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levi-lover · 2 years

Text

A series of letters between Levi and Reader

W/C: 1.6K

T/W: none! it’s a fluffy piece

A/N: IT’S ALMOST LEVI’S BIRTHDAY!! HERE IS MY PIECE FOR @levi-supreme ‘S COLLAB EVENT!! LOVE YOU FOREVER AND EVER ❤️

My Dear Levi,

I hope you are warm and safe when you get this; I miss you terribly and I can’t wait until you come back home. In the meantime, I’ve been practicing my embroidering techniques with the kit you gifted me. There may or may not be something waiting for you when you get back… Anyways, the weather has been changing again, the mornings and evening are chilly and the birds are flying away again, and the town is getting ready for winter. I’ve made a few new scarves for the kids on the street, they look so cute with their red cheeks and huge smiles. Other than that, everything has been the same as always, just strange without you here. It always takes me a while to get used to your absence. There’s too much space in this apartment for one person. I feel like I should get a cat to fill up the empty air.

I’m just joking.

How are the new cadets? I hope they’re not too troublesome. If anyone could make them into fine soldiers it’s you, my dear. I know you hate when I say this but I truly mean it: you have the biggest heart out of everyone in the Survey Corps. I know those kids are in good hands.

Tell everyone I said hello! I hope Erwin isn’t working you guys too hard. I can’t wait until we could all gather in our kitchen again and share a meal. Until then, Levi, I love you more than anything in the world.

Yours Forever,

XXXX

My Love,

I’m glad to know you’ve been using the kit. The dressmaker said it was the best one currently available on the market. You have quite a talent and I’m excited to see what you create. I’ve been using the scarf you embroidered, Hange said they want one. You don’t have to make one because they’ll lose it anyway. It’s also been cold over here, every morning I’m scared my balls are going to freeze off but so far they’re still intact.

The new cadets have exceeded all expectations, thankfully. I was worried it was going to be like the last batch but these brats are okay. There are a few exceptional ones in this group, I’m keeping an eye on them in case I want to expand my team. I don’t think Oluo would like that but I don’t really give a shit.

Something happened the other day when I was on a solo ride through the forest, my horse needed a rest so we paused by a stream while he drank and I took a stroll. Everything felt so alive and energetic, it made me feel small but in a way where I felt part of everything. Anyways, I was about to turn back when I heard something softly walking through the mud. I stopped and waited but then like painting, a herd of deers peaked through the brush and sniffed the air around them. I held my breath and watched them carefully prance through the mud. In total, there were five of them, four adults and a younger one, they had tan coats and large black eyes. I want to take you here one day so we could go search for deer.

It’s getting late and I want to reserve the candles I have for the remainder of the trip. I love you. Take care and I’ll be home soon.

With Love,

Levi

My Dear Levi,

Oh, I’m so jealous you saw a herd of deer!! To this day, I’ve never seen one before in the wild. Well, there’s a lot of things I haven’t seen so I guess there’s no reason to complain. I’m happy to know everything is going well! I’m sure Oluo would love to have another member of the team, he trusts you and your judgment, we all do Levi.

Ask Hange what they would like, I would love to make them something for their return. I have to confess, sometimes when I’m sitting alone in the apartment, I’m scared you’ll never come home or that I made everything up in my head. I know it sounds silly but the nights have been so intense and the snow has begun to fall. I wish I had your hand to hold in the night, I missed the calloused touch of your fingertips and your warm breath on my neck. I know I shouldn’t say those things but it’s how I feel! I’m sorry for getting sappy.

On a happier note, Lily, the girl who lives across the street has been coming over on the weekends to learn how to sew. She’s such a lovely and caring girl and so funny! You’d love her. She has small, nimble fingers that work around the fabric like a skater on fresh ice. In return her mother has been giving me fresh bread and it’s the best thing I’ve had. I can’t wait for you to taste it for yourself. It pairs nicely with the beef stew you love so much. I’ve made it twice in the past week with the season’s last carrots from Noble’s Farms.

Would you like me to make that for you for your first meal at home? Imagine, we could have a huge feast for everyone! I would love that.

Let me know what you think. I love you.

Yours forever,

XXXX

My Dear Levi,

I hope everything is going well. It’s been a while since I received a letter from you, I hope you’re safe. The postman said he hasn’t heard any bad news from the training which relieved me but I look forward to reading what you send. I wasn’t going to send another letter but I went to the tea shop with a friend the other day and I saw they had fresh Earl Grey from Sina and I know how much you love it. I had to buy you some to send to you. I’ll attach the tea to the package.

I’ll keep this letter short since not a lot has occurred since I sent you my last. I love you more than anything, Levi.

Yours Forever,

XXXX

My Love,

I’m sorry it’s taking me a while to write back. We’ve been so busy with the training and had to take a week break due to titan sightings a few miles away. Disgusting mindless creatures, I hope you never see one of those pieces of shit. Thankfully, we didn’t have any casualties but it was still a pain in the ass to deal with.

Hange said they want a handkerchief with bluebirds on it. Really, you don’t have to do that for four-eyes. I’m certain they’ll lose in the shithole they call their office. Honestly, I’m amazed at how disgusting one person could be. Not even a week into the training and their office already smells like a dump and is full to the brim with stupid things they’ve “discovered”. Hange keeps on inviting me to have tea in their office but I refuse to step inside of that shithole.

Thank you for the tea. It’s nice to have quality tea for the first time. I swear Erwin bought the cheapest leaves from the worst buyer just to spite me. I confronted him about it but he laughed and said I was being silly. I’ve tried again and again but I can’t make a quality cup to save my life.

My Love, I’m sorry I can’t be there with you. It pains me to hear how you miss and I miss you too. I miss everything about you, your laugh, your smile, the way your eyes shine so bright. I miss being next to you. I miss kissing you and being kissed by you. The mornings for me are rough, I yearn for your warm body in the bed, keeping me there for a while longer. Soon, we’ll see each other soon.

The cadets are passing all exams with flying colors all except Eren Yeager, that brat is struggling worse than anyone but he has something the others don’t: tenacity. I don’t know if it’s enough but his friends believe in him which is part of the battle, finding people to be on your side. I’ll never say to their face but it makes me thankful to have Hange, Erwin, and the rest of my team with him. In your last letter, you wrote: you all trust my judgment. I’ve thought a lot about that since, on one hand, I appreciate it, I like knowing the people around me trust me but I’m scared that they trust me too much. I don’t want to misuse that trust or even worst, lose it. I don’t like giving these thoughts a lot of attention but it comes up from time to time.

Sorry, I had to take a break for a few days, Erwin lead us on a surprise backpacking trip and give us five minutes to pack. Fucking Eyebrows is trying to kill me. The trip was fine but if I have to sleep on the hard ground again I’m going to make sure Erwin wakes up underground. He did say we could leave a week early so I can’t be that mad at him. If everything goes as planned, I could be there by next weekend. To answer your question, yes, I would love it if you made your beef stew. There’s something magical about the way you make it my love. I’ll see you soon.

With Love,

Levi

To My Levi,

I’ve thought about what you wrote and I want to talk about it in person. You’re such an amazing person, Levi, I really believe that. You deserve the world. I’ll wait I don’t know if you’ll get this by the time you leave but I’m so happy to know you coming home soon. I can’t wait to hear your voice and hold you close. I love you more than anything in the world!!

Yours forever and ever,

XXXX

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x you #levi ackerman fluff #levi ackerman fic #aot x you #aot x reader #levi ackerman x reader #attack on titan #snk #levi snk #levi ackerman #levi lover fic #attack on titan x reader

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echos-newlegs · 3 years

Note

Hello There! I was wondering if you'd write 11 an 13 for Tech, please? I may request some other stuff for my favourite bad batcher and maybe even Rex later, but if you did that one i would be so happy!!! Have fun writing!! “I think I may be falling in love with you, and it scares me.." + “I just wanted an excuse to hold your hand.”

What's with you?

Bro he has been on my mind non stop since I read this request. He is literally so cute and I love him. He needs more love 😔 so thank you for sharing this and yes, yes I will be writing a story about this because these ideas you have are ADORABLE-

Tech x Reader: "I think I may be falling in love with you and it scares me.." + "I just wanted an excuse to hold your hand."

Warnings: nothing but fluff

You and Tech out of the bad batch were two of the closest. You were a no body before you met the bad batch. You studied things, a scientist of sorts. Though nothing official. You did do a lot of things when it came to researching and trying to come up with theories for why things happened. Plus you were good with your hands when it came to building things. So, instinctively. Hunter took you in, along with everyone else.

You didn’t really have a family. Where you grew up you were lucky you were still even alive. Though, Tech was obviously thankful. He cared for you so much. Even just the after the first time you spoke with him. You were shy at first, but after some warming up you were rather obnoxious. Plus. You knew your stuff, and the two of you could have a conversation on everything and anything for hours on end.

Useless information was your game, and you loved that you finally had someone to share it with.

It didn’t take long for you both to develop feelings. You were both fairly good at hiding it though. You were never one that was good with expressing feelings. The fear of abandonment and ruining the friendship you had always lurked in your conscious.

Tech was just scared. He had never felt this way before. Sure he’s had a couple hookups from 79’s, but never anything that mad him feel like you do. How you make him smile anytime even just a thought of you crosses his mind. How he gets butterflies in his stomach from just your laugh.

Or how his mind lurks and picks up the things you like. From how you enjoy your caf, to your favorite candies or flowers.

Or the thoughts that lurk within his mind when he’s alone and no one else is around.

He was so scared of all of it though. He was a clone. A defective one for Makers sake! He couldn’t like someone when his sole purpose in life was to fight and then be killed off like every other clone on existence. No thought to it, no remorse. No remembrance.

Though, one day when Hunter caught him staring at you while you were target practicing with Crosshair. Hunter told him something that made him a little less scared of the whole ordeal.

“You know it’s okay to like y/n, right?” Tech was shocked by his words. Blush creeping up the back of his neck. “Ah-what? I don’t- don’t be ridiculous.” He would stammer. A nervous chuckle escaping his lips. “Vod, don’t lie to me, I see the way you look at them.” He spoke, “I can sense the way you both feel for each other. Why don’t you do something about it? Live your life, enjoy what you can.” And before he could protest or ask anything Hunter was walking off. Leaving him to ponder.

Both.

It was simple. But it had the gears in his brain turning. Fast enough he nearly felt nauseous. ‘Both? As in y/n has feelings, too?’ He had to be kidding, right? Right. Who would like someone like.. Well like him.

Weeks had passed since that incident and he still thought about it. Hunter shooting him looks when it was just you and Tech talking to one another. Or when you two would sit next to one another. You hadn’t noticed, but Tech did.

So one day out on the field, Hunter had set up the plans where you went with Tech. Tech knew what he was trying to do. He was for sure it wouldn’t work. He was horrible with words when it came to flirting. Plus he knew for a fact that he would get nervous and stammer. Or jumble his words.

The two of you were in a lab like area. Bottles and beakers scattered around. Though your guy’s main interest was the large computer system towards the back. The data base that had all the information you guys needed.

Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair were out being your distraction while the two of you got to work on hacking into the system. You taking over for a bit while tech worked on something else. You could tell he was nervous, but you weren’t sure why. It wasn’t like him. He was normally always comfortable around him. It made you wonder if you did something wrong?

Once the files were transferred Tech grabbed what you two needed, and then your hand. Pulling you out of the room and back to the exit.

You were internally screaming. His fingers laced around your hand. His was a bit larger than yours, and you had never realized it. Not until now. Your heart racing a marathon. Techs was, too.

You let go when he did. Which was when the two of you made it back to the group. “You get it?” Hunter asked, and you nodded. Tech speaking a quick, ‘affirmative.’ You and the rest of the boys heading out of the facility and booking it for the ship.

No use sticking around and waiting for more droids to be deployed.

Hours had passed since the mission, and you were sitting on your bunk after a short shower. You normally were able to relax in the shower, but now? No, you couldn’t. You were still in shock by Techs actions. He was in the cockpit. Flying the ship, and you wanted to ask about it so badly, but you were anxious. It had to be a mistake. You were overthinking it. You had to be.

Though, you were walking to the cockpit without thinking. When you realized it you were already at the door. No use turning back now. You entered, and saw him dozing off in the seat. Ship in hyperdrive. “Oh sorry,” you blurted when he looked up with a tired gaze. “Oh, no, you’re fine.” Tech spoke a bit quickly. “Did you need something?” He asked, moving his goggles to rub his eyes. Then pulled them back down.

You were tempted to back out. Say you were just looking for him and head back for your bunk, but your curiosity got the best of you. “Can I sit with you?” He nodded. Shifting in his seat as you sat in the copilot seat. The door shutting behind you.

He was watching you now. His own curiosity striking him. Thoughts running through his own mind as to why you were there and what you wanted. “I just uhm.. you licked your lips and sighed. Looking down to your hands. Which were fidgeting in your lap. Then back to him. “Why’d you grab my hand earlier?”

You saw him freeze up, and you grew more nervous. “I mean, I don’t mind but you just- you’ve never grabbed my hand before.” You spoke, fidgeting more. “You always just tell me to follow you, I was just wondering, is all.” You rambled. Looking to his eyes, you could practically see his brain turning.

“Well..” he spoke, clearing his throat. Then turning to look back out the front of the ship. “In all honesty, y/n, I just wanted an excuse to hold your hand.” The bluntness of his own statement shocked the both of you.

You were surprised, and you caught yourself staring off into space, figuratively. Eyes looking back up to Techs face when he looked back to you. Catching his eyes with your own. “Really?” You asked, and watched as his tanned skin turned nearly pink. Your own skin it’s own rosy shad as well. “Yes, I’m sorry.”

You frowned a bit at the apology. Reaching over to place your hand on his shoulder. “Don’t apologize, Tech.” You added, watching as he looked down to your hand then back to your face. “I told you, I didn’t mind.” You grew a bit sheepish. Retracting your hand a bit at your next words. “I liked it, actually.”

He reached up to grab your hand before you could pull it away fully. Turning in his seat to face you completely now. Squeezing at your hand a bit and you looked back with a curious gaze. “Really?” You smiled at the look of hope and shock written in his eyes. “Yeah, really.”

You both stared at each other like love sick teens. Until tech looked down to your hands. Breaking the gaze. “Can I tell you something now?” You nodded, watching as he played with your fingers anxiously. “Of course, what is it, Tech?”

“I think I may be falling in love with you,” his voice was softer and more timid than before. “And it scares me.” He looked up to you, with worried eyes. You were at a loss for words, to say the least. Mouth slightly agape, and his eyes lowered again.

“I went too far, didn’t I? I didn’t mean to upset you,” he let go of your hand and you reached up to place it on his cheek. Shaking your head with a small smile. A smile that screamed, ‘I love you, too.’ “No, Tech, you didn’t go too far. Tech, I think I’m, no— I know I’ve fallen in love with you. I’m just,” you trailed off. “I’m not the best with stating feelings, I have had issues with past relationships and I didn’t want to scare you.” You admitted, and he leaned into your touch. Watching you carefully.

“I’ve just never met anyone else who makes me feel the way you do.” The words made you melt. Leaning forward to hug the other, kissing his cheek. “Well, I’m glad you told me,” he chuckled. Pulling you out of your seat and over to sit on his lap. Nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck. “If I waited any longer Hunter would have went insane.” That made you chuckle a bit. Smiling softly as he placed a chaste kiss to your shoulder.

“What does this make us then?” You pulled back to look at him, grinning softly as you rested your head against his forehead. “I guess.. an item? Is that what they call it? Partners, lovers..” your trailed on, and he giggled a bit at that. “I like lovers,” you were internally squealing at that. Smiling as he leant in and pressed a short and soft kiss to your lips. Humming contently. “Lovers it is.”

#bad batch x reader #star wars #star wars writing #the bad batch #the clone wars #writing #tech x reader #tech #tech bad batch #bad batch tech #tech the bad batch

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writer1 · 3 years

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The Rescue

A\N: This was requested by an Anon, I hope you like it. this is my first Crosshair fic, the reader is gender neutral.

Request: Can I request a Crosshair x Reader fic where the reader is a Jedi and they’ve been captured by the separatists, and the Bad Batch goes to rescue them? And Crosshair refuses to leave their side when they’re in the medical center recovering?

Warnings: Torture, injury, near death.

Crosshair paces around the Havoc Marauder, they should be landing soon. Crosshair has worry flowing through him, you have been captured by the Separatist’s for about a week now.You were the Jedi that was assigned to the Bad Batch by the Kaminoans.

They had wanted to try to tamp down their craziness, but no one but your fellow Jedi knew that you were just as crazy. None of them ever thought that they could grow to be friends when they met you, but it happened.

For Crosshair his feelings are more than friendship, he’s fallen for you. But he hasn’t told you, you won’t feel the same way, and there are rules. You aren’t allowed to be with him, and he’s not supposed to be with you.

The only people who know about this are his brother’s and they have tried to convince him to tell you, but Crosshair won’t budge. And now he may never get the chance. Crosshair jumps when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, you need to sit down, we’re landing.” Crosshair nods, Hunter keeps the comforting hand on his shoulder as they sit down. “They’re going to be okay, Cross. I promise, they are strong, they’re probably breaking their way out as we speak.” Crosshair chuckles, That does sound like something you would do.

Hunter pulls Crosshair close in a hug, Crosshair struggles a little, trying to keep up his act but can’t and he leans into the hug. “We’ve landed!” Tech calls from the front and both of them get up. Wrecker comes out of his room, he hasn't been as happy or excitable as before. Everyone’s been more down since you were captured, even Tech has been pretty quiet, and it’s usually a chore to get their youngest to stop talking.

All four of them already have a plan to get you back, and they will get you back if it’s the last thing they do.

xxx

Crosshair snipes another droid, same thing he’s been doing for about 20 minutes, but he’d snipe every last one in the separatist’s army to get to you. Hunter has him at a point where he can easily snipe any droids that come their way.

Hunter and Tech went in alone to try to get you out, he’s trying to do stealth, not one of their strong suits. Crosshair's job is to snipe any droids that get close to the Marauder, while Wrecker sits inside just in case one get’s past Crosshair or they need to make a quick getaway.

“Cross! We have them, they’re in rough shape. Have the Marauder ready to go when we get there.” Crosshair feels fear strike his heart when he hears that you’re hurt, even though he knew that it was a good possibility. “Affirmative.” He tells Hunter, jumping up from his spot and running to the ship.

He runs in the door. “They have them, Wrecker! We need to get the ship ready to go, NOW.” Crosshair yells as he runs to the cockpit and start’s to get the ship started up and ready to fly, he concentrates on that rather than thinking of you.

Crosshair waits in the pilot’s chair. “Cross! They are all on board. Go!” Crosshair flies the ship out of danger as soon as Wrecker yell’s, getting them safely off the planet. “Where should we go!” He yells back, he doesn’t know how hurt you are, and if you need medical help or not.

“Fly us to the nearest Gar medical center, They are in really bad condition.” Crosshair does as Hunter tells him, his hands are shaking. He’s feeling the most fear he has ever felt in his life, even compared to the Kaminoans experimenting on him.

He starts the hyperdrive, going into hyperspace, and leans back in the seat. Crosshair prays to the force that you’ll be okay, he doesn’t know what he’ll do if he loses you. He turns autopilot on, getting out of the chair and walks out of the cockpit. He needs to see you, even if you’re injured.

He rushes in to see Tech bandaging you up, you have a large wound on your chest, and many bruises littering your body, including your face. Crosshair runs up to you, grabbing your hand and holding it.

None of his brother’s say anything, they just let him hold your hand. They’re all afraid for your life, the Separatist’s had tortured you, Hunter can’t get the horrible image of you locked up, laying in a pool of your own blood out of his mind.

It’ll take about half an hour until they’ll arrive at the Med Centre, they won’t leave your side until then.

xxx

Hunter carries you into the Med Centre as everyone else runs behind him, Crosshair is silently freaking out, especially when one of the medics comes and takes you away. He tries to follow but Hunter stops him. “You can’t go in there Cross, you know that.”

Crosshair huffs, but nods. He sits down beside Wrecker, now all they can do is wait. It’s silent in the waiting room between the four brothers as the hours pass, not even Tech can speak at the moment. After about three hours a clone medic walks out.

Crosshair is the first one up, running over to the medic. “Are they alright?” He asks, the medic nods. “They’ll be just fine, the recovery will take a few weeks, maybe even a few month’s, we can’t be sure. But we do expect a full recovery. We will allow visitors to see them now, but they are still asleep, so only one.”

Crosshair turns to Hunter, he needs to see you. Hunter smiles comfortingly. “You go ahead and visit them first Cross, we’ll all come in once they wake up.” Crosshair nods, following the medic to your room. He walks in to see you laying on the bed, you look the weakest he’s ever seen you.

He sits in a chair beside your bed, grasping your hand gently with his own. He sits there as he waits for you to wake up, he’s trying to figure out how to tell you how he feels. After this he doesn’t want to hide them anymore, even if you reject him.

Nurses and Doctors come in a few times, a few of them try to make him leave but he refuses, Crosshair won’t leave you alone right now. Not while you’re like this, seeing you this weak and injured has scared him. He’ll stay with you in this room for as long as he has to until you wake up, he won’t budge from this spot for anyone.

xxx

Your eyes flutter open as you feel someone softly squeezing your hand, you open your eyes, blinking and turn to see who has your hand. You see Crosshair, he looks worried and like he hasn’t had much sleep. “Cross?”

He turns to you with a surprised look, squeezing your hand. “Y\N! You’re awake!” You smile at him, squeezing his hand in return. “Yeah, are you okay? You look exhausted.” Crosshair chuckles.

“You were captured and tortured by the Separatist’s, and you’re asking if I’m okay.” You give him a tired smile. Crosshair thinks about what he should do, he’s never been good with words, at least not when it comes to telling someone you love them. He’s never been in love before. “I can tell that there's something you want to tell me, Cross. what is it?”

Crosshair sighs, tightening his hold on your hand a little. “I… I love you. I’ve wanted to tell you for a while.” Crosshair looks away from you, waiting for your reaction. He knows that you’re going to reject him, you’re an amazing Jedi, and he’s just a defective clone.

You freeze when Crosshair tells you, you don’t know what to think, you fell in love with him over the time that you were with The Bad Batch. No one knew, you’ve been trying to figure out what to do, but now you know.

“Cross, I love you too.” Crosshair’s head whips around to look at you, he can’t believe it. “Really? What about the Jedi order? And do you really want to be with a defect like me.” You frown, bringing your hand up to cup Crosshair’s cheek. “They don’t have to know, I want to be with you, Cross. Neither you or your brothers are defects, please don’t talk about yourself that way.”

Crosshair smiles a rare, genuine smile. He leans down and presses a kiss to your lips. “I love you so much Ner’Jetti. I’m so glad that you’re okay.” Crosshair whispers once he pulls away, this is the softest you’ve ever heard the sniper speak, and you find it endearing. “I love you too, Cross.”

You and Crosshair share another kiss before a doctor come’s in, you know that this relationship will be hard, you have to hide it from everyone outside of Clone Force 99. But you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Taglist: @ahsokatano-thetogruta @lightning-wolffe

#my writing #Crosshair x reader #Jedi reader #tw torture #the bad batch #clone force 99 #hunter #wrecker #tech #crosshair #star wars clone wars

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notnctu · 3 years

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under the mistletoe | l.ty

lee taeyong x fem!reader genre - fluff, barely humor idk, very little bit of angst details - enemies to lovers!au, childhood friends that have been apart, high school!au warnings - explicit language, one mention of death, there’s a kiss scene lol word count - 2.7k synopsis - the holiday season brings a change of heart this year. you see your old friend, now enemy, Lee Taeyong at Mark’s Christmas gathering and through snowman shaped cookies, you two re-kindle your old friendship.

a/n - this is for @neoculturechristmas ‘s secret santa collab! this piece is dedicated to @soliverse :) hello lovie!! i’m your secret santa!! i hope you like it and im sorry that it’s not funny LOL thank you for letting me participate in such a fun holiday collab! im so happy to be able to write a fic for another writer:)

Through the heavily crowded Christmas party, through the people that dare walk in your way, you still see him in the midst of the chaos. Lee Taeyong stands only a few feet from you, in a ridiculous Christmas sweater and messy frosty hair. The universe is absolutely obsessed with placing you two in uncomfortable situations, as if the fuming feud between you two is not enough.

His absentminded actions cause him to foolishly knock over someone’s drink, what a fucking clutz. Rolling your eyes, you wander off in search of your good friend to announce your departure for the night.

“Already? Y/N, you got here like, five minutes ago.” Mark mixes the glass bowl that is filled to the brim with red sugary punch. Any forceful spin will have it spilling from the rim, and that won’t be the only mishap of the night that you witness. “What’s the rush? It’s Christmas Eve!”

And before you can utter the blacklisted name to explain your sudden change of heart, the culprit walks in with his stunned puppy eyes that grow sharp and a frown at your appearance. There is a small spark in the shared eye contact until it completely drops and he returns to ignoring your presence.

“Mark, where are your napkins? I spilled something in your living room.” It had to be a whole year since you’ve last heard his voice and you still remember his low cadence whenever he was trying to be cool. Cool and mysterious Taeyong, and how he lives up so perfectly to his title. However, there was a moment in time that you knew him for more than that. He was warm and comforting Taeyong.

While he tried so hard to be winter on the outside, spring bloomed blossoms on the inside and a bright sunshine radiated enough for you to witness its glow. You wished to stay with his spring for as long as you possibly could, but like the changing seasons, Taeyong eventually changed with it.

“It’s in the upper cabinet.” Mark does not realize the initial situation in the room, merrily going back to his large bowl of delicious liquid. It takes one big sigh from you for your friend to finally realize the elephant in the room and the unknowingly stiff tension in the kitchen. Mark’s eyes grow a bit bigger and as subtle as he tried to be, he clears his throat, “I think Christmas is all about joining together and being in each other’s company. Stay, Y/N.”

Mark did not choose his words wisely as Taeyong peeks over his shoulder, catching the last words of his sentence. “You’re leaving already, Y/N?” That is the first time he’s acknowledged you in the past few years.

There is an internal battle of whether or not you should acknowledge him back. Crossing your arms, you grumble something underneath your breath. “Why do you care?”

“I don’t.” Taeyong says sternly, making sure he asserts his nonchalant attitude. “Just sucks that Mark threw such a happy Christmas party for his good friend to leave.” He slings an arm around Mark’s shoulders, snuggling his face into the side of Mark’s chocolate colored hair.

And Mark dares to show a small smile of affection back. “Sorry that Y/N is always walking out on things. She does that quite often.” Before you can give him a piece of your mind, Mark shoves a snowman shaped biscuit in your mouth.

Taeyong gets away laughing, feeling an overwhelming sense of pride as he walks to clean up his other mess. You groan, biting the head of the snowman off and glaring at Mark. “Why did you let him get away with saying that to me? And when did you become friends with him again? And why are your cookies so hard?”

“Taeyong lost a friend, like a month ago. Just be a bit empathetic, please.” Mark wipes his hands on his apron and continues kneading at a random ball of dough. If it’s one thing that Mark always does too well is overachieving at his holiday gatherings. There is a reason why he’s head of the Prom Committee and student officer for event planning at your high school.

Washing your hands, the cold water bites at your skin. It’s been a really cold winter this year. When you dry your hands off, you scoot Mark over to make room for yourself to help with his endless amount of holiday treats.

“We’ve all lost friends, Mark. Sometimes people don’t work out with others and that’s just how it goes.” There is an underlying bitterness that does not seem to fade when you speak.

“Speaking from experience, maybe?” Mark chuckles, but dismisses the brief second of giggles to a more serious and low tone. “Not that kind of lost, Y/N. He lost a friend forever, like this person is in a forever sleep.”

The moment the words hit the air, a chilly draft sweeps at your ankles and you freeze in your place. And as you stand with dry flour on your hands and a person you thought you’d never become warm to again stands in the next room over, your heart softens at the information and immediate guilt preoccupies your system.

“Oh… well you should have started with that, then.” You slightly graze a finger across your nose at the faint tickle. Your mind is running at high speed, merely wondering about all the pain that Taeyong possibly felt this past month and remembering how it’s difficult for him to process his feelings.

“He actually wasn’t going to come tonight, until I mentioned you were coming.” Mark unloads a batch of fresh cookies from the oven and replaces it with another tray. The aromatics take you back to Christmas many years ago and the memory of Taeyong getting frosting everywhere you could remember. It took weeks to get the red and green stains out of the carpet, but the laughter made up for every clumsy mistake.

Not completely sure where the melancholic spirit erupted from, you rinse your hands and grab two cookies off the still hot tray without another response. Hurrying off, Mark yells out, “Wait-- those aren’t decorated yet!” but you choose to ignore his pleas.

Why is it harder to find him in a crowd when you are actually looking for him? Perhaps the saying, the best things in life come when you’re not looking for them, holds some truth to it. But your feet take you directly to him; he sits at the leather couch with the burning embers from the fireplace reflecting in his eyes.

Your abrupt appearance startles him a bit, but his face falls sullen when he sees that it’s you. Shoulders touching, you’ve missed the intimacy you two use to share. The blank snowman shaped cookie feels warm in your hand as you thrust it into Taeyong’s face. “For you.”

Taeyong scoffs, pushing your hand away lightly and looking away from the pitiful undecorated treat. “This feels like a trap.”

“No trap. Just a truce. Remember the time when I got upset at you for forgetting me in the parking lot and I told you the only way to fix it was to buy me food?” Your hand begins to drop, but Taeyong catches your wrist and takes the cookie from your possession. He gently places your hand back onto your lap.

“I know no other love language.” You explain the reasoning behind the old memory.

“Pretty sure food isn’t a love language.” Taeyong chuckles, like Christmas carols to your ears, he sounds like home.

“It’s not, but they all require me to be too emotionally vulnerable and you know how that makes me feel…” Your voice unintentionally trails off the end of your sentence. Does he still know how you feel?

Taeyong’s eyebrow raises subtly, catching your implication. “You’re still the same person you were three years ago?”

Three years, has it really been that long? You nod without needing to ponder the thought. There is a stark difference between change and growth. You are who you’ve always been, that is never going to change, but you’ve grown to be stronger and a little more independent.

“That’s not surprising.” Taeyong bites at his cookie, turning the figure in his hands as he stares off to reminisce about the past. He thinks about his pain. He thinks about his own self growth. “I’ve been thinking about you recently.”

The bold comment causes your chest to burn and your throat to grow a bit dry. Taeyong finally looks up at you, eyes dropping between your own and your lips. He doesn’t shy away from staring, taking in how much you’ve changed appearance wise since you two used to be friends. His eyelashes dance against his skin every time he blinked and the white strands of his hair fall around his crown like snowflakes.

“Why?”

“I learned how important it is to have friends around you. You never know when you’ll never see them again. The falling out we had should not have ruined the friendship we built for so long.” It’s difficult for Taeyong to continue with his feelings. It’s not a secret that he’s liked you since you two were close, probably half of the room is well aware of it. But there has never been a moment where he was out right too vulnerable to you, he was and is afraid of showing his feelings.

It’s an immediate body reaction when Taeyong leans in to you and you defensively back away. The confusion shows on your face very blatantly and his dreamy laugh rattles your bones. Taeyong’s hand softly caresses your cheek as his thumb brushes the tip of your nose. “You have some flour on your face.” This skin to skin leaves you speechless as his hot hand holds your cheek so delicately, making your heart race rapidly.

“Your Christmas sweater is ugly.” That’s all you can utter, out of pure panic too. Your eyes dip away and he retracts away from you, elbows on his knees as he leans forward and ducking momentarily to examine his choice of festive clothing.

He laughs, “it’s called an ugly Christmas sweater for a reason. It’s better than wearing a lame red sweater and calling it festive.” It’s surreal how quick things settle back into being the way that it used to be. As if the last three years of silence and constantly pretending the other didn’t exist disappeared. Taeyong is back, he’s yours again. And you hope that he’ll be by your side for longer than you had let him go.

“Red is not my color, I agree, but green is definitely not yours.” You joke back and Taeyong ruffles your hair, just like old times. The holiday spirit practically wraps its arms around you two. The holidays are really about being in each other’s warmth. In this very cold winter, you’re happy to have found an old flame that kept you from frostbite for many years.

“Y/N, we’re putting up the mistletoe.” An acquaintance interrupts you and Taeyong, quickly grabbing your arm to follow her. Your eyes dart between her and Taeyong. One thing you know no doubt about is that you aren’t leaving Taeyong alone again, so you take his hand without another second thought and drag him along with you.

You’re all ushered into the foyer and Mark is on a step ladder under the frame of his door. He notes Taeyong by your side and discreetly smiles to himself. He securely pins it to the wall and claps his hands together to gather everyone’s attention. “We’re going to blindfold two people and they’re going to have to kiss underneath the mistletoe.”

Your hands grow sweaty at the thought of such a risky game and immediately, you two let go of each other’s hands without realizing the clutching feeling of each other’s anxiousness. “I don’t think I’ll be chosen.” Taeyong mumbles to you as Mark and a few other people unravel the blindfolds. Nevertheless, he doesn’t sound very confident and you notice Taeyong’s shifty eyes.

“Right. Me either.” You shrug off, trying to hide slightly behind Taeyong’s stature. However, Taeyong instantly catches the uncertainty in your voice as well.

“Aren’t there four couples in the room?” Taeyong whispers over his shoulder at you.

Crossing your arms, you roll your eyes at his obvious thinking. “Yeah, but Mark isn’t going to choose a couple to kiss. How boring.”

Taeyong chuckles out of disbelief at your comment. “I’ll volunteer you if you want to really spice things up.”

And your eyes grow wide at his mischievous suggestion, pinching at his arm lightly. Underneath the fleece, Taeyong feels sturdy and strong. It’s only another reminder that you two aren’t kids anymore. “Lee Taeyong, do not. I don’t want to kiss anyone in this room.” That might’ve been a lie, even if you didn’t want to admit it to yourself that you are just a little curious how Taeyong might have matured.

“Everyone close your eyes.” Mark excitedly smiles and everyone obliges. You gulp the pooled saliva in your mouth, trying to manifest every possible hope that you aren’t chosen in this room of twenty people. Mark wouldn’t screw you over like that, would he? The more you pondered that thought, the more you believe that he totally would.

Then, you feel a hand on your arm and you’re being guided somewhere. A cloth covers your eyes and you’re quick to snarl, “Mark Lee, this is your only Christmas present. You get no more favors from me.” your cadence is only loud enough for him to hear and though you’re robbed of your sight, Mark’s boyish laughter says enough about his enlightened facial expression.

“This is what you get for trying to leave five minutes into my extravagant party I tried so hard to put on.” Mark sarcastically comments and pats your shoulders for a last indication of reassurance.

You hear footsteps in front of you and an uncanny presence of another in your close proximity. “Okay, everyone can open their eyes.” Mark cheers and it’s not like you can see much through the dark cloth that covers your eyes, but yours open anyways.

Gasps fill the room, slight hollering and cheering. The reactions cause an unsettling stir in your lower stomach. “Kiss!” and before you know it, the unknown person searches for your face and cups it gingerly. The feeling being very familiar to a scene before.

The both of you lean in and it’s difficult with the lack of sight, but people kiss with their eyes closed right? It’s not your first kiss, but also the sense deprivation is something different. When you tilt your head and go in for it, your noses bump together clumsily. You’re slightly embarrassed, your heart is leaping out of your chest from the sudden display of affection and you’re strangling Mark in your imagination.

“I’m sorry.” You whisper, but there isn’t a response back. Instead, your partner dives in without any trace of struggle. Their lips glide perfectly with yours and it’s almost like you’re kissing snow. Any form of awkwardness melts away; their hand on your cheek feels natural and comforting. Your heart yearns for this sense of security as the same warmth from the fireplace embodies your chest.

When you two pull away, the room bursts into a loud chaos of cheers. Before you can take off your blindfold, you can feel everyone running toward the both of you to give you excited pats on your head and arm.

“I can’t believe that just happened!” Your friend’s voice can be heard in your ear. As you lift off the cloth, you see him in the midst of the chaos. Through the heavy dog pile of overly joyous people, Lee Taeyong stands a few feet from you in his ugly Christmas sweater, messy frosty hair and a pink hue across his pale cheeks.

He looks over at you and shyly smiles. “Hopefully that spiced things enough for you. Happy Holidays, Y/N.” He can barely process everyone else's excitement, but he feels joyous for once. After a long cold bitter winter, he feels warm.

“Happy Holidays, you big goof. Good to have you back.” You push at his arm, laughing happily at the ridiculously wide smile he has on his face. You’re glad to see Taeyong smile again.

#neoculturechristmas #nct-writers #kpopscape #neowritingsnet #neothestars #nct scenarios #taeyong scenarios #nct scenario #taeyong #lee taeyong #nct imagines #nct fluff #lee taeyong scenarios

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going-green-ish · 2 years

Text

Today was a jam-making day 🫐 We have a local farmer's market every Friday and Saturday (more on that in a later post) that we get all our fresh produce from. This is one of the biggest ways we manage to cut plastic out of our shopping trolleys, and it's also a way to make some killer savings. Today, one stall was selling these massive 3.5 kg punnets of blueberries for £4 each. Tom's obsessed with blueberries, and we've made jam with them before, so we grabbed a couple of punnets and made our way home 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️💨💨

Jam's not necessarily the worst thing in the world to buy ready-made from the supermarket. The packaging is reusable and/or recyclable, but often it can be hard to find jams made in your country. Here in the UK, most of the major brands come from France. Unless they have a ticket on the Eurostar, that means they're either shipped or air-freighted over (we all know how bad planes are, but let's not forget how awful shipping is for emissions either) 🚢

Now, let's not pretend that these blueberries are grown on home soil. In January, they're most likely coming from somewhere south of the equator - carrying a larger carbon footprint than they would if they were hopping over from France. But we've made 10 jars of jam from one of these punnets and have frozen the contents of the second punnet for adding whole to porridge. That combined should last us most of this year. One journey with a large footprint to make jam in our own jars is better than 10 separate journeys for 10 separate jars of jam over the next 10 months. Given that if we wanted to buy whole blueberries, our options are getting smaller punnets on a weekly basis, in plastic, shipped every week from afar... or frozen blueberries in plastic bags, overall I'd say one big bulk shipment is the friendlier of the two.

Thinking through the maths and given the off-season nature of the blueberries, it's not the biggest footprint saver we could have. But by making our own jam we have made an improvement by:

a) using less sugar than a jar on the shelf would contain (healthier for us and the planet)

b) using a higher fruit content than the equivalent jam we'd buy (which has 50% fruit with the rest being made up of fruit concentrate)

c) reusing 10 jam jars instead of buying more glass in (it's very hard to know how much of the glass we buy in is virgin versus coming from a recycled background)

d) buying in bulk, limiting our carbon impact to the one journey rather than multiple ones

e) saving on the energy costs of the production line that manages all the labelling of the jars and the inks involved

And by using this bulk buy to freeze whole blueberries we have:

a) reduced the amount of plastic significantly (from the supermarkets, you usually get 250g or 500g punnets in plastic containers that aren't as re-usable as these big punnet trays)

b) reduced the shipping impact of getting smaller punnets more regularly

It just goes to show that with some items, it can ultimately not be all that much better for the environment to DIY it unless you're buying in big bulk batches! If we were making our own jam from the small punnets you can get off the shelf, that would be worse than buying a jar of jam.

How will we improve this next time? Bulk buy in the summer when the majority of the blueberries are British or from Northern Europe and have our jam-making escapades then. That version of this story will definitely carry a smaller carbon footprint than a supermarket shop.

For now, I share our imperfect journey of stumbling through all the factors to consider as we try to get that little bit greener.

PS. The punnets will be reused in the spring as starter trays for our veg garden 🌱 All the "bad" blueberries that we picked out, we put out in the garden for the birds to feast upon 🐦

#goinggreenish #eco friendy #going green #plastic free #zero waste #eco tips #sustainable lifestyle #sustainable living #going zero waste #plastic free products #green shopping #eco shopping #homemade #jam making #blueberry jam

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plaidbooks · 3 years

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Feeling Cold

A/N: I just can’t stop writing Sonny Carisi, especially fluff. Because this man deserves fluff and happiness (okay, everyone on svu deserves that). Anyways, here’s some fluffy Sonny fluff.

To my non-American crowd, 5⁰F = -15⁰C

Tags: none (it’s implied they have sex at the end), alcohol mention (Bailey’s is an Irish cream liqueur)

Words: 2577

Taglist: @witches-unruly-heart @beccabarba @thatesqcrush @itsjustmyfantasyroom @stardust-fray @permanentlydizzy @infiniteoddball @ben-c-group-therapy @glowingmess @whimsicallymad @lv7867 @storiesofsvu @cycat4077 @shroomiehomie @alwaysachorusgirl @glimmerglittergirl @joanofarkansass @averyhotchner @redlipstickandplaid @mrsrafaelbarba @detective-giggles @crowleysqueenofhell @reading--mermaid @dreamlover31

It was one of those days where Sonny had arraignments all morning, then no court the rest of the day. Normally, he loved that; it’s not that he hated trials or courts, but he felt like it was, well, a time sinkhole. He had so much paperwork and stuff to do, and sitting at a table, listening to the defense drone on and on, made him more anxious as he thought about the stacks of files in his office. When he was up in front of the judge and jury, it was fine; he was getting things done. Any moment not actively working felt like a waste, though.

But today, he was leaving the warmth of the courthouse to half-jog through snow and 5⁰ weather. He checked his watch as he entered One Hogan Place, seeing that it was his “normal” lunch time; he was planning to take a quick lunch break, then dive into work. Plus, his lunch break meant he got to call you.

You had the day off, so he called you while in the elevator, heading up to the eighth floor. “Hey, doll. I’m done with court and just heading up to take my lunch. How’s your day?” His voice was a little unsteady, his teeth chattering. He had his normal peacoat over his suit, but he had forgotten both his scarf and gloves, and he was freezing.

“Fine…. You sound cold, Sonny. Are you outside?” you asked.

He huffed. “Not anymore—I’m just getting to the eighth floor,” he explained. The elevator doors dinged open, and Sonny let out a hiss as a blast of cold air hit him.

“What happened?” you asked, hearing his exhale.

He let out a shiver. “It’s fucking cold in the office.” Hurrying to his door, he unlocked it with numb fingers, and it was even colder inside. “The heater must be broken.”

He noticed everyone on his floor bundled in various coats and blankets, some even with personal heaters. Sonny moved behind his desk, sitting in the chair and feeling another shiver move up his spine from the cold leather.

“Would coffee help?” you tried. You had just made a huge batch of soup—for lunch and dinner tonight—and you wished Sonny could have some.

“Y-yeah…good idea.” He stood and went to his coffee maker. “Aaaand, it’s broken. Holy shit.” He clenched his jaw, feeling tears in his eyes from frustration.

“Oh god; I’m sorry Sonny. Can you leave early? Bring paperwork home to work on?”

“No—I have a meeting in two hours, and I need to be here. I-it’s fine. I can deal with this.” He grimaced, running a hand through his hair. “Look, I’m gonna go—eat my lunch. I’ll talk to you tonight, doll. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Sonny. It’ll work out; I promise.” You hung up, thinking. Sonny sounded so upset, and you knew him—he got cold easily. The downfall of his lankiness. It was only a 10-minute drive to his office; you could easily make it before his meeting. Hell, he’d probably still be on lunch.

You ladled some soup into an insulated thermos, then pulled on Sonny’s coat—which was much too big on you. And then you pulled on a second of his coats. You stopped by the store on your way, buying literally the last space heater on the shelf, and ordering an extra-large coffee—with a tray.

You put the thermos on the tray, opposite the coffee. Tray in one hand and space heater in the other, you made your way to the eighth floor of One Hogan Place. It was freezing in the building, and you felt bad for the various workers you passed by, all bundled up.

You made it to Sonny’s office, putting the heater down to knock on his door. He called out to you, and you opened the door, stooping to grab the heater as you entered.

“D-doll?” Sonny asked, shivering. He took you in—the two coats, the tray and box. “Wh-what—?”

“I figured you needed this,” you said, smiling. He shook himself, standing and hurrying around his desk. You handed him the tray with coffee and soup, then placed the heater on the desk.

Sonny put the tray on his desk, still looking confused. “What i-i-is all this-s-s?”

“Drink some coffee—warm up. The thermos has minestrone soup,” you instructed. He didn’t need to be told twice, taking a deep gulp from the coffee cup. You shrugged off the top coat, laying it on the desk. Then, you shrugged off the second coat—the one that was insulated between your body heat and the top coat. Sonny stood stock still as you slipped his arm through one sleeve, then pulled the other one on.

“Better?” you asked, grinning at him. You pulled the other coat back on—it was cold in his office. Sonny nodded, just barely, and you turned to the desk, ripping the space heater box open.

Sonny was so stunned by your act of love; you were here to make him warm, to make him feel better. His mind was spinning—he was the one that did this for others. No one had taken care of him like this…except for his Ma when he was little. He didn’t quite know how to process it.

You finished “building” the space heater—you simply shoved the base on—then stood it by his chair and plugged it in.

“Is this a good spot?” you asked, turning to look at him. But Sonny hadn’t moved, his brow furrowed as he looked at you—no, he looked through you. “Sonny?”

He visibly shook himself. “I-I’m sorry, what?”

You gestured to the heater. “Sit in your chair as if you’re working and tell me if this is placed right.”

Sonny moved back behind his desk, pulling his coat closer around him, then sitting. “A little to the left?”

You moved the heater this way and that until Sonny announced it was perfect. Then he stood once more, coming over to you, and wrapping you in his arms. He kissed your cheek, his lips cold still.

“I love you so much. Thank you,” he muttered in your ear.

You smiled against his shoulder. “Of course, Son. I love you, too.” He held you for a long time, both of you warming from the contact. You kissed his cheek, your lips warm against his cold skin.

Eventually, you pulled back. “Text me when you’re coming home—I’ll have the heater on and a bath ready for you, okay?”

“Y-yeah, okay. Thank you again. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Freeze to death, apparently,” you teased, and he chuckled. “Now drink that coffee and that soup before they get cold. And don’t be too late tonight—it’s supposed to get colder and snow more.”

You moved to the door, and he croaked out another, “I love you.”

You paused and turned, giving him a soft smile. “I love you, too. See you tonight.”

*********************

Sonny texted you that he was heading home. The soup was simmering, the heater was on, and you made hot chocolate. The bath, you’d wait until he was home, so that it’d be steaming hot. Still, you got a towel ready for him, and you grabbed his favorite sweats and his Fordham hoodie, throwing them in the dryer.

You heard Sonny’s footsteps in the hallway outside your shared apartment, and you went to grab a mug. The front door opened and shut as you poured some Baileys into the mug, then the hot chocolate.

“I’m home, doll,” Sonny announced, shrugging out of his two coats and suit jacket.

“In the kitchen,” you called back. You met him as he came in, handing him the hot chocolate. Sonny was shivering again, his nose and cheeks bright red.

He cupped the mug with both hands, groaning as the warmth seeped into his skin. “Th-thank you-u-u,” he breathed.

“Mhm—there’s Baileys in it, too,” you warned, and he took a grateful sip. You smiled as he made a happy sound, then took another sip. “I’ll get that bath ready, and then you can have some soup.”

You headed for the bathroom, then turned the water on. As soon as it was hot, you plugged the tub, letting it fill. Sonny joined you in the bathroom, and you swore you saw tears in his eyes.

“Are you okay, Sonny?” you asked, worried.

He nodded, blinking rapidly. “Fine; just something in my eye.”

You gave him a look before brushing it off. “Okay, well, bath’s almost full if you wanna strip.”

He placed the empty mug on the counter, then started pulling his clothes off. He was still trembling slightly, goosebumps on his skin even in the warm apartment, and you were worried he may get sick. Once undressed, you helped him into the bath. He groaned as he sunk down, letting himself slide until he was almost fully underwater. You smiled at him, leaning down to kiss the top of his head. Then, you took the empty mug, and went to refill it.

You brought a full mug back, and Sonny’s eyes were closed as he soaked. “This water feels amazing,” he moaned.

“I’m glad,” you replied, passing him the mug. “How was the rest of your day?”

“Soooo much better with that space heater. Thank you so much for that—I can’t believe you found one.”

“It was the last one on the shelf. But if they were out, then I would’ve just dropped off the coffee, soup, and coat, then gone out to find one for you.”

Sonny blinked, staring at you. “You’d do that for me?”

“Of course, I would—you’d do it for me,” you replied, chuckling in disbelief that he asked.

“Y-yeah…I would…” he trailed off, sipping his hot chocolate.

You smiled at him. “Then why is it so shocking?”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I just…never mind.” You gave him a stern look and he sighed. “I’m just…I should be used to this by now.”

“Used to what?”

“Someone taking care of me…someone who cares….”

You softened at his words. You had been dating for a few years now, having just moved in 7 months ago. And while it’s true that Sonny went above and beyond in the relationship, you tried your best to do the same for him. The only issue was that Sonny usually brushed off your attempts, not maliciously—he just wasn’t used to it, like he said. You’d try and cook dinner after a long day, and he’d take over once home. You’d plan to have his suits dry cleaned, and he’d snag them on his way to work, picking them up on his way home. Sonny didn’t like people waiting on him; he felt like it was a bother to have someone do something he could easily do himself. Your only time to “take care of him” was while he was at work, or holding him after a long day.

“Listen to me, Sonny; a relationship shouldn’t be one person doing everything for the other. There has to be a balance. So, let me take care of you. Let me do things for you, even though you can do it yourself. I want to do things for you, okay?”

Sonny turned to look deeply into your eyes. He scanned your face for a long time before he eventually nodded, a small smile on his face. “Yeah…okay. I can do—I can try and do that.”

“That’s all I ask,” you replied. You stood, turning to leave the bathroom.

“I’ll be out in a moment—the waters getting cold,” Sonny said.

You turned back, smiling. “Okay. I’ll get your clothes ready.

He raised an eyebrow at you as you left, heading for the dryer. You pulled out his hoodie and sweats—both steaming hot. By the time you came back to the bathroom, Sonny was out of the tub, drying off. You passed him the clothes, and he smiled softly as he felt the warmth in the fabric.

As he got dressed, you went back to the kitchen, stirring the soup. Long arms wrapped around you from behind, and Sonny’s chin went to your shoulder.

You chuckled. “Feeling warmer?”

“I always feel warmer around you.”

“Awww, that’s cute. But I’m serious,” you said, turning in his arms.

He grinned at you. “Yes, I’m warm now. Thank you, doll.” He leaned down and kissed you tenderly, putting all his love and affection into it.

“Good,” you whispered against his lips. “Ready for dinner?”

Sonny gave you another kiss before pulling away, heading for the cabinet with bowls. “Starving.”

*******************

Sonny caught you up with his day during dinner, then asked you for yours. Your day was a lot more boring, so there wasn’t much to comment on. Even so, Sonny hung on every word, as if you had traveled the world in 80 days rather than make and simmer a soup, and do some small jobs around the apartment.

Once done eating, you cleared the bowls, rinsing them out and putting them in the dish washer. Then, you went back to Sonny on the couch, throwing a blanket over him, and cuddling next to him. He chuckled, moving the blanket so that it was covering you both, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you against his chest.

“I love you so damn much,” he murmured against your head, pressing a kiss to your temple.

You chuckled. “I love you, too.”

You both sat there a moment longer, watching whatever Sonny put on TV. You could hear him humming—something he did when he was thinking hard. You were just about to ask him what he was thinking about when he whispered, barely audible, “marry me.”

You let out a surprised huff of laughter. “I think you’ve had too much Baileys.”

“I’m serious. Marry me.”

You turned to look at him, finding his eyes on you. “You’re serious?”

Sonny rolled his eyes, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. You sat up as he got off the couch and disappeared down the hallway to your room. There was some shuffling, and your heart started beating faster. He came back soon enough, a small ring box in his hand.

“Yeah, I’m serious,” he announced, dropping to one knee in front of you.

Tears sprung to your eyes as you gasped, your hand coming to your mouth. “Oh my god! Of course, I’ll marry you!” you tearfully said, hands shaking.

Seeing you cry made Sonny start crying. He sniffled loudly, blinking his eyes rapidly as he took the ring and slid it on your finger. He got up, and you pulled him right back down into your lap, holding him close and kissing him.

“Well, I guess now I have to get used to you taking care of me,” he muttered, and you laughed.

“Yeah, you do. I want to take care of you, love. You spend so much of yourself, taking care of everyone. Let me return it.”

Sonny nodded. “I will. I promise. But right now, I want to return the favor. You warmed me up, and I have an idea of how to warm you up.” He leaned in to kiss you deeply, and you gripped his hair, tugging gently. He groaned into your mouth before urging you to stand, dragging you to bed.

#sonny carisi x reader #law and order svu #law and order svu fanfic #fanfic #my writing #yes this was a thought I had after episode 22.10 #because I feel like Sonny needs someone who cares about him #as much as he cares about others

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damerondala · 3 years

Note

🍒 Okay tub time with Kix? 😗👌🏻 Exquisite. So good. Where do i find such a caring man ugh and a clean bathtub chores suck

New Cherry Thot of the Week… This one’s hella self-indulgent but don’t worry bestie, i’m dragging you along for the ride too… Picture it: The Marauder, 19 BBY (did i spend 3 minutes looking that up for this dumb joke? yeah…) Somehow, you and I have joined up with the Bad Batch on some kind of mission. Details don’t matter because the important thing is we’re sharing a tiny spaceship with 5 hunks. 🥰 But obvs we have our favorites… I’m going with Wrecker for you (i know you love Hunter too, but just hear me out, this thot has a purpose) and Crosshair for me.

But here’s the thing. We somehow figure out they like us back (maybe Tech spills the beans), AND they have a bet going… Who can win us over first? Because these 2 are always competing over something with each other right?

And like hot damn, but also ohh there’s so much we can do with this info 😈 We both start teasing our respective guys, leading them on a little, not giving in to their flirting or anything so they can’t say they’ve won the bet for a while. They get more frustrated. More… pent up… And… well… so do we…

Uh oh. Maybe we can’t play this much longer. Maybe one day it’s too much, and one of us races to our crush prepared to just kiss them silly, only to find they had the same idea. And then afterward we try to find the other, and discover they couldn’t hold out with their guy either 🙈 And maybe it’s awkward, maybe Wrecker and Crosshair argue over who actually won forever, but it was kinda weirdly fun anyway. We’re happy, and happy for each other. /EndofSappyStory 🍒

cherry. my love. my life.

this might be the best thing that you have ever gifted me holy fuck the way i BLUSHED while reading this??? whooooooo jesus i love this so much!!! 😭 okay lots to unpack here:

1. excellent golden girls reference again. made me giggle and i appreciate the research tech would be proud of u hehe

2. you and i being bffs in this thot made me so happy aw

3. EXCELLENT CHARACTER CHOICE FOR US OMFG i couldn't stop thinking about the "don't worry wrecker you'll top him next time" "no he wOnT" while reading bc omfg those lines applied to this kind of bet????? AAAAHHHHH IM HAVING A CRISIS

i'm gonna write this in sections, actual encounters with the boys happen in sections 3 and 4 with our sexy murder toothpick man being up first! also this is gonna be pre-omega but post-echo joining the batch

self indulgent filth and fluff in the form of some reader insert thots below ;)

18+ as always kiddies. i really hope you enjoy! this was so fun to write

section 1: the bet

so i imagine this happening right after you guys joined the squad

and it certainly didn't take long for crosshair and wrecker to realize their feelings for you two beautiful women, although one was more brazen about his feelings than the other

one day when hunter had sent you and your friend into a market to pick up a short list of supplies, they got to talking

crosshair made an offhand remark about his girls’ ass which made wrecker fidget, he never was very composed when it came to pretty girls and this caused all the other members of the batch share knowing looks and smirks

“wrecker if you’re trying to be discreet about your feelings for ___ you’re going to have to do stop fidgeting.” tech noted, rolling his eyes when wrecker started stuttering out excuses but he was cut off by echo

“give ‘im a break. at least he isn't as vulgar as crosshair”

“you’re just jealous she doesn't flirt with you, mir'osik” (i had to search up insults in mando’a and this one means shit for brains and when i tell you i died laughing okay anyways sorry)

this made echo roll his eyes, deciding it wasn't worth it to fight over whatever stupid insult the sniper threw at him

wanting to stir the pot juuust a bit, hunter proposed a challenge for his vod. he should be the good influence on his brothers, but he couldn't help but want to see where these crushes would take them

he could hear the girls’ heartbeats intensify around their respective crushes anyways, so he had a pretty good feeling that they felt the same about his batch mates

“don’t know about the rest of you, but i want to see who can win his girl over first” this was met with a smirk from crosshair, a blush from wrecker, and side glances shared between echo and tech

“easy.” crosshair drawled, he knew he had this in the bag

he may be quieter than the others but boy was he was observant, taking note of the way her words had a hard time flowing out of her pretty mouth when he was in close proximity of his girl

wrecker on the other hand didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, in his eyes she was just so sweet. innocent, really. she wouldn’t want the same treatment he knew crosshair had in mind for his girl

the peering eyes of his squad made the large man cave with a sigh, “fine.”

section 2: the slip up

weeks had gone by since the boys established their little competition and you, your friend, and tech were working on some small repairs around the ship

you and your friend had noticed some increased...flirting from your respective guys

crosshair paid more compliments and lingering touches that seemed genuine

and wrecker flirted the best way he knew how; lifting too heavy objects and reaching for items in the tall cargo holds, handing them down with a gentle smile

tech, being the most blunt member of the squad, commented on the whispers you exchanged, dropping a surprising truth on both of your ears:

“well of course they are trying to flatter you. how else do you settle a bet to win each of you over the fastest?”

tech watched the two women freeze before him, sharing shocked looks before turning their attention to him, realization hit his gut like a crate of durasteel, and he swallowed under your stern gazes

“what do you mean, goggles?”

“they...like us?”

tech’s cheeks burned red hot, was his brow beginning to sweat? maker, it felt like it

this was the one time he didn’t feel like explaining himself, instead choosing to coyly excuse himself from the two pairs of watchful eyes

he left you and your friend to stare at each other before both rolling your eyes, “well now we know who spills secrets the easiest” your friend chuckled, shaking her head

after a few moments of silence you both spoke up, deciding there wasn’t that much harm in playing along with the two members of the batch. you were fond of them, after all

you both continued chuckling about the situation, mostly out of disbelief that the flirting and teasing wasn’t just a hopeful facade your minds made up

once the repairs were completed, you both retired to opposite ends of the ship, minds full of deliberation of how you would handle this new information

section 3: the gunport

you were sat in the gunport, musing the situation you found yourself in, hands picking at your fingernails in an effort to curb your nerves

on one hand you didn’t want to ruin the bond you had with the marksman

what if he was just flirting out of pure boredom? there isn’t much to do in a confined ship like this anyways, he might as well pass the time flirting with a woman in his general vicinity

but it just had to mean something

no way the whispered compliments - most of them accompanied with a wink, no less - meant absolutely nothing to him

you decided that you had enough, this was going to eat you alive if you didn't get to the bottom of what was going on in that head of his

with a huff, you stood straight and turned around to exit the space

but you were met with a silver haired man climbing up the ladder

you both froze, both internally freaking out at the basically forced confrontation

oh gods what is he doing up here? did he read my mind??

...shit what do i do i forgot everything i was going to say to her

you nervously chuckled, figuring that you were going to go talk to him anyways so might as well get this over with

“crosshair... um i need to ask you something”

“no, i need to tell you something cyar’ika. i’m tired of sitting here and watching you walk around all day, not being able to show you how i feel.”

now that left you speechless, mouth slightly hanging open in shock to which he deeply chuckled at, “hope this isn't the first time i leave you speechless.”

there it was, that smug attitude that made you roll your eyes but also ignited a heat in your lower abdomen

with a smirk, you decided to play it back to him. two can play at this game, lanky

“well it’d be pretty rude to not demonstrate what you had in mind, trooper”

this was the green light crosshair needed, quickly heaving himself up the last few rungs of the ladder, his hands immediately finding your waist and snatching you close, pressing a firm kiss to your lips

your hands flung up to catch the sides of his sharp cheeks, humming at the feel of his scruff under your palms as you coyly push your tongue through his lips, hoping he’ll welcome your tongue into his mouth

he does, and you are exploring each other in the most delicious way, causing soft moans and sighs to leave both of you

while you were entranced by crosshair’s mouth on yours, you didn't realize he was pushing you back onto the chair of the gunport until you were sat down and he was kneeling in between your legs, his nimble fingers clutching your thighs and hips

in a matter of minutes crosshair had managed to get your bottoms completely off, your slick panties hooked on one ankle, and your thighs over his shoulders

for a man who could run his mouth, he sure proved it

expert fingers entered your weeping cunt while his tongue prodded your bundle of nerves with sharp, quick strokes

he’s beaming at the way you’re trying to support yourself on shaky arms and trapping his head to your cunt with the backs of your calves, the sight of your head thrown back and the whimpers coming out of your mouth making him harder than he had been in a looong time

his fingers and mouth brought to your orgasm quick and hard, nearly screaming his name as your toes curled in bliss

he took his time in working you through it, making sure he could draw it out. he could get used to this.

when you can finally open your eyes and look him in the eye, you’re kissing him again, enjoying the moan he lets out at the feel of your tongue tasting yourself on him

you decide it’s his turn, and you’re pushing him into your previous spot, smiling at the way his eyes slightly widen at the way you took charge

crosshair wants to say some sexy remark, something that he knows will get you to sheepishly smile and look away but he can’t, not with the sight of you sinking down to your knees and slowly pulling down his blacks, keeping eye contact and granting him a playful glint in your eye

you can't help but want to tease him just a bit, running your tongue over the bulge in his blacks

he tries his hardest to not be loud but maker, is he loud when you finally take him into your mouth and down your throat

you’ve quickly found that he enjoys eye contact while in this vulnerable state, nearly shaking when he sees your eyes brimming with tears trying not to choke on his length

one hand sneaking down to alternate cupping his balls is what pulls him over the edge, crying out with your name living on his tongue

you swallow his release, again utilizing eye contact to your benefit and drawing out another prolonged moan from him

it makes you smile in pride, loving how this hard, unyielding man turned into such a mess while you had your way with him

crosshair pats his lap and expectantly looks at you, waiting for you to perch up onto his lap, straddling him

despite being a skinnier guy, crosshair wraps you up in the warmest, most secure-feeling snuggle you have honestly ever experienced

after sharing such an intimate moment with you, he began whispering sweet nothings into your ear, about how gorgeous he thinks you are, how much he cares for you

it’s honestly kind of shocking but welcome nonetheless, cross can be kind when he wants to and you are very glad that this was the outcome of your dancing around each other for months

section 4: the interruption

you retreated back to your room, honestly just wanting to sleep and get your mind off the day

it was becoming harder and harder to not just pounce on wrecker, but you didn't want to just give it up so quickly

and to be honest, you had a bad feeling that tech was full of it

you struggled with self esteem issues for as long as you could remember, so it was difficult to believe the 'genious’ of the batch when he said that wrecker had feelings for you

despite your trepidations, your mind couldn't stop thinking about him, his broad shoulders, toned arms, huge thighs...

your hand slithered down your torso, slipping underneath the waist band of your bottoms and slowly circling your clit as images of wrecker effortlessly lifting anything that crossed his path filled your mind, honestly wishing it was you he was lifting

perhaps lifting you to brush your pussy on his nose, his tongue exploring your womanhood enough to make you shout his name

but apparently that last part was not all in your head

although you didn't shout it, wrecker definitely heard the way you whispered out his name in a moan in the dark room

he really hadn’t meant to barge in, but after a few knocks with no answer he began to worry

he came by to tell you how he felt with absolutely no expectation of sleeping with you. truthfully, he gave up on trying to get into your pants, he was willing to lose the bet with crosshair, he knew he wasn’t as smooth as his brother anyways

while he obviously would never be opposed to making love with you, he figured that you deserved to be courted beforehand, and he thought there was no way you’d want to share your body in such an intimate way with somebody like him

but the sight he was greeted with was enough to prove himself wrong

you, spread out on your bed with your hand moving diligently under your thin lounge shorts and you moaning his name made him subconsciously let out a loud gasp

that you absolutely heard, eyes snapping open and hand coming to an abrupt halt, ripping out from under your bottoms

“wr-wrecker! what are you doing here?!”

“i- uhhh- i didn’t see anything! erm, i'm sorry, mesh’la”

by now you had your blankets covering you, despite being fully clothed, and were looking at him with mortified eyes

wrecker still stood in the doorway, unsure if he should let this opportunity pass him by

if you had told him to leave he would, he’d do anything you said, but the fact that you made no move to force him into leaving made him linger

“i'm...sorry if im overstepping mesh’la but i just- i can't stop thinking about you. and well,” he gestured to your form, still cradling the blankets to your heaving chest, “i think you think about me too”

of course you couldn't deny it, he had just seen you pleasuring yourself and moaning his name, what the hell kind of excuse could you come up with? none, that's what

his sheepishness made your heart soar, realizing he probably was just as nervous as you

deciding to cut him some slack, you slowly rose up, blanket falling to the ground as you sauntered over to his frozen frame

whispering, “you're right. do- do you want to stay?”

you had the poor man at a loss for words, eagerly nodding at your proposition and allowing you to take his hand and lead him to your bed, pushing him down so you could straddle his lap

his large cock bulging through the thin fabric of his blacks and pushing against your already hot cunt made you cry out

pure adrenaline coursed through both of you, hushed moans leaving your mouths as you steadily ground down onto him, his hand tangled in your hair and the other kneading your breast

your lips broke away from his mouth and you smirked at the look on his face, absolutely fucking giddy that this was finally happening, he had been dreaming about this moment since he first saw you

the sounds he made while you sucked on the sensitive skin of his neck encouraged you to slip a small hand down the front of his blacks and pull his thick cock out, heat flooding your body at the hiss he let out when you started slowly jacking him off

your legs were in the perfect position for him to push your shorts down and over your ass, fingers picking up where you left off and circling your clit, working you open to take one of his massive fingers

the more you squeezed his throbbing shaft, the louder wrecker became

and not wanting anybody to hear you two fooling around, you glued your mouth to his, tongues mingling in heat

the excitement of the entire situation made it not last very long overall, but you both had intense orgasms regardless

wrecker curled his - now two - fingers inside you just right, and your continued squeezes and strokes of his cock made him finish, his cum coating your palm

both of you were shaking, muffled groans and gasps filled the room until you were coming down from your simultaneous orgasms

after coming back down to the moment, wrecker chuckled and flopped down on his back, bringing you with him to crash onto his chest

you both giggled like a couple of smitten teenagers who were experiencing their first love, relishing in the butterflies in your stomachs, we just did that

“been waiting a long time to do that, doll” wrecker’s big hands rubbed up and down your curves, closing his eyes and smiling at your laugh, “i know”

his head shot up at that, “you know?” the way his eyebrows furrowed up made your chest tighten with admiration, smiling cheekily down at him, “of course i do. tech told us gals.” you leaned down to place a peck on his chin, “you think you won the bet?”

“dunno. but I feel like i just won the entire galaxy.”

it honestly didn't make much sense in your post-orgasm daze, but the endearing tone made you smile and kiss him once again

section 5: the hallway

after your respective encounters with your boys, you ran to your friend, bumping into her in the hallway, the tight space echoing your giggles and shrieks of excitement throughout the entire ship

you both were so flustered and giddy that you were talking over each other, just needing to tell her about what just happened

“i just sucked-”

“you will not believe-”

you both stopped and laughed even harder, holding onto each other for support, then your friend took a deep breath and smiled, “you first.”

the sounds emitted from you two not only made your boys smile and their chests swell with pride but also coerced some chuckles from the other members of the batch

they all knew how long these...events were in the making and how eager cross and wrecker were becoming

and in all honesty they were glad their brothers had found happiness in two girls like yourselves

nice, funny, and obviously in love with their brothers

they really could’t have asked for better women to take care of their family

taglist! (fill out this if you’d like to be added):

@djarrex, @pastelpanda19, @rebelpitstop, @sageislostinspring, @shiny-mando

#ily babycakes hope you liked this #thank you for giving me such incredible thots #you're the best #🍒 anon

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vesuvian-american-fics · 3 years

Text

better with time. Ch 11

the end of the beginning.

You looked forward to a trip abroad, you share one last meal with your family before your life would change forever. (AO3)

Words: 1,836

Falling.

You were falling really fast. Your breath was caught in your throat. The air was hot and scorching. Microscopic beads of sand stuck into your lungs. When you finally opened your eyes a bed of sand that went on for as far as the eyes could see was surging up to meet you head on.

You shielded your face and that was it. For a moment. In the next moment you were waking up in bed. You were home. Your weary father woke you from your deep sleep.

“Wakey wakey deary! Don’t sleep in again Y/N. Today’s a special day, up up!” He cheered, his voice was raspy, his posture was bad from a long life of work to support you and your younger siblings.

“Where am I? Papa?” You asked weakly, the words feeling foreign on your tongue, but not so out of place. Your father gave a hearty laugh, he was a large man, with big rough hands almost always with a coating of soot on the from his job in the coal mines of... you don’t know where you are yet.

“Must be some dream you were having, deary. Get dressed now and come downstairs for some oats for breakfast! The good kind! The kind you loved since you were a baby!” He smiled, a slight wheeze to his voice. Although you could tell your father had a hard life, he was always happy at home. Never letting it be known how tired he really was.

You couldn’t help but find yourself smiling to him, a renewed energy surging through you and getting you up and out of bed.

“I-I’ll be down in a minute Papa!” You shouted after him down the stairs. You were happy, really happy. You felt like you had just been away for a really long time and now you were finally back where you were meant to be. Back home with Papa, your sisters and brother. You remember now that Mother passed away just a few years ago but you had come to peace with that in time. She passed peacefully in her sleep; you were told at the hospital.

After dressing yourself in the clothes that had been left out for you, you skipped down the stairs. Four smaller kids rushed you and squeezed you tightly.

“Y/N! We really miss you!” They shouted in unison, you recognize them at your three younger sisters and your baby brother.

“Huh? But I’ve always been here.” You commented, patting the children atop their heads. They didn’t respond except for giving you one last long squeeze. They felt desperate, clinging a bit longer than what was comfortable for you but you dismissed it as silly child’s play.

You father gave you a big hug as well, picking you up off of your feet before placing you in your seat at the table. The seat you sat in your whole life, you recognized everything you saw. The quilt your mother had sewn, the rusty oven your father loved to overuse, the bowtie around your brother’s neck, every little thing. However, it was as if everything not within your direct line of view simply didn’t exist. You couldn’t remember it, you couldn’t comprehend it, you couldn’t attempt to imagine it if you wanted. It only existed if you saw it. How odd.

“Well Papa, what’s so special about today?” You asked between spoon fulls of your morning oats.

“You hit your head or something? You had been yappin’ about this day for months now! You were one of the Eldian’s chosen to go get on that big ship abroad to a neighboring country! Today’s the day!” He hooted, dropping a heavy plate stacked high with freshly buttered rolls from the oven.

From this moment on you were on autopilot. No longer in control of your actions, you were in the passenger seat of your own existence, only allowed the privilege to see what happens.

“Oh, I can’t wait! I didn’t want to be stuck here forever! No offense Papa, but you know I’ve dreamt of leaving and exploring new things!” You squealed. Right on time, the first horn was blown on the ship announcing the first-class boarding. You gasped and hopped to your feet.

“Obviously that horn isn’t for me but, Papa, I’ve got to get going I don’t want to be late!” You declared, scooping your siblings up into your arms for one last hug. You pecked your father’s cheek with a feather light kiss before grabbing your packed bags and dashing out the door.

There was a flash of regret across your father’s features, but not one the old you noticed in that moment. The you of today, whenever today was, wanted to stop and ask why he looked so troubled. Torn like he didn’t want you to go, but beyond that of missing one’s child off to a trip abroad. A look of dread stricken across his features. Lack of color to his skin, excess sweat beading to his brow and thick tears already spilling over his cheeks.

It sent chills through you.

The next time you opened your eyes you were on a ship, still excited, only a little concerned about the conditions you were being kept in. You hadn't seen your bags since you had boarded the ship. They were quickly taken away by military staff as you were rushed off to where you’d be staying. That was three days ago already. Your room was filled with other girls about your ages. They seemed troubled, they kept quiet only speaking when spoken to. You brushed off the thoughts screaming to you that something was very wrong.

You were Eldian, you knew your conditions wouldn't be pristine in comparison to... the other people. You can’t remember what they’re called for some reason. Let alone the fact that you can’t remember what makes you so different from them. But these were the times you were born into. You can’t change it.

Another two days passed and finally the door to your holding area was opened. You were no longer excited. Only afraid. You don’t know where you are, or why it took so long to get here. Why you hadn’t been able to change clothes in five days and why you hadn’t been offered food for the last day and a half. The other girls were crying now, and had been for a long time that it was starting to make you tear up as well.

“You! With me...” A masked man said as he stomped towards you grabbing you roughly by the arm and dragging you out of the ship and above deck. You were blindfolded and another set of hands dragged you somewhere.

The air was hot and scorching. Microscopic beads of sand were stuck into your lungs. Your blindfold was ripped off and as your eyes adjusted painfully to the change in light your heart jumped into your throat.

“Where am I?” You cried out; your questions were ignored. Instead, you were answered to a sharp pain in your upper arm, a large syringe imbedded into your skin. You cried uncontrollably until you couldn’t manage your breathing. To your right you heard a man's wales echoing, you looked to where the noise was coming from and what you saw made your heart freeze. Everything froze. The man was roughly kicked over the edge of this giant wall down to the desert below.

Then the next man, then a woman, then your neighbor from back home. Next was a child you had recognized from always selling newspapers by the shops back in town. Many more people were kicked from the wall. Screaming, crying, sobbing, puking as they fell.

You were next.

A horrifying man stood before you, a scowl ever-present on his face. You could feel the hatred oozing off of him like a sticky ink and you felt your stomach wretch from the dread that settled deep in there.

You began to shake violently, trying to fight free of the men holding you in place, to run, far far away from this place and never turn back. You were afraid. You were hyperventilating, your face hot and wet from the continuous rivulet of tears streaming from your eyes.

The man was quick, his hand snapped up to grab you harshly by the face, keeping you still.

“I recognize this one. Remember, few years ago? W-what was the name...uhhh. What’s your last name kid?” He asked, his voice was deep and smooth. It sickened you how he was talking so comfortably to you as if he weren't just about to kick you from this wall that was however many meters tall. As much as you wanted to ignore him, your fear won the battle and obediently you answered his question.

“Yeah, yeah! Few years ago, your mom was here! Ha! See I told you I recognized this one, looks just like her old bat of a mom.” The two men laughed in your face as the realization settled in you.

“W-what.... no? No! My mom died in the hospital! You’re lying!!!” You screamed and spat at the two men. Your insolence wasn’t tolerated, and the man in charge punched you harshly in the head.

“Yes, she was! Your mom was on the first batch out here and now it's your turn, and then the rest of your family if we’re lucky, there’s too many of ya.” The men began to laugh again. The two holding you down finally loosened their grip on your shoulders and before you knew it, there was a harsh kick to your back.

Falling.

You were falling really fast. You closed your eyes as you felt your stomach leap as you became weightless. You don’t know how much time passed before you opened your eyes. But a bed of sand that went on for as far as the eyes could see was surging up to meet you head on.

You shielded your face and that was it. For a moment. In the next moment you were coughing violently. Your whole body was sore.

“Y/N! Y/N!” Hange shouted as they cradled your head on their sturdy lap.

Levi sheathed his swords back where they belonged. He was sure you were turning into a titan when a huge cloud of steam surrounded you. However, just as he and Hange made it through the fog you were collapsed and foaming from your mouth after having a particularly violent seizure.

“Papa...” you gargled as your face twisted in pain. Levi frowned, you sounded so weak and... sad. He sighed before calling the horses around and getting you set up securely in the carriage with Hange. The three of you rushed back towards the base where the proper infirmary that you have become so acquainted to was waiting for you.

“You better wake up, you... and explain yourself damnit...” Levi grunted to himself as he pushed his trusted horse as hard as he could towards the horizon.

#better with time.#levi ackerman #Levi #levi x reader #aot #snk #attack on titan #fic #hange

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exmormondragon · 2 years

Text

Unrealistic expectations.

How much can you put on someone before they break? Quite a bit, usually. How much can they actually do? Almost always less. And the weight can still twist and crush them underneath, even if they never snap.

There’s a post I saw recently (I’ve got it scheduled to be reblogged around the same time I post this, I didn’t wanna hijack the posts but I did like it and want to reference it for these tangentially related thoughts and to share it with all y’all) about the unrealistic expectations set by cooking nowadays. Cooking, out of all things. How hard can it be to cook a few meals for yourself every day, especially if you’re taking turns with your partner?

As it turns out, it’s practically impossible! I learned real cooking from my boyfriend, (and he’s still the better chef) and yet even though we often make large batches of food to freeze for later, it takes so much time and we eat on such a regular basis that it’s just… really hard! Only now that we’ve accepted that convenience in the form of frozen meals is actually okay to pay for sometimes have we had a better relationship with cooking. We still cook a lot of our meals, and hand-make our cat’s food, but if we don’t have time we don’t stress about it anymore, we just heat up a sandwich and eat that, whereas we used to stress about cooking so much we would sometimes just not eat.

I’ve seen much the same regarding schoolwork, as well. After all, if you have 7 hours of class, 4 hours of homework, 2 hours of clubs, 7 hours of sleep, that leaves you with what, 4 hours for entertainment, friends, hobbies? Less, because you have to eat, travel between school and home, and often have even more homework than that. And, and and and, whether you’re in college or high school (these numbers were for high school) you’re also expected to have a job on top of all that!

The worst thing is not even that this is a reality for many people (especially when you put them in the same person, and someone wants to both cook their own food AND go to school) though it’s already bad enough. It’s the fact that we are told this is possible, and told we are not living up to expectations if we can’t do it.

And there are so many other things that can take up loads of our time. If you’ve got a full-time job, that’s straight up 8+ hours used up a day. Cooking and school, hobbies, cleaning and chores, exercise, caring for a pet or for children…

And the topic of my ramble here, of course, is church.

The propaganda of needing to be able to work, cook, clean, work, maintain a social life, and still get enough sleep is something the church gives too, saying that everyone (or at least every family) should be ‘self-sufficient’. And, on top of all that, hours upon hours of church-related activities every week. Two hours of church on Sunday, an hour of scripture study every day, prayers before every meal and every drive and every action. Hours dedicated to your calling, to temple visits, hours for seminary and for service hours, for meetings and for MORE meetings. Two years of your life given to a mission, and then a half dozen children to care for for the rest of your life.

I used to believe the church was important because it gave community. And the people of the church certainly can. But every single individual is still so overworked, with such unreachable expectations of keeping a clean house, raising children in the gospel, going to church, and doing all their own daily connections with God that they don’t really have much time to help the other members in their ward (except, of course, for love bombing new members).

Not only that, but reasonable expectations are stretched even further. If you pay tithing but can’t afford rent next month, you’re expected to lose your Netflix account, or stop getting stuff for a hobby, or eat nothing but rice and beans for the next month. $8 saved on a streaming service isn’t going to give you enough to eat and pay rent, but you’re still expected to give up entertainment. Only after all that will you get the bare minimum amount of money to allow you to survive. After years of faithful tithing paying, you’re reduced to survival before you can get any of that effort, money, and time back.

You’re not allowed to thrive in the church. And if your needs are different from the general masses, you’re simply wrong. The church knows what’s best for you, and that’s hard work. It’s not time to relax, think, treat yourself or refill your spoons.

I see it a lot in my dad. He doesn’t rest, working from 5 every morning to midnight every night. He literally considers his bathroom time to be leisure time, the only time he has to read a book. My mother doesn’t have the same ability to push herself, she needs time to recharge, and yet I know she feels bad about it.

It’s just all about unrealistic expectations. It translates directly over into the eternal debt of sin and the natural man, and the knowledge that in the church you will never be good enough.

But you’re still expected to try.

#exmo #exmormon #ex cult #leaving

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floralfloyd · 3 years

Text

A Winters Tale

Pairings: Gwilym Lee x Reader

Word Count: 1,037

Setting: London, England

Disclaimer: Hello to all my fellow Gwilym fans out there, I’m back with a new piece written as part as the Get Down, Give Joy Gift Exchange. This beautiful, fluffy tale is for @heyjonesey, hope you enjoy dear :)

Gentle snowflakes gracefully fell in swirling patterns towards the frosted ground. Music played softly from the turntable placed in the corner of the room as you sat on the wooden window ledge, dainty fingers wrapped around the porcelain cup that was filled with the steaming hot liquid that was contrasted with the world outside.

Unlike past years, you had decided to spend Christmas at home in London. Big family gatherings and loads of questions about your love life was what you were trying to avoid.

True you had a wonderful man in your life but your family were yet to find out, that would be left to the New Year.

You and Gwilym had met through mutual friends. One blind date, which you admittedly thought would end up in being a total waste of time, ended up bringing the sweet Welshman into your life. Lonely evenings after long days at work seemed to look more appealing as you’d rush out the tube station towards the one place that used to feel less homey but now was the most exciting part of your days.

Months passed and it was like two souls had reunited, to any stranger, you both looked like you’d known each other for years. The chemistry was there and anyone who glanced at how Gwil looked at you could see that you were both so in love.

This Christmas would be the first you’d spend together. The snow was bad enough to strand anyone in a busy city, so the decision was definitely a sensible one.

You were pulled from your deep concentration on the tiny fluttering of snowflakes by two strong arms winding round your frame and pulling you to a warm torso. Tilting your head up to look, your gaze was met with those beautiful blue eyes that seemed to twinkle every time you looked into them.

“How’s the cocoa, Cariad?” his welsh drawl never ceased to make your heart swell, even if it was just simple words and phrases, you did your best to learn them.

“It’s perfect, you should give up your acting career and become a barista. This...” you held up the mug “would put Starbucks to shame”

Gwil let out a soft chuckle as he stole a sip which earned him a playful nudge. “I see the snow has started again, how about we go across to the street and act like kids for a while?” he asked as he lay his chin on your head.

Pretending to think for a prolonged period of time, you finally nodded before placing the mug down on the unit. “But only if you promise that we make a snowman”

“I sincerely promise that we will make a wonderful snowman” he grinned as he gave you the scouts honour before moving to pull his jacket and boots on.

Despite wearing a hat, the snow gathered in the locks of your hair as you crossed the road into the small park hand in hand with Gwil. There was something about being the firsts to lay footprints in the freshly fallen blanket of snow that brought a smile to your face.

Hours passed in a blur as you both forgot about your real ages and frolicked around in the cold. Soaked and freezing, you both returned back inside.

The simple task of building a snowman quickly had turned into a snowball fight after Gwil threw the first shot hitting your back followed by another, then another before it was a full-blown war fuelled by childish sniggers and joking.

As your other half set out to make another batch of his signature warm beverage, you took to your childhood tradition of building a pillow fort. Furrowing your brows in concentration, you worked hard to place the cushions in a way that the gentle giant himself would fit inside. Being over six foot, Gwilym was a giant compared to your small stature. It made kisses interesting and never boring.

Cuddling up to share the body warmth of each other, you both decided on watch “National Lampoons Christmas Vacation”. It was a favourite of Gwil’s, he gasped once you had mentioned the week before that you had never seen it. Insisting that on Christmas Eve, that it just had to be watched.

Your laughter lit up the room and each time it escaped your lips, the Welshman couldn’t help but gaze at you in adoration. Just this time the year before was he gearing up for another lonely Christmas back home in Wales. His busy recording schedule made it hard for him to find someone to spend those breaks with but here you were, by his side, understanding if he had to take a rain check because filming over ran, supportive of his decision to go for auditions and try new things. In Gwilym’s eyes you were perfect.

The end credits rolled, his blue eyes moving to see your reaction but instead his heart melted. You had fell asleep curled into his side. The mix of his warmth and exhaustion from all the running about had tired you out. Strands of hair fell to cover shut eyes. Your cheeks pink from the warm glow off the fire place that you both sat near in your own little fort.

His large hand gently caressed your back in soothing circles as he flicked through Netflix for something else to watch. He tried not to move too much as not to disturb you.

An angel was what he would’ve described you as in that moment to anyone who asked. The way your hair framed your face, the soft shadows highlighting your features and the glow from the fire all accented just how angelic you were.

The remote was discarded as he leaned down to place a gentle kiss on top of your head. His full attention on the sweetheart that lay asleep beside him.

“I know you might not hear this as your away in dream land but I love you, (Y/N). I’ve known for quite a while now and have been waiting for the right moment to say it. You’re everything I could ever think of and I’m truly honoured to be spending Christmas with you. I love you, Cariad”

#getdowngivejoy #gwilym lee x reader #gwilym x reader #gwilym imagine #gwil x reader

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theonlyjourneythatmatters · 3 years

Text

Another day, another pound

So I know I said I was going to post yesterday, but I had a very long day and I was tired, so I didn't feel like it. I've struggled this week with motivation and energy and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because of this heat- I don't know.

But with that said, I'm here now. And I've learned a few things! As I've said before, I am no expert and do not claim to be. I just know what's been working for me and that I can share that knowledge and experience with ya'll. So here we go.

What I learned this week:

It's better to get your bulk calories in at the beginning of the day. Breakfast should be your heaviest calorie meal. If you prefer a light breakfast, then focus your calories at lunch. This is because you're more likely to work off those calories during the day than you are at night after dinner. I know a lot of people prefer a heavy dinner- but this is a major reason why that weight doesn't come off like you want it to. You're not burning off those dinner calories!

Everything you do burns calories. Well, I didn't JUST learn this- I've known this. But for some reason, it didn't click! So don't think ONLY strenuous exercise will help you burn calories. Of course, exercise will help you burn them faster in a shorter amount of time, but if you can't get to the gym every day, you're still burning calories.

My apple watch tracks everything. I wear it from the time I get up in the morning til I'm ready to lay down for the night. And what's better than counting my steps? It counts the calories burned, too! Adding this at the end of the night helps me keep a better estimate of what I've taken in vs put out for the day for calories. Do yourself a favor- invest in something that keeps track of that (watch, fitbit, etc). It is well worth the money especially for weight loss.

Sundays are for meal-prep!!!

I meal prep for the following week(s) on Sundays. I typically prep every other Sunday for my work lunches. I do -not- meal prep for dinners.

Every Sunday, I prep my snacks for the week (usually strawberries and blue berries). If there's a new item I want to eat, I'll prep that up as well. Today, I wanted to add cabbage soup to the work lunch mix. SO, that's what I did. I made it in the instant pot, so this is the instant pot recipe- but this can be adapted for a regular stove top. I included pictures for reference so ya'll can see the sizes.

I also decided to meal-prep some breakfast; which I do not normally do. But the meal replacement shakes don't seem to be working as well as they had been previously, so I'm going to retire them for a bit.

Cabbage Soup

Ingredients:

2 heads cabbage, medium; chopped in large chunks

3 pieces of thick sliced bacon (I used Great Value brand); chopped and cooked

1 15oz can tomato sauce (Great Value)

1 bag Premium matchstick carrots (Bolthouse Farms- 3.5 oz bag)

1 sweet Vidalia onion, medium size; chopped in small pieces

1 tbsp. of the following: course sea salt, ground black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, Slap ya Mama Cajun seasoning (or Tony Cacheres- I like my soup to have a bit of a kick, but you can decrease or increase this amount to suit your tastes)

7 cups water (divided- explained in steps)

Directions:

Put the instant pot on sauté and set for 20 minutes. Chop the 3 pieces of bacon into bite sized pieces and begin to cook them until brown. (I cooked mine a little longer so the crisp wasn't completely lost in the soup)

While the bacon is cooking, start cutting up both heads of cabbage. Cut them into 1-1 & 1/2 inch chunks after removing the core. Set aside in large bowl.

Once the bacon is cooked to your liking, add 1/2 cup of water to "deglaze" the pot. This gets up all of that stuck-to-the-bottom flavor that you need. DO NOT DRAIN THE BACON. We need the grease.

Begin to add the cabbage a hand full at a time, making sure it mixes with the water and bacon pieces. Allow each batch to wilt down some before adding the next batch. Continue with the cabbage until it's all incorporated. Once complete, add 1/2 cup of water.

Add the carrots and mix with the cabbage and bacon mixture.

Add all of your seasonings into 1 cup of water and pour over the top of the cabbage. You can mix it now if you want to, or you can wait.

Set the instant pot to pressure cook, and set for 10 minutes. Once the 10 minutes is passed, allow the pot to Natural Release for another 10 minutes. After the Natural Release is done, use the manual release. * NOTE: this is a dish with a good amount of liquid. Use a potholder to dish towel to put over the valve when you do the manual release to avoid any splattering liquids.

Once the pressure is released, stir the soup and taste test it. Add any seasonings you feel like it may need.

Chop the onion into small pieces and add it to the soup. Add the entire can of tomato soup, and 5 more cups of water. Stir well. Pressure cook for another 2 minutes and allow to Natural Release for another 10 minutes. Give it one last stir and taste test, and enjoy!

Step one: Sauté the bacon. Ya'll see all that bacony flavored goodness stuck to the bottom?? We WANT that.

Step two: Cut the cabbage. Size isn't that important- but you do want bigger pieces as cabbage likes to shrink!

Step Four & Five: Mix the cabbage and carrots and allow to wilt a little bit

Finished product: big bowl of deliciousness

This recipe yields 20 cups of soup, which is 10 full servings. There are 48 calories and and 4.8g of proteins in a single cup of soup- but I recommend 2 cups being the serving size.

*This recipe can be changed to fit your specific needs. I do not add meat to mine other than the bacon, but you can add chicken, stew meat, etc. You can also add different veggies. I sometimes add canned diced tomatoes but I didn't have any today. Just be mindful of the added calories and adjust the recipe to reflect that (especially if you're using a calorie counter that allows you to create customized meals).

I got 6 meals out of it (would have been the full 10 but I only had 6 available soup bowls); my husband and I had a bowl each, and so did my son. There was some left but no one wanted it so it got thrown out. It was delicious and filling. And the best part? SUPER low on calories! Most soups are; and I will be adding more to my blog as I make them! I make a knock-off Olive Garden Zuppa Toscano, so that might be my next endeavor!

Breakfast:

For this meal-prep, I used eggs, Conecuh sausage links, bacon (same as the one I used for the soup), and sausage patties.

Breakfast # 1: Scrambled eggs, thick sliced bacon, and Conecuh sausage

Ingredients

2 eggs, scrambled

1 tsp butter (I used Country Crock Churn Style)

1 tsp shredded cheese (I used shredded Colby and Monterey jack Great Value brand)

1 oz Conecuh sausage (you can use any type of sausage- I just prefer this brand)

1.5 slices of thick cut bacon (Great Value brand)

Course sea salt

Ground black pepper

Directions

Make 2 eggs, scrambled with butter and whatever seasonings of your choice

Add the cheese to the eggs when they're almost done cooking

Cook the bacon in the air fryer for 6 minutes (time varies depending on how crispy you like your bacon)

Cook the Conecuh in the air fryer for 7 minutes

Put the eggs in to a freezer-safe bowl

Cut the Conecuh and bacon into smaller pieces and put on top

Freeze

This recipe yields 1 full serving. It has 295 calories and 20.5 grams of protein.

Breakfast 2: Scrambled eggs, Conecuh sausage, and sausage patties

Ingredients

eggs, scrambled

1 tsp butter (I used Country Crock Churn Style)

1 tsp shredded cheese (I used shredded Colby and Monterey jack Great Value brand)

2 sausage patties (I used Tennessee Pride)

1 oz Conecuh sausage (any brand, this one is just my preference)

Course sea salt

Ground black pepper

Directions

Make 2 eggs, scrambled with butter and whatever seasonings of your choice

Add the cheese to the eggs when the eggs are almost done cooking

Cook the sausage patties in the air fryer for 8 minutes or until cooked through

Cook the Conecuh in the air fryer for 7 minutes

Put the eggs in to a freezer-safe bowl

Cut the Conecuh and sausage patties into smaller pieces and put on top

Freeze

This recipe yields 1 full serving. It has 481 calories and 29.6g of protein.

But enough of the recipes......

Like I stated previously, it's important to get the bulk of your calories during the day so you have the opportunity to burn them off. I've just been walking. I walk at work, I walk around the house- when I shop, that's when I get a lot of steps in.

Granted, walking doesn't burn a lot of calories. However, if you have your tracker on, throughout the entire day, you'll have burned at least 1 full meal off. It is also especially important to stay hydrated. Water no only helps with cutting down muscle pain (when you exercise), drinking a full 8 oz of water before each meal and after can help you feel fuller faster, and feel fuller longer.

I purchased a QuiFit 1 Gallon Water Bottle from Amazon. It arrived today and I plan to use it at work. I have the worst time drinking enough at work. The water from the sink tastes funny. We have a fountain that fills water bottles, but and don't always remember to bring a bottle of water that I can refill later. The simplest solution was to buy a water bottle and keep it at work.

I think that's all for today, guys. I have school work to do! I'll make a post later next week (unless something cool happens before then that I need to mention) that details what types of foods I eat for dinner since I do not meal prep those.

Have a great day, and thanks for reading!

XOXO, Lauren <3

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jessiebanethedragon · 4 years

Note

Can you do Hunter and the reader where Hunter watches the reader practice advanced Kung fu with a bo staff outside the ship? Hunter gets his brothers and they watch as the reader practices. How would the bad batch react if they saw the reader pull off an insane Kung fu move?

Thanks for all the requests everyone! I hope you like this, did my best to keep it gender neutral but i think i used ‘she’ at one point (hope thats okay) i don’t know much about this topic but i did my best! ❤️

Frigid air cooled your nose until it was slightly pink. This planet was heaven for you, the large lake that had frozen over was perfectly flat and just calling your name. On instinct your hands drifted to where the three parts of your Bo Staff remained hidden in the large pack you carried around with you. Feeling the slight pressure and dent where the side of the pack met the wood. If you focused you could feel the engravings that had been etched in by your hand.

Your pack and amour sat in a pill on the edge of the lake, leaving you only in your flowing underclothes that moved with the wind of the freezing planet. Putting your Bo Staff together felt like uniting your body with its soul. The feeling of the wood in your hands was feeling whole again. Timid first swings gradually got more and more complex as you drifted away from reality.

Hunter was checking the hull of the ship when the energy of the atmosphere changed. Another person was exiting the Havoc Marauder even though he’d given express orders to stay inside. He could tell it was you from the way the energy carried itself. And it wasn't until he heard the sound of your armour hitting the ground he became worried.

Following to where you had dumped your things, Hunter pulled up his wrist to comm the others in worry. You wandering around in the freezing cold was the last thing the team needed. Everyone was tired, stressed and beaten badly, but you seemed to pay no mind to any of this as you reached the center of the lake.

He saw you start to assemble something, three sticks clicking together that almost appeared to resemble a longer lightsaber hilt. If lightsaber hilts were wood, and engraved and also curved slightly as you swished it through the air. Okay maybe Hunter actually had no idea what you were holding, but he was mesmerized nevertheless.

You were so graceful, so stunning, every step was a dance that he never knew you could do. Every swing was a song that, up until now, Hunter had never heard. The way you slid on the ice, and twisted was astounding. And he knew it was creepy to stare, especially as you hadn't shared your talent with any of the bad batch before. And he knew it was even creepier to wonder how the movement of your muscles would feel under his hands. Yeah, Hunter was a man in love, and had been a man in love for some time.

“You shouldn't stalk members of your crew.” Crosshair said, putting a toothpick in his mouth and letting out a huff of laughter at his sergeants surprised face.

“Told you to stay inside.” He bit out, upset his view now contained the sniper instead of you. But as the staff made its way slamming into the ice, he ignored Crosshair and turned back to you.

“Told ‘er to stay in the ship as well, that’s double standards Sarge.” Crosshair told him with a smirk, knowing he absolutely had the upper hand in this conversation.

“If you shut your trap, you can stay.” Hunter snapped out, sighing as you swung the staff so close to the ground, flurries of snow followed it. Making you look more ethereal than you already did.

“Sarge.” Crosshair tapped his shoulder.

“Crosshair what did I just tell- oh for kriff sakes.” Wrecker and Tech were also now off of the ship and heading toward you. Causing hunter to facepalm around his long hair and groan into his palm, as Crosshair basically giggled at his misery.

“That's very impressive.” Tech commented as he unnoticed your movements.

“Shhhh, Sarge demands silence while he gawks at his riddur.” Crosshair was really being a shit today. Loving every second of the predicament Hunter had found himself in.

“Not my riddur.” He grumbled in response, causing Crosshair to lean over and sing into his ear.

“But you want her to be!”The group turned back in a collective trance as you dug the staff into the lake and your feet left the ground. The finishing complex move you started to perform made their eyes go wide with shock. If they weren't impressed before, they certainly were now.

“Woo! Yeah!” Wrecker shouted, clapping as you stood, taking deep breaths. And his three brothers turned in unison to glare at him. Smiling, you collapsed your Bo Staff and joined them at the edge of the frozen lake.

“How long have you all been out here?” you asked sheepishly, gathering your things and safely tucking your prized possession away. Everyone turned to Hunter for an answer as he’d been there the longest.

“Well, uh, I was working on the hull… and.” He stuttered slightly, the smallest blush beginning to form.

“Long enough,” Tech answered for him. “You’re very skilled with the staff. Most impressive.” he added.

“Yes, well… it’s just practice and focus and well, you know, you all train like crazy and i couldn't compare to you guys…” Hunter wanted to explode with praise for you and your skill when he saw how shy you were.

“Bad batch, get inside and get the engines running.” He said, not taking his eyes off of yours when they finally stopped staring at your shoes. The three took off, not questioning him and leaving the two of you for some much needed private time.

“I should go help…” You started to turn away when his calloused hands met the skin of your bare arm, warm like always.

“That was the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen (y/n).” He said it more as a command than a statement. Like he was trying to force you to understand how stunned he was by you.

“Thank you,” you whispered. “Does that mean you don't report me to the GAR for having a restricted item in my possession?”

“Wouldn't dream of it mesh’la.” Hunter said tucking a piece of hair around your ear and trailing his hand down your jawline.

“Ever going to tell me what that means?” You guessed the word was secret and possibly mando’a because he only ever used it when his brothers weren't around.

“Someday. Now let's get inside before you freeze to death.” His hand left your arm as he turned to walk away, but you hand deftly slipped into his and pulled him back.

“Next time you want to watch, just ask.” You whispered to him, standing on your toes to place a soft kiss to his cheek before letting him trail behind you in shock as you walked back to the ship.

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bomberqueen17 · 5 years

Text

putting things by

One of the things I do at the farm is take over preserving excess harvested vegetables so the busy farmers don’t have to stay up late and do it. It’s one of those tasks it’s hard to find time for. Farmsister and VegMan are both expert canners, but the unskilled drudge labor of freezing often falls to me. (There have been jokes about calling me The Freezer.)

Freezing vegetables is super super easy and you can do it in small batches-- like, huh these carrots are about to go off, I only used three out of the bunch and I’ll never get through them before they go the rest of the way wrinkly or get slimy--

Wash them, peel them if you’re into that, chop them, put them in a quart Ziploc freezer bag or cram them into an old plastic container you washed out but didn’t recycle yet. Put into freezer. Wham, bam, you’re set, now you have frozen carrots to use at your leisure sometime in the next six months to a year. This works for peppers, onions, celery-- you could even make a mirepoix and freeze blends of this stuff, if that’s how you use it most often.

I always just Google the thing I’m about to preserve. Some stuff-- spinach, beet greens, Swiss chard, snow peas-- you have to blanch first. This is because there are enzymes in them that freezing will not stop, and they’ll keep breaking the food down. Boiling will stop them, and so when you defrost your frozen thing, they’ll come out mushy-cooked, not gooey-gross.

Some things you cook down to save space. Tomatoes, you cook down first, because they’re mostly water and you can save a ton of room by only preserving the part of the tomatoes that’s tomato, not the water. Some things you cook down because it’s the most sensible way of preserving them-- like winter squash, which you can store for ages but when you think it’s gonna mold, roast it first and scrape the pulp into a baggie or a container of some kind, and freeze that. Eggplant, you have to cook before freezing because it will just be mush and cooked mush is usable while raw mush is just kind of gooey and nasty. A lot of stuff just tastes better roasted, and freezing is a method of cooking-- it breaks down things-- so it’s better to have it cooked the way you wanted, and then cooked a bit more by the freezer, than to be trying to cook it how you like after the freezer’s already broken it down.

A CSA customer was telling us she freezes raw cabbage, and then when she thaws it, it’s cooked enough that she can use it to make cabbage rolls with. She just throws it right in the freezer whole and chops it afterward, and then she doesn’t have to boil it for the cabbage rolls. We all were boggled by this, but I haven’t yet tried it myself, so if you do, let me know how it worked.

I guess you can freeze zucchini chopped in pieces and blanched, if you want to eat it in stir-fries later, but you can also just grate it raw into baggies if you’re going to use it for bread etc. later.

This is the kind of stuff gardeners know about, homesteading types and such. But I’m telling you, yes you, apartment dweller, who cooks for one or two-- you can do this too. Don’t feel shut out from a CSA share or loading up on amazing fresh in-season shit at the farmer’s market just because you tried it and then had to throw out a bunch of moldy wilted stuff later. No! Get it, get the annoyingly-sized box for four adults, and figure right away that you’re going to eat maybe a quarter of it now, and freeze the rest. Do it. You can do it!

(Another trend worth noting: most CSAs won’t give you a smaller box or let you customize it much [though some will! worth asking!] but many many many will let you get a half share by picking up every other week. Even more will let you sign up with another person to split the share-- it’s just on you to organize it. CSA boxes do not just have to be for large families or people who cook a ton. It just takes organization and management, and you don’t have to do it yourself-- you can glom onto another person to help you organize. For real, think about it.)

I have found that freezing stuff in tiny quantities means I can make my little freezer work-- I just have the one that sits on top of a regular fridge, I don’t have a chest freezer, I have a tiny house and a Dude who isn’t good at meal planning.

But we have a tiny whiteboard on the outside of the freezer, and when I put stuff in there I write that it’s there, so when we’re meal planning later, we can look at the list and at least sometimes it’s up to date and we know what’s there.

He’s starting to get into pickling and fermenting vegetables, and I dunno how that’s going to go, but it’s also pretty accessible and can be done on a small scale with the shit you can’t eat fast enough and don’t want to have to throw out.

I chopped, blanched, and packaged the rest of my bunch of Swiss chard and all the greens from my beets while my Instant Pot was making me beet pilaf last night. I put the water on to boil after I sealed the lid, and I was done before the pot was. I only had one bunch of beets (it was two beets! they were huge!) and one single bunch of Swiss chard and I’d been trying all week to eat them and it was too much for two people and they were wilting in the fridge. Now I have one more two-person serving of each, for future meals when we haven’t been grocery shopping lately.

My point is-- you can do it. Do that farm wife shit. Do it on your tiny scale in your tiny-ass kitchen in your little freezer in your stolen half-hour after dinner prep. Then you can buy your lush local shit at the farmer’s market with your precious little basket and all, and not have to throw most of it out and buy frozen Birdseye shit at WalMart in November.

You can do this, it is accessible to you! Maybe that seems obvious and condescending but I am saying it because I didn’t realize it until pretty recently and i feel like our generation hasn’t had the same access to this kind of knowledge as former ones. My mom froze shit all the time but my parents were borderline preppers before that was a thing, and I just plain didn’t realize I could do that shit in the suburbs. But I can! And I will.

And I do. So can you.

#solarpunk #canning #food preservation #meal prep i guess

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blankdblank · 3 years

Text

Next Caller Pt 50

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 – Pt 4 - Pt 5 - Pt 6 - Pt 7 - Pt 8 - Pt 9 - Pt 10 - Pt 11 - Pt 12 - Pt 13 - Pt 14 - Pt 15 - Pt 16 - Pt 17 - Pt 18 - Pt 19 - Pt 20 - Pt 21 - Pt 22 - Pt 23 - Pt 24 - Pt 25 - Pt 26 - Pt 27 - Pt 28 - Pt 29 - Pt 30 - Pt 31 - Pt 32 - Pt 33 - Pt 34 - Pt 35 - Pt 36 - Pt 37 - Pt 38 - Pt 39 - Pt 40 - Pt 41 - Pt 42 - Pt 43 - Pt 44 - Pt 45 - Pt 46 - Pt 47 - Pt 48 - Pt 49 -

To the sound of the broadcast of the news you started on the next batch of dough. On top of a heat resistant set of wood blocks you laid over your counters you left the hot trays of bread to cool while you started to mix the next bowls worth. Gritty the mixture slowly turned to the supple dough you needed to the opening monologue breaking to, ‘And on our top story for the day the opening of Clustered Anchors in Erebor came with the weight of another stunning opening, that of the official claiming of Thorin Durin.’

Frerin came into the kitchen while Thorin changed Billi, smirking as you muttered, “Claiming,”

‘The eldest son of Thrain son of Thror attended the opening of the show as an official announcement of their status as a couple. From the cast to the few people they did come into contact with all said they were incredibly affectionate and spoke of plans afterwards. This morning we have received notice of the official statement the Durins have printed on their family website and no doubt official portraits will surely follow for the stunningly betrothed couple, yes betrothed, their portraits no doubt will be taken or available soon. Although the news of the status was far from surprising if you had taken notice of a certain piece of jewelry the young Durin was sporting.’

You rolled your eyes leaving the dough to rise in taking out one roll to cook another leaving the hot one to cool. “By the size alone they will be commenting on their suspicions of an engagement due to a proposal worthy stone from you.”

Softly you sighed out, “Technically we are engaged. Just shredding hairs.”

Frerin chuckled at Thorin’s entrance asking, “Who is shredding hairs? Sounds painful.” Letting out a gasping smile at Billi’s reach up to grab his braid in his beard to admire the bead securing the end of it before awkward tries to grab his mustache shifting his upper lip through his adoring stare at his niece.

Frerin chuckled out, “Your Mafioso here was commenting that your betrothal already constitutes engagement based on the news’ comments on your ring.”

Thorin hummed out, “Better to give them more announcements to wait on.”

The sound of brakes squeaking had Frerin checking the door and calling back, “Expecting a delivery?”

Thorin hurried to the door joining him, “Ooh, that would be the beds.” Easing Billi into the playpen on the way. Huffs and puffs sounded through your mixing up some muffin and brownie mix while chatting to the girl, the mix was added to your second oven with timer set to bring out after another loaf was ready to be finished off.

“And in related news, Wolsey is here!!” An excited squeal cane from the news anchors who delved more into the arrival of the second bout of stickers related to the Bunny Show. “The dynamic lovers are now a duo, our Countess can now be displayed with her cumbersome Prince Charming. Last month the Countess stickers were the first glimpse into the world of his addictive show and everyone was boots over beard for the impossible stunner selling out in a matter of hours, creating a backlist of orders that is still holding and gradually shipping copies to loves of our Grand Lady of Mischief. And now we get to see the fella who had her begrudgingly offered attentions focused on him for so long until the stars aligned and courtship ensued. I am not alone in shrieking once we got a good glimpse of the golden haired Dwarf.”

Frerin with a grin came back into view eyeing Billi now nodding off in her pop up crib you were keeping an eye on as you bustled around prepping your treats and odd bowl of lemons you had gathered from the greenhouse the day before. “Making brownies now? And muffins?”

“Nice to get it all done at once.”

Two trays of muffins were eased into the one to the sound of the door again turning Thorin with a curious furrow of his brows. “Jaqi, they need you to sign.”

Out you came and smiled accepting the pad and stylus from the Elf who said, “Three packages for you today Miss Pear.”

“Three,” You muttered to yourself glancing at the duo in the back of the shipping van who unloaded a wooden carrier for a painting followed by a trunk they carefully moved into the front hall with a medium sized box on top. The trio nodded heir heads wishing you all a good day and turned back to their van as Frerin closed the door to Thorin returning with a box cutter he passed to you.

Starting with the box you gasped at the beyond fluffy fake panda fur blanket you giggled folding back up to our back into the box for later as you eyed the envelope that was on top of it in Frerin’s hand. At your approval he opened it and showed you the simple note reading simply ‘Welcome Home’ signed clearly by Thranduil, Amrod and Amras. With the note was the key to the painting case and the trunk locks the brothers unlocked to find a stunning decorative vase you agreed to move to the living room and a medium sized painting of a scenic landscape with playing sheep you smiled and took to lean against the wall of the living room bare of decorations where the image could be hung high enough the be viewed properly. Most the other rooms curved on the walls bare enough for the painting that size and with a smirk at your pleased expression of the gift Thorin hummed, “I’ll break out the stud finder to hang it tomorrow for you.”

“Thank you,” You said and turned to hurry back to answer another timer for one of your treats in the kitchen as trunk and case were taken to the garage and the blanket to your room to be draped over your bed later. Back he went to your side to hear with Frerin more about the brothers who had gifted you the decorations and their significance. Though their hand made declaration had them all the more grateful and understanding of their importance to you. Priceless gifts from equally as talented friends who always hoped to help you decorate your well deserved home one day. The doorbell however at the timer for the brownies pulled him away again with a scowl and grumbled argument against being pulled away at his try to inch closer to steal a kiss on your cheek.

“Twelve pounds a piece! Dam and Dwarrow!” Dwalin exclaimed loud enough past Thorin’s shoulder letting you know while you stored the last of your bread, muffins and brownies. Into the entrance hall he came pausing at the large box left by the door asking as Bilbo and Frodo hurried in towards the incredible smells coming from the kitchen. “What’s with the box cousin?”

Thorin said, “Ah, that’s one of the bed kits for the orange and white room.”

Dwalin asked, “Here?”

Thorin nodded, “We’d need room to build in there. Not much give if we packed them all in. Two are stacked as the other is off by itself.”

Dwalin looked from his cousin to the box making Thorin grin knowing he was feeling the same urge to build it as he and Frerin had upon passing the kit that just drew the eye in the mostly assembled home.

Bilbo grinned seeing the bread tucked into the tiered bread boxes then shifted his eyes to the lemon slices coated in honey and sugar lying in a clear pan. “Are those lemons?”

“Yes, do you need lemons, my tree is just exploding with them.”

“Don’t use them often, however, what are you making with this?”

“I have some lime left too that I’m letting cool in the fridge freshly crushed that I will layer with cherry drizzle and peach peels.” His eyes narrowed and you grinned saying, “You add them to little cucumber crackers, have to freeze it first, it’s like an ice cream brittle.”

Frerin’s eyes narrowed asking, “Who taught you that?”

“I assume it’s an Elf thing if you haven’t heard of it. Cirdan’s Naneth taught me.”

Thorin entered the room with a grin coming to bring out the lime he helped you to layer with the peach peels in the other bowl you then added to the freezer. His relative’s curious glances had him saying, “It will be lovely, now, Mafioso, since we are greater in number and require distraction how about we crack open one of those bed kits? Hmm?”

Kili walked in grinning as Fili asked, “What are we building?” Gladly making room for Mal between them who grinned at you.

“Alright, since you outnumber me.” That was your reply and leading the way you found the toolbox beside the first kit Thorin grinned brightly at you having been caught at his obvious wish to sneak time to break this kit open anyways with or without you. “Oh,” the kit was unpacked with all supplies organized by lettered sticker and size, certain to leave brackets and the screws and nails in their lettered bags inside the ring of wood for easier access.

“Oh?” The others parroted back and you glanced up, “It’s in Avari...” looking up at the doorway you asked Roac from his dangle in the doorway arch asking, “Could you ask Kuu here? He knows Avari better than I do.” Sighing as you recounted the countless nature shows he absorbed in the language you had been trying to learn to share that time with him.

The Dwarves couldn’t help but grin at the thought of being led in this project by a great owl but smiled openly at his eager perch off to the side grinning at the booklet propped up so you could see the pictures and he could read the words. Tangled in holds to keep the halfway assembled platform frame backs began to clench and limbs tremble as he read, “Firmly lodge squirrel into each corner faucet.”

Heads turned to the bird as you said, “I am fairly certain that rune is not squirrel. I promise you it’s not.”

“No, it says clearly, squirrel and faucet, the latter however I am doubting. Hmm.” With feathers fluffing up his body turned with head straightening up from its sideways bend in a trot to the door. “I will fetch my translation guide.”

Once clear of the door the others chuckled at your mutter of, “It’s not squirrel...” Resting your forehead on the wood plank you were holding up. On Fili’s right as he kept his corner steady for Kili to add whatever the non squirrel part into the non faucet part to latch all four panels together to form a sturdy base the middle panels would be screwed into separating the cubbies for storage underneath the bed to go with the smaller ones around the edges of the cushioned headboards.

“It is not squirrel,” he replied once open translation dictionary was laid out beside the booklet and you rolled your eyes to yourself out of his view hearing him flip the page to double check faucet as well before the project could carry on. “Secure the screw into the locked brackets.”

Glancing at the bird you heard Kili ask, “Which screw? There’s twelve types.”

Kuu grinned with head tilted over the booklet and read the letters off for which end of the bed they were going in. Chuckles were muffled from those around you and the project continued. Until with a deep sigh all heads turned to the next kit as Kuu excitedly moved his things on top of the completed bed to be out of the way for the next tricky kit. Having ended the first where more than a few of you had been pinched or bitten by one piece or another with more than enough bruises to spare and Thorin with two fingers taped together in what would begin to be a trend among the group.

Home and ready to greet their clan the twins to Balin and his wife’s the whole clan was gathered. Your group being last after having finished off the final fourth bed now marked off your list just waiting for the mattresses and to be made. Not far away the walk didn’t take long and with presents in hand Thorin led the way proud to have your braid, his ring and the first couple gift from the pair of you to go with the treats you had brought. All eagerly claimed at the door with Thorin first to be lured over to his cousins’ youngest their elder sister smiled and waved to. You however smiled speaking to Gorgo in her elated sharing of news on a cousin of theirs, “All us expecting have gotten extra testing and one of her cousins has the same condition they found and she is having a precautionary c-section as well in a week, very near to the end of her term as well.”

“Oh-,”

Her hand claimed yours through her smile, “Now we know, it’s a genetic condition that in a few months a small procedure can correct to prevent this again, they have a blood test for it and without pregnancy it is easier to treat for those who do have it from her line. Doctors don’t normally test for it that is how it was missed all this time in their clan. Please don’t worry, a big fuss won’t be made, but when you are ready for pebbles of your own we will all hope to be as supportive as you have been to us, one Amad to another.”

Dis by her side smiled seeing Thorin halfway pouting after his turn in greeting the non giggling duo and moved to speak with their parents stealing a glance back to you sharing the details on the ring the couple had spotted. Nodding her head she said, “Your turn, if they don’t giggle the couple chooses by default.”

Across the room you went to the bassinet holding the contently grunting twins whose eyes came to focus on you as you came to stand over them, “Well look at you two. Clever little Lark and a coy little Fox.” Fast and shrill the pair shrieked out in unison for the start of a trio of giggles at your hand lowering to tap the soles of their raised feet with toes wiggling. Both boy and girl fully expecting the attention to them as everyone else had given the customary swipe of fingers along the bottom of their feet in the Hobbitish welcome.

All around you however smiles spread at the highly acceptable choice of their godmother with a slightly confused Frerin behind you who was chosen as godfather at the next set of silence splitting giggles while you moved to Thorin’s side. The elder brother however chuckled easing his arm around your back leaning in to press a gentle kiss to your forehead and grin at his younger brother saying, “Bout time you gained a giggle.”

Balin chuckled as his wife said to you, “The pair of you will suit out twins nicely. How did you guess their animal guides?”

“Feeling, bit like a dream,”

That made her grin spread, “Your Hobbit is showing,” making you grin to yourself.

Balin however said, “Fine gift you made my cousin.”

“Thank you, call me selfish but I’d have hated for Thorin to lose himself, me and his bond with all of you.”

That had Balin and his wife looking to Thorin who flashed a grin saying, “Ones betrothed to Vanyar trade gifts or the Blue Moon makes them lose themselves, their Ones and to their kin. Like our Donkey Days.”

That had you grin sheepishly, “Though ours tend to be more foreboding.”

Thorin, “It’s to honor Varda sparing a pair of lovers set apart by distance who risk meeting under the Blue Moon sleeping in the forest holding hands under a sheet of woven clover, it’s a beautiful story.” He said peering at you sweetly a moment then to his smiling cousins again.

Balin, “Very beautiful. Though Gran nearly had a heart palpitation seeing that ring.”

“I know it’s big, it has to be a size proportionate to my wealth. And I had the emerald and galvorn and ithildin in my trunks.”

Balin’s wife chuckled, “They are lovely choices.”

“Well if you need any gems I got some.” Making her chuckle again with Balin.

At least until she opened the gifts and let out soft gasps at the blankets decorated with foxes and larks with a fox and lark stuffie to go with each perfect for each of them she hugged you both in thanks. Gifts they were tucked in with at their naptime, which came fairly soon at their yawn that rippled through the household ushering everyone out with respectful nods nice and quiet to not disturb the duo with Frerin gladly taking up Billi accepting another night in charge of his niece to let the babies still get adjusted to being home. Mal and the boys under Dwalin and Bilbo’s watch were off to a film on an impromptu date night under supervision to a cgi kid friendly film they and Frodo had been waiting to see easing its approval by all.

Beside you however Gorgo stole a chance to sneak a few pictures of the carrier you had made for your first draft having already taken pictures of the leather bindings you had done for the movements as a set. “We just want to be sure to honor the full setup you have to be true to the series. Are your other drafts bound similarly?”

“Second and third, yes. Haven’t gotten to the etchings yet, I usually wait until then to bind them. But I had an idea for the spines especially that they would form a picture after the first novel.”

Gorgo, “I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

“Though there are a few symbols pertaining to Durin I’d need clearance on first to be certain they are fine.”

Thorin beside you said, “Of course we would love to approve them. There aren’t many that would be restricted from use pertaining to Durin for the public.”

“Not truly for restricted reasons, more like a spell check of sorts on his runes I used for one of his titles.” Making Thorin chuckle, “There’s one title I keep inversing and I can’t seem to keep it straight in my head when writing it as you read it out of order.”

Gorgo grumbled, “That one-,”

And Thorin chuckled out, “Each Dwarf Father has their own jumbled title, others get those mixed all the time.”

“Well I know I got it right in the book, just, on it.”

Gorgo grinned, “We will gladly check any of those issues for you that you might feel timid on.”

“There is one when I was writing it none of the Dwarves got on Ruun, it’s a pun but obviously it went over their heads.”

Thorin, “In Khuzdul?” You nodded and he said, “Yes, Khuzdul has rules on puns.”

“Well I’m not taking it out,” making him chuckle again, “Part of the point it’s in there, Bunny tells it to Durin and it flies over his head and he gets into this huge argument over the logic of it until the Countess gestures it was a pun then he stops laughs then silence.”

Gorgo giggled out, “Oh that is painful, please tell me that is close to the courting.”

“It’s actually closer to the fifth try for him to propose.”

Thorin whispered, “Fifth-,” smoothing his fingers over his mouth.

Gorgo however asked, “Does he succeed?”

“No, there’s an emergency he gets called away.” Making them both groan until you said, “But I can say he doesn’t see her apparent proposal coming.”

Thorin, “Ok, I’ll bite, how so?”

“She tackles him from off the top of a cupboard.” Caught in his throat his chuckles began to Gorgo’s loud laugh just imagining how relieved the First Woken Dwarf would feel after a proposal of that caliber after so much struggle. “Though she doesn’t really understand what she did.”

Thorin chuckled out, “Oh I don’t question that a moment.”

His fingers wiping around his eye made you smirk and say, “I think you guys will like it regardless of the struggle.”

Gorgo nodded then asked in a moment of stoic resolve, “If this is, Bunny, meant to be his final wife in his last two lives, how will that come into the story?”

“That, um, that you might not like. Bunny has her fea stolen and he has to travel to the Halls of Mandos to find her.” Dropping their grins, “It gets, a bit dark, but there’s some meaning behind it.”

Thorin, “How did you think of that?” He asked making your eyes narrow as if you had found some semblance of truth to that fact.

Shrugging your shoulders you said, “There was a Kurdu fable with a sort of similar notion to it. Should I change it?”

The both of them said, “No!”

And Thorin cleared his throat to say, “One of Durin’s journeys, that fable, it talks about his child, though the notion is similar, a test of faith and bonds. That one fable has never been touched on in any adaptation of his lifetimes,”

“Oh,” you said softly.

Gorgo said, “This tale, from what you’ve shared of Durin so far he needs this test. This is one of the truest versions to his being that we’ve come across, that is why people love it. We have to see him at his highest in this imagined flying shark craft of yours to the lowest when he is scouring for the lost soul of the one he cherishes most.”

“No pressure there then,” you murmured and he took your hands.

“No one else has the words, has ever been able to grasp who he was to the core and show that to those who don’t understand our culture and traditions and still get the point across. It doesn’t need to be accurate but the very essence of the Father of the Longbeard Clan is that he would sacrifice all to scour the Halls of Mandos to retrieve his cherished one. He needs that struggle or he is hollow, that drive and urge that we all feel for our Ones. That message is so hard to convey to non-Dwarves so it is often skipped over for more lighthearted topics. We are steadfast, hewn from the living stone, we never falter, he never did. And he prevailed and Mahal sent them back home once his fight was through.”

“Well Mahal’s not in it, it does involve him throwing his crown at a kraken though.” Making Thorin’s grin split wider in his try not to laugh at how you would drag the devastated King to that possible try to uplift the depressing slump to the tale. “There’s a lot of symbolism, and a lot to sort of let your mind interpret on its own. And there’s sort of an unspoken uncertainty how they get back, but they are.”

Gorgo, “Which would be accurate, because Mandos has to protect the paths back from his halls.” She smirked asking, “Mandos doesn’t send them back?”

You shook your head, “They hatch out of fake giant eggs giant eagles fly off with from a fire.” Making Thorin turn to rub his face with shoulders shaking to keep from laughing, “I don’t try to make it a comedy or funny at all but my friends have read it and they always laugh because, I guess it’s just a release?”

Thorin, “It will be more than worth it.”

“Oh, how does your clan see using a beard as a weapon?” That had their brows inch up, “See when he finds her his beard has grown like two feet and he braids it in two and ends them with metal balls and he sort of spins them around and uses them as weapons of sorts to hit people in the face.”

“Oh that is brilliant,” Thorin muttered under his breath.

Gorgo, “Where were you growing up? That would have been awesome to have on one of our programs! Every pebble would want to dress up as them on our mask day.”

“So not offensive?”

“No!” they both said.

Thorin chuckled out, “We’ve even had clans hide little compartments in their beards for snacks or notes or even spare trinkets and gold. It all depends on the Dwarf. And that sounds so bad ass for Durin.”

“Okay, then in the future be prepared to have me ask about a legal pad worth of questions on this stuff.”

Gorgo, “We will answer anything you need.” She said finishing her task to photograph the carrier with and without the three movements inside then at the chiming of her phone she was off to head home with Gloin at his having finished helping to settle Billi in at Frerin’s for the evening. Leaving just you and Thorin who helped you delve into more fables that were also centered or based on Durin in hopes of granting you more to draw from if need be.

Soup and grilled cheese was your send off for an early dinner that once settled on the table Thorin hummed out, “My family loved the ring, and seeing my braid in your hair.” He paused a moment then said, “I forgot to put my sheets in the dryer.”

That had you giggle and teased, “You know, the barrel method is fool proof against that.”

He smirked and excused himself to shift the sheets then return, lingering at your side as you peered up at him to cup your cheek and lean in to plant his lips on yours in a warm lingering kiss. Softly his thumb trailed against your cheek as his eyes met yours again, only for a moment though before his theft of a second brief press of his lips to yours. Almost regrettably he lowered his hand to sit back in his former place keeping his eyes on yours making you ask, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m thinking of how to ask if I could sleep in yours tonight.” That made you smirk and he rumbled lowly, “And I am conceding I would not have missed this step with a barrel method. It has its plusses.”

That had you giggling softly, “There’s always a spot in mine for cuddling if you need it, tons of blankets too.”

“Thank you, for conceding on the mattresses and bed frames. How is Kuu handling the busy day?”

“Good, really glad to have helped. Rarely gets to practice Avari. He loved it, being part of a team actually. Do you think mint would be okay for the portrait?”

“To wear? You would look lovely in mint for it.”

“I figured it would either be that or my yellow dress, but I was going to wear my hair down and it might clash.”

“Wear whatever color you choose.”

The ladies mentioned I might not wear the navy.”

“No, they would suggest against that, did not go well for Amad choosing against her clan colors, at least until they heard her Gran made the dress for her before she passed. Choose what color you wish.”

“Well I would wear the silver one I got but I think it might be a bit too, flashy. Or should I go flashy?”

“Choose the mint. I have a mint tie, to go with my navy suit.” He hummed out making you grin again, “The bright colors will pop against our flock, what do you think about in the greenhouse for that picture? So Darling won’t have to leave her nest?”

“If you like, I’m not very good at all this. I think Naneth would like one of us in the greenhouse, Cirdan mentioned maybe the fireplace in the living room. Some of the portraits in the atrium are personal so not there.”

“I understand that, I noticed her signature on a few of them, and that piano alone, can’t photograph that.” Your eyes hovered over his and he said, “Bad omens to photograph singing stone instruments in the house outside of family photo albums, and never when not played. If there’s anything you have rules like that on let me know. Amad most likely will want the typical armchair or couch pictures everyone does with one of our flock for a more personal one to share of our little household.” Making you giggle at his own chuckle, “Respectfully excluding the back yard of course.”

“Yes, Hector is not fond of pictures, and his mate might eat one of the strangers,” making him chuckle again. “They are warming up to us though, and babies, they liked having Frodo and Billi here.”

“Twins will be over soon enough for them to fawn over, we are on the sitting list as you remember, top of it thanks to those giggles.”

“So soft,” he heard you sigh through the hall while readying for bed. His smile cemented in place from the time he entered the room eyeing you nestling under the new fake panda fur blanket lying across the bed claiming your spot right in the middle of the monster of a bed leaving plenty for him to join you in. Though right where he wanted was cuddled up to you and adamantly secured his own soft spot in a clear relent to being your pillow as well only pleasing him all the more knowing he’d wake with you across his chest again.

Pt 51

All –

@himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator, @sweeticedtea, @thegreyberet, @patanghill17, @jesgisborne, @curvestrology, @alishlieb, @jogregor, @armitageadoration, @fizzyxcustard, @lilith15000, @marvels-ghost, @catthefearless, @imjusthereforthereads, @c-s-stars, @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore, @mariannetora, @shes-a-killer-kween, @ggbbhehe4455, @xxbyimm (Hobbit x oc)

Hobbit/LotR – @abiwim, @jotink78, @pastelhexmaniac

x Thorin – @evyiione, @deepestfirefun, @queenoferebor

#Giggle Party #Building Beds #Owl's in Charge #Twins #Family get togethers #Bonding #Thorin x Reader OC #Modern AU

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