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justkindaoverhereobsessing · 4 years

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the stars always make me laugh (1/4)

Now complete! Here is chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, and the epilogue.

A year to the day after Ziva departs D.C. to return to Paris and reunite with her family, her newfound contentment is shaken by an unexpected loss. Tony and Tali are right where they belong—safely by her side—but she still finds herself feeling drawn to reflect on the past. She might just be able to use this new grief to bring peace to old wounds, renewing hope along the way for a future with her family... but only if she can find a way to let go of what haunts her.

Written as a combined response to two different challenge prompts; also available for reading on ff and AO3. This is angsty but will ultimately be soft.

_________________________

"And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure… And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, 'Yes, the stars always make me laugh!'"

—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

_________________________

January 7th, 2021

It's a Thursday morning when Tony gets the call.

He's working from home today, and he's nearing the end of a video conference when his phone buzzes—he looks down to check it and sees his favorite unflattering photo of Tim McGee on the screen. Paris is six hours ahead of Washington, where McGee presumably still is, which makes it… hmm. It's four in the morning there. He's probably not reaching out for a casual chat, then.

Something tells him to take the call.

"Sorry to be rude," Tony says quickly in French, looking back at his computer screen, "but there's an emergency I have to deal with. Let's go ahead and wrap this up for today and we'll talk progress next week, same time as usual—Félix, go ahead and email me that report, if you can. I'll check in when I'm back at the office tomorrow. Have a good morning, all of you."

Then he abruptly ends the conference; he cares very little if he comes across as impolite, because his thoroughly French team has always seen him as a hopelessly crass American anyway.

Tony hits a button on his cell, catching the call just before it would have gone to voicemail. "Why, if it isn't Tim-Tim-Timothy McGee!" he cries, jovial as usual even though he's a little apprehensive about the nature of the unexpected conversation. "What can I do for you?"

"Hey, Tony." McGee sounds tired, which is little wonder given the time difference. "Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Sure," Tony agrees, dropping the slightly mocking enthusiasm from his tone. "What's up?"

"I don't know how to tell you this, so I'm just going to say it, okay?"

"...okay."

"There was an accident last night, and—"

"Who?" Tony can read between the lines—he doesn't have to hear the word "death" to understand that someone he knows has passed away.

"It was Ducky."

_________________________

Tony is on the phone with McGee for another fifteen minutes, getting all the details and committing them to memory as best as he can through his slight haze of shock. Though Ducky had always been the oldest member of their team and clearly couldn't live forever, he had seemed… invincible, somehow. He was an institution, something timeless and never-ending.

Of course, that had been an illusion, but still, it's strange to know that the vibrant old man is now just…

Gone.

The rest of the workday is spent processing all of this new information and making preparations. Tony can't imagine a world in which they wouldn't fly back to the States to attend the funeral, and though he hasn't yet talked to Ziva about it, he feels fairly comfortable arranging emergency bereavement leave from work and informing Tali's school that she'll be out next week.

Near the end of the call, McGee had asked if Tony wanted him to call Ziva, too, or if Tony wanted to tell her himself. Tony's answer was immediate: he knew without needing to stop and consider that telling Ziva in person would be the right thing to do.

It doesn't matter how much he hates having to give bad news.

Tony intends to do it tonight, once his wife is home from work… she has experienced too much loss in her life for him to be anything less than absolutely gentle in telling her about their old friend. There's no need to make it harder than it needs to be; an impersonal phone call across the Atlantic may have been an inevitability for Tony himself, but now that he knows, he wants to be there to hold Ziva's hand when she finds out, too.

He would give anything to spare her from as much pain as possible, and while he can't do much, he can do this.

Fortunately, the timing of McGee's call is decent—Tali has choir practice after school today, effectively speeding up the rest of the evening's schedule. By the time Ziva gets home, it'll nearly be dinner time, and bedtime will follow shortly after.

Tony doesn't want to delay giving Ziva the news, but he thinks it best to wait until Tali is safely tucked away. That way, they don't have to worry about putting on happy faces to keep from scaring her.

_________________________

As soon as Ziva walks in the door, she can tell that something is wrong. Tony looks tired or sad, or maybe both. He kisses her in greeting as usual, though, and when she gives him a questioning look, he answers with an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Later, she understands that to mean.

Ziva is concerned, but she trusts him.

Still, Tony seems eager to rush through Tali's evening routine, telling Ziva her unsettled feeling isn't merely a product of her typical anxiety… she's right, and something has happened or is happening still.

If she was Gibbs, she'd claim a gut feeling.

"Tony, is everything alright?" Ziva asks in a low, tense voice once Tali's bedroom door is shut for the night.

Tony shakes his head. "Let's go sit," he answers softly.

He leads her to the couch and she sits next to him automatically, her heart starting to race in a horribly familiar way. "Please just tell me, whatever it is," she murmurs anxiously.

Tony takes her hand. "Alright." His voice is gentle. "Just don't forget to breathe, Ziva, okay? I got a call from McGee today, and he had some bad news. Ducky was in an accident last night… he passed away this morning."

Ziva's pulse is thudding in her ears, and she focuses on the grounding anchor of Tony's hand on hers as she tries to internalize what he just told her. "An accident?" she echoes, sounding distant even to herself.

"Yeah…" Tony shakes his head and unexpectedly gives a quiet, incredulous laugh. The sound pulls Ziva out of her head a little, and she makes a conscious effort to squeeze his hand back as she waits for details.

He gives her a warm smile, recognizing the gesture.

"Honestly, it was the 'Duckiest' way that he could have died, I think," Tony explains. "He had apparently been out in Newfoundland exploring some continental fault thing, and on the way back, his plane hit some bad weather and ended up crashing. Palmer says it was very quick—Ducky never would have felt a thing."

Ziva nods, slightly faint but quickly getting over her shock. With any luck, she'll avoid a full-blown anxiety attack; the frequency of the attacks has decreased since she reunited with her family a year ago, but they'll always be a threat that she has to be prepared for.

Tony seems to understand that she's not quite ready to talk yet, so he keeps going. "There are worse ways to go, for sure, and I think Ducky would have wanted to spend his last minutes just as he did: coming from from an adventure in a tiny two-seater Bonanza. You know what I mean?"

"Yes… yes, I am sure you are right," she agrees, her voice steadier.

"I'm really glad that we got to see him recently, too. We had a good time, didn't we?"

"We did." A few months back, Ducky'd had a daylong layover in Paris on a trip to a remote area of Siberia, and they'd spent a very fun day showing him around the city. Their daughter had warmed to him quickly, which was hardly surprising.

"Hopefully Tali was old enough that she'll remember it, I think."

"Yes."

Tony pauses, and with his free hand, he reaches up to briefly caress his wife's cheek. "Are you alright?" he questions, concerned. "You're not saying much. I don't want you to pass out on me."

"I am—" Ziva stops in the middle of her sentence and takes two deep breaths. She had nearly said 'fine,’ but she's not, is she?

Ziva likes to think that she can be open and honest with Tony these days, as much as a lifetime of trials has given her the impulse to keep things to herself. The fact that Tony waits patiently for her to finish rather than interrupting tells her that she's right—she shouldn't shut him out.

Finally coming to a decision, she shakes her head. "No."

Tony nods. "I thought that might be the case."

"Are you?"

"Alright?"

"Yes."

"No. No, I'm really not. But I will be."

Tony's words suddenly pull a memory to the forefront of Ziva's mind, and she tilts her head for a moment, considering something.

Tony waits, a slight frown furrowing his brow.

"Come," Ziva decides finally. "There is something that I want to show you."

_________________________

A few minutes later, a bemused Tony watches from the doorway as Ziva digs determinedly through a box in the back of their bedroom closet. He knows what's in that box, and he knows that several identical boxes stacked neatly in the corner contain more of the same: Ziva's old journals from NCIS, dozens of them thoughtfully shipped to Paris by Ellie Bishop.

"Are you looking for one in particular?"

"Yes," Ziva answers, but she doesn't explain any further. After a few more seconds, she makes a noise of triumph and rises with one of the journals in hand.

"Found it?"

"I did."

She leads him back to the bedroom and sits on the bed, inviting him to sit next to her; Tony is relieved to see that while she definitely looks pained and tired, there are no obvious signs of an impending anxiety attack.

Once they're settled, Ziva gently—almost lovingly—pats the cover of the thin book. "This is one of my journals from late 2009 until early 2010."

"That's—"

"Shortly after I was rescued from the desert, yes."

Tony nods; it's not his favorite time to think about, and he knows it can't be for Ziva, either—so why did she pull this notebook in particular from the dozens of identical ones chronicling her experiences?

"Ducky was… helpful to me, in the aftermath of my rescue."

"He was?" Tony interjects in surprise. "You've never talked about that before."

"It is not a subject that I deeply enjoy discussing, something I am sure you can understand."

"Sure."

"Well, because I believe that sharing this memory will honor Ducky, I would like to tell you more about what he did for me."

"Are you sure?"

Ziva nods, and she keeps the journal clutched lovingly in one hand as she reaches over to lay a hand on Tony's thigh. "It has been a long time, and I think I am ready." She offers a smile—it's small and watery, but it's very sincere, and something about it makes Tony's own eyes start to sting.

He's been too busy to cry today, but he knows it's coming sooner or later. Ducky had been family for a very long time, and with this on top of that loss...

"Okay," he agrees roughly, clearing his throat. "Take it away. I'm all ears."

Ziva squeezes his thigh and then pulls her hand away, glancing down at the journal; this one will always be one she cares for above its brethren, because its painful content reminds her of how much she has overcome.

After a pause, Ziva opens it carefully.

Then, her voice surprisingly steady, she starts to read.

_________________________

January 7th, 2010

There is a reason that I have not penned an entry in quite some time; I have walked a difficult road these past months. Today, however, I was offered a comfort that I had not previously possessed the courage to ask for. If I have any hope of sorting through my own thoughts on the matter, though, I need to reconsider earlier events.

Before returning to Mossad more than half a year ago, I was faced with a dilemma that I had successfully avoided in my career before that point—that is, the dilemma of who to trust and who to side with when personal and professional obligations become hopelessly conflicted. I have already written at length about the choices I and the others made in the midst of that conflict.

Much has happened since then, but recent forced introspection has shown me an important connection between the difficulties of Michael's death and the horrors I endured after: a connection between who I was then and who I am now. That night, it only took a few minutes to change the course of my life: in that time, Tony and Michael fought, and Michael was killed. Every single one of us has had to deal with the consequences of those events ever since.

At the time, I let my anger and my grief consume me, destroying all vestiges of rationality in my thoughts and decisions. I followed that pain to the Horn of Africa, hurting and reckless and prepared for death.

Of course, I did not die, and that has brought consequences of its own… consequences that I am only now beginning to come to terms with.

In the wake of Michael's death and doubly so in the wake of my experiences in the desert camp, I found myself vulnerable. For the first time in my life, I'd been forced to acknowledge my heart and acknowledge its fragility. It could be bruised. It could humiliate me. These were things that frightened me, because I knew from recent experience that they could—and likely would—be used against me. My fear led me to withdraw, to hide again; acknowledging my own weakness demanded far less bravery than I would have needed to share that vulnerability with my friends.

I defaulted to an old defense mechanism. I leaned on ability borne of long experience to simply feign contentment. I passed my psychological evaluations, I sent my resignation to Abba, and against all odds, I was instated as a probationary special agent at NCIS. After a time, my colleagues stopped watching me when they thought I could not see, waiting for me to fall apart. I had convinced them that I was alright; perhaps I even convinced myself some of the time, too. Maybe I was not yet as 'fine' as I seemed to be, but I was sure that in time, I would reach a point where my conscience felt as carefree as my forced smile looked to those who loved me.

Darkness, however, is difficult to chase away with one single flickering candle, lit only by the flame of my own exhausted determination. My candle burned low, worn down over time, and I found myself in need of help. I alone could not summon the light that had long since fled my tired soul.

Though I did not know to whom I should turn, fate helped a friend to find me. It was—of all people—Ducky. In many ways, he is something of a saba* to me, the kind that I wished for as a child. Even so, I would not have thought to seek him out as a confidant. I see now how remiss I was in taking him for granted as I have sometimes done. It turns out that he was just who I needed.

He found me this evening in the midst of… I do not know how to define what I was feeling. I can only say that I was lost in a moment of weakness. At the time, being seen that way was humiliating, but now, several hours later, it feels serendipitous.

Ducky and I spoke quite candidly then… I will not record the details of the conversation here, because I feel in no danger of forgetting what was said. I am confident, however, that today marks something of a new beginning for me. There is still so much to sort through and process, but the shadows already feel less dim.

Today, I invited a friend to see my darkness, and despite what he saw, he did not pity me; he only held my hand and lit another candle.

_________________________

*saba = "grandfather" in Hebrew

#ncis fanfiction #tiva #tivali #tony dinozzo #ziva david #tali david-dinozzo #ducky mallard #timothy mcgee #cynthia writes stuff too #this is for two more biscuits challenges that i got way too committed to lol #parts two through four are already planned out and half written #they'll be posted shortly #hurt/comfort #angst but ultimately soft

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hispeculiartreasure · 5 years

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All We’ve Got is Time - Chapter Thirteen | B.B.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

AU: If They’d Survived/Post-War/Window Washer!Bucky Barnes

Rating: Teen

Word count: 3,540

Chapter 13/24

Warnings: Language

AN: Spanning the time of Bucky’s entire on-site training, this chapter is pretty different from anything I’ve ever done before. I have a sneaking suspicion y’all are really going to enjoy it. Lemme hear your thoughts when you’re done!

Chapter Twelve

‘All We’ve Got is Time’ Masterlist

July 7, 1946

Dear Bucky,

I can already imagine the panic on your face when I hand this to you at the train station this afternoon. I hope you take my assurance that it isn’t a Dear John letter seriously. I just wanted to give you something to read on your long trip to Pennsylvania. A 10 hour train ride to Pittsburgh and then a 2 hour bus ride to New Castle, I think you told me? I know you packed some textbooks but one can only do so much studying in a 12 hour window - you’ll go crazy. And I’d really appreciate it if you returned semi-sane. But I also wanted to circumvent any uncontrollable emotions I may have during a goodbye, no matter how temporary it may be. In short, you’re very welcome.

I know you’re a big brave combat veteran but I also know this training is a big deal for you. It’s all new material, a new place, new people. A lot of change in a really small amount of time. No matter how much you insist that you’re fine, I’ll still commend you for facing this challenge head on. And I’ll be in your corner as long as you’ll let me. Hopefully you’ll be so busy that you forget about any discomfort you may have.

I have to admit, I’m a bit jealous of you. You know how tough work has been the last week. With Anderson piling more tasks on me while he’s been mysteriously out of the office and Flannery being even more strict on how the office is run after the Fourth of July debacle, my job has been exhausting. What I’d give to leave it behind for a while, to learn useful, practical skills. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be - well, I guess I already had my turn, huh? I’m hoping you’ll let me live vicariously through you over the next month. Write to let me know all about what you’re learning and how you’re feeling about it, if you want to. Who knows, you may be able to teach me a thing or two when you get back. But not more than two. That’d be far-fetched. Don’t forget, I did teach you everything you know.

See you in 34 days. That’s doable, right? What am I supposed to do with myself with all this free time? You’ve put quite the cramp in my social life, apparently. I’ll have to see what kind of trouble I can get in without you.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Be good,

Your Girl

July 8, 1946

Sixth Floor,

Gotta admit, you shoving a piece of paper into my hands as you pushed me onto the train did take me by surprise. After the split second of panic I realized you’d miss me too much if you let me go. But in all seriousness, thank you for writing that letter. Kinda felt like I got to carry a little bit of you with me here. That’s cheesy. Nevermind.

I haven’t written a letter since I was discharged from the army, so I apologize if I’m a little rusty. It’ll be especially strange since my CO won’t be reading it or redacting any information. I’ll have to get Becca to show you some of the letters I sent home - most of the time half of what I wrote had been blacked out due to “sensitive information”. Towards the end of the war my letters were short and sweet, just telling everyone I was alive and okay. I don’t get the impression that the teachers here will have much interest in my mail. Time will tell. But I do remember in the beginning that writing down things that had happened to me over there was helpful. Like I could get a tragic event out of my head with just a pen. Writing down helped make sense of it somehow. Hopefully these letters will have the same effect.

While I technically wrote this on the train, by the time I get this to a post office I’ll have made it to New Castle safely. When I was young we never traveled very far out of the city, so ironically the most “country” I’ve seen was in Europe and it was nowhere near as pleasant as here. Places that have had the ever-loving shit bombed out of them can hardly be called pleasant. Maybe getting out of the city will be good for my head. Like you said, being able to get away from the usual responsibilities to focus only on this training will be a nice break, I think. And a vacation from washing windows. I’m gonna get spoiled.

You called me on my bluff and I like to think I’m an honest man. To be real honest with you. . . I’m nervous. Part of me wonders if I even have what it takes to finish out this training. But I’ll take your word for it. If you think I can do it, you can’t be completely wrong, can you? And don’t worry, the problem won��t be ‘how long will Bucky keep me in his corner’ but closer to ‘will Bucky ever let me OUT of his corner?’. The answer will probably be no. To be determined.

Don’t be afraid to share about your days, too. Maybe it’ll make me a little less homesick, if I get to that point. And I know your days will be infinitely harder without me there by your side. Whatever will you do? I really wish you could be here, though.

33 days better pass quickly, for your sake and for mine.

Yours,

Bucky

July 12, 1946

Dearest Bucky,

If you can’t actually address a letter with my real name instead of using “Sixth Floor” I’m going to find an embarrassing nickname for you so the postal worker snickers when they hand letters over to you, see how you like it.

It’s been a fairly innocuous week. A quiet one, that’s for sure. Just been trying to keep my head down and avoid Anderson as much as I can. Suzy has dragged me out for dinner and drinks a few times to keep me busy. She says hi, by the way. And she demanded I tell you that if you don’t come back soon, I’m going to drive her crazy with my “mopey-ness”. Also, you owe her a drink for cheering me up while you’re gone - she’ll collect when you return. The other girls are doing great; Alice got married and is moving upstate with her husband, so we’ve got a new girl taking her place. She seems sweet, but extremely shy and quiet. Hopefully she warms up to us soon.

Funnily enough, it’s my turn to write a letter on a train. Earlier this week Mom called and complained about not seeing me often enough since I moved into the city, so I’m on my way to Tarrytown. I hadn’t realized I’ve stayed in town every single weekend since we’d gone steady. Guess I’ve had a good reason to keep my plans open, huh?

Mom also fished around for when I’d come back next even though I haven’t even arrived yet. In her round-about-way, she hinted that she wants me home for Halloween. I can’t blame her, I’ve never not been home for the festivities. I was going to buy my ticket in advance and began to wonder if I should buy two. One for me, one for you? I mean, if you would like to visit Tarrytown with me the weekend before Halloween? The 31st is a Thursday, which puts a damper on things, but it’ll still be a blast. Mom mentioned wanting to meet this “mysterious new friend” that’s kept me in New York so often.

Since I had the pleasure of meeting your family, I thought I should return the favor and ask if you’d like to meet my parents? If that’s something you’re not comfortable with, I understand being that it’s way ahead of time and a fairly intimate situation. I’m sorry, I’m not being very eloquent am I? You don’t need to make a decision. Just think about it.

How’s it been? Are you getting along with everyone? Tell me everything!

We’re down to 29 days, but that still feels far too long.

Truly,

My Name is Not Sixth Floor

July 17, 1946

Dear Sassafras,

Buy 2 tickets to Tarrytown. I’m looking forward to spending Halloween with your folks. You’ll have to try a lot harder than that to scare me off.

Have we gone steady? I don’t remember asking you. Did you hypnotize me? Please advise. (Hopefully you can read my teasing tone and not leave me heartbroken as a result of this horrible joke)

Tell Suzy I’ll happily buy her a drink as long as she keeps guys in bars away from you, huh? All is well here. The guys are okay, but they’re not you. No one is you. But chatting passes the time and they’re easy enough to get along with. It’s interesting to see all the different paths that have led us here, all our different motivations. There are people here from all over. I thought I had to travel a long way, but the guy from Maine’s got me beat. His letters take longer to travel too, makes me grateful I get to hear from you fairly often.

I know this doesn’t come as a surprise to you but the training has been tough work. Motor oil is permanently stained into my skin, I’m convinced. But I have to admit that everything you taught me gave me a definite leg-up on most of the other students. I was the only one who could replace a spark plug successfully on the first try. They didn’t believe me when I told them my girl showed me how. Obviously they don’t know my girl.

I was daydreaming the other day about something you whispered to me at Steve’s birthday dinner. It was right after you had finished chatting with Peggy. You kinda tucked yourself into my side when you slid back into the booth, you just grabbed my hand almost wondered out loud, ‘What kind of cake do you like? I wanna know so I make sure you get in on your birthday’. My birthday isn’t even until March, but you were still thinking about me and wanted to have the little bit of info to save for later. The fact that you had ‘for later’ in mind . . . I think about that a lot.

How are we only at 24 days? Seems like time should be passing faster.

Always,

Bucky

July 22, 1946

James Buchanan,

You’re right, that is a terrible joke. Never do that again or you’ll find I’ve died of a heart attack. Ya big tease.

Speaking of Steve, I dropped by y’all’s apartment on my way home from work to return that book I’d borrowed and we ended up talking for a while. It’s funny, I don’t know if I ever voiced this to you, but he is absolutely nothing that I expected him to be. We were so engrossed in talking about art and literature that I ended up staying way longer than planned, making him late for dinner with Peggy. Hopefully she wasn’t too upset about it. He’s so easy to be around, to let my defenses down with him. I’m really really glad you have him in your life, Bucky. He’s solid, he’s kind, he’s loyal. Knowing him by knowing you has been a treat.

Not to be a downer, but things with Anderson seem to be turning worse. I’m getting up my nerve to talk to Flannery about it. He’s been extra grouchy and demanding. Either he’s raging in his office or he disappears for days at a time. I can’t pick up the slack anymore. And the way he’s been eyeing the new girl - did I tell you her name was Marjorie? I can’t remember - makes me anxious. Something just doesn’t feel right. I don’t want to kick up a fuss, but I’m also reaching the end of my rope and want to look out for the other girls.

Anyway, on to happier things. I remember my hands were covered in all kinds of stains for a while after training, too. Have they taught you to weld yet? That was one of my favorite lessons, welding to fix damage or create a new part. Glad to hear you’re working hard and learning a bunch. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little smug at my having played a small role in your success. I knew you had it in you. Now please don’t prove me wrong out of spite.

You’re such a sweet talker, Barnes, you’re gonna make me shed a tear before this is all over. Of course I think about the ‘for later’s. I like learning the little things about you. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the big picture stuff, we forget about the small details that are even more a part of making us who we are, ya know?

By the way, I’ll kick your ass in 18 days for addressing your letter to Ms. Sassafras Pants. If you won’t properly address, I won’t properly sign. Do you even remember my real name at this point? I got some input from Steve and he recommended a nickname, but it was too offensive for a postman’s eye to put on the outside of the envelope - contrary to popular belief, I do have a reputation to uphold. I’ll let him write it in the postscript.

Always yours,

Sixth Floor

(I’d rather be Sixth Floor than Sassafras)

P.S. I only told her to call you a dumbass. -SR

July 27, 1946

Sixth Floor,

I hope you appreciate your proper name on the envelope this time. But please let me keep calling you by your nickname inside. Sound like a deal?

Anderson hasn’t made you feel unsafe, has he? Are you okay? Do I need to send Steve over to teach him a lesson? I trust you’re fully capable of looking after yourself, but a visit from Captain America couldn’t hurt, could it? You know he’d be there in a heartbeat if you asked. I hope the conversation with Flannery was helpful. Keep your eyes and ears open, your gut feelings are usually right. Lemme know what I can do, I feel useless sitting all the way in Pennsylvania.

I feel like I’m starting to get overwhelmed by all the information. Training isn’t over for a couple more months, I know that, and having Harvey’s help makes me feel a little better. But some days I wonder if I’m cut out for this. If I’m smart enough for it. Can I even fake it good enough to pass? Sorry for rambling. Just processing, I guess. Don’t know if I could ever say that out loud.

But did you know they’re starting to talk about putting telephones in the radios of cars? Isn’t that crazy? And apparently new models are going to have power-operated windows. Guess the future is coming fast. I’ve also discovered that I hate carburetors with every fiber of my being and they hate me back. The majority of the time it feels good to work with my hands, to keep my brain busy. As an aside, when were you planning on telling me you knew how to weld? Envisioning you handling a welding gun is both adorable and incredibly attractive. Is that too much? Probably. Oh well.

I miss you. 2 weeks left ‘til I’m home. August 10th, please come quick.

Thinking of you,

Dumbass

P.S. Steve - write me letters your damn self if you miss me so much. Dumbass.

August 1, 1946

My dearest Bucky,

I get to see you this month - that feels so good to say! We’ve almost made it! Given the timing of our past letters this is probably my last one before I get to hug you. I miss you so much, but honestly, writing letters has been fun. Our relationship blossomed from only speaking with our hands and mouthing words, and here we are now, only using the written word. We’ve come full circle, huh?

Truly, I don’t think I’m in danger at work. Just extremely irritated and on guard. I don’t feel the need to involve Steve at this point, or Peggy. Let’s be honest, she could take him down in the most satisfactory way that would definitely tarnish the symbol of Captain America. You’re sweet to worry, though. Just keep listening, that’s all I ask right now.

I had dinner with Becca last night. I hope that’s okay, I don’t want to cross any kind of boundary that would make you uncomfortable. We had such a pleasant time, though. I feel like we are both so very similar, having overcome a lot of the same struggles. We bonded over our parents worrying about us ending up as old maids and the trouble they had with us working rather than homemaking. Your mom sent cookies with Becca. To be fully transparent, I definitely ate the entire sack that night. Think Winnifred will teach me her ways? Also, I had no idea how interesting being a telephone operator is - the stories Becca had to tell about the people she interacts with! She’s a saint and hilarious and I adore her. She also had some incredibly interesting stories about you. . . we should discuss how angry Monopoly makes you. . . I’m tempted to play a game with you, Steve, and Peggy - I’m aware that could rocket us into another world war, but it’d be fun to watch, no?

I don’t have the words to describe how proud of you I am. I know it hasn’t been easy, I know change can be hard. I know you have doubts. But you are so close to finishing, to reaching a major milestone in your career. I have full faith in you - you can do this. Me, Harvey, Becca, Steve, and everyone else is rooting for you. And if it doesn’t work out, so what? You tried something, you put in work and effort. Finding something you don’t like is just as helpful as finding something you do. You have other options, you always do. I mean, we know you are an impeccable window washer, so. . . Whichever way you decide to go, I’m with you for the ride.

Only 9 days left. I can’t wait to see you at the train station.

Affectionately yours,

Sixth Floor

August 6, 1946

Darling Sixth Floor,

The more I think about it, the more I realize that being here has been helpful in a lot of ways I didn’t expect. I’ve bounced from being surrounded by family, then an army, the Commandos, and back to family, I haven’t really had space to figure out who I am away from all of that. I’m still working on finding that out, but the breathing room has been. . . enlightening. Is that word too hoity-toity? Probably. Oh well, you can make fun of me for it in a few days. As nice as it’s been to get away from the city, my fingers are itching for New York. Doesn’t hurt that you’re there.

You having dinner with Bec doesn’t bother me a bit. I’m a little worried you’ll like her more than you like me, but I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Whatever she told you about Monopoly is a lie - I did not throw anything, she is the agressive board game addict. Unfortunately as per the Howlies, Peggy and Steve are not allowed to play Monopoly together. We tried when we were snowed in to camp one winter and I’m not exaggerating when I say they almost killed each other. Well, Peggy almost killed Steve. Those nails of hers are lethal, you know.

Ma would be thrilled if you asked her to help you bake, although you will be in danger of her never letting you leave the kitchen ever again. The woman has a lot of wisdom to impart and all the time in the world. This may sound weird but. . . I like you getting along with my family. Not sure why. But it feels nice, having you fit in so seamlessly.

One of the guys recently asked how long we’d been together and I really had to think about it for a second before answering. Not to wax poetic, but it’s strange to me that we’ve only known each other since April. Four months of knowing you and continuing to know you every day. You’re so familiar to my life now, I can hardly imagine a time when you weren’t in it.

Thank you for having faith in me. Thank you for being an encourager. Thank you for opening up this new life to me. The world has only gotten brighter since you walked into that skyscraper all those months ago.

By the time you get this, I’ll probably be within a few hours of home. But as of this moment, I’ll see you in 4 days. I can’t wait.

See you soon,

Your Window Washer

Chapter Fourteen

TAGS:

@moderapoppins @lookwhatyoumademequeue @crazinessgraveyardsandcartoons @thinkwritexpress-official @fearless2tobeme @laneygthememequeen @past-perfect-future-tense @drhughgrection @promarvelfangirl @connorshero @anditwasjustus @p3nny4urth0ught5 @usernamemingmei @the-canary @thorfanficwriter @blueskiesbleakeyes @silverwing2522 @satansmushroom @nerd-without-a-cause @firewolf-marvels @reginaphlanageadams @kiliakit @forsaken-letters @bouquet-o-undercaffeinated-roses @part-time-patronus @biavastarr @ellaenchanted91 @ihopeyousteponarosepetal @bloatedandlonly @barnestruck @itsbuckysworld @captainsbuck @writemarvelousthings @havanaangel @animeflower26 @igotkatiepowers @clockworkherondale @mcueveryday @buckybarneshairpullingkink @cassianpeia @ladylizzieofdarbyshire @russian-romanova @yknott81 @bellamys @xmarveled @barnesrogersvstheworld @abovethesmokestacks @ursulaismymiddlename @sarcasm-ing @hiddles-rose @thisismysecrethappyplace @palaiasaurus64 @fanfic-diaries @fangirlfictionmain @majesticavenger @creideamhgradochas @lucyyannabel

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes reader insert #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes series #All We've Got is Time #beka writes #Chapter Thirteen #AWGIT

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moony-jamie · 4 years

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Okay long post that may or may not be shorter than expected but here we go. (I just wrote everything and it's pretty long, I think)

This will mostly be about things that happened in the past few weeks that made me emotional? Kinda? Stuff I want to talk about aka screaming it into the void that tumblr is. (Apparently it's mostly about football and my exams)

I'll put it under a keep reading thing, hopefully it works.

Okay where do I start?

I feel like I spend more time being emotional about football than worrying about my finals. Magdeburg was involved most of the time but also football that shares one braincell and the DFB hasn't seen it in a long time.

But let's start at the beginning.

On the 8th of May 46 years ago Magdeburg won the Cup Winners' Cup. Since it looked like the season will be cancelled and Magdeburg could go into a financial crisis, the fans organised a fundraising event in which they sold tickets for an imaginary trip to Rotterdam to win the cup a second time. This started around the 5th of April and went on for a month.

Obviously I got a ticket too and spend a whole week basically camping in front of my mailbox waiting for it. It took five days and I cried when it came.

It's beautiful, I love it a lot, one of my favourite players singed it, I'm in love.

They even managed to show the game in a re-live so that's the story how I screamed and cried after my English exam because we won the cup (again).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qBL15JPO4g

And well then this video made me cry again and I feel like I spend more time crying over Magdeburg than actually studying for the exams but it's time well spend I guess.

(And no we didn't actually went to Rotterdam it was all imagination but it was great anyway)

During all of this Magdeburg desperately tried to get Milan's attention (for a possible rematch in four years for the 50th anniversary) by tweeting at them in badly translated Italian. Honestly that club is as dumb as I am and I love them a lot.

Apart from that football was all about pain the past weeks, starting with the fact that I can't scream my emotions out during football games? Like idk if it's a good coping mechanism or not but screaming for 90 minutes straight always helped me a lot.

Now I'm really mad that the DFB decided to start Bundesliga behind closed doors because first of all the Bundesliga is nothing without it's fans. Second, ending the season early would be the better option but well I told myself to calm so I will do calm.

BUT THEN they won't stop arguing about the 3. Liga and honestly I'm done with this shit. At least Magdeburg is the club with the braincells and said they want to end the season (I guess I chose the right club to stan).

The thing is Magdeburg isn't legally allowed to train or even play here in Saxony Anhalt but well apparently the DFB doesn't care and is now pressuring the politics into either allowing them to play or they will take away Magdeburg's (and Halle's) license and honestly that is so fucked up I can't believe it's actually happening.

Football, what a fun sport to stan :)

Enough about football tho, lets get into the important stuff. Or well the reason I actually took a break from tumblr.

My exams went surprisingly well despite the fact that I had to stop studying at some point because it just stressed me out.

It all started off with my Chemistry exam which was pretty easy. Besides my business administration exam it was the one that stressed me out a lot because I almost failed the mock exam and I just had a bad feeling overall.

But then I saw the tasks and everything was so easy?? Of course I started stressing again because I was finished with still an hour to go but then my classmate told me that she saw the teacher grading it and I had a lot of points already and?? I was so relieved?? Honestly I could've cried.

My English exam was the next one, two days after Chemistry.

There are two main parts in this one. The first one is the listening comprehension (nightmare of every German student) the second one is the written part.

In my school we have one room that has a very good acoustic in which the listening part wouldn't be a problem but due to Corona they talked about closing it because it might be unfair when it couldn't be used for everyone that wrote the more difficult exam (I not in the mood to explain the whole system right now but if you want to know more about it dm me).

Thursday I wrote my English teacher if she knows how it's planned right now and she confirmed that they will be using this room and that I will be in this room for the listening part. That was the first time I actually cried because of my exams.

Now English wasn't particularly bad but I have a weird feeling about it. We will see once I'll get the results.

My German exam was the next one and just like with the English exam I have a weird feeling but we'll have to see.

I got good results in both of my mocks so hopefully it will be fine.

The last one was my business administration exam and oh boy. I was stressing so much, I couldn't look at my notes without having a breakdown and it was bad, really bad.

I was praying for marketing to be a big part but of course my prayers weren't heard and there wasn't a single sign of it at all.

BUT luckily the main part of the exam was easy. Well not too easy but it was a topic where I didn't think they would make it the main part but they did. It was about loans.

Well we better don't talk about the rest of it but if my calculations are right I should get the required points.

I really don't want to get hopes up but I'm pretty sure I made it.

There is one exam left still but it will be some time around June and hopefully pretty easy so I'm not stressing too much right now.

Now that I finished the hardest part I hate how everyone was stressing me even more. People basically tell you that if you don't start studying months and months in advance you won't make it but?? No, it's not that.

I can't speak for other exams of course because well maybe we had a Corona bonus or whatever but I don't think so.

It really seems to be easy (at least for all the nightmare stories I always heard).

Also wtf F1? I walk out of my German exam and see that Vettel left Ferrari. Got my crying the whole day because well I don't mind him leaving Ferrari as much as I mind should he retire. I really don't want that.

And then I walk out of the business exam and they announce Carlos to Ferrari and Dan to McLaren. As if I wasn't emotional enough, F1 really decided to play with my feelings here huh.

But what else happened except for football and exams?

Well I walked my dog every day and saw all kind of animals during so. I don't know if it was because there were less people outside or just because we have a lot of fields and forests in general but it was pretty cool.

We saw rabbits, foxes, deers and even a snake (I only saw a wild snake once in my life so that's pretty cool)

Also managed to took a (bad) picture of a deer, isn't he cute?

Also a week ago my mom convinced me to buy a bunch of guppies for our tank and ever since we got them my betta got herself a goth girlfriend and I'm??? So soft??? For my gay fish??

They're very shy tho and I didn't manage to get a good picture of them yet but it's really cute. They're always hanging around each other.

Last week I was also able to go to the stable again since Jody isn't actually my horse and they only allowed owners on the property to stop the people from taking riding lessons.

This picture is from today, I wanted to take pictures in this field ever since I missed it last year and most of the flowers stopped blooming back then.

But I was able to go back and can go there again now that I have some free time and I'm just so happy.

Unfortunately now they aren't in full bloom either because we missed it again (thanks Corona 🙃) but the picture is nice enough so I don't mind too much.

By now I can't really think of anything else that happened.

As I said I'm now working on my Fanfiction. In theory I wanted it to be done by the end of May but I don't think I will make it but I'm not stressing myself with it either. Every chapter is more or less plotted so I hope writing will go by a little easier.

I don't know how many people actually read it until this point but if you did, thanks 💙

I'm just happy that I got all of it of my chest now since I wanted to talk about all this but I was getting tired to annoy my mom with it.

#I'm about to go crazy #this is the fifth time I'm trying to make this thing work #ufff #might just give up if this doesn't work now #fml #if the pictures don't show up tell me #thanks for reading if you did #personal

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qualquercoisa945 · 5 years

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Shiver, But Shiver With A Friend

Title Inspiration: Party Tattoos by Dodie

AO3 Link

this is mostly just fluff, with a dash of angst at the end. have fun!!!

trigger warnings: none i believe, but do tell me if there are any!!

After Kat’s outburst, Anna had noticed three major things.

She’d noticed the way Kat and Boleyn had begun to stick closer- in fact, it seemed like Kat was avoiding the other queens, apart from Boleyn. She assumed they’d talked- Kat needed to talk to all of them at one point, at least in Anna’s opinion, but if she’d rather go one of them at a time, she figured that was her choice. Still, it worried her, the way Kat seemed to have retreated back into her shell.

She’d also noticed Jane’s glances towards the pair. She’d stare at them, with a near grief struck look, then look away. She knew she thought she was being sneaky, but she’d notice. She’d gotten good at noticing small changes in mood in people- they all had, honestly, you had to when you were married to him, but Anna had made sure that skill stayed sharp around those she cared about as well.

And finally, she’d noticed how much less time Jane had been spending with them. She’d been out of the house more in general, and was usually the last to arrive to the theatre (something typically reserved for Anna herself) and the first to leave. She’d even had to ask Grace to cover for her on emergency, something that very rarely happened. “A doctor’s appointment, they said they can’t reschedule, I’m sorry,” she’d explained when asked about it, but she hadn’t given them any more details.

Which only worried Anna more, but she knew asking Jane herself would be like talking to a brick wall. So she talked to the others.

She decided she’d talk to Kat last- she wasn’t sure how the girl felt, and trying to talk to her by initiating conversation could lead to a less than desirable outcome. Boleyn had been sticking like glue to Kat’s side, which meant she and Jane hadn’t been spending much time together either. Which left Aragon and Parr.

And really, Parr was closer to Jane, so it would’ve made more sense to ask her first, but Anna and Aragon shared a dressing room, and it just so happened that, on Thursday, the day Jane was absent from the show, Boleyn got dressed after it faster than both Anna and Aragon had.

“Hey, do you have any idea what’s up with Jane?” Anna had asked nonchalantly, as she wiped away the makeup from the show.

“What do you mean?”

“She’s been more skittish. Spending less time in the house. And now she asks Grace to cover for her only one day in advance?” She asks rhetorically, spinning in her seat to look at Aragon. “Seems pretty weird to me.”

“I suppose so…” Aragon murmured in response, staring at the mirror in front of her before turning to face Anna. “It is pretty odd of her to ask for someone to cover so shortly in advance. Maybe she’s worried about Katherine’s… outburst?”

“Jane wouldn’t fake a doctor’s appointment just for that. It’s the fact that she couldn’t reschedule the doctor’s appointment that worries me.” Anna paused for a moment. “For that to happen, it means two things.” She held up her hand in a closed fist, raising one finger for each of her points as she announced them. “One, the appointment is on high demand. And two, the appointment is urgent enough that it can’t wait. Do you know what it means when that’s the case?”

Aragon nodded, staring at the table in front of her grimly. “The thing the appointment is about is really serious.”

“Exactly. And you know how anxious Jane gets when she’s sick. You also know how anxious Kat gets when any of us are sick. This is an awful combination, especially so soon after that outburst.” Anna finished, staring at Aragon as she waited for an answer.

“I suppose we have to wait and pray that nothing bad happens.” She finally replied, clutching her cross necklace while staring back at the table. Then she sighed and stood up. “I’m gonna head out. See you back home?”

Anna nodded, then watched as her bandmate grabbed her bag and left their dressing room. Once she heard the click of the door closing, she sighed, then turned back to the mirror, wiping away her makeup while she mulled over what could be happening, despite her mind’s best efforts to get her to relax.

Kath had been feeling like absolute shit the last few days. Yeah, sure, she’d talked to Anne. But that had been it. After that, the two had basically been glued at the hip, or better yet, Kath had been avoiding being near the rest of them apart from when strictly necessary. Thankfully, her band mates seemed to have caught onto this and had been respecting her space, which she appreciated.

However, her efforts were foiled when, after leaving her dressing room after the last show, she bumped into none other than Anna of Cleves. In the most literal sense of the word- they bumped into each other, causing Kath to stumble backwards ever so slightly.

“Jesus, sorry, I didn’t see you. You okay?” Anna asked. Kath didn’t give her an answer apart from a nod, which Anna retributed, and for a while they just stood there, both staring at the ground.

“Do you wanna walk home with me, Kat?” Anna suddenly offered, and Kath perked up at the familiar nickname. She nodded again, and Anna turned towards the exit, although still looking at Kath with her usual cocky smirk. “Try and keep up then.”

And with that she was off, leaving Kath to run after her to catch up. “That was mean, you know?” “Yeah.”

“Tsk, rude.”

They both laughed as they exited the building, and then fell into silence as they began their walk home.

Not much more than a minute had passed when Anna spoke again. “Hey, Kath?”

“Hm?”

“Do you remember all the balls we used to dance at?”

Kath let out a quiet chuckle at that- for as much as she had utterly despised her time at court, the balls they would throw when Anna was visiting were one of the few times she actually enjoyed during that short period in her life. “Just about the only times I actually liked back then.”

Kath stood by the edge of the ball room, surrounded by men and women all much older and much more well educated than her, at least in affairs such as this- a royal ball.

Being raised at a place such as the Norfolk house meant that, while she was taught how to dance and sing and such, she had never learned how to present herself around royalty, which proved to be a challenge after she had been hoisted up the ranks to Queen of England, wife of Henry VIII.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar- and very much welcome voice. “Care to dance with me, your highness?” Katherine turned around to be met with none other than German princess Anna of Cleves, former Queen of England and Beloved Sister of the King, her hand outstretched.

“Anna, please. Just Kath, formalities are dumb.” She giggled, taking her hand nevertheless. With a smile, she allowed herself to be led to the center of the ball room, setting her hand on Anna’s shoulder while the other woman set her free hand on Katherine’s waist.

And just like that, they began the familiar dance they had taught each other over the few months they got before Henry began courting Katherine. Anna lead, as always, and Katherine found herself giggling as they went over every twist and turn and even the little lift that always made her heart do a little jump.

As they danced, Katherine couldn’t help but to admire Anna- so calm and carefree, so confident in herself. She felt… jealous? And yet that didn’t quite fit what she was feeling. Admiration? It seemed closer, but not quite what it was either.

She was torn from her inner monologue as Anna leaned closer, whispering in her ear just loud enough to be heard over the musicians. “This is becoming a little much. Would you accompany me on a walk around the castle grounds?”

Katherine smiled, before gasping softly and looking at Anna excitedly, almost hopefully. “Can we go see the hounds?” When she received confirmation, she grinned, having to hold back a squeal. “Then let’s go.”

Anna chuckled at this, taking her hand from Katherine’s waist before pulling her to the side and sneaking them both out of the room.

Katherine ran ahead as they made their way out of the castle and over to where the hounds stayed when not out hunting with Henry. She could hear Anna’s footsteps a few meters behind her, but really she was more focused on the dogs.

She gasped when one of them looked up and towards them, grinning as she knelt beside him to pet him. She heard a quiet laugh from behind her, and turned around to look at Anna.

“I apologize. Your excitement is adorable, though.” Anna commented as another of the dogs approached. Kath blushed, watching as Anna turned around to pet him. “Well hello there.” She laughed as the dog tried to jump to lick her, holding him back. “Excitable, that one, isn’t he?” Katherine chipped in, standing up. She noticed the hound she’d been petting stand up, and reached out her hand to pet his head absentmindedly.

The two walked around the castle grounds, the two hounds they’d been petting trotting not too far behind them, talking about everything and nothing. And when silence fell, it was one of the few times Katherine didn’t feel scared when such a thing happened. Silence with Anna was comfortable, not suffocating like with mostly everyone else, and they didn’t even need to try.

They eventually stopped by the lake, sitting near the shore with the hounds free to run around nearby. They just sat and watched them, once again falling in comfortable silence.

Silence that was unfortunately cut short by a courtier- Lawrence, she remembered; he’d joined the court not too long after her, being roughly around her age, if not a tad older. “Lady Anna, Lady Katherine.” He bowed before his queen and former queen, before rising to his full height. “Your Majesty requests your presence so that he may give the final toast and terminate the ball.”

Katherine bit back a groan at that- she knew much better than to argue with Henry, especially since he hadn’t been in the greatest mood lately.

Anna huffed quietly as she stood up, then turned to offer a hand to Katherine. “C’mon then, we shouldn’t keep him waiting.”

Katherine smiled softly up at her, taking her hand and hoisting herself up. She noticed Lawrence whistle to get the hounds to come back to them, and then they began their walk back to the castle itself. Katherine stayed in the back, staring at the ground.

“Hey, we’ve been over this. Chin up.” Anna corrected softly, using her index finger and her thumb to lift her chin. Katherine gave her a shy smile, and Anna smiled right back at her. “Das ist gut.” She praised, before turning back around and quickening her pace to catch up to Lawrence, something that Katherine was extremely thankful for, as it allowed her to hide the blush that she could feel warm her cheeks.

Yes, she would later decide, what Katherine felt for Anne was more than affection, and moreover, what she had with those men was definitely not love.

The first ball that Anna had attended after Kath became queen flashed through her mind, although she had to linger on that final interaction.

Kath and Anna being gay hadn’t been a secret in a while, and although Anna was a lot more open about it, Kath didn’t make a secret out of it either. Admitting it to herself, however, had caused her to rethink a lot of situations from her past life.

And that had been one of them. She had a crush on Anna back then, plain and simple. It had taken her a while to realize it (curse her obliviousness), but she’d realized it, which painted nearly every interaction they’d had in a new light.

It also brought forward the question of, does she still have a crush on Anna? As far as she was aware, Kath’s answer was no, she no longer did. And after being separated for 500 or so years, you could hardly blame her. Still, the question stayed in her mind, lingering in the back and taunting her every so often. Kath ignored it though: with feelings, she’d rather just go with the flow and hope she didn’t do anything terribly wrong.

“Kat?” She nearly jumped when she heard Anna call her name, startled out of her train of thought, before laughing nervously to herself.

“Yeah?” Anna chuckled. “You were zoning out.” She pointed out, and Kath simply nodded, not sure the conversation was heading. “If you don’t mind me asking… What prompted that explosion the other day?”

Kath looked down at that, hesitating for a moment before sighing. “I was just… tired of keeping it in, I guess. My anger, I mean. What Catherine said wasn’t even that big of a deal, it was just… the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Anna nodded, and Kath sighed quietly before leaning against her side. She felt Anna wrap her arm around her shoulders, and she let herself sink into her embrace. “Thanks. For not being mad at me for snapping.”

Anna didn’t answer, and for a moment Kath was afraid she’d screwed up. She was about to speak again when-

“Do you remember when you first became my lady in waiting?” Anna asked, unusually quiet and unusually serious.

Kath nodded, smiling sheepishly to herself. “I was really nervous.” She mumbled, fidgeting with her hands while the pair walked.

Anna nodded. “Yeah, I could tell. You looked completely out of your element. And you looked so confused…” She paused for a moment. “That’s why I spoke English around you. Figured I should make your time there a little easier.” Kath looked up, frowning as Anna kept her gaze away from her own. “Guess that was all for nothin’ tho, huh?” She muttered, letting out a quiet chuckle as she tightened her grip ever so slightly.

“Anna?” Kath asked softly, trying to get her to look at her.

“I’m fine, I just-” She stopped, sniffling, before finally looking down at her, smiling sheepishly through watery eyes. “Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if I’d tried harder. Actually, if I’d tried at all.” And with that, Anna let go of her, turning away from her to wipe away tears threatening to spill.

Kath stared at her for a moment, then studied their surroundings. Spotting a bench, she reached out gently to hold her hand, pulling her towards it and sitting them down there. “Anna, just listen to me for a moment, will you?”

Anna nodded, still teary eyes despite her best attempts to collect herself, and yet Kath continued. “You and I both know you couldn’t have done anything. At best, it’d change nothing. At worse, you’d get yourself killed alongside me. And don’t pull the “Oh, you don’t know that” card, because you and I both know trying to argue with Hen-” She choked when trying to say his name, emotions still much too high. “With him. So don’t blame yourself, Anna. It’s not your fault.”

Anna stared at her for a moment, then pulled her into a tight hug, which Kath quickly retributed. “I was so scared, when I finally remembered you,” She began, all but pulling Kath onto her lap, “that you hadn’t come back too. I’m glad we can be together again.”

Kath let out a soft whimper, pressing herself closer. “Yeah, me too.” She mumbled, then hissed quietly as she felt a sharp pain in the lower right side of her abdomen. “Shit, god damn it.” She muttered, moving her hands to hold onto her waist tightly.

“Are you alright?” Anna asked, pulling away near immediately, sitting there awkwardly.

“Yeah, just…” Kath slowly let go, and although the pain got slightly sharper for a moment, it didn’t take long for it to begin to lessen. “Period cramps. My period was due soon, so it’s no biggie, don’t worry about it.”

Anna nodded. “Want me to carry you home?” She offered with a small smile. Kath hesitated for a moment, then fell into her open arms, way too tired and in too much pain to care.

She was vaguely aware of Anna standing up and beginning to walk, but her brain decided to just, turn itself off for the rest of the way home, only really becoming aware when she was gently set down in front of their house, and even then she let herself lean against Anna until they had to walk again.

Once inside, Kath stretched up to give Anna a kiss on her cheek, at which Anna smiled before returning with a kiss on Kath’s forehead. “Take care of yourself, yeah?”

Kath nodded, pulling her into a quick hug before mumbling a tired “Good night, Anna” and heading upstairs to her room.

#six the musical #but it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand #anna of cleves #catherine of aragon #jane seymour #katherine howard #writing

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polymetis-23 · 3 years

Text

Diary Entry Sept. 5th, 2021

Day 1: Sunday - It begins

Pre-orientation is over so we have finally started orientation orientation. My fellow frosh moved in this weekend so the halls of Saheam Hall are filling up, there are so many new people here! Today was not the best of days for me because all students have to take a swim test to graduate. Seems weird, but I guess it makes sense. Anyways I can swim, it's just not my favorite thing to do so there was no way I was about to tread water for 10 min to be allowed on a boat (who enjoys being on a boat anyway?). I'm gonna keep my feet on solid land, thank you very much. Things did get better though, we got to meet our orientation groups and mine was the pink group, absolutely perfect in my mind. Oh and with these groups we get little food tickets for dinner so we don't have to get dining hall food yet. While I love my castle style dorm, I've been told it has the worst food on campus so I may have to explore other options.

Day 2: Monday - Math!

Today we officially became freshmen, we had our welcoming by the president so it was official! Although it was a little long. I was glad to finally be a frosh and not a pre-frosh, but did they have to talk for so long? I wanted to get back into the labs. Unfortunately that wasn't the case today as all freshmen were required to sit through a preliminary math test to determine which level we should start at. I won't say I am a math genius, but I have always done well in the subject, even taking a college level course at the community college my senior year! Currently waiting for the results, but I'm not really worried. I am however starting to get anxious about when I will next be able to work on my crossbow. EME was great because it was right in the student workshops but there seems to be something scheduled for every second of the day during orientation so I just can't slip away.

Day 3: Tuesday - Mr. Advisor Sir

I got to meet with my academic advisor today to figure out what classes I wanted to take. Unsurprisingly, I am able to skip the first level of math due to my score on the placement test (yay! Definitely wasn't worried). He suggested some other courses that freshmen usually take so it looks like I will be taking a Newtonian mechanics physics class, multivariable calculus, intro chemistry and some communication intensive humanities class. Guess I have to look at that list soon. I wanted to take a lab class so I could get access to all the machines and learn better design techniques (okay maybe my approach to the crossbow was not the best way, I wasn't wrong … just not advanced enough). Unfortunately all those classes required other classes to be taken first... which I haven't taken. Guess I'll start in the spring.

Day 4: Wednesday - Expos galore

As I mentioned previously there always seems to be something going on orientation wise, I just can't get any free time to get to the labs. I don't even know if I would be able to get access at this point. My group, joined by a few others, spent most of the afternoon walking around the sports and academic expos to see what was offered. There were some cool booths and a lot of free stuff, but not much interested me. I already know how I will be spending my free time. One interesting thing I did learn at the expo was that there was a makerspace which only trained freshmen. Of course I signed up for the training as soon as I got back to my dorm room. On that note, I am supposed to have two roommates, but I haven't seen them except in passing. They are participating in the dorm exploration program which allows first-years to move between dorms if they start somewhere they don't like. These events can sometimes run real late, I know one of them got back to the room after 4am, no idea what was happening so late. Either they are out of the room or asleep so I assume they aren't planning on staying.

Day 5: Thursday - Rooming is a mess

And I was right! Neither of my temporary roommates ended up staying, I think one moved to Modran Hall and I'm not sure where the other went. I could never imagine living in Modran. It is so run down and far from the main campus. And it seems to have parties or something going on on the rooftops, at least I kept seeing the occasional flash of red during dorm exploration. I need the peace and quiet to work on my projects so no thank you. Speaking of projects, I've decided to let the crossbow sit for a bit until I can come up with a better design, but I have had another great idea: IR Goggles! Looking at some of the superheroes on screen they have fancy displays in their helmets to show them where the bad guys are and where their help is needed … I guess cat's out of the bag now, but if you haven't guessed I want to be a real life hero! Or I guess a vigilante since it is self proclaimed, but I'll still be helping people.

There has been some suspicious activity around the city in the last year that might be connected and I want to be the one to put a stop to it. That's why I ended up choosing this school, a great place to start my career. ;-)

Day 6: Friday - New roommates

My two new roommates after the dorm switch moved in yesterday but were busy finishing up orientation activities so they didn't unpack until today. They seem pretty cool so far, one moved from Newest House- not sure if it had an official name ever and it isn't the newest dorm any more, that title goes to North Lot. Regardless I will just have to make sure they don't catch on to my superheroness cause what's the point of having a superhero identity if those around you know who you are, right? Anyway, not much else happened today, I just got to know the roommates and learn the rules of our floor now that all the permanent residents were there. Oh and orientation ended with a trip to see the fish (cause we're fish get it? … I didn't either, why is 'fish' another name for a freshman?)

Day 7: Saturday - A breath

Finally a day where nothing was scheduled and I can breathe. I took some time to explore campus and find relatively secluded places to work on my designs. They just finished renovating a library which has some nice study spaces and people are generally quiet so I figure I'll be spending a lot of time there in the following weeks. There are also great tall windows that look out on the river so I feel like I'll be able to get a lot done there. I also got some time today to sit down and sketch out my goggles, with all the labs and such in the area, I wonder what sort of IR light will be visible, or is that not a thing and I'm just naive? Oh well, guess I'll find out when I eventually test them. First I need to order a camera that can pick up IR radiation, hopefully it comes soon.

Well, classes start next week so I hope to be able to keep updating y'all, whomever may be reading this, but we shall see. College is new and exciting, but I wonder how hard it will be.

Signing off for now

- Polymetis!!

#fiction #oc #writblr #writing #vigilante series

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quicksilversquared · 6 years

Text

Plagg and the Butterfly Costume Ch. 6

Plagg is willing to do a lot in order to get more cheese. When he’s spotted one too many times en route to the kitchen, he decides that a disguise is in order. One purple costume later, and Plagg is free to flit down to the kitchen without people thinking that he’s a rat.

And then he gets caught.

PATBC: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

PatBC Outtakes: (1)

(AO3) (FF.net)

For their second meeting, Adrien and Plagg arrived late thanks to a photoshoot that ran over. Adrien ran all the way to Fu's place, though Plagg didn't understand the hurry. It wasn't as though the old man was going to be going anywhere.

So of course when they got there, Ladybug and Tikki had already arrived and were sitting in Adrien's usual spot behind the screen. Plagg could see Tikki already perched on the low table, nibbling on a small cake. Next to her, Wayzz was sipping away at a small cup of tea.

Plagg perked up when he saw his normal cheese plate set out. He zipped towards it, ignoring Adrien's quiet apologies to Fu for being late. He mumbled out quick greetings to his fellow kwami and then dove into the cheese.

The cheese plate was the best part of these boring meetings, really. But Plagg knew that any moment now, he was going to be dragged away from the cheese to act as a mouthpiece for Adrien so he and his lovebug could talk to each other.

"What- what's this for?" Adrien asked suddenly, sounding positively puzzled. Plagg glanced over long enough to see his Chosen pick up what looked like a weird black plastic mask.

"Ladybug brought them," Fu said, as though that was any sort of explanation. Plagg glanced over and saw Ladybug sitting on the other side of the screen- or, well, he was assuming that it was Ladybug. Black pigtails stuck out from the bottom of a black mask identical to the one Adrien held. She waved at him. "They have a voice changer built in, and Ladybug thought you two would be able to use them to talk without having to go through the kwamis while still keeping your identities safe. I believe she called them... Darth Raider masks?"

"Darth Vader," Tikki corrected.

"Ladybug is my new favorite," Plagg said around a mouthful of cheese. "Now I don't have to stop eating just so you can ask a million questions. I mean, you'll look like a dork, but..."

Adrien grinned and jammed the helmet over his head, apparently unconcerned by the dorkiness. "This is so cool!"

Plagg blinked. That...was definitely a voice change. He had not been expecting that.

"And they were on clearance," Ladybug added, her own voice just as distorted. "Because the paint job got messed up somehow. The masks are scratched, but the voice things work well enough."

Adrien laughed. "Your voice sounds so funny like this."

"You're one to talk," Ladybug retorted.

"That is going to take some getting used to," Fu said with a laugh. "But it was quite a creative solution, I have to admit. Clearly I made a very good choice when I picked you for Ladybug."

"You really did," Adrien spoke up. Plagg could tell by the tilt of his Chosen's head that he was doubtless giving the screen in Ladybug's direction a soppy lovestruck look. "I don't know what I would do without my Bugaboo."

Plagg made a face and dove with more vigor into his cheese. He really didn't need to spend any more of his life listening to Adrien flirt and pine. It was lucky that he wasn't alert when Adrien was transformed, because from what Plagg could tell, Adrien flirted with Ladybug all the time while they were transformed.

"Both Ladybug and Chat Noir have been excellent choices this time around," Wayzz spoke up, thankfully cutting off any more flirty banter between the two superheroes. "You both fight wonderfully."

"But now we must talk of more serious things," Fu agreed, coming to sit by the table that the kwamis were on. "Tikki has told me already about some of the things that she and Plagg are planning. There are...security elements, in the lair, that you're in the process of destroying, is that correct?"

Plagg nodded by way of answer. He didn't want to have to hastily swallow the lovely creamy Brie that he had just bitten into.

"And from what I hear, that's going along well," Fu pressed. "And you have plans to finish the project this Thursday?"

"He's going to break an elevator button so Mr. Agreste can't go up to the lair and transform," Tikki volunteered, wiping cake crumbs off of her mouth. "So it won't matter that he's had to recharge a zillion times. And Ladybug is going to bring some cheese bread and some cheese up to a hidden spot on the roof so Plagg can keep recharging."

Plagg perked up. He hadn't heard that that part of the plan had been confirmed. He had rather thought that Tikki hadn't actually meant it when she said they would bring cheese for him and that he would have to keep going back down to the kitchens or to Adrien's room in between destroying missiles. Hopefully Tikki had told- or would tell- her Chosen how much cheese he would need, and he also hoped that she wouldn't skimp.

Fu was stroking his beard. "That sounds interesting. But you know your strength wanes the further away you are from your Chosen, and surely Chat Noir would be at school that day?"

"I have a lot of exams," Adrien confirmed. "And I've kind of been worried about it, since I don't want to have to miss exams because of an akuma attack."

"That was the initial idea behind breaking the button," Tikki chimed in before Plagg could. Not that he actually wanted to do all of the talking "So that they could complete their exams in peace. And then we figured that since Mr. Agreste wouldn't be able to transform anyway, we might as well take advantage of it. And I would be there as well, to counteract the effects of the distance between Plagg and Chat Noir as much as I can."

"And I can sit in a cafe or a park nearby and have Wayzz join you, to help further," Fu volunteered, and Plagg only just refrained from rolling his eyes. If it weren't for the fact that having Tikki and Wayzz there would help bolster his destruction powers with Adrien off at school, he would wonder if they didn't trust him to be able to destroy stuff on his own. He didn't need babysitters.

"And I'll come hang out nearby at lunch," Adrien added in. "In, er, the park or something. And after school, too."

Plagg hid a snigger. He knew full well that Adrien would be coming home and eating in the dining room just like normal, but he could hardly say that. Fu would end him for the early reveal.

"I'm glad we have a plan set for that, then. Hopefully there won't be an akuma attack late that day but if there is, then Ladybug, you will have to be prepared to do the brunt of the fighting. Plagg will be exhausted after that much destruction and recharging and won't be able to hold on to a transformation long."

"Right. Tikki already told me about that."

Plagg rolled his eyes. Of course Tikki had. She had always been ridiculously responsible about those sorts of things.

"And then we need to start planning further ahead," Fu told them. "We need to recover the book and the scrolls and then destroy the digital copy that Hawkmoth has, preferably without alerting him, though I don't know how we could do that. I don't know how far someone without training would be able to get with decoding it, but we cannot allow him the opportunity."

"We could always take the files off of his computer to see how far he's gotten," Adrien suggested.

"And we could introduce a virus somehow to make it look like that was what wiped the files off of the computer," Ladybug added. "I know someone who might know how to do that, actually. He was-"

"The Gamer," Adrien and Ladybug finished in unison. Adrien perked up- Plagg was certain that his Chosen was beaming under that dorky mask- and turned towards the screen separating the two superheroes. "Yeah! He probably could, considering that he made that robot! And maybe he could help us with the security cameras- I mean, Plagg could probably break them somehow, but it would be more convincing that nobody was there if the cameras were on the whole time, but just showed an empty loop of video."

Fu was smiling at both of them, looking for all the world like a fond old grandpa. "Ah, young minds! You certainly are more in tune with today's technology than I am. Those sound like excellent ideas. You are certain that the young man you're referring to could keep a secret and not accidentally let word get out about how he's helping superheroes?"

"He's rather down-to-earth, I think," Adrien said, and Plagg stuffed another wedge of Camembert in his mouth to muffle his laughter. Adrien was trying so hard to pretend that he didn't know Max in person, even though Fu definitely knew and Ladybug would probably soon know that they were in the exact same class. "I mean, he doesn't freak out when we show up, and I think he could understand how serious this is."

"Definitely," Ladybug agreed. "He's trustworthy."

"Then you should try to speak to him in private as soon as possible," Fu told them. "I'm sure that the young man will probably need some time to develop the- the virus, did you say?- and figure out the security cameras."

"Tomorrow evening, maybe?" Adrien suggested. "So we can figure out the security camera system information."

Plagg made a face. That sounded like it was work for him. Again. Too bad he couldn't just suggest that Ladybug come over so Tikki could do the exploring this time. Even with the extra cheese that he got, all of this research nonsense was starting to get a little old.

He zoned out again as Fu started discussing potential new powers and how Adrien and Ladybug might get them. He had made some good progress with the decoding and translation of the relevant pages in the book, apparently, but wanted to be certain that he was understanding things correctly before teaching them to the superheroes.

Plagg really didn't care. He didn't summon the powers, just supplied them. Adrien would have to do the work of remembering whatever it was that Fu said. Once the cheese was gone, Plagg rolled over and took a nap in the beam of sun that was hitting the table. He woke up when he was rudely tossed in Adrien's bag when he was packing up to go home.

"That was interesting," Adrien said as he hurried through the darkening streets. "New powers! Even if Master Fu did say they would probably be hard to master this early on and that we should try not to use them."

Plagg blinked and yawned. "Why not?"

"Because we want to be able to surprise fath- I mean, Hawkmoth," Adrien corrected himself. "Once we actually face him, I mean. If he knows all of our attacks already, then he can think of ways to counter them. If we have attacks he doesn't know about, then then he can't do that. So I guess we can do new stuff if no one is looking, but that doesn't exactly happen super-often."

Plagg shrugged, uninterested. All of this strategy talk bored him. He just needed to know what he had to do to keep his Chosen safe, and a nice nap. And cheese.

(He always needed cheese. That was a given.)

Plagg was Not Having Fun.

"I'm already getting tired," Plagg complained as he phased back through the walls of the lair to mess up another couple missiles. He had already made the gunpowder in over a dozen of the weapons expire completely just that morning, and while it had been fun at first to watch the energy give out and dissipate as the powder unnaturally aged, it had gotten old.

Really old, really fast.

"You wouldn't have this much to do if you hadn't taken two evenings off," Tikki chided. She and Wayzz had been circling around the lair all morning, keeping track of Plagg's progress so he wouldn't miss anything and leave active missiles in the lair. "And it's not meant to be exciting. This is a job."

Plagg scowled- he had taken one night off because Adrien had transformed unnecessarily to go visit some classmate that wasn't Ladybug, and the other night off because of an akuma attack late in the evening- and zipped towards the wall cavity that Wayzz was waiting by. He phased through and went to the first missile. The gunpowder crumpled into no more than black dust under his paws. If Hawkmoth tried setting them off, they would just let out a cloud of black smoke and slide forward off of the launching rig to fall unimpressively to the floor in a grand display of ineptitude.

Plagg decided to amuse himself by imagining the look on Hawkmoth's face if he ever did try to shoot off the missiles. There would be wide eyes, there would be cursing, there would be foot-stomping, and there would probably be panic as the superheroes pounced on him and took his Miraculous.

"Hawkmoth is still struggling to figure out what is wrong," Wayzz reported after Plagg emerged from the wall, leaving three more thoroughly expired missiles in his wake. "Apparently he did decide to try to fix it himself, like you thought, and he's gotten little bits and pieces all over the floor." Wayzz held up a small spring. "I may have, ah, borrowed a piece."

Plagg sniggered. Ah, Mr. Agreste's reaction once he figured out that he had "lost" a piece would be a sight to see. Unfortunately, he was stuck up in the lair all day until he got every last missile destroyed. Maybe he would have to break another button some other day so he could see the results for himself. He could pull that stunt on a weekend sometime so he could sit and listen and laugh at Mr. Agreste as he struggled to fix it all day.

The cheese stash that Ladybug (Plagg was pretty certain that he had heard her name before- after all, she was Adrien's classmate and friend- but he really couldn't remember what it was, and he wasn't about to admit that by asking Tikki) and Adrien had put together was the one bright spot in Plagg's day. Ladybug had bought a variety cheese pack sort of thing that had all of Plagg's favorite cheeses, and then several cheese bread buns. Adrien had added a round of Brie and another of Camembert, all sliced into chunks. It was 100% Plagg's dream, and if only he hadn't had to work, then Plagg would be in heaven.

Unfortunately, Plagg was also 100% certain that he would never get a cheese basket like this again unless someone was trying to bribe him to do something or he was getting forced to work again.

"I'm only doing this for the cheese," Plagg grumbled to Tikki as he headed inside for the last time. He was starting to feel a little light-headed from the number of times he had had to recharge. "Otherwise, no way."

Tikki giggled at him. "You know full well that you're doing this to protect Adrien. You can't fool me. The cheese is just a bonus."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Plagg sniffed. "I am a creature motivated by cheese and cheese alone. Protecting my Chosen is just a bonus. Besides, who would get me my cheese if he got hurt?"

Tikki sighed.

"I mean, I guess that the kid has grown on me just a bit," Plagg added with his most exasperated sigh. "And I would be a bit upset if he got hurt."

Tikki clearly wasn't fooled one bit.

"Adrien is about to leave," Wayzz reported, popping up into the lair again. "His lunch break is nearly over. Are you almost finished?"

"The cheese is finished," Tikki reported with a giggle. "And Plagg only has two more missiles to go."

"I'm going to be running on empty as soon as I'm done," Plagg whined. "And then I'll have to waste away for the whole afternoon until Adrien gets back after fencing."

"Not if you hurry up and catch Adrien before he goes back to school," Wayzz called through the walls as Plagg made the last dregs of gunpowder crumble into harmless dust. "I know he has cheese on him, and he could probably spare a few minutes to grab some more before going back to school."

"Why would I want to go to school?" Plagg demanded as he wobbled back out into the lair to join them. He was feeling a little fuzzy-headed now after so many recharges. "I have to listen to that blond brat yammer on and threaten to call her dad all day when things don't go her way. I just want to have some cheese and sleep."

"He's not talking about Adrien, is he?" Wayzz hissed to Tikki. The turtle kwami was frowning. "Adrien isn't a brat."

"He's talking about the Mayor's daughter," Tikki explained with a giggle as she guided- well, pulled- Plagg towards the covered window of the lair. "She's a bit of a character. And they have exams practically all day at school, so it should be quiet. And Plagg, you know that you'll recover faster if you're close to Adrien."

Plagg tried to say something, but it came out as slurred mumbles.

"Yeah, he's exhausted," Tikki said with a sigh. "Wayzz, can you help me get him down to Adrien so he can sleep it off?"

"Certainly."

#Miraculous Ladybug #My writing #Plagg and the Butterfly Costume #Adrien Agreste

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finn-nelson-for-the-win · 6 years

Text

Before the World Stops Turning: Pt. 7

Hello my lovelies! Please allow me to take a brief moment to apologize. Yes, I am aware that it has been two weeks since the last chapter I posted. Yes, I am aware that roughly a week prior to that I had made it a point to tell you all that I was bad about posting regularly but I wanted to be better. Yes, I am aware of the irony of this all...but oh well! I’m terrible, I know, but nonetheless I’m sorry this chapter took so long to write. Shall we get on with it then?

This is the long chapter I have been promising for a little while and it’s definitely a break from the fun, flirty, silliness of the last couple chapters, but alas, it had to happen...

If you’d like to be added/removed from my tags list for this fic or my Forever Tag list, don’t hesitate to let me know!

Everything I’ve written can be found right here!

I hope you enjoy this chapter! (As always, additional notes and random commentary I have will be at the end beneath the tags)

***

When Rae walked through the door of the small restaurant that she and Izzie went to for lunch regularly and she saw Izzie already seated at their usual table, she smiled to get Izzie’s attention and walked the short distance to the small table beside the window.

“Hiya, babes! I’m so sorry I’m late. My last exam ended a bit later than I anticipated.”

“No problem, Rae-Rae! I’m just glad you were free to meet for lunch today, since I asked you about it with such short notice this morning.”

Rae nodded and smiled in agreement as she picked up the menu that sat on her side of the table and began to look through it.

“Oh! When you texted me that you were a few minutes away I went ahead and put in both our orders. I got you your usual salad. I hope that’s okay with you!”

“Yeah, that’s perfect. I always like to look through the menu, but I don’t think I’ve ordered anything other than that salad more than a handful of times in the three years I have been coming here with you!” Rae replied with a chuckle.

“Yeah, that’s why I figured it’d probably be alright if I just ordered for you,” Izzie said as she took a drink of her soda before speaking again, “So you mentioned that you just finished your last exam, right? Doesn’t that mean that you’re done with Uni for the semester?”

“Yeah! I’m officially done with this semester! I’m just waiting for the final scores to be posted so I know how I did!” Rae replied triumphantly.

“Yay! That’s so exciting, Rae! I’m sure you did very well on your exams, so I don’t think you have anything to worry about!”

Rae and Izzie continued making casual conversation about the exams they had taken this week and what they wanted to do with their summer holiday until their waitress walked up to their table carrying a large round tray with a couple plates on it.

“Okay, we have the grilled chicken sandwich and the Mediterranean salad here. Is there anything else I can get for your two ladies right now?” The waitress said after she placed the food Rae and Izzie each ordered in front of them.

“No, thank you! I think we’re fine for now,” Izzie replied with a smile.

“Great! If you need anything else, feel free to let me know,” the waitress said as she walked away to check-in on the other tables she was waiting on.

Izzie and Rae sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments as they each began to eat their lunch before Izzie cleared her throat to speak up.

“So...about your coffee date with Finn on Monday…” Izzie said with a smirk as she looked up at Rae, “I’m still waiting to hear all the juicy details.”

“Seriously, Izz? I’ve been telling you all about it for the last four days since it happened! You know so much about it that it feels like you were practically there with us at Charlie’s that afternoon!” Rae joked.

“I’m just curious, Rae! And no, you have been telling me what happened via text message for the past few days. We had to miss our usual ‘Thursday Lunch Date’ yesterday because of our exam schedules, but I still want to hear all about how it went now that we’re talking in-person!”

“Fine, I suppose you’re right, Izz,” Rae replied with a sigh before continuing, “It went really well, I think.”

“Even though he was nearly an hour late to meet you? If someone didn’t even call or text me to let me know they were going to be late to our date, I would have left and I would probably never forgive him! If Finn—or anyone else for that matter—ever stands you up like that again, I’m gonna...well, I don’t know...kick his arse or something!”

“Izzie!”

“What? I need to stand up for you babes. You deserve someone who realizes how great you are and treats you right.” Izzie said as she pointed her finger at Rae to show how serious she was.

“Well thank you, Izz, but we both know you would never really do that. There isn’t a single mean or spiteful bone in your body,”

“Fine, I suppose you’re right. But I would be pretty peeved for a little while at least…” Izzie chuckled.

“Sure you would, Izzie. But yeah, even though he was incredibly late, I think it went pretty well. And he did try to text me...like a lot. I’m pretty sure there were somewhere around twenty text messages from him freaking out about being late and apologizing to me, but I’m an idiot and didn’t charge my phone earlier in the day, so I had to power off my phone so it wouldn’t die completely before I was back at my apartment.”

Izzie took another bite of her sandwich and chewed thoughtfully as she seemed to be processing what Rae had said.

“Hmm...I suppose that’s alright then. So what did the two of you talk about for over two hours? I was under the impression that you were just going there to get the tickets and I assumed the two of you might chat for a bit, but suddenly three hours had passed since you had texted me that you got to the cafe and I hadn’t heard back from you!”

“Yeah, sorry about that. The whole time I was waiting for him to show up, I was trying to decide who it was I was even supposed to be meeting. I had figured it would be Archie—like you guessed—or Chop because he seemed to be very friendly and social, but when Finn walked up to my table and greeted me using my name, I literally choked on my coffee and could have died right there and then,”

“Oh no!” Izzie replied in an attempt to show concern, but it was followed by a small chuckle.

“And then I had to backtrack and I became a bumbling mess when I was finally able to speak again. It was so embarrassing!” Rae replied as she stabbed various vegetables with her fork and brought the bite of salad to her mouth.

“I’m sure it wasn’t nearly as bad as you thought it was...so what happened next?” Izzie said as she took a drink of her soda and stared wide-eyed at Rae as she waited for her to continue the retelling of this story.

“Well he gave me the tickets and I gave him the money and there was this brief moment of awkward silence where it looked like he was trying to decide what to say or do just like I was. It definitely took a lot longer than I would have liked, but my brain and my mouth decided to work with each other, not against each other, and just as he was about to leave I asked if he wanted to have coffee with me since we were both already here. I think I caught him off guard because it took him a while to respond, but then he very eagerly accepted—it was pretty fucking adorable,” Rae said, chuckling at the memory of how excited Finn seemed when he took a seat across from her at the table on Monday.

“That does sound really cute!”

“So his way of apologizing for being late was to order nearly one of every pastry Charlie’s sells, so we were both eating those and drinking our coffees and just chatting. I told him about our little discovery about how only three of his fingers ended up in the group photo we took at the first show of theirs that we went to...and we were talking about how Finn, Archie, and Chop are the founding members of Kings and Queens and they have been friends since they were kids...and then we were talking about Uni and what we’re both studying...and I found out that Finn writes music and is beginning to help with recording and the music production process...and he told me why he was running so late to meet me.”

“Why was he running late?”

“He said a meeting with the band manager was running longer than it was supposed to and after that ended he was only about twenty minutes late, but in his hurry to meet me I guess he was so flustered about being late that he completely forgot the tickets and he had to turn around to go get them. By that time he was even more flustered and his text messages were much more panicked, but he eventually got there, so it wasn't that big of a deal.”

“Ah, well it sounds like the two of you got on really well. Aren’t you glad that I refused to let you cancel your coffee date with him?” Izzie asked with a slight smirk.

“I suppose...I really should listen to you more often, Izz,” Rae replied with an eye roll, “and yeah, we really hit it off, I think! You know how shy I can be when I’m around people I don’t know very well, but talking to him and spending two hours with someone that was practically a stranger earlier that same day was actually surprisingly easy...It was nice though.”

“Are you excited to see him at the show tonight?”

“Yeah, I mean...I suppose so.” Rae said with a nonchalant shrug.

“Maybe now you can actually get a picture with him that includes more than just a few appendages!” Izzie replied cheerfully.

“Yeah, hopefully! Which reminds me...what is the plan for the rest of the day?”

“Well I have two more exams today: accounting and contemporary dance. My contemporary dance final is a performance and she’s just going to go down the class roster in alphabetical order by our first names, so I should be done with that one fairly early. I don’t know if you need to run any errands or if you just want to remain here on campus for the next few hours while I take my finals, but if it’s alright with you, we can just head straight over to the concert as soon as I’m done with my accounting final. I can just text you when I’m done and you can meet me in the parking lot outside that building?”

“Yeah, that sounds great to me. I think I might just stay in the area, but go to the record shop down the street to waste some time before you’re ready for me to pick you up.” Rae added with a smile.

“Okay, that sounds perfect!”

“Great! Sounds like a plan,” Rae agreed with a wide grin.

The conversation died down again as Rae and Izzie finished their food and the waitress brought the check to their table for them to pay.

“I really am glad that you had fun chatting and drinking coffee with Finn on Monday! I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, but there’s something different about you...you seem happier, perhaps.”

“Oh really? And you think Finn has something to do with that?” Rae asked as she quirked her eyebrows up in response.

“I think so, yes,” Izzie replied with a nod, “I can’t recall the last time you went on a date and had so many positive things to say about the entire experience.”

“Hmm...I suppose you’re right…” Rae agreed with a bit of hesitation.

“Not to mention, this entire time you haven’t tried correcting me to tell me that your ‘meet-up to pick up the concert tickets’ wasn’t a date, so…” Izzie’s statement trailed off and she gave Rae a cheeky smile.

Rae’s jaw dropped in surprised because until Izzie pointed it out, she hadn’t even been aware of Izzie referring to it as a date or why she didn’t feel the need to correct her.

***

As Rae walked through the door of the record shop, the bell above the door chimed loudly and the heavily tattooed cashier behind the counter looked up from the stack of CDs he was organizing to give her a nod and a smile.

“Welcome in to ‘Off the Record’, Rae! Are you looking for anything in particular today?”

“Good afternoon, David! I’m just looking around for now, thank you, but I’ll let you know if I have any questions.”

Rae had discovered this small, locally-owned record shop within the first year of starting Uni after taking a wrong turn when trying to find the restaurant she was meeting a friend at for dinner and since then she has always made it a point to stop in when they received a new shipment, when they were having a huge sale, when she was bored—basically any time she had the chance to.

As she always does when she visits Off the Record, Rae walked straight past the section of music entitled “New Releases” to the back corner of the store where what Rae considers to be the hidden gems are always found.

The entire back wall of the record shop consists of sections of CDs, records, and cassette tapes sorted by type under a large, hand-painted sign that read “Deals and Steals” to indicate that all these items were on clearance.

Rae began looking through all the records for something worth buying that she did not already own as Blink-182 blared from the speakers of the shop and she couldn't help the contented smile that spread across her face.

This shop—complete with slightly-too-loud music and somewhat stale, dusty smell of records and CDs that were as old as Rae if not older—is her happy place and the perfect escape from the stress of daily life.

Hmm...Have it, have it, don’t want it…

Maybe…

Have it...don’t want it…have it...

They put this on vinyl too? Hmm...I have the CD, but do I need the record as well?

When Rae finished looking through the section of records for anything that piqued her interest, she continued along the wall to the next section where all the discounted CDs were arranged by genre.

Unimpressed by the music she was finding that she did not already own, Rae began weaving her way through each aisle of records, CDs, and the small section of DVDs to see if anything caught her eye.

She was reading the synopsis to a horror movie that she was fairly certain she had never watched before when she felt her cell phone vibrating from within her back pocket. She pulled her phone from her pocket and looked at the screen.

INCOMING CALL FROM [UNKNOWN NUMBER]

Well, I have no clue who this could be...let’s see if they leave a message saying why they called.

When Rae did not see any indication that the person calling her was going to leave a message or call back, she began to slide her cell phone back into her pocket, but she felt her phone vibrating again with another call coming in.

INCOMING CALL FROM IZZIE<3

“Hey babes,” Rae said as soon as she picked up the phone, “I didn’t expect you to be calling me that you were done this soon! Did one of your professors cancel your exam or were they just a lot easier than you expected, so it was really quick?”

“Hey...Uh, not exactly...So,” Izzie began before pausing briefly to inhale and sniffle slightly, “please don’t freak out, Rae…”

Rae heard Izzie inhale unevenly again and her stomach sank when she realized why—Izzie was crying.

“Izz, please talk to me. Is everything alright? Please...what’s going on?” Rae asked, growing more frantic with every sniffle and muffled sound she heard going on in the background of the phone call even though Izzie was not speaking.

“Isabella, hand me your phone and let Grace help you into my car, okay?” Rae heard someone say in the background of the phone call before there was a shuffling and Rae knew that Izzie had handed someone else her phone.

“Hiya, Rae? Are you still there?” Asked the same voice she had heard earlier.

“Yeah, I’m here...Is Izzie alright? I thought I heard her crying when I first picked up the phone,” Rae asked with her voice heavy with concern.

“Oh, okay. I’m Gabriele and I’m in Izzie’s contemporary dance class. She fell really badly during her performance in class today,” the girl on the phone explained.

“Oh my god! Is she alright?” Rae asked as she put the small stack of movies and music she had been carrying around on the ‘reshelf’ stack at the end of the aisle she was walking down and began walking hurriedly outside to where her car was parked.

“We, uh, we don’t really know,” Gabriele's voice seemed calm but it was clear to Rae that she was just as concerned, “she wasn’t able to get up on her own after she fell and she can’t walk on that foot so me and another girl are taking her to A&E to have it looked at. Izzie said she didn’t have any family that she wanted to call, but she wanted me to call you and tell you what happened. Can you meet us at the hospital?”

“Yes, absolutely! I’m already getting in my car right now, so I’m only about 10 minutes away.”

Rae and Gabriele ended the phone call shortly afterwards and Rae began driving to the nearby hospital as fast as she could without breaking any laws or being reckless, desperate to see her best mate in-person and ensure that Izzie was not hurt as seriously as Rae’s worst fears were suggesting.

***

As soon as Rae had driven to the hospital and walked into the waiting room, she saw the two girls that she had presumed to be Grace and Gabriele sitting down in a pair of chairs across from the A&E check-in desk.

“Oh! You must be Rae,” said one of the girls as she noticed Rae walking further into the waiting room, “I’m Gabriele and we spoke on the phone a little while ago.”

“Yeah, I'm Rae. And you must be Grace?”

“Yeah, that's me. Thank you so much for meeting us here. We wanted to make sure that Izzie’s ankle got looked at by a doctor as soon as possible and we didn't want her to be alone, so she insisted that we call you.”

“Yeah, Izzie doesn't have any family in the area, so it made sense that she would try to call me. How is she doing, by the way? Is she back with the doctor now?”

“Well it's still very nice of you to come here. She's doing alright. She fell really hard at the end of her performance and she wasn't able to walk or stand without being in a lot of pain, so our dance instructor let Gabriele and I take her here to get looked at since we had both already finished our final performances for the day. They had her sit in a wheelchair and they just took her back for some x-rays and the initial exam shortly before you got here,” Grace explained.

“A wheelchair,” Rae replied with concern clear in her voice, “was Izzie really hurt that badly? I'm sure you two ladies would know better than I do, but do you think her injury is bad? I mean, dancers fall and sprain their ankles and stuff like that all the time, right?”

“Yeah, minor injuries are pretty common as dancers, but it was concerning how quickly she was in pain and how much the area had swollen and bruised in such a short time, so we wanted to be extra cautious just in case,” replied Gabriele after looking up at Rae from the screen of her cell phone.

“And the wheelchair was just an extra precaution because the nurses weren't sure the extent of the injury and she definitely couldn't walk on her own. That’s not to say Izzie agreed to using a wheelchair very willingly...she may be small, but she's a feisty one and she was definitely putting up a fight,” Grace added with a chuckle.

Rae smiled for the first time since she received the call from Gabriele asking that she meet them at the hospital.

Even when injured, Izz refuses to go down easily…

She makes me so proud sometimes.

“I guess that makes sense,” Rae replied when she noticed both Gabriele and Grace look up at the clock hanging on the wall, “I know you two were done with your dance finals, but do you have any other exams you need to do or anywhere you need to be?”

“I have work soon…” Grace replied.

“I have two more exams to take,” Gabriele said.

“In that case, I'm sure I can handle it from here. You two got Izzie here, but I can make sure she gets back to her apartment safely and has everything she'll need. You two can go ahead and leave if you need to be somewhere.”

“Are you sure?” Gabriele asked as she stood from the chair she was seated in and stretched.

“I'm positive. Thank you again for bringing Izzie here to get her ankle examined. I'll be sure to let you both know how she's doing later and what the doctor says about her injury.”

“Thank you, Rae! It was nice to meet you, although I wish it were under better circumstances.” Grace replied with a sad smile and Gabriele nodded in agreement.

Rae gave them a small smile and waved goodbye as Grace and Gabriele walked out the doors of the waiting room that led to the visitor’s parking lot.

Rae sat in the waiting room, idly scrolling through her social media feed and just barely paying attention the TV mounted on the wall opposite from Rae, as she waited impatiently to get an update on how her best mate was doing.

Rae was uncertain whether minutes or hours had passed, but after what seemed like an eternity, a reasonably young-looking doctor stepped through a door into the main waiting room area with a patient chart and a stack of x-ray images in his hands.

“Hello, are you Rae Earl?” he asked as he walked closer to greet her.

“Yes, doctor, I am! I’m here with Isabella Ross,” Rae said as she stood from the chair she had been sitting in, “can I see her?”

“Oh, yes, of course! We just got the results back from the x-rays we did and she requested that you join her to keep her company,” the doctor replied with a polite smile, “please follow me back. I’m Doctor Jackson, by the way!” he added with a smirk as he held the door open for Rae and led the way to the room where Izzie was.

Dr. Jackson led Rae down a long, winding hallway until he stopped outside a door that was left open slightly.

“Knock-knock! I have a surprise for a Miss Isabella Ross,” the doctor said as he knocked lightly on the heavy wooden door before stepping inside and gesturing for Rae to enter as well.

“Rae-Rae!” Izzie called as soon as she saw her mate walking through the door and pulling up a chair from the opposite side of the room to sit next to the exam table where Izzie sat with one leg bent and the other bandaged tightly and propped up somewhat awkwardly on a massive stack of pillows.

“Hiya Izz,” Rae said with a smile which quickly fell as she hesitated to find the right thing to say, “So Izz...what happened, babes?”

“Ugh, it was so embarrassing, Rae! I was in the middle of my contemporary dance performance and I was nearing the big leap towards the end and I was gearing up for the jump and I hesitated...why did I hesitate, Rae? So I paused for just the briefest of moments but it was enough time for me to lose my momentum and become distracted, but I went for the leap anyways. As soon as I pushed off the ground, I knew that my landing was going to be off—I could already feel it—but I followed through and sure enough! My foot touched down all wrong and I fell and landed on my ankle. If you ask Grace, she'll swear that she heard something snap, but I wouldn't trust her...she watches a couple seasons of that show with the really hot doctors and she swears she is a doctor too.” Izzie punctuated her statement with a scoff, which caused both Rae and Dr. Jackson to chuckle lightly.

“Did it hurt? Or does it still hurt?” Rae asked quietly.

“Yeah, it really hurt. I fall all the time and I thought I'd be fine, but I knew this fall was different when I couldn't even stand up or walk. I wanted to just sit out the rest of class and try to keep weight off the ankle, but my dance instructor said that she insisted I go to have my ankle looked at, so Grace and Gabriele drove me here. It still hurts, but this lovely man and his nurses,” Izzie said gesturing broadly to Dr. Jackson who was currently setting up the x-ray photos on the opposite side of the exam room to show her the results, “gave me some pain medication and have my ankle wrapped up very tightly and I'm feeling a lot better now!”

“I'm glad to hear you're feeling better, Isabella,” the doctor replied as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed casually over his chest, “we got the results for the x-ray we did, if you'd like to see the results? I'll show you what I see and then let you know what I think you should do in terms of aftercare and treatment to make sure you heal as quickly as possible, yeah?”

“Yeah, that sounds great, Doctor!” Izzie replied with a polite smile.

“Splendid! So right here, we have your right ankle and foot,” he said as he gestured to the x-rays that were set up on the X-ray film viewer on the wall, “and just by looking at your ankle, I don't see anything torn or broken, so it seems like it might just be a nasty sprain.”

“That's good news though, right?” Rae asked out of confusion when she saw the doctor hesitate as he thought of what he was going to say very carefully.

“Yes, I'm very pleased to see that there is no major damage to the ankle. But just a sprained ankle wouldn't really explain why her injury bruised and swelled up as much as it did and why she was in so much pain…”

“Oh…” Rae replied as she lowered her head and directed her attention towards examining her fingernails to help distract herself slightly.

“Yeah, I've had my fair share of sprains and they didn't feel like this...so what else are you thinking could explain what happened, Doctor?” Izzie asked as she absentmindedly brought one hand to her mouth and began nervously biting her nails.

“Okay, so I’ll explain what I'm seeing using all the awful medical jargon and terminology, and then I'll take it step by step and make sure you fully understand what I see in your x-rays, alright Isabella?”

“Sure thing, Doctor! That sounds good to me.”

“Okay, so right here,” he said as he used the end of his pen to point out the area of the x-ray he was focusing on, “that’s your fifth metatarsal. I had a couple theories about what it could be when you first came in here, but I can say with a great deal of certainty that you have an avulsion fracture to your fifth metatarsal...an injury that coincidentally is called a ‘dancer’s fracture’”

Izzie and Rae nodded processing what Dr. Jackson said before Izzie finally cleared her throat and spoke up.

“So...what exactly does that mean? Is it a fairly common injury? I’m a bit surprised that I’ve never heard of it prior to today,”

“It’s not incredibly common, no. When I do see this particular fracture though, it is almost always in addition to a sprained ankle as a result of sudden trauma like rolling or twisting your ankle. Essentially, a dancer’s fracture just means that because of some type of trauma, a ligament attached to your bone right here, “ Dr. Jackson said as he pointed to that part of the x-ray using his pen, “got pulled very hard and very suddenly and it breaks off a piece of the bone with it.”

“Fuck...oh, sorry!” Rae muttered when she realized that she had cursed louder than she had planned.

“It’s perfectly fine! I know that this kind of injury sounds pretty gruesome when all she did was fall while dancing, but it’s not as scary as it sounds, I promise. As long as she takes care of herself, I think Isabella will be back to dancing rather quickly.” Dr. Jackson replied with a smirk.

“Will I need surgery? You know, to reset the little piece of bone that got broken off when I fell?” Izzie asked hesitantly.

“I know this isn’t the news you’re looking to hear, but it’s too early to tell. This isn’t the worst avulsion fracture like this I’ve seen, but it still might require us to operate and put pins in the bone if it doesn’t go back to where we need it to be as quickly as we would like. The fifth metatarsal is sort of an unlucky place to get an avulsion fracture just because there is so little blood flow to that area of the foot, so there can be complications with healing in some cases and the healing process takes a bit longer. For now, however, you’re going to have to keep weight off of that foot and ankle and you’re gonna need to make sure you immobilize the ankle to prevent things from getting any worse. I’ll send the nurse in to talk to you about the specifics of your treatment and get you set up with a walking boot to leave today, but you're also going to need to get some crutches and use them for the next few weeks. Do you have any further questions for me before I send her in?” the doctor asked as he removed the x-rays from the x-ray image viewer and added them into a pile on top of Izzie’s patient chart.

“Is there any type of a follow-up appointment so you can check the healing progress and see if surgery will be necessary?” Izzie asked.

“Ah, yes, of course! I’d like to you come back in about two weeks and I’ll take a look at your ankle to see if there is anything additional that needs to be done, but you’re free to come in sooner than that if anything feels off or you’re concerned about how it’s healing,” Dr. Jackson replied with a friendly smile.

“Okay, that’s the only question I had,” Izzie added politely.

“Splendid! I’ll send in Emily to give you any last minute treatment tips and healing suggestions shortly. Take care of yourself, Isabella!”

“Thank you, doctor!”

When Doctor Jackson walked out of the room, Rae’s eyes lingered on the door that he had gently closed behind himself as he walked out of the room as the tense silence of the room grew to nearly palpable levels.

Rae was trying to find the right words to say to comfort Izzie.

To make everything okay again.

To reassure Izzie that everything was going to be fine.

But the fact of the matter was that Rae wasn’t sure she could say those things to her best mate if she didn’t quite believe them herself.

“Izz...babes...I—uh,” Rae began in a quiet voice, but the way her voice cut through the silence of the room, it felt like she was screaming.

Before Rae could collect her thoughts and complete a coherent sentence, she heard a small whimper coming from Izzie and she looked over to see Izzie with her head turned up toward the ceiling as silent tears streamed down her face.

“Oh, Izzie…” Rae said as she stood up from the chair she was sitting in and tried to find an edge of the hospital exam table that she could sit on without disturbing Izzie’s injured ankle.

Izzie realized what Rae was trying to do and shifted to one side of the table with a small grunt before Rae took a seat in the space that was freed up on the exam table and pulled Izzie into a gentle hug.

Rae looked down at Izzie as she settled into the embrace and continued to sob quietly and Rae could hardly believe that this was the same feisty, cheerful red-headed girl that had been heckling her for details about her coffee date with Finn on Monday mere hours ago.

Oh, Izzie…

She looks so fragile and vulnerable and...breakable…

Rae began rubbing soothing circles on Izzie’s back until she felt Izzie’s sobs slow before stopping altogether and Izzie removed herself from Rae’s embrace until they remained sitting close and Rae’s arm was only lightly draped across Izzie’s shoulders.

“Rae…”

“What is it, babes?”

“Rae...I’m attending Uni on a dance scholarship…”

Rae was unsure why Izzie would bring this up in conversation when Rae has been fully aware of Izzie’s love of dance and interest to attend Uni here for their highly-esteemed dance program since long before they even started Uni.

“...what if my ankle doesn’t heal…”

“Izzie, I’m sure that—”

“I’ve fallen plenty of times. I’ve sprained things, twisted things, you name it...but I’ve never fractured or broken anything since I started dancing…what if it doesn’t heal fast enough and they drop me from the Dance Program and I lose my scholarship...or what if I need to get surgery and even then it doesn’t heal properly and I can never dance again…”

Izzie was no longer crying as she rambled and thought up all the worst-case scenarios that were possible, but when she finally stopped and remained sitting in silence, Rae leaned her head to rest it on Izzie shoulder before chuckling lightly, which caught Izzie’s attention.

“What are you thinking about, Rae-Rae?”

“Do you remember when we wanted to go to that rave at the end of summer when we were sixteen?”

“Of course I remember, babes...me, you, Chloe, and all the rest of our friends had the entire thing planned out to down to the minute, but we didn’t plan on your mum finding out and not allowing you to come with us…”

“So I decided that I was going to sneak out. I waited until my mum went up to her bedroom for the night and I was going to climb out of my window and sneak out that way…”

“But it had been raining most of the day and the ledge you were counting on to step on when you climbed out was really slippery, so you just stayed hanging there as still as possible to try to think of a better plan. But then Chloe, me, and some of the others pulled up to your house to pick you up because we had assumed that you would have successfully snuck out by that point…”

“But Chloe had turned off the lights on her car to try to be stealthier and when she rolled down her window and called my name, I was surprised and I lost my footing…”

“Chloe and I freaked out and wanted to make sure that you were alright, but Jenny had already started to pregame and drink and she was screaming in the backseat about how you had died and how she was too young to go to prison for accidentally killing you…”

“And I had fallen hard, but I was laying in my mum’s flower bushes because I was ashamed that I had just fallen off the side of my house in front of so many people. But as I laid on the wet flowers that had taken the brunt of my fall and were terribly mangled, I saw you and Chloe walk up and take my hands to help pull me to my feet…”

“We made sure you were alright, and you said you were, but I saw you wincing every time you moved your right arm and you had a lot of different scrapes and cuts from falling into the flower bushes. You insisted on going to the rave anyways because you didn’t want to be a buzzkill, and Chloe agreed because you assured her that you were fine…”

“But you refused to let me get into Chloe’s car and you stood in front of the door saying that neither you nor I were going to that rave until my wounds were tended to. I said that I couldn’t go to the doctor because my mum is a nurse and she would be notified immediately, so you walked with me back to your house…”

“I made my dad pinky-swear that he wouldn’t tell any of his doctor friends or the nurses that he worked with that you had been hurt, but he didn’t ask any questions and helped clean up your wounds without hesitation. I was convinced that you had broken your arm or something really bad because you had fallen so far…”

“But all I had was the scratches and a massive bruise on my right arm and right arse cheek because I had hit the ground on my right side. After my cuts were all cleaned up, you offered to let me spend the night at your house as long as I called my mum and told her what happened so she wouldn’t worry. So I agreed begrudgingly and when I called her, do you remember what she said, Izzie?”

“She didn’t say anything because she was laughing so hard...she told you that she had expected you to try to leave or sneak out so she had gone up to her room extra early and made sure that you thought it was safe for you to leave. But she didn’t plan on you going out the window. She saw you fall and knew that the thing you bruised the worst was your ego and she just kept watching until she saw you and me walking to my house together.”

“Yeah...I’m surprised you remember that night so well, Izzie. It was nearly five years ago!”

“Of course I remember, Rae! That’s the night when I knew that we were officially best mates.”

There was a brief moment of silence between the two girls as they sat next to each other before Rae reached for Izzie’s hand and Izzie intertwined their fingers together.

“We made it through that...even when the next morning your dad and my mum insisted that I get some of the deeper wounds stitched up and I had to wear that sling on my arm for a couple weeks because it turned out I had hurt my shoulder more than I had led on at first...and we’re gonna make it through this too. I know how much you hate being hurt and having to take a break from dancing, but we’re gonna figure this out.”

“I know we will, Rae. Thank you for putting up with me.”

“Thank you for putting up with me too, Izz.”

Rae stood up from where she was sitting on the exam table beside Izzie and returned to the chair she had been sitting in previously when there was a gentle knock on the door before it opened slowly.

“Hi, Isabella! Dr. Jackson sent me in to give you some aftercare information and to help you get set up for a check-up in a couple weeks,” the nurse said as she walked into the room.

“Ah! Yes of course, Emily, thank you!” Izzie said as she readjusted her position on the exam table to be a bit more comfortable.

***

The nurse proceeded to go over the recommended treatments for Izzie and to making sure that Izzie knew what to expect in terms of pain, swelling, and other symptoms of her sprained ankle and fracture to ensure that Izzie would heal as completely and quickly as possible before the nurse left the room again to get Izzie’s walking boot.

Once Izzie put on the walking boot and secured the Velcro fasteners tightly enough so the boot served its purpose, Rae was asked to pull her car around to the back of the building and the nurse would meet her back there with Izzie to avoid making Izzie walk more than necessary.

Rae navigated the long winding hallway until she finally made it back to the A&E waiting room and out to the parking lot to where her car was parked.

Rae put on her seat belt and leaned her head back on the headrest of her seat, heaving a long sigh.

Well...today definitely did not go as planned…

Rae put her key into the ignition and started her car before pulling out of the parking space and driving around to the opposite side of the building where she saw a very disgruntled looking Izzie in a wheelchair being wheeled to the curb by the nurse.

“I told her that I didn’t need a wheelchair again, but Emily forced me into it,” Izzie said to Rae when Rae stepped out of the driver’s seat of the car and opened the door for Izzie to climb in, “she doesn’t think that I could have walked on my own, but I know that I could!”

“I know that you could have done it, Isabella. You’re a very strong girl. But still,” the nurse said as she offered her arm to Izzie for support as she stood from the wheelchair and limped the very short distance to Rae’s car, “how many people can say that they were pushed around in a wheelchair with nurses doting on them to avoid causing even the slightest bit of discomfort...that’s at least a little bit cool, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose…” Izzie said as she adjusted the seat she was sitting in to ensure that she had enough legroom and was seated in a comfortable position.

“Thank you for taking such good care of my mate, Emily. Have a nice day!” Rae said as she waved goodbye to the nurse before walking around to the driver’s side of the car.

“You’re very welcome. Enjoy the rest of your day and you two ladies take care of yourselves, alright?” Emily said before turning around and walking back to the rear door of the building with the now vacant wheelchair in tow.

Rae turned on some music on her car stereo as she starting driving and winding her way through the back parking lot of the hospital to find the parking lot entrance and get back onto the main road.

“Oh shit! Rae!” Izzie said as she turned to face her mate with her eyes opened wide, panic clear on her face.

“Wow, okay,” Rae muttered in surprise at her mate’s sudden exclamation and the sound of her friend cursing, “What’s wrong, Izz?”

“What if I failed my dance final? I mean, I was pretty much done with my performance by the time I fell since it was towards the end of my performance, but…”

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much, babes. Like you said, you were pretty much done by the time you got hurt, so I’m sure you’ll just get graded on what you did prior to that and I’m sure you’ll be fine. Also, since you injured yourself DURING your final performance, you might even get some extra credit points from your instructor out of pity, not that you’d even need it,” Rae joke as she gave Izzie’s arm a gentle nudge with her elbow.

“Yeah, I hope you’re right...wait, shit! I missed my Accounting exam too,” Izzie exclaimed again as she buried her face into her hands, “why did today take such a turn for the worse, Rae-Rae?”

“Aw, babes, I’m so sorry. I’m sure you can reach out to your professor and explain what happened. He might be able to schedule a make-up exam time or find a way to make this work out, since your situation clearly constitutes as ‘extenuating circumstances’,” Rae reasoned in an effort to assuage her mate’s concerns.

“Well, let’s hope so or else I definitely won’t be passing Accounting this semester!”

Rae continued driving, deep in thought as she tried to figure out how to help Izzie make the best of the current situation, while Izzie pulled her cell phone from her pocket and began texting her family to let them know what had happened today since she knew they would find out sooner or later anyways.

“Yes, mum, I heard that entire spiel from the doctor and the nurse at the hospital, but tell dad that I appreciate the advice nonetheless...uh-huh...I know that you two just want to help, but I think I’ll be fine to stay in the city for the summer...well, of course Rae is staying here with me too...okay...alright...uh-huh...okay mum, I’ll tell her,” Izzie said into her phone before turning to face Rae, “Rae, mum and dad want to say ‘hi’ and tell you that they love you and miss you and that they’re so happy that you’re here to take care of me in their place.”

“Aw, your parents are so sweet, Izzie! Tell them that I say ‘hi’ back and that I miss them too. Maybe we can drive back home for a weekend this summer so I can see my mum and you and I can spend some time with your parents...see if they’d like something like that?”

“Alright, I’ll ask,” Izzie said before returning her attention back to her cell phone where she had been talking to her parents on the phone for nearly twenty minutes so far, “Rae says ‘hi’ to you and dad too. She said she really misses you both and she wanted to know if we were to come back home for a weekend this summer if you two would like to join us for a meal and we could all spend the day together? Uh, okay, mum...I’ll just take that loud squeal as a ‘yes’...I don’t know exactly when it will be, but either Rae or I will be sure to let you know...okay mum, I’ll let you go now, but I just wanted to make sure that you and Dad knew that I was alright...uh-huh...yeah, I love both of you too. Okay, I’ll talk to you and Dad later! Bye!”

“Your parents are so cute!” Rae said with a smile as soon as she saw that Izzie had ended the phone call.

“Yeah...they positively adore you, I hope you know that,” Izzie replied with a chuckle.

“I do,” Rae said before shooting Izzie a smirk, “and I adore them right back!”

Rae pulled into a parking space right in front of her apartment and she saw Izzie look around in confusion before turning to face Rae directly and cocking her head to the side.

“I figured that it’d be best if I took you back to my apartment instead of yours, since my apartment is on the first floor. You live on the third story of a building and there are no elevators, and I don’t think that going up and down the stairs would be good for you until you’ve healed at least a little bit more.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right...I didn’t even think of that!”

Rae turned off her car and walked around to the other side to help Izzie get out of the car. Izzie slung an arm around Rae’s shoulders and allowed Rae to pull her into a standing position, being careful not to rest her weight on her injured ankle or foot.

The pair walked at a slow pace from Rae’s car to the front door of Rae’s apartment where she let go of Izzie briefly to find her keys that had become lost in the mess of her purse and unlock the door. Rae helped Izzie inside and to the couch along the opposite wall of her small apartment.

“So Izzie...do you wanna watch a movie for a bit?”

Rae and Izzie selected a random movie to watch that they had never heard of before, but within the first twenty minutes of the movie, Rae looked to the opposite side of the couch where Izzie was sitting with her injured ankle propped up on a stack of pillows they had piled on top of a chair and found that Izzie had fallen asleep.

Rae continued watching the movie—only partially paying attention to the actual plot of the movie as it mainly served as background noise while she scrolled through social media on her phone and texted Grace and Gabriele to let them know what the doctor had said and to give them an update on how Izzie was doing now.

When the movie ended and the end credits began scrolling along the screen, Rae heard a quiet squeak and rustle as Izzie awoke and stretched her arms over her head as she slowly became more coherent.

“Oh...that was such a good movie, Rae-Rae,” Izzie muttered sleepily as she rubbed her eyes lightly, “don’t you think?”

“It was actually pretty shit...there were too many plot holes and confusing bits to follow along with the story if you weren’t fully focused on the movie.” Rae replied with a grimace.

“Oh...I guess I can’t really attest to the quality of the movie, since I’m pretty sure I slept through most of it…” Izzie said sheepishly.

“Yeah, you did, but that’s fine. You had a really long, stressful day and I think you really needed some rest.”

Izzie smiled at Rae and leaned over to rest her head on Rae’s shoulder as Rae looked through the various movies that were available for streaming.

“Rae...what time is it? We were supposed to see Kings and Queens perform tonight! Do you think we can still make it there in time to catch the tail end of their performance at least?”

“Don’t worry about it, Izz...there will be other shows, so it’s fine if we miss just this one,”

“But what about Finn? He’s gonna—”

“He’s gonna understand why you needed me here with you. I’ll text him and let him know what happened in a little while that way he knows that we didn’t forget that they were performing or completely skip the show or whatever. It’s totally fine, really.”

“Okay...thank you, Rae-Rae! You’re too good to me,”

“Of course, babes. I know you’d do the same if the roles were reversed,” Rae was about to say something else when she heard Izzie’s stomach growl loudly and both girls began to chuckle.

“Sorry about that,” Izzie apologized when her giggles subsided.

“That was actually sort of perfect timing because I was going to ask if you wanted to order some takeaway...but I’m gonna take that as a ‘yes’”

“Yes! Yes, please. I’ve starving,” Izzie said and her eyes lit up at the mere mention of food.

“Alright...I’ll let you pick what we eat today,”

“Chinese takeaway, pretty please?” Izzie replied without any hesitation

“Why am I not at all surprised? Alright, but only because you got hurt today and I’m trying to be extra nice to you” Rae said with a sigh and joking eye roll, “I’ll go ahead and give them a call. Do you want your usual orange chicken and fried rice?”

“Yes, please! Oh! And, uh, can we get some of those really good, steamed pork dumplings as well?”

“Sure thing,” Rae replied with a smile as she stood up from the couch.

“And some egg rolls?”

“Wow, you really weren’t kidding about being hungry,” Rae said with a light chuckle when she saw the sheepish grin on Izzie’s face, “Okay, if that’s everything that you’re gonna want to order, I’ll go ahead and call it in.”

“Uh, yeah, that should be enough food, I think!” Izzie said with a laugh.

“Alright, I’ll be right back!”

Rae grabbed her cell phone off of the coffee table where she had set it down earlier while watching the movie and went into the kitchen to get the phone number to the Chinese food restaurant that she and Izzie ordered from on occasion.

After she placed the order and grabbed a couple bottles of water from her fridge for her and Izzie, Rae hesitated in the doorway of her kitchen before walking back in the direction of the front room where Izzie was currently trying to find a comfortable way to sit on the couch that would also allow her ankle to remain elevated.

Well...this was certainly not how I had envisioned tonight going...

@eveerez @tinakegg @hey1tskat1e @lurkernolonger @milllott @nutinanutshell @i-dream-of-emus @milymargot @vivammfd @bitchesbecrazy89 @arathewallflower @mallyallyandra @kneekeyta

A/N: Please don’t hate me for doing this to our beloved Izzie! :/ I’m fairly certain that no one saw this chapter coming, but for the last few chapters of this fic to play out how I want them to, it had to be done...

This chapter, to put it bluntly, was a fucking pain in the ass to write lol

I’m very detail-oriented and as I wrote this I wanted to be as accurate as possible and I can honestly say that I have never done so much research for a fanfic that I’ve written (for this fandom, at least, but that’s a whole different matter entirely)...This chapter was equal parts first-hand experiences, my friends’ experiences, and information I gathered from my research.

Gathering the ideas for this chapter was no problem, but pulling it all together and making it not completely terrible was the actual challenge. This chapter is also insanely long...well, sort of...it’s like 8500-ish words, but for me that’s a lot longer than my usual chapters are, so yeah...

Although this chapter wasn’t particularly kind to Izzie (sorry about that haha) I really had fun exploring hers and Rae’s relationship a bit more...As much as I love MMFD and think highly of the show, I would have loved if it was longer and delved a bit deeper into the lives of some of the other main characters (only half of the characters were even given last names, to my knowledge, for fuck’s sake!), but I digress...

As much as I want to say that I’ll be posting the next chapter very soon to help you all move past the drama of this chapter to the fun stuff and the happy ending (”DID SARAH JUST HINT AT A HAPPY ENDING ON THE HORIZON?!?!” why yes, yes I did...), I’ll be completely candid and let you know that I don’t see that as a realistic goal...the current semester of Uni is rapidly coming to a close for me and that means that I’ll be having all of my final projects and exams in the upcoming weeks and I’m already struggling to keep up and get my grades back to where I want them to be as it is, even without the pressure of writing and posting the final 3 chapters of this fic.

I promise that I will be writing and I’ll post what I have as soon as it’s done, but I simply do not foresee that I will be able to get back to my prior twice a week posting that I had been doing when I began this fic...

If you have any comments, questions, concerns, etc. related to this chapter (or anything, I suppose), feel free to let me know! I see EVERY message, ask, reply, and reblog and I try to let you all know how much I appreciate you taking the time to read my writing and tell me what you think, but just know that seeing your feedback never fails to make my day/morning/week/whatever infinitely better.

I don’t know why I have a tendency to ramble in my Author’s notes, but whatever...anyways...Until next time: Stay awesome, my friends! :)

#mmfd #my mad fat diary #mmfd fanfic #my mad fat diary fanfiction #Finn-Nelson-for-the-win #my writing #Before the World Stops Turning #part 7 #the concert series

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whinniehowelester-blog · 7 years

Text

The Merman And The Fisherman

Summary: Phil is a fisherman who has had enough of a certain merman opening his net and letting his fish go. Word count: 1,650 Genre: angst and fluff, merman! dan au Warnings: umm fighting? And swearing. Notes: yo my dudes! It's been a second since I've posted so here is a little enemies to lovers fic! Love ya guys! ~•~ “Yeah Phil, it was so amazing! There were at least three-hundred of them!” Mikey said, adjusting his bright orange cap, his hair clearly in need of a wash after the hard work and sweating he had been doing. Mikey, much like Alyssa and David, all worked for Phil, helping to check on the nets, making sure no ropes were frayed or any mechanical failures. He was a short man, only around 5’6, with brown hair, the roots greying slightly, and bright green eyes. He was probably Phils’ best friend, even though they had a considerable age gap, Phil being 26 and Mikey being 62. Mikey had been there after his father had died, making sure to work extra hours, just so that phil could go and visit his dad in the hospital. He had worked probably over 79 extra hours, and then told Phil to take off for another week, just to make sure he was alright to get back on the water. He was an amazing friend to Phil, and he loved working with him, especially when he told stories about he and his own father fishing. Mikey had the ability to make anything sound amazing, really.

Smiling at the man he nodded, fixing his own hat. They had been taking a break after setting up the net, and Mikey and Alyssa, a tall brunette, had just gotten back from the boat about an hour ago. He was told that there were plenty of fish in the net. Now this may seem exciting, but the fears crept into his mind, you see, he had been having a little problem lately. ‘If I don't get there quick, that thing, is going to open the net, and all those fish, and all of that money will go down the drain, no pun intended.’ So with a small nod and a polite wave, Phil stepped onto the extra boat, starting it as he headed towards the larger boat to pull up his net. He always enjoyed fishing, something about it being calming, taking him back to when his father saved up enough to buy a boat, and how they spent days on end sitting in the sun, eating sandwiches and drinking water. How original. It's always been perfect for Phil and nothing of that changed as he got older, eventually ending in him becoming a professional fisherman, not only did he get to stay on a boat for most days, he also got to spend time with many of his friends and crew. It was truly his dream job. He just loved the way the salt mixed in with the wind, and if you're close enough to shore, you can hear faint laughter, kids and parents enjoying the day on the beach.

Once the fishing boat was in sight, he slowed the boat down, cringing at the sound of the motor slowing. That was always his least favorite part, it usually meant that it was time to get off, but luckily that wasn't the case this time. The boat wasn't anything extremely special, but It was rather large, and very beautiful, or maybe that was just him. As he walked onto the deck, the boat only tilting slightly under his weight, he started to pull the lever, the nets slowly starting to emerge, making a loud groaning sound as they did. “Dammit! That son of a bitch!” He yelled as he saw the net open, any fish that might have been in there gone. Whatever the fuck he was, Phil was ready to turn him in instead of trying to catch anymore fish.

The ‘boy’ one would call, or ‘merman’ the boy said, has been opening phils met for the last week, and let's just say Phil boss is not happy. He hadn't gotten any fish in since last week, and he feared that soon he would be fired. “You called me?” A smug voice sounded from the water. Phil turned around, his glare only growing as he saw the thing smirking at him. He had large brown eyes, something that usually Phil would be attracted to, his lips were a shade of bubblegum pink, and hair was a lovely shade of brown, styled similar to his own. He wasn't slim but also wasn't fat, he was in between in a beautiful form, and where his feet should be, was a long blue tail. He was definitely attractive, Phil would have to be blind to say that he wasn't, but he was also a massive dick, and was getting closer everyday to making phil lose his job.

“How dare you!” Phil yelled. The boy looked taken aback, probably because Phil just usually moved the boat, not bothering to talk to the creature, especially knowing he would lose his temper. “I swear to god I'm going to catch you, and I'm going to turn you in to them. I will if you don't stop ruining my catches. Understand?” He countined to yell, ignoring the look on the bo- creatures face. The yelling countined as he threw the net back into the water, not bothering to do any checks. Once his rant was finished he headed back to the smaller boat, starting it up before speeding away, deciding he needed a few days off. ••• “Yes sir I understand. No! No, no, I'll move the boat, you don't need to worry about it. I'm sure I'll run into some fish, somewhere. Absouletly! Thank you sir. I'll be there Thursday and check some spots, hopefully I'll find a good one soon. Yeah, yeah I will. You too. Thank you, alright yeah, aha bye.” Sighing, Phil flopped onto his bed, putting his phone down after talking to his boss. His sleep came easy that night. •••

It had been three days since Phil had last been on the water, deciding to take a very small break before he lost his temper and did something he would regret. Like murder, or wait, is it really murder if he's not human? Today he was going back, and honestly, he was super excited. Even if he didn't get any fish, he had never been so far from the ocean before now. Stupid fucking fish. He had gotten dressed at around 5’ in the morning, and headed out, getting the boat ready before taking off out to the water. Being back was great, and he was calm as he approached the boat, sighing happily as he tied the smaller boat down and hopped onto the other. He whistled as he approached the net, slowly turning the lever as the machine let out a groan and began to bring the net up. Phil noticed however, that it seemed to be heavier than even a back when he had tons of fish. Could this mean his career was going to get better?

The machine finally stopped making. So much noise, and the net came into vision, a tail appearing, a lot with a body attached, and phil had never screamed so loud in his life. The creature, ‘Dan’ he thought, thinking of when the merman told his name, had apparently gotten himself trapped inside the net, his body laying limp, but his chest rising, giving signs that he was alive. Phil rushed to untie the net, lifting the creature up (seriously lay off the seaweed) and laying him down on the deck. He was clearly alive and didn't seem to be injured, so phil decided to wait until he woke up, sitting down and watching as the waves passed. There wasn't a lot he could do, especially not with the merman on board. If anyone saw him, he would be killed instantly, so phil decided it was safer for him here.

Pretty soon, he heard a rustling from behind him, followed by a gasp, and what sounded like a small whimper. Turning around, Phil saw Dan back up to the wall, fear in his eyes as he looked around. “Dan? You okay you're safe you know? I'm not gonna take you anywhere, you're free to leave.” Phil said calmly, hoping not to frighten the merman anymore. He wasn't evil. “I can go? What about you being angry?” Dan asked, his words trembling a bit as he spoke. “Don't worry about it. Just tell me why you do it. I would like to know.” Phil said, standing up and crouching by Dan. “Oh-uh oh um well, you see, I haven't always been a merman.” Dan said. Phil nodded even though the information frightened him. “I uh, used to fish as well actually, and uh, the news said that this spot had been dropping in fish counts lately, so they asked to stay away from this area, even if it wasn't against the law. I didn't listen of course, and um, a woman, came up to me one day, and all I remember was her saying that if I could save this area, and bring fish back, and save them, then I could be human again. It went black and I woke up like this.” Dan explained.

Now Phil was definitely freaking out, but really had no other choice but to believe Dan. Wait, so he had been cutting the net so that the fish would be safe and turn him human again? Now he kinda feels like an asshole. “Hey Dan?” Phil spoke, looking at the merman. Dan looked up, titling his head. “Let's make you human again.” And phil had never seen a smiler brighter than Dans in that moment. ~•~ The end.

#phanfiction #phandom #phan #phan fluff #phan au #my phanfic #my phanfiction #phan angst #sorry not sorry

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fmlfpl · 5 years

Photo

Lineup Lamentations - GW10

Our Transfers, Captains, and Starting 11s for the week!

FRIDAY DEADLINE!!!

And if you missed it for subscribers Friday (Thursday) My Life episode came out yesterday !

—

WALSH

TRANSFERS:

OUT: Otamendi and Saka

IN: Kelly and Hudson-Odoi

After talking myself around in circles on the My Life pod yesterday I decided to return from whence I came going with my initial feels for transfers.

Otamendi is obviously diabolical and is not a man to be trusted as if he ever was. Schtoneyboy off the bench as first CB sub this weekend was telling for me, and even with Rodri ded for a bit it leaves us no more sure of the CB situation there than we had before.

Saka is a good lad and he seems like a really nice human bean but after blanking for fun I am discarding him like a used something or other.

In comes one of my all time favorites Martin Kelly and new little baby child CHO.

Kelly I think might just have the CB job from now on next to Mom as first choice pairing - he's actually been good this year somehow. I also don't really need him/the spot at all for the near term. Seemed like the best least painful way to pry some money out of the couch cushions and make a significant upgrade in the xi all the while.

CHO seems like just a good pick at 6m. Couldn't find the final ball against Ayax midweek but he's got a lot about him and he seems like he could be a good long term pick. I am worried about him starting this weekend after rattling off back to back 90s, but if I did something more passive and waited I would have been priced out. Getting him ahead of Turf Moor also feels a bit poopy, but again, keeping my eye on the long term like I have been doing his season with transfers so far and it's been feeling good to me.

GK:

Pope (CHE)

Pope in a bad fixture even tho they've been great at home so far.

Not expecting much here...and if I'm honest 3 cleans through 9 is about the minimum of what I would have expected out of them to date. I'll take it...but I'm not thrilled about it.

DEF:

Alexander-Arnold & Robertson (TOT)

Trent and Robbo remain like the faithful servants they are.

Tough fixture against the potatoheads on Sunday but the OOP boys can always pop up with points any given weekend.

Love them and one of my greatest successes this season has been to hold both from GW1. With Alisson back I suspect everyone will be trying to get both in very soon with their fixtures turning.

Lundstram (whu)

Pointstram gets in there as my third lad. Fucking legend god Lundcuck just such a good guy. Pretty unreal how he's been going this season so far. And they said we wouldn't have a 1b in the game this season.

MID:

Salah (TOT) and Sterling and De Bruyne (AVL)

Mo Raz and Kevin the three amigos go again. Not much to say about dem boyz. Good picks solid pillars in my squad straight down the spine.

City team sheet always a bit of a mindfuck but meh. Can't drop points in the league so hoping for actual first choice even though I'm sure we'll get Bilv Jezuz Mahrez up top. Life.

As shouted a lot on the My Life pod Mo could be in for a big weekend. He's never been more of a diff than he is right now so a haul would be most welcome. Go on Mo.

Hudson-Odoi and Mount (bur)

Rounding out the midfield is new friend CHO and his possible actual IRL friend Mount. Couple Chelsea guys in mid feels great.

Have had Mount for a bit and adding CHO oozes value to me. Buying players who are priced like they are on a 14th place team but they are covert on the 3rd best team with the 3rd best attack in the league seems good.

Again, not expecting a ton this weekend but looking at the medium term points should flow.

FWD:

Pukki (MUN)

Still holding / clinging to Pukki. Was close to going down to Neil who I do love immensely but it just didn't seem like a great use of the transfer. I still believe in Pukki and I think he's just a quality guy.

Four blanks on the bounce have been a tough pill to swallow no doubt but I still think he'll get points. Stats have been down compared to the opening few games when he was on fire, but his stats aren't horrible by any stretch. Anyway, I'm holding him. Fucking come on you Finn fuck.

Abraham (bur)

Treble on Chelsea attack with Tammy is the last piece of my puzzle.

Up against two really bad shitty CBs this weekend I actually think Tam could do some things. Feel like his movement will be too much for them to deal with it will just come down to if he is able to finish.

CAP:

Sterling (AVL)

I just couldn't keep the sadist in me quiet and I've done the thing of end of week cap twist onto Raz.

I did that gut check - if Raz fired this weekend and I had cap on Kev I would be completely despondent and probably would be crying actual tears. I don't want that. If Kevin fires and I have cap Raz I wouldn't feel the same things. Emotional and pain management in...

If that isn't the right way to pick cap and guide me then I don't know what is. I did genuinely spend a couple of hours contemplating Mo for cap but in the end it just seemed too insane. That's that. Raz you fuckboi score some goals this weekend you owe me.

—

ALON

TRANSFERS:

OUT: Cantwell

IN: Hudson-Odoi

I had to listen back to wtf we talked about on Friday My Life episode because I legitimately couldn’t remember what conclusion we came to regarding my moves... The temptation to take a hit for a triple move of Aubz/Gunn/Cantwell out is soooo fucking real but it is probably better to just hold my horses one more week and go into next week with two frees while fixing a big problem in my fourth mid slot.

Enter CHO who could sneaky just be a really great assist/BAP machine guy.

Floating the other transfer to deal with probably Gunn and Aubz next week.

Just hoping CHO starts this weekend...

GK:

Gunn (LEI)

This just makes me sad.

Leicester don’t even shoot in bulk so there’s not even that save-point potential in this. It’s just gonna be another 0-2 pointer as per usual.

DEF:

Just noticing now that all my defenders are away this week which I fucking hate and is really bad.

Lundstram (whu)

Lundy is such a good boy. This fixture isn’t terrific but it’s cleanable and SHU have been a well drilled and well coached tight ship you gotta just back’em.

Tomori (bur)

Chelsea I do not expect to keep a clean here with Burnley now just good at attacking. Feel like this could be a high-scoring one if Tammy/Wood finish their chances.

Rudiger back soon and hopefully Kante back soon will make this team much tighter.

Söyüncü (sou)

I feel worried about Leicester defense...

They were reeeally tight and putting up fantastic numbers when they were in their conservative shell formation but I’m worried that Brodge is not getting the balance right in the “more open and attacking” formations and styles that they’re playing now in the good fixtures...

It’s a delicate balance to go from extreme to extreme and honestly it might not be possible (and maybe that’s why none of the top managers in the world really do that).

We’ll see.

MID:

Salah (TOT)

He’s gonna shred these.

Sterling and De Bruyne (AVL)

They’re gonna shred these.

Hudson-Odoi (bur)

Mainly just praying he starts and then take it from there... This is the type of match where he’ll need to be the main creator mainly by taking people on constantly maybe drawing PEN15s and everything. Gonna be great come on Frank don’t fuck around get the boy in there.

FWD:

Aubameyang (CRY)

Ugh. Fucking ugh. Back to back seasons I trust Gilligan on his nightmare Arsenal Island and he fucks me.

I’m expecting maybe 2 shots and another blank? Anything better then that is just a cherry on top. Won’t even be happy if he hauls I honestly will not.

Abraham (bur)

Tammy is excellent. Keep it up Tamela.

Pukki (MUN)

This is a disaster? Or this is fine dog in the house on fire? Or this is actually fine and Pukki is just good going through a dry spell? Don’t know. The returns are always darkest before the dongs as they say.

CAP:

Sterling (AVL)

Sticking with my initial read and gut of the situation when I put the armband on him on like Sunday.

Villa love conceding chances from the right, Fred Gilbert can’t defend, I’m just rolling with the player in crazy red-hot form and looking extremely good on eye-test too.

It seems good to do when all of the things that we look for all line up to just not overthink it and go for it. Fuck it. Come on Raz.

—

RANDOM SLACKER OF THE WEEK: DESERTBUG

The words of Random Slacker are not officially endorsed by this website nor any employees of FML FPL LLC.

TRANSFERS:

OUT: N/A

IN: N/A

Perfectly fine week to do this sneak preview thing because it's early in the season and the other Slackers who are in my minileague (three of them) are either likely to miss out on an early Friday deadline or they've been so absent from Slack lately that they won't even notice I did this.

Anyway, I don't care if they know what I'm doing this week because I'm not doing anything. The team is in decent shape to roll out eleven this week in an old-school 4-4-2 as I had already ripped the Bandaid off of the lesions named Otamendi, Puke-y and Haller who had been in my team.

They've all been shipped off to Gunga Galunga Land over the prior weeks and I'm a happier lad for having done it. I've still got qualms over Little Toddy Cantwell and a few other niggly little issues, but I'm in a good spot to sit tight and get more info from another week's worth of EPL action.

GK:

Pope (CHE)

The Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the Vatican City State and Servant of the servants of God (or so Wikipedia says) gets to go this week and every week, because his backup plays for Swansea City.

With that many names, it seems like the whole lot of them should clog up the goalmouth and keep clean against Chelsea, or at least so I can hope. Saves points at least?

DEF:

Alexander-Arnold (TOT)

Here's hoping that Trento recovers from his Ebola or whatever kind of virus he got yellow-flagged over. Would be really nice if these clubs could get their players to mix in a little bit of hand-washing in their daily routines. Could see some nice points from the lad if Spurs' recent ineptitudes continue.

Tomori (bur)

Auto-start given my other options, and could be a dud, because Burnley has managed their way into a goal or more in eight of their first nine matches (only Pool has kept them out so far), but that kind of worm-eating magic has to come to an end sometime.

Soyuncu (sot)

Umlaut-master goes in another match that doesn't exactly feel great, as Soton has only been kept out once this season, but Foxes are good and maybe this will be the GW that he puts his giant cranium on a floater and buries it for me.

Lundstram (whu)

Yup, another road start from my defenders, which feels bad, cuz Hammers could totally put it together at any time and leave me with a one-pointer, or they could continue to disappoint and Points-Lord Lundy of Stram could produce the goods again.

Definitely worth rolling the dice and I don't really have any other good options so there you go. I'm certainly not going to put Fred Guilbert from Iowa into the lineup for his match at City.

MID:

Salah (TOT), Sterling and DeBruyne (AVL)

This has got to be the week that this trio of big hitters starts hitting big with their big whatevers. RIght? RIght?

Yeah, Pep-Roulette can always strike but whatever, I'm not gonna lose even a moment of time worrying about it. Time to "Laissez les bons temps rouler", as they say down in the Big Easy. Beignets and coffee would be an awesome accompaniment to the 0430 wake-up I'll have for the City match, but I doubt anybody is going to be fetching them for me. Pout.

Mount (bur)

Picks himself, given my options, but if anybody's going to mess up my keeper clean, let it be Fat Frank's chosen one.

FWD:

Aubameyang (CRY)

Everybody agonizing over him because they brought him in just in time for his two blanks, but I'm just going to focus on his 39 goals and 9 assists in 58 EPL matches, his 9 goals in 14 Europa matches as a Gooner, (57 returns in 72 matches overall, btw), and his prior 112 returns in 127 matches with Dortmund and remember that he's just an absolute top-drawer striker.

Bring on the AubameDancing!

Ayew (ars)

Brother of Andre gets the nod in my eleventh slot because Arse gonna Arse, and they've conceded in seven of nine matches so far.

I like his chances of doing something better than the probable three point ceiling that I would get from trotting Todd out there against a desperate United side that has a quality defense.

CAP:

DeBruyne (AVL)

Yup, I saw RazzyMan put three past the Atalantans on Tuesday with assists on the other two Citeh goals, and that would be a cap haul of 26x2=52 if he did that in an EPL outing, but my nickel says he doesn't do that in back-to-back outings and I like a Kev who should have hauled last week and who only went 60 minutes in that Champs League match midweek.

C'mon Kev, do this for me! Lead the lads to a century score! The FPL drought of GW8-9 has to come to an end at some point, right?

#lineup lamentations

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everlarkrealornot · 7 years

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The PANEM Initiative, Chapter 14

Something Should Have been Someone’s Business

Katniss had been glad when Peeta didn’t mention getting a call from his mother – the weekend was short and she didn’t want to spend it with him mad at her. But by the end of the weekend Katniss was starting to get paranoid from the lack of mention of Mrs. Mellark. Henry hadn’t mentioned anything about the divorce and Ryen had even been on his best behavior and didn’t tease her about the incident in the park so when Katniss drove Peeta back to campus on Sunday night she had planned on addressing the issue head on.

But when they got back to Peeta’s room and there was a note from his roommate telling him he wouldn’t be back till Monday night, the look Peeta gave her had practically made her heart stop and any thought of talking about the issue with his mother slipped her mind.

And so it went every weekend that they spent together.

October was Katniss’s favorite time of the year. It was cooler, she could wear hoodies every day without someone commenting on it, and she could legally hunt again. She and Gale had been spending all of their free time sighting in their bows, replacing their arrows, and clearing the paths back to their stands. It was almost easier for them to hunt in the off seasons (as long as they didn’t get caught) because they could move around more freely without the worry of being shot by another hunter. But it was hunting season! Her father had loved this time of the year and she never felt more connected to him than when it came every year.

“Thanks for dropping off the backstrap,” Ryen said to her just before she left for work on Thursday.

“You’re welcome. We have more venison than we know what to do with right now.” Katniss nodded and turned to leave again.

“You and Gale or your family?” Ryen’s question hit her hard and she opened her mouth in defense but was cut off when Ryen had to go help another customer.

Her head swirled as she walked home and she shivered as a cool breeze blew across her face. She pulled up the hood on her jacket, then dialed Gale.

“I’m not going out tonight,” she said as soon as he had said hello.

“Kat, this is the only time of the year that we get to do this legally – shouldn’t we take advantage of that?”

“I’m not feeling well, maybe this weekend. I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up quickly and shoved her phone in her pocket.

Katniss stood in front of her mirror, hands in her hair, watching Peeta’s reflection as he flipped through a magazine as he sat on her bed. He had gotten back only a couple of hours earlier and would have to take off early Sunday morning to finish up his last midterm. He hadn’t even been planning on coming home for the weekend until they both remember it was the 31st and they had chosen the Initiative’s Halloween Party as one of their required meet ups.

“I’m so glad this isn’t a costume party.” He tossed the magazine aside and slid off the bed. She turned her attention back to her hair, hoping he hadn’t noticed her staring.

“Me too,” she said simply as she finished her braid.

“Are you okay?” He ran his hand up and down her arms a few times. She nodded, adding a smile hoping he believed her. “Okay. Why don’t we get going?”

“Sure.” She shoved her phone into the pocket of her dress and headed for the living room.

“Well, don’t you two look fancy!” Prim waved her hands in the air signaling for them to get together for a picture.

“This isn’t prom, Prim,” Katniss said with the shake of her head.

“I know, but you guys still look great.” She stuck her tongue out at Katniss before going back to playing on her phone.

“You taking off?” Helen asked as she set her book aside.

“Yeah, this venue is like an hour and a half away, so we need to get going.” Katniss pulled on her jacket and opened the front door.

“Crap.” Peeta patted his pockets but couldn’t find his keys. “They must be in your room. I’ll meet you at the car.” Katniss nodded and stepped outside, closing the door behind her.

“Hey!” Gale called as he jogged up the sidewalk. He looked her over, head to toe. “You’re a little over dressed for the woods.”

“Shit! Gale, I’m sorry.” Her shoulders fell as she rubbed her forehead. “Peeta and I have an Initiative Meet-up tonight.”

“Can you get out of it?” He asked hopefully.

“Dude, no,” she scoffed at him. “I have to play by the rules, plus, I’m not ditching Peeta.”

“You can just tell them you came down with food poisoning – there has to – ” Gale was cut off as Peeta came out the front door.

“Sorry, they were under your bed – must have ended up there when we were make – ” He stopped abruptly when he saw Gale. “Oh, hey man.” He walked over and gave him an awkward handshake.

“Hey,” Gale said shortly.

“We really need to get going,” Katniss said to Peeta, who was still starting at Gale with a confused expression. “I’ll be just a minute?”

“Yeah.” Peeta snapped out of it and got in the car.

“Listen, Gale, I’ve got to go, we can – ”

“Are you sleeping with him?” Gale’s voiced was strained but quiet.

“It’s none of your business, but no.” She crossed her arms tightly across her body.

“It sounded like you two were getting a little cozy earlier!” He shouted.

“And if we were, it’s None. Of. Your. Business.” She stressed the last few words. “I have to go.” She tried to turn away from him but he caught her elbow.

“You have feelings for him, don’t you?” He asked as he turned her back to face him. She swallowed hard, but didn’t respond. “That’s perfect!” He threw his hands up and walked away from her.

She inhaled deeply and squared her shoulders, letting her breath out as she opened the car door.

“One last question, Kat,” she turned to see Gale had only gotten a few feet down the side walk, “Why the hell did you let me believe you didn’t have feelings for him?”

She blinked in surprise at the question, knowing there was no way Peeta hadn’t heard him.

“That’s what I thought!” Gale turned and stomped away.

“We need to go,” Peeta said coldly.

The drive to the Meet-Up was the longest hour and a half of Katniss’s life. She was hoping to think of something to say to him but nothing came to her. And when she thought she finally had the words she looked at him and his icy blue stare silenced her.

“Do you actually care about me?” He asked after turning off the car.

“Yes.” Her words were a whisper.

“Okay.” He got out of the car and waited for her to follow suit so he could lock it. She scurried out and smoothed her dress down. He walked around the car and offered her his arm without looking at her.

“Peeta,” she stepped in front of him so he would have to look at her, “I do have feelings for you, I didn’t lie to you.”

“No, you didn’t. You just prefer to lie to Gale so you don’t have to change anything.” He buttoned his suit jacket. “We’re going to be late for check-in.”

Effie had squealed when they walked in the building and ushered them around to meet more couples that she hadn’t introduced them to at the Summer Celebration. Peeta had plastered a fake smile on his face almost instantly, but it had taken Katniss a moment to force the smile. Both of them thanked Finnick and Johanna profusely when the couple finally stole them away from Effie so they could eat.

Finnick and Peeta feel into an easy conversation leaving Katniss to either try to make conversation with Johanna or shove more food into her face. She went back to the buffet line.

“Those are the best.” Johanna snatched one of the pot stickers out of the pan and popped it into her mouth. “I could eat 50 of them.” She rolled her eyes and hummed in satisfaction as she chewed.

“No drinks tonight?” Katniss noted as she moved down the line with Johanna on her heals.

“Little over three months,” She pulled her flowy dress tight around her belly revealing the small bump that the fabric and dark lighting had hidden at first. “Meeting you two at the last Meet-Up gave Finnick and me new material to work with in bed.” She winked as Katniss almost choked on a cheese cube. She wandered over to the bar and Katniss followed in curiosity. “Tequila, 3 shots, 3 limes.”

“Johanna!” Katniss was horrified as the bartender poured 3 shots and placed them on a small tray for Johanna to take.

“Calm down, they’re for you.” She sauntered back to the table with Katniss following her.

“I don’t really drink,” Katniss said quietly as she sat her food down.

“I just figured you could use a distraction from the trouble in paradise.” Johanna nodded in Peeta’s direction.

“How did you know?” Katniss asked as she watched Johanna steel a meatball off her plate.

“I’ve been around enough Initiative couples to know when a match is struggling.” She shrugged as she brought the meatball up to her mouth.

“Fine.” Katniss pointed to the tequila.

Johanna gave her a wicked grin and tossed the meatball down on her plate. She grabbed the salt shaker from the middle of the table and took Katniss’s hand in her hers.

“First, you lick the salt off your arm, shoot back the shot, and bite the lime. Then you repeat.” Johanna licked Katniss’s wrist and sprinkled a good amount of salt on it. “Lick the salt.” Katniss did as she was told, ignoring her gag reflex at Johanna’s saliva. “Shoot the shot.” She took the small glass from Johanna and closed her eyes, then threw back the shot like she had seen on so many movies and TV shows. The alcohol burned her throat and brought tears to her eyes. “Bite the lime.” Johanna handed it to Katniss who immediately shoved it in her mouth. “Repeat.” Johanna had already re-licked and salted Katniss’s wrist by the time she spit out the lime.

“I think one is good.” Katniss wrinkled her nose as she started at the salt on her wrist.

“Oh come on! Let the pregnant woman live vicariously through you.” Johanna pouted.

Katniss frowned but licked the salt, took the shot, and bit the lime.

“Not so bad the second – ” Johanna grabbed her face and kissed her hard, pushing her tongue into Katniss’s mouth.

“Really, Jo?” Finnick’s words barely registered with Katniss. Her head was swimming as the alcohol warmed her cheeks and Johanna occupied her mouth. Johanna abruptly sat back and wiped her mouth while Katniss still gaped at her.

“What? You won’t do tequila shots for me. How else am I supposed to have fun?” She smirked and bit into the last lime. Finnick frowned at her. “Fine, I’ll leave the virgins alone.” She grabbed Katniss’s plate and walked away.

“Sorry, Katniss, I don’t like tequila.” Finnick winked at her and followed after his wife.

Katniss picked up the last glass and shot it back.

“Let’s go.”

The drive home was just as quiet as the ride there, but Katniss was thankful for the darkness that had fallen. She sat watching the stars as the wind from the open window wiped across her face. She felt warm and cozy in her seat and everything around her was a little fuzzy. But the cool air was helping and by the time she was back home she was sure her buzz was gone. That was until Peeta opened her door and pinned her between him and the car. He smashed his lips to hers, just as Johanna had, but he knew exactly how and where she liked his tongue and hands. He kissed her until she pulled away, gasping for air as he left wet, open mouthed kisses down her neck and shoulders. She ran her hands around his waist and felt him pressing hard against her thigh. She hooked her fingers inside the belt loops on his pants and pulled his hips against hers. She groaned in frustration when his kisses become less desperate and he settled his head on her shoulder, catching his breath.

Suddenly he was stepping back, putting several feet of space between them.

“I will let you know when I get back to campus tomorrow.” He nodded and got back in the car.

#everlark #thg #au #arranged marriage #tpi #kate writes

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5hfanfiction · 7 years

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Mixed Up Priorities pt. 2

Hey guys so by popular request I made another part (sorry it took 36473 years) but before reading I want to warn that it’s kinda just like a follow up with fluff and stuff so if you liked the way the first part ended then either don’t read this or don’t expect as strong a storyline? I don’t know but hopefully you’ll enjoy it!!

“So how was sex with your teacher anyways?” Normani asks as Dinah pulls Camila’s door shut and lets out a snort at Normani’s bluntness.

“Mani!” Camila shouts in shock, scandalized by her friend’s words.

Normani and Dinah both know basically everything about her and Lauren’s relationship and so far have been nothing other than supportive. At first they were a little upset about how much time it took up, but then realized it gave them more alone time and shipped it as long as Camila had one day a week for movies and gossip. Lauren knew that they knew because Camila didn’t want it causing any shit in their future and the teacher was okay with it because she trusted Camila’s judgement. But as much as they support and help hide the relationship, they still tease more than necessary.

“Did you top or bottom?” Dinah says herself as she plops on the bed in the other side of Camila who buries her head in her hands blushing, “No definitely not then, weird Jauregui strikes me as a bottom,” Dinah continues and Normani laughs along as Camila rolls onto her side and groans in annoyance.

It’s the day after New Year’s Day, meaning she got home from Lauren’s last night, after spending New Year’s Eve with the older girl and then all of New Year’s Day in Lauren’s bed (or shower). She was yet to see Dinah and Normani but they already made assumptions on what the two girls had done, and since they had covered for Camila when her parents asked where she was they assumed that earned them the right to all the dirty details.

“Guys can we please not do this right now, I’ll tell you about it but not if you’re gonna make fun of me,” Camila whines as she rolls back onto her back to face the girls smirking at her.

“Oh Walz of course we won’t tease you, we’ll save that for next week or some shit,” Dinah smiles and Normani reaches across to smack her arm, “But really tell us all about it.”

Camila continues to explain how the weekend went and how her night with Lauren was. She leaves out the details that don’t need to be shared but her two friends agree that how Lauren treated her is adorable.

“You guys think I can use you dating Lauren to get an A maybe? I don’t know like blackmail her?” Dinah says in a bit of a too serious voice that concerns Camila but Normani smacks her again in scolding, “Owe Mani chill you guys know I wouldn’t actually do that, but maybe just tease her until she agrees to raise my grade up?”

“Nope, trust me Dinah I don’t even think I can get an A out of her, and my type of teasing would probably be more likely to get one,” Camila jokes and Dinah scrunches her face feigning disgust but Normani Laughs from next to them.

They tease her a lot the next few days left of break but by the time school rolls around three days later on that wednesday, they seem to have it all out of their systems.

Old Camila would be moody and upset to be back to school. She would probably refuse to dress presentable in the slightest and try to convince her mom she had a fever, especially since soccer wasn’t started this week yet. But she hasn’t seen Lauren since the Saturday of New Year’s Day and new Camila has a super hot super sweet super adorable girlfriend as a teacher who she has to get up early to bring coffee for.

“Ms. Jauregui?” Camila says softly as she knocks and pushes the classroom door open slightly and pokes her head inn, “I brought you your-” but Camila cuts herself off when she sees an unfamiliar man standing at her girl’s desk laughing at something Lauren must’ve said.

“Camila, good morning! This is Mr. Simpson, he’s a new math teacher, he’s taking over for Mrs. Grande because of her maternity leave,” Lauren explains with a smile as she gestures to the man standing in the front of her desk. “Mr. Simpson, this is one of my students Camila Cabello, I don’t think you’ll have her but…” Lauren trails off, not knowing where to go with that thought.

“Nice to meet you dear, is there something you needed I was in the middle of talking to your teacher about something?” he asks and he sounds like he’s talking to five year old and Camila knows she can’t show how mad she is because, sure maybe he’d think she just has a crush but she doesn’t need him to get at all suspicious.

So she looks at Lauren with a smile before turning back to the curly haired man looking at her with a fake grin before responding, “Umm I just had a book to return but I’ll come during homeroom so you can finish your chat,” She says in an overly nice voice before turning to face Lauren once again, “See you Ms. Jauregui,” and with that she’s out the door and clutching one too many coffees too tightly.

Camila gets to Lauren’s room in the end of homeroom and is able to give her the coffee without any suspicious looks before the room fills for AP it and she shrugs off Lauren’s apology because honestly that wasn’t a big deal, what happens at lunch does kind of piss her off though.

“So Dinah is going to Aruba with her cousins over February break, which wouldn’t be a big deal for any normal couple, but before Dinah and Mani pulled their heads out of their asses and got together Normani dated her cousin and lost her v card to him, so now Masi is a dick about it because he knows it bother Dinah and-” Camila explains but is cut off with the door barging open and an English accent interrupting with no concern.

“Hey Lauren I don’t mean to be a bother but you’re the only teacher I’ve met and I was wondering if you had lunch stuff or if I could bother you to sit in here?” he asks and doesn’t acknowledge the girl glaring at him from her sat next to Lauren’s desk. (Thank god her seat hadn’t been on Lauren’s desk or on Lauren herself).

“Actually, Mr. Simpson I usually tutors Camila during lunches, it’s one of her only free chances so I kind of need to her help with stuff,” Lauren explains with a frown but he doesn’t budge from where he’s smiling at them only moves to sit in the desk next to Camila and lean over her shoulder to try and see what textbook Camila has sprawled out in front of her, and once again Camila is grateful she keeps a book open for show even when they’re not studying.

“Math? You’re an english teacher though? Why doesn’t Camila go to her math teacher for help instead of bothering you with it?” he says in a clueless voice with furrowed brows as he leans back in his chair again and eyes Lauren in a way that makes Camila want to punch him.

“Well you see she would but-”

“It’s fine, Ms. Jauregui I can come back another time since I’m clearly bothering you too much at the moment,” Camila says with a teasing grin thrown at Lauren who shoots her a sympathetic smile. She’s annoyed with Mr. Simpson but Lauren obviously shouldn’t have to think of excuses to avoid getting caught so Camila figures she can lose one lunch.

“Teenagers,” she hears Mr. Simpson mumble as she steps away and she turns to shoot him another marvelously fake grin before speaking, “Bye Ms. Jauregui, nice to see you again Mr. Smithson,” Camila smiles and he rolls her eyes but Lauren has to bite her lip and Camila smiles before leaving because one lunch won’t kill her.

Only it’s not one lunch when she opens Lauren’s door the next day and he’s at Camila’s normal desk across from Lauren smiling and stuffing his face with gross food and Camila is out the door and down with Dinah and Normani before Lauren notices her. That happens every day the next two weeks too and sure Camila still goes after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays which really are just tutoring no that Camila is falling behind in math since she’s been worrying about soccer tryouts this upcoming week, but her two best friends notice the change and subtly let her know they’re there to talk if she needs to.

Lauren makes it up to her too. With lunch and dinner on the weekends, and orgasms almost every night they can find time, and cuddles whenever Camila asks.

Despite the annoying Algebra teacher cutting into their time together, the relationship the girls have is flourishing because they know how to treat each other.

But when Camila goes to bring Lauren her coffee the Monday morning a few weeks later that her tryouts fall on, her stomach drops when she sees Brad perched on her girlfriends desk with two coffees in his hand and a smile as he offers one to Lauren.

When Camila gives her extra coffee to Dinah in homeroom the older girl shoots her an annoyed look asking why it’s so strong, but softens when Camila answers that Lauren usually takes it strong.

That really isn’t a big deal either, it just hurts in a dull way, almost like the whole hickey thing did but a little less. Camila just always thought the coffee thing was their thing and Lauren accepted Brad’s with no question and no apology to Camila in AP Lit.

It isn’t even that it hurts really but it’s on her mind all day and the try out goes worse than expected. Lauren hadn’t went because Camila’s dad was going and they both just felt uncomfortable with that, but her not being there and the mishap in the morning is adding to Camila’s stress over it and she spends the car ride home being lectured about her spending too little time practicing.

Camila buries her aggravation in soccer and ends up staying out in her yard practicing kicks for hours. She decides to not reply to any of Lauren’s questioning texts later when she finally comes in and instead sends her a quick goodnight text before lying in bed for hours and getting absolutely no sleep.

The next day Camila beats Mr. Simpson to Lauren’s classroom and can’t hold in her smile when she opens the door and Lauren is alone grading papers.

“Camz, I was worried about you babe, how was your try out?” Lauren says when she notices the younger girl come into her classroom with a coffee and shut the door behind her.

“It was okay,” Camila lies easily and passes Lauren her coffee and meets her halfway in a quick peck. “I don’t really want to talk about that though, did you get a chance to talk to your sister?”

Camila had told only Normani and Dinah about their relationship and Lauren had told her sister Taylor. Camila was happy that Lauren had someone to confide in about it, but Taylor was her age and she felt a little bit awkward when it came to meeting her. Nonetheless, she was excited to hear if Taylor was going to be visiting for Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend or not.

Lauren shoots her a questioning look when Camila doesn’t elaborate on soccer but continues on with her explanation to answer the smaller girl anyways as she sips her coffee, loving the way it tastes compared to the shitty creamy stuff that Brad had forced upon her the day before. To be honest Lauren was going to throw it out in exchange for Camila’s coffee but she was let down when Camila didn’t bring one, she assumed Camila saw Brad give her it and wanted to explain but didn’t want to stir up unnecessary drama, today she managed to hide from Brad to ensure Camila’s coffee would make it.

“Yeah Taylor is going to come alone this weekend and stay with me, maybe you can stay over too so you guys can bond a little bit? Tell your parents Normani is having a party or something?” Lauren suggests a little hesitantly since Camila has been missing too many weekends for her parents to notice.

“Yeah that sounds great actually, I’ll check my game schedule and ask my mom,” Camila answers with a smile but her grin is wiped off when the warning bell for homeroom rings and a student enters Lauren’s room. “I’ll see you next period,” Lauren smirks as Camila’s expression and the shorts girl grins again and waves, “Bye Ms. Jauregui.”

Lauren spends the entire TA hour complaining about Mr. Simpson’s attempts and Camila leaves the room feeling smug and more confident in their relationship in school especially when Lauren tells Brad she can’t do lunch anymore now that Camila has soccer again and “students come first Mr. Simpson”.

“So I’ll wait for you to text me after practice then you’re coming over for mac and cheese right?” Lauren asks as Camila puts up the last chair after their tutoring session.

“Mac and cheese sounds amazing right now,” Camila sighs and leans closer to her teacher to steal a sweet kiss that last only a few seconds before leaning back and resting her forehead against Lauren’s. “I’ll see you in a few hours,” Camila says softly and can’t resist leaning in for one more quick kiss before pulling away and grabbing her backpack, backing her way to the door to she can hold the playful eye contact with her green eyed girl before blowing a kiss and exiting, jogging towards the locker rooms since she can’t be late for practice.

The rest of the week Lauren manages to snub all of Mr. Simpson’s attempts at flirting or at getting Camila out of the classroom, and luckily the guy is a moron so he doesn’t seem to think it’s odd that Camila spends every waking second in the english classroom, if anything he’s just annoyed that he can’t seem to get a second alone with the teacher herself. But the girls both ignore his pouting, instead planning a perfect weekend for Camila meeting Taylor.

“Lauren?” Camila calls as she pushes open to front door to Lauren’s apartment. She doesn’t have a key yet but she knows Lauren always leaves her door unlocked for Camila when she know she’s coming over because usually Lauren is lying in bed or watching tv and she doesn’t want to get up. “Babe where you at?” Camila yells as she sheds her coat at the hanger in the front and kicks off her boots.

“In the kitchen,” she hears back and smiles at the raspy voice she’s come to love as she strolls towards the room.

Lauren’s apartment is simple but nice and big enough to hold the three girls for the weekend. It’s enters to a living room to the left and if you walk down the wall there’s one door that leads a bathroom and a few steps down is the kitchen. The two bedrooms are in the back if you keep walking down a short hallway and there’s another bathroom attached to the main bedroom that Lauren occupies.

Camila walks the short way to the kitchen and stops at the door frame, leaning against the wall as she takes in the adorable sight of Lauren with an apron around herself as she hovers over the over. “Well something smells good,” she hums as she makes her way over to the holder girl and wraps her arms around her waist from behind. “What you making babe?”

“Hmm, chicken with rice and some beans and peppers that my mom taught me how to make in high school. Hopefully I still remember,” Lauren replies as she moves back from the tray of dinner being fried and turns in Camila’s embrace. “Hi,” she hums as she leans back slightly to scan her eyes down Camila’s body, taking in her appearance and smiling brightly at how good Camila looks in something as simple as jeans and a sweater.

“Hi back,” Camila giggles as Lauren shamelessly checks her out then smiles back when she gets up to her face. “Is your sister here yet?” she questions although she’s almost positive she isn’t, but hey Taylor could be in the bathroom or something.

“Nope, she’ll be here soon but right now we have the place to ourselves,” Lauren smirks suggestively and Camila giggles but lets herself be led over to the table where Lauren lifts her up from the back of her thighs, eliciting a squeal of surprise and more giggles from Camila. “So shush up for a few, okay?” Lauren smiles as she places a soft trail of kisses from Camila’s jaw line up her cheek as her hands grip Camila’s hips, guiding so their bodies meet as snugly as possible.

“Hmm okay,” Camila agrees and barely has time to breathe before Lauren connects their lips, softly at first but after a few seconds swiping her tongue along Camila’s lip, then sucking it into her mouth before tugging the soft flesh between her teeth. Camila lets out a short whimper at the sting but tangles a hand in Lauren’s hair and pushes her tongue into Lauren’s now open mouth and drowning out the rest of the world as she kisses her girl with everything she can.

Lauren’s hands don’t waste time sliding up from gripping her hips to slipping under her shirt to stroke lightly at the soft skin of Camila’s waist, meanwhile Camila keeps one tangled in Lauren’s hair and slides the other to the back of her neck, wrapping her legs tightly around Lauren’s waist to keep her anchored between her legs, letting out a groan when Lauren grinds slowly into her center and bites at her bottom lip again.

Ever since they’d had sex Camila had been kind of unsure as to how making out would work. Before they did it they’d get pretty heated and have to stop, but now Camila didn’t know how heated was too heated. She didn’t want to mercilessly tease Lauren anytime they wanted to kiss but she also didn’t want to settle for just a peck. Luckily, Lauren kept her best girlfriend of the year award and noticed Camila was being hesitant. Once she finally got an explanation out of Camila Lauren explained how Camila has nothing to worry about as long as she was comfortable, and that Camila could give Lauren blue balls as many times as she wanted to because being close to her in any way was worth it. (Which had earned her an orgasm and cuddles because Camila thinks a caring Lauren is the cutest thing in the world).

Don’t get Camila wrong though they still had sex as much as possible now, usually just in Lauren’s bed on weekends since they were both busy, but it wasn’t like they never did it, Camila was just nervous for the many times they got heated other than the sex.

But now that Lauren reassured her Camila knows that grinding right back won’t be an issue and by the time three minutes of kissing and messily moving against each other Camila is a moaning mess and Lauren’s decided to attack her neck for a switch.

As Camila is about to demand Lauren take her pants off there’s a knock at the door that makes Lauren freeze and Camila lets out a small whine because damn it this was a bad idea knowing that Taylor was going to be here any second now and oh wait fuck Taylor’s here she’s about to meet Lauren’s sister and first impressions are important and Camila looks like some tramp who was about to get fucked on a table.

“Fuck Lo,” Camila breathes out sitting up straight and immediately their hands go to fixing their appearances, both girls focusing on themselves at first but then each other to fix the smudges makeup and out of place hairs.

“I’ll get the door, you get your breathing under control,” Lauren says as she leans in for a peck and jogs towards the entrance. Camila took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down but her breath caught again and her nerves caught on fire as the door opened and she heard two voices excitedly greeting each other.

“Camila is in the kitchen come this way,” she hears Lauren’s voice getting closer and okay it’s showtime.

Lauren walks through first and shoots Camila a reassuring smile, and then a girl who looks like Lauren’s sister walks in behind her and Camila supposes it’s because she is Lauren’s sister so it makes sense.

“Tay, this is my girlfriend Camila,” Lauren gestures with a giant smile on her face but nervousness in her eyes because she really needs the two most important people in her life to get along.

“Hi, you must be Taylor,” Camila greets reaching to shake the other girl’s hand but she is surprisingly pulled into a hug but she doesn’t complain because she loves hugs so she hugs back. “It’s so great to finally meet you I’ve heard so much about you,” Camila smiles as they pulls away and Taylor nods laughing lightly.

“Oh please, this one never shuts up about you, it’s nice to finally put a face to the name,” Taylor jokes elbowing a blushing Lauren in the ribs. “You were right sis she’s gorgeous,” she says to Lauren and Camila blushes now whereas Lauren’s blush fades and turns into a proud smile.

“Hmm I know, I pick em good,” she laughs and the other two girls laugh along and that’s a good start so the girls are all less nervous over dinner.

“So that was good,” Lauren says as she sheds her jeans and lifts her shirt over her head, unsnapping her bra and throwing on a t shirt before hopping into bed with Camila who oggles her changing but snaps out of it as her girlfriend curls up next to her.

“It did,” Camila answers, nuzzling her head into Lauren’s hair as the older girl turns sideways so she can lie her head on Camila’s chest, Camila slipping her arm around Lauren to tug her closer into her body and tangling their legs. “Your sister is amazing Lo, is your whole family just charming and perfect or is it just you two?”

Lauren laughs deeply at that and grabs Camila’s free hand, leading it to her hair so Camila will take the hint, which she does, and play with her hair. “We are pretty great,” Lauren teases with a lazy smile on her lips as she presses a kiss to the bare skin of Camila’s collarbone. “You’re great too Camz, I don’t know why you were so nervous over this, how could anyone not like you?”

“I don’t know Lo it’s just… I don’t want anything standing in our way and your family has to like me for that to happen,” Camila answers, gently curling her fingers between strands of raven hair. “And don’t worry I know nothing that serious is happening anytime soon but this felt like a crossing of a bridge, you know? You love your sister more than anyone so I didn’t want this to ruin anything,” she explains.

“Camz…” Lauren trails off, feeling bad that obviously Camila had been stressing over this more than she knew she was. “I love you too okay? Even if by some miracle she hadn’t liked you I would never let something like that mess us up okay? Remember that for me please?”

Camila looks down to meet the green eyes looking back at her and sees so much sincerity that she can’t not lean down for a kiss because Lauren Jauregui may be the death of her so she needs to get in as many kisses before that happens. Its long, and passionate but also gentle and slow and they can’t do anything more because Taylor is a room over and as much as Lauren insist the walls are soundproof Camila doesn’t want her first impression to scar the younger Jauregui.

“I love you too,” camila whispers against her lips as they pull apart slightly, wanting to lean against Lauren but knowing both of their necks will hurt if they stay in this position so opting to lower onto her pillow and go back to playing with Lauren hair, reaching with her other arm to turn the lamp off so they can get some sleep.

The next day Camila had planned for the three to go to the aquarium because she’s a five year old at heart and apparently Taylor is too because when Camila brings up the plan over breakfast and Lauren laughs calling her a child, Taylor smacks her sister’s arm lightly and lectures on how aquarius are for people of all ages. (And she may also know because Taylor runs to and from every display with enthusiasm).

It’s not too crowded because it’s winter so the outdoor exhibits are closed off, but the girls don’t mind the lack of some parts and spend a few hours walking around and taking pictures and Camila and Taylor even manage to talk Lauren into going to the sand shark and stingray tank so they can pet them and then into petting them herself (via calling her a chicken and getting a fee of the kids that are already there to join in on teasing her).

“So where are we off to now?” Lauren questions as she interlocks her and Camila’s hands and looks over at her girl who’s leaning over to Taylor on Camila’s other side who’s already looking at pictures because apparently the two can’t go a minute out of the aquarium without wanting to go back. “High schoolers,” Lauren scoffs.

“What was that babe?” Camila asks as she turns to face Lauren who grins at Camila’s blissfully happy look.

“Lunch?” Lauren repeats, it’s about two o'clock now but they had a late breakfast, but still food is important. “Do you have a plan for that or are we just going to wing it?” She asks pulling her coat tighter around herself with one hand and squeezing Camila’s with her other one.

“Oh yeah I have a plan but it’s just iHop so if either of you want to protest..?” Camila trails looking between the two girls who both just nod in agreement to her plan, “Okay the iHop it is,” Camila grins and Lauren smiles because although real food might be more what she was thinking, she’d eat breakfast for every meal if it made Camila smile like that.

The girls spend the rest of the day finishing their lunch then decide to go to the movies because Moana is too good to see once, then Taylor convinces them to sneak into Sing! afterwards too because the movie people aren’t watching and really what movie theater worker cares enough to stop them?

The next day is a similar collection of random fun starting with a Mariokart tournament which is surprisingly Lauren’s idea.

“Fuck this is unfair,” Taylor huffs as she tosses her head back in annoyance as her character, Waluigi, falls off rainbow road yet again.

“I agree entirely,” Camila says as she accepts the blue shell that hit her and urges baby Mario to get recovered faster. “Damn you Lauren that was a dirty move,” she continues, glaring at her girlfriend who’s eyes are trained on her Yoshi who’s taken the lead.

“What can I say I like to play dirty,” Lauren winks as she passes the finish line and can finally glance at her girlfriend.

“Oh is that so?” Camila flirts back as she lifts an eyebrow and drops her remote with “2nd” flashing across the screen.

“Nope, nope guys no gross gay stuff, for the last time I’m not down for that,” Taylor complains as her screen blacks out from falling again. “Mila why do we keep letting this dipshit pick the course? She plays this in all her free time she could probably win with her eyes closed.”

“That’s not true,” Lauren huffs as she leans back against the couch on the floor in front of Camila and gets excited for the winners to be announced as taylor finally manages to get across the finish line in dead last.

“It is Lauren, face it you have an addiction, and it’s okay, really it is,” Taylor teases, talking slowly as if she’s scolding a kid to taunt Lauren even more, Camila watching the sisters’ interaction while giggling and smiling at how adorable the two are bickering. “But you need to not use your weird abilities against me your loving sister, and she your loving girlfriend, okay? Maybe we can just do Luigi Circuit next race?” she suggest and the way Lauren’s face drops at the mention of the simple course makes both other girls burst into more laughter.

“Fine I didn’t want to play anything challenging anyways,” Lauren pouts and clicks away to the home screen to set up the new race.

They end up spending more time than planned playing the video game though and decide to just go out for a somewhat early dinner instead of anything else then head home to watch movies and have desserts (and no not the kind Camila would prefer because Taylor is there and she can wait a few days for sex, god).

Unfortunately though, Taylor’s flight back to Los Angeles is around noon on Monday so the three go to the airport and get breakfast together at one of the Dunkin’ Donuts in the drop off section of the airport.

“I’m gonna miss you Lo,” Taylor cries into her shoulder as she hugs her goodbye. She’s not like sobbing or anything but Camila thinks it’s sweet that there are any tears as she watches from next to them, holding Taylor’s bags

“I’ll miss you too,” Lauren replies, and she’s not crying but Camila can see her eyes are watering and tries not to coo at how sad but adorable this is. “But I’ll see you next month right? And Chris is coming too that time?” she asks and Camila remembers hearing about the trip the two were going to take down during February break and gets excited to meet the last of the three Jauregui siblings.

“Yup, I’ll see you then, but expect the spam texts and calls to come back until then,” taylor jokes as she pulls away. “You did good with Camila too, don’t let this one go even if it is technically illegal or whatever, that doesn’t matter,” Taylor says and Lauren shoves her teasingly but chuckles along.

“I’m not planning on it anytime in the future,” Lauren answers and Camila really likes the sound of that and also the way Lauren looks at her when she says that even though Taylor was the one she was talking to.

“Camila,” Taylor starts as she pulls away from Lauren and Camila doesn’t hesitate to meet her halfway in a tight hug. “I’m really happy I got to meet you after all she talked about you and let me say I was not disappointed in the slightest,” Taylor smiles and Camila beams at the news and pulls back slightly to look into Taylor’s eyes as she continues. “Now treat my sister right or I’ll beat you up, although I’m sure I have nothing to worry about, you two are good together,” Taylor smiles and Camila pulls her back into a hug and tries not to cry herself because she’s so happy with life right now.

“I’m really glad I got to meet you too,” Camila smiles as they pull back, “And I’m really excited to see you again next month, maybe talk me up with the brother?” she jokes and Taylor nods as she laughs alone, Lauren off to the side smiling at the interaction.

“Tay, your flight is leaving soon, you should get back there,” Lauren reminds and all the girls look kind of sad but pull into a big group hug one more time before the younger Jauregui waves and is off to the security check.

Lauren watches her leave, sad to see her sister go again but happy that this weekend went so great, and she feels a whole two hundred times better when she feels Camila’s arms wrap around her waist from behind.

“You okay?” Camila asks as she places a soft kiss to the curve of Lauren’s neck.

“Yeah I am, I’m just gonna miss her for the first few days but texting is fine,” Lauren replies, spinning so she can look into her favorite pair of eyes, “It’s just weird getting used to her here but I’ll be good,” she elaborates and Camila nods, leaning in to press a kiss to Lauren’s cheek.

“You sure?” Camila asks, not wanting Lauren to be upset and rubbing her hands softly in patterns on the older girl’s back.

“Yeah I just… let’s go home okay?” Lauren asks and she smiles reassuringly and the smile meets her eyes so Camila lets it reassure her. It’s the word home though that makes Camila smile back.

“Yeah let’s,” Camila agrees, tugging Lauren’s hand in her own in the direction of the exit. “And we need a rematch in rainbow road,” she jokes as she lets Lauren release her hand to throw an arm over her shoulder pulling her close, “this time no blue shells allowed.”

(Also I’m not saying there’s probably gonna be a part 3 but there’s probably gonna be a part 3)

#UPDATE #one shot #AU #slash #camren #submission #Mixed Up Priorities

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gaildaley · 7 years

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I started this year in Review in December of 2015 because that’s when I think the year really began.

Dec 27, 2015

Wow! Its only four days until another year begins. I’ve made a lot of changes this year. I began writing novels again and wonder of wonders, I’ve actually finished book one of the Handfasting Trilogy, A Year And A Day, and I’ve began on book two Forever And A Day. This story is about three sisters who live on a planet called Vensoog and the choices they make to help their colony survive the aftermath of a galaxy wide war.

February 8, 2016

This was a good week to get some work done. I am more than halfway through Forever And A Day, the second book in my Handfasting trilogy and I have covers done for both of the first two books. Rather than painting a cover in acrylics, I decided to go with some digital artwork so that I could make them very similar. I think I will go ahead and use Amazons PDK system. It will mean that I can’t put my book up anywhere but Amazon, but its price is excellent—free. And I really don’t have money to pay a regular e-book publisher. My son’s book at Outskirts Press cost almost $2,000. He did get a lot for it, hard copies of his book and it’s marketed in I-Books and Nook as well as Kindle, but sometimes you have to cut your coat to suit your cloth.

I also got my two latest Acrylic paintings done, Cat Napping and Street Vendor and framed. I think I will put at least one of them in ACA’s membership show. Of course entering one of their shows is always problematic, as many times the judges they select don’t seem to care for my art. I used to worry about that, but not anymore. Having seen some of the art ACA’s judges deemed worthy in the past, I killed any feelings of inferiority I used to have art wise.

Now that I have my enlargements back from the printer, I can also start on the three longhorn paintings I intend to do for the Old West Art show in April.

February 28, 2016

Well, so much for good intentions. I DID manage to get the three paintings started. Unfortunately, I also started a bladder infection; my husband came down with the flu (which he shared) so I haven’t done anything else yet. The medicine the doctor gave me for the infection has caused an almost constant migraine and nausea. Hopefully, however, March will be a better month. Here are three canvases.

March 13, 2016

For the last three weeks, I have had three unfinished paintings for the old west show sitting there glaring at me from my art table. Not really my fault I haven’t been able to work on them: I developed a bladder infection for which I went to the doctor, had a bad reaction to the meds he proscribed, and then I came down with Vernon’s flu he brought home from the Pool Workshops. This Thursday, I was finally able to start on Home on the Range and I got part of it blocked in. Unfortunately, after I sat there and looked at it for a while, I decided that I needed to get rid of the clay cliffs I was using as a background because they were competing with what I intended to be the focus — the Longhorn cattle resting in an almost dry river bed. I painted over my entire mornings work on the cliffs with grey and then had to let it sit long enough for me to be able to work it. I confess I really don’t understand why other artists complain about how fast acrylics dry because at some point in a painting, I will have to stop and let it sit so it will be dry enough not to make mud! I substituted some rolling hills for the cliffs with all those dark, cracked clay lines, which looks better, but I still need to cool off the background hills so that I can push them back or maybe I will add a structure or a tree line; I haven’t decided yet. I will be using pieces of the same dry streambed in all three of the paintings. I have one more day to work on it before I have to stop and do Vern’s invoices for this month.

March 22, 2016

Today I finally managed to start on Chilsolm Trail. I got most of the background done and the horses and men drawn up with white pencil. The background took more time than I thought it would, especially the riverbank.

March 23, 2016

Today I was hoping to get all the cows and the cowboy blocked in, but all those horns and legs took a lot more time than I expected. I finally left one of the cows un-blocked and worked on the horse and rider. I used ultramarine blue and powder blue underpainting on the horse. I will go in tomorrow and finish it off with black.

March 24, 2016

Well today, I feel as if I am finally making progress; I do still have quite a bit to do to finish this one though. I think adding a second cowboy and more cows was the right thing to do. Five cows just didn’t look like a trail herd! Tomorrow I am taking a break to do housework, but hopefully by Monday I will be able to go in and finish off the foreground. Then I get to start on the 3rd one—The Bozeman Trail!

March 26, 2016

Saturday morning and I still have to finish off my household chores. Put up the laundry washed yesterday and do the dishes so I will have a clean sink to rinse out my paint brushes. (I say I’m only doing them every other day to conserve water, but the truth is I loathe housework). I’m pretty satisfied with the way Chilsolm Trail is coming along. For Monday I will need to finish off the foreground grass and then put in some shadows and highlights to identify which direction the sun is coming from. Details…

Tuesday March 27, 2016

Well Monday turned out to be a wash. It’s wonderful how other people seem to fill up your day without asking you first… Oh, well. Today I got the foreground grass done on the Chilsolm Trail done, and the background and drawing done on the Bozeman trail. I also got the backing prepared for four paintings. I use contact paper for backing and I reinforce the edges with clear strapping tape and use thumbtacks and Gorilla wood glue on the edges to fasten it down. This is easier to clean than plain brown paper, which seems to absorb dust. No surprise that the back of a painting gets just as dirty over time as the front!

The Proof copy of my first book in the Handfasting series came today, so I will be spending the next few days going over the proof for errors. I am a speed-reader so it should only take me about nine hours. I’m very pleased with the front cover design. The image I designed looks great.

Saturday, Vernon is going to be gone with some friends to the desert so I will have that day free to paint. He is actually very supportive, but the more people in the house when I am trying to work the more interruptions there seems to be…

April 12, 2016

I spent the weekend at the Columbia Inn (wonderful atmosphere, and they use real art bought locally in their room designs!) with my husband. It rained non-stop but that did not stop him and other members of CVP from enjoying panning the dirt brought in for them. They did this in the parking lot under pop-ups so that shows how dedicated they are to their notion of fun! We had a community dinner inside the 49er Mining Supply shop and Rob and Cheryl were wonderful hosts. Vernon has commissioned me to do a painting of the Inn and shop so I will be working on that later this year.

A Year And A Day, has been published on Amazon and Kindle and in May I will be making the rounds to advertise it. FYI, if you plan to use Amazon’s free publishing services; start with the printed edition on Create Space. I started with the e-book and ended up with two e-books (different covers but same book). In order to make the covers match, I took the first one I made off-line. Unfortunately, I had set up a pre-order on it, so Amazon has forbidden me to do any pre-orders for a year. Live and learn.

April 21, 2016

Well, the show and reception for Clovis Art Guild’s Old West & Rodeo show came off okay, despite the low amount of entries. I didn’t win anything this time, but that’s the breaks. The show comes down on Sunday. The next two weeks promise to be full also. Monday through Wednesday, I will need to get back to writing on my book and hopefully start my Safe Harbor painting. Andrew will be working with his Dad on Monday, so that will be the best day to paint. I also need to do some housekeeping on some of my POD sites (FAA, Pixels, and Red Bubble). Thursday, I need to change out my art at the Water Tower Gallery, and on Friday I take down my art from the Sunnyside Library Gallery (I also need to prepare a summer schedule for the library), then Saturday I plan to put up a couple of paintings in the Alliance of California’s membership display for the next two months.

I actually sold one of my hand painted keepsake boxes I have down at the Water Tower (Yaay!) So I suppose that this summer, I need to prepare some more for Christmas and Easter, which means developing some designs. Flower designs work well here as I am hopefully marketing these to women or to men buying for women! I ordered some Acrylic paint pens from Amazon and I plan to use them for the actual design after I paint the boxes. (Target date to do these is in June so they will be ready.)

June 10, 2016

Wow. Has it really been two months since I posted anything? Time flies I guess. I won’t say it has all been fun, but it has been productive. Sadly, I did not win anything at the Old West Show, but all the art was wonderful this year even though it was a smaller show.

I have finished two large seascapes and started my entry for the Miniature works show.

Forever And A Day is done and going through the editing process (this means I print it down at the local printer and go over it for errors. Fun). All Our Tomorrows is about halfway through the first draft. Because there are so many characters involved by now and the story moves from one group to another to remain coherent, I have to bounce back and forth between where the character focus is. I wish I could find another way to tell this so that won’t happen, but so far no dice.

Facebook kept rejecting my ad for A Year And A Day, so I ran it as a regular post and they blocked me out for ‘suspected illegal activity’ for two days…Big pain in the A to get back on. They won’t help you when you need it, but they sure do punish users who try to get around their system…

June 23, 2016

I’m trying to do better at posting to this journal. I just finished Vernon’s invoices for June, so I have had time to edit Forever and A Day three times, and I am starting on the fourth just as soon as I pick it up from the printer. I am in the process of writing All Our Tomorrows that I have already revised twice and it isn’t even finished yet! And I sold a copy of A Year And A day in April, for which Kindle will pay me around the end of June. That tells me if my ad campaign bears fruit in June, I won’t see money from sales until around the End of September.

My only entry I painted this year for the Miniature show is almost finished as I got to work on it today. Right now, it’s sitting on a little easel waiting for me to decide if I’m finished with it. It’s a night scene and those are always a struggle to split the difference between accurately showing that it’s at night and still making the paintings features visible…

August 7, 2016

Wow. I have gone an entire month without actually creating art. Well, not true really; I did five color studies for my Vensoog Handfasting series. I started to do a landscape of it also, but I ended up tossing it out (a rarity for me but it was just awful.) I actually have 4 small paintings drawn up (one 8×10 and two 5x7s). I also have two of my hand painted keepsake boxes started. They only need the painting done on the lids and then put together but there they sit…

Next week won’t be productive art-wise either tho’ because I will be starting on our Income tax. Ick. Migraine coming as always…

October 1, 2016

Wow! I’ve had a really busy summer! I have been working non-stop on getting the second book in my Handfasting Series published, and on top of that Clovis Art Guild had an art show and the Guild had to make arrangements to shuffle things around (our meetings, getting our 501(c) submitted to the IRS, etc.), so I confess I have neglected to write here in this journal. I went to a professional cover designer at fiverr.com to re-design the covers for my books and I am really pleased with how they turned out. I also finished the 2nd draft of the book “All our Tomorrows”. It’s currently being beta read by my son Andrew and a couple of good friends. My hand painted keepsake boxes are selling really well at the Watertower Gallery in Downtown Fresno, so I have also been busy making six more of those (actually a pretty time-consuming project). I start with a raw wooden box that I get from a local craft store, seal it, and then paint the base coat on the bottom and the lid. Then I draw a design on the lid and paint that. Then a varnish coat to protect the box is put on the outside and felt lining is added to the inside bottom and lid. Then I put the jewelry back on (hinges and clasps) and finally it is ready to take to the Gallery! So I have been a busy girl. I also have six smaller paintings prepped (undercoat done and the image drawn up). I hope to have at least one of them ready by Christmas.

I had Pismo Beach critiqued by Master Artist Dennis Lewis at the Clovis Art Guild meeting last night. He confirmed what I was afraid of—those dratted cliffs in the back are still too bright. Considering how many times I repainted them trying to soften them, doing it over again is no big deal, but I wonder if I should also darken up the front. He also had some other suggestions for improving it, so since I have a month before the Fall Open where I intended to enter it, I will probably re work it. Of course, that does mean re varnishing, but what the heck. I think I will re-wash the back with several layers of light grey and add some yellow to raw sienna for the sand front of the beach.

I also need to get in touch with my friends Betsy and Ron who volunteered to Beta read All Our Tomorrows for me and find out what suggestions they had. Andrew already made several, which I have implemented. It does make the book longer as he said I had rushed through several climaxes and through the chapter on the festival so I have added several pages there that involved re-ordering how the chapters were presented. I admit it does make the book seem less choppy. Beta Readers are a blessing… And just think, I haven’t started the editing for format errors yet! Still hope to get it into publication by Christmas…

December 7, 2016

Well, I did it again—missed an entire month of writing on this. In my defense, I should say that during this month, we adopted a new kitten. She was all alone out at one of Vernon’s commercial accounts. The manager had been feeding her but only twice a day, and a cat or puppy that young needs to be fed at least four times a day. We think Mab’s mother must have been killed and she couldn’t come back for her kittens. We never found the others, and it’s my opinion that Mab survived as long as she did because she is one stubborn feisty cat.

We also put on an art show at the Art Hub. Going to be taking it down later today. Yes, I know it’s raining, but sometimes you have to do what you can do.

All Our Tomorrows will be going to print in about 3 weeks. Yay!

I was hoping to get back into my regular artwork, but I caught a sore throat and it has turned nasty. (Can’t get the flu shot until after this clears up. Ick!)

December 15, 2016

Writing my 4th book in the Handfasting series. It’s a Cozy mystery set on Vensoog. Using Jayla (Gideon’s niece from Forever And A Day) as my heroine and Luc’s best friend Jake (All Our Tomorrows) as the hero. The story centers around the theft of the royal family’s Crown Jewels on planet Aphrodite. The thieves escape to Vensoog to try to fence them. There is a planet wide festival on Vensoog that draws interplanetary traffic so it makes good cover. The fence (Lipski) is killed and the jewels disappear. Jayla innocently buys the Lipski’s shop and then finds her body on the beach while she is out jogging.

I have got local, Royal and interplanetary cops who are suspicious of Jayla’s involvement. I have the original thieves, and the local mob who want to find the jewels. A housekeeper robot who was programmed by the original owner as a gigolo and a sales bot who likes to run around naked (haven’t quite decided exactly what I’m going to do with them yet-maybe just comic relief). Then there is Jayla’s nosy, interfering family, and her bossy boyfriend Jake who all trying to help her clear her name and getting in each other’s way.

Note to self: I think I have a form of writers block. I have to decide which of these plot lines to use as the main one, which ones are going to be red herrings and which ones are secondary. My problem is I like all of them so I haven’t written a thing on it that hasn’t felt forced for at least a week.

A Year In Review I started this year in Review in December of 2015 because that’s when I think the year really began.

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