#sorry it’s blurry it was dark and they never stop fidgeting lol | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sassycassie-s-writing · 3 years

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Hold My Phone

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): A Court of Thorns and Roses Series/Rhysand

Rating: PG-11/T- (v seductive flirting)

Original Idea: Modern!AU (kinda sorta not really)

Notes: (Masterlist)(By Character)(About Me) This one is so ridiculous. It’s basically a “Everything is Pretty Much the Same but They Have Phones” AU, not really a modern AU because I figured this would be how Rhys would handle having a phone with the High Lord act, lol

^^^^^

My phone buzzed in my pocket. In a meeting with some Autumn Court emissaries. I’m bored. Entertain me? Rhys’ text said.

Why are you texting me? Just use the mating bond, I texted back.

Yeah but I want these idiots to *know* that I’m bored of them and can’t be bothered to give them my attention.

Playing games with them?

Always.

Exactly how do you propose I entertain you?

It took his answer a few minutes to arrive. I wondered if it was because he was thinking about the wickedest, most flirtatious thing to say or something came up in the meeting that he did actually have to give his attention to.

What are you wearing right now? I shouldn’t have been surprised that was his reply.

My purple outfit. The dark purple one with the stars embroidered into it.

I’m debating asking you to send me a picture of you in it or asking you to take it off and send me a picture of *that*

I am not sending you any pictures while you’re in a meeting. I hadn’t replied to a text that quickly in a while.

His reply came quickly too, Send it down the mating bond then. No records ;)

I rolled my eyes and got to my feet. Up in our room, I stood in front of the full-length mirror, stared at myself while lowering my mental shield, shot the image I was looking at—fully clothed—down the bond, and then slammed my shields back into place.

It took seconds for an answering image of Rhys licking his lips with a feral gleam in his eyes to bump into my shield. I rolled my eyes. My phone buzzed. Delicious. As always, darling.

Happy?

Deliriously.

Go back to your meeting, you flirt. I’ll see you later.

But I’m still bored.

Don’t be a baby. I have a meeting in 30 minutes I have to get ready for with the governor of the Palace of Threads and Jewels.

What are you meeting with the governor for?

I don’t think it’s any big deal. Probably just going over some requests from patrons who have gathered together a bunch of things rather than hauling themselves up 10,000 stairs to the House.

Good luck.

You too. I set my phone down on my vanity. I hated getting rid of the loose pants and sleeves but I knew for a meeting like this that I’d need a gown.

I sent Rhys mental images of every gown I tried on before selecting one, and every hairstyle I thought of doing, asking his opinion and ultimately ignoring it when he seductively told me he liked the most revealing dress with my hair unbound. I definitely called him a name I had no plans on apologizing for before replacing my shields.

I ended up going with a modest midnight blue gown glittering with silver threads that would be appropriately formal, but not so formal it felt like an occasion. Instead of a tiara or crown or diadem I kept my hair out of my face with a comb that was made of black metal and studded with diamond dust to look like the night sky. Crescent moon-shaped sapphire taking up most of the space in the middle.

Nuala and Cerridwen approved of my choices and I shooed myself out to go see the governor.

—

I collapsed on the bed after leaving my dress abandoned on the floor. The meeting was exactly what I thought it would be and after all the requests I was tired. I genuinely cared about my people but putting forth the mental strain of trying to figure out how to fix so many problems at once I started having to pretend to be chipper.

I hadn’t realized I dozed off until a weight falling onto the bed beside me woke me up.

Rhys fell in such a way that he could sprawl his wings above me, taking up a good portion of the bed. He was in casual clothing—silver-buttoned black shirt with the top button undone to let his tattoos peek out, black pants, low black boots—but I knew him better than to think he’d gone to the meeting in them. As he fell, he sighed. “That was tedious,” he remarked, setting a hand on the top of my head and scratching my hair. His fingers brushed my comb and he stopped.

“Tell me about it,” I grumbled.

He sat up to lean over me. He gave me a long, slow kiss as he removed the comb from my hair. “You didn’t wear the dress I chose,” he teased.

“I asked your opinion, not to choose for me,” I countered. “Besides, I doubt you’d even want another male to look at me in a dress like that.”

“Fair enough,” he conceded playfully. He kissed the hollow behind my ear. “You can model it for me later.”

“Flirt,” I accused.

“Spoilsport,” he retorted.

His phone started ringing in his pocket. I recognized the personalized tone. He only personalized a few. Azriel’s, Cassian’s, Mor’s, Amren’s, and mine.

Heaving another sigh, he extracted the phone from his pocket. “What do you want, Cassian?” There was no bite at all to the words, just resigned fatigue. He listened to words I couldn’t quite make out as he fidgeted with my comb in his other hand. He rolled his eyes. “That can wait. I’ll squeeze it in tomorrow, okay?”

More babbling from Cassian’s end of the call. I thought I caught snatches of Azriel’s voice too.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll deal with it tomorrow. Bye.” He hung up, but I could still hear them talking as he ended the call. “Can never get one hour of peace with those two,” he muttered, silencing his phone.

He tossed it somewhere behind him and I heard it thunk on the rug.

“For tonight, darling, I have some much more entertaining events scheduled.” He bent over me and pressed another kiss to my lips. I kissed him back enthusiastically, reaching up to brush my fingers into his hair. He relaxed slightly, the weight of his head growing against mine as his neck tension softened.

“Let me silence my phone,” I said.

He waved a hand vaguely over his shoulder. “Done,” he said.

I smiled. “Bath before or after?”

“Hmm… after.”

“Fine with me.”

—

Both of our phones vibrating wildly on the end tables of our bed woke us the next morning. I jolted so hard I bonked my head on Rhys’ wing bone where he’d draped it over me as we slept, as he often did.

I reached out for my phone. There was no caller ID and the combination wasn’t one I recognized. That happened all the time. I answered anyway, assuming it was a matter of state, as usual. “Hello?”

“High Lady?” The voice was small and trembling. Not young, but frightened.

“Yes?”

“There’s something in the harbor.”

Before I could ask for more details, the caller hung up.

Rhys answered his phone much more lazily than I had. “This is Rhys,” he said. He never used his full given name to answer the phone. High Lord Tamlin, his enemy, could be calling and he’d still use Rhys.

He bolted up in bed so abruptly, his wing bone hit me in the back of the head. Thankfully the talon missed me. We both winced at the pain as he mouthed, Sorry, and leapt out of bed to get dressed. I figured I’d probably need to go investigate the harbor so I got up too and found a pair of pants, shirt, and overcoat. Socks and boots followed before I wound my hair into a bun so I wouldn’t have to braid it yet.

Rhys hung up. “Was your call about the harbor too?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I replied. “Though, whoever it was didn’t say much.”

“Same here. Ready?”

I put the same comb I’d been wearing the day before into the top of my bun so I had some sort of ornamentation on. “Ready.”

He grabbed me around the shoulders and winnowed us out of the house.

We reappeared on the docks.

A dark shape was moving around under the surface of the water. I grabbed the railing and peered over it. “Too fluid to be a whale,” I said, noticing a small gathered crowd taking pictures on their phones, some recording videos.

Rhys’ hand settled on top of mine. It’s moving like a serpent, he said down our bond.

My grip on the railing halted. A serpent? Now? Like—like a sea serpent?

He didn’t reply. His dark eyes following where the head’s shape appeared to be.

“Hold onto this for me,” he said, pulling out his phone and holding it out. I took it out of habit, barely noticing his wings extending.

“Wait—Rhys—don’t—!” Too late. He used a powerful launch from his wings to get him over the railing before plunging into the water. As he dropped, I saw his clothes change from the casual dark shirt and pants to his fighting leathers. I wasn’t even sure any of the faeries around us noticed the change. A few of them yelped as his splash sprayed into the air.

I clung to the railing, staring into the depths.

“Rhysand…” I complained. “Stop being so reckless.”

I heard that, he teased.

I meant for you to, I retorted.

Wanna see?

I’m holding your phone. I’m not getting in that water.

You know that’s not what I meant.

I sent the sound of my sigh down the bond and felt his chuckle in return. Fine.

A crack opened in his mental shield. I slid into it, keeping a tether to get me out whenever I wanted if I got freaked out. My eyes glazed over as I started looking through his.

The harbor water was relatively clear, but a bit blurry. I—no, Rhys—flexed his magic to clear up his vision. My—his—hair drifted in front of his eyes a bit.

A large, deep red sea serpent twined around ahead, barely visible through the murk. Large fins were tucked against its sides.

Wings? I asked Rhys.

Yes. For jumping out of the water and snatching sailors from their ships. Among other things, he replied. They usually dwell in the depths. Wonder what it’s doing here.

I didn’t reply as he swam closer. Inside his mind, I could feel him dismiss his wings to reduce drag. Feel the strength in his shoulders as he stroked forward. In his mind, I had no private thoughts, so I knew he felt my anxiety. My fear for his safety. I felt him send a wave of calm through himself. He wasn’t nervous at all—for whatever reason.

The serpent caught sight of him. My breath hitched, but Rhys didn’t even flinch. Gold eyes bored into him, fangs revealed in something of a snarl.

Sorry, love, Rhys thought, I need to speak to it mind to mind, and don’t want you here for it. Too hard to concentrate on two minds at once.

Fine with me, I replied.

He shoved me out of his mind.

I shook my head, blinking, as my consciousness returned to my own body. My hands were so tight on the railing that my knuckles were white.

Something tugged on my tunic. I turned.

A small faerie child with violet skin and long silver hair was standing beside me, looking up at me. “Are you alright, High Lady?” Innocence and genuine concern were in its voice. I knelt to be on the same eye level as the child, my hands resting on the phone in either of my pants pockets.

“Yes. Yes, I’m alright. Just concerned for Rhys.”

The child looked into the harbor. “Mama says the High Lord is very powerful. He’ll be okay.”

I smiled at the child. “Yes. Yes he will.” I reached into the pocket of my tunic, pulling out one of the small candies I kept in there for when children stopped to talk to me—and Rhys usually. I offered it to the child. Everyone in Velaris knew their High Lord and Lady kept candy for children on them, so the child accepted without hesitation. They took off the wax paper wrapper and stuck the candy in their mouth before running back to their parents.

Rhys appeared on the dock behind me, dripping wet. “What’d I miss?” he asked.

I jumped to my feet and whirled around. “You okay?”

“Fine. I convinced it to leave.” He nodded toward the dark shape slithering out of the harbor now. “It was actually lost, I think. I managed to give it directions.”

I chuckled. “Never a boring day in Velaris.”

He joined my chuckle. “Not at all. Cassian’s gonna get a kick—” He swore. “I forgot. Cassian needed my help. You still have my phone?”

As I pulled it out of my pocket, he waved a hand to dry off.

He plunked in Cassian’s combination. “Hey, it’s me. I’m on my way.” He reached out a hand for me. I took it. Dark wind whipped around us as we winnowed away.

#Rhysand #Rhysand Imagine #Rhysand FanFiction #ACOTAR #ACOTAR Imagine #ACOTAR FanFiction #Hold My Phone

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ellusquirk · 4 years

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sunshine girl || scenario - mirio togata

Ackepeteraotnarnia asked: Do you think that you could write a Mirio x reader please ? A really cute one where that retraces their love story together ! she's in general studies (let's say she's quirkless so it's easier for you ! She's a really smart girl but you know shy with people that she doesn't know and when she opens up she's a real sunshine ! At the very beginning,She really wants to know Mirio because he's such a cheerful person so one day she goes up to him and she asks him if he would accept to be her friend (shynesssssss) or something like this because she really admire him ! She's also there when he loses his quirk but she sticks by his side I don't know if you get the general idea ? Honestly it's blurry for me as well but... 😭😂😂

☼

a/n: this is my 500th post oop. also would like to form you all that i listened to ‘toss a coin to your witcher’ for two hours straight whilst writing this and i can confirm it’s the most mind numbing song to write to lol.

☼

When you first saw him, he was crying. He had a tight grip on his mother's leg, fat tears rolling down the globes of his cheeks as the teacher attempted to pull him away, soothing him with encouragement in between assuring his mother that a lot of children acted like this in unfamiliar settings. But despite his mother's and the teacher's best efforts, he can't be coaxed into the classroom, not even at the promise of a new toy if he's good by his mother. The teacher is panicking, she's never had a student this attached to her mother, and her gaze wanders to the classroom, searching desperately for her assistant. Her eyes land on you instead, and she gestures to you and calls your name with a smile, facing Mirio once again when you arrive at her side.

"Hey, Mirio," she tries again, and the boy turns his face slightly to look at his teacher, a new wave of tears glossing his eyes, ready to unleash should the teacher try and tug him away again. "I want you to introduce you to someone, she can be your friend." She turns to look at you. "Sunshine, this is Mirio. He doesn't want to leave his Mummy, do you think you could be his friend and help him feel better?"

Mirio turns his face towards you, observing you curiously as you look from your teacher, to Mirio, then back to your teacher. You reach out towards him, offering your hand and he scrutinizes it. His mother places an encouraging hand on the top of his head. He hesitates for a moment, before placing his hand in yours, letting you intertwine your fingers. When he glances up at you, you're grinning brightly, it's like a ray of light, and he can't help but return a watery smile.

"Sunshine's a weird name."

When Mirio excitedly tells you his Quirk manifested, you share his excitement, watching in awe as he sticks his hand through Tamaki's head, who squirms uncomfortably. He relays the story of his Quirk manifesting with frantic joy, talking at a mile a minute, eyes growing wider and brighter with every words that leaves his mouth. You react appropriately to the story, eyes widening at moments of climax and smile widening when he tells you how he gained control of his Quirk. You're overjoyed that Mirio has his Quirk, but can't help but feel jealous and sad that your own Quirk hasn't manifested. He's quick to notice that you've lost interest in his story, staring at your hands sadly, as if willing your Quirk to surface in that very moment. He whispers words of encouragement to you as the teacher quietens you, and assures you that one day you will get your Quirk.

It's much later in the day before you start to think about what your own Quirk could be again. The vast majority of the other children in your class have theirs now, and there's a special class to help them gain control of their Quirk. It leaves you, Tamaki and another boy in the class to your own devices on the benches at the side of the sports hall, watching on jealously as the other children test the limits of their Quirks. The other boy occupies himself with a book, utterly unconcerned with everything going on around him, and Tamaki fidgets nervously by your side, eyeing the fire that one girl hiccups out anxiously.

"Hey, Sunshine, can you help me get a gym mat out of the cupboard? Miss Tanaka says Nobu needs it to land on in case he jumps to high! Don't worry Tamaki, we won't take too long, Sunshine will be back with you soon."

Mirio barely gives you the opportunity to reply, grabbing your hand and practically dragging you to the cupboard, the light from the large hall outside being the only thing to illuminate it. The mats are large and heavy, and it takes a lot of effort to pull one off of the stack, and Mirio stumbles under the weight of the mat when it finally slides off the top of the stack, falling into the door that you had closed to in order to give you both more room. It slams shut loudly, and no doubt the teachers have heard it, one pushing on the door, only to find it had locked, shouting out reassuring words.

"Wow, it's dark!" Mirio exclaims, he steps forwards, bumps straight into you, and apologises with a laugh. "I'm going to try and find a light switch."

The dark is scary, and the echo of the room makes everything sound louder than it is. Mirio moves away from you, and you squeal loudly when he knocks over a bucket and it clatters loudly. You're certain you can see a monster moving in the dark, but when the room is engulfed in light, nothing's there. You turns towards Mirio, who's half shielding his eyes and half peering around curiously. The light switch is no where near him, in fact it's clearly on the opposite side of the room, and you frown in confusion.

But Mirio laughs loudly, abandoning his attempts to shield his eyes and pointing at you with excitement. "Your Quirk! That's your Quirk! Your Quirk is literally sunshine, Sunshine!"

When you look down at your hands you see he's right, and you're glowing beneath your skin, bathing the room in light. When the teacher's open the door, they're blinded by the light, but mimic Mirio's excitement as he embraces you. Joy fills you, and you hug him back.

III

Your crush develops in middle school. Your heart beats at a mile a minute whenever he's around, your stomach fluttering with anxious butterflies, and you're bashful whenever you're around Mirio. All of the girls in the class have crushes on him, and he smiles brightly at them and engages them in conversation willingly, oblivious to their intentions of getting close to him. Even though the girls take a lot of his attention away from you, he doesn't miss the way you retreat into yourself, now shy and timid like Tamaki.

He doesn't want to bring it up for fear of embarrassing or upsetting you, but halfway through another mostly silent walk home, he blurts his concerns out before he can think. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound so rude! I'm just worried about you! You're a lot quieter, and I was wondering if you were upset with me or anything."

His confession takes you by surprise, and guilt replaces the love-struck pounding in your heart. "Oh. No, I'm not upset with you at all! I just, I don't know. I guess I'm just nervous about leaving middle school. I'm not really sure what I want to do, and I'm going to miss you a lot."

It's half a life, half the truth. You're not upset with him, but you're also not nervous about leaving middle school. You know that you want to follow Mirio to wherever he and Tamaki go, because it's clear that they'll both go to the same place, and you'll miss him dreadfully if you go to different high schools. Mirio seems to accept it as an answer, anyway.

He frowns for a moment, before stopping in his tracks, grabbing your hands in his and turning you to face him. "It is scary, but we're one step closer to being Heroes! We still have a lot of time, U.A. haven't even released the dates for exams yet, so we have tonnes of time before we have to worry about that!" He pauses for a second, searching your eyes, then grins. "Come on, smile! It'll make you feel better. I want to see that sunshine smile from my sunshine girl!"

Some adults coo near you, and it makes Mirio turn red, but he laughs off the awkwardness. His heart flutters in his chest when you finally do smile through your embarrassment, a feeling he's never felt before, but it just makes him happier. He then realises that this is what the girls were talking about in class, the butterflies in your stomach and the stuttering heart, and he's suddenly conscious of how sweaty his hands are, so he pulls you into a hug. He hopes you can't feel his hear pounding in his chest, but you're too distracted by your own clammy hands, and he wonders if this is what love feels like.

Mirio's beyond ecstatic when he finds out you got into U.A. too. He lifts you up into a hug, twirling you around wildly in excitement, laughing boisterously as utter joy consumes him. That makes you, Tamaki and him. He's slightly disappointed when it turns out you only got into General Studies, but he's glad that Tamaki's by his side in 1-A. He learns all sorts of new things, comes up with new ways to use his Quirk, and now his favourite thing to do is to stick his head through walls to surprise you. He laughed so hard he almost peed himself when he scared you so much you stumbled back and fell, and love spreads through him like wildfire when he sees tears streaming down your face as you laugh with him, embarrassed by how surprised you were.

People start to notice he has a crush on you pretty quickly, and some of the boys tease him about his sunshine girl. And although he denies it, he knows he's crushing on you harder and harder each day, and his heart skips a beat whenever he sees you in the halls or at lunchtime. Tamaki knows now, too, and Hado has her suspicions, but Mirio doesn't want to tell her because he knows that once Hado knows, everyone will know, and that includes you.

He hasn't missed the way you periodically glance at a boy in your class across the lunch hall, or how you gush over him when you and Tamaki go to his house after school. He confides this fear to Tamaki, that this boy is catching your interest and he might lose you forever. But Tamaki knows something he doesn't know, that really you're absolutely smitten with Mirio, and have the same fears about Hado and Mirio. You're just friends with the boy in your class, and his Quirk really is something unique.

It doesn't take long for the relationship between you and Mirio to blossom, and Tamaki's thankful. Even though he finds it awkward when you and Mirio act so lovey-dovey, he's glad you two have finally recognised your feelings for each other. Mirio has neber been happier, his mega-watt smile almost always present, and his face lights up whenever he sees you. He smothers you in kisses and affection, holds your hand whenever he gets the opportunity, and love cuddling up to you on Friday movie-nights. He feels strangely complete, and as he plays with your fingers once night when you've completely passed out halfway through the movie, his gaze falls on your ring finger, and knows exactly what he;s going to put there when you both graduate.

But for a moment it seems like he won't even get to graduation. His Quirk is gone, his body battered and bruised from the injuries he's sustained, morale at an all time low when he's informed that there's no possibility of him getting his Qurik back. He sobs like he did that first day at kindergarten, and you're there for him again to support him. Your fingers running through his hair soothe the sobs, your kisses to the side of his head and all over his face make his heart flutter like they always do, and your whispered words of encouragement assure him that everything will be alright, because he has you.

It's with your help that he gets back on his feet, and he's his normal self once again in no time. His love for you is even more intense than it was before, and he steals kisses from you whenever he can, whispers "I love you" into your ear at any given opportunity, because now he knows just how easy it is to lose something, and he wants to make sure you know he loves you if you ever lose him, god forbid. Suddenly, the idea of marriage is much more at the forefront of him mind, and he knows he has other things to worry about, but now he subconsciously finds himself rubbing your ring finger when he holds your hand. You're both still young, but nothing feels more right when he finally proposes to you, and he's over the moon when you accept.

He takes you into his arms without hesitation, pressing a firm kiss your lips, smiling when he notices the glow of your skin from excitement. Mirio finally has his sunshine girl in his arms, and you'll be his sunshine girl forever.

☼

written on 12/05/20. requests: OPEN.

#mirio x reader #togata x reader #mirio togata x reader #togata mirio x reader

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keichanz · 5 years

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This Is Halloween

IT IS DONE. FINISHED. FINITO. COMPLETE. AND I AM SO

FUCKING

HAPPY YOU HAVE NOOOO IDEA.

moving on, i had a lot of fun writing this, and i had no idea so many people would enjoy the idea of writing little blurbs of the modern life of Inukag and their kiddos. also i’m surprised some people ship Izayoi and Raiden as hard as i do anD I’M SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY ABOUT THAT THEY ARE MY BABIES AND I LOVE THEM I WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY

if some of you recognize the first half of this chapter and feel like you’ve read it before, it’s because you probably have. i posted the first half last year on Halloween and titled it “Haunted House” despite having not finished the series. I was originally going to just keep it as is, but then decided it wouldn’t be fair and anyway i wanted a proper ended for Izayoi and Rai, so i added onto it. i’m happy with how it turned out, despite it being a tad rushed because i just wanted this damn thing finished already lol.

anyway, thank you all for joining me on this adventure and for leaving all of your comments and reviews! i promise you i read all of your tags and reblogs and it truly does my heart good to know so many people enjoyed reading this story as much as i enjoyed writing it. ^_^

that’s enough rambling; ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, i present to you the last chapter of my series...

Spooktober Day 31: This Is Halloween

Kagome had no idea what time it was when she turned over in bed with a grunt, her forehead scrunching into an irritated frown as she shifted into a more comfortable position then settled with a quiet sigh. Beside her Inuyasha sighed in his sleep and rolled up against her, his arm a pleasant warmth as it draped over her waist and he tucked his nose against the nape of her neck before going still once more.

She had no idea what had woken her up in the first place; snugly warm under the covers and cuddled against her husband quite nicely, Kagome should have been able to go back to sleep no problem but for some reason her mind was alert, refusing to give into the slumber creeping in on the edges, taunting her with sweet oblivion. The darkness of the room, Inuyasha’s steady breathing and the movement of his chest against her back should have been enough to lull her back to sleep, but for some reason her body would not give into her mind’s silent demands. It was as if her mind was subconsciously aware of something that her body was not and as such it would not be coaxed into that state of blessed ignorance.

Her frown deepened and she huffed quietly in annoyance; responding to her distress, even in his sleep, Inuyasha’s chest erupted with a soothing rumble and he maneuvered his arm beneath the blanket to reclaim its spot over her side and then press his hand against her bare belly. The familiar gesture sent warmth skittering across her skin and despite herself a fleeing, sleepy smile flickered at Kagome’s lips. It was one of his favorite things to do now that she was pregnant again and it didn’t surprise her at all that even in sleep he did it.

She went absolutely still, simply absorbing the feel of him against her, concentrating on his warmth, the sound of his even breathing, the pleasant roughness of his leg and chest hair against the smoothness of her skin, hoping to distract herself with the pleasing physical sensations enough to nod off again.

But no such luck; though she could feel the sleepiness pulling at the edges of her mind, it stubbornly refused to give in and Kagome’s frown returned, this time with a frustrated pout. Abruptly deciding she might as well see what time it was to gauge how much sleep she’d gotten thus far - and how much more she could sneak in - Kagome wrinkled her nose and cracked her eyes open just enough to peer at the blurry numbers on her alarm clock–

And screamed.

Inuyasha jolted awake with a startled gasp, shooting up in bed and blinking rapidly in order to clear his hazy vision as his mind struggled to come back online after very suddenly getting thrust into awareness.

“Huh–what–Kagome? What’s—?” Rubbing his eyes and shaking his head, Inuyasha turned his attention to his wife and found her sitting up in bed, clutching the blanket to her bare chest and staring wide-eyed at–

“Jesus! Fucking hell—!” Flailing in surprise, Inuyasha jerked back against the headboard in an instinctive reaction and slapped a hand against his chest over his rapidly beating heart.

“What the fuck–goddammit, Tai!”

Standing beside their bed, wearing his favorite Spiderman pajamas and the very detailed Halloween mask of the bloody skull of a skeleton that he’d begged his mother to buy for him at the store, their five year old said nothing as he peered at him through the meth openings of the eyes, looking every bit the spooky specter that he wanted to be for his favorite holiday.

Inuyasha and Kagome stared back, their eyes wide, wondering what the hell their son was doing standing at their bedside at five in the goddamn morning.

Tai was silent for another minute, before his slightly muffled voice reached their ears.

“…It’s Halloween.”

Then, as quietly as he’d apparently snuck into their room, the child slunk back out, leaving his parents in a state of “what the fuck just happened.”

A moment passed. Then their teenage daughter’s screech of, “Aaaahh! Ohmigod, Tai, you little freak! What are you doing?!” drifted down the hall and into their room. Tai’s gleeful cackling followed shortly thereafter and neither parent was surprised to hear Izayoi scramble out of bed and chase her laughing little brother though the house, tossing various threats of dismemberment and other creative jibes older sisters were known to torment their siblings with.

Finally over the initial shock, Kagome heaved a long sigh and slumped against the headboard while Inuyasha groaned and then slunk back under the covers with an annoyed grumble.

“Damn,” Kagome murmured and Inuyasha grunted. “Who the hell needs haunted houses and you wake up to that at five in the morning…”

A snort came from beneath the covers. “We can charge,” her husband opined, his voice gruff. “Pay for Izzy’s college tuition in a single night.”

Kagome snorted a laugh and slithered down to join her hanyou hubby under the covers. He slipped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her chest with a growling sigh and then they felt silent, wrapped in each other’s arms and listening to their children taunt and chase each other around the house in the wee hours of the morning.

“Inuyasha?” Kagome murmured a few moments later, drowsy, but unable to fall asleep as she distractedly rubbed her husband’s ears.

“Mm,” Inuyasha grunted, reveling in his wife’s blissful ministrations and struggling to stay awake to hear what she had to say.

“…You did buy all those Halloween decorations…” Her voice held an innocent lilt to it that had Inuyasha instantly grinning and his chest vibrating with a deep, husky chuckle.

“One condition,” he rumbled, his grin turning sly.

Kagome bit her lip to stifle her snickers. “And?”

“Tai and that damn mask are gonna be put to good use for waking us up at the ass crack of dawn and so’s Iz for saying she’s gonna rip off his arm and beat him with it.”

“Deal.”

“If you don’t stop fidgeting already, I’m gonna poke your eye and I won’t be sorry about it.”

“It feels weird.”

“I swear to god you’re the only girl I know of that complains about putting on makeup.”

“Bite me.”

“Hey, you’re the one who asked me for help, remember? So quit your whining and let me do this so you can impress your boyfriend. And stop glaring at me, it’s pinching your eyes and it’s gonna make me mess up and we’ll have to start all over again.”

“I hate you right now.”

“Love you too, cuz. Now stay still, will you? I’m almost done.”

Grumbling but because she’d rather not sit there for another half an hour while her cousin painted up her face to match her costume, Izayoi obliged and forced herself to remain still as Rin carefully added the finishing touches to her left eye. With her silver done and already donned in her costume, the only thing she had left to do was put on the hat after Rin was through and she was pretty anxious to see the complete look.

The party was set to begin in about twenty minutes or so and even from upstairs Izayoi could hear her mother order around her dad as they got everything ready. Her Aunt Sango and Uncle Miroku had arrived earlier to help as well and no doubt they were regretting that offer as Kagome flitted about agonizing over every little detail, stressing that it had to be perfect. She was pretty sure her mom had even put Tai to work, but last she knew it was something simple like preparing a cheese and cracker tray or picking up some of his toys to put away.

All in all Izayoi was glad she was pardoned from preparation duty so she could get ready. The instant they’d gotten home from school, she and Rin had bolted up the stairs to her room so they could change and prepare themselves, excited to wow their respective dates. They’d worked on Rin’s makeup first, Googling makeup tutorials and having fun experimenting with different shades and such. They settled on a simple design and coupled with the red wig and costume, Rin’s Sally looked positively stunning. Izayoi only hoped she’d look half as good as her best friend and cousin.

Then it was her turn, and by the time Izayoi was finishing styling her hair and changing into her costume, Rin had sat her down on the bed and set to work.

Now nearly thirty minutes later, Izayoi was starting to get antsy and a tad impatient. It really did feel weird to have makeup on. She’d never been one to care about her outward appearance and obsess over things other girls her age did. But still, she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t excited to see the result of actually putting thought into her appearance this time.

“Aaaand…done,” Rin finally announced and stepped back with a satisfied nod. Her smile was very proud and perhaps even a bit arrogant as she studied her handiwork. “Not half bad, if I do say so myself.”

With a muffled squeal of excitement Izayoi wasted no time in shooting up and darting over to the full-length mirror on her door. She took one look at her face and gasped, golden eyes going wide in absolute wonder.

“Oh my god, Rin,” she breathed as the aforementioned girl came strutting over to stand by her side, grinning widely as she slung an arm around her cousin’s shoulders. “This is…this is amazing. You’re amazing. I love it!”

“You’re welcome,” Rin said lightly and was promptly tackled by the enthusiastic half-demon in a hug a gratitude.

“Thank you!” Izayoi gushed and Rin’s half-hearted “Hey, watch the makeup!” didn’t even faze as she pulled back to admire herself once more in the mirror. “Rin, you are a goddess.”

“I know,” her cousin quipped but with a smile as she crossed the room the grab the last item to complete her look. “And now, the finishing touch.”

Beaming, Izayoi met her half-way and allowed her human cousin and best friend to carefully set the brown velvet hat on top of her head. Her ears flicked from the minor constriction against them, but it was tolerable and if it got to be too annoying she could just take it off for a while, so she paid it not mind.

“Perfecto,” Rin said just as the door to her room opened.

“How are you doing, girls? Almost done?” Kagome asked as she poked her head inside. Her eyes landed on her daughter and she gasped in utter delight, smiling broadly as she opened the door the rest of the way and stepped inside. Donned in a simple black long-sleeved shirt and black jeans, Kagome’s costume consisted of black cat ears and a tail with simple cat makeup on her face.

“Oh, Izzy, you look amazing,” she praised and the young half-demon beamed proudly. “And Rin, your Sally is spot on! I gotta say, your skills are stellar. The makeup looks like it was professionally done.”

Rin glowed at the praise and blushed, but her smile was very pleased. “Thanks, Auntie. It was easy, really. Just followed some YouTube tutorials. No biggie.” She shrugged, but it was obvious she really appreciated the compliment.

“Still,” Kagome said as she fished her phone from the pocket of her jeans, “well done. Alright, I have a picture of you two so I can show off to everybody at work. Say Happy Halloween, girls!”

With arms tossed over the others’ shoulders, the young cousins beamed and chorused, “Happy Halloween!”

Kagome snapped the picture, grinned in satisfaction, then beckoned them both over to her so show it to them and then quickly snap a picture of all three of them.

“Okay, the party’s about to start,” Kagome said after sending the photo to both her daughter and her husband. “Let’s get downstairs and show you two off!”

Giggling excitedly, the girls heeded the older woman’s words and scurried out of the bedroom, Kagome at their heels.

There were already a few guests milling about when they got downstairs, mainly people from Inuyasha and Kagome’s work, however a few family members had arrived as well. Rin happily waved to her parents from across the room and skipped over to greet them and to show off her own costume. Kagura had chosen a risqué witch costume while Sesshomaru merely had on a white t-shirt that said “This is my costume.”

Kagura gushed over the girls and praised her daughter’s makeup skills while Sesshomaru eyed his daughter’s costume for a bit before grunting in approval, satisfied that nothing inappropriate was showing. He nodded Izayoi’s way, approving her costume as well, and Izayoi knew it was just his way of showing his admiration so she merely beamed at him.

More people started arriving at the door and someone took it upon themselves to turn on some appropriately spooky music, but kept it at low volume in deference to the demons’ sensitive hearing. Pretty soon the dull roar of laughter and chatter filled the Taisho household as adults and children alike mingled and had a good time. Tai was running around with Sango’s and Miroku’s kids, wearing that bloody mask paired with the clothes he’d worn to school that morning. Whatever, as long as he was happy, is what Inuyasha had told his wife as she shook her head in exasperation.

Shippou and his parents were there, dressed as The Incredibles, and Kikyou along with her husband Suikotsu had arrived as Gambit and Rogue. Kouga and Ayame had opted for the Marvel route as well and showed up as Wolverine and Jean Grey. Daisuke was skulking about somewhere but he wasn’t dressed up, having been forced to accompany his parents.

Izayoi also spotted an Iron Man, the Joker, Penny Wise, various witches and princesses, characters from various horror movies, and even a toilet (???) and Kohaku and finally made an appearance making an excellent Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas. He and Rin looked positively stunning together and many pictures had already been taken of them, however the one person Izayoi had been expecting to arrive with him, she still had seen neither hide nor hair of her crush.

Kohaku had waved off her inquiry about him, saying he just got held up and was probably on his way here right now, but Izayoi still couldn’t help but worry as anxiety gnawed at her tummy. Had he changed his mind? Oh god, what if he came to his senses and realized he could do much better than a silly little half-demon with a crush and an overprotective dad—

“Would you chill out?” Rin said, appearing at her side out of nowhere and thrusting a caramel apple in her cousin’s hand. “He’ll come, I’m sure of it. Kohaku said he just got held up.”

Worrying her bottom lip, Izayoi merely nodded and stared down at the dark screen of her phone. She’d refrained some blowing up his phone asking where he was because she didn’t want to be that girl, but she’d be lying if she said the thought wasn’t tempting. It was almost 6 pm and he still wasn’t there…what if something happened to him? Was he okay? Was he hurt? Oh god she needed to go and find him—

A pair of hands suddenly covered her eyes just as a familiar voice murmured behind her, “Guess who.”

Izayoi’s face split into the biggest smile Rin had ever seen and even through her makeup she could detect the pleased blush that colored the half-demon’s cheeks.

“Rai,” she whispered and the hands dropped, allowing her to spin around and lock eyes with her crush for the first time all night.

“I’m glad you made it,” she said and ignored Rin’s loud snort beside her. “I admit, I was…a little worried.” Rin snorted again and Izayoi not so subtly elbowed her cousin in the ribs.

Blue-green eyes glinted down at her but before Raiden could say anything Kohaku slung an arm around his neck with a jovial laugh and along with their friends started harassing him as boys often did. Raiden gave as good as he got, laughing with them and poking fun of their costumes while batting away the hands that poked at his own.

Izayoi waited patiently, amused, as Raiden fooled around with his friend and watched as he finally sent them off with high-fives and promises to track them down later. Rin dragged Kohaku off to do god knows what, sending her cousin a wink, and Izayoi blushed, but smiled in gratitude.

“So,” Raiden said at length and turned to face her fully, unabashedly looking her up and down to take in her costume. His face lit up in approval and he grinned, boldly reaching up to grab the trailing back of her hat and give it a gentle tug.

“You look…amazing, buttercup,” he complimented sincerely, enjoying the soft flush that painted her cheeks. “Did Rin do your makeup?” At her nod, he whistled low. “Nice. See? I told you we’d be the coolest couple here.”

He smirked and struck a pose, putting his hands on his hips and tossing his head as he puffed out his chest.

Izayoi laughed at how ridiculous he looked, her previous shyness evaporating under his easygoing air. What was it about him that made her feel so comfortable?

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she praised, taking in his matching costume. It was simple, and yet complimented her as well as suited him perfectly. He made some modifications, such as ripping the knees of the trousers and shortening the sleeves of the shirt, but she had to admit, he looked positively dashing. She loved the shoulder piece and hat, and those combat boots? Oh, be still, my heart!

“Why thank you, m’lady,” he rumbled, smirking as he held out his arm. “Now let’s get this show on the road. Shall we, fair maiden?”

Grinning broadly, pleased as punch, Izayoi tucked her arm into his and replied smoothly, “We shall, my good man.”

It was just after 10 pm and the party was finally starting to wind down. It was mainly family and close friends that were sticking around, chatting pleasantly and even offering to help clean up, but Kagome dismissed their kindness with a smile and said she’d just do it tomorrow. Tai, tuckered out from all the fun, the copious amount of cookies and other food he’d consumed, and the various games he’d played, lie fast asleep in his father’s arms who sat in the recliner, feeling a mite winded himself.

The teenagers had claimed the kitchen as their domain, joking around and laughing together, but at a much calmer level now that the hype of the party had died. They munched absently on leftover cookies and other treats, plastic cups full of soda or cider littering the counter tops.

Leaning against the counter with Raiden at her side, Izayoi couldn’t remember having so much fun before. She and Raiden had flirted and teased each other all night long, even holding hands once and she’d managed to sneak in a kiss to his cheek once or twice when her parents weren’t looking. She was on cloud-nine, pumped full of sugar, cider, and so much junk food she should be sick, but yet she unable to stop smiling.

Best Halloween ever, Izayoi thought with a dreamy sigh and then suddenly her hand was encased in warmth and she blinked. Looking down, her eyes widened to find that Raiden had taken her hand in his and her face erupted in color when he laced their fingers together.

He squeezed, and she looked up, a question on her tongue, but he put a finger to his lips and tugged as he jerked her his head, a wordless inquiry to follow him as he gently led her toward the sliding glass doors. Izayoi was utterly helpless and allowed him to drag her away, biting her lip to contain her giggles as they sneaked out into the deck and into the cool night.

From his location in the armchair, Inuyasha’s brows snapped low over his eyes as he watched that boy lead his daughter outside away from his eyesight and a low growl rumbled in his throat. Oh hell no.

Tightening his hold on Tai, meaning to carefully lay him on the couch and follow after the two teens, Inuyasha moved to stand up, but a small hand on his shoulder gave him pause and he snapped his gaze to his wife who was looking toward the kitchen with a knowing smile.

He growled. “Kagome—”

“Leave them be, Inuyasha,” she murmured and shifted her hand to soothingly rub his ear. “She’ll be fine. I’ve been watching them all night; Raiden is a good boy with a good head on his shoulders, and you know your daughter. She’s smart, and we both know she can take care of herself. We need to trust her, okay?”

Inuyasha’s ears pinned down against his head and he winced, however he did grudgingly sink back into the chair. It was obvious he was fighting to keep himself from following after them, amber eyes zeroed in on the sliding doors he could see from where he sat, and Kagome smiled in understanding.

Perching herself on the arm of the chair, Kagome racked her fingers through his hair and quietly mused aloud, “Do you remember when we were that age, Yash?”

She purposely used the nickname she’d frequently called him while they were in high school and as she predicted, her husband’s gaze darted back to hers in surprise.

“We used to sneak off all the time,” she reminded him and watched the emotions flit across his face as he remembered their teenage years. Slowly his expression softened and a small smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he recalled their youth.

“We were young, and it was exciting,” Kagome continued, voice soft with fond recollection. “We broke the rules, caused mischief, didn’t care about anything but each other, and we had fun doing it. My high school years were some of the best years of my life, and it was because I had you to share them with me. Would you deny your daughter that same happiness, Yash?”

Inuyasha closed his eyes and sagged in defeat, releasing a drawn-out sigh of resignation. His wife, damn her, was right. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, his daughter was a teenager now, and as such she was nearing that stage in her life where she was going to act out and do what she wanted, regardless what he or her mother said. He just hoped to god she wouldn’t be as rebellious as he’d been, but like Kagome said, he had to trust her. He knew his babygirl, knew she would stay out of trouble.

Didn’t stop him from worrying, though. She was his only daughter, his little girl; of course he was going to worry. But it looked like he’d just have to do it from afar now and let her make her own mistakes so she could learn from them, as hard as that was going to be.

“No,” he finally allowed, shaking his head. “No, of course I wouldn’t. I just…” He sighed again and stared beseechingly up at his wife, brow knit into a slight frown of consternation. “This is gonna suck, isn’t it?”

Kagome’s smile was equal parts sympathetic and resigned. “Majorly.”

Inuyasha groaned.

“Well,” his wife piped up and he cracked an eye open. “At least your hair is already silver so you don’t have to worry about going gray prematurely.”

“Not helping, wench.”

Sitting on the wooden platform of the swing set, hidden from prying eyes with the waxing moon praying witness to their secret interlude. It was a chilly but clear night, but neither teen minded the cold, content to sit in the dark with the moon’s silver brilliance shining down on them and enjoy one another’s company.

Raiden had yet to release Izayoi’s hand and she wasn’t complaining at all. He was warm and smelled nice and Izayoi thought that maybe life couldn’t get any better right at that moment. She tried not to think about how mad her parents were going to be when they discovered she’d sneaked outside with a boy, and with Raiden there casting her tiny grins and squeezing her hand every so often, it wasn’t too hard.

“Sorry for stealing you away like this,” Raiden said, breaking the silence with a soft chuckle. “It was sort of a…spur of the moment thing. I hope you won’t get in trouble.”

Even if she did, it would be soo worth it. “It’s okay,” she said, smiling as a soft blush tinted her cheeks. “I don’t mind. And even if I do…” She shrugged and spoke her thoughts out loud, “It’d be worth it.”

Raiden grinned. “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah,” she returned and they shared a quiet laugh.

“I did sort of have a reason for bringing you out here,” he admitted a mite sheepishly, using his free hand to rub the back of his neck as he averted his gaze.

Izayoi tilted her head and regarded him curiously, a patient half-smile curling her lips upward.

“What’s that?” she asked lightly even as her heart pounded in her chest, not daring to hope…

“Uh, er, w-well,” he began, coughing into his hand, and Izayoi realized with slight astonishment that he was flustered. She’d never seen him be anything other than cool, calm, and confident, and she had to admit, she sort of liked it. It was adorable and he was actually blushing!

Fighting back a smile, Izayoi swallowed the giggle that bubbled up and waited for him to regain his bearings, if not a bit impatiently. She didn’t want to jump the gun of course, or jump to conclusions, but if he wanted to be alone to ask her something…

Sucking in a bracing breath, Raiden nodded to himself, hardened his resolved, and faced the pretty half-demon that he’d had a crush on for the better part of a year now. He gave her his best charming smile and enjoyed the becoming blush that stole across her cheeks.

Encouraged, he squeezed her hand and began, “Izayoi, I..uh…” He sighed, groaned, and then decided to just go for it.

“Ah, screw it. Izayoi Taisho, I like you,” he finally admitted and he could clearly hear the way her breath caught in her throat as her eyes widened. “And I, uh, I hope you like me too—”

“I do!” Izayoi blurted before promptly blushing so hard her face rivaled that of a tomato.

And just like that Raiden’s confidence was restored, the tension in his shoulders melting away and it was suddenly easier to breath. He grinned at her and squeezed her hand, shifting around and angling his body so he faced her.

“Yeah?” he said and though she refused to look him in the eye, Izayoi jerked her head in a curt nod and he felt like he could, like, lift a freaking house or something.

“Well then,” he started and reached over to gently tug on one of her braids to draw her attention. There was a pause, and then Izayoi slowly turned her head, pretty sunshine eyes locking with his blue-green ones.

“What do you say we go out this weekend? Just you and me, like a real date. Please say yes,” Raiden beseeched, his smile easy-going and entirely too charming for her little heart to handle.

Like she was going to say no? Heart pounding, face five different shades of red and her belly rioting with millions of butterflies, Izayoi allowed the utter delighted smile to surface on her face as her eyes lit up in absolute pleasure.

“Yes,” she whispered and had to laugh when Raiden made a fist and jerked his arm back with a hissed, “Score!”

Utterly elated, Izayoi resisted the urge to bounce up and down in exhalation as she confessed, “God, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted—”

Fleeing warmth and softness brushing against her lips so fast she thought she imagined it had Izayoi’s thoughts coming to a screeching halt. She gasped, hand flying up to flutter her fingertips across her lips and her eyes were very wide as Raiden pulled back to reveal a face that was nearly as red as hers.

“Sorry,” he muttered, wincing a little as he dropped his gaze. “I just…you just looked really cute, and I’ve kinda wanted to do that for a while, and well—”

Something warm and soft pressed against his cheek, close to his mouth, and Raiden sucked in a sharp breath as his heart stuttered in his chest. He swung wide eyes his crush’s way and watched as she bit her lip but didn’t avert her gaze, giving a shy but genuine smile that made him want to hug her and protect her at all costs.

While definitely not as brave as he’d been to kiss him on the lips, Izayoi couldn’t help but to return the affectionate gesture, both as a reassurance and because…well…he’d just looked too darn cute all flustered and blushing. She was still reeling from having gotten her very first kiss and her heart was pounding a mile a minute, but she could honestly say she didn’t regret it one single bit.

The two teenagers simply stared at one another for a silent minute, blinking and absorbing what had just happened. And then simultaneously they erupted into a quiet laughter, snickers and giggles echoing into the night. Feeling bold, Izayoi scooted closer to him and pressed her side against his; Raiden retaliated by removing his hand from hers and instead slinging his arm around her shoulders to tug her even closer.

“You wanna go inside?” he asked, frowning slightly as he rubbed his hand up and down her arm. Her skin was cold and he felt stupid for bringing her out here when it was so chilly out.

“Mmm…” Biting her lip, Izayoi glanced over her shoulder toward the deck and the sliding doors that led into the kitchen. She was somehow not at all surprised to find their friends pressed up against the glass, grinning from ear to ear as they spied on them. Rin, the brat, wasn’t even ashamed to be caught, waving at them from under Kohaku’s arm and Izayoi stuck her tongue out at her, though she smiled right after.

“On second thought,” Raiden drawled and a quick glance revealed he too was staring at their annoying friends, “maybe we could stay out here a little longer.”

“Sounds good to me,” she agreed, dismissing their friends and turning away just in time to miss the sight of her mother shooing away the teenagers crowded against the doors, shooting them a secret smile before walking away and dragging her protesting husband with her.

“Happy Halloween, buttercup,” Raiden murmured and dropped a kiss to her head, right between her adorable ears.

Sighing in utter contentment, warm despite the chill in the air and the happiest she could ever remember being, Izayoi smiled and dropped her head to rest on his shoulder, oblivious to everything but him.

“Happy Halloween, Raiden.”

a;kjfad i was in such a rush to get this done i forgot to add links to Izayoi’s makeup and costume, along with Raiden’s getup. whoops.

Izayoi’s Costume (though it’s more kid friendly in the fic of course)

Izayoi’s makeup

Raiden’s costume

#this is halloween #spooktober prompts #day 31 #oneshot #inuyasha #kagome #izayoi #tai #raiden #inukag #keizfanfiction #fanfiction

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therewillalwaysbeapril · 4 years

Text

Chapter 4: Sixteen Hours

6:30 AM The alarm rang abruptly in the stillness of the morning, a rude shrill noise, splintering our warm, nocturnal embrace and throwing us both into the coldness of the day.

“April, we gotta get up”, I said, mumbling as I shook off the last remnants of sleep. She groaned softly, rolling over and pulling the covers away. “Hey, get up. Geee-tta UGH-PUUUU! Get TU DA CHOPPAH!” I did my terrible Arnold Schwarzenegger impression loudly and poorly, adding in a loud grunt for full effect.

“Argh, I need muh clothes, my boots, my motorcykalll”, she said, in the same bad Austrian accent without opening her eyes. “Come ONN, do it. Do it Nah-OW!”

Stumbling out of bed, vision still blurry, and nearly tripping over the corner of the blanket now fallen to the floor, I reached over and grabbed from the basket the first item of clothing on the pile of clean laundry that we neglected to fold from the previous night. I pulled open the top drawer of her dresser and felt around for a bra. I threw both toward the bed as I made my way to the bathroom. April put on her top as she stood up. Hair a mess and eyes barely open, April exuded a dreamy, other-worldly quality as she floated from the bed to the sink wearing the dark red floral patterned shirt dress I had bought for her the weekend before. I blow dried my hair into a more presentable state and shaved as she washed her face and finished combing her hair.

I packed April’s belongings into her backpack for her, the both of us hurrying downstairs to my car. After stopping by a McDonald’s drive-thru on the way, we ate Egg McMuffins sitting in the early traffic heading toward Downtown LA. I looked at her as she opened a ketchup packet.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful!” she said, laughing as she carefully squirted the ketchup onto her hashbrown.

Briskly walking up the parking lot escalators and half-skipping across Pershing Square, April got to the bus stop just in time as the vehicle screeched to a halt. “WESTWOOD/SANTA MONICA” said the display. A quick kiss goodbye and she was off to class.

8:00 AM The office was dark as I stepped out of the elevator. Walking toward my desk, I was greeted by lights flickering on as motion sensors began to stir. Fresh cup of coffee in hand, I left the kitchen for the far side of the floor toward my favorite viewing spot.

The Los Angeles morning was peaceful when viewed from high above. Cars moved slowly down Broadway; I could hear their distant honking noises in the early rush hour. Construction workers below near Third Street walked carrying their equipment, passing by the shops just beginning to open in Grand Central Market. From my hawk’s nest I saw a cyclist zipping down Grand Avenue past the Museum of Contemporary Art, in front of which a food truck was beginning to set up shop. My breath and the steam from my coffee fogged the glass as I stepped closer to look at the crowd of people gathering by the Broad. The early light bathed my city in a warm amber glow, thawing its sleepy commuters as a new workday began. Flecks of gold and saffron twinkled as the dawn bounced from the stirring skyscrapers and automobiles, blinding me. I, too, was beginning to wake as I finished my coffee.

With my headphones on, back at my desk, I continued sketching out the wireframe concepts from the day before. Wireframes are the foundation of plotting out designs for interactive products such as apps and websites. They are a high level way of designing ways in which someone can use a product and the organization for which types of information and interaction appears on which screen, before a designer has to focus on the finer details such as animations, visual appearances, and the style of smaller items such as buttons. Even though the other designers created wireframes in programs I was also familiar with such as Adobe XD or Sketch, I always took great care in sketching out early ideas neatly on paper. I felt there was a purity in shaping ideas away from a computer, a kind of humility in making things with my hands.

8:30 AM The office is still dim as I make myself a second cup of coffee. This was one of those sluggish days; I felt slow to start, and was glad to still be the only person in the office. There was less pressure this way. I returned to my desk and cleaned up my lines with an eraser, reinforcing others with a Sharpie. Boxes with crisscrosses represented images, various other shapes representing icons and call-to-actions. Simple line patterns signified text, clearly showing the underlying grid to the layout. Adding final touches, I drew an outline of an iPhone over all of the screens before using a green colored pen to create the markings that showed how a user interacted and navigated from screen to screen. I felt pride for the cleanliness of my draft, as I never knew whether the second draft in the computer would be made by myself or a different designer. Finished, and satisfied with my work, I walked over to the simple Kanban board on the far wall and moved the task’s corresponding post-it note from the column labeled “in work” to the column labeled “done”.

Aside from a few coworkers from accounting, the floor was still mostly deserted. Sitting back and listening to the rest of Bach’s Goldberg Variations on my headphones, I fidgeted at my desk for a while. Impatient, I walked back over to the job board and grabbed one of the tasks from the column labeled “backlog” and moved it to “in work”. This should keep me occupied, I thought.

10:00 AM Standup was always kind of fun. Normally I have always preferred to work alone, with headphones on, lost in thought as I built designs and mockups, in an almost-meditative state of flow. However, I liked my coworkers very much, and it was also nice to see everyone at the beginning of the day and update one another on our work progress in the morning as we created the pieces of our product together. I enjoyed this kind of organized interaction that afforded me boundaries and space to create.

<Walalala..>, texted April. It was her way of greeting. Warm and cheerful, albeit at times a little silly, it was a greeting that I had come to love. It would also be a salutation I would receive less and less over time until I would not see it at all. <What you doing?>, she added.

<Lol. You should pay attention! I’m pretty tired too. I don’t think I woke up yet>

<Haha, I miss you a little too.>

<Pfft, you still need me to remind you?>

<Ha, you should pay attention in class. Your mom will kill me if you fail because of me>

11:00 AM Sketches spread out on the table before me, I began to create the second round of digital wireframes. As much as I enjoyed sketching, this step was also one of my favorite things to do. The useful aspect having hand sketches was their looseness — from a high level perspective, during this stage there were still so many possibilities. Creating the first digital wireframe versions, despite their inherent roughness, narrowed down those possibilities. To do so felt like taking a camera lens and turning it slowly into focus. At this stage, it was not a crisp focus, but much more recognizable as a coherent direction. The process was therapeutic as it was methodical; moving through it step by step, there was room to make improvements on the fly, perfecting each idea. However, today, my process of refinement would be interrupted by a different task.

There needed to be a version of our project for a new client, said marketing. A simple mockup of our app must be made in the style of our new client, a baseball team. The refinement of the new screen designs would have to wait. Grumbling to myself a little, I closed the program and neatly piled the sketches into my drawer.

<Heyyy, why u ignoring me?>

<Sorry, some other stuff came up at work>

<I’m sorry. Would you feel better if you ate something? What are you gonna get for lunch?>

<Expensive grass, haha>. “Expensive grass” was April’s name for salad. They always cost more than they should, she would remark.

<btw…>

<what’s wrong?> Nothing good ever happened when April said “by the way”.

<We’re not breaking up. We can make this work>

12:00 PM It is lunchtime. Mood now sour, I didn’t feel like leaving the building. After informing my deskmates that I was taking my lunch break, I grabbed a stale bagel from the kitchen and microwaved it with a slice of cheese. Taking that and a diet soda from the fridge, I returned to my viewing corner.

We had only recently moved into the forty fourth floor of the building from six floors above. The company had now grown bigger and the fiftieth floor was not enough space. However, it was only the design, marketing, and accounting teams on this floor, leaving most of it empty. In fact, we only occupied one corner, leaving the other three quiet and deserted. I enjoyed taking walks around the empty areas, sometimes even bringing my cello to work and practicing in one of the empty rooms during breaks. Today though, I only wanted to look outside and think.

Now midday there was visible smog in the Los Angeles air. Protestors were forming on Grand Avenue. I looked closer, curious as to the reason for this group. I could not make out the writing on their signs. A car accident was visible further down on the 2nd Street intersection, blocking it off. The authorities closed off one of the lanes, backing up traffic. A bus awkwardly took up both lanes as it attempted to merge into the available space. An adjacent driver made a rude hand gesture out of his window. I sighed, feeling exhausted as I learned against the wall near the window. I sat on the floor as I drank my soda and looked out of the floor to ceiling window, thinking. The conversation I thought of was not with April, but one with someone else, from a different day, in a different language.

•••

<Yeah, I took her to the airplane museum the other day.>

<Well, she kept asking me to stay over, and then I had to stay with her after she crashed her car. Lately though, she tells me she just doesn’t like it when I’m away. It feels weird, but I’m really happy with her and I love her, so I guess I’m not complaining. She’s been coming to work with me and taking the bus to school too>

<Hey, you should pace yourself. All couples need their space from time to time.>

<Maybe? Sometimes I go to work and five minutes after I leave she texts me that she misses me. I think she’s very sweet.>

<Okay, I’m just looking out for you. What if she turns out to be one of those possessive types?>

<Hey! I knew it!! Is that why you didn’t answer any of my calls or texts last winter in China?>

<Sorry. I guess it’s just weird, what happened between us.>

<Well, nothing happened between us!>

<I know! Well, I don’t know. You are one of my best friends, and what happened affected me very deeply. It may have been nothing to you, but it was definitely something to me.

<I’m sorry about that. I really am. I was as confused as you too. I never meant to be cruel. I hurt you, and I ended up hurting myself too.>

<I’m glad we’ve moved past it and we’re still friends>

<Yes, I remember. And I will keep my word. I just need to figure this out. She’ll come around eventually. I really think the two of you would become great friends.>

<Well, you gotta figure it out eventually, because this is just awkward what you’re doing>

•••

1:00 PM I snapped back to reality as my phone alarm went off. It was time to go back to work.

The caffeine was beginning to wear off. Still debating whether or not I should have a third cup of coffee, I flipped through the Android Material Design Guidelines online, pondering what visual branding treatments were acceptable within Google’s design parameters. Writing down the correct color hex values on a notepad, I began to change colors on app elements in Photoshop, reskinning the interface. The phone beeped again, as another text message arrived from April.

<I’m sorry. I want to stay with you too. But I’m so worried>

<About what?>, I answered.

<Yeah, but what if we DO break up eventually? You’re not a doctor and I’m supposed to marry a doctor.>

I stopped working. Taking off my glasses, I sat back in my chair, rubbing my forehead. I was getting very tired.

, I texted back.

<There’s nothing wrong with what I do. I am a designer and I’m good at it. I make a decent salary and I like my life>

<It’s different>

<Well that’s just your viewpoint. We’re just different, I guess>. I saved my work and walked to an empty conference room.

<Why do you even love me?>, I texted. My thumbs began to sweat. Typing was becoming difficult.

<I’m getting back to work>

I stomped back to my desk, angrily chucking my empty soda can into a nearby wastepaper basket. A couple of coworkers stared.

3:00 PM For the next two hours, I tried my best to focus on creating more animations. More interactions. I compared the mockups I made against the Android and Apple guidelines. So far, so good. Sending the finished mockups back to marketing, I went back to the kitchen and made myself the third cup of coffee.

I chugged the hot beverage, nearly searing my throat. I went back to designing the wireframes. There were only three hours left in the workday, and I originally wanted to have had this perfected at the end of the day.

<Are you done with class yet?>. There was no answer from April.

Frustrated, I placed my phone face down on the table and returned to the designs. These have to get done, I thought. So little time. Fuming, I angrily threw the boxes together on the computer screen, connecting the button hotspots together as violently as someone could inside a digital space.

“Hey are you ok?”. It was Julie, who sat across from me behind my monitor. “I can hear you breathing from here”

“I’m fine”, I said. I sat back in my chair and looked at what I’ve made. It was sloppy and nowhere near the level of detail that I have been known for around the office.

“Take a break man. I just got an email that we have until the end of the week for these screens now”

“Oh…”

“Yeah. You can just chill”

“I think I’m gonna take a walk then.”

4:00 PM I looked at my watch as I waited in the elevator. Who does she think she is, I thought. So what if I’m not a doctor? Life can’t only be about status. I was so mad. That is such a shallow way of thinking! And it wasn’t me who started all this. I was just minding my own business working. She was the one who had to bring up Taiwan, and her parents’ crazy expectations for who she should be dating.

I walked outside briskly in the shade of the tall buildings. It was much louder now that I left the lobby. A street performer was beating a drum across the intersection. A crazy person was yelling about the end of times on the other corner. Good. Noisy enough that no one could see how angry I was.

And I hated the way she texted. How am I supposed to always be at her beck and call? I have a job to do; I can’t be there to simply answer every time she worries about crazy hypotheticals. I was doing fine today, I should’ve simply not answered. And now that she’s finished ruining my day, she’s stopped texting and has gone back to whatever she’s doing leaving me to pick up the pieces. Every single month, we have to have some fight about something completely stupid like this. Every single month —

Oh.

April had complained about being tired. April had experienced stomach pains during class. I counted the days since the last time I remembered similar complaints. There were many things I remembered for her. April could be so forgetful.

“Twenty-seven, twenty-eight….”, I counted in my head. I knew what she was going to need.

I stopped at the Rite Aid on 5th and Broadway. Quickly making my way through the aisles, I picked up a pack of Ibuprofen, a box of what appeared to be feminine pads, and a bottle of water. The cashier handed me the items in a paper bag after I made my purchase. Strolling further south, I began to think about what transpired.

Did she really mean all that she said? Perhaps a deeper question was, WHICH of what she said did she actually mean? You can’t tell someone you love them for who they are but also want to change them, I thought. Girls just say crazy things during their time of month right? I checked my phone.

Still no answer.

This is bad, I thought. Perhaps I was too harsh. Her car is in working condition. She chose to take the bus because she genuinely wanted to spend time with me. And now she’s probably on the bus home, in pain. All for me. I’m such a jerk, I thought.

Ducking into Bottega Louie on 7th, I bought a box of half dozen French macarons. They were rather pricey, but came in a beautiful box and were, I had heard, delicious. The small rigid box was not unlike jewelry packaging, with beautiful calligraphy and gold speckles dotted throughout its powder purple surface. It was a small gift that was sure to brighten up anyone who was having a less than perfect day.

6:30 PM The workday was now over as I closed my work laptop and packed away my things. The bus from UCLA arrived as I waited on a bench in Pershing Square.

“Hey what took you so long?”, I asked as I took April’s bag from her.

“I had the most horrible day!” she said.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize I sounded so mean—

“No, not you! My period started and I forgot to bring pads so I had to use tissues. And my phone died, and then the bus had to take a detour. So I needed to get off and wait for another bus, but I couldn’t use Google Maps and I’m so tired and I just want something to eat”

“Well, first things first I guess”

I handed her the box of macarons and discreetly showed her what was in the paper bag. “Let’s find a bathroom,” I said.

She looked into the paper bag. She looked at me. She started giggling, the happiest I’ve seen her all week.

“What? What is it?”

“Have you never bought pads before?”

“Well, no, but I figured you needed them. Was I right?”

“Those are panty liners, not pads!”

“Oh.”

“It’s okay, I’ll be alright. Cmon, let’s eat”

•••

8:30 PM After April had a chance to change, I took her to a nearby Hong Kong styled cafe. It would be nice to have some porridge, she said.

As we sat down and waited for our food, by reflex I folded April’s chopstick wrapper into an origami chopstick stand, as I have always done since our first date. I looked out the window into the dark.

The San Gabriel traffic outside was a lot calmer compared to the city. It was quiet and I could just make out the sounds of crickets. A high school couple walked out of the boba shop across the street, laughing to themselves, carefree. An elderly man picked out a newspaper from a box near the entrance. I felt a soft caress on my forearm.

April handed me a crudely folded flower made from a chopstick holder.

“I’m sorry about today. I keep forgetting how to fold that fancy origami, but I want to thank you for taking care of me.”

She smiled the familiar funny smile.

•••

9:30 PM As we walked in the darkness at a nearby park, digesting our meal, I stayed quiet. How can I make all nights like tonight?, I thought. Is there really an expiration date to our happiness?

Perhaps reading my mind, April said, “I don’t know what we’ll do if I really have to leave…”

I looked at her and kissed her forehead.

“Whatever”, she added. “If I have to go back to Taiwan, I guess I’ll just get another boyfriend, and it’ll be a doctor this time! HA HA!”

I did not laugh.

I let go of her hand and walked a few paces ahead, sullen.

“I’m kidding!” April grabbed my arm. “I really do love you, alright?”

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