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whenihaveyouromione · 3 years

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When I Have You - Chapter 44

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Chapter 44

"Hey, how was the honeymoon?"

Ron sat back in his chair, placing his quill on the desk. The workload of an Auror was triple that of what he'd ever had at Hogwarts, and he was only considered a junior Auror — given limited work.

Not to mention that these days, most of the work was kept in the office. Everything was quiet on the front of Dark wizards, and there wasn't much field work on offer. Plus, with Harry off enjoying a holiday, the other new Aurors had been dumped with his share of the office work for the three weeks he’d been gone.

But Harry was back now, albeit a little late, and looking ridiculously happy and relaxed.

Grinning, Harry collapsed into the seat next to Ron’s desk. “Fantastic,” he said. “We got back late last night, and I’ve… never been on a holiday before.”

“You haven’t?” Ron asked, surprised. Although, now that he thought about it, Harry hadn’t exactly been given many opportunities to go on a holiday. Unless he counted camping in a tent for months on end, trying to find parts of Lord Voldemort’s soul, which he suspected Harry didn’t.

“No. Imagine what a nice family holiday that would have been — tagging along with the Dursleys.”

“Huh,” Ron said. “Well, I’m glad you’re back. We missed you around here.” He picked up a pile of paperwork and dumped it on Harry’s desk. “Welcome back.”

Harry looked at the pile in front of him. Surprisingly, he didn’t look defeated at all. In fact, his smile grew.

“You can do mine, too, if it makes you that happy.” Ron smirked.

“Have any of you been out anywhere?” Harry asked, sifting through the pile of work.

“Twice,” Ron said. “Not for much, though. Death Eaters are too scared to do anything wrong, I think.”

“It’ll pick up,” Harry said. “Once we get more experience as well. For now, I guess it’s just desk work.”

“I don’t mind too much,” Ron said. “I mean… I get to see Hermione most days on her lunch break… if she’s not working through it, that is.” He frowned.

Harry snorted.

“She’ll be happy to see you and hear all about your honeymoon,” Ron said. “I’m sure you’ll be enough to drag her away from whatever it is she’s doing today.”

“There’s not much to tell really,” Harry said. “Not much you’d want to hear about, anyway.”

“Yeah… well, just tell the holiday parts,” Ron said, turning back to the work he’d been focusing on prior to Harry’s arrival. “Hermione and I finally picked a date for our wedding, and with any luck and if no one else jumps in, it’ll be March twenty-first. It’s a Thursday, so you better ask for that day off.”

“Why a Thursday?” Harry asked.

“Because that’s when we could get the place we wanted in the month we wanted.”

Harry smiled. “I’ll be sure to ask for that day off. I’m glad you’re finally starting to get things sorted. You really know how to take things slow, don’t you?”

“What’s the rush?” Ron said, not bothering to mention his own concerns about doing everything slowly with Hermione a few weeks back.

“None to either of you, apparently.” Harry laughed. “But that’s great. Something to look forward to… and if you have a meltdown right before, I’ll be there to assure you everything’s okay. Getting married, it’s really not as scary as it seems. Quite nice, actually. Easy.”

Ron grinned. “Thanks, mate.” He thought for a moment. “You know, I think marrying her will be pretty easy.”

“Yes, well, I thought that until the day approached,” Harry reminded him. “And you saw me. But it’s easy once you see her.”

Ron scribbled some more notes onto one of the pieces of parchment in front of him, smiling to himself. He had no doubt that on the day of their wedding, he’d feel incredibly nervous, but he didn’t think — or at least he hoped — he’d reach Harry’s level of nervousness.

“Oh, Harry, you’re back!”

Ron and Harry turned around. Hermione was standing in the Auror office doorway. She smiled as she hurried forward to embrace Harry.

“It’s so good to see you again. How was your honeymoon? Oh, I bet it was so romantic. Ginny told me about what you had planned for it on the day of your wedding. It sounds amazing.”

“Yeah, it was pretty nice,” Harry said. “I’ll tell you about it at lunch.”

“I look forward to it!” Hermione said cheerfully. She then looked at Ron, suddenly appearing slightly guilty. “If that’s alright. I know we were going to —”

“Nah, already invited Harry,” Ron said, smiling at her. “I figured if you knew Harry was coming, it would actually make you take a break. I don’t seem to have the same effect.”

“That’s not true,” Hermione said, sounding put-out. “I like it when our lunches align.”

“You brushed me off the last two days,” Ron reminded her.

“I didn’t — I just had a really busy week. I’ll be there today, I promise.”

“Yeah, because Harry’s here.”

“Well, if you’d prefer, I can just meet Harry?” Hermione asked, her tone taking on an air of annoyance. “And, I’m not sure if I want to tell you what I came here to say anymore, Ron.”

“What’s that?” Ron asked.

Hermione glared at him for a moment, as if his teasing insult a moment ago really had changed her mind about whatever it was she wanted to tell him. Eventually, she seemed to accept that he was only joking and said, “Make sure you’re free tonight.”

“Why?” Ron said. “And I’m always free.”

She smiled. “I… have something at home. An engagement present for you.”

Ron stared at her for a moment. Then, “Was I supposed to get you something?” He didn’t know that that was something he was supposed to do. They’d been engaged for months now, and she’d not mentioned this before. Weren’t other people supposed to get them presents?

“No, this is just something I wanted to do for you. Just promise me you’re free tonight?”

“I have no plans,” Ron said. “Except to see you, of course.”

She beamed. “Great. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Or at lunch?” Ron asked.

She nodded. “Lunch. Yes.”

“Love you,” Ron said as she hurried out of the office.

He shook his head, grinning and wondering what exactly it was that she had planned. Now that he thought about it, he’d found her a little bit frazzled at times over the past week. He’d just assumed she was stressed with work.

He wondered if it was this that had gotten her so worked up, and then he wondered just what her engagement present might be. A million ideas went through his head in that moment and most were probably impossible. But a few… well, a few he liked the idea of.

“Anyway,” Harry said, bringing Ron back from his thoughts. “We should probably get through all of this stuff and hope that one day we’ll actually get to leave this office and do something exciting.”

Ron smiled. “Welcome back to work, mate. It’s good to see you again.”

…

Harry and Ginny had had the best honeymoon. Harry had spent all of lunch telling Ron and Hermione all about the three weeks they’d spent working their way through Europe, visiting many sights and discovering parts of the wizarding world in other countries.

They’d stayed with Fleur’s parents in France and apparently met up with Viktor Krum in Bulgaria, and then explored the tiny wizarding villages that were spread throughout the continent.

It had been — as Harry described it — the best holiday he’d ever had. Or, as Ron had helpfully pointed out, the only holiday.

“It sounds so lovely,” Hermione had sighed, and Ron had told her they could do that too if that was what she wanted — so long as they skipped Bulgaria.

She’d just smiled and said that she’d have to think about it.

If he was being honest, though, Ron didn’t particularly like the idea of copying Harry and Ginny. It already felt that way because they’d become engaged only a short time after them. He wanted that to be where the similarities ended.

Harry was his best friend and Ginny was his sister, but Hermione was everything else and he wanted to do life their own way.

He'd also spent the day wondering what it was exactly that Hermione wanted to give him and why she was so keen to have him home that evening, acting as if he never came straight home after work. She'd reminded him three times during lunch and then another two times afterwards — one in person, one via a memo. Whatever it was, she was super excited about it, which made him excited, too.

Hermione never really did much in the sense of romance. That was Ron's department, but it didn't bother him. He liked doing the things he did for her and his reward was seeing how happy those things made her.

She was the one who was focused on her work, who liked to work into the early hours and then come to bed and cuddle up to him after a long day. He was the one who liked to find things to help relax her, make her smile, and in return, her happiness made him happy.

Ron was an Auror, and he enjoyed what he did, but he couldn't really see himself advancing any further than becoming a senior Auror. Not with Harry Potter working in the same field.

But Hermione was someone who could achieve anything and probably would eventually achieve all those things. And he was more than happy to sit back and watch her do that.

He'd always found her approach to everything amusing, but in an admirable way. Now he simply loved that about her.

He arrived home shortly after five, having used one of the Ministry fireplaces to do so. The living room was empty.

"Hermione?" he called. It would be typical for her to pester him about being home on time, only for her to have found something else to do at work.

But to his surprise, a reply came from upstairs. "In the study!"

The study?

He made his way — now feeling slightly apprehensive — up to the study. The door was closed, and when he pushed it open, he found Hermione on the floor, a lot of photos scattered around her, and her hair was a total ball of frizz, which meant that she was stressed about something.

He couldn't help but smile. "What are you doing?" He laughed.

She looked up, a guilty look on her face. "Oh, Ron, I tried."

"Tried what?" he asked. "To make a mess?"

"No, to do something… nice."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, eyeing the photos scattered across the floor.

Hermione buried her face in her hands. She looked rather upset. “I was trying to be romantic.”

“Er… how?”

Hermione sniffed. “I was trying to make you something… by hand… but it didn’t really work out. Apparently I’m not crafty at all.”

For a moment, Ron didn’t have anything to say. He bent down and reached out to touch her shoulder gently. “It’s alright,” he said. “That’s okay.”

“Oh, Ron, how do you do it?” She got to her feet and turned to him. She wasn’t crying, but she looked as if she might start soon.

“Do what?” Ron asked, once again looking at the mess on the floor. There were bits of paper that appeared to have been scrunched up among the photos.

“You do such nice things for me all the time, I just wanted to return the favour for once. It didn’t work, though. I’m sorry.”

Ron couldn’t help but smile. In the few minutes he’d been in the study with her, her hair had become even frizzier. He drew her into a hug.

“I love you,” he said, laughing. “I love you so much. And I’ve never made you anything in my life. Unless you count dinner.”

“Maybe I should have cooked something,” Hermione sniffed into his shoulder.

“What was it you were making, anyway?” he asked.

Hermione pulled away, wiping her eyes. She bent back down on the floor and picked up a book. “A photo album,” she said. “It seems so stupid now. And it’s terrible. I don’t want you to look at it.”

But Ron took it from her hands. It reminded him a lot of the one Harry owned of his parents, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if that was where the idea had come from.

He flipped through the pages. She had stuck in a handful of photos — some from school, most from more recent times. Of them. Just the two of them. In all of them.

Hermione had apparently attempted to decorate each page, but he had to admit that she was much better at magic than she was at this.

He grinned. “I love it. I love you.”

She gave a small smile. “You can tell me the truth.”

“I did,” he said.

“I just thought it would be a good memory to have, you know, before we were married. Something to look back on. I should have just given you the stupid photos and been done with it.”

“You know, I was wondering what had you so worked up these past few days,” Ron said, attempting to brush some strands of hair away from her face with little success. “I thought it was work.”

“The whole romance thing works better when you do it,” Hermione said.

“I can guarantee that had I attempted to create a photo album myself… well… I never would have. We can suck together. Anyway, who needs to be able to do that when you have a wand?”

She smiled again, looking up at him. “So, you still want to marry someone who can’t even make some photos look nice on a page?” she asked.

“Somehow even more than I did five minutes ago,” Ron said. “And I didn’t even think that was possible.”

Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. Ron held her, the album still in his hands.

“You can throw that out,” she said.

“Never. I’m going to keep it. Forever. I’ll be looking at it when we’re both one hundred, remembering the times when I wasn’t old and grey with lots of wrinkles, and then feeling really grateful for the amazing fiance — hopefully wife — I was lucky enough to have in my life after all those years.”

She hugged him tighter.

“I just wanted to do something nice for you. Next time I’ll just take you out for dinner or something.”

“Nah, this is better,” Ron said. “I love it, and I mean that. You amuse me in a very good way. I love this side of you.”

“What? The super-stressed perfectionist side?” Hermione asked. “The side of me I’ve come to realise doesn’t like to fail?”

“Yeah, it’s my favourite part. Maybe the part that I loved about you first. The rest is just a bonus. As I said, you amuse me.”

“Well, how about to make up for my pathetic attempt at handmaking something, I make us dinner tonight? What do you feel like?”

“I’ll eat anything,” Ron said. “I’m really hungry.”

Hermione smiled. “Good, because it’s the end of our shopping week, and unless you’ve had time to get things, I don’t think we have much left.”

“We are very organised, aren’t we?” Ron teased. “How many times have we reached the end of our food supply? When we have kids, they’ll go hungry often.”

Before Hermione could say anything, he added, “You know, when you said you had something to show me tonight, I briefly wondered if you were going to tell me we were having a baby.”

Hermione pulled away from him, her smile slightly wider. “And you know that there’s a spell to prevent that from happening and I am very particular about ensuring it is consistently effective. Spells are something I can perform very accurately.”

Ron grinned at her. “Yeah, I know. But the thing is, the thought didn’t actually terrify me. As brief as that thought was,” he added hurriedly at the look on Hermione’s face.

“Do you want dinner, Ron, or do you want a baby?” Hermione asked, smiling at him.

“Tonight, just dinner,” Ron assured her.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, but said nothing else. She left the study with Ron trailing slightly behind her. As they went downstairs into the kitchen, Ron couldn’t help but wonder if him bringing up the topic of babies had frightened her or intrigued her. It was sometimes hard to tell.

He hadn’t even intended to say it. No one had said anything to him during the day. It had just been a thought that had occurred to him that maybe… even though he knew how pedantic Hermione was with all of that side of things. It would be virtually impossible for anything to happen by mistake with her. He definitely knew that.

And even though the thought hadn’t scared him, Hermione had been pretty dismissive of the topic, which was a massive hint. Maybe he’d bring it up again in a year’s time. Maybe then she’d be more willing to discuss the idea. Besides, they had a wedding to plan first.

#ron and hermione #ronandhermione #ronandhermionefanfiction #ron and hermione fanfiction #romione #romione fanfiction #ron x hermione #hermione x ron #hermione and ron #hermione and ron fanfiction #ron weasley #hermione granger #hermione #romance #slice of life #multi chapter

11 notes · View notes

notespeed · 3 years

Video

youtube

Mortgage Note Case Study With Eddie Speed - Real Estate Investing

PROPERTY overview: - Class D- property that was neglected and very distressed - termites, bad roof, no heat or AC, bad wiring and plumbing

- Original plan was to remodel for a rental (would have lowered the rehab costs by perhaps $5k) but a visit in Jan '19 changed our plans

- Upon joining NoteSchool in Jan '20 we flipped to selling this house and holding the note

- We did the demo and gutted it and used our contractors to add a new roof, added HVAC, repair termite damage, new electrical, new plumbing) and remodeled the entire interior

- Highly stable workforce neighborhood with long term home ownership and few rentals

- Low crime, excellent elementary and middle school within the community

- Purchased the property in 2017 using money out of pocket and a small 2 year note and which we paid off prior to closing

- At the time of sale (July '20) we were at $88,770 (in the property) = $58,250 (purchase) + $30,500 (rehab)

NOTE TERMS overview:

- Sales price of $145,000

- PBB Buyer, D-F Qualified, $4000 down, escrowed T&I

- Note Price $141,000 which we papered using a Title company as $98,750 (sales price to lower tax basis) + $46,250 (repair cost) @ 6.5% for 360 months

- PI of $891.22 - Secured a PLEDGE at the time of closing for $40,000 for 4 years at 6% to recoup the rehab costs and 10k above that

- We plan to secure additional Pledges when this one expires as well as consider Partials

FINANCING overview:

-$88770

- funds in the house+$4000

- down payment+$40000

- Pledge+$141,000

- 30 year Principal over time+$179,838

- 30 year Interest over time-$45091

- Pledge payments over time

========================

+$226,977 Profit

Uncover Why Savvy Investors Use Proven Mortgage Note Strategies for Massive Monthly Profits In Today’s Ever-Changing Market… Risk-Free!

Discover more about Note School and profiting without Tenants, Toilets and by taking our FREE one day class:

https://new.noteschool.com/TV/

Latest Class Information:

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Download a Brand-New eBook by Eddie Speed It’s A Whole New Ball Game With Creative Financing

https://lp.noteschooltraining.com/moneyball-getstarted

https://youtube.com/c/noteschool

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-------------------------------------------------------

Brian Lauchner (00:01):

Can you really be the bank versus being the landlord stay tuned.

Brian Lauchner (00:16):

That is the question, ever noticed that banks happen to own the tallest buildings in the cities? And sometimes being a landlord can come with some unique challenges I would say. And so we're going to talk about what that looks like to maybe make a shift from being a landlord over to being the bank and taking advantage of some of those things. Welcome to NoteSchoolTV. My name is Brian Lauchner I'm on the teaching team here. We're going to be here every single Wednesday. And if you're brand new to NoteSchoolTV, we are here Wednesdays at 11:00 AM, central time, every single Wednesday live where you can engage with us as we kind of dive into some of these topics and kind of go after some of the questions that I think a lot of people have in their heads, there's trying to figure out what those answers are.

Brian Lauchner (01:01):

If you're wanting to learn a little bit more about NoteSchool or NoteSchoolTV, even you can go to www.NoteSchool.com/TV, to learn a little bit more about what we do, what we're about, and even how you can get engaged moving forward from here. We would really love for you. If this video is of value to you, please like the video, subscribe to the channel. And probably most importantly for this show specifically, if you are someone who is wanting to get engaged and ask some questions, make sure you are clicking that notification bell. Down next to the subscribe button, that's going to alert you when we go live so that you can jump on with us, listen to what we're talking about, texting your questions, typing your questions there. And we're going to try and do our best to get those answers. We are actually going to have an after party at the end of NoteSchoolTV each week, where we take a look at all the things that have been posted on all the social channels and try to answer these, these questions almost like a Q and A but we're going to call it an after party because let's be honest, that's way more fun. And so we're going to get into the meat of today. It's going to be fun, and we're going to start by jumping straight into the news

Brian Lauchner (02:20):

And I am joined here by Mr. Joe Varnadore. And as he gets un-muted here, we will get him going. And how are you, Joe?

Joe Varnadore (02:29):

You know what? I am great, Brian, how are you?

Brian Lauchner (02:32):

Doing great, my man, what's going on in the market, man, fill us in. What's going on in the news?

Joe Varnadore (02:37):

Well, hot off of the wire service man. So we talked last week about Fannie, Freddie, Genie. They extended the moratorium on foreclosures from the end of December from the 31st of December out to January 31st, well hot off the presses here, FHA, HUD and the federal housing finance agency has just granted another extension. And they're extending that out to February 28th. So now we've gone from December 31st to January 31st, and now we're out at the end of February. So that is.

Brian Lauchner (03:20):

What does it mean? What does that mean for the average landlord? Well, for the average homeowner, what that means is the foreclosures cannot be started, right? If it is a loan that is insured or guaranteed by one of the GSE's, the government sponsored enterprises. And it, if it is a loan on a rental property, that is not that is in that there's a loan from one of those agencies that, that extends that moratorium as far as being able to evict as well. Right? So it literally is more pressure on the landlords out there.

Brian Lauchner (03:58):

Uh-huh.

Joe Varnadore (03:58):

So you also know that the big stimulus package is kind of popped out and there's some things going on with that. But the CDC, the center for disease control has also extended their moratorium out on evictions. And that's just basically CDC did that because of the, you know, the COVID thing. And so, and in that package, there is another $25 billion to help those folks there. And then the big news as well is that Zillow is predicting Brian a 21.9% annual growth in housing in 2021, which is the biggest since 1983.

Brian Lauchner (04:48):

Man.

Joe Varnadore (04:48):

Now that's just a prediction by Zillow in the National Association of Realtors is kind of jumping on board that as well, but that is the news for this week.

Brian Lauchner (05:02):

I love it. I love it. So tell us, what are we going to be talking about today? I already kind of gave a little bit of a teaser here, jumping straight into it. What do you got for us today, Joe?

Joe Varnadore (05:11):

Well, I'll tell you what, we have two very special guests today. They are from Houston, Texas, Lois Meyer and Cynthia Sterling. They are two of our rockstar NoteSchool members, and they well, Brian, they were very big on the landlording thing, right.

Brian Lauchner (05:31):

Okay.

Joe Varnadore (05:31):

And you know, your teaser was can you really be the Bay versus being, you know, versus being a landlord. And so Cynthia and Lois, Cindy and Lois joined us joined NoteSchool back in January of this year before the lockdown. Right. And so we've got a great case study, where they do what we've been teaching them, right? They were landlords, they were interested real passive income. So they had bought a property that was pretty trashed out that they were going to use fix it and use it as a rental. But after, and that was the last fall. But after joining NoteSchool in January of this year, they decided we really would start like to being the bank. Right. So we're going to talk about that as we, as we move forward, let's bring Cynthia and Lois on and maybe we'll bring on Mr. Eddie as well. Well, good morning, Cynthia and Lois. Thanks for being here.

Cynthia (06:35):

Hi.

Joe Varnadore (06:35):

Good morning, Eddie, How are you?

Eddie Speed (06:37):

I'm great. How are you ladies? By the way. Welcome.

Lois (06:41):

Excellent.

Joe Varnadore (06:42):

So you guys, you know, we love you. We love what you've done. We love the spirit, everything that you guys bring to NoteSchool, Lois, you're a retired recruiter for a big national company. I think you retired last year, right?

Lois (06:56):

Yes. About that. Uh-huh.

Joe Varnadore (06:57):

And you're trying to get Ms.Cindy here to retire as well. Right?

Lois (07:04):

That is our plan for sure.

Cynthia (07:08):

The last couple of weeks.

Joe Varnadore (07:08):

Good job with the company called Solar Winds as well.

Cynthia (07:16):

Yeah.

Joe Varnadore (07:16):

So very good. So let's talk a minute about the, you know, you guys, what you were doing prior to NoteSchool and learning how to be the bank, so tell us about yourselves.

Cynthia (07:30):

Oh, we started in rentals and land ownership about five to eight years ago. I don't remember the exact timeframe. And we had collected about what 12 rental properties and about five or six land properties. And we were pretty well going down that path when we were introduced to notes and NoteSchool about two and a half years ago, we bought our first note just to try it out and see how it works.

Cynthia (07:58):

And then when we'd set off on a course of a lot of due diligence to make sure that everything was a good investment for us to kind of switch our plans. And we sort of made a decision to do that last fall. And especially with this one property, we thought we'd try one property off. And we started going down that path instead of remodeling it for rental were remodeling it for resale, but we wanted to be the bank. So in January of this year, we joined NoteSchool with a commitment that that was how we were redirecting all of our real estate investments.

Lois (08:35):

And our retirement plans.

Cynthia (08:37):

Yes.

Joe Varnadore (08:37):

Yeah. That's very important today. Is it not?

Lois (08:41):

Yes.

Joe Varnadore (08:44):

So you did your due diligence on notes, right? I heard you say that you did your due diligence on NoteSchool and you found out we were good. Right. So.

Lois (08:51):

Yes, we were very impressed.

Cynthia (08:53):

Yes. We had some access to some of your titanium members, so that helped a lot too, but we wanted to do our own due diligence, not on buying a specific note, but on the process, the, just how would it work? Long-Term, so not a short term gain, but something long-term for us.

Joe Varnadore (09:13):

Right.

Cynthia (09:15):

We have found out that you a pretty trustworthy guy.

Eddie Speed (09:16):

Look at that face. How could you not say that? Right.

Lois (09:21):

That was our first thought.

Joe Varnadore (09:21):

I don't have a comment here.

Eddie Speed (09:27):

It's funny. They do do a great job. You know, we get to spend time with them because they come on these labs with us on a regular basis. And great bring great questions. And the particular case study they did today. I really appreciate it because you know, a lot of people look at seller financing and it's like, I'm going to take a house that is sort of in a substandard condition and I'm going to sell it to some buyer and I'm going to cross my fingers. They're going to go fix it up. And you wake up and realize that you really can't attract the right, the buyer you're looking for, or you can't attract you don't really own a bank. You own like more of a pawn shop when you're doing that. Is that a fair statement? And so I really appreciate the fact that you ladies really listened to us and listened to the direction. So I'm interested in kind of like how you went through that process and what you needed to do to fix the house up and what that sell that property with seller financing look like?

Lois (10:32):

We purchased the house for a 58,250.

Joe Varnadore (10:35):

Let's do this. And let's I'm gonna have let's, I've got a PowerPoint here, so let's go.

Lois (10:42):

Alright, sure.

Joe Varnadore (10:42):

Real quick. And so the first shot here really is you guys bought bluntly when you sold it and closed it to your penalty box buyer. Right. We'll talk a little more about that in just a second. That's your penalty box buyer, right. And she had had an a crazy you know, worked for the United States postal service. And she just had, she had some bad, bad medical issues, didn't she guys?

Lois (11:11):

Very much so. And it really put her in a position where she felt she would never be able to own a house on her own.

Cynthia (11:19):

And it was a, it was a goal she'd had for all of her life. And I she's in her fifties, but couldn't, isn't bankable. Wasn't at all. And yet she after all the medical issues and three years of not working and all of that, she was able to get us feedback underneath her. But by that time, the damage is done.

Joe Varnadore (11:39):

Right.

Cynthia (11:40):

Credit score. And we were able to help her achieve her dream and have us begin to achieve ours, quite frankly.

Lois (11:50):

Sure.

Joe Varnadore (11:50):

You know what I like to say, ladies, that you know, we can kind of help folks achieve the dream of home ownership, one person at a time, right.

Lois (12:00):

Exactly.

Joe Varnadore (12:00):

As we move forward. And just for our viewers out there this lady was, you know, she was just, she was unbankable, right? Because of a situation, it wasn't that she had, you know, bad credit or ugly credit or Eddie was saying we're selling an ugly house. And that kind of thing, as a matter of fact, this house has a current market value of $150,000. Right?

Lois (12:23):

Now It does. Yes.

Joe Varnadore (12:28):

Earlier, you said, well, you know, it was pretty nasty, so, let's talk just a little bit about this, right. As we kind of go through it. So you're the kind of the deal points, right? You guys tell us a little bit about that you had purchased this house and you were just going to rehab and fix it. And then that was kind of last fall, wasn't it?

Cynthia (12:47):

Yeah, it was last fall and we started to work on it and it's like, I mean, Eddie can tell more horror stories than we have, but every house we've ever bought in neighborhoods that are what we call working class neighborhoods, right? So they're more of the blue collar working class people, one to two, home, one to two jobs per, per adult living in the household. So these are, these are hardworking people, but their houses are not always in the best of neighborhoods. But one of the things we've always tried to do is take a house in a neighborhood like that and make it the best house in the neighborhood, and then get people into those homes. And this is historically one of the of the most, it's the highest voting percentage neighborhood in the state of Texas. Oh my gosh. And you've tried to find a house for sale or for lease in this neighborhood is difficult at best. And so when we found this opportunity, we jumped on it, but the house had been in some disrepair because of the age of welders. So.

Joe Varnadore (13:57):

So you found it, you totally gutted it. And again, you're going to rehab and flip it. So you purchased it for 58,250, and I think you use your own funds for that.

Lois (14:09):

Uh huh.

Joe Varnadore (14:09):

And then you rehab the property. And again, you had some funds and I think these were some funds that were in retirement account or something like that.

Cynthia (14:19):

No, not really. They were just funds that we had set aside actually to buy another property. And we just pulled them back from that to go into this property.

Joe Varnadore (14:27):

Got it. So you get it rehabbed and you would look like the picture before, right. So total out of pocket, you guys had in this was 88,750.

Lois (14:36):

Correct.

Joe Varnadore (14:39):

So once you did that and I, you know, when we were talking yesterday, you were saying that you guys had actually started advertising for a penalty box buyer prior to actually finishing the house, right?

Lois (14:57):

Yes.

Cynthia (14:58):

We had a couple of people that had already approached us initially about, did we have any rental rentals?

Lois (15:07):

Rentals right.

Cynthia (15:07):

And we just flat out said to them, have you ever thought about owning? And because the cost of a monthly lease versus an owning the house, there's not that much difference. And we've had several people go, well, I can't qualify to buy a house. And we said, well, put that aside for a moment. If you did qualify, would you be interested? Right. And they said, yes. And we pursued them. And this particular buyer went through all of the process, which we'll probably talk about, but we put them through a Dodd-Frank process because we wanted to make sure that they in fact were legitimate people to own the home.

Joe Varnadore (15:49):

So just for everybody that's out there. So you advertise this and you actually had people as you were redoing it or contacting you from the neighborhood as it was a real desirable working class neighborhood.

Lois (15:59):

Right.

Joe Varnadore (16:01):

You found the right buyer, and then one of the things you said there, I want to make sure everybody understands is you made sure that the borrower on this lady that was buying it you had her qualified under the safe act, which is Safe Act compliant, right. Safe Act compliant by using a vendor that checked her out and made sure that, you know, she could afford, she had the ability to repay on this.Right?

Cynthia (16:28):

Absolutely.

Lois (16:29):

And that came from, from NoteSchool and Eddie talking about, you know, you have to qualify them. And so we used a vendor from NoteSchool CTU and then they did the whole processing for us. And then we closed through a title company and we explained to her at the very beginning, you know, this, the everything was going to be done legally. And you know, cause she'd never bought a house before. And so every one thing was going to be done according to law and regulations so that she didn't have to worry that she was being taken advantage of either, which I think is important. And I think that's something we don't talk about is they need to know that this is legitimate as well as we need to know that they're the right people.

Joe Varnadore (17:15):

Right. Well, you know, it's like Eddie Speed says, right. He says, Joe you know, the loan that you don't make is not the one that'll keep you up at night. Make sure that everybody's good. Right?

Lois (17:27):

Yes. Right.

Joe Varnadore (17:27):

So you sold it. So you had, you guys had 88,750 and you were good with that, guys. You could have borrowed the money from you know, a private lender, but you guys were good. You had some money that you wanted to deploy, so you were good with that. So your buyer had a small down payment, but that was okay. Right. That was okay with you guys. That was your decision.

Cynthia (17:52):

We are, we feel confident that we could have gone and gotten a more traditional penalty box buyer that we could have asked for a higher down payment and all of that. But we there's a, there's an element of not only this being a financially solid thing for us, but we also wanted to do a community and, and a best work. We're blessed enough to be in the jobs and the careers that we've had. And if we can help people one house at a time, you know, we have this thing about having, helping one house on wall street on one block, in one neighborhood at a time, then we're good with probably not making as much as maybe somebody else might be making, but we're also, it's a business and we absolutely want to run our business smart, but we also want to feel good about what we do.

Joe Varnadore (18:46):

Well. and just for our viewers out there, typically when we're selling to a penalty box buyer, we're going to get somewhere between 10 and 20% down. That will show that, you know, over the last several months, the average penalty, the average buyer has a 750 plus credit score. Plus has, have been putting at least 19% down on their on the price here. So let's talk about this. So 145, $4,000 down. So you get seller financing of the 141.

Lois (19:17):

Uh huh.

Cynthia (19:17):

Uh huh.

Joe Varnadore (19:17):

At six and a half percent, which is a very good rate for this penalty box buyer, which made the payment $891 a month for principal interest. Now you did, she is escrowing the taxes.

Lois (19:32):

Absolutely.

Cynthia (19:32):

That's kind of our requirement we have for our properties, even the notes we're buying. And it's probably because we're fairly new. I mean, we're literally only coming up on our one year membership, but in the 20 plus notes that we own, that's the criteria that we kind of put in place.

Joe Varnadore (19:53):

So you guys have bought 20 notes this year.

Cynthia (19:55):

yeah a little, 20, 21, something like that, we could have.

Lois (19:59):

Right. Since May

Cynthia (19:59):

Since May, this year actually.

Joe Varnadore (20:02):

Because you said, I'm going to join in January, but we can't do anything until May. So.

Lois (20:07):

Correct.

Joe Varnadore (20:10):

Seven months. Very interesting.

Cynthia (20:11):

Yeah. Uh huh.

Eddie Speed (20:14):

Yeah. Well, one point I wanted to make is, you basically in your business called an Audible. I mean, you know that we say that you can get 10 to 20% down on a consistent basis.

Lois (20:24):

Uh huh.

Eddie Speed (20:24):

But the story of the customer and the stability of the customer said, I, as a business owner and the bank.

Lois (20:34):

Uh huh.

Eddie Speed (20:34):

I can call an audible, say, I'll take less than that down. And by the way, her payment, including taxes and insurance is less than a rent payment or it's is as equal to.

Lois (20:48):

Yes. Uh huh.

Eddie Speed (20:48):

It"s a win-win deal. You got 88,000 in this deal.

Lois (20:51):

Yep.

Eddie Speed (20:51):

You got 4,000 cash. And, now all of a sudden, here's the difference. If you would have owned a rental property, would you really be netting 900 bucks a month?

Lois (21:03):

No.

Eddie Speed (21:08):

Oh, So this makes more money than a rental?

Cynthia (21:12):

Quite a bit.

Eddie Speed (21:17):

Okay. Now.

Lois (21:17):

We're believers Eddie, No worries.

Cynthia (21:19):

We've been converted.

Joe Varnadore (21:25):

Hallelujah. So this is what the note looks like. You've got a payment track of 360. So let's talk about, let's tally up some of the money. Eddie. I've been talking a lot here. Why don't you talk about this a little bit.

Eddie Speed (21:38):

Well, I mean, the thing that we like about the first year, you make $14,000. Now you can take that off your cost basis of 88 right? Now you're in the low seventies, right? below 75,000. And then for 75,000 our investment, you have an in thing that throws off true income, not income minus expenses, but real income.

Lois (22:04):

Yes.

Eddie Speed (22:04):

Growing off of cash flow of 10,000, almost $700 a month. A year.

Lois (22:13):

Yeah.

Eddie Speed (22:15):

Probably economics says seven years, you get your money back in for the next, you know, 23 years after that is profit.

Lois (22:21):

Yep.

Eddie Speed (22:21):

Now, that's kind of pile boy economics, but it's pretty good economics.

Lois (22:27):

It is. And we can put pledges against it and everything. So I mean.

Cynthia (22:31):

Partials, we can do whatever we want. And that really works well for us given, building this retirement plan and what we need, because right now I'm still working. So that still works well. But in that, after that seven years, that's when we're really wanting these notes to kick in for us.

Eddie Speed (22:52):

So let me clarify what they're saying, because that's really important. Like you're like, you're looking at your current deal, but you're also strategizing about what could be done. What they're saying is they have a good first mortgage on a good piece of property and a good payer. They could take that note and just go borrow money against it. Just like you'd borrow money rent. I was thinking about your money against note. They said they can pledge the note, right? Teach this strategy a lot and how to do it. The other thing is they could just go sell a stream of payments so they could sell not the whole note, but they could sell a stream of payments. And what that would allow them to do is to recapitalize. So you heard them say something, a lot of you caught and they're like, Oh my God, these ladies have bought 20 over 20 notes this year already. And you're like, how do they do that? Because they understand when they run out of capital, whatever is, and have strategies that they can go recapitalize other private investors, money to go to go recapitalize the notes that they have. So they have more money to spend. And now they're walking themselves up the ladder. And that's what I love.

Lois (24:00):

Uh huh.

Joe Varnadore (24:02):

That's where you build your bank. Right guys?

Lois (24:03):

Absolutely.

Cynthia (24:03):

Absolutely we love it.

Joe Varnadore (24:08):

We call that a NoteSchool, Eddie, coined that the Capital Recoupment Plan, let's do some quick math. And then I'm going to jump off the PowerPoint here. So you guys had 88,750 out, right? You received a $4,000 down payment, yearly income over the period of the loan, you know, for a long time is 320,760. So literally your total profit on this over time is 232 and a half thousand dollars basically.

Lois (24:37):

Uh huh.

Eddie Speed (24:39):

Yeah. That's well, you know what I like to say at that don't light your fire, your wood's wet. Right?

Joe Varnadore (24:48):

Alright, Scott, pull that down and let's, I'll go back on screen here.

Eddie Speed (24:52):

Listen, you ladies that I want to compliment you are you, for Joe and I and Brian who are on the training team and working at training people here's, there's, you're smart. You brought some real estate experience to it, and you applied that real estate experience that let you get going with your note strategy.

Lois (25:18):

Uh huh.

Eddie Speed (25:18):

But the most important thing that you did is you took action. You put massive action. And we talk, and you know, we talk about this a lot. Like we can be so smart, we can almost talk ourselves out of a deal. Right. We can just analyze it to death and you ladies are good. You're smart ladies. You you're really good at analyzing, but you have a good balance. And you've been highly coachable for us because you've not just done it, but you've taken action. And I salute you for that, really.

Lois (25:51):

Thank you.

Cynthia (25:53):

We should rightfully salute you. I think that's you have to take the credit for some, a lot of this is because we just to remind you of what we said was we bought our first note two and a half years. We studied you and note school, and that's correct for two years. And, but once we made the commitment, because we had done that due diligence up front, we were all in, but that comes to you. I mean, you're, we didn't just invest in any notes. We had invested in NoteSchool and NotesDirect.

Eddie Speed (26:22):

Yes. Well, thank you for doing that. And I think you probably would tell people you could have pulled the trigger a lot quicker.

Cynthia (26:29):

We could. Yeah. I don't mean to discourage. We could have done it faster. It just happened to be where our careers were.

Lois (26:36):

Yeah. Our lives were far too stacked for that, but because we wanted to be able to concentrate on it and do it right. And so we told you when we joined that May was our time.

Cynthia (26:46):

Retirement.

Eddie Speed (26:46):

I completely remember that conversation.

Lois (26:51):

And I know that you say sometimes, well, you know, people tell me, Oh, I'm going to join and I'm going to do all of this. And you know, some of them do some of them don't. And so I thought, yeah, he doesn't really know what we're going to do.

Joe Varnadore (27:07):

22 notes in. We think you're doing okay.

Eddie Speed (27:13):

Let's just say the coach is happy.

Cynthia (27:15):

Good, cause we did our job too.

Lois (27:18):

Yes.The players are happy.

Joe Varnadore (27:23):

Stick around with us guys.

Lois (27:24):

We will.

Joe Varnadore (27:24):

Cause we're going to have a little after party here,

Joe Varnadore (27:26):

After this thing.

Lois (27:28):

Okay.

Joe Varnadore (27:28):

So guys Brian, why don't you jump on and let's talk about Feeding Frenzy Friday.

Brian Lauchner (27:38):

I like it.Thank you so much, ladies. Yeah, I think this is this is a great time transition. One of the cool things is that I think everybody needs to know is NoteSchoolTV is sponsored by NotesDirect and Feeding Frenzy Friday.

Brian Lauchner (28:02):

So each week we put together a little video kind of breaking down a note from NotesDirect on Feeding Frenzy Friday, you can go to NoteSchool YouTube channel. There's a playlist called Feeding Frenzy Friday. And if you're wanting to just learn more of the details and really learn how to master notes, that's a great place to get started. Just last week, we broke down a Michigan home that has a season note since 2002, the person has been living there for 18 years. What do you think the chances are? They're going to keep paying if they've been there for 18 years, right? It had a $19,000 balance with a loan value under 60%. So with a double digit interest rates. So just really, really great stuff. And we got to talk about the ins and out and the pros and the cons of these notes to again, to help equip you better, to learn how to buy something from notes direct and get a note in your portfolio.

Brian Lauchner (28:52):

As always, we're going to be here on Wednesdays live at 11:00 AM central time, so that we can dive into some of this content and get you more value for your business in this you know, in these market conditions make sure you are liking these videos, subscribe to the channel. And again, like I said, at the beginning, click that notification bell, because what that does is that alert you, that Hey, we're live. And that allows you then to jump on and putting your questions and things like that and engage with us. Cause we're going to have a little bit of a shindig here in a minute where we kind of go through some of those questions for those of you who, Hey, you're brand new, you're wanting to know how to get started. Here's two things I'll tell you, first of all, go to www.NoteSchool.com/TV. That is a great place to kind of take a next step. If you're trying to figure out what that next step is. The second thing is I want to invite you to join us next Wednesday

Brian Lauchner (29:42):

For a special new year's NoteSchoolTV of it, where Eddie speed himself is going to give a state of the industry type of an address. And so that kind of wraps us up for today. We're running a little bit out of time, but I tell you what, you know, what time it is, Joe, it's time for the after party. So bring it.

Brian Lauchner (30:15):

I love it. All right. Well, one of the things that I saw come up in the comment you, as you post in your comments on Facebook or YouTube or wherever it is, you are you're joining us from, we had several come in. One of the things that I saw, Eddie, that popped up right away was just talking about the best rentals to sell via seller financing. Why don't you kind of walk us through that a little bit?

Eddie Speed (30:40):

Well, one of the things that I see all the time, a lot of landlords end up at NoteSchool and the reason they end up at NoteSchool and Lois and Cynthia were great examples of this was that, how do you scale your business, right? I mean, could you really have bought 20 rentals?

Lois (31:02):

No, I don't even want to think about that.

Eddie Speed (31:05):

And so the avail, the scalability being the bank is much different than the scalability of being the landlord. And we really, it means a lot to us because it means that, because you heard Lois and Cynthia talk about retirement, and what they want to be able to do is be the bank and be on the beach, not at Home Depot.

Joe Varnadore (31:31):

Well. Eddie, You didn't, want to, since you're the one that's already retired, You didn't want to be retired as a full time property manager. Right?

Lois (31:40):

Right. But the other thing to think about is that this allows us to diversify our holdings. So instead of just having rentals basically in Houston, and we actually have one in another state as well, but this allows us to have diversification nationwide, urban and rural. So it, that I think is important in building a portfolio of any kind for retirement as well.

Eddie Speed (32:08):

Yeah. And we, one of the things that we talk about is like, what house is, it makes a good note house. So I tell landlords like Lois and Cynthia, when they get involved with us and they kind of get to know us. There's some, there's some training, there's some preparation for this that makes the answer make sense. Right, Brian? You can't just, you can't always understand a punchline answer if you have no base of knowledge to run. So we'll go lay out some math and we'll say, what house doesn't really, it was a good house, but it doesn't really throw off the income you're looking for. Right. And so we'll take that house and say, okay, then what if you noted it like this house that you just showed us, you're getting 900 bucks a month net income. That's impressive. And by the way, you probably could have, you could have probably carried it a little higher interest rate. You probably could've gotten a good bit better down payment. You made a, you made a social choice.

Lois (33:11):

Yes.

Eddie Speed (33:11):

Help somebody. You're still going to make really good money. And I just cannot tell you enough that, you know, I've probably spoken literally through the Seller Finance course. Listen, I've probably spoken to, gosh, no. I mean to over 200 Congress people in Congress, and we talk about the physical responsibility that people seller financing, do you provide home ownership to somebody that otherwise wouldn't have experienced it.

Lois (33:37):

Absolutely.

Eddie Speed (33:39):

And you got to make really good profit helping them experience affordable home ownership.That's a win win.

Lois (33:48):

Yeah. She would have never, ever gotten a loan from a bank or a traditional lender ever. Yeah.

Joe Varnadore (33:52):

Yeah.

Brian Lauchner (33:54):

I think too, when we're talking about the best kind of properties to seller finance, one of the things that Eddie said that it thinks is important to understand is that, there is a specific criteria that we're really looking for, but there are more of those houses than there are of the distressed homes that you might be thinking about as a wholesaler or a flipper or even a landlord. There is more opportunity in this space to find the deals than in the other space. And that's something that I think we take for granted because of how we've been trained to focus on these distress, torn up houses. Right?

Lois (34:24):

Right.

Eddie Speed (34:26):

Yeah.

Lois (34:26):

How did you, M asked how did you find this house in the first place? What was the source of this, this deal?

Lois (34:34):

I think we just, we do a lot of driving in neighborhoods that we think have a lot of potential. So we have been buying properties and working class neighborhoods now for, as Cindy said, six to eight years and we drive the neighborhoods, we start on one street and we go up and down the grid pattern. And then when we find houses that we feel are you know, meet our criteria. So they have to be able to be standing, you know, they have good bones to them, but still in the distress price. And then we're able to go in and get it. So we've done that on in quite a few neighborhoods here in Houston. And like you've said Eddie, you don't make money on rentals from the rent, but you can make money on the rentals from than selling them if you've bought in the right neighborhoods. So we have purchased distressed properties in a lot of neighborhoods and lots, and we will be doubling and tripling our income on them just from the sale because of those locations.

Eddie Speed (35:36):

Yeah. So if somebody is listening and they're wondering, that's called a farming technique, right? Like it could be a highway or major streets and you say within that zone, that's my area. And you're just cruising for, you know, yuck houses, right. And or something that needs fixing and that's all a farming technique. So it's an kind of an old school tech, I don't know who you learn that from. I know some old guys and Houston has a long time, but that you don't hear many modern day new guys in the business talking about that, but that is, that's an old, effective technique.

Brian Lauchner (36:16):

And kind of to the other side of the coin, there was a question about how did you find the buyer? How did you pick the buyer? I saw a theme there and I will say, this is really the other side of the coin. There's not a farming technique necessarily here because of the people we're targeting. We call them penalty box buyers. We teach them all about who they are, but this is the underserved part of the community. And here's a little fun fact for you. I did the math on this. This is a trillion dollar marketplace of buyers, a trillion dollar marketplace. There are more penalty box buyers, especially today than there were this time, last year.

Lois (36:51):

Absolutely.

Brian Lauchner (36:51):

And so finding the buyer is not the hard part. You just need to kind of learn how to tailorin that criteria and then the marketing piece that Eddie teaches so well.

Lois (37:00):

Uh huh. Yes.

Brian Lauchner (37:00):

Let me see, we got time for one more question here. Oh, this is about Eddie, you had mentioned talking about some of the the difference between the Rental Cycle versus the Qwner Finance Cycle or the Seller Financing Cycle, Note Cycle. Tell us a little bit about that before we wrap up here.

Eddie Speed (37:21):

Well, I think it's relevant to a couple of things. So the one thing I would that one thing that I say is that from 2015, to around 2019 or 20, we were in a market where you couldn't really go wrong buying property cause it was going to have an escalation in value. And Joe, I totally got your headline while I go about Zillow. And I've heard a lot of other forecast and stuff, but let me just tell you this, I believe the next five years is going to be a lot more of a Note Cycle than a property is going to grow to the sky cycle. Right? And the reason that I say that when a Note Cycle is really good is when buyers, when there's a lot of people that otherwise could get a conventional mortgage that can't, they have a super big down payment and they're super qualified.

Eddie Speed (38:19):

And so we talk about this a lot, you know, as far as the mortgage banking calls it, the Mortgage Credit Availability. And right now that is about 35% of the people that can get a mortgage in February. Can't get one today. So, Lois and Cynthia can take a house and find a buyer with an inordinately high down payment. I know that their case study had where the, because of the variables we discussed that particular case that it wasn't as big a down payment. I can get 10 to 20% down if they can owner finance, that buyer who otherwise were probably just gotten a regular mortgage back in January of 2020, January, 2021. They can't do that.

Lois (39:02):

Right.

Eddie Speed (39:02):

Now. All of a sudden you got a win win. You put, you made home ownership that big down payment has let either let you get some money at closing, or it's reduced your cost base that you can apply, however you want to. So you didn't, you, you could even make theoretically some transactional money upfront running over time, just depending on what somebody's particular model is. So that's why I say that we've entered a Note Cycle is the market is so rich today to do seller financing. And then once again, Brian, you, the next piece of that puzzle is teaching people. Once you end up with a bunch of notes, somebody says, Oh, well, my money's tied up. How do you go recapitalize it? And boom, boom, boom. You just keep climbing that Hill and building your own bank. Hey, let me ask you a question. Would you rather be a landlord or the bank?

Brian Lauchner (39:58):

That is, well, thank you so much. Lois and Cynthia, thanks to Joe and Eddie. Another great NoteSchoolTV. We will see you all next week, again, stick around. We're going to be having these after parties. So join us, hit that notification bell so that you know, to join us and bring your questions so that we can engage with you and have you on the show. We'll see you next week.

#Real Estate #Real Estate Investing #Notes #Mortgage #Mortgage Notes #Eddie Speed #NoteSchool #NoteSchoolTV #Note School

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moderndaybard · 4 years

Text

2020 Weekly Ficlet 42/52(? We’ll see?)

Ever At Your Side, Part 4/7 (Uhura) [New Trek/Pokemon Crossover. Because Why not.]

(Part 1-Kirk; Part 2-Spock; Part 3-Bones; Part 5-Scotty; Part 6-Sulu; Part 7-Chekov)

Beginnings:

Long-term, deep-space missions, it turns out, are long stretches of routine bordering on monotony, interspersed very occasionally with the strangest—and often most dangerous—of exceptions. But despite the long stretches of ‘it-was-a-normal-day-see-previous-recordings’ sorts of log entries and confined quarters aboard ship, it was still somehow remarkably different for Lt. Uhura and Commander Spock to align their off-duty time with any consistency.

(The downside of an over-achiever dating a workaholic, mused more than once.)

Still, they did make the effort, and when they managed to pull it off, they made the most of the time that they had—which was why Uhura was now desperately trying to ignore the rivulets of not-sweat trickling down her back as she joined Spock in his meditation.

With their minds so close, Uhura knew that he would feel the flicker of her distractions, and so tried to stay present—to no avail. As soon as she’d noticed the physical sensation, there was no going back to the moment. The prankster had won this round.

With a silent apology to her boyfriend (who she knew was aware of the situation and finding his own meditation disrupted) she pulled away from the link that Spock and T’Kay had opened, opening her eyes and whirling on the ‘stealth master’ behind her. “I warned you that you’d get bored—I said that you could stay in my room or in your ball. You couldn’t have waited just a few more moments to ask for attention?”

Whatever expression the pokemon behind her bore at the moment was obscured behind the ‘scarf’ that covered everything below is eyes (the ‘scarf’ being, in fact, his tongue, a fact that seemed to throw most people when they learned and/or remembered that fact), but Uhura had been with her partner for so long that she could read the mischievous grin, hidden though it was. Utengo had no shame, at times.

The communications officer continued to glare at her partner Greninja, but she couldn’t help noticing how off the water-type looked in the room set to mimic the dry-heat of Vulcan for its occupant. This time, when she held out the pokeball in invitation, her partner did not sulk, pout, or refuse.

He did, however, lob one last ball of water into the air before he was recalled, which burst and showered the two trainers and other pokemon.

“To be fair, that is a way of showing he likes you,” Uhura offered to Spock.

“I am…aware,” the half-Vulcan intoned calmly. He, too, was used to certain…antics…of the pokemon in question. “Though, by that metric, one could argue that he likes quite a few aboard the Enterprise—if not most.”

She sighed, but couldn’t fully hold back a smile, either. “Unfortunately, he does.”

-------------------------

Meetings:

It’d been so many years ago—she was still a teenager still home, Starfleet Academy still a distant someday she was pursuing with all the force of her already-legendary determination. Language was already her passion, xenolinguistics the field she already had her eyes set on, and she’d already mastered three languages with another two not far behind.

But starship assignments were still a long way off, and prodigy though Nyota was, she knew there was still so much about the world—about herself—to be discovered, to be decided. And there was time for all of that.

Today, though, the only choice that mattered was which pokemon she’d be leaving with: who would be her partner in the years and decades to come. She had some ideas—being her, she’d done her research and done it thoroughly—but unusually enough for her, she hadn’t come with a set plan.

Which was good, because the little blue frog blinking up at her was not common in that part of Earth, so she hadn’t originally considered it.

She knew of the Froakie line, of course, knew the final evolution was prized by stunt performers, security officials, daredevils, and some in less-than-savory occupations. Additionally, water-types were not uncommon in Starfleet, especially since some experts (and ‘experts’) liked to claim that trainers that gravitated towards that type were more likely to be cool, rational, and quickly adaptable.

Personally, she thought that was ridiculous—even if the type-to-trainer-personality theory had any actual basis (which she was not convinced of), the young girl privately thought that the water-type lent itself just as easily to impetuosity, storm-like fury, stubbornness undaunted by any obstacle, and even to…

She saw it, in the little Froakie’s eyes, behind what most saw as the wide-eyed perpetually-worried expression of the line’s first stage; and he saw it in her, too, in the dark brown eyes of the girl regarding him thoughtfully, one praised for her intelligence and drive and thought mature beyond her years by those who never took the time to look close enough to see—

—the twin sparks of mischief, the mark of the schemer, the prankster. They’d get where they wanted to go, no question, but they’d reach it on their own, if unexpected, way.

(Not to mention, certain traits of his final evolution seemed like to good a joke for the future communications officer to pass up.)

She’d get questions in the days, months, even years to follow about what obscure language or dialect she’d turned to for Utengo’s name. “English, if you look at it right,” was the answer—and the joke—that so few seemed to get.

Seriously? It’s not that hard a scramble…right?)

-------------------------

(2009)

So much and so little had changed in the intervening years: Uhura and Utengo had grown up—the Frogadier that’d entered Starfleet academy at her side having evolved at last into a Greninja early in her (their) final year—and both had found, through trial and error, that it was when the other cadets, the professors, and the officers saw them as the mature, calm, rational, and adaptive water-type and -trainer they wanted to see that they were taken seriously, accepted.

So the twin sparks of mischief were dampened—though not doused—and set aside for the moment in favor of finding and excelling in (if not exceeding) in the expected paths for a Xenolinguist and her partner, learning the rules and expectations, what grey areas were and weren’t safe, observing the Academy staff politics to see who actually had clout, and how they’d gotten it. Uhura told herself that it was easier this way—there was no need to break new ground constantly if a sure path already existed.

Water will follow the channels dug for it, after all.

****

Kirk likely thought that her reluctance to ‘crew’ his third attempt at the Kobayashi-Maru was due to purely personal reasons (namely her unconcealed dislike for his brash attitude—which, admittedly, did contribute a little). He therefore probably wondered why she agreed to do so anyway.

(Career-wise, there were some bridges it did not do to burn, personal personality issues aside, and perhaps the most annoying thing about James T. Kirk’s flippant, arrogant persona was that he had the skills and smarts to back it up—his career would definitely be fast-tracked if he managed to avoid pissing off the very people inclined to do so.)

In truth, it was the test itself that she despised even more—Academy rumor mill being what it was, every cadet knew it was an unwinnable scenario going in. And Academy students being who they were, nearly to a person, they went in believing that they could be the one person to spot the loophole that would win it anyway.

To date, Kirk was the only one who’d tried more than once.

(Continued on AO3.)

#Star Trek 2009 #uhura #spock #pokemon #pokemon crossover #hypothetical pokemon team #well really just one partner #because its fun #my post #writing challenge

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ella-insideout · 6 years

Text

I wasn’t told you’d be this cold (Part VII)

A/N: I’m sorry it took me a little longer to get this out, but finally it’s here!!! I know this may read like a filler chapter, but I really just wanted to have some calm before the storm (trust me on that). This chapter is very smutty—sorry not sorry. Usual disclaimer: this is a very sad and very real story based off a relationship I had in uni.I also slipped in a small Dunkirk reference because I just can’t help myself since it’s the year anniversary. As always, feedback is encouraged and very much appreciated. ENJOY xxx

World count: 4.4k

Helena kept eyeing the small tattoo that now permanently graced the inside of her wrist. She flipped her wrist around, staring back and forth the blank skin on one side and the ink resting on the other. Having it for only a week, it had completely scabbed over and the tenderness subsided. A few people, seeing the tattoo in passing, have asked if Helena scribbled on herself, making her question the tattoo’s design. Perhaps a boy’s initial encased in a heart is cliched and seems like something a teenage girl would do for a schoolboy crush, but she loved it. She didn’t get the tattoo for anyone else but herself (and Harry)—she doesn’t need anyone else’s approval, thank you very much.

Since getting the tattoo, Harry’s been much more affectionate, Helena notices. Not that he hasn’t been before, but it’s much more obvious now. When holding hands, he always reaches out for Helena’s tattooed side; when cuddling, he’ll rub his thumb over the raised bit on skin on her wrist; he’s even kissed over the tattoo like he’d done when she first got it. Helena furrows her brows together when she realises that she’s never actually pecked the rose tattoo Harry got for her, but shakes her head and smiles, thinking about awkwardly kissing the outer edge of his elbow. She’s made up for it more than enough times with plenty of kisses—on his lips and other regions.

Harry’s sock-clad foot nudging her arm brings Helena out of her head. They’re laying opposite each other on Helena’s sofa, each with a book perched on their chest. With half-term essays coming up, their dates have become more like study sessions. Helena’s currently working through a book on the allied forces of World War II while Harry’s reading through an Arundhati Roy novel for his literature course.

“Oi,” his foot hits her arm once more, “where’d yeh go?”

“Hmm?” Helena places her book down on her chest to look at Harry. His messy hair is pushed up against the cushion behind his head and he’s closed his book.

“Yeh didn’t turn a page for some time… Lost in thought?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Helena says as she moves her body, crossing her legs and sitting up, “m’kind of tired of reading. Seems like it’s all we’ve done today.”

“It is all we’ve done today.” Harry chides and straightens himself up.

Helena shrugs and smiles as she grabs Harry’s book from his hands and places it on top of hers. Reaching out to the small coffee table, she puts both books down and scoots closer to Harry.

“I’ve missed you.” She leans closer, pecking lightly against his lips.

“Been right here wi’yeh all day.” He replies, his twinkling green eyes staring into hers.

“I miss you.” Helena says again, pulling Harry’s face against hers. She interlocks their lips and kisses him deeply. Her tongue runs along his bottom lip (a few times, because Harry’s a tease) and she pokes her tongue around the inside of his mouth. She pulls away and begins kissing along his jaw up to his ear and back down the side of his neck. Harry’s hands are roaming over her upper half, sliding up under her thick jumper. They moan simultaneously when Harry discovers Helena’s forgone wearing a bra as he skims his thumb over a nipple.

“Really missed me, huh?” Harry teases when Helena stops to take off her jumper. She starts to go in for another kiss but instead angles her head down, placing wet kisses over Harry’s clothed torso. She reaches behind Harry for a moment and grabs the cushion he’d been previously laying on, tossing it on the floor. Harry goes to lay back, assuming she’d just made room for them, but Helena tugs his joggers toward the edge of the couch as she settles her knees on the pillow.

“Off.” Helena whispers as she tugs at his joggers once more, so Harry quickly lifts his bum and slides both his boxers and bottoms off in one go. He instinctually opens his legs and Helena wastes no time in grabbing his half-hard cock in her hands. She pumps him a few times before fully taking him into her mouth. Harry throws his head back and thrusts up into her mouth, triggering Helena’s gag reflex.

“Fuck!” Harry slips out when he feels her throat constricting against him. Though it was slightly uncomfortable, Helena continues along with bobbing her head up and down, rubbing her tongue against the vein on the underside of his cock. Her free hands begin gently rolling Harry’s balls and she soon removes her mouth from him, travelling down to take one into her mouth.

“Sh—shit.” Harry moans loudly as Helena moves back up and begins sucking on his bright red tip. “Babe, babe,” he whispers while tugging on Helena’s hair, signaling her to stop, “wanna try something. Stand up.”

With a confused look, Helena gets off her knees. Once she’s standing, Harry tugs her leggings and knickers down her legs and motions her to step out of them. He lays down against the sofa and when Helena goes to sit over him, Harry shakes his head.

“No, no, no,” he grabs at her hips and turns her to face the other way, “wanna sixty-nine yeh. Always wanted to try it.”

“What?” Helena spins her head around, slightly in shock at what he’s just suggested.

“Y’know, sixty-nine. Where the guy and girl give each other oral at th’same time. I wanna try it.”

“O-okay.” She lets out a shaky breath, still not moving.

“Do you want to do it?” Harry raises his eyebrows at her.

“Just… It’s really intimate. Everything in your face and all.”

“Nothin’ I haven’t seen before, love.” Harry chuckles with a slight smirk on his lips. The light-hearted joke makes Helena laugh too and she climbs on top of him, her lower half aligned with his at first. Harry wraps his hands around her hips and guides her as she crawls up to reach his cock.

When she’s level with it, she instantly puts her mouth back on his tip, picking up right where she left off. After a few moments, she feels Harry’s fingers slide up her pussy and pull her lips apart. He tilts his head upward and places his tongue fully against her, making her head fly back. He begins licking harshly against her folds while his thumb rubs circles against her clit. Despite the intense pleasure she’s feeling, Helena returns her mouth to Harry’s cock and bobs up and down. They’re both moaning into each other’s bodies when Harry’s movements suddenly stop.

“Fuck, m’gonna cum.” he warns, one hand harshly grabbing Helena’s ass. Helena moves her mouth and opens widely, pressing her tongue against his head. She pumps up and down a few times before Harry groans out and cums onto her tongue. She kisses against his tip a few times and lets it go as it softens.

Without warning, Harry places his mouth back on her cunt. “Oh!” She moans out in surprise as Harry places his hands onto her hips. He pulls her hips closer to his face until Helena has no choice but to sit up and balance herself over him. Harry’s tongue licks against her clit as his hands move up the front of her body and rest just below her tits. Helena leans down a bit so Harry’s able to swirl his fingers against her nipples for a bit. Soon enough, Helena’s a whining, moaning mess as she comes onto Harry’s tongue. She nearly collapses on top of Harry and she’s thankful that he lifted her legs over to one side and flipped her round, because she’s not sure she has the physical strength to do it herself.

“Shit,” Helena pants out as her head rests against Harry’s chest, “never thought I’d like that.”

“Never say never, H.” Harry smiles down at her, kissing the top of her forehead. His free hand reaches down to grab her wrist, his index finger slightly grazing over the tattoo before he pulls it up to his mouth and places a gentle kiss there, too.

—

It’s a typical Tuesday morning for Helena. Despite not having any lectures today, she decided to get up early and have breakfast alone. From spending all of her free time with Harry to sharing a small two-bed flat with Bella, Helena hardly had any alone time. And as an only child, she needed moments just to herself.

She brought her World War II book to the cafe to skim while sipping her tea and munching on her toast. But as she flips through the pages, reading about the Dunkirk evacuation, she can’t help but lose focus. Placing her pen down—Helena’s the type to annotate in the margins—she pulls out her phone and scrolls through her news feeds. When that begins to bore her, she opens up her student email account—not particularly expecting anything has come through. However her heart starts beating exponentially fast when she reads the subject line of the first unread email: Bienvenido! Spain Study Abroad - Spring Term.

Helena had sent her application in over a month ago and she figured, not hearing back for so long, she hadn’t been accepted. The programme was highly competitive—along with taking courses, students were expected to complete an internship found through the university. Helena spent weeks perfecting her CV (and even attended a workshop hosted by the career centre) but felt that her lack of experience would be held against her. Apparently not. She opens the email and reads over it quickly, a huge smile on her face.

Congratulations, Helena! We’re very pleased to inform you that you have been selected to join the Spain Study & Intern Abroad programme for the upcoming Spring term. Under the Media & Communications sector, you’ll take courses that count toward your final degree and you’ll undertake an internship in a field related to your course halfway through the programme. See more details below regarding course dates, housing allocation, and internship placements. We look forward to welcoming you in January!

Helena, in complete and utter shock, decides she’ll look at the rest of the information later. And now, sitting in a cafe alone and smiling to herself, she wishes she’d told someone about her application. Though she mentioned it to Bella at the very start of term, she never said she’d sent everything in. After frantically paying for her meal (did she get change? She’s not even sure) Helena rushed home to tell Bella and celebrate.

“Bels!” Helena calls out as she walks through the door, placing her bag down on the table next to it. “Are you home?” Met with silence, Helena checks to see if Bella’s still sleeping but finds her door slightly cracked open. Pushing it, Helena finds Bella’s bed neatly made and infers she either went to the library (as she’s done the past few days in a row) or to a lecture. Walking back into the living room, Helena plops down onto the sofa and grabs her phone, sending a quick text to Harry.

Hiii. You free?

Knowing Harry, she doesn’t expect a reply for a few hours. The instant buzz of her phone all but surprises her.

Yes, want to come over?

Niall’s out for the day. X

Be there asap xxx

Helena grabbed her keys and purse, practically racing out of her flat to begin her 15-minute walk over to Harry’s place. As Harry and Niall were flat-hunting on a budget, they had to look a little further out from campus. But they lived in a nice flat on a quaint street just a few blocks away from Greenwich Park, which Helena appreciated since the park was her favourite spot in Greenwich.

After walking up the steps to Harry’s front door, Helena didn’t even have to ring the bell before Harry swung it open and stepped aside to let her in. Closing the door behind her, Harry places a hand on the small of her back and she makes her way through the foyer and places her stuff down on one of their sofas. Harry leans in and gives her a small kiss on the lips while she unbuttons her coat and hangs on the rack in the corner.

“You hungry?” Harry asks as he goes into the kitchen. “I’m makin’ some chicken pasta for lunch.”

“S’a bit early for lunch, isn’t it?” Helena replies as she follows him, squinting at the clock on their wall that read 11:32am.

“Well I got up too late for breakfast, so I guess it’s jus’ an early lunch.” He stirs the pasta around in the pan. Helena stands next to him, watching him silently as she purses her lips and thinks of how she can break the news to Harry.

“Hey, H,” she starts while Harry begins pouring his pasta into a large bowl, “I’ve got something I want to tell you.”

“Oh?” He questions while placing his cooking materials into the sink to wash later. They walk over to the small dining table and Harry begins eating his lunch, Helena sitting opposite him. “What’s goin’ on then?”

“Well,” Helena begins smiling widely, “a while ago, I applied to spend a term abroad in Spain. I didn’t really think I’d get in because it’s so competitive but… I did it. I got in!” Her smile grows wider, if that’s even possible. Her eyes are so bright and she’s so excited but when Helena looks to Harry, she finds that his expression doesn’t mirror hers, even in the slightest. His eyes are dull and cast down, staring at his almost empty plate of food.

“When will yeh be leaving then?” Harry asks, still avoiding eye contact.

“In January…” Helena trails off. “It’s a really exciting opportunity! I get to take some interesting courses and I’ll be doing an internship during the second half. I’ve always wanted to go to Spain, so I can’t wait.”

“Good for you.” Harry says, standing up and placing his empty plate into the sink, paying no attention to the rest of the dirty dishes. He ignores Helena as he passes by her and walks down the hall into his bedroom, slamming the door shut. Dumbfounded, Helena stays frozen in her seat for a few beats. When she finds movement, she scoots out of her chair and quickly walks over to Harry’s room, bursting through the door.

“What the hell?!” She screeches as she enters his bedroom. Harry’s sat at the edge of his bed, scrolling mindlessly through this phone. He looks up at Helena but doesn’t say anything, taking his attention back to his phone. “What the fuck is your problem?” She tries again, still not getting Harry to talk. Adrenaline pumping, she snatches the phone out of his hands (with Harry letting out a loud ‘Hey!’ in protest) and throws in back into his pillows.

“You have no right to grab shit from me.” Harry stands up, pressing his chest against Helena’s.

“You have no right to get mad over nothing!” She quips back. “You’re the first person I told about getting into this programme! And I was so excited when I found out this morning, all I wanted to do was share that with you! But you had to go and ruin it!”

“Sorry I can’t jump for joy with you,” Harry shouts back as he turns away from her, “but m’glad to see that you’re so happy about leaving me!”

“M’not leaving you,” Helena lets out an exasperated breath, “I’m going to study in a different country. For four months. You’ll survive.”

“Just think it’s funny, s’all,” Harry laughs to himself, turning around to face her again, “yeh got all mad at me when I left for the summer. And you’re practically doing the same thing to me now, but I’ve got to be happy for you.”

“Don’t fucking bring that up,” she wags a finger at him, “you left to go follow some floozy around! And you didn’t even tell me! This is a completely different situation—I’m going to study. I’m going to work. Not fuck around with some bloke.”

“No, no, f’course not.” Harry chides. “Did enough of that while I was gone.”

“Ugh!” Helena throws her arms up in the arm. “You just can’t let things go.”

“Neither can you.”

Both their chests are heaving from the intensity of their yelling. Helena looks over to Harry and when they make eye contact, he places both hands behind her head and pulls her in for a kiss. He shoves his tongue down her throat as she moans and whimpers into his mouth, trailing her hands up his back and bunching the soft cotton of his shirt into her hands. They break apart from their kiss and Harry tugs his shirt off, Helena doing the same. He pushes her shoulders down and she falls back against the mattress. Harry’s body covers hers completely and he grinds their lower halves together as he sucks one of Helena’s nipples. She goes to pull on his hair but he pushes her hand away.

“Don’t touch me.” he growls out lowly. The harsh tone of his voice ensures that Helena won’t be trying it again. Harry unbuttons Helena’s jeans and slides them off her legs, too lazy to take her knickers off with them. He tugs his joggers down just enough to let his cock out, pumping himself in his hand a few times before pulling the thin fabric aside and pushes into Helena.

“Har—fuck—Harry…” Helena moans out as Harry pounds into her. Though they’ve been rough with each other in the past, she knows this is different. He’s still not over their fight. In retaliation Helena wraps her arms around Harry and begins scratching her long nails down his back, making sure to leave a few marks.

“Fuck, baby.” He hisses and throws his head back, almost enjoying the pain of Helena’s nails breaking his skin. Harry moves one hand from the pillow and slides it down her body, bringing her leg up over his shoulder. He begins thrusting harder and harder into her core and Helena’s eyes roll back from the feeling. Harry goes to rub against her clit and in moments, she’s coming onto his cock. The squeezing of her walls and tension from the fight overtakes Harry’s body as his orgasm washes over him. He pulls out of her cunt and cums onto her stomach. Helena grabs Harry’s face and brings him in for a quick kiss but he quickly stands up, grabbing a tissue off his nightstand.

“Clean yourself up.” He says in the same harsh tone as before, walking into his ensuite bathroom and locking the door.

—

Helena hasn’t spoken to Harry in four days now. After he left her laying naked in his bed, cum all over her stomach, she quickly got dressed and left his flat. She didn’t even leave a note or send a text to let him know—Harry didn’t deserve that, Helena rationalised. He was exceedingly rude and he had absolutely no right to be. Luckily, when she arrived home Bella was there and the two celebrated in the way Helena hoped she would’ve done with Harry. They shared a bottle of wine and watched rom-coms with Spanish subtitles on (Helena had to start practising, right?).

Having nothing better to do on a gloomy November afternoon, Helena was in her bed watching Netflix on her laptop. Though she had school work to get through, she decided that having one lazy Saturday wouldn’t be too bad. Her phone buzzing on her nightstand took Helena’s attention off the show she was watching. A scowl set across her lips once she saw who the text was from.

Heyyyy

Helena rolled her eyes at Harry’s casual starter. He greeted her as if they hadn’t been in a fight and ignored each other for days. She quickly tapped out a reply.

Hi there.

You busy tonight?

Why?

Do you want to come over?

For what?

Haven’t seen you in a few days, I really miss you. X

Ok.

I’d really like to cook you dinner and make up for being a right dick

Maybe we could kiss and make up too… X

Ok. I’ll come for dinner.

Come over round 7?

Ok.

Maybe Helena was being a bit short with Harry, but to be fair, he deserves it. To text her so randomly and act as if nothing happened between them worried her. Up until now, all of their fights ended in one apologising to the other—there was no need for grandiose gestures to indicate the fight was over (though getting a tattoo could fall into that category). However this last fight had been intense and Harry really hurt Helena’s feelings, so maybe a well-cooked meal could make up for his poor behaviour. She’s certainly willing to give him a chance.

Having showered and gotten ready, Helena left her flat at 6.45pm on the dot to arrive at Harry’s right on time. She wasn’t sure if Harry would be dressing nicely—since they were just going to eat at his flat—so Helena opted to wear a knit dress with tights, boots, and a long coat to keep her warm on her walk. As Helena approached the building, she could see Harry’s silhouette staring out the window. When he spotted her, he went outside and greeted her at the doorstep.

“Hi.” He said quietly, his breath showing in the chilly nighttime air.

“Hey.” Helena replied, unsure of what to say.

“Before we go in, I just wanted to say m’really sorry.” Harry reaches out for Helena’s hand, interlacing their fingers. “I was a total arse to yeh and yeh didn’t deserve it. So I’m sorry for being a dick. M’actually really proud of yeh, y’know?” Helena’s head perks up and she saw Harry staring down at her, his eyes bright and full of love.

“You are?” She squeaks out nervously. Harry nods his head and captures her lips in a deep kiss, proving to her how much he cares.

“Now, let’s eat!” Harry turns around, still holding Helena’s hand in his own. He leads her into his flat and she’s amazed with what he’s done. He decorated the wall above the dining table with a small collection of Spanish flags and the table’s full of traditionally Spanish foods.

“To get yeh in the mood for Spain,” Harry explains, “I decided to make you a bit o’everything. We’ve got some paella, some tapas, and I made churros.”

“You did all of this for me?” Helena asks incredulously.

“Yes,” Harry kisses the top of her head, “because I need y’to know how much I care for yeh, and how excited I am for yeh. Four months’ll fly by, yeah? And I can always visit.” Helena smiled to herself, thinking of all she had ahead of her. She had the love of her life by her side and the opportunity of a lifetime on the horizon. And here was Harry, supporting her every step of the way.

“Thank you, H, really.” Helena kisses his cheek as they both settle down at the table, beginning to eat their Spanish-style meal. When they finished their dinner, Harry grabbed a bottle of wine and the basket of churros, placing them on the coffee table in front of his sofa. Helena settled down as Harry poured her glass, handing it over as he sat beside her.

“So when does the programme start?” He asks while taking a sip of wine.

“Mid-January, like a week after our term usually begins.” She says in between bites of a churro.

“And do yeh know yet what your internship will be?”

“Not yet. They give us a choice of our top three placements and decide for us.”

“What’re yeh choosing, then?”

“I’m putting a PR firm for my first choice, and two different newspapers for my second and third,” she shrugs, “since I don’t really know what I want to do, I’ll be happy with whatever I get.”

“I’ll be happy for you, too. Whatever you get, love.” Harry grins at her, clinking their glasses together. They continue chatting mindlessly as they finish off both the churros and bottle of wine. Standing up off the couch, they clumsily make their way to Harry’s bedroom.

After shutting the door behind himself, Harry leans down and grabs the hem of Helena’s dress, inching it up her body until it’s completely off. She shimmies out of her stockings while Harry removes his jumper and jeans. Harry leans back against his headboard and Helena crawls onto his lap, feeling his pulsing cock against her naked cunt. Harry moves his hand between them and guides himself into Helena; they both groan as she sinks down completely. She begins rocking back and forth slowly, circling her hips and rubbing her clit against the flesh above his prick. Harry’s hands are on her waist, pushing her further down onto him. Without warning, Harry attempts to flip the two over, accidentally knocking his head against Helena’s.

“Oi!” She laughs, “that hurt!”

“M’sorry, H.” Harry chuckles along with her, lining himself up against her entrance and entering her once more. He juts his hips against hers and leans down to take a nipple into his mouth. His tongue brushes against it but Helena tugs on his hair, pulling his face up to hers. She kisses his lip and bites on his lower one, moaning into his mouth.

“H… I’m gonna—fuck—gonna cum.” She whispers, tossing her head back against the pillow. Harry picks up his speed and places two fingers on her clit, rubbing fast circles to get her to her high. Her hands bury further into his hair and yank harshly as she comes around him. A few seconds later Harry’s orgasm rushes through his body and he releases his load into Helena, not having enough time to pull out. Harry all but collapses on top of her, still inside her.

“Yeh took your pill?” He says into her neck, kissing the sweaty skin against his lips.

“Mhm,” Helena muses, still coming down from her orgasm, “s’okay.” Harry then shifts off to the side and brings Helena into his chest, wrapping his arms around her body. “Thank you for tonight,” she speaks up, “I really appreciate it.”

“Anything for m’girl.” Harry replies, letting out a small yawn.

“Best boyfriend ever.” Helena hums as she buries her head deeper into his chest, closing her eyes.

“M’not your boyfriend.” Harry mumbles. Helena’s eyes jolt open and she looks up at Harry, seeing his eyes are shut. The light snores indicate he’d already fallen asleep, but Helena lay wide awake questioning how things could go from being so right to so wrong in such a short amount of time.

#Harry Styles #harry styles writing #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles blurb #harry styles blurbs #harry styles fluff #harry styles angst #harry styles smut #uni harry styles #uni!harry AU #harry styles fanfic #hs writing

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sunnyupsidedown · 5 years

Text

And. They. Were. Roommates.

Summary: Outsider POV of Post-Canon Andreil.

Read here on [AO3]

Sue paused and replayed the clip one more time. Her eyes tracked the movement of the striker as he lofted the ball towards the net. The ball was deflected, the buzzer sounded signaling the striker’s team’s loss. Sue stopped on the close up on the opposing team’s goalie.

Perfect.

She hit control-shift-3 and saved the screenshot under Andreil proof #147. Upon close comparison of Andrew Minyard’s facial expressions when Neil Josten attempted a goal to when anyone else attempted a goal, there was an obvious difference. The flat line or slight frown was always the same but the way his eyes squished slightly when Neil attempted goals alluded to a deeper relationship than just old college teammates and professional friends.

Sue opened another tab in her browser and pulled up the post-game interviews. Neil and Brian McFarland, another striker, were in charge of fielding questions.

“Mr. Josten, how does it feel to be on the same court as your former college teammate Andrew Minyard but this time as opposing teams?”

“It feels refreshing to have a challenge from time to time,” he said with a cocky quirk of his lips.

Trent directed his next question to Brian and Sue tuned it out. They talked strategy, training, and upcoming games for the next few minutes.

Sue knew things about exy but that wasn’t really what interested her. He brother played in high school and then went on the play at a class 2 school in college. She never picked it up herself. She preferred the solitude of running to team sports.

The next question solely directed at Neil drew Sue’s attention back in.

“Though Andrew blocked your last shot, solidifying their win, you scored on him earlier. What’s the trick to getting past the infamous goalie?”

“Well Trent, Andrew is good, almost perfect I dare say, but one too many scoops of ice cream makes a player slow.”

Trent’s expression froze in confusion.

Sue’s heart froze in her throat.

Neil grinned at the camera.

Brian looked absolutely delighted. He leaned forward towards the reporter’s microphone and said, “Thank you Trent. It looks like that’s all we have time for. The showers are calling.” Brian looped his arm around Neil’s shoulder and the two strolled away from the cameras.

The camera panned back to Trent as he smoothed his expression back to newscaster blank. “Folks that was Neil Josten and Brian McFarland. Strikers for the Lansing Lions...”

Sue stopped the video. There was a lot to unpack from the video. She was going to have to be quick in analyzing if she wanted to be the first to post about it online. But first. She leaned back in her chair and pulled up her instant messenger. “Laura,” she typed, “Did you see the latest Josten interview?”

“Your footwork is sloppy.”

“Hello to you too Kevin,” Neil replied. “Thea. It’s always a pleasure.”

Kevin and Thea took the last two seats at the table. Brian could hardly contain himself sitting next to The Kevin Day. Number one striker in the league. Two-time world championship MVP. The literal Son of Exy himself.

“Neil I think he’s broken.” Andrew’s voice drifted through Brian’s fog.

“Brian? Brian.” Neil rolled his eyes. “Oh god not another one. Kev’s ego is big enough.” Neil snapped his fingers in front of Brian’s face. Brian startled and looked away from Kevin Day. “Dude, Brian. I know it’s Kevin Day but trust me, before our food even arrives you’ll be over it. He’s not that interesting.”

“Yeah pretty boring,” chimed Andrew.

“I don’t know how you do it Thea.” Neil said.

“Well he is good at exy... among other things...” Thea said and brought her hands together in a crude gesture.

“Fuck you guys.” Kevin glared. “So Brian,” Kevin directed his gaze at him. Brian straightened in his seat. “What did you think of today’s game?”

The question felt loaded under Kevin’s intense gaze. It didn’t help that Andrew, from the opposing team, was there as well, silently sitting next to Neil, fiddling with his straw wrapper.

“Uh, well we’re still a little rough in a few places and will need to work on them but overall it wasn’t that bad of a game.” He repeated what he said to the reporters and judging by the frown of Kevin’s face it was the wrong thing to say.

“Yes but—Andrew!”

“You’ve already reached your limit on how long you can talk about exy for this meal. Pick a new topic or shut up.”

Kevin frowned at Andrew. Brian was secretly thankful. The conversation moved on to the FBI crackdown on mob activity from last month and the upcoming blizzard warning affecting most of the east coast.

Brian blinked and tried to follow the exchanges around the table. He couldn’t keep up. When Neil asked if he wanted to grab dinner with a couple of his friends that were at the game, Andrew was the least of the surprises. He wasn’t expecting Kevin Freaking Day with his fiancé and teammate Thea Muldani. Brian suspected he was sitting with half of the future Olympic exy team. Thank god the waiter came for their orders before Brian could say something stupid.

“Room’s all yours tonight Brian,” Neil said after paying the tab. “I’m staying at Andrew’s tonight.”

Brian raised an eyebrow. “The plane leaves first thing tomorrow. You gonna make it?”

“Don’t worry.” Andrew threw a casual arm around Neil’s shoulders and steered him towards the door. “He won’t miss it.”

Brian shrugged and waved as they parted. They must have had a lot of catching up to do since they’re both on professional exy player schedules. Brian wished he was still in contact with his college roommates, but those were bridges that have long ago collapsed from neglect.

Brian zipped his coat up to help shield against the cool Seattle night. He waved at Kevin and Thea as they got in a taxi and began the short walk back to the team’s hotel.

Besides the stuff about Neil’s father, not much was known about him. Neil was in his first professional year out of college and still getting his feet under him, but he was slowly opening up to the rest of the team. He started joining the team on drink nights and even came over for dinner to meet Brian’s wife and kid once. It was nice to get to know some of Neil’s friends for a change, but for some reason tonight, Brian couldn’t shake the feeling he was fifth wheeling on a double date.

The goal flashed red again as the buzzer called the end of the first half. The Lansing Lions were down two to their rivals the Detroit Ducks. The season was still early. The game was more a scrimmage than anything serious, but the stadium was still packed almost half and half with each team’s colors.

Tracy tapped her fingers on her leg from her seat in the press box. Neil was out early in the game due to injury. Brian was doing his best to hold fort. The striker to replace Neil was fresh out of college and was a little rough around the edges. Tracy didn’t know why they kept their goalie in when their defense was in shambles and every shot at the goalie, deflected or not seemed to bring the team’s moral down another notch. The Duck’s offense usually wasn’t as good as they are currently but a change in the coaching staff seemed to be making a large difference.

Tracy picked up her pen to jot the thought down for the post-game interview. Her excitement deflated the moment she opened her notepad and saw the note she left herself earlier. Mocking her from the top of her notepad, bolded, underlined, and circled, less she forgot like she already did, were the words “Relationship. Questions. Only.”

Sometimes she wanted to murder her boss.

“Are you familiar with the term RPF?” Her boss had asked leaning into her office earlier that day.

Tracy shook her head.

“I just found something interesting I want you to look into. What do you think the first thing that pops up when you google that Neil Josten guy?”

Tracy frowned. She wasn’t sure where this was going but she had a bad feeling. “Uh well probably the thing with his father from a while back.”

“Right, well the second thing?”

“Exy scores?” she guessed.

“No! That’s the thing,” he said like he just discovered the next big scoop. “The next result is a fan blog. The topic is theories on if Neil Josten and Andrew Minyard are in a relationship. I want you to find out tonight in the post-game interview.”

“Sir, the post-game interview is for asking questions about the game.”

“Other people can ask those questions. This is what people want to know. I want this answered in your next article.” He left no room for further protest by leaving her office.

When Tracy graduated university with a degree in journalism and mass communication, she didn’t expect to become a sports writer. She had dreams that took her across the world to report truths like her idol Anderson Cooper. But student debt had other plans and her abundance of experience reporting college football lead her to a job covering professional exy.

She didn’t hate her job. Far from it once she figured out how the sport worked. She actually enjoyed exy more than she enjoyed football. The game was interesting, the players weren’t too difficult to work with on most days, and the pay was decent. But it wasn’t for her. Five years was a long time to be at a job she didn’t want. Maybe it was time for some change.

Ten minutes slipped by in a blink of an eye. Both teams shuffled back onto the court. Tracy noted the Lion players. It looked like they were going on the defense with their defensive dealer Amber Sunderson being subbed in. The strikers were the same. One of the backliners was subbed out for Tori Wilson and Andrew Minyard was now in the goalie box. Interesting choices. Tracy scribbled in her notepad out of habit.

The game resumed and the longer it went the more obvious they were at a stalemate. Fifteen minutes in, there were attempts at the goal from both teams, but no scoring.

The referee blew the whistle for a time out. The Lions subbed out the green striker for Neil Josten and the other backliner. The change was immediate. Minutes after being put in, the Duck’s goal lit up red with a fast pass from Andrew up the court to Neil. The back and forth continued and Neil scored again bringing them to a tie. The mood of the game shifted again. Penalties left and right on both sides. Amber was subbed for their offensive dealer in the last ten minutes. Andrew blocked another goal and shot the ball to Neil. The fans began the ten second countdown. Neil caught the ball, dodged two backliners, and launched a successful pass to Brian. Brian tripped on a backliner and as he fell he shot the ball towards the goal.

The final buzzer rang. There was a split second of silence while the entire stadium held their breath. The Ducks’ goal lit up red and the world erupted in noise. The Lions bunched together in celebration, clacking rackets and slapping helmets. The Ducks grimly filed out of the court to their locker rooms.

Tracy was vibrating. Second hand adrenaline pumped through her veins, a grin stretched across her face. Her mind ran away with questions.

What was Brian feeling when he scored the game winning goal?

How was team cohesion different being on the defense in the second half when they were mainly an offensive team?

Was Neil’s arm alright?

The Ducks were a different team from last season with this being their first season with their new head coach. Their offense was stronger than before and this game showed it.

Tracy gathered her stuff. If she didn’t hurry she would miss her chance for an interview.

Her phone buzzed. Checking the message, she frowned. It was a text from her boss. All the excitement from the game drained. Her face pinched in frustration but she didn’t slow her pace. She might as well get it over with.

Neil and Andrew stopped in front of the press wall and waited expectantly for the questions to begin. Tracy did her best to convey her regrets in her eyes and asked the first question.

“There are rumors going around that you two are an item. Care to shed some light on the situation?” Tracy felt slimy just from voicing the question out loud.

“Oh. This isn’t like you,” Andrew replied immediately. “I normally like you.”

Tracy did her best the keep a pleasant smile on her face while she held her recorder up.

“You’re serious?” Neil piped in. “Nope. Not happening. Next question.”

Tracy refused to let out the built up sigh in her chest and flipped a page in her notebook. “In an interview with Kevin Day last week, he mentioned going out on double dates. Do you two go with him and Thea Muldani?”

“Hmmm, thank you, next.”

“From being former college teammates to now being professional teammates, how has your relationship changed?”

“How do you even come up with these questions? Next.”

“Um, it has come the attention of some of the fans that Andrew is often seen around your apartment Neil. Could there be some sort of special relationship going on?” Tracy hated how each question was asking the same thing but from different angles. Interviewing was supposed to be a conversation with questions as gentle guiding points. Her boss was an idiot.

“Do you have any exy related questions or is this all just for the sake of gossip? Like I can give you the stuff I usually say to those reporters, but I haven’t as a courtesy to how you usually are.”

“Are you being blackmailed?” Andrew asked. “Blink twice for yes.”

Tracy let the sigh escape now. “Just one more. Are you two roommates?”

Neil rolled his eyes. “Well yeah. Anything else?”

Tracy wanted to cry with joy. She got some type of answer and if her boss didn’t like it he can come out here and interview them himself. Tracy flipped the page in her book again and reached the end of the list of horror.

“If you don’t have anything else, we’re gonna go hit the showers,” Neil said and began turning away.

“The Ducks typically lack offensive strength but it seems like they brought it to the game this evening. What do you two think about the Ducks’ new play style? Are there any plans in place to accommodate for the change?” She burst out before she missed her chance.

“Ah yes. Finally, an exy question.”

Tracy slumped through the lobby barefoot, high heels dangling in her hand. She never really understood why people wore heels to sporting events. Athletic event should require athletic shoes for everyone, not just the athletes.

It was late. She didn’t mean to get sidetracked drafting the next day’s article. The only ones left were the custodians. She made it out into the cool autumn night. The stars hid behind the overcast sky. She walked carefully to avoid rocks and glass to get to her car in the reserved parking lot. Halfway there she paused when she noticed someone else was still there. Sitting on a car more expensive than what she made in three years was Neil and Andrew.

Neil sat with one leg pulled up and one leg out. In his hand was a cigarette that didn’t look like he was smoking. The surprising thing was Andrew. He was leaning on Neil’s shoulder. The clouds parted and Tracy could see that he was asleep.

Neil looked up and their eyes locked. His eyes, blue and icy were not quite a threat but not nearly nice enough to be a warning. Slowly as to not disturb Andrew’s slumber, Neil brought his index finger up to his lips for silence. Unconsciously Tracy did the same and Neil smiled. It was something cold and terrible. Different from the face he put up in front of crowds. More private. The real Neil. The boy who was on the run for nine years before his demons caught him. Tracy read the stories; she saw the news.

She held back a shiver and quickly made her way to her car without looking back. Her boss was going to have to deal with the normal exy questions or she was going to quit on the spot.

“Well Marcus that’s about it for the introductions. The rest will be handled as they come up. For now, here’s your office. It’s shared with the other interns. You can decorate your space however you want. I’ll leave you here to familiarize yourself and to go over the athletes you’ll be helping with. I have a call I have to make, but I’ll be back in about thirty minutes to give you a tour of the facilities and maybe we can catch the team finishing practice.” Sarah turned and left Marcus in the cramped, little office.

He sat in his new chair. The office had two other desks that were in various states of disarray. He didn’t know if his office mates were in or not but he currently had the place to himself. He grinned in excitement. He was finally taking bigger steps towards his future goals. The application process for the internship was rigorous but as he examined the folders on his desk, he knew it was worth it every hoop he had to jump through. His desk was spotless except for the small stack of folders. The top four were blue. They were the athletes he would be working with for the next year. He opened the first one.

Tori Wilson was the backliner from Ohio State University. She’s been on the team for three years and she frequently donates to local Women shelters.

Evan Smith was twenty-four and going into his second year as a striker for the Lions. Most of the charities he liked to work with involved children.

He flipped over the next one.

Andrew Minyard. Marcus paused. He sounded vaguely familiar but he couldn’t quite place why. He skimmed his bio and flipped to his final blue folder.

The last one he did actually recognize. It was such a big news story that it made it out of exy news and onto mainstream news. The blue eyes of Neil Josten stared back up at him and Andrew’s position clicked into place. They were collegiate teammates and now on the same professional team as well as two members of the winning 2012 US Olympic team. Saying he was a little star struck would be an understatement. He had no idea why Sarah thought he would be qualified enough to help with the public relations for two big name players like them. He could only hope he wouldn’t mess up and end up dead in a ditch somewhere.

“Are you ready for that tour?” Sarah popped her head in and Marcus almost dropped his folders everywhere.

“Yeah sure let’s go,” he replied setting the folders down on his desk.

Sarah took Marcus around the facility. On the way she gave historic tidbits on the Lions and told stories of some of the players she’s worked with in the past. Eventually they entered a room with a few couches in a circle, a mini kitchen in the corner, and doors lined on both sides of the room.

“This area is the team room. They mainly use it to hang out or have team meetings. In the corner over there is the fueling station though there are more options available in the cafeteria which I will bring you by later. This room connects to the men’s and women’s locker rooms. The locker rooms both have an entrance to the court but the team typically meets in this room before heading out to the court. The door over there leads to the film room also known as the video game room. Do not challenge Amber to Mario Kart. No matter how good you think you are, she’s better.” Sarah’s spiel was interrupted by some stomping coming from the court doors. “Ah they must be done. Brace yourself Marcus.”

“Wha-”

The doors to the court burst open as one of the players rushed through. “Get back here Evan! I will make you eat those words” followed him along with a bout of laughter.

Evan looked around briefly before his eyes landed on Sarah and Marcus. “Hide me!”

Sarah smiled and pointed to one of the rooms.

Evan ran for cover.

Soon after another player walked through the doors. Her helmet was off and her long brown hair was coming undone from her braid. Her eyes scanned the room like Evan’s did. “Where is he?” She bit out.

Sarah smiled and pointed to the same room and the woman stormed over. “Sit down Evan Taylor Smith. Only cowards run.” There was a betrayed scream and the door slammed shut. Moments later the telltale Nintendo Wii startup noise blared.

“That was Amber Sunderson and Evan Smith. Trust me, whatever Evan did, he deserved it.” Sarah explained.

The rest of the team trickled in. Marcus spotted Tori in the mix. Her hair was shorter than her profile picture.

The players gave quiet greetings to Sarah and curious nods to Marcus. When it looked like the whole team was in Sarah cleared her throat. “Listen up kiddos. This here is Marcus and he’s the new PR intern,” Sarah paused and Marcus waved. “Please leave a good impression and be on your best behavior for the rest of forever.”

“Oh Sarah you know that’s impossible,” one of the players said while some of the others laughed. “Evan already ran through here didn’t he?”

“Well, don’t scare him off. Wilson, Minyard, Josten. Front and center.” Tori stepped forward. The rest of the team cleared out heading to the fueling station or the locker rooms.

“Where’s Minyard and Josten?” Sarah asked after a moment.

“Minyard’s probably trying to peel Josten off the court,” Tori answered with a shrug. “It was one of those practices.”

The court doors opened again and the two shortest people Marcus has ever seen passed the age of ten walked through. Marcus towered over them. Tori and Sarah towered over them. Marcus’s nine-year-old cousin would tower over them. Marcus did his best to keep his face neutral.

The two walked closely together. Neil looked to be explaining something but Marcus’s two years of his major’s language requirement wasn’t enough to understand his German. They automatically stopped when they got by them.

“Hm, who’s this?” Neil asked.

“Hi, I’m Marcus. The new PR intern. I’ll be working with you three and Evan in the future.” Marcus stuck out his hand to Andrew who was closest.

Andrew stared at Marcus’s outstretched hand, but didn’t take it.

Marcus shifted his gaze to Neil.

Neil stared back without doing anything.

Someone snorted in the background.

Marcus slowly dropped his hand. “Okay.”

Tori took pity on him and reached out her hand, but it was too late. It already spiraled into awkward. “It’s nice to meet you Marcus,” she said with a pleasant smile. “Don’t mind these assholes.”

Marcus shook her hand. “Thank you, it’s nice to meet you too.”

“Well we won’t hold you guys up here. Gotta finish the tour. We’ll see you tomorrow for the photoshoot with Make-A-Wish. Okay?”

Working with Tori, Evan, Andrew, and Neil wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. Well. Working with Tori and Evan was always a pleasure. Neil was hit or miss with the shooter being legally blind and shooting in the dark at a target a mile away, but he was agreeable, excited to participate in events. Things only went south when someone asked about his father. Which despite the incident happening over five years ago, was a topic that came up far too often. And Andrew… difficult was not the correct term to describe working with him. He attended events and stayed for the required time but nothing more, answered questions in the most efficient ways possible, posed for pictures with a considerate distance between himself and the others. There existed an air of hostility around him that was impossible to penetrate. It made Marcus a little nervous like he was back in college walking home from a late night study session through the sketchy neighborhood because it was the quickest way home. He’s been mugged once and he survived. He could handle Andrew.

Marcus looked up from his computer screen after hitting send on his last email of the day. He leaned back in his chair, popping his back. His two office mates already left for the day. Marcus started closing windows on his computer to shut it down. His eyes landed on two folded shirts sitting on the edge of his desk. The shirts that Andrew and Neil were to wear at a charity event they were attending early the next morning. The shirts Marcus was supposed to give them before they went home for the day. Marcus checked his watch. They were long gone.

Marcus mentally went through his options. They were going straight to the event and it was an early start tomorrow with a little drive so it wouldn’t be reasonable to ask them to stop by the office to pick them up. Sarah was going with them so Marcus couldn’t just give it to them when they got to the event. Sarah lived thirty minutes in good traffic the opposite direction of Marcus’s apartment. It was currently rush hour. Neil lived in Marcus’s general area. He could drop the shirts off at his place. Now that Marcus thought about it, so did Andrew. But who was scarier to call?

After figuring out that Andrew had a sweet tooth and was more amiable towards events that either revolved around sweets or had copious amounts of them on the food tables, working with him was easier. He even found out that it was possible to bribe him with sweets. Tomorrow’s event involved lots cake and ice cream.

Neil picked up on the third ring and gave Marcus his address.

Traffic was light that evening and Marcus was parking in the drop-off section of Neil’s apartment in no time. “Hey Neil I’m downstairs,” Marcus said into his phone.

“Okay I’ll buzz you up. Fifth floor. 505. Door’s open. Don’t let the cats out.” Neil abruptly cut off and the door buzzed.

Marcus found his way upstairs. He knocked gently on 505 before turning the knob to open the door. Immediately a ball of fuzz ran for freedom. Marcus blocked them with his feet. The cat looked up at him, meowed, then sauntered off deeper into the apartment. Another cat sat perched on a side table and followed Marcus’s movements as he walked down the short hallway to the rest of the apartment.

The hallway emptied into a kitchen and living room area with an island separating the two. The kitchen was spacious with granite countertops, light wood cabinets, and matching stainless steel appliances. He walked in and had to choke on a laugh. Neil was grabbing something from one of the cabinets and he was standing on an honest to god step stool. The worst part was that it wasn’t tall enough; it was essentially a step stool so he could climb on the counter easier. Marcus did his best to keep a straight face. The muscles in his cheeks strained to keep his laughter in.

“Hey Marcus. You can set the shirt on the island.”

“Okay, do you mind giving Andrew’s to him tomorrow?”

“Hm, yeah,” Neil said while climbing down with the mixing bowl he was grabbing.

Marcus let his eyes wonder for a moment. The apartment was nicer, cleaner, more decorated than Marcus expected. There were side tables, lamps, pieces of art, things that Marcus couldn’t see a man like Neil putting thought into buying let alone arranging. On the counter, two plates were set up. The drying rack by the sink held mugs, bowls, and silverware in two’s. Marcus suddenly felt like he was intruding, but curiosity pushed him to ask anyway: “Do you live with someone?”

“Mhmm, he should be back soon,” Neil said. One of the cats from earlier rushed back towards the entrance. The front door clicked open soon after. “Oh speak of the devil.”

“King. Don’t you dare.” Andrew Minyard stopped the cat from bolting out the door. In his hands were a couple grocery bags. He looked up and their eyes met. “Marcus.”

“Andrew.”

“Why?”

“Shirts.”

Andrew nodded and set the groceries on the counter.

“Well, here are the shirts. Event starts at eight sharp. Don’t be late. I’ll see you when you’re done. Bye.” Marcus didn’t exactly run out of the apartment, but he didn’t want to be there longer than he should be. It was their private life and he didn’t want them to feel forced to share something they weren’t ready to share.

Marcus knew. The entire team knew. They weren’t very subtle, but somehow the general public had yet to pick up on it.

Marcus had no idea how to handle the information, besides the obvious of not saying anything. He had to stop in the hallway. They had cats together. Neil Josten was in the process of making cookies. For all Andrew liked sweets, Neil avoided them. There was a photograph, the details flooded Marcus’s mind now that he was out of the apartment, of Andrew and Neil hung up in the hallway. Andrew was actually smiling.

He was calling Sarah before he knew it. He could hear car horns in the background when she picked up. “Sarah. They’re roommates.”

She paused on the line with a little laugh. “Oh yeah. They are roommates.”

Neil scrolled through his Facebook feed mentally planning the next time he’ll be free so he could visit Dan and Matt.

The bedroom light switched off signally Andrew’s arrival. It was 9:30pm and his weekly crime show just finished. The room was still illuminated by a lamp on the night stand, a silent argument Andrew would never win about having a lamp and the overhead light on at the same time.

Andrew walked over and pushed Neil back to his side of the bed. He sat up against the headboard, a book in his lap and reading glasses on his nose. Neil moved back over.

After catching up with the people he cared about, he switched over to check his Snapchat. He had a couple notifications from Allison, one from Matt, one from Team Snapchat, and several from Nicky. He clicked through and replied with photos of his ceiling. On Nicky’s last snap was a picture of him and Erik wishing them a Happy National Boyfriend’s day.

“Hey Andrew. Yes or no?”

Andrew side eyed Neil. Neil tried to hide his grin. “Yes.”

Neil sat up next to Andrew and pulled him to his side. “Say cheese.”

Andrew didn’t smile. Neil did for both of them while he planted a light kiss on his cheek. Neil pulled away and started typing a reply.

“Five seconds.” A hand grabbed the top of his phone. Neil typed faster.

“Three... Two...”

Neil selected Nicky, the top option, and hit send.

“One, junkie.” Andrew slipped the phone from Neil’s hands and pulled him into a real kiss.

Marcus scrolled through his Tumblr feed liking and reblogging at speed. It was late and he hated his need to get to the bottom of feed every night before going to bed. He didn’t even follow that many blogs but the ones he did follow posted frequently. At night. When he’s trying to go to bed. He paused his scrolling to open a snap from his old college roommate. He replied and decided that he might as well reply to all his snaps and finally get rid of the little red notification that has been plaguing the aesthetic of his phone screen for weeks. He was already an hour passed when he should be sleeping so another thirty minutes wouldn’t make much of a difference.

There was something new by Neil’s name. They’ve never snapped and he didn’t think he would start now. Marcus clicked on it and a photo popped up. It disappeared before he could fully comprehend what he saw. Where the icon was a replay icon appeared and Marcus clicked it again. It was a snap of Neil kissing Andrew’s cheek wishing some people named Nicky and Erik a Happy National Boyfriend’s day. Which was fine but Marcus didn’t know if it was supposed to go on whatever new function Snapchat had released. The public didn’t know that they were an official couple yet. Marcus had no idea how they haven’t figured it out. Though he supposed that most interactions with the public were exy games and stiff interviews. The media would have a field day. Marcus could already see the masses of emails he’d have in the morning.

Marcus checked the snap from Team Snapchat and relaxed. Only people who followed Neil could see them. So friends. Why would anyone follow someone if they wouldn’t follow back anyway?

Sue startled awake when her phone went off. It didn’t feel right. She just went to sleep so there was no way it was already morning. She heard her roommate groan and turn over. A moment later, it clicked into place. It was her ringtone and not her alarm. She quickly picked up her phone only to pull it away from her ear when Laura shrieked.

“Laura, what the fuck? It’s…” Sue squinted at the red light of her roommate’s alarm clock. “It’s 3AM. I have a test in the morning.”

“Sue! This is important! Check your Snapchat! Then call back!” Laura abruptly hung up.

Sue blindly navigated to the app. The white light burned her eyes. She didn’t have any notifications. Sue was going to punch Laura the next time she saw her. She scrolled down her contacts just in case and froze when she saw something next to Neil Josten’s name.

Sue sat up so fast she got vertigo. She followed Neil the moment she knew he had a Snapchat. He didn’t follow back and she didn’t expect him to, but at that moment, she was glad she did.

She clicked on the circle next to Neil’s name and screamed.

Brian checked his watch again. Neil was late to their morning lift session and Neil was never late. “Hey Evan, have you seen Josten?”

“Josten and Minyard were called in by Sarah this morning,” Evan replied without looking up from texting on his phone.

“Oh, why?”

“Didn’t you hear? Check your Snapchat.”

“You know I don’t do social media.”

“Oh yeah.” Evan tapped on his phone some more before handing it to Brian. “Here. There’s a new function on Snapchat called Stories and this was posted on Neil’s this morning. Probably by accident.”

Brian took the phone and snorted. “I bet they’re having fun right now.”

“Lol you should have seen Sarah’s face; she looked so stressed.”

Tracy set her briefcase down in her office. She frowned at the dust covering her desk. She was only gone for a month. She left her office to hunt down some paper towels.

Her last scoop took her away overseas. Between investigations, she was able to travel around the area. She got to try new foods, learn about the culture, make friends with some of the locals. It was exciting and she loved each and every moment.

When she got back to her office, she could hear the sound of her personal cellphone’s ringtone softly chiming through her briefcase.

“Hello Sarah. It’s been a while,” she said picking up the phone.

“Hey Tracy.” Sarah’s voice sounded a little frantic. Paper could be heard shuffling in the background. Someone was screaming? Tracy wasn’t sure.

“Everything alright over there? You still working with the Lions?”

“Yeah. Are you in town? I’m gonna have to call in that favor.”

“I’m in town. Just got back yesterday. What’s up?”

“You know Neil and Andrew right? They finally came out. Kind of. I’ll update you when you get here. They refused an official press conference but agreed to an interview on the condition that you did it.”

Tracy raised an eyebrow. “Me?”

“I know this isn’t your thing anymore, but they insisted.”

“Uhh…” Tracy remembered the cold smile that stretched across Neil’s face that night in the parking lot. It haunted her dreams some nights when the temperature dropped outside. But she also remembered the careful way Neil moved around Andrew’s sleeping form, the soft way he cradled his head with his arms. They were people like the ones in her articles at her new job. It wasn’t going to be about exy like her previous articles about them. It wasn’t going to be about rumors and gossip like the article that made her quit. It was going to be about their truth. “Yeah. I can do that. I’ll be over in thirty minutes.”

[AO3] [Extra content]

#Andreil #aftg fanfic #andrew minyard #neil josten #aftg #im free #i can work on other things now #write junk #m

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professionaldevelopmentdy · 3 years

Text

Week 1 - reading

https://www.creativebloq.com/features/are-design-graduates-industry-ready

Vince provided this article for us to read to get the ball rolling. It discusses whether design graduates are industry ready.

The author Lisa Hassell shares her university experience. She states that she graduated in 2005 with “no more than a heavy A3 portfolio, a hideous overdraft and little idea of what to do next.”

She believes that degree courses have changed considerably over the last 13 years and that today’s grads are a lot more informed than they used to be but poses the question “is it enough?”

The report states that ‘A report by creative branding agency Michon released in April 2018 sought to highlight some of these issues, detailing concerns among the design community that recent graduates are leaving higher education with insufficient real-world skills.’ It is then debated who is responsible, is it studios that need to take a more active role or the universities?

the UK Government has pledged £80 million to help businesses and universities work more closely together, promoting collaborative research and creating highly skilled jobs. - This is an encouraging move but is it time for an industry wide rethink?

Experience vs education

Tensions often arise from employers wanting real-world experience and undervaluing the important fundamentals that a practice-led art education is often structured around, observes Manchester-based designer Craig Oldham.

"I think education can make students more aware of certain practicalities of working life, but to nail it down would be misplaced time. They’d be better placed focusing on creative thinking and expressing that using their skills, [as] opposed to getting laboured down in bureaucratic practicality. "For me I think there’s often an over-reliance from the industry on people being able to do these things, and I think we can often lose sight of the fact that we sell creativity as an industry – so that’s of primary importance to me."

"I hate the bun fight that happens between education and industry, with both sides blaming one another," states Oldham. "It's pointless and futile, and each has to bear responsibility and engage in a meaningful dialogue and relationship. We are crippled now by numerous problems in both education and industry – gender, pay, race, class – and both sides have to take an active role in addressing them."

Fuelling the debate, course leader at Ravensbourne University, Derek Yates, is frustrated with how some institutions are failing to tackle the issue. "Education has been a bit lazy in the way it works with industry," states Yates. "We need to develop our relationships more strategically. I've done a lot of industry projects over the years and the ones that work are where both parties get something out of it. Both parties have to benefit for the relationship to work."

Collaborate to drive change

At Ravensbourne University, Yates has developed approaches to working with the industry. In 2012, he initiated and chaired Alt/Shift, a platform to promote meaningful dialogue and constructive collaboration between the creative industries and design education.

Heading up the BA Hons Advertising & Brand Design course, a major part of his role involves facilitating partnerships between education and contemporary creative practice, and over the last 10 years he has instigated projects with internationally recognised organisations such as the O2, Eye Magazine, LBi, Moving Brands, Mother, National Air Traffic Control, De La Rue and ustwo. Earlier this year he broke new ground with Untitled– a one-day networking event delivered in collaboration with Lecture in Progress.

"Our aim is to empower emerging talent with information and first-hand accounts that demystify the day-to-day workings of the creative world," says Will Hudson, who ran a series of workshops with Ravensbourne students.

"By focusing on the people, projects and places that make the industry thrive, we want to deliver greater visibility to how work unfolds, where it happens and the breadth of roles that exist."

"They didn't want a conference that was just lectures, they didn't want a conference that was delivered by white, middle-class men, and they didn't want a conference delivered by people over 30," reveals Yates.

Yates believes students need to be active participants in the way their education develops.

There's an equally important conversation to be had between students and educators. If you give students more responsibility and ask them what they think they can quickly show you what you can do better. They need to question and discover for themselves and we need to incorporate what they are learning into how their course design develops year on year. We need to trust our students more."

“I think all practitioners have a responsibility to teach, to give back” - Craig Oldham

University degree alternatives

Shillington ensures it is relevant to the creative industry by hiring only practising designers who are personable, eager to mentor and share their knowledge with the next generation. "Their expertise guides our curriculum, and their experience allows us to cultivate an authentic 'studio' classroom," explains UK Director Sarah McHugh. "Intensive courses are definitely shaking up education, and we're proud to be one of the original pioneers."

Eleanor Robertson parted from a career in marketing and publicity to pursue her passion for design, enrolling on the full-time course at Shillington. Within a few months of graduating she secured a junior designer role at branding agency Paul Belford Ltd and hasn’t looked back.

"These different experiences meant that people's responses to the same brief were wildly different, which was very inspiring." - Eleanor Robertson

In today's fast-paced world, it's entirely possible that university and intensive courses can actually work really well together, as McHugh attests: "many of our students have already completed degrees and/or worked in a wide variety of industries. Their previous experience and skills can actually benefit them at Shillington to up-skill or completely change their careers."

Creating opportunities for students

Launching Intern with the goal of making the creative industries more diverse, representative and inclusive, Dudson is passionate about providing opportunities to the next generation of creatives.

"I started the project to provide a place where an open dialogue about creative careers could happen, as I was seeing far too many people either trapped in a cycle of unpaid internships, or locked out of potential careers because they simply couldn’t afford to keep working for free."

Valuing creative ideas

The ethos of our course is 'Ideas that work'.

"Everyone is so driven and committed and their priority is nailing the brief for the client, not because they're forced to but because they love it. It was really inspiring to be part of an environment full of talented and motivated people." - Student on work placement for McCann Manchester

Organised visits to agencies such as Mother, Ogilvy and Wieden+Kennedy are vital to the success of the course. "The best part about these visits is that you get to see inside a real agency and the hustle and bustle of it all," enthuses Bailey. "It inspires us to strive for opportunities; it's now our ultimate dream to work in New York."

"Technical skills are easy to pick up. But thinking of ideas is hard. If you can come up with good ideas on demand, you will always be useful."

Nurturing the next generation

"Agencies need to understand with real sincerity the level of the person they are looking to engage with, what responsibilities they can delegate, and be realistic about how that fits into their working schedule," argues Oldham.

Neil Bennett, strategy director at LOVE, recognises that there are many benefits to the gig economy if you are a creative; "Variety, lifestyle control, chance to work on personal projects and if you are very good it can be lucrative."

“Education and industry are two separate things; nobody graduates from a degree in medicine and goes into surgery on day one." - Will Hudson

Employing a team of 31 full-time staff across It's Nice That, Anyways and Lecture in Progress, the HudsonBec Group offers a number of entry-level 10-week roles across editorial and creative, but admits it had to make changes. "We drew the line about five years ago where we changed the language around internship to junior freelance," says Hudson.

Initially offered at National Minimum Wage, these roles are now paid at London Living Wage, which has led to a number of freelance roles joining the team full time, with around six of the current full-time staff coming through this process. "It has given us the opportunity to bring in a number of people over the years, often right at the start of their careers," reflects Hudson.

"There is obviously a baseline skill level and competency relevant to any role, but we have always maintained we are looking for passionate young people, willing to learn, contribute to conversations, aware of the industry and world around them."

"I think it's important for every person to evaluate as much as they can on the outset of undertaking anything – what they want to get from it as an aim, and what they will definitely get from it as a reality."

Having an idea of what you are doing something for, and why, beyond earning money can save a lot of pain down the line, or equally adds to the joy when things turn out better. "There can always be something you can take from any situation, be that a shit one or a great one", says Oldham.

Designing courses fit for the future

Designer and educator Jenny Theolin creates and delivers learning experiences for individuals, schools and businesses within areas such as technology, design thinking, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Designing a course called The Studio for the Digital Media Creative Programme at Hyper Island, Theolin teaches client relations, building teams and project management.

Like Yates, Theolin recognises the value of aligning courses with industry, to ensure students develop the flexibility and empathy needed to work with people. "Graphic design is a people's business," she continues, "you need to learn people skills and build relationships. The industry is very small, and it is much better to create long-lasting friendships than short-term dates."

Using research to develop

Building connections with studios such as ustwo, Sennep and Moving Brands, all of whom have set up research initiatives to ensure their commercial work is constantly evolving, Ravensbourne is able to feed insights from this into the development of its courses.

Research is a necessary part of how our industry is developing.

Yates suggests this could drive new opportunities for research related specifically to the creative disciplines. "I've always felt education needs to respond to its context," concludes Yates. "It needs to change and keep changing, because the world around it keeps on changing."

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ladygloucester · 7 years

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Here, of all places - Chapter 2

First of all, thank you for the amazing response to the first chapter!! Hope you enjoy this one as well ;)

First part here.

A ding announced the doors closing again, and a firm hand with long fingers stopped their movement, opening them back.

She prayed for Earth to rip open and swallow her into its deepest core, erasing her into oblivion and disappearing that very moment. Spontaneous combustion. The rapture. Anything. His smirk and the way he looked at her from under his eyelashes wasn’t helping either. She gaped, as if trying to expel some kind of coherent thought, but no sound come out of her mouth, and shut it close.

Geillis had already got in and was staring at her, arching her perfectly plucked blonde eyebrows.

“Claire?” She asked puzzled. “Care to join us?“

Slowly, convinced she now knew how a condemned prisoner felt on his last steps towards the gallows, she entered the elevator and stood, with her back to the other two users, near the doors that slid back into place almost trapping her feet. Her blood was still deciding between flooding her limbs and prompting her to run or dancing under the skin of her face, blushing it beyond imagination. Thoughts ran wild through her mind. What were the odds? Well, of course this was going to happen. It was just the way the Universe had to tell her that every mistake or indiscretion she was willing to commit would inevitably lead to an embarrassing situation with guest starring flushing, cursing and running for dear life.

The doors opened again and Claire exited like the place smelled of brimstone, but her rush faded slightly when she realized she had no idea where she was. Geillis’ chuckle behind her and her hand on her arm acted as an anchor to reality, one she welcomed and hung to in order to avoid having to pledge temporal insanity.

“Locker rooms are this way,“ she pointed while he seemed to follow the same direction. Claire didn’t dare to look over her shoulder, knowing he would be there, staring at her with that overconfident smile dancing in the corners of his lips. A sudden wave of heat crashed against her.

His lips… His lips discovering the lost freckles on her skin, revering each and every one of them before finding the next. Traveling from her neck to her earlobe, the tip of his tongue making her eyes roll to the back of her head before parting her own lips and conquering every inch of her mouth.

“Christ…” She panted, shaking her head from the flashes of last night’s hidden memories.

Claire hurried into the female changing room and collapsed on one of the benches, covering her face with both her hands and trying to steady her heartbeat. Geillis opened her cubby, grabbed her navy blue scrubs and sat by her side.

“What is it? Ye’re nervous for the first day? Breathe easy. ’Tis not…”

“It was him,” she muttered still covering her face.

“What?”

“That man in the elevator. It was him. Last night. Best sex in ages?” Claire repeated until it dawned on Geillis, who stood and began to change.

“Ye’re tellin’ me ye slept with him— Really?” Doubt (and teasing) was clear in his voice, muffled under the clothes. Claire looked at her, sighing, and began to change her clothes as well.

“Really. I didn’t know…”

“How would you. Dinna martyr yerself, Beauchamp. If it’s any consolation, the whole base is trying to get in his pants since he got stationed here six weeks ago. At least ye’ve.“

“Oh, that’s consolation, yeah.”

Bitting her lip, Claire closed her locker with her bag and clothes inside and slipped into her lab coat. Well, the facility was a kilometric maze and if the odds were in her favor, she’d be able to avoid him and never cross paths with him. She reassured herself like this, breathing deeply and tightening her fists. No, this was her chance for a new life, one without the burdens of the past, a clean slate, and she was willing to make the most of it. Nodding with conviction, she turned to follow Geillis out of the changing room, with her stethoscope hanging around her neck.

But as Geillis held the door for her to pass, the one that guarded the entrance of the male locker room got opened by her worst —and best— nightmare. Sporting an army uniform, consisting of a camouflage pants, boots and a khaki t shirt, tighter than it should be legal, Jamie appeared with that crooked smiled that seemed permanently plastered on his face. Straight out of the shower, an errant drop dancing down his temple, his curls were damp and sleekly combed backwards in a more strict manner than the freedom they roamed with before.

Claire’s eyes darted immediately towards the elevator and Geillis tried to imprint a slightly faster pace to their walk, but his strides matched their efforts and they awkwardly stood in front of the same doors they had left just minutes before. Looking at him sideways and praying for him to stay quiet, Claire fidgeted with her stethoscope for what felt like eternity. She saw him smile knowingly and opened his mouth a couple of times, as if he was deciding what to say, before closing it back silently and smiling again.

Geillis’ hand grabbing her arm snapped her out of her self pitying haze.

“We’ll be taking the stairs,“ Geillis said questioningly, arching an eyebrow an waiting for Claire’s nod, one that came swiftly and set them both on their way, away from the elevator. The moment they arrived to the medical floor, she leaned against the wall and sighed.

“This is going to be a problem.“

Helwater was a military faciliity located in the outskirts of Edinburgh. It was designed both as an intelligence and a recovery center for soldiers who had been injured in the line of duty and were stabilized, but not healthy enough to return to their homes or back in service. Geillis had been working there for the past four years, and when Claire called her two months ago, she didn’t waste a second before recommending her to her superiors and granting her an interview that turned out rather successfully. So she had packed her bags, or at least as much as she could, and run away from Oxford into the loving arms of Scotland.

Waiting by the nurse station was Dr. Joe Abernathy, the medical chief of the facility and the one that had decided to hire Claire in that moment of need. There was something about his warmness, despite being in the military, that had forced Claire to spill her guts and tell him why the sudden change of career path. And keen of sincerity as he was, he had opened this new opportunity for her to make the most of it.

“Dr. Beauchamp, good to see you,“ he welcomed her shaking her hand vigorously and eliciting a smile from her.

“Thank you again, Dr. Abernathy, for this opportunity. I hope I’ll be able to catch up—“

“Nonsense. I know you will. Let me give you the tour and put you up to speed.”

Geillis left them with a smile and an encouraging wink to resume her own tasks, and Claire followed him diligently. Dr. Abernathy explained her the different methodologies and protocols in place, and escorted her around the premises showing her where everything was, from the wing where most seriously injured patients were lodged, to the different storage rooms where she could find any medical supply she needed.

“Good morning, soldier,” she said to one of the patients that had arrived earlier that week. Reading his chart, he had been wounded during a drill and his left femur had broken in three different places. A nasty fracture that had been stabilized but needed a more detailed surgery for him to regain full use of the leg. “How’s pain today?”

“Bearable, doctor,” he answered wincing almost inadvertently.

“You don’t have to suffer for a second, soldier,” Claire stated as she looked at his analgesic drip, adjusting it. “We need you back in one piece and being in pain only will delay your recovery. So no unnecessary bravery here when you’ll be needing it in the future, you understand?”

Her tone made him square his shoulders and nod curtly.

“Yes, madame. Hurts like getting your balls crushed with hot pliers.”

“Much better,” she chuckled and increased the dosage. “Let me know if the pliers cool.”

Dr. Abernathy’s low, quiet laughter accompanied her steps out of the patient’s room and she smiled in return.

“They don’t need to be brave here and put up with the pain, especially if we can manage it easily,” she commented while updating the chart.

“Those kids are used to be brave no matter what. So it’s nice that you give them the chance to at least let their guard down for a few days.”

She nodded and left the chart in the station, before grabbing the next one.

The rest of the day passed by uneventful. Claire’s main focus was to absorb every detail about the way things were done, and Abernathy proved to be an excellent teacher, calm but pointed, watching her every decision like a hawk. Lunch consisted of a sandwich and a light soda going over the charts that had piled in the past few days, before getting acquainted with the rest of the patients. One hour before it was time to call it a day, Abernathy approached her with a file and sat next to her.

“This case is especial. This patient isn’t in the facility. He’s currently being transferred here from Irak, but we’re in constant communication with the team that’s extracting him and we’ve developed a plan. Since you’re to be his main physician the minute he lands here, you’re responsible for his course of treatment. Take a look to see if you agree with what we’ve decided so far and if so, you have to go and report to Captain Fraser. He’s the our military liaison in this case.”

“Sure, let me see.”

Claire took the file and went through the notes. Her stomach clenched when she read the first evaluation of his wounds. Clearly it was going to be one of the most challenging cases she’d been confronted with, but reading throughout the course of treatment, she only disagreed with one of options.

“Actually I think we could manage to obtain a skin graph from a donor. They have a much better chance of healing properly than synthetic, but otherwise I think we’re good to go.”

“Good. Change it and I’ll call the captain to let him know you’re coming.”

She scribbled her note quickly, closed the file and followed her boss indications to get to the office. After a long walk, two flights of stairs and showing her ID twice, she managed to enter the intelligence commanding officers wing. Quiet as it was, she suddenly felt intimidated by the space. Sparkling clean, every cedar door had a golden nameplate indicating who was the current inhabitant of each study, and when she finally reached her destination, she inhaled deeply and knocked firmly on the door.

“Come in,” a muffled voice invited.

The knob felt cold against her palm, turning it to grant access, but when her eyes roamed the room and finally settled on the occupant of the mahogany desk, Claire felt her blood boiling and freezing at the same time.

Fuck.

Part three already up.

#outlander #outlander fanfic #claire beauchamp #jamie x claire #jamie fraser #ladygoutlanderfic #fanfic #here of all places

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victoriagloverstuff · 6 years

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Trespassing at Ernest Hemingway's House

The signs couldn’t have been clearer. PRIVATE PROPERTY. NO TRESPASSING. VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED. I had been looking for the dead-end street in Ketchum, Idaho where Ernest Hemingway took his life on July 2, 1961, and reckoned I had found it. Thanks to fierce opposition from affluent neighbors in the Canyon Run neighborhood that has sprung up around what was once a very isolated 22-acre property on the Big Wood River, the home has never been open to the public and the address isn’t advertised.

Hemingway and his (fourth) wife Mary bought the Idaho house in 1959, and it has sat empty since his death, save for spells when caretakers resided in the basement. Although I have a deep respect for Hemingway’s work, I’ve long been even more fascinated with his peripatetic life. As someone who has traveled to 70-odd countries and has moved more than a dozen times in the last twenty years, peripatetic Hemingway is something of a kindred spirit. He never sat still, never seemed satisfied, and frequently sought to cure what ailed him with a change of scenery—I’m the same way.

For years, I lived a short walk away from his birth home in Oak Park, Illinois, and when I learned that Hemingway’s Ketchum home had been preserved as a kind of time capsule, I resolved to try to see the place. I wanted to know why it was still closed when so many of the other places Hemingway once called home are open to the public. And, perhaps more important, I wanted to understand what had brought the restless author to a remote valley in the Idaho wildnerness to live out his final chapter.

Many writers have grappled with this question, but none more perceptively than Hunter S. Thompson, who wrote three years after the Hemingway’s death, “Anybody who considers themselves a writer or even a serious reader cannot help but wonder just what it was about this outback little Idaho village that struck such a responsive cord in America’s most famous writer.”

The Ketchum that the pioneer of gonzo journalism discovered in 1964 had just one paved street and was “no longer a glittering, celebrity-filled winter retreat for the rich and famous, but just another good ski resort in a tough league.” Thompson thought that Hemingway had returned to the Gem State because he had lost his way and was pining for the good old days he’d spent there during and after WWII. Hemingway, he surmised, wanted a place that hadn’t changed where he could “get away from the pressures of a world gone mad,” and live among apolitical people who loved the outdoors as he did.

Eager to understand it myself, I left my home in Bend, Oregon, along with my wife, Jen, and two sons, Leo, 10, and James, 8, on a bright Tuesday afternoon in late October (2017) to see what we could find. The eight-hour drive took us through desolate Malheur County, site of the 2016 armed Oregon Standoff, sprawling, ever-expanding Boise, now America’s fastest growing city, and forlorn cowboy hamlets like Fairfield, Idaho, home of the Wrangler Drive-in, where gluttons can feast on two-pound jackalope burgers, which come with six slices of bacon, three onion rings, six slices of pepper jack cheese, and secret sauce among other things.

“Does the fact that Hemingway took his life in this house make the prospect of touring it somehow unseemly or even ghoulish? Some might think so.”

Everyone in Ketchum knows about the author’s connection to the place, but no one knew or was willing to give me directions to his old refuge. A spry woman of late middle age years at the tourist information office in the town’s compact downtown gave me an Ernest Hemingway in Idaho brochure but politely deflected my questions about the house. “You can’t see it, but you can visit his grave, see the Hemingway Memorial, go to our history museum,” she said. I called and later emailed the director of The Ketchum Community Library, which was gifted the home last May, but she said they couldn’t show it to me due to ongoing renovations. She later said she’d tell me about their plans for the place over the phone, but I was never able to reach her despite multiple attempts. They are apparently planning to establish a writer in residence program but the details are unclear.

Thompson’s account provided few clues to the home’s whereabouts, though he did admit to stealing a pair of elk horns that once hung above the front door.

A tour guide told me I could see it from a hill behind a place called the Zenergy Health Club. But even with a pair of binoculars, all I could make out through the dense October foliage was a very distant view of what appeared to be men repairing the roof. I had found a few clues after doing some detective work online, so I knew the house was at the end of a dead-end street, on a large, wooded parcel, north of downtown Ketchum fronting the Big Wood River.

I cycled up and down a host of dead-end streets on a balmy Indian summer afternoon, the kind of day that must have seduced Hemingway years ago. But it wasn’t until I returned to my hotel that I actually found the place, perusing Ketchum’s topography on Google Earth. I saw a house that seemed to fit the bill at the end of a street called East Canyon Run Boulevard, and when I went to investigate, with my family in tow, the “private property” and “no trespassing” signs confirmed we were in the right place.

“Maybe you should go by yourself,” Jen said. “It’s not worth getting arrested for.”

We were parked near the signs, adjacent to a large, mid-century home. It was a Friday afternoon and the street couldn’t have been quieter. More than a decade ago, the Nature Conservancy, which was gifted the property by Mary Hemingway upon her death in 1986, had tried to open up the home to public tours but the neighbors had organized to squash the plan. Surely it wasn’t out of the question that if we were seen driving past the “no trespassing” signs they might call the police? And what if the property had security cameras?

As Jen and I debated these questions, Leo said, “Dad, I don’t want to go in.” But we had come so far, how could I justify turning back?

Hemingway first visited Ketchum on September 19, 1939. He was 40 and his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer—his second wife—was falling apart. After what biographer Mary Dearborn termed a “disastrous” holiday with Pauline and his sons in Wyoming, Hemingway drove west to rendezvous with his mistress, the war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, whom he would wed a year later in Cheyenne. The Sun Valley Resort had been open for nearly three years and was trying to generate publicity by inviting Hollywood stars and famous writers like Hemingway—who had by this time published A Farewell to Arms, Death in the Afternoon, and To Have and Have Not—to stay at the resort for free.

The resort was the brainchild of W. Averell Harriman, who was the chairman of the Union Pacific Railroad in the 1930s and was later elected governor of New York. Harriman had traveled by rail to ski resorts in Europe and wanted to develop a European-style ski resort somewhere in the West along the UP rail line. In the winter of 1935-6, Harriman hired Felix Schaffgotsch, an Austrian Count, to scout locations. Schaffgotsch toured a host of iconic spots around the West—Mt. Rainer, Mt. Hood, Jackson Hole, Yosemite, and Zion, among others—but didn’t think any of the proposed sites were quite right.

He was about to abandon his quest when he stumbled upon Ketchum. Schaffgotsch was impressed by the pitch of Bald Mountain, the site’s moderate elevation, abundance of sunshine, and absence of wind among other things. The company purchased a 3,888-acre parcel of land for about $4 per acre and constructed what would become the country’s first destination ski resort in about 7 months. In the years to come, visits from a host of celebrities—Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Lucille Ball, Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper, and others—helped transform the quiet valley into a hugely popular destination.

“Everyone in Ketchum knows about the author’s connection to the place, but no one knew or was willing to give me directions to his old refuge.”

Although Hemingway had been invited to visit the resort, he hadn’t booked ahead. Nevertheless, he and Gellhorn were given a free room, number 206 (now #338). (A sin that, if committed today, would bar him for writing for many of the country’s most august publications, including The New York Times.) In the mornings, he worked on what became For Whom the Bell Tolls while Gellhorn completed a short story collection, The Heart of Another. Most afternoons, they explored the area on horseback with friends Ernest dubbed the “Sun Valley mob.”

Ernest hadn’t skied in more than a decade, but came for the chance to hunt duck, pheasant, partridge, antelope, and elk. Martha left for an assignment in Finland in November, and according to Dearborn, Earnest grew despondent, writing to a friend that he was “stinko deadly lonely.” Among other diversions, he shot at coyotes from a low flying plane, which Dearborn says he knew was “not good sport.”

He thought about spending the holidays with Pauline and his sons in Key West, but was told if he planned to re-join Martha after the holidays he wasn’t welcome. The pair divorced in 1940, and Martha and Ernest met to spend another season in Sun Valley on September 1, this time with his sons, Jack, whom they called “Bumby,” then 17, and Gregory, 9. They were given a $38 per night suite for which they paid a token $1. Life Magazine, which had previously written a cover story on the place titled, “Sun Valley, Society’s Newest Winter Playground,” came to photograph him and the resulting piece generated even more publicity for the emerging ski resort.

Hemingway returned to the area four more times to spend the fall and parts of winter between 1939 and 1947. (By 1946, he was no longer getting a free room at the Sun Valley Resort, which was transformed into a Navy hospital, so he stayed at MacDonald’s Cabins, which is a now shuttered budget motel that was called the Ketchum Korral.)

Ernest and the rest of his Sun Valley Mob were regulars at the resort’s Duchin and Ram Bars. He also liked to drink at Whiskey Jacques and the Casino Bar, both of which are still open. By 1959, he had grown frustrated with his notoriety in Cuba and he decided to buy a home in Ketchum. Hemingway was a document hoarder—he reportedly even saved grocery lists—and he believed that Idaho was an ideal place to preserve his letters, manuscripts and other papers, thanks to its dry climate.

The furnished, l-shaped Ketchum home the Hemingways bought for $50,000 in 1959 was built just six years before by Henry J. “Bob” Topping,Jr., a socialite whose family had made its fortune in the tin-plate industry, at a cost of about $100,000. Topping had built the place as a temple of affection for his bride, Mona Moedl, a native of nearby Hailey, Ezra Pound’s hometown. But they’d decided to move to Arizona for health reasons and were apparently eager enough to leave town that they accepted what seems now like a lowball offer.

With its faux redwood and stained timbers, the house looked a lot like the Sun Valley Lodge, which is just as Topping intended. A local tour guide and former state representative, Wendy Jaquet, told me, “Locals joked that Hemingway bought it since he was kicked out of the lodge’s bars and wanted a similar place to drink in.”

The Ketchum Cemetery is a modest place situated on the slope of a sagebrush-covered butte just outside Ketchum’s tidy downtown. Hemingway’s grave is a simple rectangular, granite slab engraved with nothing more than his name and dates of birth and death. He was buried in a rose-covered, dark gray casket; his remains lie next to plots for his wife, Mary, near his son, Jack, and a few of his friends, including Taylor “Bear Tracks” Williams, a guide who was one of his closest confidants.

Other visitors to the grave have found half-drunk bottles of rum, shot glasses bearing bullets, cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon, and other tokens of affection. But all I found were some coins, a small pumpkin, an assortment of pinecones, a cheap pen, and a copy of Marie Hall Ets’ book In the Forest. I wondered what the cemetery did with all the booze people left but there was no one around to ask, and no one responded to my phone calls.

Ketchum is a one-time mining town that’s long been a wintery stew of ski bums and affluent second-home owners. Late October is considered shoulder season—Bald Mountain had just a thin layer of snow near the summit—and so it felt a bit like arriving at a party an hour before the dips have been set out. Hunter S. Thompson described it as a “raw and peaceful little village” when he visited offseason in 1964. It still felt peaceful, but more polished than raw and full of fancy restaurants and overpriced boutiques, mostly staffed by people who couldn’t afford to live in town.

Businesses in Ketchum don’t advertise their Hemingway connections as overtly as his haunts in Cuba and Key West do. For example, walking into the Christiania Restaurant you’d never know he ate his last meal at the place the night before he took his life. (And, according to friends, was in good spirits.)

But the Sun Valley Museum of History has a “Hemingway in Idaho” exhibit with a host of photos and memorabilia, including one of his well-traveled Royal typewriters, a compact little number that seemed too small for Hemingway’s brawny build. (It was found in the attic of a home purchased by a local man named Jim Harris and was later authenticated. Hemingway likely suffered from the degenerative brain disease CTE and in his later years this condition made it impossible for him to work, so perhaps he gave this typewriter to Tillie and Lloyd Arnold, the family that sold their house without clearing out their attic.)

A mile northeast of the Sun Valley resort, there’s an impressive bronze bust of a contemplative looking Papa Hemingway perched on a hill overlooking the serpentine Trail Creek and the 7th hole of a golf course. It was a bluebird day, not a cloud in the sky, with just a faint chill in the air. Beneath the bust, a portion of Hemingway’s eulogy for Gene Van Guilder, a friend who was a publicist for the Sun Valley resort, is engraved on a slate plaque. His words seem written for a day like this.

Best of all he loved the fall The leaves yellow on the cottonwoods Leaves floating on the trout streams and above the hills The high blue windless skies Now he will be part of them forever

The next day was short-sleeve shirt warm, and it seemed hard to believe that in a matter of weeks, the town, now peaceful and almost forsaken, would be bustling with skiers and snowboarders. I fought the temptation to bask in the sun, holing up in the Hemingway room at the Ketchum’s Community Library to peruse stacks of old newspaper articles and files on every aspect of the writer’s life. I asked the librarian, a young woman wearing a sun dress and stylishly retro glasses, for articles on Hemingway’s Ketchum home and she handed me two massive file folders, one mostly filled with articles on his death, the other with photocopies of his FBI files.

The newspaper stories published in the immediate aftermath of his death mostly reflected Mary Hemingway’s attempts to dismiss his suicide as an accident. A UPI story carried the headline, “Gun Takes Life of Hemingway,” which was clearly not written by a card-carrying member of the NRA. An AP story, “Friends Discount Suicide in Hemingway’s Death,” asserted that Hemingway, who had recently received electroshock therapy at the Mayo Clinic, to treat depression, had been in great spirits of late.

“Everybody definitely knows it wasn’t suicide,” said Forest MacMullen, a friend of Hemingway’s who served as a pallbearer at his funeral.

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But of course, he did commit suicide, just like many others in his family. His father, Clarence, a physician who suffered from depression and diabetes, shot himself in 1928. Hemingway’s brother, Leicester, a diabetic who was about to lose his legs, shot himself in 1982. His sister, Ursula, died of a drug overdose in 1966. Thirty years later, his granddaughter, Margaux, a model, died of a barbiturate overdose.

Ernest used his toes to pull the triggers on the W. & C. Scott & Son shotgun that he had traveled with all over the world. According to the book, Hemingway’s Guns, the so-called pigeon gun was given to a Ketchum welder to be destroyed, but some of the mangled remnants were buried in a field. The welding shop is apparently still in business and is being run by the grandson of the original proprietor.

I found a few clues at the library that helped me find the home on Google Earth, and a 2004 article in The Los Angeles Times provided insights into his Ketchum neighborhood and its opposition to opening the home to tourists. That year, in a bid to defray the costs of maintaining the property, the Nature Conservancy introduced a plan to allow three daily tours of up to fifteen participants, who would be picked up in downtown Ketchum and brought to the home in a minivan to reduce parking and congestion concerns. The neighbors weren’t buying it.

“We came here to retire. We don’t want busloads of tourists coming through here 24/7,” Doug Lightfoot, a retired pharmacist, told the LA Times.

But even as Lightfoot insisted that opening the home would do nothing more than help people indulge their “morbid curiosity,” he conceded to the reporter that he too had once asked the Conservancy for a tour of the house.

Hemingway wrote portions of three books in his Ketchum home. This was the place were he chose to die. His homes in Key West, Cuba, and Oak Park are all open the public. Homes where Mark Twain, William Shakespeare, Ernest Faulkner, Charles Dickens, Pablo Neruda, Vladimir Nabokov, Emily Dickinson, Agatha Christie, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Edith Wharton, and may other famous authors once lived have been turned into museums and serve to inspire those who might not otherwise ever pick up their books.

“The newspaper stories published in the immediate aftermath of his death mostly reflected Mary Hemingway’s attempts to dismiss his suicide as an accident.”

Does the fact that Hemingway took his life in this house make the prospect of touring it somehow unseemly or even ghoulish? Some might think so. But apparently not Anita Thompson, wife of the late Hunter S., who shot himself in the head in the kitchen of his Owl Creek farm in Woody Creek, Colorado in 2005. She still lives in the house and has preserved Hunter’s basement “War Room,” where he worked, just as he left it.

According to press accounts, she’s been working with a family friend to open their home, where she still lives, to a limited number of fans. Her initial plan, for those who passed her vetting process, was to offer a free tour plus Hunter’s favorite breakfast: grapefruit, scrambled eggs, juice, coffee, and fresh fruit suspended in Jell-O, with gin and Grand Marnier drizzled on top, served at 2 p.m. just like he liked it.

But, a year later, after visiting the Hemingway home and touring related Hemingway sites in Ketchum, she told the Aspen Times that she was also inspired to create a writer’s retreat, an offsite museum, and a line of cannabis products in her late husband’s honor. She also returned the elk horns, which were sent to Sean Hemingway, Ernest’s grandson (Gloria’s son) for “karmic reasons.”

Hemingway’s descendants are apparently divided on the question of opening the house to tours—his granddaughter Mariel thinks it should be opened, his daughter-in-law Angela Hemingway thinks the house should be sold so someone can live in it, and his son, Patrick, thinks it should remain closed.

But when I arrived at the KEEP OUT signs near the end of East Canyon Run Boulevard on my last day in Ketchum, it seemed obvious to me. It was a sun-drenched Friday afternoon, about 4 p.m., and the neighborhood was so quiet you could have heard a cat meowing a zip code away.

I considered my family’s pleas to turn back, but I thought back to my visits to three of Pablo Neruda’s homes in Chile in 2014, and recalled that each home was located on streets with neighbors. Those places draw visitors by the busloads—if those neighbors could cope, surely the good people of this neighborhood could tolerate some limited form of tourism that would allow people to see the place where the famous writer chose to end his life.

“Let’s just drive by and take a quick look,” I said, easing past the intimidating signs.

I was immediately struck by the wooded, secluded splendor of the no-go area. There was just one home past the no trespassing signs on our left, an expansive affair that appeared to be a second home unlived in at the moment, and then the Hemingway house, further ahead on our right, perhaps a quarter of a mile away from the cluster of neighbors who had united to keep the place closed to the public.

We pulled up in front of the house, a sprawling, concrete, two-story, earth-colored faux-timber construction, and I rolled down the window to take a photo. I felt like if we didn’t set foot outside, we’d be fine. We noticed a pair of men installing a new roof and Jen said, “Let’s get out of here before they call the police.” But one of the men caught a glimpse of me and simply nodded and went back to work.

Sitting in the car, taking a final look at the house, I felt slightly cheated that we couldn’t go in and see the place, which is staged as a 1961 time capsule. If someone was living there, I’d understand the No Trespassing signs, but what’s the point of an empty house with historical value that no one can see?

And anyway, what would Hemingway want? Would he have been on the side of his neighbors, who think opening the home up would ruin their neighborhood?

He guarded his privacy zealously, and wrote in The Sun Also Rises, “Everyone behaves badly—given the chance.” But he also once said, “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”

On our long drive home, I had plenty of time to ponder the broader question of what brought Hemingway back to Idaho late in his life, as we motored through the bleak and monotonously scrubby landscape of the Oregon Badlands, where travelers can barely find a toilet, let alone a decent meal in the four-plus hours between Boise and Bend. Thompson, I thought, was right in concluding that Hemingway was a sick, weary man with three failed marriages behind him who felt and looked older than his years. Maybe buying a house in Ketchum, was a last effort to recover the carefree, glory days of yore?

The long drive home gave me plenty of time to consider my own itinerant experiences just four years ago, when we drove west on this same road, after deciding to leave Chicago for Bend. I met my wife in the Windy City, in my twenties, and we’d loved our time living there. Then I joined the Foreign Service, and we’d ended up in Washington D.C., Macedonia, Trinidad, Washington. D.C. again, and then Hungary. I quit in 2007 after a couple years of trying to fight through some difficult times with Multiple Sclerosis.

We moved back to Chicago when Jen was seven months pregnant with our first son (Leo) because both of us associated it with good times. But it wasn’t the same—our friends were now mostly preoccupied with their kids and so were we. After a couple years, we moved back to D.C., then back to Chicago again, and finally, in 2014 to Bend. Somewhere in the Oregon Badlands, on the drive west, a sick feeling nestled in the pit of my stomach as I realized how isolated we were going to be, hours from an interstate—I feared we were making a huge mistake.

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reviewnvvx977-blog · 6 years

Text

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tortuga-aak · 6 years

Text

Chinese billionaires can't get enough of polo, the 'sport of kings'

Kevin Frayer/Stringer

Polo is becoming the new luxury sport in China, gaining popularity among billionaires and their families.

The Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club, the largest polo club in China, advertises itself as a place to become "the new nobility."

Some wealthy players even bring their own horses and indulge in the luxury hotel connected to the club.

The sport is known as the "sport of kings," and its popularity has implications about the international superpower the country is becoming.

The art of polo is distinctly Persian. The word "polo," meaning "ball," is derived from Balti, spoken in the region of Baltistan in Pakistan. But, today, the game of polo is finding a shiny, new vitality among the billionaires in China. For them, the elite allure of the game, and the skill involved in playing it, make it perfectly suited to a luxury lifestyle.

In China's Tang dynasty (617 - 908AD) emperors played with the finest horses they could breed. The sport was enjoyed in one of the country's ancient capitals, Chang'an, and centuries ago was also played by women in male dress.

The modern game was created in India, with the first polo club opening in 1833, in Assam. The colonial British are credited for spreading the game worldwide, and the first polo club, the Calcutta Polo Club, was established in 1862 by two British soldiers, Lieutenant Joseph Sherer and Captain Robert Stewart.

British settlers expanded the game in Argentina, which for the next century produced some of the world's top players, such as Nacho Figueras. In 1876 James Gordon Bennett Jnr, the publisher of the now-defunct New York Herald newspaper, organized the first polo match in the United States, at Dickle's Riding Academy on Fifth Avenue.

America's finest club is now in South Carolina — a sterling example of how the sport has excelled and found a whole new audience in just over a century. "Aiken has been a presence on the polo scene since 1882," says Barb Uskup, treasurer on Aiken Polo Club's board of directors.

"Aiken Polo Club's historic Whitney Field is the place to sip a cocktail while watching the 'sport of kings' each spring and autumn. Polo has grown in Aiken due to the tremendous amount of polo fields that each feature incredible sand footing, allowing play not only during the two seasons of tournament polo but also allowing for practice chukkas 12 months a year. For players and socialites, the southern hospitality in Aiken is welcoming and embracing, making it a truly rewarding and fully entertaining experience."

In China today, the sport has been developing for the past 10 years, and has been discovered by the new rich, who are keen to learn the fine art.

China Photos / Stringer

One of the best facilities, the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club,which is owned by Goldin Properties Holdings, describes itself as being the largest polo club in the country and prides itself on being a retreat for China's "new nobility" — with the best equestrian facilities. There are three polo fields with 300 stables; its sumptuous hotel has 12 restaurants whose wine cellars have only the finest vintages; and plenty of real estate to acquire.

Opened in November 2010 with 890,000 square metres, the club was established to "promote a new lifestyle and create a polo community," according to its general manager, Domenico Palumbo.

It is also an opportunity "to introduce a new and exclusive type of luxury to the region", the company explains. Its facilities could draw the world's rich and "add to Tianjin's status as a landmark destination and contribute to its overall city status."

The club also sponsors other major tournaments throughout the year, and draws teams from global polo centers, including Hong Kong. It also hosts the international Snow Polo World Cup, which is organised by the Federation of International Polo (FIP). The club is also building an indoor stadium with a retractable roof for 5,000 people, including special boxes for VIPs. The club's marketing materials invite potential residents to "become a part of the new nobility" and "take your place among the elite," while the company's motto for the development is the Chinese phrase "qian jin mai wu, wan jin mai li" — which translates as "a quality house is worth a thousand pounds of gold, but quality neighbors are worth ten thousand."

Reserved primarily for the wealthy, the sport requires some serious commitment, according to Palumbo: "Polo is an expensive sport because it gets to be very involved with a horse, the polo field, all kinds of equipment, a professional coach and so on. Our target market consists of private entrepreneurs who first of all, enjoy as well as can afford the lifestyle. There are a growing number of businessmen and their children who are starting to take the sport seriously in China by joining polo clubs like ours in Tianjin." In fact, at the Metropolitan Club, most of the members are also property owners — encouraging an active role in the sport. With more than 200 horses in the stables, some of the members even own their own animals.

The commitment to the game may involve hours and hours of time, and a lot of finesse, however. "Actually, it might take a lifetime to master the sport," Palumbo says. "It depends on a lot of factors — which level you start at, how ambitious you are. To master a skill such as a foreign language or polo ... is a lifetime project. You need to keep learning, practicing as much as you can."

However, it really isn't just about the art of the sport — there are deeper implications at play here.

"Polo is not just a luxury thing," Palumbo says. "It is a game that historically connects with Chinese people. China is an especially important market for the ‘sport of kings' as it aligns itself with a new world order. I think the Chinese are going to be the most influential superpower and polo represents the best passport they can have, wherever they go, they will always feel welcome. The horse is an international language. It doesn't matter if you speak Arabic, Russian, or Mandarin. If you understand the horse, you have a bridging point with anyone, anywhere in the world."

For this new class of Chinese, this is one more way for the truly wealthy to make sure their fortune grows year after year, generation by generation.

Kevin Frayer / Stringer

But the growth is slow and steady. As with golf, which entered the Chinese market in the 1980s, polo is the next elite sport.The Chinese Equestrian Association, which was formed in 1983, now has 280 registered athletes and 336 registered horses. Other clubs include the Beijing Sunny Time Polo Club, founded by Xia Yang in 2004, and the Nine Dragons Hill Polo Club, which was founded in Shanghai in the following year.

Meanwhile, there are 66 clubs in Britain and all host their own tournaments, mostly at the lower level. The key tournaments of the English season are the Queen's and Gold Cup played at 22 goals at Guards Polo Club and Cowdray Park Polo Club.

The Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) used to be a club in London and now acts as the sport's governing body – looking after rules and regulations as well as handicapping and the national team.

Britain has traditionally promoted the sport as a wealthy pastime, as China does, but HPA chief executive David Woodd says it is "much more accessible than it used to be". There are more clubs around the country and more ponies that can be hired, he says. "To fund a team, you have to be wealthy – but to play as an amateur is open to many more," Woodd says, citing how the sport is also growing in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

The sport's appeal is its social aspect as well as the speed and exhilaration involved in watching horses running at each other.

"It is tougher than it looks, but it is clever as you can team up to play with and against the best players in the world, like pro-am golf," Woodd says.

"You do not have to be an outstanding player, but rather worth your handicap. It is a fast game which does not take all day, [and] is generally played in good weather at attractive locations.

"It is exciting to play, even at the lower levels, more so than to watch; you play with and meet interesting people, and you can play all over the world."

Nothing like speed, some travel and the beauty of horses to fall in love with.

NOW WATCH: 6 airline industry secrets that will help you fly like a pro

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icechuksblog · 6 years

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Culled from Vogue.com. Read below. It’s 3:00 p.m. the day before their wedding, and Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian are practicing their first dance one last time with a choreographer in the depths of their venue, the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans. Outside, paparazzi are ensconced across the street hoping to catch a glimpse of the tennis superstar, and vendors are quickly working to build the French ball–themed, Beauty and the Beast–style decor, complete with a gold arch of flowers at the end of the aisle, long tables covered in lamé fabric, and lots of surprises. Inside, Serena is a calm, cool, and confident bride, dressed in leggings and a black baseball cap, just trying to nail her steps for when she and her husband take their first spin on the dance floor to “Tale as Old as Time” tomorrow. Some might say that just like the protagonists in Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve’s fairy tale, Serena and Alexis are an unlikely match from two very different worlds. She’s the greatest female athlete ever, arguably the greatest athlete of all time. (No man has ever taken home a title pregnant! Enough said.) Meanwhile, he’s the founder of Reddit (the birthplace of many a meme), a guy who grew up playing Game Boy, and has been referred to as the “mayor of the Internet.” When they met, she’d never heard of Reddit, and he had never watched a single one of her matches. But, as we all know, opposites attract. It all started in Rome with a meet-cute worthy of a romantic comedy. Despite being notoriously disciplined, Serena is not a morning person. But she’d heard good things about the epic breakfast at the Cavalieri Hotel, where she was staying for the Italian Open, so she got out of bed early and went with a few members from her team to check it out. They arrived at the buffet only to find that it had closed just five minutes earlier, so instead, they grabbed a table by the pool and ordered à la carte. Alexis was speaking at a conference and staying at the same hotel. That morning, he had also made his way down early to indulge in the buffet he’d heard so much about. When he, too, discovered that it was no longer open, he took a seat at a table next to Serena’s with the intention of ordering food and doing work on his laptop. Frustrated that an interloper was encroaching upon their space, Serena’s friend Zane started teasing Alexis, saying there was a rat at his table and that he should move. “I was so annoyed that he’d sat down next to me,” remembers Serena. “There were so many empty tables!” Undeterred by the frosty reception he seemed to be receiving, Alexis jokingly responded saying that he was from Brooklyn—he’d seen lots of rats, and they didn’t bother him. Serena started cracking up and asked him to join her group. He obliged but was still a little unsure whether the person with whom he suddenly found himself having breakfast was actually the Serena Williams. You see, Alexis didn’t follow tennis at all. The first time he went to watch Serena play he infamously Instagrammed a photo of her foot faulting. But no matter. The two hit it off. That first time she asked him to come see her in the Paris Open, he knew it was a bit far-flung but he thought, What’s the worst that could happen? I know people in Paris, so if it doesn’t work out, I’ll have a great story to tell my friends about that time I almost hung out with Serena Williams. Serena appreciated his happy-go-lucky approach to life, and their first date involved simply meandering around the City of Light with no destination to speak of, something the always-scheduled, always-surrounded athlete almost never gets to do. Fast-forward 18 months later and the Internet entrepreneur was proposing to the superstar. “I came home one day to find my bags already packed for me, and I had absolutely no idea where I was going until I got on the flight,” Serena admits. “Alexis flew me out to Rome, back to the exact table where we’d met. We were both really nervous but also excited to take this huge step. It was such a beautiful moment.” Ever the jokester, in addition to having the hotel cleared and flowers everywhere, Alexis had placed a small plastic rat on the table. Serena announced her happy news by posting a sweet poem on Reddit. In September, Serena gave birth to the couple’s first child, Alexis “Olympia” Ohanian, Jr., and the two parents are absolutely besotted with their now 2-month-old daughter. The baby, who already has more than 105,000 Instagram followers, was present for the ceremony last night and looked on as her mom and dad tied the knot among 200 family and friends in the Big Easy. “Alexis really wanted to do New Orleans,” explains Serena. “It’s his favorite city besides Brooklyn. It’s got a heavy European influence; it’s fun and has amazing food. He just loves the vibe. The venue—the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans—was a decision we both made. Painting and art is something I’m really passionate about, so it just felt natural and different to do it at a contemporary art museum.” The two chose November 16 as their wedding date in memory of Alexis’s mother, who passed away nine years ago. “It is her birthday, and we wanted her to be represented at the wedding,” says Serena. “Obviously, we wish that she could be here for this, but choosing her birthday as our wedding date was a nice way of making sure she’s still involved and made us feel more connected to her on our day.” Once they’d settled on a date and a place, they hired their wedding planner. “I knew early on that I wanted to work with someone on the East Coast, and Jennifer [Zabinski] felt fresh and new, but also has a lot of experience in planning and is organized and thorough,” explains Serena. When Jennifer first met with the bride, the tennis champ wasn’t quite ready to get into specifics, so the two discussed their mutual love of dogs instead. “I think she had to feel comfortable with getting to know me and me getting to know her,” Jennifer says. “There’s so much there in terms of her vision. She’s actually an amazing planner herself, and the running joke now is that she’s going to be my intern.” “The whole process was so smooth!” Serena adds. “Communication is really important to me, and Jennifer and her team were always great at giving updates and keeping things moving consistently.” Similarly, Serena’s dress search was the stuff wedding dreams are made of—she worked with Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. “I flew to London to meet with Sarah and ended up falling in love with the ball gown silhouette, which is completely the opposite of what I ever thought I would choose for myself,” Serena says. “I loved the idea of doing a really spectacular ball gown, and it has turned out to be such an incredibly special piece.” At 5:15 p.m., guests including Beyoncé and her mother, Tina Knowles; Kelly Rowland; Kim Kardashian West; Anna Wintour; Ciara; and La La Anthony arrived for cocktails before taking their seats in the ceremony space. There, everyone watched a short video that told the story of Serena and Alexis’s relationship on TVs encased in gold frames above the aisle. The seating had a fashion-show feel: “I wanted the whole thing to be as nontraditional as possible,” explains Serena. “We did sofas instead of chairs, with everything facing the aisle instead of the altar.” Bridesmaids made their entrances to rounds of applause wearing custom Galia Lahav dresses. Before the ceremony, Serena’s best friend, Val Vogt, told Vogue: “She talked to all of us and just kind of let us have creative control as to what dress fit our personality. And then she approved it, of course!” Val carried the bride’s beloved Yorkshire terrier, Chip, down the aisle in his very own tiny tuxedo. Then, with all eyes on her, Serena emerged in a dramatic strapless, belted Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen princess gown with a cape, carrying a bouquet of white roses and sparkling with jewelry by XIV Karats, worth $3.5 million in total. Alexis, in an Armani suit, was smiling from ear to ear as Serena slowly walked up the aisle to join him. The couple wrote their own vows. Alexis’s called Serena his queen and said that they already have their princess. With a bold, confident voice, he talked about how she takes such good care of everyone in her life, and now he wants to spend the rest of his life taking care of her. His words led to laughter at the start—“I will always have bad jokes that make your eyes roll, make you give me the side eye”—but by the end, everyone was crying happy tears: “You are the greatest of all time, not just in sport,” he told Serena. “I’m talking about as a mother and as a wife. I am so excited to write so many more chapters of our fairy tale together. And my whole life I didn’t even realize it, but I was waiting for this moment. And everything that I have done, everything that I am so proud of in my career, and in my life, for the last 34 years, pales in comparison to what we’re doing today. And I am so grateful, and I am so in love.” After the couple was pronounced husband and wife, cheers erupted and guests made their way out onto the street for cocktails while the bride and groom took their formal family portraits in the Arts Center’s Black Box Theatre. During cocktails, Kardashian West told Vogue, “I’ve known Serena for so long and am so happy she’s found her prince. From the moment she told me she met Alexis in Rome, it was like . . . she’s been so happy and has this light about her that is so special to see. You just know it is so real. He makes her so happy and that just makes her friends happy.” A second line parade then led everyone back inside where the band was playing “Be Our Guest” and an around-the-world-themed dinner by Creative Edge Parties was served. As guests found their seats at four long tables named after Serena’s Grand Slam wins, the newlyweds were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Alexis Ohanian, and Serena debuted her second dress of the evening, a dramatic beaded, feathered Versace moment that made her look like a fashion-forward superwoman. It took a team of five embroiderers to create the dress, Donatella Versace told Vogue. They “worked nonstop to make sure the tiniest details were perfectly taken care of, for a total of 1,500 hours.” The newlyweds sat in gold throne-like chairs that looked like they were made for a king and queen. “The whole fairy-tale idea came to us early on,” says Jennifer. “Serena’s very girly. She was like, ‘I love Disney, how can we incorporate it in?’ Then Serena and Alexis said, ‘What do you think about a royal ball?’ Serena was like, ‘I just want it to be opulent. I want it to be like a fairy tale.’ ” Southern, Armenian (a nod to Alexis’s heritage), and Italian food, as well as a “steak house” station and a salad wall, were all available on offer. “Serena wanted a ball, but she wanted a modern ball, not anything that was too stuffy,” says Preston Bailey, the man behind all of the decor. “For the flowers and overall aesthetic, she wanted something that was very different and unique.” Chandeliers encased in gold birdcages, trophy-style place cards, and the “black lamé” table linens achieved this goal. Following dinner, Alexis took the stage and asked the guests, who had been dancing to the Élan Artists’s band, to clear the floor. “This is the only time I’ll ask you to do this all night, but I need for you to get off the dance floor,” he said, laughing. “This is the first time I get to introduce Serena Williams as my wife. Come out, wifey!” Serena appeared in her third dress of the evening: a stunning fitted Versace look with a short skirt. She joined Alexis on the dance floor and the band started playing “Tale as Old as Time,” which then segued into “If I Can’t Have You.” There were spins, twists, and lifts, to lots of cheers—the two totally nailed every step. Guests then joined the couple for more dancing before moving into the next room for a surprise performance by New Edition. The band called the couple up onstage, where Serena and Alexis nailed yet another dance routine with the guys as Beyoncé, Kelly, and Ciara cheered them on. Curtains then opened, and everyone relocated back to where the ceremony had taken place—Preston’s team had completely transformed the space into a chic lounge for the after-party. DJ Mike Wise was on the turntables playing lots of old-school ’90s rap. At about 1:30 a.m., Alexis grabbed the mic to reveal the final surprise of the evening for his new bride. People told him it couldn’t be done, he said. But, when people say no to Alexis in his business or personal life, he always accepts the challenge. Just then, a curtain dropped, revealing an illuminated, all-white carousel. Serena screamed with excitement, and guests jumped up on horses while Ginuwine’s “Pony” played in the background. The newlyweds cuddled on a bench while everyone partied on the carousel as it spun—a picture-perfect scene to end a fantastical night.

http://icechuks2.blogspot.com/2017/11/all-details-of-what-went-down-before.html

#http://icechuks2.blogspot.com/2017/11/all-details-of-what-went-down-before.html All the details of w

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lorettadelong-blog · 7 years

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It was, for the most part, a year of isolation and angst. I moved to NYC for work. I was hoping to love it. Last year was one of my most challenging years ever, both personally and career-wise. I don’t even know where to start. Somehow, though, it brought me here. I should probably start by thanking you.

The one bright spot was you. I "discovered" reddit last year. It wasn’t a happy year. You may have seen me post here before. In fact, it made my life hell. I started posting when I started exploring group sex. I came across an article about it that piqued my interest; Im certain I’ve come across that same article before, but for some reason this time was different. Sometimes, when I wondered if this was so so wrong of me to even think about doing (let hairy pussy vids alone dive into sex clubs and have fun with 8 strangers in a given night), you reminded me that it’s not a bad thing to explore.

celebrity hairy pussy I thought it only fitting to go back to my favorite sex club (Le Trapeze) my last night in the area. I asked you for suggestions so you could "join" me in some way. It was liberating and I’m a better person for it. I put onthis slinky black dress. In doing so, I discovered a community, and a forum in which I could be open and explore.

As you’ve read, I took that learning and applied it I had so much fun exploring my sexuality in NYC, and your support encouraged me. I read your stories of group sex, learned of the culture and norms, and even etiquette. I was building courage to approach the shy couple in the corner (there always is a couple like this), as/u/undercoverR had suggested.

The high halter neckline was reminiscent of someone’s hand around my neck. At the last minute, right as I was putting on my shoes to head out the door, everything changed. Last night, I went to a bon voyage dinner with hairy pregnant pussy friends. I thought about a suggestion from/u/StrictSir11 to fill all 3 holes. I had a couple glasses of wine, and when I returned to my hotel, I wasn’t ready to turn in.

It was going to be a good night! For reasons out of my control, I couldn’t go. I expected him to blonde hairy pussy blow me off as he seemed focused on whatever football game was on TV. To my surprise, he turned to me with a huge smile on his face. I saddled up at the bar, and saw a very handsome man was seated at my right.

We chatted and chatted, and drank some more. I open my eyes and I’m in a pitch black room. I sit up and feel my hand on someone else’s arm. He wasn’t even glancing in my direction. The idea was tantalizing and I was very much up to the challenge to recruit for it, understanding not all guys (or the women they came with) would be into it.

It sent me on a google deep dive on the topic of swinging, which eventually brought me here. He was even more handsome when smiling, as all men are IMO. Don’t move- pretend to be asleep while you figure out your next move. Had I done something embarrassing? I definitely blacked out.

I remained super still in the way that you do when you’re deciding whether you want to bolt, or hope your companion is up for some fun. Eventually I said something to strike up conversation. It took me a couple minutes, but it was starting to come back to me. The sheets were tucked in and prevented me from doing so.

Wow, hot guy and I came back to his room. I slid my hand across his warm , soft skin. He inhaled through his nose and stretched a little as I closed my grasp around his cock. He moved the sheets to give me access to his warm body. I turned to my size and slid my arm towards him under the covers, expecting to run my hand gently over his skin…and downwards.

Size has never been important to me; it’s all about how a guy uses it. I assumed we had because we were both naked, so I said "ready for another round? I decided to take my chances. Despite being naked in his bed, I was still fearing rejection. " I giggled and, with disbelief that he didn’t understand my intentions, asked "Of what?

I bit my lower lip and lowerd my hand to see if he was hard. I usually get very good feedback when I give BJs. His skin was soft and smooth, but he was definitely ready to go. " gripped him a little hairy pregnant pussy tighter then went under the covers to show him what I meant. I was positioned perpendicular to he; perhaps that was affecting my game. What was I doing wrong/differently.

I scooched closer to get a better top-down angle, less sideways. In fact, almost every time I’m hear moans like this is the first real BJ they’ve gotten in a while/ever. I was trying to access memories of us having sex, but was coming up blank. I successfully swallowed him, but got little feedback.

I came up for air and laid on my back, hoping he’d come over me. He turned over and propped himself on top of me. That was a little deflating. I spread my knees as he kissed me. It has become a source of pride for me  However, this time I only got the usual moans. He had no idea how much I wanted this.

I let out a huge sigh. Due to the wine intake the night before, I wasn’t suuuuper wet. After not being able to go to Le Trapeze on Saturday, I really wanted this. There’s that handsome face! I’d have much preferred their company at that time As my handsome hotel buddy was in me, I stayed in the moment.

Also, it had been months. "Here," he said as he placed my gold earring on my chest between my boobs. Yep, the last time I had sex was New Years Eve with a very inexperienced partner, so I had to take the lead (I prefer the guy does, so this wasn’t ideal for me). While my NYE partner and I fucked, I was thinking of a couple I had met on reddit. "don’t forget your earring. I grasped the headboard, or tried to at least.

I tried to stretch them out but he was clutching me close to him as he pounded me. My eyes were closed, but had they been open I am sure they would have been rolled back; I was in pure ecstasy. It was hard to see in the dark, and when my face was buried in his balls. " I smiled- what a time to say that!

But he got inside me quickly. Finally I was able to stretch my legs, and separate them wider to give me better access to myself. Just as I was starting to feel the all-over pleasure that comes right before you do (and, for me, is better than any other feeling in the world). My knees were bent and up by my face.

There was only one thing that could heighten this. He stayed in as long as he could, by my request. He withdrew and laid back. My fingernails scratched the cushioned headboard. That always gives me the BEST orgasm. I slid my hand down my body, attempting to rub myself while he fucked me.

I was hoping to try to sleep long enough to get another round out of him. How non-gentlemanly We both laid back. I tried, but he was still recovering. I love the feeling of dick inside me and wanted it to last as long as possible. I got up and turned the bathroom light on. I waited for what seemed liked forever but in actuality was probably 10-20 minutes.

He didn’t seem to be expecting me to, and he didn’t wait for me to. I went to the other side of the bed where my bra was on top of a pile of his clothes. This gave me enough light to find my things, but not jarring overhead light. He moaned a little, and smiled as I stood up again.

I picked up his left hand, not knowing what I’d find. There was a ring on it. I was bummed I didn’t cum. He gave one last hard pump and moaned as he came inside me. I meant it more for him; I didn’t care. I put my pants on and black hairy pussies crawled over the bed to kiss him. His marriage is his business, and I certainly didn’t make him do anything he wasn’t 100% willing to do.

No, he was leaving today. We said goodbye and I left. It had fallen off my chest while we were in action, and I didn’t see it in the sheets. I wrote my name, room number, and phone number on a pad next to the bed. I set my alarm to call him at 7:30, when he said he was getting up. I put on abrand new set of lingerie I had just bought a couple days ago.

I realized almost immediately upon getting back to my room that I had forgot the earring he so strategically placed upon me. When he knocked, I opened the door and his eyes widened, looking right down at my chest. "Are you around tonight? I pleaded with him, but he had to go work, he said.

I finished dressing and kissed him again. He had it and was going to bring me it. I laid back in bed, and read a/r/gonewildstories to finish what he had started. Still handsome, especially dressed up in a suit and tie. As I sit here and type this, my mouth still tastes vaguely of dick and I'm still sticky from his cum. I fly out tomorrow, and will really miss all my NYC adventures.

I hope to be back again very, very soon. I think his ring was weighing more heavily upon him than punctuality was. Please oh please, I thought. In the light of day I could see more grey in his hair than I had previously noticed.

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