just to help you visit the city."

Mundy's eyebrows jumped as Lucien had spoken quite low. The Frenchman was staring at him with a particular shine in his eyes. He slightly bent forward and Mundy mirrored him. Their faces were a few inches apart.

"L-Lucien, I'd uh… I'd better get back. We still gotta pack a few things before leavin' tomorrow."

Lucien's chest burnt. Hot lava was being poured on his heart.

"Before you go, may I tell you something?"

They were both whispering. Mundy nodded and Lucien gestured to him to get closer, which he did. The Frenchman wrapped a hand behind Mundy's neck and the Aussie froze rigid when he felt Lucien's breath on his ear.

"Je t'aime." He simply whispered and Mundy's entire being burst and melted when he felt Lucien's lips on his rough cheek.

[I love you.]

"U-uh…" The air was scarce in the room but it happened too fast and Mundy was left alone at the table. Lucien had dashed out faster than a shadow. "Fuck me…"

Soon, the surge of love was replaced by boiling rage and Mundy stormed out of the café, almost running back to the hotel. That night, he cried himself to sleep as silently as he could. He didn't want his parents to hear it.

The next morning, Mundy was woken up by his mother.

"Micky, sweetie? You've been sleepin' a long time, it's lunchtime now."

"Don't wanna eat." He rolled himself under the blanket and his parents exchanged a concerned look. "You can go if you want."

"Micky, you can't travel on an empty stomach, son." Mike's voice took the decision for everyone and Mundy sighed before getting out of bed and dressed up.

They arranged for their luggage to be transferred to the airport while they went to have lunch. Obviously, they ended up in Lucien's bakery.

"Bonjour, Lucien!" Mike tried his best.

"Bonjour, Mike. What will it be today?"

"Hold your horses, son, I've gotta see with the wife if I can get dessert first…!"

"Mike, you know the answer to that…"

"Lucien," Mike turned to the baker. "You married, by any chance?"

Lucien shook his head.

"Non, I nearly did but it did not happen."

"Well, before you get married, ask them if you can get dessert for the rest of your life."

"Mike…! You know why you have to be careful, the doctor said so, now be reasonable, dear." Caroline tried.

"And only get a ring on your finger if they say that yes, you can get dessert until your very last breath!"

Lucien smiled, albeit sadly. After that, the Turner family placed their order and soon enough, their sandwiches and salads appeared on the table.

"Lucien, excuse me, dear?" Caroline called and Lucien came to her.

"Oui, Madame?"

"I saw the poster on your front door. You're looking to hire?"

"Oui, indeed. I think this is the end of a chapter for me. Time maybe to do something else."

"Oh, that's a shame. You're very good at what you do!"

"Yeah, your sandwiches are amazin'." Mike added.

"Thank you very much."

"Did you receive applications?" Caroline asked.

"I am afraid not, but I have only put that poster up this morning."

"What kind of people're you lookin' for?" Mike asked.

"Anyone, from inexperienced to confirmed bakers. In fact, I learnt this trade as a beginner and I would like to pass on my knowledge and techniques to someone else. But don't let me bother you. Enjoy your lunch."

He bowed and returned behind his counter. Mundy hadn't listened to any of it. He couldn't even raise his eyes off of his shoes, especially not to see Lucien. It hurt too much.

"Micky?"

"Mh."

"Micky, you want to eat before we go, dear." Caroline said and her son sighed before taking a bite. He chewed slowly and looked away from anyone else.

"Don't like your sandwich, son?"

Mundy didn't answer and didn't see Caroline and Mike exchanging a glance.

"You can try another one, eh."

Still no answer from the heartbroken Aussie. It was a torture. Eating a sandwich made by the hand of a man he had cried for, hands that he had spent the past few weeks holding fondly even if he had never initiated it. Gosh, now he regretted it, he should have done something, anything…! But he wasn't ready, he never was, he had never been prepared for it! In more than three decades of existence, who the hell would come to him and teach him?

"Mike, Madame Caroline?" Lucien had come to the table.

"Yeah?"

"I have a… an unusual request, if I may."

"Go ahead, son." Mike wiped his mouth and frowned to listen better.

"It is actually for Mundy." Lucien said and Mundy frowned too but his eyes were still low. "If you would rather make your own sandwich, you may help yourself to the fridge and the breads that I have."

Mundy didn't flinch.

"If you want… You can… Make not only your sandwich, but… other sandwiches."

"Oh, you mean to take away? Ouch!" Mike asked and received an elbow to his ribs from Caroline who glared at him.

"That is lovely of you, Lucien. Yes, I think he would love doing that, if that is ok with you?"

"It is the least I can offer, Madame."

"Oh, you really don't have to…!"

"Allow me to insist. You have been lovely customers throughout all these weeks."

"And you have been a lovely guide! So, Micky, what do you say?" Caroline asked her son and he sighed.

"Don't know." He mumbled.

"C'mon sweetie, go and make your own sandwich. And make a couple of extra ones for your Dad and I, for the road."

"Mum…" Mundy hid his face in his hands.

"Micky, you don't want to be impolite to Lucien." She insisted.

"Hm…" He grumbled and pushed his chair back before standing up, not seeing his mother whispering something to his father.

"Here, wear this. It would be a shame to have flour on your polo shirt." Lucien handed him an apron. Mundy took it and put it on without looking at it. This whole show hurt and was preposterous… "Now let me show you around the house, pray follow me."

Mundy dragged his feet on the floor and followed Lucien behind the counter.

"What sandwiches would you and Mike like, Madame Caroline?" Lucien asked.

"If you have that ham and butter, what d'you call it again, Lucien?" She answered.

"Jambon-beurre, Madame." He answered. "Mundy, please take one of those in front of you? Thank you, now, follow me to the fridge. Here is the light butter and the lean ham. I keep them on this side to not get them confused with their regular counterparts. Now, you will do your father's sandwich. Here, chopping board, a fresh baguette and a knife. Go ahead."

"L-Lucien…" Mundy sighed in front of the ingredients. "I can't."

Caroline stood up and went to the counter with Mike, customer side, while Mundy and Lucien were on the other side.

"C'mon, son, your first sandwich here, Micky! Caroline, get the camera!" Mike encouraged him.

"And we get to see you make it!" Caroline added enthusiastically and readied herself to take a picture.

"Wh-what?" Mundy asked, confused that his parents were that thrilled for… him making a couple of sandwiches.

"C'mon, cut the bread, Micky, chop, chop!" Mike said and Mundy got to work, missing the point entirely. He made the sandwich for his father and added his mother's to the plastic bag.

"I won't take one for myself." Mundy said and started undoing the apron.

"Of course not, son!" Mike answered with a chuckle and Mundy's confusion just jumped a notch.

"And what are you doing, Micky? Keep the apron!" Caroline laughed.

"What? I'm not gonna travel with that!" Mundy answered.

"Of course not!" She answered.

"What the hell's been going on? Look, this is just - it's just…!" Mundy covered his face with his hands to hide his shame. At that point he thought it was a nightmare and he would wake up.

"Ooh, we're sorry, sweetie…" Caroline hugged him. "We didn't want to upset you."

"But why…?"

"Micky, look at your apron, son." Mike said.

"Dad, look, I'm just tired. Let's go back home." Beyond the distress of leaving Lucien, Mundy felt embarrassed, ashamed to have been put on the spot with the apron, the sandwich making… What was that all about…?

"S'il te plaît, Mundy."

[Please, Mundy.]

Caroline and Mike stepped back to let Lucien get closer to Mundy. The Aussie turned his face away. He couldn't take any of it anymore.

"Mundy…?"

"Take it back and leave me alone." Mundy removed the apron completely and pushed it against Lucien's chest.

"On one condition, you look here."

Mundy sighed but obeyed. Lucien held the apron between his hands.

"What do you read here?"

The apron was white with something sewn on it. Mundy squinted. His shoulders and jaw dropped when he read the word.

Mundy

It was sewn in cursive letters. Mundy looked at Lucien's apron. His name was sewn in the same style.

"What? What's that mean?"

"It means, and forgive me for repeating myself, that I am offering you a job here." Lucien answered.

"What?! I know nothing of bread!"

"I will teach you, you will see, it isn't hard at all."

"But why? I gotta go back home…" Mundy turned to his parents.

"Micky, you can stay longer if you want." Mike said.

"Yeah, it's fine, you're a big boy and you've stayed with us long enough. Maybe this is your chance?" Caroline added and Mundy's eyes lit up with joy and excitement.

"Really?" His voice broke under the emotion he was trying to prudely contain.

"Of course!" Caroline answered. She went to the tip of her toes to put a hand on Mundy’s rough, slender cheek. "Look, for the past few weeks, we realised with your Dad that we hadn't seen you that happy in years. Each night, when you come back from your walks, you smile and even when you sleep, the smile stays on…!"

"Your Mum's right, son. If you're happy here with Lucien, then stay, at least a bit more. And it's not like you were exactly earnin' a decent wage out of a few hunting contracts, eh? Folks will find other people to deal with their beasts. You deal with you, ok?"

"Oh my God…" Mundy's tears came to his eyes faster than he could control. "Gosh…!" He hid his face and his shame with his hands.

"Aw, baby Micky…!" Caroline went to the tip of her toes to hug him and Mike tapped him on the back.

"It's alright, son, it's alright."

"But, you sure, though?" Mundy withdrew from the hug and looked his parents in the eye.

"Of course! We'll make it back home and give you a call when we get there." Caroline said, pinching his cheek gently.

"Yeah, of course!" Mike added. "Now, c'mere son." Father and son exchanged a long hug. "You make your parents proud, yeah?"

"Yeah, Dad, don't worry."

"And you be a good boy, eh?" Caroline added.

"Yes, Mum, I will."

"You look out for each other, alright boys?" Mike looked at Lucien.

"We will, Mike." The Frenchman answered. "But Mundy…?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you accept my offer?" Lucien held the apron up.

Mundy looked at his parents who nodded, then back at Lucien.

"Yeah… Please."

"Fine." Lucien got closer and put the apron on Mundy. He then tied it for him as the Aussie's eyes were riveted on his parents. Caroline was leaning on her husband's side and both wore a proud smile. Mundy hadn't seen his parents smile like that for a long, long time. "There, you are ready."

"Thanks, Lucien." They exchanged a tender gaze and didn't see Caroline's eyes light up.

"Right, boys, I think we should be on our way." Mike said.

"But of course." Lucien answered. "Here, your sandwiches for the road."

"Mum, you call me as soon as you can, ok?" Mundy said, as they all went to the front door.

"Yes, dear, don't worry."

They were now standing outside of the bakery under the beautiful and powerful summer sun.

"You call us sometimes, Micky, eh?" Mike said.

"Sure, I will."

Hugs and kisses were exchanged.

"And you, you take care of our son, alright?" Mike was shaking Lucien's hand and patted his shoulder. After that, he waved for a taxi to stop.

"I will think of him before I think of myself." Lucien answered while giving a nod.

"And Micky, you take care of Lucien too, eh?" Caroline said as she winked, making her son blush beyond his ears.

"Y-yeah Mum, will do…"

"Bye, son."

"Bye guys, careful on your way back, eh?" Mundy answered.

"We will, don't worry."

And on that, they all waved at each other as Mike and Caroline slipped in the taxi and they went their way. Lucien and Mundy stayed for a while, even after the taxi disappeared. The Aussie was out of breath, everything had happened quite fast.

“I’ll miss them.” He said.

“I will miss them too. You are lucky to have very supportive parents, Mundy.”

“Yeah… But I’m glad to stay here.”

"So…" Lucien said as both him and Mundy entered the shop again.

"Yeah?"

"Ready to learn the fine art of bread and pastry making?"

"I guess… I mean, I didn't really think it through, eh." Mundy chuckled and looked at Lucien. "But with you, anythin'."

The Frenchman smiled.

"First lesson: follow me."

They went back behind the counter and Lucien even invited Mundy in the hidden workshop, behind a wooden door. There were tables lined up in the room, fridges on one wall and ovens in the other.

"Woah… It smells incredible in here…!" Mundy said as he was hit by a wave of hot flour.

"Indeed. You will see, you will never get tired of that incomparable smell. Hot flour and sometimes, hints of sugar."

"Yeah…” Mundy inhaled deeply and when he exhaled, his eyes were half closed. That place was heaven... “Right, so what's first?"

Lucien shut the door and looked up at Mundy.

"First, I have to ask you, are you sure you want to stay with me? We can still call a taxi for you and you can join your parents."

Lucien's light blue eyes raised up to Mundy were a sight to behold for the shy Aussie.

"Y-yeah."

"Yes, what? Shall we call a taxi or…?"

"No. I wanna… Try, with you."

Lucien's smile made all his face beam up poetically. He closed the gap between Mundy and himself and hugged the taller man.

"Thank you so much." Both closed their eyes and held dearly to each other. “Thank you so much for trusting me and for believing that this is all worthwhile. I do appreciate that you are leaving everything behind just for me and… I am beyond grateful.”

Mundy bent down to put his lips next to Lucien's ear.

"Lucien?" He whispered.

"Oui?"

"I think I… I love you too." Mundy screwed his eyes shut and buried his head deep in the crook of Lucien's neck, holding Lucien not like a friend, but like the salvation he felt God sent to him through that man.

"Mundy…?"

"Yeah?"

"Look at me."

Mundy did as he was told and Lucien wrapped his arms around the Aussie's neck.

"O-oh… Right… Y-yeah?"

Lucien smiled before his eyelashes bowed down as he slowly closed his eyes. He pushed himself to the tip of his toes and did what he had dreamt of doing.

Mundy's eyes rolled up in bliss and if he froze for a second, the kiss made him soon melt such that he bent down and pulled Lucien from his back and his hip, to feel more of him against himself. He yielded to the passion of the moment, he let everything explode in him, the yearning, the longing...

It lasted for a few seconds that they both wanted to extend, but the call for air was stronger. When they broke the kiss, they stayed with their foreheads against each other.

Neither knew what to say first, to exit that moment.

"Hold on…" Mundy eventually said.

"Oui? Something is the matter?" Lucien asked.

"No but… You had an apron with my name all along?"

"Non," Lucien chuckled. "When I came back yesterday night, I spent some time thinking and smoking. I couldn't help but repeat the discussion we had in the café on loop in my head. And then I remembered what you said, that you wouldn't be able to stay without a job. That was when I got the idea to hire you."

"Oh, woah…"

"So I woke up this morning, my mind set as hard as stone. I thought that I would ask in front of your parents."

"How did you know they'd accept?"

"I think your mother felt it, for a long time."

"She felt what?"

"Mundy, she is a woman, and your mother, she feels those things. Besides, each time you have lunch here you stare at me with such insistence…!"

"What?! No, I don't!" Mundy protested and his cheeks turned red.

"Yes, you do, mon amour, and don't blush so much…" Lucien chuckled and tapped the tip of Mundy's nose.

"Did you just call me-?"

"My love, oui. Now, let us go to work - oh?!" Lucien's sentence was interrupted by an intense - if slightly awkward - kiss. Mundy held him dearly, almost clawed in his sides and Lucien smiled.

"That is quite unprofessional, hm?" The Frenchman teased.

"Well, you started it, eh?"

"Non, I did not kiss my employer."

"You kissed your employee, that's worse."

"Non, you are not my employee yet."

"What?"

"You are my apprentice…"

"Right, fair enough. What's that make you then?" Mundy asked.

"... And my lover."

"Oh, right, ok, uhm… I-I mean…"

"And very shy."

"Well…"

They spent the beginning of that afternoon in the workshop dealing with bread and pastries as they teased each other. When the time came to close the shop and go back home, Mundy's eyebrows jumped.

"H-hold on." He said on the pavement with Lucien.

"Oui?"

"I… I don't have a home here… I could probably be able to pay a couple more nights at the hotel but…"

Lucien's chuckle cut Mundy's sentence.

"Why're you laughin'? I'm telling you I'm homeless…!"

"Don't be silly, Mundy. Come." Lucien took his hand and led the way.

"Right… I s'ppose you can walk me back to the hotel…"

"Non, I will not and I am not."

"Where are we goin' then?"

"Home."

Mundy frowned in confusion but decided to wait and see. Meanwhile, he held Lucien's hand dearly in his own. A few minutes later, Lucien stopped and got some keys out of his pocket. He unlocked the door and flipped a switch.

"Meow…!"

A white cloud brushed the floor and jumped in Lucien's arms.

"Oui, mon bébé, bonsoir, Papa est rentré…"

[Yes, my baby, good evening to you too, Papa has come home…]

He kissed her countless times and carried her in his arms indeed like a baby.

"Mundy, this is Perle. Perle, this is Mundy."

"Oh, yeah, your kitty…! Hello there, pretty lady…" Mundy scratched her cheeks and jaw, and soon both Lucien and him heard her pur.

"She likes you already." Lucien said.

"I'm good with animals usually, yeah… Hold on, what d'you mean 'already'?"

"Perle," Lucien said to his cat. "Mundy here is more than just a man who knows how to scratch you perfectly."

"Meow?"

"Oui, he is Papa's very good friend."

"Meow…?"

"Fine, oui, he is Papa's… Second half."

"Meow!"

"Don't worry, you are still my baby, but now, you are our baby, because Mundy here" Lucien raised his eyes to his lover. "Mundy here will live with us."

"Wh-...? Wait, are you serious?" Mundy asked in shock at the door's threshold. Lucien pulled him in and closed the door after him.

"I am. Now, make yourself at home, and give me an instant, someone has to feed this snow white baby."

"Meow!"

Lucien went to the kitchen as Mundy opened wide eyes and observed every little thing in the room. The paintings, most of them abstract, the furniture, the brown leather sofa, the persian style carpet in front of it, on which was the coffee table. There was a fireplace too and on the mantelpiece, pictures. They were all about Perle, the white kitten who grew to a majestic, fluffy creature with mesmerising blue eyes, a bit like her master.

"One last thing Mundy…!" Lucien said from the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"I have only one double bed!"

Mundy blushed and smiled.

#tf2 sniper #tf2 spy #sniperspy #dontneedavalentine2021

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firstfullmoon · 5 years

Text

some tender correspondence:

• “I keep wishing for you, keep shutting up my eyes and looking toward the sky, asking with all my might for you, and yet you do not come. I thought of you, until the world grew rounder than it sometimes is, and I broke several dishes.” (emily dickinson to minnie holland)

• “I always have such need to merely talk to you. Even when I have nothing to talk about – with you I just seem to go right ahead and sort of invent it. I invent it for you. Because I never seem to run out of tenderness for you and because I need to feel you near. Excuse the bad writing and excuse the emotional overflow. What I mean to say, perhaps, is that, in a way, I am never empty of you; not for a moment, an instant, a single second.” (virginia woolf to vita sackville-west)

• “I am reduced to a thing that wants Virginia. I composed a beautiful letter to you in the sleepless nightmare hours of the night, and it has all gone. I just miss you, in a quite simple desperate human way. (...) I can’t be clever and stand-offish with you: I love you too much for that. Too truly.” (vita sackville-west to virginia woolf)

• “I really am in need of comfort, the kind that springs from that dear, superhumanly kind heart of yours.” (franz kafka to felice bauer)

• “No, I didn’t imagine my being alone with you the way you do. If I want the impossible, I want it in its entirety. Entirely alone, dearest, I wanted us to be entirely alone on this earth, entirely alone under the sky, and to lead my life, my life that is yours, without distraction and with complete concentration, in you.” (franz kafka to felice bauer)

• “Rain finally came + it’s beautifully cool. Wonder how long it will last. It was marvelous because it started suddenly and then was alternately terrific and gentle. I think of you all the time and therefore have little to say that would not embarrass you, for instance my first feeling about the rain was that it was like you.” (john cage to merce cunningham)

• “During all this time I dreamt about you only once, and even then, very fleetingly. When I woke up, I couldn’t remember the whole dream, but I felt there was something very lovely in it; like when you sometimes feel, without opening your eyes, that it is sunny outside – and then unexpectedly later, near evening, thinking again about the dream, I suddenly understood that the lovely, exciting thing that was hiding in it was you, your face, your very movement – flashing through my dream and making of it something sunny, precious, immortal. I want to tell you that every minute of my day is like a coin with you on the other side, and that if I hadn’t remembered you every minute, my very features would have changed.” (vladimir nabokov to véra nabokov)

• “Je voudrais aussi être quelque chose de sûr et de doux pour toi: mon amour, une fleur qui ne fanerait pas et dont le parfum te griserait.” [I would also like to be something certain and soft for you: my love, a flower which would never wither and whose scent would be intoxicating.] (natalie barney to liane de pougy)

• “Goodnight dear. If you were in my bed it might be the back of your head I was touching, where the hair is short, or it might be up in the front where it makes little caves above your head. But wherever it was, it would be the sweetest place, the sweetest place.” (zelda fitzgerald to f. scott fitzgerald)

#w #letters #comparatives #emily dickinson #franz kafka #vladimir nabokov #vita sackville west #virginia woolf #zelda fitzgerald #john cage #the earth was made for lovers

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pandjseetheworld · 3 years

Text

Lost Coast Trek Continued

Day 3:

Today we hiked roughly 5 miles to Miller Flat. The trail was not completely on the sand so no booties for Loki, yay!

Highlights:

-Pearce used his Alone knowledge yet again to recognize black bear tracks in the sand.

-Loki failed a river crossing and did an entire log roll and got up unscathed.

-We took a 2 mile day hike up RattleSnake Ridge but it was pretty boring so we went back.

Lowlights:

-We arrived at our destination pretty early and ran into the group of 8 we took the shuttle with. They said that they had a great camp spot and we could take it but they weren’t leaving until 4pm (due to the tides). So we put our packs by the their site and tried to kill time by doing a day hike and playing on the beach. FOUR hours went by and the other group were go finally heading out so we headed to set up camp.

Low and behold, another group of 5 hikers got to our great site, where our packers were, one to two minutes ahead of us!!! They decided that even though our gear was there, this was where they were going to settle down (not but 5 feet away from us)! They had NO regard for personal space. So we killed them and hid them in the Lost Coast….! No, unfortunately we did not hike all this way to sleep next to a loud group of 5 rude individuals so we moved our packs somewhere further away to have some privacy. I just could not believe the disregard for personal space or camping etiquette. BUT WAIT…. these assholes decided to rinse their hair in the creek, which is fine- I did the same, BUT she used shampooooo!!!! Are you freaking kidding me! Rude and destroying the environment!!! Ughhh my blood was boiling! We walked away and kept to ourselves the rest of the evening but the loud music at 6:00am sure put these 5 people as the biggest jerks I have ever camped by! Some people just suck! End rant.

-We’re beginning to realize how much we suck at doing nothing!

Day 4:

We woke up at 6 to get out the door by 7am to make the low tide. We were going through our second 4 mile impassable section and wanted to make sure we cleared safely. When we arrived at the beginning of the impassible section we wrapped up both Loki’s front few claws and stuck the booties on. We had zero issues getting through at it wasn’t nearly as bad as the first impassible but we’re glad to have Loki’s feet snug. We arrived at our last campground, Gitchel Creek, at 9:00. Thus we had the whole day to hang out and do nothing, which we aren’t very good at but we had time to kill!

Highlights:

-Pearce made Loki a cool dog beach hideaway that gives him shade.

-It feels like we’re stranded on an island because there aren’t people around!

-There is plenty of time to think about our honeymoon travel plans, goals, and potential route!

-I’m still kicking Pearce’s ass in Gin Rummy.

-We don’t have to ration our food any more and can have snacks all day.

-We took a walk up the creek into what felt like the jungle from Fern Gully. Greenery all around! It was crazy we had just walked 10 feet and been on a beach. We followed the creek about a quarter mile before making a dam so Loki could cross—only to go 20 more yards and turn around. But it was a good time killer and fun!

-We met a really nice solo packer named Scott from the Bay Area. He’s an architect with a cute blue/brown eyed Aussie pup, Oscar. We bonded over our pup paw troubles and just chilled for a while and he was great company.

-Pearce took a nude dip in the creek to wash off. He still smelt but it was funny to see!

-We finished the evening with hot tea and a snickers bar!!!

-We we to bed early cause we were ready to wake up and head to Shelter Cove.

Lowlights:

-We had to sit all day “stranded on an island”, which can be pretty boring!

-Pearce didn’t catch any fish with the hook and mussel we tied to a string. He’s not your average fisherman!

Day 5:

Woke up pretty early (5:30) and decided to lay in bed for a while before heading to Shelter Cove. After a nice warm oatmeal and tea we suited up, thanked Nature for our last site, and started walking. This trek was only 4 miles and the most desolate of all our days thus far. We didn’t seen any people, it was just us and the beach. We finished the trek just after 9am. Loki seemed pretty happy and Pearce and I were ready for our next adventure.

——————————————-

Overall Trail Rating (In our opinion): 7/10

Would we recommend this trail: Yes, it’s a very unique trail along the coast and the terrain changes frequently. I would recommend 3 days and 2 nights, our days were tooooo long and drawn out but it was good for Loki.

We we recommend taking a dog: I would NOT take a dog unless you have done specific training with him/her. We ran into 2 other dogs that were really struggling with their paw pads and dew claws. Also we got super lucky it wasn’t that sunny because Loki would have died if the black sand was hot! If you’re dog isn’t used to booties, a pack, and long hikes don’t bring them!

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rajrag66 · 3 years

Text

Indian Expeditions Down Under

There is a certain allure to cricket played in Australia. This could be attributed to the massive iconic venues, sunny weather when it is cold and dreary in most parts of the world, revolutionary television coverage pioneered by channel 9 and sporting wickets.

As the test series gets under way in Sydney with the 1st ever day and night match between the two countries, my mind goes back to the battles waged down under since I started following cricket in the 70s. The Aussies were practically invincible at home for most of that decade as they humiliated their bitter rivals England in 74-75 & the mighty Windies in 76-76. I still recall hearing about the exploits of Lillie, Thompson & the Chappell brothers through the crisp commentary of Alan McGilvray & Jim Maxwell on Radio Australia short wave.

There had been only 2 previous tours by India to Australia in 1947-48 & 1967-68. On both occasions, the hosts had won 4-0. Therefore history was against the tourists, when they visited Australia at the end of 1977 after a gap of 10 years, However India were up against a severely weakened team due to the exodus to Kerry Packer’s world series cricket. Only Thompson resisted the temptation of joining the Packer bandwagon and a 41- year old Simpson was recalled after several years of retirement to captain a young and virtually unknown team. It still turned out to be a close series with Australia winning 3-2. Simpson apart from marshalling his young troops well, also scored an epic 176 in the 2nd test at Perth and 100 in the final test in Adelaide with 539 runs in the series. Australia won the first 2 matches at Brisbane and Perth narrowly by 16 runs & 2 wickets respectively. Tony Mann became only the second batsman in test history to score a century as a night watchman at Perth. India came back strongly with thumping wins at Melbourne & Sydney, as the Indian spin trio of Bedi (captain), Chandra & Prasanna wove their magic for the last time in their illustrious careers. Chandra picked up 12 wickets at Melbourne as he bowled India to victory. The final test at Adelaide went down to the wire with Australia romping home by 47 runs as India almost reached the massive 493 set for victory. India felt the absence of a genuine fast bowler and in hindsight could have included Kapil Dev who was just making his mark in domestic cricket. Gavaskar scored 3 consecutive centuries and was well supported by Vishwanath and Mohinder Amarnath, all three finished with over 400 runs in the series. The Aussies uncovered a number of new talents during that series such as Peter Toohey, Rick Darling, Wayne Clarke, Graham Yallop, Gary Cozier & Craig Sarjeant.

The Packer boys had come back by the time India toured next in 1980-81. Thompson & Ian Chappell were no longer playing, but the home team had Len Pascoe, Alan Border, Kim Hughes, Graeme Wood & Rodney Hogg to support stalwarts such as Greg Chappell, Lillie & Walters. The tourists made a shaky start losing easily in Sydney and scrapping through to a draw in Adelaide. Sandeep Patil was the hero at Adelaide with a blistering 174 after being knocked down by Len Pasco in the previous match. India defied expectations with a thrilling victory in the 3rd test at Melbourne to draw the series. Vishwanath whose place in the team was in doubt, silenced his critics with a brilliant century at the MCG. Gavaskar almost forfeited the match when he forced his partner Chetan Chauhan to walk off the field after an altercation with the opposition following a doubtful LBW decision. Luckily the manager Wing Commander Durrani intervened to cool things down. Chauhan who had a brilliant series was unlucky to miss out yet again on a well-deserved century. India successfully defended a meagre target of 142 thanks to the brilliance of Kapil Dev who braved a knee problem with pain killer injections to finish with figures of 5 for 28 as Australia was skittled out for 83. Kapil was ably supported by Dilip Doshi and Karsan Ghavri who bowled Greg Chappell round his legs in the 2nd innings. In addition to the test series, there was also a tri-series ODI competition featuring New Zealand as well. As was expected, the Indians who were still finding their feet in limited-over cricket did not fare well in this series. It was a treat to see the highlights brought by channel 9 for the first time during the 80-81 series. Even in those early days, their coverage was really innovative and brought out a different dimension to watching the game on TV.

After a gap of 5 years, India toured again in 1985-86. At the beginning of 1985, India stunned the cricketing world again in the ODIs. Following on from their shock win in the 1983 world cup, they won the world championship of cricket which was likely a mini-world cup and held to mark the 150th anniversary of the European settlement in Victoria. The enduring image of the win was the Indian team going around the MCG ground after easily winning the final against Pakistan, in the Audi car won by Ravi Shastri who was declared the champion of champions. We were privileged to watch most of the matches in that tournament live and by then the channel 9 coverage had evolved considerably. Messers Greig, Lawry & Benaud delighted Indian fans with their magnificent commentary and insight into the game.

The 1985-86 tour was a tale of missed opportunities as India could not get over the line in at least 2 matches. They were foiled by some stoic resistance from the Aussies especially the captain Allan Border. Gavaskar scored 2 centuries and others like Amarnath & Srikkanth piled on the runs against a relatively weak attack. Craig McDermott was the only potent bowler on the Aussie side and they were still in a rebuilding phase after Kim Hughes had quit the previous summer. Steve Waugh made his debut in the 2nd test and showed early glimpses of his talent . The other newcomers like David Boon, Geoff Marsh and the beanpole like fast bowler Bruce Reid were to be become mainstays of the team in future years. India did very well in the ODI tri-series which also featured the Kiwis. They however could not beat the Aussies in the finals.

The next series in 1991-92 was quite a let-down for the Indian team which could not quite match a strong home side led by Allan Border with experienced cricketers like Boon, Marsh, McDermott, Merv Highes & Dean Jones. Mark Taylor who was establishing himself in the team had a brilliant series with 422 runs second only to David Boon who finished with 556 runs. Shane Warne had the most inauspicious start to his career at Sydney and his bowling was taken to the cleaners by Ravi Shastri who scored a double century. The saving grace for India was the batting of Tendulkar who displayed his prodigious talent in no small measure with 2 brilliant centuries.The other big gain for India during the tour was the emergence of Srinath as a genuine quick bowler following in the footsteps of Kapil Dev who still a force to reckon with on the tour capturing 25 wickets. Manoj Prabhakar also ended with a creditable haul of 19 wickets. In the tri-series which followed also featured the West Indies, India managed to reach the finals but were no match for the Aussies who won easily. Kris Srikkanth won 2 player of the match awards during this tournament on the last international tour of his career. The world cup which was the climax of a long Australian summer was also a disappointment, with the only bright spark for India being the victory against the eventual winners Pakistan.

India had to wait almost 9 years for their next tour in 1999-2000. This was a very low-key series and the Indian team led by Tendulkar was no match for the Aussies. Bret Lee who was at his peak broke the left thumb of the Indian opener Sadagopan Ramesh and along with McGrath proved lethal for the Indian battsman. India lost all 3 tests by huge margins despite Tendulkar’s determined displays. Ponting, Langer, Waugh & Gilchrist dominated the Indian bowling.The tri-series one-dayers featuring Pakistan were equally disastrous with India notching a solitary win in 8 matches.

The tour in 2003 was a watershed in India’ test history abroad. Well led by Sourav Ganguly, India proved they were no pushovers any more overseas. Ganguly set the tone for the Indian performance by scoring a brilliant 144 in the first test at Brisbane, which was drawn. Rahul Dravid’s brilliant double century to match Ricky Ponting who achieved the same feat and 6 for 41 by Ajith Agarkar helped them register a historic win in Adelaide. Australia came back strongly to win the next test at Melbourne. India almost won the final test at Sydney, which was Steve Waugh’s last match and he signed off with 80 in the 2nd innings. India had earlier posted a mammoth 705 for 7 in the 1st innings thanks to 241 from Tendulkar and 178 from Laxman.

It was mixed bag in 2007-08 and the tour was shrouded in controversy The second test in Sydney marred by poor umpiring decisions against the visitors, also saw the Monkeygate scandal when Harbhajan Singh was charged with racial abuse against Andrew Symonds. Harbhajan was suspended from the next test, which was revoked after a protest by India. Steve Bucknor who made some contentious decisions was stood down by the ICC from the next match at Perth, which also created a controversy. The Sydney test had a dramatic climax, with Michael Clarke getting 3 wickets in the last over of the game. India went into the Perth test down 0-2 after losing the 1st test at Melbourne by a massive 371 runs and the 2nd test at Sydney by 122 runs despite gaining a substantial 1st innings lead. The tourists stayed alive in the series winning the Perth test mainly due to some splendid bowling by the young Ishant Sharma. His spell in Perth against Ponting arguably the best batsman in the world at the time is still a vivid memory. Sehwag made a triumphant comeback with 151 in the last test in Adelaide, which ended in a draw. Laxman who relished batting on the hard wickets continued his dominance over the Australia bowlers. He finished 2nd in the batting averages after Tendulkar who got over 500 runs with 2 centuries. Kumble’s leadership during a difficult series was commendable and he also led the bowling averages with 20 wickets second only to Brett Lee with 24 wickets. India lost the series 1-2, but had the consolation of winning the tri-series that followed, which also featured Sri Lanka.

The tour in 2011-12 was a rather forgettable affair and capped a miserable year following India’s crushing defeat in England that summer. Two legends Dravid & Laxman retired after the Aussie series. They will be remembered as much for exemplary conduct as for their sublime batting skills. Their record match winning 376 run 5th wicket partnership in Eden Gardens against Steve Waugh’s men in 2001 is the best in Indian test history. The 2011-12 series also saw the coming of age of Virat Kohli who resurrected his career with a brilliant 116 in the last test at Adelaide. This could not prevent India reeling to a 4th loss and a series whitewash. They also finished last in the tr-series also featuring Sri Lanka.

The 2014 test series was preceded by the one of the biggest tragedies in cricketing history. The young and promising life of Philip Hughes was cruelly cut short after he died following a head injury during a Sheffield shield match. The series was slightly delayed and itinerary rearranged as this extremely unfortunate event cast a pall of gloom. India almost pulled off a sensational win in the 1st test at Adelaide chasing 364 to win falling short by only 49 runs. Credit for this goes to Virat Kohli who scored a sensational 141 to add to his 115 in the first innings. Kohli also deputised as captain for the injured Dhoni, before taking over on a permanent basis after the 3rd test at Melbourne when Dhoni announced his retirement from test cricket. Murali Vijay was another big success scoring a century in the 2nd test as well as coming close to 3 figures on two other occasions with 99 & 80. India drew the last 2 tests after losses at Adelaide & Brisbane. India had a disappointing tri-series featuring England, losing 3 of the 4 matches. They also failed to defend the world cup held in Australia in 2015, losing convincingly to the hosts in the semis after a promising run including a quarter-final win over Pakistan.

India created history during the 2018-19 tour by finally winning a test series in Australia 2-1. The biggest hero from an Indian point of view was Cheteshwar Pujara who ended with 3 centuries including a brilliant 199 in the last test at Sydney. He was ably supported by Kohli, debutant Mayank Agarwal & the young Rishabh Pant who also got a century in the last test when India scored a mammoth 622 for 7 in the 1st innings. Bumrah was sensational with the ball and was ably supported by Shami & Kuldeep Yadav. India also won the ODI series that followed the tests 2-1 ending possibly one of their best ever overseas tours. The only slight disappointment was the absence of Warner & Smith who were serving their suspension due to the ball tampering incident in South Africa. This should not detract from the merit of India’s performance.

It has been bit of a roller coaster ride for the Indian team down under over the years. In the same vein, they had a fairly rough start in the ODI series this time, salvaging some pride in the last match after losing the series. However they made up with a brilliant 2-1 victory in the T20s, which saw a new star in the horizon in the form of the debutant T.Natarajan. Kohli who was in top form in the T20s, will be missed both as a captain and batsman when he is away on paternity leave after the 2nd test. The experience of Pujara and Rahane will be needed in the absence of Kohli. India will also be hoping that the younger batsmen like Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill make a substantial contribution. Ishant Sharma who has been a star against Austraia will also be sadly missed, but hopefully Bumrah and Shami will repeat their performance from last time. Fans on both sides will be hoping that this rivalry which is the next biggest after the Ashes lives up to its billing.

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roswellroamer · 4 years

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Day 12. February 10, 2020. Te Anau day ride. 155km.

Woke to low 40's and gray which made me question the Carrot and Weather Channel apps which had shown 72° and sunny. But closer inspection revealed a marine type layer probably due to the massive lake's shores which was projected to burn off by 11. The kitchen came stocked with farm fresh eggs, bowl of assorted fruit, milk, butter, juice, yogurts, cereals. We set about making some eggs and toast and then of course after finishing off yesterday's blog we grabbed the two frisbees and the "golf course diagram" and headed out. A half life sized chess board on the sprawling manicured lawn provided the tee for the first hole. All the bikes were truck tires with the hole number painted on the rubber. Got to explore their grounds and have some fun tossing the 'bee. We then got into our GoreTex gear and headed towards Milford Sound after a CalTex has stop in town. Knowing we couldn't get to Milford due to road closures/flooding we were aiming for a swing bridge made of three cables. One for your feet and one for each of your hands that spanned the west branch of the Eglinton River. It was featured in one of the NZ touring books I had bought last summer. We saw that the trail sign to identify the turn off was the Earl Mountain turnoff and headed that way. We wound a bit away from the water and gained some elevation and then came to a construction zone. Not being sure if this was related to the recent flooding we got in mine behind a few cars and waited. Maybe less than ten minutes and the opposing truck, bus and camper passed us then we were allowed to proceed. Usually the 120km up to Milford takes over two hours due to the heavy traffic. Top tourist destination in NZ, one road in and out. Lots of buses and cars jockeying to get parking at the roadside attractions. One huge benefit of having the road closed about 75km ahead was that there was hardly any traffic! Great road and scenery as jagged Teton-esque peaks wound into view between the nearly sheer yet forested canyons as we gained elevation. After passing through a few more, wait, take a wild guess... sheep farms 🐑 we came to a diversion. Funneled into a lane off the road to what appeared to be a toll booth, explained to the gal we were in search of a cable bridge off the Earl Mtn. Trail before the closed section. She allowed us to pass. So far so good.

You can tell when you enter Fiordland NP. Sure, there's a sign off to the left (but placed behind a farmer's field/fence so inaccessible for a reasonable picture). But immediately farmland disappears and you are envelopes in the eery dense tunnel of what seems to be darned close to tropical forest. With the 21 feet of annual rainfall being lush shouldn't be a surprise but the immediate drop off in brightness is dramatic as well. Almost like going in a cave. There are some open "flats" but much of the area along the one road there is heavy forest. The other concern for vehicles but especially bikes involves the encroaching algae/moss on the roads. Two tire tracks are largely clear of it but the center of the lanes and the road as well are mostly a bit greenish with the slippery stuff. Lots of "slippery when wet" signage and it wasn't for the Bon Jovi album. I imagined it could be taxing to stay in the worn and clear tire tracks on one of the 250 rainy days. With clear blue sky and dry along with no traffic, the 55,65 and 75kph turns were superb sweepers and we had a ball carving up that road. One of the stops was at Mirror Lakes. Aptly names and even though a couple of fish had disturbed the surface, the pics are keepers. We rode up into Fiordland a ways and then there was the Earl Mtn. sign. We pulled in to the parking area and saw the line of yellow tape across the entrance to the trail. Also no other vehicles were there. The sign said it was closed and also had a few poison signs around the lot. They described the poison that was dangerous to animals and people to attempt (as is often done here) eradication of a non-native predator. In this case it seemed to be some sort of weasel that was endangering a bird that lived on the ground. We had discussed this cable swing bridge and yellow tape and warnings weren't gonna stop us! We worked around the tape and stepped into a dense forest trail. The first 10 minutes took us along an occasionally muddy trail. Tons of tree roots. Most of the deep mud had sticks or small logs tossed in to provide steps but a few ill advised steps resulted in 6" plunges and lovely boot pulling sucking noises to dislodge my Alpinestar SMX-6 from the muck. Then found my way down a thirty foot hill by treading solely on exposed tree roots from one tree! (Pic above) After that, following the well marked red triangular plastic blazes into the heart of Frodo land, the forest was a magic pliant spongy floor. It took a while to figure out that about 6-8" of moss has somehow grown over a network of interconnected tree roots. When I stepped, the entire ground in a five foot radius would give in and move a bit. It was weird and beautiful. After another 10' we heard the Eglinton River and were blocked by some fallen trees and yellow tape. A work around brought me to the river just above the cable swing bridge. A very large tree had fallen on the bridge from our side and collapsed it. Instead of a V shape, the 3 cables were mostly flat but still spanning the river. Ugh. No go. Managed to work our way with some difficulty through the dense brush to get close enough for a pic on the first rung of the bridge which was also the last possible one to reach due to the tree and damage. Pic above. There was a cute little bird on the ground by the bridge remnants. He seemed happy to see us. Wasn't afraid of people evidently as he strutted about watching us, walking under the branch I was balancing on without flying away. He seemed to enjoy company. Said goodbye to my new friend 🐦 and found the blazes trail which included a half dozen improvised detours to avoid deep muck. Scaled up the root ladder which must have been connected to Eywa as the whole forest seemed a bit magical. 🌳 One couple was following our lead to enter the forbidden enchanted forest as we exited. They were disappointed to hear the wire bridge was out. The entire trail from there is about a three hour hike.

I must comment that tons of serious hikers (trampers in local speak) come here and cover long distances. Temps are good. Views and scenery fantastic. None of those deadly spiders and snakes one may encounter across the Tasman Sea in Oz. I get it, just don't love hiking that much to spend days or weeks doing it. This area shows why Peter Jackson used it for LOTR. Nearly pristine and just overwhelmingly stunning. With boots and Klim pants properly mud coated, we were now sweating quite a bit. In fact while holding my Latitude jacket I believe I finally lost my first set of reading glasses on this ride. I have a couple spares but oh well. Think they fell out as I was scaling some of the hill or tree root sections. 👓 I opened up all the vents on my jacket and pants and started the bike to stand and let the 65° breeze do its job. Turned around a couple kilometers further at Lower Holyford Rd. as the heavy machinery was at work. Estimated repair on the sign said that the road would reopen on Friday, four days from now. We stopped a few times on the way back for scenic spots that were too good to pass by. One of the files above is the .gif of some chopper footage. Stopped to watch him load and fly away with a few tanks of what may have been fuel? Most likely bound for Milford Sound which was still isolated from the rest of the country's road system. On one of the last stops Ted must've not closed his bag since when we pulled into Te Anau town center his right saddlebag/pannier was open! Ba quick inventory revealed his polartec jacket and a plastic bag with a wipe were missing. The chain lube that Kiwi gave us as well as a helmet lock were still in the pannier. Those darned side opening clamshell designs! I said I'd get a table at the Ranch outside and wait for him to hopefully retrieve his stuff. I showed him how to flip up on the iPhone to reveal exactly where that last pic was taken. He was just putting on his helmet when a white car pulls up. A guy walks out and hands him his stuff! So lucky. They are bikers and saw his stuff and followed us into town. Nice. After some thank you a they drove away and the day got even brighter. The Ranch delivered me a couple Cokes and an interesting prawn twist dish. 8 shrimp individually wrapped in a long thin dough sheet and fried so the whole 8" long finger is edible and 3 sauces to dip accompanied the serving. Then a calamari salad. 😊 Back to the homestead for some blogging (so I won't fall asleep tonight trying to get this down) and rest before we scored a reservation at the top place in town. The Redcliff cafe. Ted was here last year and unable to get in! We rode to town and were walking down the street when Ted recognized the Aussies who returned his stuff at lunchtime. We turned around and flagged them down. They were perfectly willing to join us for a thank you beer and had a nice time talking with them. They were riders but here to scatter ashes of a friend up north and had received money and were encouraged to make a great trip out of it. They had been to Burt Munro as well. Our appointed hour arrived and we were seated on the back porch of the Redcliff cafe. A few tables of Americans nearby and some conversation with a California couple by us and an excellent meal. I had a salmon tartare dish followed by venison which was amazing and a date and ice cream dessert which were each remarkable. Redcliff did not disappoint. Probably the biggest culinary splurge of the trip. Even with a couple drinks my total ended up being just over $50 and it would've been 50% more for that same meal at home. Had a great evening and got back to the homestead in dusk around 10. Ready to roll northward tomorrow. 😴

#teanau #newzealand #motoadventure #advrider #fiordland

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solaneceae · 5 years

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ITS ZOMBOI DAY!!

thats right bitches, today is Robbie’s bday, sorry what, "anti", hmmmm never heard of that bitch-

pardon? yes Karen i know it isnt the 15th in the US yet sHUT UP LET ME BE A EUROPEAN STAN IN PEACE-

aaanyway, i wrote a thing for my moonlight son, it was made in a rush to post it today, typed on my phone cuz im on a road trip with no computer UwU

anyway here goes, this is for you all robbie stans @lilakennedy @tabbynerdicat @theshysepticeye @spunketpunk (ask me if you wanna be tagged too!)

***

He was warm. He was safe. Content.

Robbie’s simple, sleep-hazed mind held on to those feelings as he stirred; the zombie let out a content sigh and nuzzled the thick, hand-knitted blanket -a gift from Ant- he was wrapped in.

So...warm… soft…

Part of him just wanted to go back to sleep, but something was pushing him towards wakefulness. it was a strange sensation, like… urgency? But not bad? Like something important was happening and he needed to be there for it.

The purple-haired creature groaned, milky white eyes fluttering open; that was fine, he had a good nap and wanted to go play with Marv anyway.

He stretched out his slightly numb limbs and let out a high-pitched yawn, before detangling himself from his blanked and standing off the living room couch. The house wasn’t big by any means, but it was cosy and always seemed to accommodate each new ego -and occasionally Seán whenever he came by for a visit- back when their weird little family was still growing.

When Jay had asked about that strange phenomenon, Marv had shrugged and muttered something about the pocket dimension they were living in, and magic. In short, no one knew how it worked, and no one really cared, least of all Robbie.

As long as he and his brothers were safe, he didn’t care much about anything else, really.

“Robbie?”

The zombie perked up; Jackie had appeared in the hallway, smiling and walking towards him. The young ego greeted the red-clad hero with a happy grunt-chirp-purr and shuffled over to him, pulling the older ego into a hug.

“Hey buddy,” Jackie chuckled, squeezing the taller man back; it was in moments like these he really didn’t mind being the smallest of Seán’s egos. Despite Robbie being a foot taller, his hunched over posture usually brought them to the same level, and the zombie’s natural gentleness made him an excellent hugger. “Ya had a good nap?” The purple-haired creature let go and nodded. “Mh. Wan play… Marv…”

Jackie smiled even wider, ruffling the other’s hair. “Sure thing bud! He’s been working on new tricks, ya gonna love them. But there’s somethin’ we need to do first.”

The undead ego tilted his head in curiosity. Something? What thing?

“Do ya know which day it is today?” the hero asked. He was lightly bouncing on his heels, seemingly excited about something. Robbie pursed his lips, then shrugged; he wasn’t good at keeping track of days.

“Well it’s a very special day,” the smaller man explained solemnly. “So we all need to go to the kitchen to celebrate it, okay?”

Jackie gently grasped Robbie’s right hand and lead him through their cosy little house, the zombie obediently following along. He wondered what was so important about today, and if it had something to do with the bubbly, squirmy feeling that had settled in his gut since this morning.

“’kay guys,” Jackie called out as they finally entered the kitchen, “I got him!”

Robbie’s eyes widened; all his brothers were here, which was a rare event in itself: Chase, with his sunny smile and kind eyes; Sheep, a stiff but steadying presence in his life; Jay, waving at him enthusiastically; Ant, the elusive but fiercely protective glitch.

But that wasn’t even the best part.

“GUS!” the zombie squealed in delight, letting go of Jackie’s hand to throw himself in Angus’ awaiting arms. The tall adventurer laughed at the creature’s antics, returning his hug. “Hey lil’ guy! S’been a while.”

Robbie pouted and took a step back; his oldest sibling was always chasing sunken ships and buried treasures, and his visits had grown scarce. “Too… long! Be there more!”

“Yah, I know bud.” the aussie smiled apologetically. “S’been a busy year. But I’ll come back more often now.”

“...Promise?”

Angus chuckled, patting the purple hair tickling his chin. “Yup, swear it on my hat.”

“Oh shit, now we know it’s serious.” Marvin gasped in pretend shock from his seat on the kitchen table, “You never let us touch that old thing.”

“Will you please get off ze table?” Henrik sneered in response, glaring at the magician. “Zat is most unsanitary.”

The performer mulled it over for a few seconds, fiddling with his long, dark green braid, before turning to the doctor with a shit-eating grin. “No. No, I don’t think I will.”

“Vy you-”

“Will you two can it for a sec?” Anti growled, crossing his arms in annoyance. “This is important shit!”

“Language, Anti.”

“Inhale my-”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Chase rolled his eyes, putting his hand on Robbie’s shoulder. “He’s right though. This is about Robbie, and we should all focus on that.”

The zombie blinked, visibly confused. “About… me?”

The fatherly ego just winked at him before turning to Angus, excitement sparkling in his eyes. “Wanna do the honors dude?”

“You betcha!”

The survival hunter slowly reached inside one of the oversized pockets of his jacket, while Robbie followed his movements with great intrigue. The aussie’s hand came back holding something, something small and dark and… fuzzy-looking…

Then the thing produced a high-pitched, somewhat raspy meow as two bright yellow orbs appeared in front of it, and the undead ego gasped.

“I for one was not a fan of zat idea,” Shneep sighted, “but I got outnumbered. Zis is vy democracy is idiotic.”

“Good thing no-one cares about the opinion of an old man.”

“Anti!”

“What? You know it’s true, hero!”

Robbie paid no mind to their squabble, mesmerized by the creature Angus was gently placing in his arms. It was a tiny black kitten, two months old at most. His short, shiny fur was incredibly soft, and his golden eyes stared at the dumbstruck zombie with placid curiosity.

“That lil’ lady here?” Angus began, “Found her in the forest on my way back here. No mama, no nothin’. So I took care of her, and now she’s yours.”

Robbie’s gaze kept switching between the explorer and the kitten in his arms. He slowly, carefully started to run his fingers through the dark fur, a little purring sound rewarding his ministrations. He whined, overwhelmed by all the emotions blooming inside of him.

Gratitude. Happiness. Love.

“Happy birthday, Rob.” JJ signed, a huge smile on his face. “Happy birthday!" Jackie and Marv cheered, quiet enough not to startle the cat. “You are very much appreciated,” Henrik nodded, adjusting his glasses to hide the emotion in his eyes. “Remember zat.” Anti rolled his eyes at the doctor’s contribution, but joined in with a mumble nobody could make out. The softness in his black and acid green eyes betrayed him though.

“Happy birthday, Robster.” Chase chuckled fondly, watching the zombie blink back tears. His birthday. Angus had come home, just to be there for him today. Everyone was here, getting (mostly) along, for him.

He cradled the kitten -his gift- against his chest, the vibrations making him giggle, to nuzzle the top of her fluffy head. “S-soft…”

The tiny creature meowed contentedly, and Robbie felt so happy his cold, still heart might’ve stirred a bit. “Soft!” he squealed decisively, looking up at his family with a blinding grin.

“Soft?” JJ signed, tilting his head. “Is that what you wish to name her?”

“Mh!”

“Is zat truly appropriate for a pet cat?” Henrik raised a brow. He was however stopped from saying more when everyone else shot him a Look™, and he pinched the bridge of his nose in defeat. “Soft. Yes, of course. It is perfect, Robbie.”

The birthday boy looked up at his family. He was happy. Very, very happy. “Thank… you. Love you.”

“Aw.” Marvin said, hiding his blush behind his kitty mask. “We love ya too buddy."

#jacksepticeye #robbie the zombie #jacksepticeye egos #marvin the magnificent #henrik von schneeplestein #jackieboy man #jameson jackson #antisepticeye #angus the survival hunter #fanfic

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charonaraccoon · 5 years

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Bridges: The spider incident (Maxiel drabble) 21. „I’m not gonna let you get yourself killed!”

It’s different this season. Max could have never imagined Daniel wearing anything else but the dark blue clothes on a race weekend. Still Daniel stands on the other end of the press pen talking to the Italian press in a bright yellow polo shirt. And above that he manages to look as perfect as always, the friendly colour underlining his tanned skin, his bright smile and his sunny personality. Max tears his eyes away and smirks before asking the Interviewer in front of him to repeat her

Things changed since Daniel left the team but in a different way than Max had expected them to. They are even closer now rather than farther away from each other. They talk more openly about racing and life in general now that they aren’t direct rivals anymore. Max muses how Daniel changing team at this specific point in both of their careers might change things for the future as he returns to the garage.

He nods at Marko before turning to Gianpiero. “How’s it going?” “Pre-heating is almost done. You should get ready.” Max pats his back and turns around to the car, running his fingertips over the shiny blue surface of the chassis for a second. Suddenly he notices something huge and pitch black and hairy out of the corner of his eyes. “Jesus fucking Christ, there’s a spider!” Max jumps backwards, clenching his helmet in both hands staring at the plate-sized animal sitting nonchalantly in his driver’s seat like in a throne, looking up at his objectives out of what seems like eight billion razor-sharp eyes. “What? Where?!” Gianpiero asks carefully peeking out from behind his clipboard. Max whines in disgust. “In my car, on the seat! Oh my god!” Max shivers, sheer panic in his face, when the spider fucking clicks at him.

“What’s going on?” Daniel enters the red bull garage, a yellow sun sinking into all the oceanic dark blue and frowns at the scene. “What happened?” he asks as he takes in Max’s frightened and pale face and the nervous distance all the mechanics and staff seem to maintain to the RB15. “Spider!” Max whispers as if trying not to offend the new ruler of the car worth millions of dollars. Daniel cocks his head and murmurs a simple “Welcome to Australia.” before approaching the car. Max instantly grabs his arm to stop him. Daniel meets icy blue eyes, wide with fear and disgust. “I’m not gonna let you get yourself killed.” “Trust me, I can handle it.” Daniel radiates so much self-assurance and confidence that Max slowly loosens his grip.

Daniel peers inside the car, mutters a soft “Hey, you obviously took a wrong turn, because you’re absolutely lost, mate. Let me help you.” Max watches in terror as Daniel looks around for some tool to help him move the beast. He grabs one of the huge screw-wrenches that are attached on the drills for tyre changes and carefully pushes it beneath the spider. Max hides his face in his hands as Daniel lifts the spider up and carries it out of the garage. “Curiosity killed the cat” he murmurs before following the Aussie past the Farrari and Mercedes garages. Daniel sets down the animal in the grass lane next a neat pile of tyres and waves it goodbye. “Alrighty, mate, there you go. Stay safe!” When he turns around he flashes Max a mischievous grin. “Are you alright?” “I guess so. Thanks.” “You’re welcome.” They part in front of the Red Bull garage with a side hug that lasts a second longer than necessary. Daniel pats Max’s back. “It’s okay, Max. See you on track. Have a good one.” Max lets out a shaky laugh and quickly takes in Daniel’s scent before returning to his garage and disinfect his chassis.

After the race Daniel sits in the corner of a local pub, when Max slumps down on the opposite bench. They sit in comfortable silence for a while, both dwelling on their thoughts, sighing occasionally and drinking from time to time. Until Max sighs. “I’m sorry about the race. I know, how important the home races are to you.” “Jesus, they’re important to everyone, Max!” Daniel sighs and shakes his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.” “It’s okay, honestly. It seems like we both act kind of girly today.” Daniel snorts at that and chuckles before licking his lips and drinking from his beer bottle. Max can’t hide the pride of being responsible for that positive expression after a shitty DNF in the first race of the season. “It was just too much work this week, way too much. I was exhausted before the weekend even started. I should have handled it better beforehand.” Max shrugs and fumbles with the bottle label. “Australia means a lot to you. And I don’t mean just the race as itself. You love this country and you want to represent it as well as possible.” Daniel looks at Max and his ebony eyes display everything he feels for Max in that very seconds when his lips curve upwards into a tender smile. Max nudges his shoulder for he doesn’t dare to take Daniel’s hand in public – not yet, at least. “Although I honestly don’t get why you love that country so much. It sucks!” “Why?” Daniel looks like someone stole his chocolate, irritated, on the verge of pouting. Max spreads his arms in a defying movement. “Ahm, hello?! It tried to kill me today?!” Daniel huffs and laughs, making Max grin widely. “Jeepers, Max, it was just a spider…” “A huge, definitely deadly spider.” “You’re such a whiny hard-ass.”, complains Daniel shaking his head at Max, who instantly pouts. “Should have let the spider eat me then.” “Max, spiders don’t eat people. They’re not piranhas.” “This one would have…”, insists Max and Daniel sighs in what sounds like defeat. “Not even in Australia… and my continent really is home to some dangerous creatures, I give you that. This one wouldn’t have killed you, though. It probably was as frightened of you as you were of it.” “Are you seriously defending the spider?!” Daniel groans and wipes his eyes before nodding at Max’s empty beer bottle. “I’ll get us another round.” “Try not to befriend any spiders on your way!” Max murmurs and gets pinched in the arm for that. “Jerk!” Daniel’s grin is too wide to make the insult sting. While he waits for the drinks he looks at Max, who sits at the table, deep in thought with his eyes fixed on the table surface and bobbing knees. Although the disappointment of the race stings and he’s tired and weary to the bone, the sight of Max waiting for him at that table makes it somehow bearable.

It’s a couple of days later on one of their rare free weekdays when Daniel hangs upside down the high bar in the far corner of the gym for some crucial sit-up exercises and Max enters the room. “You’re up early.” “A hero needs to stay in shape.” “You’re not planning on letting that spider thing go for another decade, are you?” Max comes closer after dropping his towel on the weight bench. Daniel’s fuzzy and sweaty curls dangle in the air cheekily. He can see the tattoo peeking out from under his shorts. The toned muscles of his stomach and chest under the shimmering and tanned skin make Max swallow. He pushes a wet strand from Daniel’s face and gets on his tip-toes so they are on eye level. He instantly drowns in Daniel’s ebony eyes that look at him curiously and open and loving. “You are a hero, but you’re too good looking for a mask to be honest. My personal spider man.” He crooks his head and presses a gentle kiss on Daniel’s lips. He takes in his scent, sweat, sunshine, warmth, and smiles running his hand through his hair and over his heated cheeks. They part and Daniel’s grin is the wrong way around but its beauty remains unscathed. “Be my Mary Jane then.” Max huffs and pinches Daniel’s sides. “Don’t get cheeky. But yeah, I’d choose you over Toby McGuire. Andrew Garfield is more my type.” Daniel makes the last sit-up, grips the bar and lowers himself until his feet touch solid ground again. He shakes his head and clicks his tongue. “Garfield is alright, but I don’t know, whether I should thank you for the compliment or punch you for even considering a comparison between McGuire and me.” “You could as well just kiss me, you know?” Max grins and is met by Daniel’s warm embrace in the middle of the room. “I’ll always protect you from evil spiders and snakes and Christian Horners.” “What about sharks?” Max presses his nose into the crook of Daniel’s neck and feels him laughing against his chest. “Well, I need a few more training sessions, but I’ll get there to even face my fear of sharks.” The joke fades a little, as Daniel combs his fingers through Max’s damp hair. “For you, I would.” And despite the joke, despite Max being tired already of being teased because of the spider incident, he knows in his very heart and soul that Daniel is telling the truth – because that’s what heroes do.

#fanfiction #archive of our own #drabble #writing prompt #maxiel #max verstappen #daniel ricciardo #spiders

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inahazzze · 5 years

Text

Wayfaring Stranger

⭐ Please enjoy this fluffy meet cute one shot featuring AU poet dad!Harry and a bisexual singer OFC! It’s roughly 7.7k words. ⭐

***A/N: I’ve been working on this for a while and I’m really proud of it so I would super appreciate any likes/reblogs/asks/feedback about it!! Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think :) x ***

Sav’s eyes are mostly shut against the blinding sun when she slows to a stop to catch a breath with her hands on her knees. After 45 straight minutes of running, the sound of her own heartbeat has started to compete with the electronic rock pumping through her headphones. She makes sure that she’s out of anyone’s way on the sidewalk and leans against a boarded in shop front to relieve her aching legs. She drinks deeply from her water bottle and holds one finger against her wrist in concentration. After a minute, she starts counting under her breath so that she doesn’t keep losing track of what she’s up to. Sav can usually complete this routine on autopilot, but this morning she can’t stop thinking about the text she received from Erin about two hours ago. Which is saying something that it’s taking up all her brainpower, as she hasn’t even read the text yet. She could only see the first line, which was enough to lead her brain to comprise every possible follow up to I’ve been thinking about sending this text for days. Sav wasn’t even meant to go for a run this morning, but it seemed like a better idea than walking circles around her apartment until she had to leave for the afternoon shift at work. Who texts their ex at 8am on a Friday morning?

It’s already been two hours since the text came in, so Sav decides to get it over with and finally read it before she chickens out. She pulls her phone out from her bra, cleans the screen against her leggings, and reluctantly opens the message.

I’ve been thinking about sending this text for days. I’m sorry for what I did. And for everything I said. I miss you.

It feels like her heart has been ripped out again. Right when she feels like she’s finally starting to move on and heal, Erin has to go and do this. All she can do is stare at the screen and try not to cry. Erin was the one who broke up with her two months ago and now she thinks she can just text and Sav will come running?

It’s at this point that Sav realises that there’s a man sitting only about a metre away, watching her with a slightly concerned expression. He’s wearing a grey newsboy cap and a striped white button up that’s undone to the length of a hanging cross necklace. Countless tattoos peek out from his pushed-up sleeves and his hands are adorned with large silver rings that reflect the sunlight. The man is leaning back against his chair, one hand around his phone and the other wrapped around a steaming cup of black coffee. Sav hadn’t even realised that she’d stopped next to a bustling cafe.

“Can I help you?” She asks him, only realising that she sounds a bit aggressive after she’s spoken. She hadn’t even registered that he was there, so she’s just a bit taken aback to notice that someone had been watching her.

When he smiles at her, it’s genuine and kind. “Are you alright?” He asks.

Sav immediately feels bad that she snapped at him and took her frustration about Erin out on this stranger.

“Yeah, um. Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.”

“Don’t sound too convinced, if ‘m honest,” he says.

Sav doesn’t know what to say back, so she just looks back down at her phone as if it will give her any answers on what to do. She’s thinking about what to respond to Erin when she hears the man speak again.

“Are you Aussie?”

“Um… yeah. Why?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I get it, I’m just a random guy on the street.”

“No, it’s all good. I’m just… I’m having a shit morning,” she says.

“I only ask ‘cause my daughter’s Aussie. Well, technically.”

“Oh,” Sav says with eyebrows raised. She didn’t think he looked old enough to have any children. “What do you mean technically?”

“Her mum’s Aussie. And she lives with her mum, so she’s been picking up all sorts of things from her.” Sav doesn’t miss that he casually slips in a comment about his daughter’s mother living separately to him. “She’s only visited Australia twice, but already fancies herself a real Aussie Sheila,” he says, badly mimicking a Crocodile Dundee sounding accent for the slang term.

Sav laughs and loosens up a bit, feeling slightly better about talking to this stranger. He’s nice, and their casual friendly chat is taking her mind off of Erin – even if only just a little. He seems harmless, and isn’t asking her anything inappropriate or invasive like men on the street usually do when they try to talk to her.

“I’m sure your daughter is a real Sheila if she sounds like… that.”

“Hey!” he says, drawing out the word. “Are you saying that my incredible impression of a very standard Australian accent isn’t a realistic one?”

“No, you’re right, it’s absolutely perfect.”

“That it is,” he says, clearly trying to keep a straight face. The subtle beginnings of dimples begin to peek out the sides of his mouth from under his blushing cheeks. You smile lightly and let your tense shoulders relax a little more.

“Um… do you wanna talk about it?” He asks after a moment in a slow drawl.

Sav hesitates a moment, unsure of whether she should open up to this virtual stranger. It usually takes her a while to trust people but for some reason she finds herself answering him honestly. Gesturing at her phone, Sav releases an unnecessarily dramatic shrug. “It’s just my ex, s’all.”

“Ah,” he nods in understanding. “Recent break-up?”

“Yeah, but I’m okay,” Sav says, unsure if she’s trying to convince him or herself. He waits patiently as she gathers her thoughts. “Been a few months. This morning she texted me out of nowhere.”

“Tough one, that,” he says with sincerity. Sav’s relieved that he didn’t make a comment or seem to react in any way to the she pronoun that she let slip. London’s a progressive city, but she always tries to be careful just in case. Sometimes people make a big deal about it and start to ask invasive questions, and other times people will very clearly show their surprise or disgust or arousal. The fact that he didn’t do any of those things makes her immediately more comfortable around him.

Sav is shocked out of her thoughts when a nearby bus honks at a passing car. She meets his eyes dead on, and notices how light they are. In overcast London, most people’s eyes look a standard brown until you really look. Today is sunny enough to show off how his are tinted a mossy green, like a dull blade of grass after a really hot day. She finds herself wondering how the colour changes based on the light. She wants to see him again solely to know if the green in his eyes will become brighter, or softer, or bluer.

“Did you want a coffee?” He asks, and she notices how smooth and soothing his northern accent is.

“Oh, I…” Sav looks down at her watch to see if she even has time before work to sit and have a coffee with him. She hadn’t realised how long she’d been running and it’s later than she meant to be out for. She’s considering saying yes, even if she’ll be forced to rush into work a bit late. He’s nice, cute and funny, and maybe this is exactly what Sav needs. But on the other hand, he is a complete stranger that she met on the street. He seems completely harmless and even told her about his daughter, but she can’t help but feel weird because she doesn’t know him. They’ve only had a short conversation, after all. And to top it all off, Sav is now more confused than ever since Erin’s text this morning, so she just wants to be alone to process and think. On a better day, she might have agreed.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to, by the way,” he cuts in to her thoughts.

“I do, I just really ought to be getting home,” she says with her best attempt at a genuine smile. She tries to convey her thoughts to him but he breaks their eye contact.

“No worries, have a wonderful day, then,” he says with a finality that Sav doesn’t like. His voice isn’t cold, but it’s definitely more distant and polite than a minute before.

“You too,” Sav says as she starts to walk away.

“Wait,” she hears and spins around. “What’s your name?”

“Oh, right. It’s Sav.” She hadn’t even realised that they hadn’t introduced themselves.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Sav. I’m Harry.” His warm smile returns for the briefest moment.

“Have a good one, Harry.”

Even though a part of her regrets rejecting his offer of coffee, Sav leaves feeling like her Friday morning has already drastically improved.

TWO WEEKS LATER

The Thursday afternoon set at the Barwon Lounge Club is never the most exciting one, but Sav still feels grateful that there are a handful of people here to listen to her music. She often prefers days like this to the busier weekend shows, even though she doesn’t get as many tips, because at least some people listen to her when it’s not so busy. It’s not that she blames people for talking over her - they came here to eat, drink and have music in the background. They didn’t come here specifically to see her. She accepted that a long time ago and considers it a part of the job. At least she can still do what she loves, unlike her bartending job where she pours beer for grumpy old men for hours.

It’s just Sav and her guitar on the tiny stage in the corner of the dining room, playing to a large open space filled with tables and couches. She plays Thursdays to Sundays, doing an alternating set of all the slow, low-key songs she knows. Her boss likes to remind her regularly how it’s most important that she blend into the background. She’s not there to entertain, but to fill silence.

She’s almost halfway through her standard set when she’s pulled out of her trance. Her eyes go wide in surprise when she sees Harry enter from across the room. Harry, who she’d met almost two weeks ago and has thought about countless times since. She doesn’t normally talk to strangers on the street and she definitely doesn’t usually think about them after their interaction. There was just something about him - he stuck in her head like a catchy song on the radio.

She’s frozen in place, forgetting to immediately transition to the next song. A few people eating lunch look over towards her, because nothing is as noticeable as absolute silence. When Harry meets Sav’s eyes, he breaks out into a wide smile. He’s wearing loose blue jeans and a black t-shirt, with his hair held back in the same newsboy cap she’d seen him wear on the day they met. He moves closer towards the stage to find a table to sit at, and once he’s closer Sav can see that he’s not alone. He’s holding the hand of a young girl, maybe four or five years old, with beautiful dark olive skin and rich chocolate curls atop her head. She’s hiding behind a chair that’s taller than her and looking up at her father with a furrowed brow, communicating something to him. He sighs and smiles at her, bending down on his knees to speak softly to her face-to-face. Sav can’t hear what he’s saying but notices the child nodding her head before pushing her curls into her father’s chest. Harry wraps his arms tightly around his daughter and peppers her with multiple quick kisses to her cheek.

At this point, Sav’s boss peeks his head around the corner and raises his eyebrows at her. She knows that he’ll tell her off if she doesn’t restart soon, so she gathers herself with a deep breath and tries not to think about Harry now being here. She clears her throat and spontaneously decides to play a song that she wasn’t planning on doing today. Eva Cassidy’s Wayfaring Stranger is one of her favourites, plus it’s one of her most polished songs vocally. It wasn’t necessarily for Harry, but it was a little bit because of him. When she sang the song in a set last week, she was thinking about him as her wayfaring stranger, who she’d probably never see again. In a city as big as London, it didn’t seem all that likely. The lyrics of the song aren’t at all reminiscent of their first run-in a few weeks ago, but for some reason the song is now connected to him. It was a passing thought that has been growing in her mind like a vine since.

As she gets into the song, Sav closes her eyes and forgets she has an audience. That often happens when she sings her favourite songs; the ones she knows like the back of her hand and doesn’t need to think about while singing them. It takes her somewhere that she can’t explain, and the music flows through her as if it’s yearning to be heard of its own accord. When she sings, she goes to a place that she can’t get to while doing anything else. It’s a place somewhere outside of herself – somewhere peaceful and powerful all at the same time. When she sings, she feels free and like the truest version of herself.

As the song comes to a close, she slowly opens her eyes to a smattering of applause that brings her back into the real world. The most enthusiastic applause is coming from Harry and his daughter, which makes her smile. It’s the most applause she’s gotten by far today, and it makes all the difference in the world. Sav’s boss peeks his head back into her view and holds up one outstretched hand at her to signal that she has a 5 minute-break now. She usually gets one roughly halfway through her set so that she can go to the bathroom, or get some fresh air. Sav nods at her boss as she places her guitar into its stand and reaches for her water bottle with the other hand.

Glancing back up, she notices that Harry’s staring at her with a focused intensity. Even as his daughter bounces up and down in her seat and tugs at his sleeve, he’s watching Sav with a look she didn’t see when they first met. The look is strangely intimate and vulnerable, and she feels like in this moment he can see straight through her. See everything that she is, has been, and wants to be. She doesn’t know what look she’s giving back to him, but she knows that she certainly wouldn’t say no if he asked her to have coffee with him again.

Harry gets up from his seat and holds his daughter’s hand securely as he helps her jump out of the chair like it’s a game. They start walking towards Sav, leaving their things at the table because it’s that kind of venue.

“That was amazing!” The young girl says enthusiastically, drawing out the word amazing for as long as she can hold her breath.

Sav smiles widely at the bouncing child. “Thank you very much young lady. What’s your name?”

She pokes Harry’s leg incessantly. “Daddy, she sounds like Mummy.”

“That’s right, sweets. She’s Australian too,” he says to her in a gentle voice.

“Ooh!” She says while jumping up and down. “What’s your favourite animal?”

Sav giggles a little and Harry emits something in between a sigh and a laugh. “Love, the nice woman asked you what your name is, will you tell her?”

“I’m Asha,” she sounds out proudly.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Asha, I’m Sav. And my favourite animal is definitely dogs.”

Harry shows off his dimples when she responds to his daughter with ease. She clearly knows how to speak to children without talking down to them, and this fact warms Harry’s heart even more than her singing did.

“I love dogs.” Asha beams. “My favourite animals are elephants.” She says the word like ewephants, and Sav has to restrain herself from vocalising how cute the gorgeous girl in front of her is.

“I bet they’re like this big,” Asha continues, stretching her arms to her sides as far as they’ll go and throwing her head back.

Harry and Sav chuckle and share a quick look of adoration for the child.

“Would you believe that they’re even bigger than that!” He says to her, eliciting a gasp.

“Even bigger than-“ She nudges Harry’s arms up until he plays along and stretches his arms out to his sides too. “-That?” He nods seriously and she drops her jaw open in dramatic shock. They all giggle, and Sav is reminded of why she loves children.

“By the way, Asha’s right.” Harry says after a moment. “That was really incredible, Sav.”

“You remember my name,” she reflexively voices her first thought.

“Course I do,” he says with a furrowed brow. She likes how he displays his emotions clearly on his face. “Couldn’t forget you,” he says a little softer.

“Daddy, I’m hungry,” Asha says with a masterful pout.

“I’m gonna go order now for you, sweets. Chicken fingers?” He asks her with raised eyebrows, clearly unsurprised by the animated response he gets from his daughter.

“I need to go finish my set anyway,” Sav tells him, shifting a bit to pick up her guitar.

“I’ll see you again after, yeah?” He says. She nods, and he takes Asha back to their table.

For the rest of her set, Sav has to force herself to not keep staring at Harry. He’s also trying to avoid looking over at her too much, but is grateful that he can always hear her voice even if he can’t watch her. He cuts up his daughter’s food and asks her about this morning’s lessons at school, but has one ear trained on Sav’s music all the while. He’s entranced by her voice, even just her presence, and wants to take up this opportunity to make sure that he gets to see her again.

At the end of her set, she slowly packs up her things and thinks about whether she should go over to speak to Harry again or see if he comes to her. Luckily, he waves her over before she loses her nerve and heads home.

“Again, that was amazing,” he says as soon as she walks up. He stands and takes a step away from the table, where Asha is engrossed in colouring an ocean landscape with crayons.

“Thanks,” she says, not knowing what else to say.

“Did you- um. Did you want to grab coffee?” Harry asks.

“Now?”

“No, uh. I’ve got Asha today, so it’ll have to be another time. What are you doing tomorrow? Oh wait- you didn’t even say yes yet, did you-”

“I’d love to get coffee with you, Harry,” Sav cuts into his anxious rambling with a smile. “I’ve got another set here tomorrow though, then I bartend afterwards, so I can’t in the day.” His face begins to drop until she quickly clarifies what she was insinuating. “But I’m not working the night shift.”

She’s rewarded with the brightest smile he’s shown her yet. “Can I- I know we don’t really know each other, but I’d love for that to change. Can I make you dinner?”

A smile creeps on to Sav’s face. “It’s a date.”

Harry heaves an audible sigh of relief and puts his hands into his pockets. “It’s supposed to be a nice evening tomorrow night, so how do you feel about a picnic in the park?” He looks down and blushes. “I’d really like to cook for you.”

“That sounds really lovely,” She replies softly, silently relieved that he doesn’t want to take her to a fancy restaurant. She never feels like she belongs in really upscale places and always manages to embarrass herself somehow.

“It’s a date,” he repeats her phrasing with a broad grin. She can’t believe this is happening. She’s not just going on a date – she’s going on one with a man she’s been thinking about for weeks but thought she’d never see again.

They agree to meet at a park nearby at 6pm the next evening, and Harry gives her his phone number in case she’s running late from work or has any issues finding him. He then needs to take Asha home for a nap, so he gives her one last bright smile before saying goodbye and leaving.

Sav makes her way to the bathroom to hide from her boss and jumps up and down with giddy, childlike joy at what just happened. She’s going on a date with a cute boy and she couldn’t be happier. She knows that there’s no guarantee for how it will go, but something inside of her says that it will go well. She just has a good feeling about it. And about him.

She sits down on the closed toilet seat, thinking about how long it’s been since she’s been on a date. That’s when she remembers that she never responded to Erin’s text from two weeks ago. She kept putting it off but never knew what to say, so she just said nothing.

Sav takes out her phone and decides that seeing Harry again was a sign. She texts Erin one last time, and it feels so good.

I’m moving on, Erin. And so should you.

There’s a larger audience for Sav’s set the next day, but it feels like something’s missing without Harry in the audience. After she saw him again yesterday, he became all she could think about. She felt a bit silly about it as she’d only met him twice, but truthfully she was just relieved that she was no longer thinking about Erin. She replayed all their interactions, thought about his smile and his kind eyes, and how he looked at her when he watched her sing. She thought about his gorgeous daughter and how he looked like such a good dad even though he must’ve had her at a fairly young age. She thought about how he remembered her name and said that he could never forget her, and how excited he looked when she agreed to go out with him.

It’s lucky that Sav knows the music of her set so well, because she’s so distracted thinking about the date that she’s mostly running on autopilot. Her brain is so jam-packed with thoughts about tonight’s date that she almost misses Harry in the back of the room, watching her set.

“How long have you been here?” She asks when she’s finished and able to approach him.

“Not that long. Didn’t know when you started so I thought I’d try a bit earlier than I was here yesterday.”

She’s absolutely dumbfounded that he’s standing before her. “You came back.”

“I did.” He’s blushing a little. “I wanted to hear you sing again.”

“Oh,” she lets out in a heavy breath. “That’s… no one’s ever done something like that before.”

“Really?” She thinks he might be sarcastic at first, but he’s genuinely surprised. “Your voice is… it blew me away. Plus, I like you,” he says, his cheeks reddening even more.

He’s laying it on thick and Sav doesn’t know how to react. No one has ever been this forthcoming and complimentary to her before. She opens her mouth to respond but can’t think of a single thing to say.

“I hope this is okay- me coming back. It’s only just occurring to me that it might look a little creepy,” he says, holding his bottom lip between his forefinger and thumb.

“No, it’s not creepy,” she says quickly to ease his mind. Her mind is still spinning that he just said plus, I like you. He added it on so casually. “Um. Tonight- do you still want to…?”

“Yeah, course I still want to go out with you tonight, that very much has not changed – uh, has it for you?” A dash of panic flickers over his previously confident expression.

“I still want to,” she assures him.

“Plus, I realised that I forgot to ask you – do you have any allergies or food preferences?” He says, slightly startled when Sav laughs at him instead of responding.

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing, that’s just – you’re really thoughtful. It’s a good laugh, I promise.” He smiles sheepishly, and the expression shows off just how much his daughter looks like him. “I’m vegetarian, actually. Hope that’s okay.”

“It’s great, I’m glad I checked!” His enthusiasm also mirrors his daughter’s, even though he’s obviously a fully-grown man. “Alright then!” He claps his hands a little too loudly, and a few patrons look at them. Sav pretends that she doesn’t see her boss watching them from behind the bar.

“I should really be getting back to work.” She says, unsure of how to say goodbye when they’re meeting again in a few hours.

“Course, just – should I pick you up? Want to be a perfect gentleman,” he says with a cheeky smirk and a comical gesture as if he’s tipping his hat at her. “But we can meet there if you’d rather.”

Sav blinks up at him in disbelief. He’s really thought of everything, and impressed her more than she thought a man could at this point in her life, and the date hasn’t even started yet.

“Meeting there is good,” she manages to say. “Six still fine?” That gives her enough time to get ready after work and still enjoy a few good hours of sunlight with Harry in the park. She’s more excited than she’s been for something in a long time, and her ex is out of her mind completely for the first time since their split. It couldn’t be better.

“Perfect.”

Even though Sav had thought about it all day, she hadn’t managed to decide on what to wear to the date by the time she got back to her apartment. She didn’t have time to dawdle, but still managed to try on eight outfits before settling on skinny jeans and a flowery blouse. She wanted to strike a delicate balance between casual and dressed up to look good on her first date in a while. Even though Harry’s already seen her today, Sav feels pressure to leave a positive first impression tonight.

She doesn’t live too far from the park they’d arranged to meet at, so she decides to walk the half hour to ease her nerves. Fingers dancing in her pockets to let out some anxious energy, her mind fills with every possible scenario of how the date might go. She’s excited but worried that she’ll somehow ruin it or do something to scare Harry away. It’s a good thing she arrives when she does, because her worries start to spiral and lead her to the assumption that the date’s going to go wrong for one reason or another. She enters the park a few minutes early to find Harry standing next to a small fountain in the centre of the green. He’s doing something on his phone but puts it away as soon as he sees her.

“You look beautiful,” He says with a genuine smile once she’s within hearing distance. She mumbles a thank you and stumbles over her words until she tells him that he looks nice as well. She has a feeling that he’d look nice no matter what he wore, but finds him particularly attractive tonight. He’s changed his outfit from earlier today too, and is now wearing tight-fitted black trousers with a slightly unbuttoned silken white blouse. The shirt is a bit see-through, so she can tell that he’s inked much more than she thought. She hadn’t previously noticed what look like two birds on his chest, and all she wants to do is brush his silken shirt aside so that she can properly admire them. A small tuft of chest hair peeks out at her from between a few parted buttons, and she has to tear her mind away from thinking too much about what he’d look like without any buttons done up.

“Great, shall we find somewhere to sit then?” He asks, reaching down to pick up a picnic basket and blanket that Sav hadn’t noticed. As he leans down, she’s suddenly extremely grateful to whoever perfectly tailored his trousers. She doesn’t know what’s gotten into her, and desperately wills her mind and body to behave.

“Over by that tree looks nice, don’t you think?” He suggests and begins to lead them through the park. He sets up the blanket in an unoccupied shaded area and offers her the first choice of seating.

“I cut up some fruit and made some vegetarian quiche for us,” he says. “Hope that’s alright.”

She raises her eyebrows, already impressed by the effort he’s put into their evening. “Quiche? Damn, sounds fancy.”

“What, have you never had it before?” He’s clearly shocked.

“Should I have?”

“Well I guess there’s a first time for everything,” bringing out the smirk she’d seen glimpses of before. Harry serves her a piece of quiche on a plastic plate and leaves a small platter of fruit in between for them to pick at. She takes a bite, only a little self-conscious that he’s watching her intently.

“So?”

“It’s… terrible. Inedible. I think I’m getting food poisoning, actually.”

His face drops for only the slightest moment before he rolls his eyes and bites his bottom lip with a smile. He tries to act annoyed but Sav can tell that he’s trying not to laugh. “Very funny.”

“I think you might have to take me to the hospital, now that I think of it.” Sav presses both arms across her stomach in a dramatic gesture and almost loses her composure in the process.

“Oh, stop it,” he laughs, trying to swat at her folded arms as she pulls away giggling.

When their laugher dies down, she takes another bite of the quiche and reassures him. “Being serious, though? It’s delicious. Thank you for making it, it’s really sweet of you.”

Harry looks down at his lap and blushes, clearly pleased that his effort has paid off with both banter and a genuine compliment. As they eat, Sav asks Harry about Asha and mentions how sweet and well mannered she was yesterday. He brightens up immediately at the sound of her name and Sav feels her heart flutter in her chest. He tells her about how his daughter is joyous, funny, loveable, cheeky and thoughtful.

He tells her a story about one time that Asha broke out into Man, I Feel Like A Woman at the top of her lungs in a supermarket even though she didn’t know any words beside the title line. This somehow morphs into Harry telling her another story about how Asha believed she could speak Italian by merely putting on an imitation of the accent when they travelled to Italy for a holiday last summer.

“Sounds like you already have plenty of material to embarrass her with when she’s older,” Sav says, grinning ear to ear.

“Gotta collect ‘em early, I hear,” he says. “To blackmail her as a teenager.” They both devolve into a fit of giggles and exchange blushing smiles back at the other. A few moments of comfortable silence pass with mouths full of watermelon and berries before Harry speaks with a completely different tone of voice.

“You know…” He’s a little hesitant and takes his time. “Sometimes I think that Asha’s the one true love of my life.” Sav just about melts.

Before long, their natural rapport eases her completely into Harry’s company. She unconsciously leans against the scratchy picnic blanket with one wrist and gives Harry her full, undivided attention. He asks her about how she started working at the Barwon Lounge Club, and compliments her again on her voice and guitar skills. She doesn’t know how to react to the repeated compliment and instead changes the subject to ask how he found himself in her workplace with his daughter on a weekday afternoon.

“So, were you stalking me or something?” Sav playfully asks, trying her hand at initiating some light flirtation.

He laughs but answers seriously. “Just a happy accident, m’afraid.”

“Happy indeed,” Sav says, looking down at her empty plate. She thinks about how this is going so much better than she’d even let herself hope.

“She’s usually in reception at that time on a Thursday, but I had to take her for a dentist appointment next door. And then she was suddenly hungry, and I wanted to hear where the beautiful voice was coming from.”

She wants to tell him off again for his sneaky compliment but lets it slide because she’s secretly enjoying it. Then she realises that he’d mentioned a word she’s unfamiliar with. “Sorry, what’s reception?”

“Oh, it’s like kindergarten, or kindy I think it’s called in Australia, right?”

“Course, I should’a guessed that.” She says. “Yeah, it’s kindy. We basically call everything a shortened nickname of the actual word.”

“Yeah, I’ve certainly noticed that. Asha likes to pick up some of them that her mum says, like ‘footy’ instead of football, and she’s started asking for a ‘biccy’ when she wants a biscuit.”

Sav laughs. “Now that’s someone who speaks my language.”

“It’s pretty cute, I’ll admit,” he says with a grin.

“I’ve been in London long enough that I should really know all the lingo by now, but I keep finding that I obviously know nothing.”

“How long’ve you been here?” He asks.

“Two years. Was living in Scotland for a few years before that, though.”

He whistles in response as if he’s impressed. “I love a worldly woman,” he says, and somehow makes it sound sweet instead of weird or creepy.

They spend the next hour talking about the places they’ve lived and travelled, and all of the places that they want to go to next. Sav tells Harry about how she hiked through Spain and stayed in strangers’ homes each night before continuing on. Harry tells her about the time that he got drunk in France and woke up in Belgium. They talk about how much they both love Japan and how they’d both love to do a coast-to-coast road trip of the US. They each manage to eat two pieces of quiche and a sizable amount of fruit while they chat. He’s so enamoured by her presence that he almost misses her pre-emptively, even though the date hasn’t ended.

“Wait,” Sav says suddenly. “I don’t even know what you do, how have I not asked you that yet?”

“Oh, well, I’m a writer.”

“What kind?” She’s not surprised – he seems like the type.

“I write poetry,” he says with a blush. “’And I teach at a college a few days a week.” Sav is about to respond when he continues. “’Ve got a few poetry collections out.”

“Harry!” She says, lightly hitting the side of his arm. “That’s amazing!” His cheeks redden even more but she can tell that he’s pleased by her reaction. “Would you… could you read some of your poems to me?”

He thinks on this request for a moment before coming up with an idea. “I will if you’ll sing to me again.”

“What? Now?” She’s sure it’s a joke, but he looks deadly serious.

“One sec, I’ll be right back.” Harry pushes himself up hurriedly, running back towards the street and leaving Sav confused and unsure of what to do or think. What’s he up to?

A few minutes later, he comes back in sight with a large case slung over his shoulder. He sits down and opens it to remove an old wooden acoustic guitar. There are a few handwritten notes and stickers along the body, including a haphazardly stuck-on rainbow and the words Black Lives Matter.

“Where did that come from?” Sav asks, taken aback. He only smirks at her, placing the guitar in his lap and making sure it’s in tune.

“Would it make you feel better if I sang with you?”

“You can sing?”

“I… yeah.”

Sav agrees only because she wants to hear what his voice sounds like. “You’ve got a deal.” She reaches out for his hand to shake on it, mostly as an excuse to touch him. He’s very warm to the touch, and his skin is soft as butter. Only his fingertips are rough against her skin, and their hands feel instantly comfortable and right together.

He clears his throat and regretfully draws his hand away from hers and instead towards the resting guitar. “Can we do a Fleetwood Mac song?” He asks, already knowing that she’s familiar as he’d heard her play three of their songs during her set at work. He thinks on it for a moment and she waits patiently. “Do you know the lyrics to Gold Dust Woman?”

“Course I do,” she says. “Who do you think I am?” He chuckles and holds his hands up in front of him as if to plead his innocence. She takes a sip from her water bottle and is suddenly nervous. It was one thing when she was doing her job and on a stage – it was only a small stage, but still. This is intimate and personal.

Harry begins to play, and Sav quickly looks around them to check that there’s no one too close by. There are two or three lingering passers-by who may be able to hear but none of them seem to care about Harry’s playing. One has headphones in and the other two are distracted on their phones. It’s nerve-wracking to unexpectedly sing in a public park, on a first date no less, but Sav also finds it kind of exhilarating.

She misses her initial cue because she’s so nervous, so Harry loops the intro chords until she’s ready. Closing her eyes, she focuses on the pleasantly hypnotising lyrics and music. Harry lets her get comfortable in the song and joins for the harmony in the chorus. And Sav isn’t ready.

His voice is like soft leather, or dark chocolate melting on your tongue. It’s like the feeling of someone’s hands playing with your hair, right at the moment when it sends tingles down your spine. It’s like dripping silver, or a feather on skin, or a fresh breath of wintry air after a long summer.

She stutters to a stop in shock but he continues, and she’s grateful because all she wants to do is listen to him endlessly. She can see his hesitation and his reddened ears, so she jumps back into the song as soon as she can gather herself together. She leaves him to tackle the second verse alone as she sung the first, and she’s entranced by how beautiful it is. She’s truly enamoured with his voice and this date and… him.

When they finish, they share a long look before Sav suddenly speaks. “Um, excuse me?”

“What?” He’s surprised by her slightly aggressive tone after what just happened.

“You were complimenting my voice when you can sing like that?”

“Well thanks, but I’m nowhere near as good as you-“

“You’re delusional then.” She puts on an exaggerated pout. “You’re next-level good. I bet you’re one of those people that’s just naturally great at everything.” She picks up her water bottle again and hides behind it by taking a long sip.

“That’s not true,” he shakes his head. “I’m not good at asking you out for another date.” Sav almost chokes on the water. “I’ve been meaning to for a little while and haven’t had the guts.”

She’s now fighting a huge smile, not wanting to give away just how much she wants to squeal in delight at the shameless flirting.

“Smooth,” she says, trying to play it as cool as she can. “But you haven’t held up your part of the bargain yet.” He scrunches up his eyebrows before remembering that he agreed to read some of his poetry in exchange for the song.

“I better get to it then,” he says with a smirk and rummages through his backpack. He pulls out a very worn brown leather notebook, held closed by two long strings that have been wrapped loosely around the book and tucked into itself. It’s covered in what Sav assumes is his own doodling and graffiti – it doesn’t look like the kind drawn by a young child Asha’s age. The words one and only are scribbled carelessly along most of the spine.

Harry takes a minute to decide which poem to share with Sav. He eventually decides on one and she curls her knees into her body, getting comfortable to give Harry her full attention as he reads. He takes a deep breath and slips right back into the gossamer tone of his singing voice to read his poetry.

“This one’s called Woman,” he mumbles, and then begins.

I’m selfish, I know. but I don’t ever want to see

you with him.

I’m selfish, I know. I told you but I know

you’ll never listen.

I hope you can see the shape that I’m in, while he’s touching

your skin.

he’s right where I should- (where I should be)

but you’re making me bleed. woman

I’m tempted, you know. apologies

are never going to fix this.

I’m empty, I know.

promises are broken like the stitches

I hope you can see the shape I’ve been in. while he’s touching

your skin

this thing upon me, it howls

like a beast.

you flower you feast. woman

When he finishes, something new and palpable hangs between them. It’s not that anything has changed – but an unspoken bond settles into place between them. They’ve shared parts of each other that are unreachable through mere conversation and rarely exchanged on a first date. Either could comfortably say that it’s the best first date they’ve ever had, and possibly would ever have.

“Thank you for sharing that with me,” Sav whispers. It seems appropriate to only whisper after that. She looks into his light green eyes, trying to convey to him how his poem made her feel. How she can’t quite put it into words but she can put it into feelings. He stares back at her just as intensely, sensing her warmth and gratitude and understanding.

“So would you like to go on a second date with me, then?” Harry says, resting his palm on the picnic blanket close to her knee. He leans his body forward and she unconsciously mirrors him.

“I’d like that,” Sav breathes out. She’s staring at his lips, and wondering how they’re naturally almost the colour of raspberries. She’s slowly leaning towards him with quickening breath, unable to stop the magnetising pull of her body to his. He’s leaning into her too, and moves his hand even closer until he brushes her knee with the back of his thumb. Her whole body erupts in tingles at the unexpected touch – and she’s certain that her goosebumps are visible – but she doesn’t dare look away from him. Harry licks his lips under her gaze and they’re left parted and slightly glistening. She’s now close enough to see every line, pore, and stubble hair on his face, and she wishes she could study him from this distance for hours. Maybe she’ll get to one day, but for now, there’s only one thing on her mind.

The moment their mouths meet, they seem to melt into each other entirely. She’s immediately overwhelmed with how he tastes sweet like watermelon along with something musky and deep that she can’t describe. He can’t believe how soft she feels against his lips, like he’s brushing up against pure silk. He moves his hand up to rest against her cheek, and caresses his pinky finger against the sensitive underside of her jawbone. She lets out a light moan at the feeling, widening her lips to allow Harry to deepen the kiss. She feels entirely lost in her senses and the feeling of him everywhere.

Their tongues touch and set both Sav and Harry’s skin alight. They both forget where they are and become utterly lost in one another. He’s dizzy with her scent of jasmine and taste of berries, and wishes he could bottle it up and take it with him everywhere. He’s never felt so worked up from just a kiss, no less a first kiss – not to mention they’re in public. It’s like he can feel every nerve ending screaming out for her.

She’s so desperate to feel him as close as can be that she finds herself cupping his cheeks as well, pressing her mouth into him passionately. It’s definitely too lewd for a public park, but neither of them care anymore. She can feel the hard muscles of his jaw flex under her palms and her back arches a bit at the thought of everywhere she wants him to kiss her. She starts emitting light moans that only he can hear, and she can feel the vibration of a growl wanting to form in the back of his throat.

Eventually, they break apart to come up for air, but still remain almost touching. They’re both breathless and eyeing the other with heavy lids that suggest their arousal. Harry takes in her state and is pleased that she’s just as worked up as him.

He smirks, showing off his dimples. “Can the second date be now?”

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