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sushiandstarlight · 4 years

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Cookies: Chapters 5 and 6

Chapter 6 includes today’s prompt, submitted by @hellandholywater, “flustered.”

Chapters 1-3 / Chapter 4

Previous Story in the Series: Of All The Beds In All The Hotels In All The World

Read this chapter on AO3

Rating: G, soft PG

It took over an hour for tea and conversation to run dry. Gladys cleared the cups and bid her goodnight- “bright and early, Crowley, and that means 6am not 10!”- leaving them alone in the firelight.

“Do you suppose we have to get up that early to sneak up on the butter?”

Aziraphale snorted, “Maybe you have to milk the cows first.”

“You- you don't think that's really the case? I signed up for cookies, not cows.”

“I can't recall seeing a cow here last time, but maybe she's got one. You never know.”

“Be serious.”

“I think there's probably just a whole lot to do, darling. Shall we go to bed?”

“Yeah, I suppose so. I'll be cranky at 6am regardless, but might as well not make it worse.”

“I think that was a sentence.”

Crowley stuck out his tongue at him then rose and offered him his hand. Aziraphale took it and followed him up the stairs and to the room they had been instructed was theirs. Crowley thought, for sure, that Aziraphale had forgotten his promises earlier. He'd seemed so calm about being downstairs the whole time and even offering to go to bed was a choice about sleeping, he didn't seem rushed.

So he was shocked when he found himself pressed against the inside of the door as soon as it clicked shut. He had just enough presence of mind to turn the lock before he got lost in Aziraphale's kisses and the paths of his strong, warm hands.

“Promise is a promise, it's time to warm up my serpent,” Aziraphale smirked at him knowingly, “tea on the inside, that's not enough.”

“That's not the only hot thing I want on the inside.”

Aziraphale bit his lip and pulled him back towards the, frankly absurdly large, honeymoon suite bed.

Crowley was in a soft, cozy place. It smelled of him and Aziraphale. That's all that mattered, really. The rest of the world could sod off and he would be none the sadder for it if he could stay right here.

Except Aziraphale, who had been pressed all along his back, was pulling away. Crowley shot a hand out, under the blankets, and clutched his- still naked, hmm- hip.

“Nuh, where'ya'goin'?” He hadn't decided if this was emergency enough to open his eyes. He hoped it wasn't. Aziraphale chuckled and pressed back against him, kissing his jaw and sneaking a hand back around his waist.

“I smell warm sugar.”

The words didn't exactly make sense. But, that was okay, Aziraphale was wrapped back around him and that's all that mattered. Crowley started to drift back off.

“I'm going to investigate. Maybe get some coffee."

“n'coffee,” Crowley whined, “jus' more sleep.” He hadn't let go of the angel's hip.

“You can sleep. I'll be back to wake you up at 6.”

“But you're warm. You'll take it with you.”

“I'll bring it back, later.”

“You love baked things more than me.” It was a last ditch effort and he knew it. He put the full force of his pout into his words. Or, well, he tried. He was still half-asleep.

“Sometimes.”

“Hey!”

“I'm joking, dear. But, really, you sleep some more. I'll be back.”

Crowley could feel himself drifting again, half against his will. Aziraphale pulled away and a moment later more weight settled over him, pressing him firmer into the mattress. He sighed softly and let sleep take him again.

An indeterminate amount of time later he woke. Rolling over he checked his phone: 5:37am. He could lay here and luxuriate for a while longer. That held it's advantages, not the least of which was that Aziraphale would be back and he could try to tempt him back into bed for a cuddle. Odds were, though, the angel would not be moved. He might as well get up now and save the disappointment.

Pulling back the covers he realized there were more than there were last night. Aziraphale had added another before he left. Crowley's heart did a funny little flip. His angel loved him, cared for him. He wanted to go on being cared for this way the rest of his days while working to return that care with everything he had. He smoothed the blanket with his fingers, deep in mushy thoughts.

When he finally did manage to get up, he dressed quickly in tight, dark wash jeans and a buttery soft black v-neck jumper. Stopping of in their bathroom, he tried to do something with his hair. After a couple swipes of his fingers he realized there was no helping it. He went to his bag and pulled out a grey scarf, wrapping it around his head and tying it off at the top. This would probably be best anyway, he decided, with sugar and flour being tossed up everywhere. He paused a moment over the cosmetics bag he had packed and then gave himself a flourish: a little bit of mascara and eyeliner. Slipping on his sunglasses, he meandered downstairs.

Crowley was halfway down the stairs when he noticed the strange lights coming from the sun room. He detoured there instead of going straight for the kitchen, even though the smell of strong, dark coffee was nearly intoxicating.

He couldn't be sure that there wasn't a Christmas tree standing in the room the night before. He had come by the sun room, but he hadn't gone in it. It was possible the tree was off along with all the other lights. He wracked his mind to remember, but he couldn't.

There was a tree now, though, decked out in soft white lights. No ornaments to be seen, although there were boxes sitting around with “Christmas” written on them in neat, curly handwriting. He shrugged, turning and following the smell of the coffee through the foyer, past the front desk. He was nearly to the kitchen when he heard Aziraphale's soft, deprecating chuckle. He hadn't heard that noise in a while, having worked to bolster the angel's confidence over the last few months. He had every reason to be happy, proud even, of who he was and what he had accomplished with his time. The sound was followed by a happy sigh.

“You really do love him, don't you?” It was Gladys speaking in a gentle way that she never really used with Crowley.

“I really, really do.” Aziraphale's voice was hushed and reverent, as if speaking of something holy or precious. Crowley's heart melted into some kind of syrup. He could feel a dopey look spread across his face.

“Then it will all work out just fine, you'll see.”

Crowley strode in as Gladys was patting Aziraphale's hand. He crossed the room and hugged the angel from behind, kissing the side of his forehead.

“It's going to be fine, is it?”

“How,” he felt Aziraphale flinch under his touch, “how much did you hear?”

“More secrets?”

“Christmas secrets.”

“Ah, those are the okay ones.”

“You'll enjoy your gift more if it's a surprise.”

“So you don't want to know that I heard everything?” Crowley smirked over his head at Gladys who frowned at him, for some reason, “okay, okay, I just heard that you love me. That's all. That's not a secret, is it?”

Aziraphale took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Hey,” Crowley leaned over his shoulder so he could see his face, “no need to get all flustered. I was only messing with you.”

“I know.”

“I'm sorry.”

“It's okay.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I'm sure. Sorry I got all worked up,” he placed a palm on Crowley's cheek and pulled him in for a quick kiss, “Really, I'm alright.” He smiled. It was still a little nervous around the edges.

“I see there's a tree in the sun room now. That wasn't there last night.” He handed it out as a distraction for all, sprawling in the chair next to Aziraphale's. Gladys handed him a cup of coffee and he nodded gratefully.

“Yes, Aziraphale went out and chopped it down this morning, if you'll believe it!”

Crowley looked at Aziraphale who made a pulling down motion with his hand.

“Uh huh, well that was nice of him.”

“Wasn't it? I was lamenting that I hadn't had time to put one up and then in he comes with that one. Put the lights on, too.” She winked at Aziraphale who waved her off, “I might be hoping he'll help with the ornaments, but I don't want to take advantage.”

“I would love to, Gladys, truly. I'll get started on it now if I can have a cup of coffee to go.”

Gladys turned around to fix his cup and Crowley took the opportunity to drop his glasses down his nose and wink at Aziraphale. Pink bloomed over his cheeks as his eyes widened.

“You're beautiful, darling, I like it.” He sounded a little bit breathless and it made goosebumps break out and spread down Crowley's spine.

He made sure the glasses were back up when Gladys turned back around, handing a mug to Aziraphale. Crowley could see marshmallows bobbing in the milky coffee.

“I'm going to borrow Crowley for a minute, if that's okay?”

“Oh, alright, but only a minute. It's almost half past six now.”

“I'll send him back in a giffy!” Aziraphale drug Crowley from the room by his wrist. He carefully placed his coffee on a table outside the door and pulled the demon in, kissing him hot and open until they were both panting and then he stepped back.

“You can't just spring that on me, dear,” Aziraphale licked his lips and patted down his clothes before retrieving his mug, “Not when I know I can't have you again until tonight. Off you go, cookies for orphans to bake.” He made a shooing motion.

“Off I go,” Crowley replied, dazedly, touching his bottom lip as he turned back towards the kitchen.

Chapter 7 is up!

#aziraphale x crowley #crowley x aziraphale #good omens #good omens fic #ineffable husbands #star light-reads #30 days of prompts #nanowrimo #nanowrimo 2020 #of all the beds in all the hotels in all the world #sequel #fluff #christmas fluff

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hashtagartistlife · 4 years

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so i went room hunting today bc i need to move out in less than 3 weeks and this was how my day went:

house 1: pretty standard sharehouse, 5 pretty small rooms but at least the common areas were well-kept and clean, there’ll be a cleaner every 2 weeks for the common area so that’s a plus, extremely close to my place of work and fairly low priced. All good except room is probably too small for my outsize wardrobe + 25 tonnes of craft/art/sewing supplies

house 2: THERE IS A CAT. Owners live in the house with us and one other tenant but owners are in a separate part of the house and we only share the kitchen, so that’s cool. Room is large and tidy + there’s space for more storage elsewhere. BUT THE BEST PART ABOUT THIS HOUSE IS THAT THERE IS A CAT. IT’S A LARGE MAINE COONE NAMED LEON AND YES I KNOW IM ALLERGIC TO CATS BUT IT’S NOT THAT SEVERE, AS LONG AS LEON DOESN’T SLEEP IN MY BED I’LL DEAL, WHEN ELSE WILL I EVER BE ABLE TO LIVE WITH A CAT. CAAAAAAT. Oh yeah the location wasn’t that ideal but nothing i can’t manage- BUT CAT.

house 3: ok tbh after the cat house i was pretty set on that one, and the pictures for this house on the website weren’t that great so I didn’t have high hopes, but when i asked for the address for this one they didn’t give me a standard street address??? they gave me a... like... one of those.. estate addresses. the ones where there are luxury apartments all lumped together and they’re all called fancypants names like Elmswood Estate Luxury Apartments Unit 3 or whatever the fuck. So, like, ok, whatever, I drove in, and like... turned into one of those super long driveways you get leading up to actual mansions? Like ok I turned off the main road a while ago and I’m still driving and on either side of the road there’s just... landscaped gardens. At this point I’m kind of like shit am I lost??? But then I see the actual building and no, the name in front of it (in massive fancy curlicue letters) is definitely the address I was given, so I parked my car in the visitor’s carpark and the owner who apparently is not the ACTUAL owner, he too is renting and is just subletting a room, anyway I will continue to refer to him as owner for convenience - so the owner came down to meet me and he seems like a nice guy, about my dad’s age, it’s just him and his wife in the apartment but his wife is in china at the moment. He pulls out a keychain with like.... 3 separate remote control keys attached to it and lets me in, we go up an elevator and i shit you not the elevator literally opens up into the house. No corridors. Elevator oPENS STRAIGHT UP INTO THE HOUSE like what the FUCK. Like, this whole apartment is literally called XXXXXX LUXURY APARTMENTS AND THEY. MEAN. LUXURY. the elevator opened up right into the house what the FUCK!!! This was GENUINELY like. 6-star hotel penthouse kind of dealio with TWO balconies and one of the most SPECTACULAR ocean views I have ever seen in my life, and I do not say this lightly, I am Australian, I have grown up around beaches my whole life, I actively enjoy marine sports, I have SEEN my fair share of nice beaches, and tbh I don’t even CARE about ocean views anyway but this???? this was genuinely.... i was at a loss for words. what the fuck. I’m not a morning person but I would wake up at 6am every single day to see a sunrise over THAT kind of horizon.

anyway i saw the room and like. broe. broe the room.... is massive. MASSIVE. Master bedroom in a 6-star hotel penthouse kind of massive (AND IT’S NOT EVEN THE MASTER BEDROOM.... THE OWNER HAS THE MASTER BEDROOM). It has an ensuite. It has a double bed and it’s big enough that it looks like the double bed was just... placed in the living room. IT’S LIVING ROOM SIZED. ONE WALL IS ENTIRELY GLASS AND IT OPENS UP ONTO A PRIVATE BALCONY. IT LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE THE KIND OF ROOM THE RICH MALE LEAD OF A CHEESY K-DRAMA WOULD LIVE IN I was like losing my mind at this stage???/ ?? is this real life is this just fantasea? anyway the kicker is this room is going for $200 AUD A WEEK and for context, in Sydney, when I was sharehousing near the uni, I was paying $220 for a SHARED ROOM in a tiny dingy apartment shared with 4 other tenants, only one bathroom, not very clean or tidy at all. The other rooms I looked at were all going for about the same rate or slightly cheaper. The even bigger kicker is

the owner himself is only paying $500AUD/week to rent this whole damn place

that’s CRAZY. You would barely afford a studio apartment for that rate in Sydney, and certainly not anyplace busy or central. THIS PLACE IS LITERALLY A LUXURY 6 STAR HOTEL I am, genuinely, just, completely floored

anyway with all this said I am still VERY seriously contemplating the cat house simply because.... like... the emotional support a cat can provide (and im not even joking, at my most depressive periods in the past year i have felt that if i just had something small and warm and fluffy to hold that would have cheered me up so much) + the owner is pretty separate and there r other tenants so, like, less pressure on me to interact socially, whereas luxury apartment is literally just me and the owner couple so like... lol hope they don’t mind that i spend all waking hours cooped up in my room. But with that being said....... (a) this is temporary till june as i have plans 2 move to perth after that and (b) literally WHEN am i EVER going to be able to live somewhere like this. WHEN. There’s this popular text post in korea that said ‘god i wish i could break down in a depressive fit in my king sized bed in my penthouse suite’ and, like, that’s gonna be me babey!!!

God anyway, this is such a big difference from my house hunting escapades in sydney im still a bit wilded out. Got more lined up tomorrow so i’ll see how that goes but honestly? as of right now? it’s a toss up between cat house and luxury apartment

#sera life #well that was.... a once in a lifetime experience.....#anyway i just hope wherever i decide to go it's.... hm. the right choice for me #cats and luxury ocean view penthouses aside

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redfoxwritesstuff · 6 years

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Medicine

I always had a love/hate relationship with working in a hospital Their politics and social cliques are annoying. Why isn’t there more Dr. Strange fics? Anyway, chapter 2 is below. Strange x ofc.

Chapter 2

It was early, very early still. Hardly on the cusp between “middle of the night” and “early morning”. Doctors always seemed to be awake and working during that in between time. Too early for most of Seattle to be awake, but hospitals never truly sleep. She nodded her head in greeting to nurses and janitors alike. With a quick glance at her phone she could see it was nearing 5AM.

It was too early to expect to find most professionals anywhere near their place of work but medicine favored a special breed. Early mornings and late nights were ingrained into them early on and after years of night shifts, being on call and disturbed sleep breeds poor sleep schedules and a field full of insomniacs.

To outsiders, their work ethic is amazing. Wake up early, finish the work early and have more time for family. Or, perhaps, sleep in and go to the office later in exchange for staying late. In reality, it was a unrelenting schedule full of both early mornings and late nights all wrapped into the same day. It was never ending.

4:50AM was still pretty damn early however.

Today, she got lucky. Jones apparently was in early, more then likely to prep for a barrage of early morning budget meetings with a sprinkling of nagging his high level specialists to take more cases. She didn't bother knocking before going into the office, he saw her coming though he did make a effort to not make eye contact through the glass. He did not want to deal with her shit today, she needed a case to work since her last one is preparing for discharge, not a damn intern or a new machine or whatever the hell it was she was coming to bother him for this time.

“Did you find a case?” He asked not looking up. Jones as a large black man, with a head of gray curls kept close to his scalp. He worked hard to get where he was in life, faced many obstacles and made many sacrifices. He didn't have a parent driving him, pushing him like Dr. Martin's father, but he had a respect for her just the same, he was one of the few.

“Yep.” She plopped down in the chair facing his desk, uninvited. She knew she wasn't welcome to stay but annoying the man was one of her few simple pleasures. You had to enjoy what you could in life, she was always told.

Jones raised his eyebrow. Hell may have just frozen over. Perhaps today would be a good day after all, if this was a sign of things to come.

“But I need to go to New York to treat her.” She quickly finished.

Nope, never mind. Today was not going to be a good day. “Can't you treat someone here?”

“Those cases are easy. Boring. Loan me out.”

“No.” He didn't need to send one of his hospital's star doctors across the country with a fundraising event coming up. He was the Chief of Medicine, his word is law and 'No' should end this conversation.

“You told me to find a case!” But of course she keeps pushing. With Dr. Reiko Martin, 'No' was only a challenge and he did not have time for this.

“Why this case?” He gives in with a sigh.

“It's a personal favor for a renowned colleague...” She was sweetening the pot, he knew it. It was rare that she would complement anyone and she couldn't care less about helping her colleagues.

“Who?” He needed to finish prepping his notes for his 8am meeting. And probably eat something too, starvation wasn't a diet he was fond of, even if he could stand to drop a few pounds. She needed to go already.

“Stephen Strange” She offered. “Look, I know he can't practice but think of it, I could build goodwill and if we could get his brain with our funding and talent, if he could direct and lead research. Plus, I'll be working a case, out of your hair for a week. You would have peace and quite.” She was playing all the sweet spots, he knew it and she damn well knew what she was doing.

Jones had to admit, she had a point. As much of a benefit she and her reputation was, she was exhausting. He could get her out of his hair for a week. No! Good will with another hospital- a month would be better. “Where is the patient?”

“New York Presbyterian Hospital.” Her phone pinged in her pocket. A quick peek showed a text message from Dr. Strange reading 'Chief cleared it here.' That hospital had large donors with deep pockets.

“I'll make the call and see if we can work something out and -” he was cut off by her.

“Done. They are aware and approved. Time arrangement and flight need to be worked out.” She stood up.

“Flight and boarding are your problem. You are on loan, one month, I don't give a shit how you get there or where your sorry ass stays.” Jones wasn't going to give her everything else.

“Fine. Whatever you say Boss.” She was heading out, phone in hand and paid no mind to the man behind her as he sighed his annoyance.

“Strange,” She didn't bother to greet him with any pleasantries. That was often the way with Doctors. “You owe me dinner. I'll grab the first flight.”

“Checking now. Next leaves in 30. 1 hour out departure time for the flight after. How much time do you need?” For once he didn't demand to be addressed by title. True Doctors had times where the title was a must, other times it could be discarded, often when speaking to each other outside of formal situations. Doctors calling each other doctor every time they used a name got tiring and bogged down a conversation, it was a waste of time.

“I'll update you when I know.” With that, she disconnected the call again. It irritated him but there was no point in booking a flight when she can just standby for the first departing. It was better then trying to find something with open seats and booking, plus she could pull the “Doctor” card.

She grabbed her purse and the larger tote bag she kept under her desk. Inside was a pair of scrubs and an extra tank top, panties and socks. She shoved her white coat inside as well as her travel makeup bag from her desk. Inside was a hairbrush and the bare minimum makeup she needed to not look like a zombie. It was a habit to have a tote and makeup bag from the old days. You could be going on 72 hours of minimum sleep but clean socks, panties and a little makeup could make a world's of difference.

She made made her way through the hospital to employee parking, ignoring doctors as they talked to her, offering 'good mornings' and trying to present her cases. It was these same doctors that would talk about her when she wasn't in the room. They thought her 'too young' or 'too outspoken'. Some didn't care for her hair- finding her unprofessional.

Her hair was the one luxury she allowed herself. It was a process, bleaching out her naturally nearly black hair to white, toning the yellow and orange out and dying it. Sometimes it was blues and purples or greens and blues. Most of the time however, she kept her hair a fiery mixture of reds, oranges and yellows.

By 6AM she was parked in Long Term parking and booked on a 7AM flight. She texted Strange to inform him, not bothering with yet another pesky call as she made her way through security. It was always an annoying process, though she was no stranger to traveling. Some airports had you leave your shoes on, some had you take them off, some you had to unpack most of your bag, others would rather you not open your carry on at all.

That is why she always traveled as light as she could. Today, she just had a makeup bag and cell phone to set out and her sensible low heals to set on the belt. Security was painless for her today, beyond having to wait what felt like a year for the people in front of her to figure out what they were doing.

She had barely enough time to make it to the gate and board. Many years ago, in a more naive time, the task of catching a flight would have been quicker, however once you remembered flights were fewer, it seemed not worth a trade.

With her bag safely under the seat in front of her, she givers herself a moment to breath before unlocking her phone. Travel was always tiring, but she managed to snag a good flight. Even better, she had a window seat.

“Boarded,” She texted Strange. “Vitals?” This was her last chance to check up on her patient before being out of contact for the next five hours. Luckily, she had a nonstop flight and didn't have to mess with changing planes. The downside was to be out of contact for so long. There was always something.

It didn't take long for her phone to light up with the requested information,. She passed orders for a few basic tests. She wanted updated results. As her father taught her, in Diagnostics, you never trust the work of the doctors coming before you. After all, if they were as good as you, they wouldn't need you. They were always missing something, some key piece that was normally in fairly plain sight. Was it any wonder that her colleagues couldn't stand her?

She napped on the flight when she could, read when she could not. All while making a point to ignore the man next to her. He wanted to talk, to flirt, to tell his life story. One day, maybe she would live in a world where a man didn't think he was entitled to her attention just because she didn't have a ring on her finger. It was worth a thought to purchase herself some rings to save herself some sanity at the very least.

While Dr. Reiko Martin was in the air, on the other side of the country, Stark paced the room. Being helpless wasn't something he liked. Further, not knowing the answer irritated him. He was grouchy, angry and sick with worry. Lack of sleep and not eating didn't help things.

“You better be right about this Doctor.” Stark had hardly slept and the bags under his eyes were dark. The one person he cared about lay on the hospital bed, sick, thin, and weak. He alternated between angry and hopeless in seemingly random waves, taking his frustrations out indiscriminately on those around him.

“She's our best bet.” Strange assured him.

They were tense as they waited. Strange closely watched for changes. She was relatively stable, for now. He was a surgeon, and he felt the gaps in his medical knowledge most fiercely now. He would hardly call Stark a friend, but had to do what he could for the woman in the bed. Before his accident, he didn't take every case he was presented, he could have done so much more good.

Five hours and fifteen minutes was the scheduled flight time. Yet he checked for updates often. He arrived at the airport and was waiting at the security gate five minutes before the flight pulled into the gate, early. Better early then late.

Dr. Martin had to evade the man next to her as he attempted to ask for her phone number. He followed her out the gate, passing security officers, hot on her heals. What good was having all these officers? “Come on, let me buy you a drink.” The man whined behind her. She could only do so much to avoid him and no matter how many times she brushed him off, he kept coming. What could she do? She wasn't a fighter, she wasn't strong and he was bigger then her and following her.

She turned and passed through the gate marking where security ended and had to smile when she saw him. It had been a good few years since she had last seen Dr. Strange. Many thought they hated each other, they would in fact often bicker and snide remarks would fly freely, but she was rather fond of him in many ways. It was always a chore to remind herself that he didn't actively set out to show her up, they didn't even share a specialty. Honestly, she liked him when he wasn't being an arrogant ass.

He had gray in his hair now, it looked good on him. No longer did he shave his face clean, she noted, pleased. She also noted that he carried himself with a more intimidating air. With a clean shaven face he looked younger then he was and that wouldn't do for her plan to free her self from the annoying imbecile following her.

When he saw her, he cocked an eyebrow. She knew it had to be because of her hair. The last time he saw her, it was woven in shades of purple and deep blue with lightening streaks of teal. This was certainly a drastic change. Her hair was never professional.

She smiled at him, wrapping her arm around his arm and leaning her head onto his shoulder. “Father, I missed you.” She cooed, looking up at him lovingly as she thanked the stars that she looked so young compared to him. Not that he wasn't old enough to be her father, he just would have had to start young.

“Wha-” She cut him off with a soft kiss on his cheek when he looked down at her.

“Play along dammit.” She whispered in his ear as she pulled away. “Father, do I have a free night for a date before I leave again?” She pouted at him. The man behind her was taken back by the slight change in her, as well as coming face to face with her 'father'.

“No, I'm sorry. Your friend can have the house number if he wishes to talk to you but you are booked full, Love.” She blushed at the unexpected use of a pet name. He offered the man, boy really, his hand. He looked to be around 25 and should be easy enough to scare off.

The man/boy mumbled an excuse and ran off, clearly not mature enough to deal with the spur of the moment meeting of a father.

“Let's go.” Dr. Martin breathed a cleansing sigh as she let go of Strange's arm and began marching right passed baggage claim.

“Wait, your bags?” Strange never traveled lightly in his days in medicine. He was never urgently needed, cases could wait for him and so, the idea that she simply wouldn't have a bag was lost on him.

“Don't worry about it, where's the car?” She called, insinuating that maybe she had paid to have her bags delivered to her hotel or perhaps the hospital.

His long strides allowed him to quickly catch up to her. “Cab is waiting.” She cocked an eyebrow at him. Before, he was never a man to ride in a taxi, even after downing a few drinks.

True, he was a reckless driver at times due to his overconfidence but the man leading her seemed different. She had heard about his accident, the painful details of the mighty fall of Dr. Stephen Strange where the greedy whispers in the halls of the surgery wings in hospitals everywhere. He had been a dominating force in his field, second to none and breaking new ground seemingly monthly. None could do what he could. Was it any wonder he had been known to be arrogant with a god complex?

She remembered her father telling her of him as a young man, fresh out of medical school. He was the story that was used to push her, to motivate her. She had to be better then him in her own field, for his success was as fleeting as youth. At times, she had hated Dr. Strange, he had seemed to have it all. But as she grew as a physician in her own right and as a woman, she noticed it. Much like her, they whispered about him. They were jealous of him and simply were better at hiding it.

Maybe they hid it better because he was a man, maybe because he, like them, had paid his dues. It didn't matter, not really. He had fallen, his own arrogance was his downfall and now, she could see the slight tremors in his hands whenever he moved them.

#dr stephen strange #dr strange x oc #dr strange #stephen strange

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cageofsteel · 3 years

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Washed the dishes. Cleared the trash. Did the laundry.

Tended to my plants. Its been D+30 since I carried out the emergency repot procedure for my overwatered Philodendron pink, removing clumps of damp soil and frantically trying to blow dry its roots till 2am that night. Right now, it has a baby leaf trying to unfurl but that seems to be taking an unusually long time -- as long as you're still alive, we have a chance, don't we? Please live.

Unpacked my stuff from camp and repacked it for storage because I was going to need it very soon over the next 3 years (Thank you for your service to the nation!). There is a possible call up in November but I have one more 21 day course to complete before my next rank promotion (unlike courses we did as junior officers, these are academically-dense courses that could give you permanent brain damage. During the last one, I frequently booked out in the evenings when classes ended so that I could continue to study at home and book in the next morning at 6am without sleeping, just so my bunkmate could sleep in camp without being bothered by my "excessive" behaviour).

Keeping myself occupied with these chores offered me the temporary relief and comfort during those idle moments. Although I was functioning properly at work yesterday (first day since leaving camp), I felt my heart was missing.

I realised I was feeling depressed. I was disappointed that I was depressed. I felt empty since leaving camp (I deserve to be publicly whipped for being so weak).

The only positive was perhaps, I stopped taking my day job personally, which would logically, translate to better overall wellbeing. Though, I would never allow expectations and standards to be compromised. Feeling lesser, separating that emotional department from work should be a good thing, if not, a better thing.

Arranged my wines (still hesitant whether to get that 70 bottle wine chiller) as the bottles are piling up.

Spoke to a new referred client. He was asking me to recommend him affordable IGTs for daily drinking around $150 a bottle. After haphazardly trying to select possible options from various suppliers on hand, I stopped and decided that I had to go back to reading up. I knew nothing about Italian wines except for a 3 things: Amarone, Amarone, and Amarone. Some fun facts I've remembered about Italy: soave is from veneto. Ripasso is the process of adding/repassing the fermentated grape skins and seeds back to the juice for extended maceration. Appasimento is the process of drying the grapes (typically on wooden trays or straw mats in a well ventilated room during autumn months for up to 30 months) to increase concentration. There are thousands of grape varieties native to Italy. I've tasted some super tuscans. Chianti and chianti classico needs to be at least 70% and 80% sangiovese respectively. I've never tasted barolo. The best Cannanou aka grenache are produced in Sardinia, near Mt Etna. I like vermentino. I love Italian food.

Because he knew his stuff (in this case, drinking and spending big bucks for it), reverse engineering would not be the best shortlisting methodology here. That would also constitute to a sacrilege to the wine gods; and I for sure, would not be able to sleep peacefully for many nights.

He gave me 2 names: Tignanello and Sassicaia. He does not know Ornelia and several others, so I would attack on the ones he has not heard or tried, I would also guess on his taste and even self-actualization preferences. Biserno, the "bazooka" that Giacomo took out that evening at his restaurant over the scampis, angel hair pastas, and grilled beef that we had, would certainly be an ideal choice. How can a banker, or any sort of self-respectabling, self-made, successful person, resist the beautiful story of revolution, rebellion and vision?

Taking a quick break before picking up the books.

It's my off day today.

Sounds crazy to say this: I'm thankful for being able to wake up later to practice, lie on the sofa, be lazy, order in food delivery, without stepping out of the house, though the voice in my head would always yell "be productive!" and urge me to fill it with more noble and respectable tasks and agendas. Ah, the pleasures and luxuries of my life these days. Sin! Sin feels so good! LOL.

Sometimes, I question my own choices like why I even jumped into this f&b thing in the first place. Official, practical reasons aside, on a personal level, to test myself? To prove to myself that I could excel at anything I set my mind to? To redeem myself from the shadows of past failure, shame, or loss of identity? As a repentance? What? Was it the childhood shame and self-esteem issues I'm trying to rewrite? Anyway, whatever the conscious and subconscious motivations were, I'm not exactly sure if this kind of spirit, bravado, and fanaticism is ultimately anything useful but dangerous and self-sabotaging.

I wished I was someone else who's anything but me. Safe. In control. Predictable. Contented. Happy.

Remember to smile big and smile bigger in your heart.

Take care,

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mabsj · 4 years

Text

30/12/19

Hellooowww Tumblrr Diary... Late update I guess because my schedule is abit tight today.. (29/12).. I schedule myself spending time with families, they wanted to have their lunch at bedok Sri Bistari.. Should try and if you want to eat Roti John, Nasi Ayam Penyet, thats a place I can recommend.. If someone who loves to eat Pengat Durian, they are selling too.. But have to be quick because its limited only.. Well Diary, today was a tiring day.. Spend time with my family for lunch at bedok, then I went for my fitness to gain back not muscles, but strength.. ahahaha.. But if muscles would be fine.. hahahah.. Anywayssss... Supposedly I'm meeting my best buddy (Hisyam).. Well....Turns out I cancel it because He's somewhat late so I want to finish my fitness early.. So I texted him to cancel and we find another day Insyaa'Allah.. So after having lunch, spend time with my family, send them back home, change my attire bla bla bla, get to my car, drive off to ECP(East Coast Park).. Yeeeaaapp.. I decided to change the menu.. I mean...venue.. So I make some quick jog, and my cousin called.. This cousin of mind, He's a littllllee bit fetish.. Not fetish in that.. But fetish in riding up.. Yeah.. He pass his bike license and buy a 1st hand bike.. He loves bikes.. But for me,, I loves cars.. Not luxuries I supposed.. So I continue my jog and some push ups, pull up and I jogg back to where I park my car because Im meeting him there.. So he arrive and we walk to this so called like a foot bench.. Cant describe it but if you were a photogenic type of person who loves to take a picture with nice view scenery of the sunset, thats the place.. So he sat down having out nonsense conversations and he ask me if I would ever accompany him if he were want to ride up with me.. My answer is, I WOULD LOVE TO.. Like who doesnt want to travel right ?? Drive up, see the scenery, visiting neighbour country.. But he told me, Im much more faster driver than him.. But woah.. I have to stop that.. He know I've been to Thailand by driving up.. Border of Narathiwat.. So he ask me, whats the feeling like.. I said, wonderful.. Lots of Challenging.. He wants to try but he was scared.. Because his bike is R15 V3.. 2B bike.. But I said, my nephew ride X1R to thailand and he is also 2B bike.. Much smaller tank than yours.. But he manage..If a smaller bike can manage, why not you.. I said to him.. Your pitstop is mucb more than car.. I drove up, my only pitstop is top up some petrol.. Which is from full till empty lights on, it took me 450km.. Smaller bikes can reach up est 150km-250km depending on what type of 2B bikes.. Cars is more tiring even if we drive fast, even if we got aircon, roof, but once you fall asleep, thats it.. that car will turn into a bed of yourself..

So he ask me why dont I change my car to drive like bigger CC cars example like BMW, MERC, AUDI, VOLKSWAGEN, JAGUAR, ESTIMA, VELLFIRE, ALPHARD.. And I told him, thats is what every single person dream of to have.. But mine is different.. I dont dream of having that car.. I dont like is.. My favourate car is sports car.. Not exotic supercar like skyline gtr.. nope.. Thats not me.. I prefer sports car like Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi Lancer GT, Colt plus Turbo.. Those legally modified cars.. Eventhough they aren't that luxury, but the interior you can make it luxury.. My mindset of buying a car is not about luxury or feeling luxury.. Its about traveling with ease, comfort.. Its how you change to make it comfortable.. Yes I drove a red Subaru.. Its loud.. I named that car Sabre.. Because its loud and fast except not blow off valve sound.. And I save that my money and bought that car and pay full cash.. But I have to let it go due to lots of mechanical failure.. So I change to Mitsubishi Colt Plus Turbo.. Not so sporty and big.. Just a small zippy white car looks like a hatchback.. But the engines ladies and gentlement.. I was shock by with its pick up power and withstand power.. Its incredible.. Much faster than my Sabre(Subaru).. With Mivec Turbo, Smooth engine, Loud blow off valve sound, Turbo installed and thats a beauty.. I fall in love to that car and I trade in my Sabre to that.. And I named is, Beetle.. It looks like a beetle to me due to the body size and the face of the car..

Yeap.. Thats the beauty.. My longest journey with this lady is to Narathiwat Thailand.. I know Singapore cars heading to Thailand can only cross border at Kayu Hitam(Perlis).. So no choice.. I head there visiting my late uncle family there as we unable to visit him when he passed away.. So there was me(driver), passengers is my mum, cik rasid(Uncle), Cik noi(Aunty) and Ramdhan(Cousin).. 5pax in this car travelling to Narathiwat.. We depart at night around 9pm Singapore at my Aunty house.. So we go through via Tuas-Second Link and stop at gelang patah for them to buy food, snacks, cigg whatsoever.. we departed at 10pm.. I was the main and only driver.. I make calculations before the trip on how many times I need to pump, how many pitstop, and total KM journey, est total hours and est time arrival.. Initially it goes as plan as what I plan on hardcopy.. 1hr break on every pitstop.. Total hours including pit stop is 18hrs estimated including pit stop.. total journey, going there took me 1256km.. not counted as going back to singapore.. thats times 2..

So we depart from gelang patah at 10pm.. My first pit stop is Yong Peng bus terminal pit stop where every busses stop there.. We arrive there 1hr 15mins as what I clocked in inside my stopwatch.. But sadly many of the halal food is closed.. so we head to next RnR.. And gladly its open.. so we had some food to eat.. 1hr.. I finish my food, I go to the massage chair for massage.. insert in Rm10 and all mine.. but halfway I let my mom continue because the massage chair beside me spoiled.. hahahaha.. And we departed at 11.15pm.. I decided to have additional pit stop for me to had my cold bath to wake me up and drink some coffee, have some cigg.. not sure whats the pitstop name.. Because i've been driving for 2hrs and 30mins non stop and I feel sleepy.. Time was like around 2am plus.. I had my bath and drink strong coffee because normal coffee still makes me sleepy.. And smoke some sticks.. So time still shows 2am plus.. And I continue the trip.. The rest all are asleep.. Only me are awake.. In order for them to sleep peacefully, I plug in my earpods.. ahahaha.. So I played hip hop songs with full blast.. We reach KL RnR pitstop at around 3.45am.. shock huh.. I was driving 140km/h with 5pax inside.. hahahaha.. So they all had their meals whatever.. 4.30am, we continue the journey.. Same as usual, everybody was asleep.. I continue driving.. Drive about 2hr30mins, we arrive at Penang.. Slightly above penang.. ahahaha.. Time shown is 6am.. so me, my mum, my aunty went for our subuh prayers.. I felt fresh after my prayers.. so I grab myself some coffee and some fruits so we head on to our last RnR pit stop.. the Northbound i forgot the name is.. Its 45mins drive.. And there we had our morning freaking cold bath, and had our breakfast.. They thought its 1hr still.. But I told them, make it 2hrs.. Because we are early and ahead of our Schedule.. They are shock.. ahahaha.. I was shocked too.. Had my 2nd petrol pump and we buzz of to Changlun.. Still at malaysia but thats were I do my 3rd party insurance for thailand, white card and details of the pax inside my car and details of my car.. We reach Kayu Hitam at 9am.. And its fast.. Then we reach at Sadao border, thats where it my turn to get off from the car to get my export vehicle permit done.. total we spend there almost 2hrs including chop our passport.. Once done, we continue our journey in Thailand.. Welcome to Thailand..

The journey is not as comfortable as malaysia or singapore.. Its really rough.. Dont even think your car will be clean.. Its dirty with sand and muds.. We head on to Narathiwat Via Pattani.. Thats the highway for them though.. And the journey took us 3hrs by right.. BUT !!!! It drag till 4hrs.. BECAUSE !!! The waze GPS shows speed limit is 90km/h.. But actually they are driving 40-50km/h.. Skip the journey we reach narathiwat school at 4pm(Local Time).. Thailamd timing is 3pm(1hr behind).. We had my cousin to fetch us infront of the school and guide us inside.. Finally we reach..

We arrive at 4.15pm to our Late Uncle family house.. She cooked for us actually.. She knows I love tom yum and she cook it spicy for me.. hahahaha.. But sadly didnt get to.. Because, upon arriving, we greet and see them hug and cry, and me unloading all the stuff from my boot, and we chit chat, laugh, and on ome point, I lie down and poooofffff.... I was fast asleep.. My mum told me I was soundly asleep from 5pm(Local) till next day 10am(local).. ahahahaha..

Alright Diary..Will continue tomorrow as I need my sleep because Im working.. Good nighty..

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bigyack-com · 4 years

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From Beed to Tokyo, Sable’s long, hard run

“Bas, zid thi (I was just stubborn)!”Stubborn sums up Avinash Sable.Zid, of single-handedly plucking his family out of poverty. Zid, of making his way into the Indian Army. Zid, of discovering his love for running, and in less than five years after becoming an athlete, smashing through a national record that has stood for decades—bettering it three more times in the space of a year—and becoming the first Indian man to make the final of the 3000m steeplechase race at the 2019 World Athletics Championship and qualify for the 2020 Olympics.Travel to Mandava, where Sable was born and raised, and it’s not hard to see the source of his deep-set tenacity.Eight kilometres inland from the highway that runs from Mumbai to Beed, Mandava is a village with roughly 2,500 people and little land. The road that leads to the village is rocky and cracked during the long dry months, and muddy and non-existent when it rains. In November, when this correspondent visited, the village’s farmlands lay mostly barren—barring a few patches of wheat, and a few groves of lemon trees.It is here that Sable first started running, more out of compulsion than as a sport.Sable’s parents—father Mukund and mother Vaishali—own a small parcel of land, but like almost every family in the village, struggled to make ends meet with farming. Instead, Mukund and Vaishali started taking up daily wage jobs—as labourers to construct and repair roads near Lonavala and Pune, or as workers at a brick kiln near the village.

“We would leave at 3am for work after waking up at 2am to prepare the day’s food for Avinash and Yogesh (Avinash’s younger brother). And we would return only late in the evening after we got our day’s money,” Mukund, sitting on a charpoy outside his house, recalls.For a young Sable, these years of struggle left a deep impression. “Working hard is in my blood,” Sable says. “Whatever memories I have of my childhood, most of it is seeing my parents’ struggles to feed me and my brother every night.”And thus, despite not having the luxury of a cycle like some other boys, Sable says he never thought twice about the difficulties of reaching his school, 6km from his house, on foot. On the contrary, Sable, as early as when he was eight years old, began to find a solitary joy in running those 12km to and from his school every day.Swinging a plastic bag filled with his books, Sable would run on. “Woh kehte hai na, God’s gift,” Sable says. “I have that with running. Whenever I used to run, people would say, ‘This boy never gets tired of running’.”His primary school teacher, Babasaheb Taware, was one of the people who noticed.When he was in the 4th standard, Sadashiv took Sable to a school athletic meet for a 1000m race. Sable came first.“He had the talent and discipline but more importantly, he had guts,” Taware says. “That’s when I knew he was not an ordinary boy.”Taware knew he had to look after the boy carefully; when Sable’s father told him that he was thinking of taking the boy along daily to the brick kiln since there was no one home to take care of him, Taware intervened. He offered to take Sable home with him instead after school, and Mukund could pick him up on his way back from the kiln.“If he had gone with his father at that time, he wouldn’t have become a runner,” the 47-year-old Taware says.When he was 11 years old, conditions at home forced Sable’s parents to send him to live in a hostel for economically backwards children. Here, his running talent was spotted again. This time, he was sent to the Aurangabad Krida Prabodhini centre (Krida Prabodhini is an ambitious state-run programme which runs residential sports schools across the state to groom potential athletes).Ironically, it backfired. In the four years that Sable spent at the Krida Prabodhini, from standards 7 through to 10, his running career all but stopped.“I was very short as a kid, so no one there thought that I could do well in long-distance running. I didn’t perform well in any race that I participated in during those years,” Sable says.Sable thought that his sporting career was over. After finishing school, he returned home and enrolled in a college, hoping to pick up odd jobs after class to help his family—for a six-hour workday at a construction site, he earned ~100, he says.For all the change in his life, one old habit returned. Still without any form of transport, Sable began running again—house to college, and back—16km every day.And just like in school, another teacher saw Sable’s potential—the college’s physical education coach, Zameer Sayyed, took Sable under his wings, helping him train before and after classes. On Sundays, when there was no college, Sable would do a 10k run to a sugar factory down the highway; the teenage athlete’s workload was monstrous.Between 2010 and 2012, Sayyed paid from his own pockets to take Sable to taluk, district, division and state level 5000m races. Sable was, literally, far ahead of the competition.“Those races were of 12.5 rounds (around a 400m track), and by the time Sable finished, his competitors would be in the ninth or 10th round,” Sayyed, sitting in the college sports room with a basketball in hand, says. “While the others would get tired after seven-eight rounds, this guy would increase his speed. His stamina was something else.”The zid was back.“Deep down my heart, that’s when I felt that I could do something in running,” Sable says.Sayyed recalls how for a felicitation ceremony organised by the college after Sable won one of the state races, he advised the principal to hand the boy a cash price of ~2,000 so that he could buy running shoes.“He needed money, and he needed to run. I was trying to help with both,” Sayyed says.But for all his passion for running, it was still not a viable way of making money, and Sable desperately needed to earn. At 17, Sable made his way to an open trial held by the army in Osmanabad. He passed the physical and was summoned for a written test in Pune. Without money for a hotel, Sable spent the night sleeping at the gates of the Army Institute.On December 2012, Sable joined the Mahar Regiment of the Indian Army. His first posting, in the winter of 2013, was Siachen, the world’s highest battlefield. For a man who had never seen snow before, Sable found himself in a place where it seemed to never stop snowing. He spent two years there, with no thought of running. Then he was posted to the desert town of Lalgarh Jattan, near the Pakistan border in Rajasthan, where summer temperatures hover near 50 degrees. Sable distinctly remembers one evening in the soaring heat, when he and his fellow jawans were talking of running.“We were sitting in the mess, and some boys told me, ‘You run well, but cross country is not easy. You won’t be able to do it’,” Sable says. “That was my turning point. I wanted to prove them wrong. Bas, zid thi.”Even as his colleagues would begin their training at 6am, Sable woke up at 4 to run alone. The solo act would continue for an hour in the evening too, when everyone else would relax after the hard day’s toil.Sable ran his first inter-army cross country race in 2016, and immediately came under the notice of Amrish Kumar, the army’s long-distance running coach. Kumar picked up Sable to be a part of the army’s camp for the top 22 long-distance runners held in January 2017 in Hyderabad, where his running pathway took a dramatic detour.Kumar, a steeplechase runner back in his younger days, knew that ‘Shivaji Maharaj’—as he teasingly called Sable—was not meant to rule the cross country circuit. So, one evening during the camp when his steeplechase athletes were crossing hurdles while training, Kumar summoned Sable for a conversation.“I told him, ‘Come, I’ll show you a new game today’,” Kumar recalls. “He asked me, ‘How do I cross the hurdle?’I asked a 12-year-old girl to jump and show, which she did. Avinash laughed seeing that.“I said, ‘Shivaji Maharaj, do you think of yourself as a Maratha’? He said, ‘Yes sir, I do’. I said, ‘If you’re a true Maratha, you will cross this hurdle easily’.”Sable was convinced.“He came to me and said, ‘Okay sir, I’ll do it (steeplechase)’,” Kumar says. “I said, ‘You won’t just do it, you will break records in six months’.“I told him, ‘You come from an area (Beed district) which is so challenging that it can break the best. But it didn’t break you. So you can do this.” Kumar recalls.So sure was Kumar about Sable that for the Open Nationals in Chennai in September that same year, he called up other coaches in advance and told them that he was bringing a boy who will leave everyone else behind. True to his coach’s words, Sable won gold with a timing of 8:39.81s.What gave him that confidence in a rookie who, till a few months ago, had no idea about steeplechase?“His muscles and body physics,” explains Kumar. “His height is not that much, but if you look at the world’s top steeplechase runners, they’re not that tall. Sable’s muscles were long and strong, like a horse.”“Pehle se hi ghoda tha woh (He was a horse from before),” Taware, the primary teacher, says. “In school, when he played kho-kho, no one could catch him for four-five minutes; he would keep running in circles without getting tired. That’s how his muscles became so strong.”It doesn’t come as a surprise to either Taware or Kumar—who is still Sable’s coach—that the Beed man has made such giant strides in the last 18 months. Sable set a new steeplechase national record at the 2018 Open Nationals in Bhubaneswar in September with a timing of 8:29.80s, erasing Gopal Saini’s 1981 mark. He has since re-written that record three more times; it now stands at 8:21.37s, which he ran in the final of the Doha World Championships in October to book his ticket to Tokyo.That final was watched by children in Sable’s school once it was up on YouTube. The school now has a smart TV installed in the principal’s cabin, and the village sarpanch has already decided that the people of Mandava will watch Sable’s Olympics race together on that TV.Since he joined the army, Sable rarely finds time to visit home; but things have changed there. His parents do not have to do daily wage labour anymore; Sable has ensured a steady source of money. Instead, they cultivate lemons on their two acres of land. From the earthen house Sable grew up in, his parents have shifted to a brick-and-cement home with one room and a separate kitchen.“We never dreamt of this,” Mukund says. “We were daily wage earners with no money. But destiny favoured Avinash and made his life.”For Sable, the next few months will be lived the way he likes it—with the single-minded pursuit of a goal.“Ever since I qualified for the Olympics, I’ve set my mind on giving my life to it,” Sable says. “I want to put on a show that will create history for India.“Bas, zid hai.” Read the full article

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playboybaek · 7 years

Text

24 Hours - two.

Got7 x Reader

Fluff

Word count: 2785

Description: You arrive at the cabin that you’ve been waiting to see. You finally get to have a vacation with some of your best friends, but everyone seems different. You are forced to realize that you aren’t just having a vacation with childhood friends, but full grown men.

A/N: This is longer than I expected it to be. I had most of it written up already, my to-do worklist keeps getting longer and it’s my own fault. Please be patient with me. x3

one. // two. // three. // four. (soon)

6am came too soon as your alarm sounded, waking you up instantly. It never took much to wake you up, especially when it was such a loud alarm. Apparently no one else cared to notice since you were the only one moving. You looked around to find BamBam, Jackson and Jaebum all cuddling on the couch, Youngjae and Jinyoung were spread across the floor, Marks head was still resting on your shoulder and Yugyeom was laying peacefully in your lap. You couldn’t help but to run your fingers through his hair before slowly and carefully lifting his head and placing it on a pillow. You moved Mark’s head so it was resting on the couch cushion behind him. You stood up, trying to keep your balance and not step on anyone. You feet betrayed you as you tripped over Jinyoung. You quietly cursed to yourself, making sure he was still asleep before sneaking off towards the bathroom.

It was better than you got ready first, that way no one was waiting on you. You walked in the bathroom and started the shower. Realizing you forgot your bag of toiletries, you walked out into the hallway looking for your bag. You didn’t live with the boys and would usually just crash on the couch if you ever stayed the night. Once you found the correct bag you started walking back to the bathroom before colliding with a body. You stammered backwards rubbing your forehead. A pair of arms reached out grabbing your waist to keep you steady.

“You’re not very good with mornings, are ya?” Jinyoung whispered. You laughed while rubbing the spot his chin hit. “Sorry about that.” he raised his hand, moving your hair from your face, trying to take a look at your injury in the poorly lit hallway.

“I’m okay.” you removed his hand from your head. “I have a pretty thick skull.” you laughed. Jinyoung brought his hand up to your chin, his thumb tracing a corner of your smile.

“What are you two doing?” you heard a voice behind Jinyoung. You peeked behind him, removing his arms from your waist and face.

“I was just about to shower, until I collided with Jinyoung’s chin.” you pointed to an invisible spot on your forehead, sticking your bottom lip out. Jaebum walked over to your flicking the same spot you pointed at, making you hiss in pain. “Jerk.” you cried out. Jaebum, leaned forward placing a quick harmless kiss on the spot.

“You’ll be okay.” he said softly. Your face flushed and were grateful that they couldn’t see the change of color. You nodded and made your way into the bathroom, sliding down the door. You placed your hands on your burning cheeks to calm yourself down. You pulled yourself together and finished getting ready. By the time you came out everyone was up and moving around. They were zombies, but at least they were still moving. Everyone took quick showers and loaded up their bags into a van. They were used to the large luxurious vans, but you were not. It felt more like a limo.

You sat in the backseat in between Youngjae and Jackson. You knew you had a good bladder and wouldn’t have to get out of the van as much as the others, that were constantly downing drinks. Jaebum was designated driver, more so because he didn’t trust anyone else’s driving. The trip was only 6 hours, but 6 hours trapped in van with 7 hyperactive guys felt like a lifetime.

“I’m truly convinced that all of your are energizer bunnies.” you spoke holding your temples.

“You know you love it.” Jackson squealed in your ear. You slapped his arm playfully and he looked at you like he has never been so offended, you couldn’t help but to laugh at him. Your rubbed the spot gently before writing an invisible signature on it.

“There, all healed and signed off by me.” you proudly proclaimed as if you were some sort of Got7 doctor. “I have a PhD in healing invisible pain.” you declared.

“I have an invisible pain right here.” Youngjae said, pointing to where his heart is supposed to be. You flicked his chest, then gently rubbed it, placing an invisible signature.

“I gave you an invisible pain, then I healed it.” you smiled at him. He laughed, holding his hand over his heart.

“I have an invisible pain too!” BamBam chimed in. “It’s right here on my-” before he could finish, Mark placed his hand over BamBam’s mouth. Everyone knew where this was going and decided to move on. You flicked the back of BamBam’s neck and snickered at him when he turned around. “Heal it!” he cried out.

“Don’t make me turn this car around.” you heard Jaebum, using his authoritative voice again. You saluted him in response.

The rest of the drive was full of screaming, singing, and sleeping. 6 hours really did feel like a lifetime. You woke up to the van feeling like it was experiencing turbulence. You looked out the window pass Youngjae as you saw trees and wildlife go by, you saw that you were on a rocky road and you knew the cabin was nearby. Jaebum saw your expression in the rear view mirror and smiled “Yes, we’re here.”

You have never been to the cabin before. It was always just the 7 of them, and you respected that. Boys need boy time too, but you were more than excited to find out that you’ve been invited this time. When the van finally parked you climbed over Jackson to get out first. Your legs felt stiff, stretching them was the best feeling you’ve had all day. You looked around at the wilderness, as green as it could be. It was the perfect time of the season, autumn was only a few weeks out, but everything still had its color. The cool breeze making it even more enjoyable.

“Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to help us?” Mark said, poking your side as he walked to the back of the van. You sighed and followed him, grabbing your fair share of luggage to carry inside.

“I just realized we have a minor problem.” Jaebum breathed, scratching his head deep in thought. “We have nine beds spread out between three bedrooms.”

“No couch?” you asked looking around. You saw a loveseat, which wouldn’t be impossible to sleep on.

“There is no need for you to sleep on a couch when there are plenty of beds.” Jaebum scolded. “You should be comfortable here, especially since we will be here for a week.” he added.

“We will just play rock, paper, scissors to see who gets to room with her then.” Jackson retorted, flipping his hat backwards as if prepared to fight. Everyone nodded in agreement as Jaebum sighed.

The boys started going at it, one by one, another was eliminated until it was down to the leader and the maknae, talk about a tough competition. With one final throw of hands, Yugyeom’s paper beat Jaebum’s rock and he jumped up and down like a child, his hair bouncing. You wrapped your arm around his neck pulling him down to your height.

“I get to room with our cute maknae.” you baby talked him, rubbing your hand through his hair, messing it up. Everyone laughed as Yugyeom pouted, breaking free from your hold.

“But I’m taller than you noona.” he stomped his feet looking down at you.

“That doesn’t change anything.” you patted his head before moving your stuff to a room. You collapsed on the bed you decided to claim, staring up at the ceiling, closing your eyes for just a moment.

You heard a scream from the kitchen and quickly ran to see what happened. You looked around to make sure everyone was okay, which they were, except Jinyoung who was staring into empty cupboards all around the kitchen. You burst out laughing along with everyone else.

“How can you laugh when there is no food?” Jinyoung cried out. “How will we eat?!” he continued his rampage.

“Remember, there’s a store down the road? It’s only about two miles.” Youngjae reminded him calmly. Jinyoung took a deep breath, placing his hand on his chest. Drama queen.

“Who is coming with me to the store?” Jinyoung asked everyone.

“I will.” Jaebum said, grabbing his coat. Yugyeom and Jackson also grabbed their coats following Jaebum and Jinyoung out the door.

“I’m going to take a nap.” Mark yawned before walking to his room.

“I think I’m going to take a look outside. This is my first time here so I want to see everything.” you told the two remaining boys, grabbing your coat.

“I’ll come with you. If you get lost, Jaebum might actually kill me.” Youngjae called out from across the room. The both of you headed down a trail that wasn’t used often, you could tell by how hard it was to see. If it wasn’t for youngjae, you might have actually become lost. With the season, the bugs weren’t too bad and barely bothered you. Youngjae looked like he was on high alert for anything that moved.

“Are you afraid of bugs, Youngjae?” you asked him, trying hard not to laugh. Youngjae cleared his throat, standing up straighter as if that were to convince you otherwise.

“Of course not! I’m more worried about things like lions, tiger, or even bears.” he recited matter of factly.

“Oh my.” you added, causing him to laugh.

“While we’re out here I want to show you something.” Youngjae grabbed your hand, lightly pulling you off the trail into slightly taller grass. You were suddenly happy that you wore long pants. “We’re almost there.” he reassured you.

“You’re not trying to kill me, are you?” you squeezed his hand. “I would appreciate not dying today.” you joked lightheartedly. Youngjae turned his head, flashing you a beautiful smile that could light up the world, you felt suddenly at ease.

“We’re here.” he stopped, pulling you from behind him. You were standing at the top of a very large waterfall, that dropped at least 15 feet. You released Youngjae’s hand to get closer to the edge. You couldn’t see all the way down because of the mist, which you were almost thankful for. Heights weren’t one of your strong points, but curiosity was a stronger quality than fear. You learned over just a bit more before you felt Youngjae grab your back belt loop.

“I think you’re the one that’s trying to kill yourself here.” he laughed, placing his hands on your hips to guide you safely off the rocks. You grabbed his shoulders as you jumped off the last rock.

“Thanks for bringing me here Youngjae. It’s seriously beautiful.” you smiled at him. “I guess we should head back before it gets dark.” you suggested, pointing to the sun that was starting to set.

“Good call.” he replied, grabbing your hand again. He held your hand all the way back to the cabin, which you made it back just in time before it got too dark.

“About time, I thought I was going to have to start a search party.” Jaebum called to the both of you from the loveseat.

“Just in time too. Dinner is ready.” Jinyoung chimed, removing his mom apron before placing his hands on his hips, proudly staring at the meal he just cooked.

“Wow this looks amazing Jinyoung!” you felt your mouth water just looking at it all. The small hike with Youngjae made you more hungry than you thought. After everyone finished, they sat around patting their full bellies, falling in and out of sleep. You curled up on the small loveseat next to Jackson, resting your head on his shoulder as he mindlessly watched whatever was on the television. You almost instantly fell asleep, the comfort of being around everyone made you feel at ease no matter where you were. You could be in the coldest cave, but as long as those seven troublemakers were there, you were happy.

You woke up to a weightless floating feeling, until you realized you actually were floating. You were no longer at the loveseat, but on your way down towards the bedroom you were staying in. You looked up to see Jackson smiling down at you.

“You fell asleep.” he whispered. “Then you started snoring.” he laughed. You covered your face in embarrassment, lightly hitting his chest.

“I can walk you know.” you declared, squirming in his hold.

“Unless you planned on sleep walking to your room, I don’t think you actually could have. I even trIed waking you up, but you sleep harder than an actual rock.” he laughed, carefully kicking open the door. You looked over to see Yugyeom already asleep, the light from the lightning making his face shine in the dark.

“When did the storm roll in?” you asked as Jackson carefully placed you on the bed. He tucked you in before sitting on the bed himself. You couldn’t help but to laugh at his motherly self.

“About an hour ago, I think. Luckily the scaredy cats were already asleep.” he smirks looking towards Yugyeom. You knew who he was referring to and couldn’t help a chuckle yourself. Yugyeom and Mark were the only two who openly shared their fear of thunderstorms and treated you like you were their thunderstorm guardian. “You should get back to sleep, who knows what craziness Jaebum has planned for us tomorrow. You simply nodded, closing your eyes. You knew if the storm kept raging on that it would be near impossible for you to go back to sleep.

You laid there for 30 minutes hoping the storm would settle, in fact it only became much worse and much louder. You groaned, pulling the blankets above your head. You weren’t exactly fond of storms either, but always put on a brave face for the others. You felt the bed dip on the edge and your heart rate accelerated quicker than it ever has. You kept the blanket over your head hoping that it would make you disappear. Fingers grabbed the top of the blanket slowly moving it down, revealing your nearly petrified state. You kept your eyes close as your last defense.

“Noona, are you scared?” you heard the warm innocent voice. You quickly open your eyes to see Yugyeom groggily looking at you with concern.

“No, of course not.” you puffed out, taking deep breaths to regain steady breathing. He laughed to himself before fully climbing over you. Your heart returning to an unhealthy pace. He smirked at your state before collapsing on the other side of you. Yugyeom grabbed you by your waist, pulling your back into him as he rested his head by your neck. You could feel his heated breath sending shivers over your body.

“I’ll protect you, noona.” he whispered next to your ear. You cleared your throat.

“I’m the one that’s supposed to protect our little Yugyeomie.” you cooed with a small teasing smile. You felt the bed shift again, Yugyeom returning to his previous position above you, this time all smiles are gone, his body language stern, he almost looked sad.

“I am a man, you know.” he growled. You felt your heart drop into your stomach and tried to play it off.

“Of course you are.” you smiled at him warmly. The thunder ripped through the house, shaking it violently. You nearly jumped out of your skin, closing your eyes. Before you knew it you felt lips on yours, hungry, yet gentle. They were dominate, but kind, wicked, but soft. You felt his hands slide up to your face, tilting your chin up with his thumbs so he could gain easier access, you let him. You broke the kiss by grabbing the collar of his shirt and pushing him back. Your breathing heavy, never fully recovered from before. From what little you could see of Yugyeom in the dark, his eyes were pitch black, almost like an animal that’s ready to pounce.

You covered your mouth, muttering a shushed apology. You didn’t know what you were apologizing for, but you felt someone needed to. Yugyeom’s face softened and he returned to his spot at your side, pulling you into him again. You could feel the reaction of this kiss on his lower half and decided to ignore it. Without any other exchange of words, he placed on last kiss on your neck before nuzzling into it and falling asleep. You were amazed how quickly he could fall asleep, meanwhile you were doomed to be haunted awake till morning.

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