#we were on the road for a big portion of the vacation so i had this in mind | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

emeraldborealis · 2 years

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A Perfect Day

Pairing: Stu Macher x Fem!reader x Billy Loomis

TW//CW: None, just fluff, and a few innuendos. Almost drowning. Very long.

Words: 7,707

"Come on! We gotta go, I don't want to be the last one there and we still have to pick up Billy!" Stu frantically called to me from the rolled down window of his jeep with his characteristically goofy smile.

Since the first person in the gang could drive we've been going to the beach at least once every month during summer vacation, it was tradition at this point. And we can't break tradition can we? Even before we could drive one of us would annoy our parents until they agreed to take us.

"I'm coming, have an ounce of patience!" I teased him smiling like an idiot as I got into his car, sliding into the middle of his custom front bench seat to sit by him and getting buckled. I looked over to him to see him wearing one of his many Hawaiian shirts, along with his swim trunks. I've always loved his Hawaiian shirts, they make up a large portion of his wardrobe; along with his sweaters. His style really reflected his character. "What are you waiting for Stu? We have to pick up Billy." I continued to tease him, a smug look on my face. With a roll of his pretty blue eyes at my typical antics (which I most definitely learned from him) he put his car into reverse to make our way to pick up Billy.

"Did you bring it?" Stu asked eyeing my bag, these trips always made him really giddy and happy.

"Have I ever forgotten it?" I smiled at him pulling a cd from my bag and putting it in. The grin on his face somehow managed to grow larger as The Beach Boys started playing. Another little tradition we had. "So- Tatum is driving Sid and Randy right? Guess they didn't want to squeeze in the back with your surf board again." I laughed looking back at all the stuff he had packed into his backseat. We always made our beach days big and special, it was quite the drive to the beach so if we wanted to go it wasn't really a spontaneous thing, it was an all day trip.

"Guess not, I can't blame them. Sidney had to hold the cooler the whole drive whilst also being stuck between Tatum and Randy. I wouldn't want to do that again either. Plus it's probably better they take Tatum's bug anyway, they don't want to stay all day this time and I don't want to cut our day short. They also did not appreciate The Beach Boys properly." He played offended over their lack of appreciation for our beach day tradition.

We pulled into Billy's driveway and I quickly hopped out to grab him. Knocking on his door, it immediately opened to Billy standing before me, leaning against the door frame his dark brown eyes peered down at me, he was wearing his swimsuit along with a cover shirt and holding a day bag. He looked very attractive, but than again he always did. "You ready?" I nodded my head back to Stu's car anticipation filling my body at the thought of a care free day spent with my favorite people.

"Yeah." He turned back into the house yelling out to his dad. "I'm heading out with friends, I'll see you later!" There was no response, with a sigh he turned back to me closing the door behind him. "Let's get this show on the road."

Stu's and I's excitement was at an all time high and before long we were screaming along to the cd, which was probably cranked up a little too loud, the windows were down and we were all generally having a great time.

Entering the freeway we saw Tatum's red bug on the road ahead of us, not for long though. Like the stupid teenagers we are we sped up to them waving like maniacs, well me and Stu waved like maniacs, Billy waved at them with his normal "cool guy" demeanor. We passed them with every intent of beating them to the beach in our imaginary race that the other car was not aware they were participating in.

At this point in the several hour drive the ocean was now insight, making the energy in the car somehow skyrocket, this was our first trip to the beach this year, the gang was a lot closer this time around too, the last time we all went together we were still getting adjusted to more people in the group and not very close yet. I mean the group had always known each other and been accountancies but last year was when our little gang of misfits really locked into what it is now.

"Do you enjoy swimming a lot?" Billy leaned over to me yelling over the music. "I don't remember you ever really caring for it, but you seem really pumped for this trip."

"Actually, I'm not really a good swimmer, especially in the ocean. The waves make it a lot harder and I usually almost drown in one way or another, but Stu hasn't let me drown yet- so there's that." An embarrassed laugh escaped my lips as my arm went to nudge Stu in the shoulder, thinking of the few times I've almost died. "I really just like hanging out with my friends, it's a good escape from normal life, the days I go to the beach I can leave everything back in Woodsboro and just focus on having fun. Not to mention all the cool things we do out of the water."

"Yeah, it's actually funny how many times I've had to save her, almost every time we have gone to the beach together since we were kids, I remember one time you got sucked into a riptide and a random stranger, who just so happened to be like an ocean rescue guy had to jump in and save you. If you ask me it's kinda pathetic!" Stu teased as he too yelled over the music so that the boy on my right could hear him.

"It hasn't happened that many times, stop exaggerating. And the riptide thing- that, that could have happened to anyone, it could have happened just as easily to you. We don't go to that beach anymore. And oh sure! You make fun of me for almost dying until I'm putting aloe on and taking care of your ridiculous sunburns. Then you can't seem to stop praising and thanking me." I rebuttal with the dirty blonde a smug look proudly on my face.

"Hey little miss, don't act like I don't take care of your sunburns too." He matched my smugness leaning in close to my face his cheeky grin making me roll my eyes, an out of place blush creeping to my cheeks.

"Yeah whatever. Did you remember to wax your surf board before the trip this time or am I going to have to wait for your sorry ass to get into the water? Again." I subtly changed the subject as we pulled onto the beach, Tatum's bug not far behind.

Surprisingly there wasn't many people at our usual spot, not that there normally was but there was even fewer than typical.

"What's it matter? I can just do that while you guys set up the shade owning and all of our stuff." He gave me an evil smirk as he got out of the car, closing his door behind him so I couldn't follow.

"I think your missing the point!" I yelled after him before turning to Billy who was holding his door open for me. "Can you believe this guy?" I playfully referred to Stu and his typical shenanigans, Billy chuckled along with me and closed the car door behind me.

Over the years Billy and I had become close friends, originally we only hung out because of our common friendship with Stu, but at some point we actually became friends. I guess anyone who can put up with Stu can put up with each other.

"How about you? Do you enjoy swimming Billy?" I asked as we headed to the trunk of the jeep and began unloading everything, finding a good spot on the beach we started setting up, the others joining us.

"Sometimes. It's not my favorite thing but I also don't have anything against it." Billy said simply as he started unzipping the shade tent.

"Hey y/n, how was the drive? The boys didn't torture you too much did they?" Stu put his hand to his chest in mock hurt as Tatum came up to the three of us, Sidney and Randy following close behind.

"Not at all, if anything I feel bad for Billy. He had to ride with me and Stu, I wouldn't be surprised if he had hearing problems now." I joked as I helped Billy pull out the shade tent, Sid and Randy grabbed the other two sides. Working together we pulled it to its full extent. "Now just put your foot on the little thing on the bottom and push this up until it locks in place." I vaguely instructed the others as I myself struggled to get my side up.

Everyone had succeeded in getting there side locked into place but I was still struggling. Of course I got stuck with the stupid side.

"Want some help there?" Billy spoke into my ear, his hot breath fanning against my neck as he came up behind me. I nodded my head not sure if the heat on my face was a blush or his breath. With my okay he reached up, his arms trapping me between him and the pole, he struggled with getting it to lock into place for a moment, but got it to work after giving it a really good shove. "There we go."

He looked down at me, making eye contact for a moment, studying my face, before he backed up and continued setting other things up like nothing happened.

"Hey y/n, you should put some sunscreen on, I think you're already starting to get red." Randy teased throwing a bottle of sunscreen at me, I caught it shaking off the heat from my face.

"Good idea." I opened the bottle squeezing a generous amount onto my hands, setting the bottle down on the sand by my feet I started rubbing the sunscreen into my skin. I made sure to really cover my shoulders because they always seem to get burned really bad, no matter what I do.

"Wanna help put some sunscreen on me too?" Sid asked as she removed her swimsuit cover. I nodded and picked back up the bottle.

"Me too?" Tatum asked her hands clasped together in front of her in a begging manner.

"No problem." I smiled as I finished Sidney's face, moving her to rub sunscreen onto her arms, shoulders, and what was exposed of her back.

"No fair, I was gonna ask her to help me." Randy butt in. Stu made a noise of complaint as he stuck his head under the shade tent making me sigh at their antics.

"Guys, I can help everyone. It's not that big of a deal." I pulled Tatum over to start rubbing her down with sunscreen before turning to lecture Stu. "You get to go last, you have a board to wax." He groaned exiting the shade owning, pulling his wax from a bag he had placed next to his surf board.

"Thanks for helping me." Tatum thanked me. "I somehow manage to always miss a spot and get odd burns and tans."

I chuckled at her confession. "I can't promise I'll do any better of a job." I double checked my work trying to make sure there was no visible spots missed, I gave her a thumbs up and moved on to Randy.

"Your so pale there isn't much I can do to stop the sun from burning you to a crisp." I teased him slapping a giant mount of cold sunscreen onto his back making him shudder.

"Damn that's cold." He complained shying away from my hands.

"You asked me to help you, you could have asked someone else, like Sidney." I gave him a knowing smirk. "You know I don't really have the capability to make it any warmer than it is." I squeezed more onto his bare skin, a spark of playful maliciousness in my eyes from his suffering.

Randy and I had been friends for a long time, I was closer to him than the girls; I felt I could joke and tease him more than I could with the girls, we could talk horror and just generally mess around. We could dive deep into movies and I was comfortable with him, there was a feeling of freedom between us knowing we didn't like the other, and never would. We both liked other people and could talk and support the other with that. We could be open or just sit and watch a movie and never have the lingering thought in your mind that what if they're just my friend because they want in my pants? It was a nice friendship.

"My turn." Stu sprang his arm around my shoulder, speaking in my ear with that cheeky look that I've admired my whole life. Stu is my childhood best friend, we literally grew up together. And somewhere along the way I guess I fell for him. I can't seem to shake my feelings for him, no matter how many other girls he goes for, or how many times he strings me along with him. The feelings just won't go away.

When I started to feel something for Billy I thought I could use him as an escape goat for my feelings for Stu, but then he started hanging around Sidney a bit more, and I was left with feelings for two boys that I couldn't get rid of.

Slipping myself from Stu's arms I turned to face the boy. "Take off your shirt."

A smug look grew on his face and I knew I was in for it this time. "Wow y/n, I didn't now you felt that way! You know we could head back up to my jeep if you want to." He teased making me roll my eyes at him.

"Let me rephrase that, take off your shirt so I can properly put sunscreen on you so you don't burn. Because I'm a good friend and don't want you to complain about how you're in pain later." He laughed, doing as told and taking off his shirt.

I can't lie, the way my hands glided across Stu's body, rubbing in the sunscreen, it felt differently than the others. Their was a special feeling of warmth, his skin was perfectly smooth; not that the others didn't have smooth skin it just wasn't the same with Stu. The feeling of his well built frame that I had snuggled into thousands of times, lean but strong, my hands felt like they belonged against his skin. Like I was home whenever we touched. Touch was something so important to the both of us, it didn't even matter the nature of the touch, just that we were connected. We were always connected.

"What'cha thinking about?" Stu's voice broke me from my thoughts snapping me back to reality.

"It was nothing." I pat his back with my hands, a small smile making its way to my face as I looked him in the eyes, signifying I was done.

"If you say so." He gave me a funny look before running out of the shade tent exclaiming. "Last one to the water is a dead fish!"

"Stu get your ass back here! You have to wait for your sunscreen to dry before getting wet or it's not going to do shit!" I yelled after him knowing damn well he wasn't going to listen to me.

"Not my problemo!" He continued towards the ocean until he was completely submerged in the undoubtably cold water. I sighed in defeat knowing I would be icing and taking care of his sunburns for a week after this.

"Would you mind putting some sunscreen on me? Unlike that idiot I'd rather not be burned to a crisp." Billy looked out at Stu just being Stu.

"Sure." I nodded and squeezed some sunscreen onto my hands, rubbing it into his arms and shoulders. Unlike Stu Billy's touch was mostly unfamiliar and foreign to me, sure we had snuggled up to watch movies, but that's just what friends do. They sit together.

It was pretty common knowledge that Billy and Sidney were kind of an unspoken thing, but something about their relationship felt so wrong to me. Billy was so mysterious and hard to read for me, he could think one thing and do a completely different thing. He was confusing, but so intriguing. Making my way to his face my eyes once again locked with his. His dark brown eyes held so much I couldn't see.

"You know-" I started, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Stu isn't an idiot. He might be silly sometimes, but he's so much more then that, he's more than his humor and parties. He's a person just like you and me and he has a lot of feelings. People don't seem to look past his exterior and actually get to know him.. I guess what I'm trying to say is be mindful of the real Stu. He's not an idiot, he's not stupid either. He's just trying his best. He has a lot of pressure on him."

Billy brought his hand to my chin tilting my face more towards his. "I know, I'm not going to hurt him. He's my best friend too you know."

"What you two talking about?" Stu came up behind me putting his cold wet head on my shoulder making chills run down my spine.

"It doesn't matter." Billy shook off the question taking a small step back away from me.

"In that case. You're sunscreen should be dry now, so you're coming with me." Stu gave me an evil look picking me up, throwing me over his shoulder and running towards the ocean.

"Stu wait! Don't do this! We can talk about this!" I barely had time to protest before we both were completely submerged in the cold early summer ocean water. Bringing my head back above water I gasped for air. "Stu you jerk! It's cold as balls!" He could only laugh at my misery, watching me stand in the shoulder height water wiping the salty water from my eyes.

"It's not that bad!" He put his arms around me letting me suck his warmth from him like a leech.

"Not that bad?! It's freezing!" I playfully splashed him making him shrug his shoulders.

"You get used to it." Stu splashed me back smugness lacing his actions.

"Is the water that cold?" Tatum asked, her and Sidney debating on getting in. "Because if it's really cold I'll wait for later in the day when it's warmer."

"It's really not excruciatingly bad, just a little miserable." I deadpanned my body starting to shiver slightly.

Randy made his way to the water walking in nonchalantly shrugging. "It's not that bad. I don't know what your problem is y/n. You just need to move around more and get warmer." Stu gave me a look of triumph as if saying "see".

"You know I have problems regulating my body temperature." I mumbled as I swam in deeper trying to get warmer. The girls started making their way into the water as well, taking it slow, allowing their body's time to get used to the water before moving in deeper. I would have liked to do that but somebody just threw me in.

"Why isn't Billy getting in?" Stu asked Sidney as she got closer to him.

"He said something about waiting for his sunscreen to dry. I don't know." She took a glance back at him sitting on the beach before she swam out to where I was, the others not far behind.

"How far do you think that buoy is?" Stu wondered trying to gauge the distance.

"Buoys are typically 100m out, which is like 300 feet or something like that." Randy answered as if that was common knowledge that everyone knew.

"I bet I could beat you guys out there!" Stu challenged with a cheeky grin on his face.

"As if!" Tatum accepted the challenge an odd amount of competitiveness coming from her. "Me and Sidney are gonna kick your asses."

"Whatever!" Stu swam closer to her as if trying to intimidate her, Tatum was a little fire cracker at times, there was no way he could scare her off from a challenge if she already accepted it.

"I guess there's only one way to determine who would win." Sidney joined in. "We'll have to race out there, whoever touches the buoy first wins." They all agreed to the race, none of them really caring who won, they just wanted to have some fun.

All of them had pretty good chances of winning, except maybe Randy. But if I was placing bets it would be on Stu, it was kind of a no brainer. He was a surfer and has always been good at physical activities.

"You gonna join in y/n?" Randy asked noticing my silence in the whole ordeal.

"Nah, I don't need to the tempt the reaper, it's a little far for me. Plus if I know I'd lose. I think I'll go back to the beach and check on Billy." I was worried about how he might be feeling, with how his dad didn't even care to respond when he left. I knew how that felt. Wishing them luck I swam back to the beach.

"You're just making excuses so you can get out of the water and be in the sun!" Stu yelled after me as I ran up to where our stuff was set up, I waved my hand back at him shaking him off.

"What's up?" I took a seat next to Billy, the warmth from the sand filling my cold wet body.

"The others are racing out to the buoy, so I figured I'd come sit with you." I responded simply. Watching as the figures of my friends swam through the water towards the buoy floating off the shore.

"You didn't want to go with them?" Billy asked turning his head towards me.

"I don't think I'd make it, and even if I did it would be way after them." I responded looking down to my feet burying them into the hot sand.

"You never know if you never try." He tried to be encouraging but it didn't help. Of course I knew that, I was just so scared of failure, can't fail if you never try right? I nodded at his words just trying to move on.

My head shot up at the sound of Stu yelling out in victory, his arms in the air by the buoy, the others were right there with him. If I could see them clearer I'm sure they would be smiling and laughing, probably wanting a rematch to see who could swim back to the beach first. I couldn't stop a small smile from growing on my own face, they were having so much fun. "That's my boy." I whispered to myself congratulating Stu on his victory.

"Are you doing ok? Why didn't you come with the others into the water earlier?" I asked Billy turning my head to look at him, when I turned his dark brown eyes were already on me, as if studying every visible detail and every thought that could be passing through my mind. I wish I could connect with him more, that he would let me under his surface instead of leaving me guessing how he feels about everything.

"I didn't want your hard work on my sunscreen to go to waste like it did on Stu, so I decided to let it dry properly." His answer was simple, but after so many years of knowing him I had picked up on how and where to read between the lines and see the full truths he was hiding. He didn't want to intrude on the group, which he was one of the first people in, might I add. I could understand why he felt he was, with his mom recently leaving and his dad always being a bit of an asshole to him and everyone else around him. It was easy for people to think Billy had a perfect life when they didn't know what was happening right under the surface.

"I see." I turned my gaze back to the ocean and the approaching figures of my friends, leaning my head onto his shoulder trying to give any unspoken comfort I could. Billy never liked when I'd try and talk to him about his problems, he'd always turn it back to me saying I was one to talk. He didn't mean those words in a cutting way, more so a defense mechanism.

Our moment was interrupted by the others coming up the beach shouting at each other.

"Did you see me y/n? I totally won! Twice!" Stu had the biggest grin on his face, he was breathing heavily, tired from swimming so far so fast. I nodded as a response smiling at him proudly.

"As if! You only won because you cheated by starting before we said go." Tatum rolled her eyes, making Sidney and Randy nod along breathlessly.

"Not true! I would have still won without cheating." Stu put up his pointer finger matter-of-factly arguing his point.

"Oh whatever!" Randy joined in bickering with Stu, Stu jumped towards Randy making him flinch before maniacally laughing at his reflexes towards him.

"Guys! stop fighting. It doesn't even matter." Sidney broke them apart before anything more than joking digs could be made.

"I would have won regardless." Stu mumbled sitting beside me on the sand.

"I know." I rubbed his back leaning my head on his wet shoulder. I reached behind me grabbing a water bottle handing it to Stu. "Here, you need to stay hydrated if you want to stay here all day in the hot sun."

"Thanks y/n." He gave me a goofy smile taking the water bottle from my hands, tossing the cap aside he quickly chugged down the whole bottle. Making a noise of satisfaction breathing heavily he crushed the bottle in his hands before handing it back to me. "Don't ever say I never gave you anything!"

"Gee, thanks." Rolling my eyes I threw the bottle into a bag we had brought for trash.

"Now." He stood up wiping the sand from his swim trunks he announced. "I'm gonna go catch some waves!"

"Be safe!" I called after him as he grabbed his board heading to the ocean. "He's so strange sometimes."

"What do you mean by that?" Billy asked making me jump slightly, I had honestly forgotten he was still sitting beside me.

"It's like he puts on a different personality when he's around more people. Don't get me wrong he's a total goofball when it's just us two, but it's somehow different with everyone else, more forced. I think he thinks people will only like him if he acts like that." Taking a deep breath I turned to look Billy in the eyes. "If that makes sense. When he makes his dark morbid jokes that's part of him peaking through, maybe testing the waters- Gauging reactions."

"No that makes sense, I've noticed that too. I think you're really lucky to have him trust you enough with his true self." I let my eyes wander to the water, Stu was on his board. His figure showed no hesitance or fear as he stood, riding the wave like he belonged there. Like it was nature for him to be there. Obviously it wasn't, I grew up with him and damn did he have a learning curve. Which in some ways made it all the more impressive to see him so good now.

"You are too, I mean I get to see his true self because we grew up together, we became who we are together, we influenced each others personalities. There's a special bond you form with someone when you go through everything together. But you? He let you in. You were foreign and he trusted you enough to let you get to know him. The real him." A gentle smile found it's way on my face resting there as I rested my head on Billy's shoulder once more. "Thanks for liking the real Stu. Even though he's a bit strange."

"I only keep him around because he has good taste in movies." Billy joked making me laugh. "But seriously I don't mind him sticking around."

"Hey y/n! Come out on my board with me." Stu ran up the beach pulling me by my arm trying to get me to go with him.

"Is that even possible?" Billy asked watching me stand up to go with Stu.

"We make it work. He does all the work, and I'm just kinda there, trying to balance." I let out a light laugh. "it's called tandem surfing, it's an actual sport. But whatever the hell we do I'm pretty sure is not how it's actually done. It's really scary and gives me anxiety but it's also exhilarating."

"Come on, let's go!" Stu pulled me to the water. Placing me on top of his board he climbed on after, almost making us tip, he laughing at my scared reaction as he began paddling us out with his arms. We got quite away out before he stopped getting his board into place, we sat there silently waiting for a good wave to come. "Ready?"

"I think we're gonna need a bigger boat." I mumbled unsure of this now that we were definitely bigger since the last time we did this.

As the wave began to push us Stu carefully raised himself to his feet, still somewhat crouching waiting for the wave to become more stable and formed. With no words needed he helped me to my feet as well, his hands made their way to my waist keeping me balanced and stable, our bodies flush against the other. Slowly sticking my arms out for extra balance we raised ourselves higher, standing straighter. Our bodies were perfectly in sync, moving together flawlessly. Stu leading every movement, my body trustingly following suit. Like some sort of dance. The wind blowing through our hair, making whizzing sounds in our ears. It was terrifying but such an ethereal feeling to ride a wave with Stu.

"You know what wont stop playing in my head?" I called back to Stu.

"What?" He asked curious for the answer.

"The Jaws theme song!" I answered making him laugh. "We should watch that tonight, we can invite Billy too!"

"I agree! We should add that to our many beach day traditions, end the night by watching Jaws." His hands adjusted themselves on my waist holding me tighter and closer. With the small movement of his hands the rest of my body became all to aware of them, heat made it's way to my face.

I wanted to shake it off, go back to the moment before I could only think of making out with my best friend. I wanted to stop thinking of him as more so I could just have my friend back, I wanted my best friend back. Stupid feelings always getting in the way.

Suddenly the fins of the board hit a more turbulent spot throwing us off balance, we tried to save it and recover but it couldn't be done. Being thrown from the board and separated from Stu I was submerged in the water, salty water filled my unready lungs as I tried to get a breath before going completely under. Failing. Struggling to turn myself around trying to find the surface in the still moving water, panic began to fill my body. I couldn't breath, the pressure pushed all against me threatening to take me deeper, until it all stopped. Gasping and coughing for air my head popped above the surface again. Struggling to keep my head above water while violently coughing trying to get the water out of my lungs I screamed weakly for Stu.

An Arm wrapped around my torso holding me above water, I continued to panic trying to push my head further and further out of the water still gasping for air. Though being completely fine, I didn't feel fine. "It's ok, I'm here. I've got you." At the sound of Stu's voice I stopped struggling allowing him to hold me up. "I'm sorry, I should have held onto you tighter. I'm sorry we got separated, I'm so sorry I scared you again." He sounded so hurt, so scared, so sorry.

Still attempting to catch my breath I put my hand on Stu's arm that was holding me above the water. "Stu, It's ok. I'm not upset- I was scared for a second but I'm ok, you've got me. I'm ok now."

Pulling me and his board to shore Stu plopped down on the beach out of breath, still holding onto me. "That was a pretty cool biff." He laughed trying to calm his own panic and adrenalin, not letting me go, it felt as though he thought that if he let go of me I'd be right back in the water drowning again. "When I told Billy I saved you from drowning a lot I wasn't inviting you to prove it to him."

"Sorry. My bad I almost died." I joked along with him trying to catch my breath too, also holding onto him in a panic, feeling as if I let go I would be swallowed up by the cold ocean water, taken as another victim of drowning. We had a way of joking in situations that were entirely inappropriate to joke about, a coping mechanism of some sorts. Or maybe just lack of tact and sensitivity to the situation. Even our situations.

"Oh my gosh are you guys ok?" The group came running down to us laying at the edge of the water. Billy looking especially worried. Stu gave a thumbs up still just trying to process what happened.

"I think we should take a break from the water and have some lunch. Maybe play some beach volleyball." Stu offered sitting us both up. I nodded in agreement getting to my feet, I reached out my hand to Stu hoisting him to his feet as well.

"That sounds like a good plan to me." We all walked back to the shade owning with our stuff and coolers.

Pulling several containers from the cooler we shared grapes, watermelon and some sandwiches. Lunch was nice and peaceful, uneventful compared to what had just happened. We had nice conversation, talking about whatever topics came to mind. As normal for our group the topic eventually came to scary movies.

"Which was scarier? Jaws or Jurassic Park?" That question nearly started a fist fight, Sidney and Tatum left feeling mostly confused on the subject matter.

"Let's play some beach volleyball now." Tatum suggested boredly. The others agreed and we started a game. We played several matches, playing for several hours. Sand was in every crevasse, and I mean every crevasse.

Shortly after volleyball and rinsing off in the water, while also playing and messing around. Tatum, Sidney and Randy left. Party poopers.

The three of us were now sitting with our feet in the water, watching the sun go down. It was starting to get late, our escapism trip was coming to an end soon. All of us had a desperation to stay, to not go back to everyday life in Woodsboro. We all had something we were hiding from.

"You ever wonder why sunsets are so colorful?" I put the question out there breaking the peaceful silence that had grown between us.

"Not really." Stu responded. "Maybe they just feel like it." I rolled my eyes at his response continuing to stare at the pretty pinks, oranges and even purples in the sky and clouds.

"How poetic Stu, "they just feel like it"." I mocked nudging his side.

"I mean why do people get out of bed in the morning, why does the world keep turning? Because that's what's supposed to happen, sunsets symbolize change or some shit like that, and you can't control change, you can't stop it or force it, so maybe they just feel like it." He nudged me back.

"That wasn't very well put, but I see where you were going with it. That was much more poetic, good job." I leaned my head against Stu giving a side glance to Billy, who was looking out at the sunset as well. He looked deep in thought.

"What you thinking about?" I placed my hand on Billy's shoulder making him jerk his head towards me startled out of thought.

"Nothing." He responded shortly. "What are you thinking about?"

"A lot actually." I shrugged my shoulders before continuing. "None of it being of much importance though."

"You guys suck at deep conversation." Stu pointed out, he wasn't laughing or joking though. He was actually being serious. I mean he wasn't wrong.

"What an astute observation Stu." Billy responded looking over to him a small scowl on his face.

"Hey! Don't shoot the messenger." He put his hands up in mock defense.

"We all have issues, none of us need to pretend we don't, we just also don't really need to talk about them to communicate them. Sometimes just sitting here together letting everyone just think is enough." I cut in not letting things escalate any more. "Now," I stood from the shoreline patting off the sand sticking to my skin. "I'm going to take down the shade owning before it gets any darker. And the water gets any colder."

"Good idea." Billy and Stu followed suit in packing away most of our stuff. The sun was fully down by now, the only light coming from a lamppost or two and the moon and stars. They were really pretty tonight, or maybe they just seemed prettier away from Woodsboro. Away from 'home'.

The stars made unknown constellations, connecting in ways I didn't know how to read, every star up there had a meaning and a purpose. Sometimes I wished I was a star, out of reach from the world. Burning brilliantly in an endless space until one day going out, would all stars one day die? They seemed so tranquil from here.

"What are you thinking about?" Billy asked touching my shoulder to wake me from my trance.

"The stars." I responded not looking away from the night sky.

"They are really pretty tonight." Billy sat down on the sand also looking up to the sky. His hand grabbed onto mine pulling me down to sit beside him, when I settled myself on the sand beside him his hand stayed with mine. It was warm, gentle, it felt as though he thought that if he held my hand to tightly I would disappear, abandon him. His eyes lingered on mine as mine stayed on the night sky, preferring to see the stars in the reflection of my eyes, hoping to see the world how I saw it. "It's the most perfect thing I've ever seen." His voice was barely a whisper as he spoke.

"I agree." Stu came to sit by my other side, taking my free hand in his. A content smile on his face as he too looked at me rather than the stars above, a look of admiration and gentle love in his eyes.

If I had only been looking at them rather than the sky I would have seen the most serene and docile the boys had ever allowed themselves to be. If I had just glanced over to them. "I wish I could stay here forever. Just like this. I mean maybe with a blanket 'cause it's a little cold but you know what I mean." The two boys chuckled lightly, Stu starting to rub circles into my hand with his thumb.

"That would be nice." Billy agreed, looking up to the sky as he leaned is head onto my shoulder. He had to agree, the sky was beautiful, not just me.

Silence fell around us for a while, the only sound being the movement of the waves hitting shore. "What do you think it would be like to die? To be dead."

"I guess it depends on how you die." Stu responded also turning his gaze up to the sky. "I wouldn't want to die without you though."

"Of course not. We die together, same time. That's how it's going to be. I'm not living without you." I held onto Stu's hand tighter, I couldn't even imagine being without him. I looked over to Billy remembering how we had first met when we were kids, and how we too grew together, everything we've bonded over since then. "Either of you."

A comfortable silence once again fell between us. As hard as I tried to hold onto the moment my exhaustion was beginning to take the better of me, my eyes were heavy and starting to blur. The noise of the waves felt muffled and fake. Taking notice of this Billy gave my hand a light squeeze. "We should go, you can sleep in the car and then you'll be more awake for the movie."

"Good idea." Stu brought himself to his feet before helping me up. Not letting go of either of the boys hands we headed for the jeep. Getting myself situated and comfortable in the middle I put in a different cd taking the beach boys out and back into my bag. Some softer music began to play as we started our long drive home.

I was drifting between sleep and consciousness the whole drive, catching bits of conversations and parts of songs. It was a peaceful drive. The roads mostly free of other cars being so late into the night. Eventually my body recognized the familiar turns into Stu's roads and driveway. Stirring myself up I hopped out of the car feeling more awake by the second.

"Did you guys bring a change of clothes?" Stu asked as he unlocked his door. Billy and I both nodded to Stu's question. "Perfect, do you guys want to rinse off and get changed before the movie?"

"Yeah, that sounds nice." Billy agreed entering Stu's entryway.

"Hey Stu, can I borrow some of your pajama's? I brought clothes but I'd rather wear something comfortable." He nodded to my request.

"No problem, I have some with drawstrings so they'll fit you. You want some too?" Billy nodded accepting the offer. "I'll grab those for you two then, I have three showers so if we're fast we can all shower at the same time and not run out of hot water." He announced as he walked upstairs to his room to grab us some clothes to borrow.

Coming downstairs with towels and clothes he handed them to us directing us to where we could shower, I already knew my way having stayed there many, many times before.

In the shower I discovered my sunburns, the lukewarm water feeling thousands of degrees hotter than it actually was, just as predicted my shoulders being the main victim of the burns. After my shower I dried off using the towel Stu had given me and got dressed into Stu's pajama's.

They smelled like him, a hint of cinnamon and his laundry detergent. At least I knew they were clean. The pants were long on me and the shirt big in every way, Stu liked his pajama shirts big, so it was really big on me. But damn were they comfortable. Plus they laid comfortably on my burns not restricted them in anyway.

Exciting the bathroom and making my way to the living room I found the boys already there with snacks just waiting for me to hit play. Stu holding a container of aloe vera in his hands a pleading look in his eyes, now that the lights were on in the living room you could see just how badly he did get burned. Serves him right for not listening to me. Taking my seat on the couch Stu sat in front of me his shirt removed so I could apply the soothing aloe to his hot skin. As I carefully applied the aloe we hit play on the movie.

Once I was done with the aloe and it had dried subsequently enough he put his shirt back on and joined us on the couch, sandwiching me between the boys.

Quoting everything before it happened and laughing at everything in the movie it was apparent of two things; we were tired as hell, and we had seen this movie a thousand times. More so a comedy satire with gore than a horror movie to us at this point. I still found it sad when Quint died but at the same time his death was slightly ridiculous.

Once the movie was over none of us made any movements to get up and leave, we were all tired and willing to stay put in our cuddle puddle of warmth and oddly placed limbs, under a big blanket that covered all of us. "Lets just have a sleepover and stay here." I mumbled into Stu's chest him humming in agreement.

"Sounds like a plan to me. What about you Billy?" Billy made a noise of agreement and adjusted himself to be laying more comfortably on me, his head somewhere between my stomach and chest.

"Perfect." Was all he said aloud. Moving my hand I stroked through his dark hair, making him groan in compliance, it was still slightly damp from his shower. And so soft.

All of us were teetering on the edge of sleep, silently placing bets on who was going to fall asleep first, soon quiet, almost silent snores came from Stu, his chest rising and falling in rhythmic even breaths. It's hard to say if it was Billy or I who went next. Not that it really mattered.

This was the perfect ending to a perfect day. One that would most definitely continue with waffles and bacon in the morning.

#stu macher #stu matcher x reader #billy loomis #billy loomis x reader #scream 1996 #scream #scream movies #scream franchise #x reader #reader insert #fem reader #female reader #oneshot #fluff #randy deserves the world #stu #billy #beach day

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imaginesforjohnnydepp · 4 years

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Architectural Digest (Power Couple extended imagine)

for @karlacce4 @takemepedropascal

Inside Johnny Depp and Y/N Y/L/N’s Stunning $1.9M New Orleans Home! - Article by Rita Joseph, November 2018

A casually dressed Y/N opens the door on a bright and sunny but chilly Friday afternoon. The Golden Globe nominated actress is just as stunning makeup free and in an old college sweatshirt and jeans and her hair pulled back from her face as she is in expensive designer gowns and jewelry; right behind her is her husband Johnny Depp and their dog Jack Sparrow. “Hey, come on in!” Immediately, I’m greeted with warmth and the scent of cinnamon. The entrance is narrow, and there is a wooden table next to the door with a small bowl which hold two sets of car keys, but there are two doorways across from each other: on the left is the sitting room, and on my right is the dining room with its painted blue walls contrasted with white curtains and a chandelier hanging above the table.

We start with the sitting room which holds a lime green couch adding a nice touch of color against the white walls. There is also a gold ceiling lamp and a glass coffee table. “This is our sitting room, but we use it for a little bit of everything, like a storage room or sometimes a guest would want to sleep in here when they visit because it’s so quiet as opposed to upstairs because we still have teenagers, and there’s a lot of banging around in the morning getting ready for school, or we’ll have friends over.” Those friends would include Brad and Angelina (before the divorce), Tim Burton and Eva Green, Helena Bonham Carter, and Depp’s Hollywood Vampires band mates Joe Perry and Alice Cooper. What great company to keep!

From the sitting room we head into the dining room. “We actually painted the dining room a week after we moved in. All of the walls in the house were white and we thought it was way too much, so we decided to paint it a different color,” Depp said. “The tables and chairs actually belonged to Y/N’s sister and we bought it off her in ‘07 when she moved to another city, and that couch in the other room we bought after Nathan and Noelle’s first birthday.” “It was their favorite thing to play on when they were babies. So hard to believe that was 2004,” Y/L/N reminisced. The blue walls are decorated with a few of Depp’s paintings with a molding of a deer’s head that Y/N got at a flea market.

As we exit out of the dining room, I get a good look at the other side of the wall facing the staircase as we go into the living room. The entire wall is covered in a black and white photo of a jazz band taken at a Mardi Gras parade a few years ago, and there is a nice sized wine cabinet which is the size of a recording booth with only one bottle of wine in it; Johnny has cut back on drinking, but still enjoys a glass of wine every now and then. “I’m not as young as I used to be, and I’m runnin’ around on stage all night so I want to be as healthy as possible when I’m performing and to see the rest of my babies grow up.” The rest of his babies would be Nathan and Noelle, fraternal twins born in 2003. Their oldest kids include 26-year-old Star Wars star John Christopher III, born in 1992, and 22-year-old The Greatest Showman actress Camille.

The living room is gorgeous but simple; an all white leather reclining sectional with built in cup holders surrounds a small wooden coffee table in front of the fireplace which has a flat screen television above it. There’s a chandelier in this room as well, similar to the one in the dining room, and the wooden table behind the sectional breaks up the whiteness of the room. “This is where everyone spends the majority of their time. Morning, noon, night, weekends, we are here, with the older kids when they come over for dinner on Sundays. They’ll come over in the afternoon and stay the whole day.” Even with the oldest kids moved out and with houses of their own, the Depps are still a close knit family with Camille and John Christopher, or Three as he’s called by friends and family, living minutes away. Depp family favorite weekend activity? “Cooking breakfast together and then going to the nearby park or to a flea market or farmers’ market. There’s always something to do do in the city so you’re never bored,” the Dark Shadows actor explained.

When I asked them why they decided to move away from Hollywood, it was an easy answer. Y/L/N said: “we wanted to give them a normal childhood, and you can’t really have that when there are people taking pictures of you in your school uniform heading into school.” The couple moved to the Big Easy before Johnny began filming the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie in 2002, and speaking of cooking, the kitchen is next, and it is every homeowner’s dream. The white marble kitchen island doubles as a sink with its clear backed chairs and a sleek gold light fixture hanging above. A few feet away is a rectangular table with four shelves.

“This is my favorite room. I’m always cooking, and this is pretty much multipurpose room. We do game nights, eat meals, the twins do homework here.” When I joked about the chandeliers, the two only laughed, with Y/N adding, “you’re gonna be seeing a lot of chandeliers in this house. I loved them as a child and always wanted one. Or thirteen. We actually got each of them at Home Depot or Wayfair, and they look good in every room.” At this point, Jack Sparrow begins barking and runs to the front door (the dog, not Depp who plays the beloved swashbuckler). Noelle and Nathan are home from school and they follow the dog into the kitchen.

They are taken aback as they take in the camera man, as they wash their hands in the sink before reaching for the snacks. “Oh, I thought this was happening tomorrow,” Noelle remarks as she reaches for a bag of trail mix from a cabinet and a bottle of water from the fridge. “You have drivers ed tomorrow,” Y/N instantly in mom mode. “And your uniforms are hanging up in the laundry room.” Johnny and Y/N are athlete parents with Nathan playing on his school football team while Noelle is a cheerleader. After getting an okay from the twins to tour their rooms, we head upstairs after the examining the wall of pictures in the upstairs hallway.

Some pictures that have never been made public: a tired looking Y/N in a hospital bed after giving birth to their children, followed by a procession of school portraits and certificates from school. John Christopher and Camille’s graduation and prom pictures. Family outings at the near by park which featured a heavily pregnant Y/N circa early 2000s. A picture of Depp’s late mother Betty Sue and Y/N’s Aunt Claudia smiling as they played cards. And then there were the family portraits.

One that started with John Christopher as a newborn in 1992, then adding Camille in 1996, followed by the twins in 2003. Black and white photos of grandparents and great-grandparents, photos of Depp and Y/L/N ancestors, and the framed Polaroids of Y/N and Depp in Vegas on their honeymoon, after they eloped in summer 1991 after less than a year of dating, and I had to ask the question that’s still on peoples’ minds years later: why elopement? “We were young and didn’t want to go through the process of planning a wedding. I proposed a day after meeting her aunt and uncle and two days later we were married.” You remember that day like it was yesterday; you and Johnny went on vacation to visit your aunt and uncle so they could meet him for the first time as your boyfriend. They loved him, of course and at that point, you’ve only been dating for four months and it was getting serious to the point where Johnny called you his future wife and mother of his children in interviews (which probably wouldn’t be too distant in the future since your period was late). He proposed the night before you left for L.A. after your aunt and uncle had gone to bed and you immediately said yes.

After settling back home, you two took a road trip to Las Vegas the very next day and twenty seven years later, you’re still very much in love. I asked them why move to New Orleans, to which Depp answered: “Y/N was filming a movie here after Three was born, and when I came to visit her with the baby, I think it was during Mardi Gras, we had an amazing time. The food was just incredible, and the people were amazing, and no one gave a fuck about who we were. Once Camille was born, we kept coming back as much as we could, and we decided we wanted to build a life here.” The first room we enter after reaching the landing is the master bedroom. The walls are painted a nice gray, and, you guessed it, a chandelier. “This is our room, where we rarely get any sleep because we have the kids always running in and out for whatever reason--”

“And we also climb into bed with them too,” Noelle interjects. “And other times we just do it to annoy them,” Nathan backs up his sister’s statement. The bathroom is gorgeous with a white tiled floor; the shower stall is in a corner next to Y/N’s vanity, and across from it is a jacuzzi tub set next to a window that had a few candles along the edge, and adjacent from the tub is a double sink. “This is our bathroom, and we do more unwinding here than the bedroom. Whenever one of us comes home from filming or press tours or whatever, we’re in the tub, probably falling asleep.” Next we move to Noelle’s room and it’s something out of a Pintrest board

Pretty pastel pinks and fluffy white rugs and throws with a nice swing chair in a corner, which she calls her reading nook. Black and white framed pictures of her mom from her modeling days as a teenager and pictures of friends and family fill in space on her walls. “Every piece of furniture came from either Wayfair or Overstock. They have such great deals on furniture and rugs, and I’m always scrolling through their websites.” Nathan’s room is a typical boy’s room. It’s a cool gray scale vibe with a portion of the wall behind his bed painted black and there are shelves on either side of the bed filled with books, picture frames and sports trophies. “Dad and I repainted this wall almost a month ago. The sun shines so bright in the mornings and it’s always a pain, and I love when a room is cold and dark.”

He admits to sleeping with the fan on at night, even in the winter. There’s a sleek desk in the corner that holds a laptop and a stack of books, and next to it, against the wall, is a decent sized book shelf. Nathan likes to read, a trait that he and the rest of his siblings picked up from their parents. He and Noelle are having a competition to see who could read the most books by the end of the year. The next room is a low ceilinged guest room which is where Depp’s mother Betty Sue lived her last days.

“This used to be Grandma Betty’s room. Jack comes in here all the time, and we’d find him just laying on the bed,” Nathan says, touching a portrait of his grandmother. The next room is pretty much a music studio, as there’s a drum kit, bass guitars, electric guitars, and a keyboard. The walls are covered with the kids’ school art projects over the years. The room is frequented by Depp’s band the Hollywood Vampires whenever they blow into town, where they write and record new music, and Noelle receives guitar lessons from her father and Cooper. The last room we reach is a game room/homemade home movie theater.

There’s a nice flat screen on the wall and plastic storage bins containing video games, game controllers, and DVDs; Noelle used the room to host a sleepover a few weeks ago, and Nathan and his friends used it to launch water balloons at the neighborhood boys during the summer, which he realizes he makes a mistake in admitting this in front of his parents. Finally we come to the last part of the tour, the backyard which holds a patio and a swimming pool. “I know it doesn’t feel like it now, but we were using the pool up until a week ago. During the spring and summer months, we’ll invite the neighbors over for barbecues or they’ll invite us.” It’s November, and Thanksgiving is a week away. The entire Depp family plans on spending the holiday at the Kentucky ranch Johnny bought for his mother with his siblings. Before we leave, Y/N offers me and the camera man Justin a snack of green tea and cinnamon rolls ushering us politely out of the door so they could have dinner and get ready for Nathan’s game.

The video is now up on architecturaldigest.com and on our YouTube channel.

The video is uploaded on YouTube to great reviews; the viewers love how down to earth and humble you are and that you didn’t spend a ton of money on furniture and other unnecessary miscellaneous items in the house while others wish they had a room like Noelle’s when they were teenagers. The comments range from: i’m a simple person. i see johnny depp’s name and i click on it-user26. i love how they live in a normal looking house in a normal neighborhood. i’m so glad they raised their kids outside of hollywood because john christopher and camille are the most humble nepo kids in the industry and always acknowledge their privilege. can’t say the same for others.- user89. When is Noelle gonna start her modeling career?- user85. i love how close they all are and that they live so close together to where they can get together on the weekends.- user63

dying at the looks johnny and y/n gave nathan when he said he and his friends threw water balloons out the window.- user14. when tf did the twins get so big??? why wasn’t i warned???- user 78. why do noelle and nathan get to look like they just stepped out of a j crew catalog after a day at school but i look like i got beat within an inch of my life by 4th period? - user52

#johnny depp imagines #johnny depp x reader #johnny depp imagine

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fangirlxwritesx67 · 4 years

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My Turn

Sam x Rowena, 3000 words Fluffy self-indulgent fluff, kissing, and implied sexytimes.

This is the first in my Take Me Away collection of fun vacations and escapes. It is also my entry for @wi-deangirl77 and her That’s Some Supernatural Schitt 1.2k follower’s celebration. I took prompt 3:“It's my turn to take a selfish." David Rose

*** Sometimes, thought Rowena, she just needed to take a turn being selfish. She did so much for others, all of the time. Everyone relied on her and it was exhausting. Okay, maybe she didn’t do so much for others. Maybe she helped out only reluctantly, and usually with ulterior motives. But it was still exhausting. Especially when it came to helping the Winchesters. Again with the Winchesters, perpetually the Winchesters! With Sam and Dean, it was always, “Rowena we need you.” “Rowena please help.” “Rowena can you-? Rowena will you-?” Dragging her exquisite ass all over, at the most inconvenient times. The most recent case she worked with them had really been the last straw. She had gone on the road with them and had to spend almost a week in a disgustingly run down hotel. The worn furnishings, the lack of amenities, the positively garish decor. She shuddered just thinking about it. Neither Sam nor Dean seemed to mind, but it was insulting to a woman of her refined taste. She needed a break, to get away from the Winchesters, to do something for herself. And she just knew how to do that. A spa weekend, every treat and treatment she wanted, a retreat into luxury and pampering. One of the perks of living as long as she had? A little magic and a lot of time had turned some early investments into a small fortune. She could afford whatever she wanted, and she wanted only the best.

There was a hotel nearby where she had been before, more than once. She pulled up the website. Her favorite room was still available, the corner suite with the king sized bed and the glassed in shower. But it looked like they had redesigned the website a little, and the room was now called the “Honeymoon Suite.” She pursed her lips. As if a woman had to be married to enjoy a nice hotel room. She would take the suite without the honeymoon, or the husband, thank you very much.

All alone in front of her computer, Rowena felt herself blush. She was a strong independent woman who had no problem treating herself to the best of everything. But to her surprise, she discovered another person in the perfect fantasy weekend that she was building in her mind.

That person? Sam Winchester.

The tall hunter had caught her eye from the very beginning. He was smart, he was handsome, he was considerate. They had been partners, first. They spent hours in the library, poring over books and planning for spells. She put in the effort, earning his trust, flirting with him. But it took an outright approach of seduction to get him into her bed. The steamy encounters they had shared over the past few months made it clear to her that she had made the right choice.

Sam was a delightful part of her life, but only a part. She was long overdue for treating herself. She squared her shoulders and booked the room, the spa, everything. She didn’t need Sam to approve or to accompany her. She told herself she wouldn’t miss him, at all.

She shopped on Amazon for a new bikini, new pajamas of the softest grey silk, and also a negligee set, because anything could happen. It’s not like she and Sam had ever agreed to be exclusive. Might as well get sunglasses, a hat, new lipstick while she was at it. By the time the weekend rolled around, her suitcases were bursting with new things, from comfortable to sexy, all colorful and soft.

She hired a driver to take her to the hotel on a Thursday. She could drive of course, but why? It seemed an unnecessary bother. Especially when the towncar service always sent such cute drivers.

The staff at the hotel fell all over themselves to help her. It seemed that a few of them remembered her exacting demands but generosity with tips. She settled into her room, changing into leggings and a soft tunic before heading down to dinner. The chef specialized in local, seasonal, farm to table meals. The portions were small but the flavor was exquisite, and every dish was perfectly paired with wine.

Dining alone wasn’t uncomfortable for her. She was used to it, and it gave her an opportunity to indulge in one of her favorite hobbies: people watching.

Tonight, her gaze was drawn to a pair of men. It was a shame that they were clearly a couple, because both of them were good-looking. The cuter one was telling his partner something, earnestly. Most of the words were just out of hearing, although she did catch the name David. The dark haired one interrupted to say, a little more loudly, “But, Patrick, it’s my turn to take a selfish.”

Rowena smirked into her glass of wine. My turn to take a selfish, indeed. She liked that. It suited her plans for the weekend.

Friday morning, Rowena slept in. She ordered tea and a chocolate croissant from room service before heading to her spa appointment. She had booked a hot stone massage, followed by a manicure and pedicure. Her body was relaxed, her fingers and toes shiny, as she changed into one of her new bikinis.

She headed to the pool and slathered on sunscreen before settling in with her wide brim hat and designer sunglasses. At her age, she couldn’t afford sun damage. She ordered a cocktail and opened a new paperback book. She spent hours reading, basking, occasionally dipping in the pool, enjoying the looks that she drew.

But as the sun sank down towards the horizon, Rowena realized she was bored. No, more than bored. She was lonely. A spa weekend, time out to treat herself, was one of her favorite things. But now, she wanted more.

It was an unfamiliar feeling for her. She was proud of being independent, secure on her own and comfortable with treating herself. Her spa weekends had always been a solo escape. But if she was being honest, and admitting what she wanted, she missed Sam. She wished he was there. For the first time, maybe ever, she wondered if a weekend away might be better if it was a weekend together.

All that night, Rowena tossed and turned. Her king sized luxury bed should’ve guaranteed the best possible night of sleep. But it felt suddenly too large, and lonely.

There was something about the hours between 3am and dawn that had always made her feel especially vulnerable. In the dark, she could express herself with just a little less embarrassment. Finally, she gave in to her feelings. She picked up her cell phone and texted Sam, just the address of the hotel. He texted back almost immediately, full of questions, eager for information. She answered him just as quickly.

We don’t need Dean. Come alone. Not a ghost or a vampire. I’ll explain more when you get here.

Then she rolled over and slipped off to sleep. When she woke up, she smiled, knowing that soon she would really truly have the thing she wanted most. She had just sat down to breakfast in her room when a familiar hand knocked on the door. She opened it, and stood aside as Sam Winchester rushed into the room. He looked around, his eyes taking in everything, bristling for a fight. “Where is it, Rowena? What am I hunting?”

“No, Sam. You’re not hunting, not at all.”

She took his hand and pulled him close. Once the door was closed, she leaned into his arms, lifting her lips for a kiss. He was caring, concerned, wrapping her in a strong embrace. Still, his gaze roamed the space, looking for a threat.

“If I’m not hunting, what do you need?”

“Samuel,” she purred. “My dear boy. Everything isn’t always a fight.”

“It’s not? Then why am I here?” He shook his head, tossing his dark hair.

“You’re here for us.” She slid one hand up his chest to rest at the base of his neck, tugging his gaze down to hers. She put on that pouty look that she knew he could never resist, and batted her eyelashes most convincingly.

“Us?” He dipped his head to brush a kiss to her lips but still looked baffled.

“Us, yes, you’re here for you and me. Because I miss you! I planned the perfect weekend but it just wasn't any fun without you. Sometimes, just sometimes, you have to do a selfish and treat yourself.”

Sam sputtered out a protest, which Rowena silenced with a finger on his lips.

“Maybe it’s not about you. Maybe it’s about me.” She looked at him beseechingly, eyes wide. “I want you here, with me. Give me this.”

He lowered his mouth again and kissed her more deeply. It was impossible to tell who was giving, who was taking. Both of them just enjoyed one another, in the moment.

Finally, Sam pulled away, reluctantly. He took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling. He cupped Rowena’s face tenderly in one big hand. “Okay, Ro. For you. If you want this, I’m in.”

The confused expression returned to his face as his eyes roamed the room, this time not scanning for monsters, but actually taking in the luxurious surroundings. “I’m in, but what is this?”

Rowena laughed with delight. “It’s a spa, Samuel! You know, get some pampering and self-care. I was going to start the day with a massage. Would you rather have hot stone or sea salt scrub”

Sam turned out to be a surprisingly agreeable spa partner. He seemed to enjoy first choosing, and then receiving, a massage. He also went along with a clay facemask, although he drew the line at anyone messing with his hair.

When they returned to the dining area of her - no, their- suite for lunch, he was perfectly comfortable wearing nothing but the hotel robe. Rowena enjoyed watching him in a rare moment of leisure. He enthusiastically dug into a fresh kale salad with almond slivers, parmesan and dried fruit. He was savoring it all: the food, the spa, the whole experience.

He almost seemed, could she say, relaxed? He was more talkative, less tense, his gestures broader and his smiles more frequent. It was a whole different side of Sam that she had never experienced, one that she loved to see. It did her heart good to see him happy.

After lunch, Rowena dragged him to the pool. Sam had left the bunker thinking he was going on a hunt, so of course he had not packed swim shorts. All the trunks in the hotel gift shop were European style, short and tight. Sam fussed about how much of his legs were showing as he turned in front of a mirror in the bedroom.

Rowena silenced him with a hand on the curve of his ass. “I think this shows off just enough of you.”

He swept her up for a laughing kiss and then struck a sassy sarcastic pose. “Oh, I can show off more.” She giggled and batted at him playfully as she handed him her pool bag.

By the pool, they found the perfect spot together, one chair in the shade for Rowena and one in the sun for Sam. They took their time applying sunscreen to one another, hands lingering over shoulders and waists and curves. Finally, they settled side by side in their lounge chairs. Rowena sipped a fruity cocktail while Sam enjoyed a pitcher of cucumber mint water.

She looked up across the pool to see the couple from dinner the night before. One of them was perfectly chill and relaxed, while the other was fussing with his hat, towel, magazines and a fruity umbrella drink. He lowered his sunglasses just enough to meet Rowena’s gaze. They nodded, two divas acknowledging one another.

Across the pool, the two men started to kiss. Rowena turned to Sam. His long legs were splayed across the chair, his attention already deep in a book. She smiled to herself. That was her Sam. Just having him here, not even talking, made all the difference for her. She laid back and closed her eyes.

The sun was sinking towards the horizon when Sam shook Rowena awake. “Come on,” he murmured softly, “Don’t we have plans for dinner?”

She rolled her eyes and sighed a little more dramatically than necessary. But eventually she yielded, sitting up and taking the glass of ice water he was holding out to her.

Rowena was warm and drowsy from the sun, so she let Sam take her hand to guide her back into the hotel. A cool shower helped her wake up, especially when he pulled back the curtain and offered to rinse her back. She stepped out into a soft towel he was holding. He grabbed a tube of lotion, and patted generous handfuls all over her sun warmed skin.

He jumped in and out of the shower while she combed her hair. She tossed it this way and that, unsatisfied with her unruly red curls. He was wearing dark jeans, damp clinging to his shoulders and chest, when he came up behind her. He rested his chin softly on her head and she looked at him in the mirror.

“Do you think I can - braid your hair?”

Rowena acquiesced. His big hands handled her mop of curls with a surprisingly skilled touch, at once gentle and unyielding. Over and over, as he worked through her hair, his gaze met hers in the mirror. His hazel eyes sparkled with joy. She would never admit it, but his caring touch, so patient, was better than any spa treatment she could’ve booked.

With her hair sorted, she slipped into a dark sleeveless dress with a handkerchief hem. It was comfortable, floaty and cool. Sam buttoned up a shirt that was solid black for once, not plaid. He held out his arm and escorted her downstairs to dinner.

Rowena was fine dining alone, perfectly comfortable. But dining with a tall handsome man was better. Once again, the pair from last night was seated nearby. This time, the darker man looked Sam up and down before catching her eye. “Good for you,” he mouthed.

She smirked indulgently before turning her full attention to Sam, and to dinner. The hotel restaurant already had a perfect seasonal selection prepared. They both perused the menu at length, but ultimately, she let him take the lead on ordering. He was careful, considered, ordering for the two of them so that they got to taste the most of the menu.

They ate and drank, they talked and laughed. Sam relaxed in a way that Rowena had never before seen. She got a glimpse of who he might’ve been like if he wasn’t a hunter, if he ever got to treat himself. She had called him for entirely selfish reasons, because she wanted him here. But she could see, now, how much he needed it too. This weekend was turning out to be an escape for both of them.

When the waiter came around with dessert, Rowena was very interested. But Sam asked, “Can we get this as room service? With espresso? Maybe in, two hours or so.”

He turned and flashed Rowena that irresistible dimpled smile. She smiled softly at him. As soon as the waiter answered, Sam stood up, holding out one hand. Rowena slipped her fingers into his and followed him willingly back up to the room.

The door had barely clicked closed before Sam had her pressed back against it, kissing her deep and seeking. His lips never left hers as he lifted her in his arms. She helped him ease off her dress as he set her down on the bed, settling her back against the pillows. He left his shirt and jeans on the floor before he stretched out alongside her. She rolled towards him but he held her back gently, one hand on her shoulder.

“Rowena.” His voice was deep and gentle. “What is this? What are we doing? Why am I here?”

To her surprise, she had to swallow hard before she could answer. “I used to think my ideal weekend was just me, treating myself, you know? I’m an independent woman and I don’t need anyone else’s approval or company to enjoy myself. Although, sometimes I do enjoy certain company.”

Sam raised his eyebrows and she smirked before continuing. “I realized that I couldn’t have a perfect weekend anymore without you. I want you here, not just for the cases and not just for the stolen moments. I want you.”

“Oh, Ro, I-”

“No, I’m not done.” She shushed him with a glossy nail on his lips. “I don’t know what to call this thing that we’re doing. But it matters, we matter. And whatever happens, I want you by my side.”

“Rowena.” Deep dimples popped in Sam’s face as he smiled, but his eyes were soft. “Are you trying to tell me you love me?”

“I, no, I don’t know-” for once Rowena found herself at a loss for words.

“I know. I love you too.” Sam took her face in one big hand before kissing her, softly at first and then more fervently. It was the last thing he said for a very long time, as he showed her exactly how and why he loved her.

They fit together so well, pleasured one another so perfectly. Rowena, in the fleeting moments where she was able to think, found herself wondering why she had ever thought she could have a perfect weekend without this, without Sam.

More than anything, she needed to be seen, to be known. Sam understood her, and in return, she opened up parts of her heart that had been locked away for centuries. She felt safe enough with him to just be herself, no pretense or agenda. He deserved that, and so did she.

Wrapped in Sam’s strong arms, Rowena could truly enjoy and let herself go. And she did, over and over.

She was naked, sweating, satisfied more than once, when a knock sounded on the door. Sam rolled out of bed reluctantly, dragging a blanket around his waist. He answered and returned with pastries and coffee. Rowena pointed to the bedside table and he set them down before flopping across the bed again. She climbed on top of him, covering his face with kisses.

“Don’t you want dessert?” He murmured.

“No, just you.” she answered. “It’s my turn, and I’m treating myself to you.” *** Thanks to @there-must-be-a-lock for the beta read and encouraging me to find the emotional heart of my story. *** SPN First Last and Always: @boondoctorwho @dawnie1988 @deanwanddamons @defenderrosetyler @divadinag @emoryhemsworth @fookinghelljensensthighs @idreamofplaid @kalesrebellion @kickingitwithkirk @maddiepants @magssteenkamp @onethirstyunicorn @there-must-be-a-lock @tloveswriting Sam Girl For Life: @awesomesusiebstuff @lilsylvia @winchesterxfamilybusiness Rowena My Queen: @delightfullykrispypeach @lilsylvia @marril96 @pansexualdarling @songofthecagedmoose Gay Screaming: @boondoctorwho, @cracksinthewalls, @fookinghelljensensthighs @itmighthavebeenintentional, @justcallmeasmodeus, @lastactiontricia @mskathywriteswords, @rockhoochie, @there-must-be-a-lock, @thoughtslikeaminefield

#sam x rowena #take me away #samwena #that's some supernatural schitt #sam winchester fanfiction #rowena fanfiction

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giogio-gucci-gangstar · 4 years

Text

Mudad Adventures: The Hol Horse Special

Summary: DIO leaves Giorno with Hol Horse for a short vacation. Both Hol and Giorno are less than thrilled.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23027542/chapters/55487023

“Uh sir, you want me to do what?” Hol’s jaw hit the floor as DIO once again explained his little plan of a weekend getaway. Leaving GioGio in the sole care of a Hol Horse.

“Are you sure no one else can watch the kid? What about Vanilla? That guys got to have ice cream and all that kiddie shit coming out of his ass right?”

“Interesting choice of words Hol… You’re not wrong by any means but I feel Giorno would be better in your hands,” DIO was trying to woo Hol with compliments but Hol simply raised an eyebrow and DIO straightened up.

“Well that little bastard would just have too much fun bossing Vanilla around all weekend and this is supposed to be my vacation not his.”

DIO sauntered off, it wasn't like there was much Hol could do to change the situation anyway.

~~~~~~~

Honestly Giorno was a little skeptical of anyone who was friends with his father, but out of all of his devout followers he found Hol Horse the most interesting. Yes Vanilla Ice waited on him hand and foot, but that was because he wanted to kiss DIO’s ass. Enyaba would bake him treats, and the D’Arby brothers would play games with him occasionally (very rarely would they allow someone as unskilled as a child to play though), and sometimes even Pet Shop would allow a soft head pat without threatening to peck his eyes out.

But of all of these people (and hawk) it seemed that only Hol Horse truly respected Giorno. Or feared him. But being five that distinction didn't really matter, Giorno just wanted someone to play with who wasn't doing it to impress his father.

Which is why Giorno was sitting patiently on the counter as Hol scratched around in the near empty cabinets looking for something edible. The kid was curious as to what Hol Horse would conjure up. DIO wasn't much of a cook but when he did it was an event to say the least.

Hol Horse gestured for Gio to come help. Hol easily picked him up and lifted him up to the tops of the cabinets. “Ok kid see anything we can eat?”

“Ummm,” Giorno’s eyes scanned the dark shelf, eagerly picking up spilled chocolate chips that actually turned out to be dead flies. Just the same he stuck them in his pockets for later, this time just a snack for Godzilla and not himself. “Oh! I think there's some of Pet Shop’s cans, oh wait they're tuna.”

“Great grab it. I found an avocado so I can show you the Hol Horse Special.” Hol sounded less than enthusiastic about the offer but he figured if he spun it the right way he could feed the kid and then DIO would be back and he would no longer be responsible for another human being.

Giorno swung his legs off the counter kicking slowly back and forth with a concerned look spreading across his face. He wasn't too much of a picky eater, with DIO you hardly could be, but he wasn't at all pleased with the sound of canned tuna mushing with the avocado. It was all a little too moist for his taste…

Hol Horse eagerly presented his masterpiece to the kid. One bowl. Two forks. Lots of green and pink. Hol waited expectantly for Giorno to take a bite but he noticed his apprehension.

“Oh come on kid it ain't that bad! Look I even sprinkled in some pepper and squeezed a little lemon. It's great! Real cowboy food. Tons of protein.” None of this was phasing the boy who just looked Hol Horse dead in the eye with an expression of ‘you're going to have to pry my mouth open if you want me to eat this shit’. Hol Horse knew he was going to have to pull a good old guilt trip on this boy.

“Don't you want to grow big and strong like your daddy? Or, maybe you’d rather I tell him you refused to eat and see what he comes up with? I’m sure he has some other special options for you.” They both knew Hol was referring to DIO’s questionable blood sources that he had been desperately trying to get Giorno to try. Maybe it was less guilt trip and more inspiring fear of his father’s wrath… Either way Hol was happy to walk that fine line of moral greyness if it meant DIO didn't snap his neck for starving his son.

Giorno haphazardly took the spoon, shivering because he knew no decent fish should be served with a spoon, and slowly brought it to his mouth. He held his breath, nearly plugging his nose, to swiftly inhale the food. Giorno shoveled the monstrosity into his mouth as Hol Horse slowly ate his portion, lounging against the counter and rambling on about how one of his relatives always used to make something like this and how it was a good meal for on the road etc. etc. etc.

For the rest of the weekend Giorno showed no expressions of hunger, afraid of what else Hol Horse might have tucked up his sleeve. The boy by no means starved, he had hidden stashes of junk food and candy all over the mansion, but he did make a point to avoid meal times with Hol Horse.

~~~~~~~

“DADDY!!” Giorno screeched as DIO opened the door the next evening. Giorno practically wrapped himself around the muscular thigh of his father. DIO cackled with delight. The boy was clearly happy to see him, and had even called him daddy, none of that damned ‘papa’ shit he had been spewing.

DIO was doing his best to act unaffected by his son’s rare display of affection, but spared the boy a little pat on the head before sending him off to bed.

He just as quickly turned to Hol Horse, “How did you do that so quickly? You drove him right into my arms! Did you see how he hugged my leg? It was almost like he missed me!” DIO was elated, this was by far the most emotion Hol had seen on the man (excluding blood lust of course). Slowly however, it all started to come together in Hol Horse’s head.

“Were you trying to punish your child by making him spend time with me?” Hol asked deadpan. He was pretty used to DIO’s antics by now and honestly should have expected as much.

“If you must phrase it that way so be it.”

With a look of utter exhaustion Hol turned to DIO, “You just had me watch him so he'd miss you.” There was no need to question, it was a statement both he and DIO now knew to be true.

“Was that not obvious?”

#Mudad #mudad adventures #my nonsense #my nonesense #giorno #DIO #Hol Horse #The Hol Horse Special #Hol Horse Special

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chris-evans-indian-fanfic · 4 years

Text

Across Seven Seas

Chapter 3

Description: This fanfiction series is set in the year 2022, after the horrid COVID-19 has finally come to an end. In this fanfiction, Chris Evans holidays with his family in India and meets Meera Shankar. The story explores their rollercoaster journey and raises a question, whether two people, from two contrasting backgrounds and cultures, can build their future together?

This series is Chris Evans x OFC with Chris Evans' family and friends having recurring appearances. Please find below a lot of Original Characters-

Meera Shankar - The female lead

Meera's Mother

Poppy - Meera's maternal grandmother

Rohan - Meera's elder brother who is 6 years older than her.

Ankur - Concierge of the Hotel Maple-Fawn in Mussoorie

Chapter 1 • Chapter 2

Chapter 4

FIND MORE CHAPTERS BY CLICKING ON MY BIO

P.S- India follows only one timezone.

P.P.S- All the photographs used in the chapters are of the real locations mentioned. I clicked these photographs on my vacation.

This is a work of fiction. The names of the hotels and companies have been changed to avoid copyright issues. Meera Shankar and her family is based on the author and her kin. No offense is intended.

I don’t consent to have any of my work published or featured on any third party app, website or translated. If you are seeing this fanfiction anywhere but tumblr, it has been reposted without my permission. In that case, please do share the link and let me know.

...

Chapter 3

6th September, 7:30am - Dehradun Hotel, India

Meera barely noticed the morning chatter at the breakfast table, the voices becoming dull thuds in her mind. As she dozed off for the tenth time, her mother snapped. "You just woke up Meera! How can you still be sleepy? People in the mornings are usually active, bright-eyed and alert! Yet here you are going back to sleep." "Who said I slept last night?" spoke Meera, unsuccessfully trying to stifle her yawn, "With you and Poppy snoring into my ears, I could hardly sleep." "We don't snore that bad," said her mother, defensively. "Have you ever hear... (yawn) Have you ever even heard yourself snore?" replied a sleepy Meera. "I slept peacefully in my room. Just like a baby," Rohan chimed in with a smug smile. Her sleep deprived brain could not think of a clever repertoire. At least she would fall asleep on the ride to Mussoorie, hopefully avoiding the nasty motion sickness.

6th September, 9:15am - Delhi, India

🎶tring, tring, tring, tring🎶

Chris heard the faint chime of the landline in his room. Struggling to find it in the darkness, Chris finally answered the call. The receptionist on the other end of the line was kind. She patiently reminded him about the wake-up call that had been scheduled by him and informed him about the buffet breakfast. The Evans family had reached the fancy hotel in the wee hours of the morning. It had been a relief to exit the Delhi airport sans the company of the media. Jet-lagged and exhausted, they had all collapsed into their beds. Even Chris had fallen asleep as soon as his head had touched the pillow. He now stretched on the bed, missing the warmth of his adorable canine. He knew the best way to deal with jet-lag was to condition your body to the local timezone. After freshening up, he headed towards the buffet, seeking to eat his breakfast in peace.

As there were no direct flights from Boston to Dehradun, they had decided to stay for a day in Delhi, just to rest their bones. Tomorrow, they would catch the flight to Dehradun. As Chris understood, their hotel in Mussoorie was around 6 hours away from Dehradun airport. He did not look forward to the excessive travel. He knew they would all be tired out for a week before they started feeling normal again.

He was soon joined by his family for breakfast. A large family of 7 Americans was not an unusual sight for the patrons of this hotel. Being one of the most luxurious and expensive hotels in the city, tourists from across the world flocked to the 5-star property. The best part? Nobody recognized them, especially Chris. While Chris did have a huge fan following in India, he was not immediately recognisable with his large beard and overgrown hair.

"Do we have anything planned for today?" Chris confirmed with Carly as she demolished her pancakes, "Not really. The hotel did offer a tour of the local tourist hotspots, but I didn't think anyone would be up for a day out." "Especially in this heat," chimed in Shanna. "From what I Google searched, Delhi has beautiful forts and structures. There are even expansive gardens in the city! Maybe we can visit just one site before leaving tomorrow?" suggested their mother Lisa. "I will check with the concierge and see what they recommend," offered Scott.

Chris settled back in his room after the breakfast, checking-in with Tara about Dodger. He dozed off while waiting for a reply.

Same day, 11:40pm - Dehradun-Mussoorie road

Meera woke up with a jerk as the car pulled around a corner, her heart beating fast. They were on the last portion of the winding roads, almost at the top of the hill. Dazed, she looked around the SUV, her mother and brother were wide awake and Poppy had nodded off. From the window, Meera saw the mountains and trees in all their glory, but the motion of the car lulled her exhausted mind back to sleep.

Almost 20 minutes later, she woke up again as her mother gently taped her on the shoulder. "We have reached," she quietly said, "Are you feeling okay?" Blinking her eyes, Meera managed to say yes. Chilly breeze greeted her as she opened the door of the car. Audibly shuddering, she shut the door, reluctant to leave the warm vehicle. Her brother pulled it open again, "Wake up sleepy head! Look how beautiful it is!" "It is COLD," replied Meera hoarsely, still struggling to find her bearings. "Okay look, it is just 10 steps from the car to the hotel's entrance. Just 10 steps! Then you will be in nice toasty-warm lobby. Let's go! The hills are calling us! Let's go let's go!!" Meera smiled at her brother's exuberance. Mountains had the same effect on him that beaches had on her. Bracing herself for the cold, Meera dashed from the car and into the hotel.

Maple-Fawn was one of the few 5-star hotels in Mussoorie. The international company had a chain of hotels in the country, but their property at this hill-station had been voted as one of the bests. The lobby section was intimidating to say the least. White marble flooring, polished wood-panelled walls, and elegant paintings and statues gave a sophisticated, warm vibe. As the family was checking-in, the male concierge asked for Meera, "Welcome to Maple-Fawn everyone. Do we have a Mrs Meera Shankar amongst us?" "It is Ms Meera Shankar, and that would be me," she replied. "Hello ma'am. I am Ankur, the resident concierge of this property. As I am led to believe, you are the one with the food allergies, correct?" "Yes absolutely." "We received your email ma'am, the one with the list of foods you are allergic to, and a couple of recipes which would suit you. Can we discuss it once you are settled-in?" "Oh right yes. How about we meet again after one hour?" "Sure ma'am. I will meet you with the chef in your room," confirmed Ankur.

The receptionist handed them the key cards to their rooms. "As I can see in the system, you have booked two rooms, with the 3 women living in one room and Mr Rohan living in another. Would you like to have a single bed mattress in your room ma'am? It would be more comfortable," suggested the receptionist. As her mother refused after hearing the cost for the extra mattress, Meera had to chuckle. Even the receptionist must have wondered how will 3 fat women fit on a queen-sized bed, she thought.

"Why should we spend so much money on a mattress when we call all sleep together on the same bed?" argued Meera's mother as they reached their rooms, "We have already spent so much on this expensive hotel, I am certainly not paying for anything extra." Meera's face fell as she heard those words. It had been difficult to find a hotel which would cater to her food allergies. While various brands offered food for people who were strictly vegetarian or vegan, the hotel staff, usually the chefs, could never wrap their minds around how could a person be allergic to so many things. Luckily, Maple-Fawn had been accommodating, but being on the upper-end luxurious side of things, the stay at the hotel itself had costed them around 4 months of Rohan's salary. "I will get to snuggle-up to my daughter on the same bed and sleep. I can't wait!" continued Meera's mother. "Creep," muttered Meera.

But despite herself, Meera had to admit, the view from their room was to die for...

Same day, 3pm - Delhi

Chris awoke to someone ringing the doorbell of his room. Stumbling across the room in the darkness, he opened the door to see Carly. "Hey Chris, we are going to Rori gardens, do you want to tag along?" "What? Which gardens?" "Rori, or something like that. I don't understand most of the names here," sheepishly admitted Carly. "Should I show you the brochure?" Nodding his reply, Chris stepped aside to let Carly in. "Oh God, it is dark in here, let there be light!" "No wait sto..." But before Chris could finish his sentence, Carly had opened the curtains, flooding the room with bright sunlight. "Aargh" Chris groaned at the sudden light, hidding under the covers on his bed. Laughing, Carly tried to pull the covers off of him, but Chris held on tight. "C'mon you big baby! You are worse than your niece and nephews! Even they are playing in the swimming pool and here you are, hiding underneath the covers!" "It's too bright! Turn down the sun!" Chris whined. "No way! Get up now! See this garden looks like fun. Don't stay held up in your room." Chris muttered something. "Christopher Evans, come out now or else I WILL tickle you!" Carly threatened. Uncovering his head, Chris opened one eye, "What do you want, you Kraken monster?!" Carly smiled, it had been too long since Chris had called her by the nickname. A change of location was maybe just what he needed afterall.

Chris met Carly, Scott and Lisa in the lobby, Shanna choosing to stay behind with the kids. Their hotel, Maple-Fawn, had provided them with a guide and comfortable cars. If Chris wasn't mistaken, they were going to stay at the brand's property in Mussoorie as well. "What is the name of the garden again?" Chris asked their Guide. "They are called Lodhi Gardens," came the prompt reply. "It is spread over 90 acres and contains some of the best landscaping seen here in Delhi. The garden is also home to tombs of various kings who had once ruled Delhi." "Oh so it's a graveyard," inquired Scott excitedly. Chris chucked at his brother's excitement. "Not at all sir," replied their Guide, "The garden is used as a park, where people jog, do yoga, exercise and kids play around. You will get an idea once we reach."

While the road to Lodhi Gardens had been full of traffic and commotion, the place itself was peaceful and serene. Tall trees surrounded the walkways, manicured green lawns with flower beds covered the uneven terrain, while the graves of the bygone kings were nothing like the Evans family had seen before. These were ancient structures, with delicate ornate carvings on the walls. "Woah," whispered Scott, "If these are their graves, then I can't even imagine how royal their palaces must have been!"

Chris caught himself smiling. As much as he willed himself not to feel happiness, he couldn't help but feel a little bit relaxed. Lodhi Gardens were beautiful.

#chris evans x india #chris evans fanfic #chris evans fanfiction #chrisevans #chris evans #chris evans family #bearded chris evans #India #Delhi #Mussoorie #Dehradun #chris evans x oc #chris evans x plus size reader #oc appreciation day 2020 #OCs Are People Too

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strouja · 4 years

Text

Turned 55 - A day in the life

I did this 5 years ago when I hit 50 and figured I’d do this again. To capture a moment in time and what I did on typical day, but it just happened to be my birthday Sept. 1, 2020

Late night working

I got inspired and decided to improve our security profile on our product on a very minor issue, but it would be nice do. So after midnight, which made it my birthday I researched on how to only allow Transport Layer Security (TLS) version 1.2 (and not allow earlier versions) to parts of our system used for internal communications. This is a minor issue as we lock this down for all customer access and this is just for our own “system to system” communication. So I looked up how to do this for something called Kibana and WebSphere liberty. I checked in config file changes into something called github for our product and sent a “pull request” to have an expert review it.

So it is now 1:30 am and I’m ready to call it a night.

Can we sleep now

The wife comes up to bed and we agree to NOT let our dog Winston sleep in our bed as he can make it hard for us humans to sleep. I would have him stay with us but Linh is not in favor.

So he whines outside our door for a good 15 minutes or so. Now we are ready to sleep.

All of sudden we hear him barking constantly. He behaves as a guard dog and we are perplexed as there is never anything going on late at night. This is relentless. After about 10 or 15 minutes of this I go out to see what the hell is going on. He is in the next room, on my 16 year old son's bed looking out the window barking at something in the darkness.

So I put his LED collar on and let him run around the house and chase until his heart’s content. He stays outside for 1/2 hour or so. I entice him back in and close the curtains in William's bedrooms so he won't go crazy barking anymore. So I think. FYI my son William is passed out in the basement on a new giant bean bag.Now it is probably 2:30 and I'm finally ready to sleep. But no, we hear Winston barking non-stop again.

FYI this never happens, normally it is peaceful here at night and the dog does not bark at things past 9 pm or so. It turns out whatever animals he saw before are still out there and he can see them from the windows on the 1st floor. My wife is fast asleep. I can't sleep because of this and possibly from my short but pretty hard 10 minute bike workout earlier today and the more than normal amount coffee I had today. I normally just have one cup but drank some leftover coffee in the afternoon.I probably fall asleep at 3 am or so.I have a 9 am meeting I have to get up for.

Working for the Man - IBM

Since I work from home I am able to get up right before my 9 am meeting. Then I run a meeting at 9:40 with my boss and my boss’ boss to go over how to allocate our finite internal cloud resources that one team wants to consume all of it. This is all done by Webex video & audio conferencing (like Zoom).

We have a bunch more meetings. Then I get a break sometime before noon.

Catching last 20 km of Tour de France Stage 4

When I get a break I put on the TV and through my Roku 3 put on NBC Sports Gold (without ads and European commentary) to see if today’s Tour de France stage is still on. I find out the race is still live and it is mountain top finish and there are 20 km left. So this is the perfect time to watch. I catch up on work while hearing the race and glimpsing at it.

Although I’m an avid cyclist, race myself, and lead a fast ride every week (normally 2 times a week but reduced to one because of covid-19 and with a smaller group), I’m not a big fan of pro bike racing because I know all the top names and riders are still doping. So I know only a fully doped rider has a chance of winning today’s stage, especially because it is mountain top finish.

Fixing my bike

After my ride on Sunday with my former teammates: Ray Plewacki, Vic Siegfried, and Dave Fuentes, I asked my buddy Ray P. if he can fix some shifting problem of my bike this week. He texted me earlier in the day and he agreed to come over during his lunch break. He arrives at 12:30 as I have another meeting going on. I tell my boss I will have to duck out of the meeting. He is fine with that.

Ray does his magic and does micro adjusting on my Shimano DuraAce Di2 electronic shifting. I could not shift into one of the mid gears in the back. Ray figured it out for me. So I’m all set for Tuesday Night World Championships.

Bike Ride

I eat my Overnight Oats in the very late morning and later on eat my vegan lentil based meal I made yesterday in the instant pot. I finish up work, then clean my bike (clean the drive train) and put bike in car.

I drive to bike ride and get FaceTime video call from my Don Cayelli on the ride over to wish me happy birthday. We agree to have our families go to North Carolina in a few months for a mini-vacation. We talk about a bunch of things and he asks how old the guys I ride with. I explain that the average age is about mid 30s, one guy I am older than his parents. The best and strongest rider by far is 40 years old, a former pro - Jason Schneider. He would not dope and had to leave the pro ranks as a result, doping was rampant (I claim it still is) but was much more out in the open. That is the only reason why his pro bike days were cut short.

There were some notable strong riders not here, 2 of the regulars - Alex Batres and Jason Boslaugh. Them not being here makes it much more manageable for me as the top guys feed off of others and try to outdo each other, in this process this puts the hurt on me. Many other super strong riders have not been here for anytime this year since we resumed these small rides because of Covid-19. Two notable people in this category are: George Croghan & Ferry Gijzel.

The ride tonight is very hard, 3 loops with hills about 12 miles each loop. We average 22.5 mph with stopping for lights every loop. So a pretty hard ride. I stay with the lead group but make a mistake on 2nd lap and don’t follow a very strong move (that I was told about) and end up doing a few miles solo to catch many 3 people and pull us most of the way to the main group on “Bennett Road” and catch them at the light.

Here is the strava from tonight’s ride

https://www.strava.com/activities/3998711104

This is missing pics of the strongest rider - Jason Schneider

Getting heckled on the ride

On the ride I get comments from the 2nd strongest rider on the ride about joining AARP. This kid is 27 and I am older than his parents. Spencer Lofgran is this person of interest.

Close the gap on the ride

On the last lap I was gaped a bit on a flat portion - Lawyers road as I was behind 3 folks that were not continuing the ride and the 4 guys in the front started hammering. The strongest guy comes back and gives me a massive push that pushes me past all the riders. This was by far the strongest push I ever received on the bike

Catching up with Mates

In the parking lot after the ride my buddy Vic Siegrfried is there waiting to wish me happy birthday. Here is a pic from Sunday ride with me, Ray Plewacki (middle) and Vic

Catching up with former work mates - IT Legend

I drive home and call a good friend of mine from work Anthony Zawacki to catch up with him. He was our best worker by far but in our last round of layoffs was dismissed. He is an IT rockstar doing great at his new job. He asks me a work question and that reminds me to contact a team using our product to help them avert a Kubernetes problem of an expiring certificate and to fix it before it expires.

Working for the man again

I get home and hop back on my new work issued MacBook Pro 16″ laptop to figure out the commands I want the customer to run. The commands are not in our official doc and I eventually find the commands that work. I test them on my own test system at an IBM lab and give them to support to get to them to the customer. I no longer have contacts with the on-site team as the main person I worked with left IBM.

I then write a long slack message to our documentation person to explain why we need these commands in our documentation. I then give sample output of the commands and what we are looking for.

The next day I spend a few hours doing more testing and spend an hour with our doc person to make all the changes to our official doc that I then get out to our customers on this release of our product.

Birthday Cake

My wife bought a 2 cakes, chocolate mousse with raspberries and apricot tart.

I eat 100% plant based foods (past 8 months or so) but broke that tonight to eat the chocolate mousse

We FaceTime my daughter Sophia at the University of Virginia (UVA), I light candles, and we sing happy birthday with Linh, Sophia (on iPhone), William and our infamous dog - Winston. Here are some poor photos I took in haste.

Trippy Lights & Wall Art

As I’m heading to bed my son shows me the LED lights we bought him for his bedroom and some very funky psychedelic wall art whose appearance change dramatically as the LED lights change colors.

#Stroud 55 Birthday

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gl0wupdiaries · 4 years

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Novena for the Month of May

My grandmother was born on the 25th of August 1937. She grew up with five other siblings (she is second to the eldest), all of which are female, to a Spanish mother and an Ilocano father. She lived a simple childhood in their town, and like any other typical Filipino child during her time, one of her earliest memories was when she managed to place her right hand over her left ear, which meant that she finally qualified for elementary school. There she would learn how to sew, knit, garden, manage poultry, and many more.

A picture of a brusque lady, Norma is usually seen playing a competitive game of softball in the muddy fields of her hometown—wearing her bloomers, and is often picking fights with the boys in her class, like that one time when she punched an aviation officer’s son during recess for making fun of her elder sister. Leaving a reddish and swollen mark on his nose, my grandmother got called to the principal’s office, forced to explain herself in front of the aviation officer after her incident with his son. In a coy and mischievous manner, my grandmother, who was then 10 years old, explained that his son was simply wrong for assuming that he can make fun of anyone he likes just because his father is in position—and that the school doesn’t need students like him. Putting the aviation officer to shame, my grandmother was punished for her disrespectful act by receiving more homework and schoolwork than the rest of the kids for a week.

She always looked forward to her math classes, enjoying the challenge that it gave her, and would often compete with her sisters at night to see who would finish their maths homework the fastest. Under the warm light of their lampara, they fought, laughed, and pestered each other as their mother watched them while waiting for their father to come home for dinner. Living most of her childhood years under the Japanese occupation, most nights for her and her family consisted of dimmed lights, quiet conversations, and tightly shut doors and windows, fearing that they might be seen and located by the Japanese soldiers. Her father, often wary and vigilant, slept near their house entrance, in case intruders try to come in.

She lived in a simple bungalow. The outside façade of their house was full of herbs, plants, and flowers that her mother grew, they had a basement containing pigs and poultry for their livelihood, and their main house consisted of two bedrooms for her parents and her sisters, a living room, and a kitchen. She would often recall the homeliest part of her childhood home: the kitchen. There, she spent most afternoons with her mother, who was frequently sick, learning about Kapampangan dishes, house chores, and life lessons. She distinctly remembers the short bamboo poles placed at a corner of their kitchen, where their glasses were placed for drying.

Growing up, she looked up to her grandfather, Tatang Kiko, and would always visit him in his home after school. He is frequently seen riding his kalabaw with a wooden cart attached to its back, which they called gareta, containing fruits and vegetables that he harvested as a farmer and sells on the market located at the heart of their town, or bayan. He was kind to her, giving her apples, mangosteens, and even tomatoes to bring home for her sisters, taught her majority of what she knows about gardening today, and even showed her the proper way to ride a kalabaw. Almost every day, during her elementary and early high school days, she would visit her Tatang Kiko, and would enjoy his company and humor. She found a sense of comfort with his presence, a feeling that she had a difficult time finding in her own home, because of the tension within her family caused by her mother’s sickness and their poverty-stricken life.

One hot summer in the month of March, when the camachile (Manila tamarind) trees were in full season and being picked by the local children of Floridablanca, my grandmother was on her way to visit her Tatang Kiko after a long day in school. Taking her usual route in the sandy roads of their baranggay, one of the local vendors of their market ran towards my grandmother, bringing with her devastating news. Her Tatang Kiko was on his way home from a kaningin session with his friend; he was seated at the trunk of his friend’s truck filled with sugarcane. As it passed by the rocky portion of the mountain, he fell out of the truck. His friend, still clueless, continued to drive his truck, not knowing that he ran over Tatang Kiko.

My grandmother, crying, dropped all her stuff on the ground and ran as fast as she could to her Tatang Kiko. Not once did she stop to catch her breath; she kept running until her heels and ankles developed calluses. She reached the mountain, and there, she was faced with his dead body, his white shirt covered in blood and his lifeless eyes staring at nowhere. Holding her Tatang Kiko with her bloodied hands, my grandmother lost one of the most important people in her life within an instant. Screaming for help, not once did she let go of her grandfather, crying in his arms. She went home without any fruits and vegetables that day.

In the early 1950s’, my grandmother met my grandfather, who was then a Liberal Arts major, and my grandmother a fourth-year high school student. She met my grandfather while he was on vacation in her hometown at his brother’s house. My grandfather courted my grandmother for about a year. Within those days, they enjoyed their afternoons together, picking camachiles, mangoes, and whatever is in season, and had those for their merienda. Sometimes my grandfather would let my grandmother sit at the back of his bicycle as they explored the town, going to places such as the palakol river, this place called “Riverside”, and many more. At the end of the day, my grandfather would escort my grandmother home, oftentimes receiving stern looks from my great grandfather, something that my grandmother laughs a lot about now.

My grandfather lived in a large house together with his three other siblings: the eldest brother a priest, his second brother a pre-med student, and his youngest sister an elementary student, who will later on become a nun. My grandmother always talks about the big foyer in my grandfather’s childhood home, and how beautiful it was; it had huge black and white marble tiles, large windows, tall white walls, and beautiful antique furniture. There, my grandfather would often play the violin, accompanied by his second to the eldest brother who plays the piano. My grandfather’s family was influential during that time, because his brother was a priest, which was deemed as a high status and position back then.

My grandmother wasn’t able to go to college because her parents couldn’t afford then, and so she went to beauty school, which proved more affordable. After she and my grandfather finished their studies, they got married and had four children. They lived a simple life, moving from town to town, until they finally settled down in a small city by the bay. There, they bought a big empty lot in a small barangay for 10,000 pesos and built their home there. Throughout the years, they both worked hard--my grandmother as a government employee, and my grandfather as a Base employee--in order to sustain their four children. Soon enough, all of their four children graduated college and started their own lives.

When I was born, I lived in my grandparents’ house until I was five. Back when I was two, my grandfather died because of gastric cancer, and left my grandmother devastated and depressed. During those years, I spent most of my days with my grandmother, because my mother had to work. She wasn’t loving, nor was she sweet and soft spoken, she was short-tempered, and would often shout at me and my cousins whenever we’re playing at her garden, saying that if we ruin any of her flowers, she’ll spank us and send us home. I used to not like her because of how different she was from my mother who was gentle and nurturing. As a kid, I often dreaded it when I had to visit her, because all she did was scold me and my mother. But as I got older, I started to understand her more, over and beyond her harsh external.

She is very religious, as most of our grandparents are, and goes to church every morning, much less nowadays due to her weakening health. Sometimes she gets a bit vocal, especially to our housekeeper and other people serving us. She has the habit of insulting them—her intentions are good, but she has a harsh way of showing it. She cooks a lot of kapampangan dishes too, that’s why I never leave the house with an empty stomach. One time, I asked her why she makes such a big fuss about what meals are going to be prepared for the day, and her answer was simple and short: “I don’t want my family eating bad food, because it’s bad for the soul.” Despite us two not getting along most of the time, there are times where she makes me realize things too.

One evening in May, as I was reading a novel in our living room; my grandmother approached me and asked “Marunong ka ba mag basa ng Tagalog?” (Do you know how to read Tagalog?) And I told her that I can. I asked her why, she walked towards me and said “basahin mo yan,” (read that,) as she placed a small booklet on our coffee table. When she left the room, I took a look at what she placed on the table; it says: Novena ng Santa Rita (Novena of Saint Rita). She is a devotee, and even offered her house once as a place for the almost five foot tall Santa Rita relic. It made me laugh at first, but then I realized that I’ve read lots of books, but I have never really taken the time to read anything about my religion, regardless if I believe it or not.

A few weeks after that evening, my grandmother was sent to the hospital because of a major blood infection. She was straddling life and death, and the doctors weren’t sure if she’d survive. I wanted to tell her that I was sorry and that I’m ready to listen to and bond with her. And as I recall that short-lived connection that we had in the living room, I felt regret; I should have asked her what that novena was about, why she’s so attached to our religion, what she feels whenever she prays—all these questions that I never bothered to ask because of my closed mind.

She survived that hurdle and is enjoying her life at 83 now. Though she isn’t as sharp as she used to be, she is still the strong woman that she was when she punched that boy in her class. This is the story of how I got to know my grandmother, not only as the person that I see in the kitchen, but as the strong figure that keeps our family together, and a role model that I will forever look up to.

Nowadays, I talk to her about stories from when she was young—the stories that I have written here—and spend as much time with her as I can. Sometimes, I would join her in the kitchen and help her with her work. And I stayed, no matter how harsh her criticisms may be. And on rare occasions, I join her in her praying rituals too, without sulking.

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explorer-9-blog · 4 years

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Treasure amidst the City

It was a lazy Sunday morning, I had just woken up, took my phone and plugged it for charging and sat on the sofa still waiting for my body to come out of slumber. This was a daily routine. I sat there gazing at the greenery outside from my living room balcony. My balcony faces the garden from where you can see the Ashoka trees with their thick foliage, few coconut trees at a distance and a badam tree and a peepal tree at the periphery. There is something soothing and calming in this sight of the leaves fluttering in the breeze, movement of birds from one tree to another and the melody of various bird sounds. Obviously the crows are the lead vocalists you hear but in the background one can hear the different artist pitching in and it is those artists and contributors that make it a melody.

So as I was saying, it was a typical start to the day and as I sat there my brother tells me that he just saw a crow sized black bird with brown wings flying and settling behind the thick floiage of Ashoka tree, intrigued I joined him in the balcony and now we were trying to get a glimpse of it, hoping the breeze would shuffle the leaves a bit or the bird would make a movement to enable us to get a sight of it. And just moments later we see the leaves move at a place due to the birds movement and a closer look gives us the glimpse of the light brown back of the bird. Its like a trailer which keeps us interested and as we keep looking at the tree we are able to track its movement behind the leaves as it is a big bird. Finally it comes and settles at one of the branches towards the outer end giving us a full view and it was a triumphant moment as our patience bore fruit. As we admired it's beauty we realized it bigger then a crow, I asked my brother to take a pic so that we can flaunt it but just as he went to get his phone the bird took flight stretching it's brown wings and it was a beautiful sight. My brother came back with the phone and I told him it's gone. Nature had done a good balancing act. He saw it come and settle. I saw it settle and leave.

The next step was to google the description and find out who the unexpected visitor was. The result was immediate. The beauty is called 'Crow pheasant' or 'the Greater coucal'. I liked the name greater coucal. It suits the image of the bird. Crow pheasant makes it sound ordinary and it was not ordinary. The internet image helped us admire it's finer details like it's orange eyes and the blackish Purple body. Step 3 was to share our discovery of sorts with fellow beings with its name and internet image. Wow what a start it was to my day and I sat there with a sense of joyous fulfillment.

The events of the morning took me down memory lane and to the reason why this plain looking at trees, listening to bird sounds and occasional rare bird specie sighting is so pleasing to me. And this friends is the treasure I want to reveal. My family moved in to this Mumbai society in 1986 right after yours truly was born. Since my childhood I remember not waking up to the alarm but chirping of sparrows. We didn't have ACs in those days and both the bedroom windows would be kept open to let the air pass and keep the room temperature pleasant. One of the bedroom windows had similar view as from my living room balcony being adjacent to each other. And the next bedroom window had a green curtain of sorts. And no I am not talikng about the cloth ones. Once you open the cloth curtain you will find a Ashoka tree almost hugging the window grill and this was the abode of the sparrows. And our society has these Ashoka trees at a distance of every 6 feet along the motorable road inside the colony. So that window was flanked by this Ashoka tree and one to its either side. As if this wasn't enough, we have a mango tree just behind these Ashoka trees, so even between those Ashoka trees all you can see was green. And in this way the sparrows became our early morning alarm. I don't see them much now and the sound has also gone down several notches. Also the AC being used now has made us close the window :(. So as kids we woke up with a natural alarm and mom and dad used to carry us to the living room and setlle us on the sofa there. And though we didn't value the sight from our balcony much then, we now realize it was paradise. With the years gone by the present day view from the balcony desribed above has changed a bit. In our childhood days the green from the Ashoka trees was complimented by a bright red gulmohar tree in its full bloom. This and a full grown cocnut tree with its branches spread out was what we saw every morning. This coconut tree was right in front of the balcony and the badam and peepal tree were visible from between it's branches then. If only I could do anything to have that sight again.

The parrots were regular early morning visitors of the coconut tree and unlike other kids we never found parrots rare or exotic as we used to see them everyday. The gulmohar had a charm of it's own. The blazing red had a different beauty during sunset with the mix of orange skies. When the red petals fell to the ground it seemed as if the gulmohar has a laid out a red carpet for residents of the society. We lost the coconut tree to pests and the gulmohar to construction of a building. Had instagram and camera phones existed then, my balcony view would have been my best muse.

One other thing which is worth mentioning is the sweet sounds of the cuckoo that summers brought with them. The cuckoo has always been a frequent visitor. As kids you just enjoyed the sound and didn't take the pains to find the bird. That and the cuckoo made it difficult too. Everyone will agree it's not easy to spot one. But that too was accomplished when I sat to study in my bedroom window during my CA days. As opposed to a crow it had a slender body, longish tail and a smaller beak. Spotting a cuckoo till date is exciting as it's not as common as the parrots were. Summers also meant school vacations and I am glad that unlike kids of today, we spent our childhood vacations in outdoor activities. We used to play cricket in the morning till lunch time and after lunch we used to meet again as sleep was considered waste of good vacation time. Tired from the morning cricket and full with lunch we used to just sit and chill in the afternoon. And the place to chill was our colony garden. We had a tree we called our own. This was a small tree bearing small white flowers with a 4-5 feet trunk and branches going upwards in all directions from the center. Thus once you climbed the trunk you had 4-5 strong branches to sit and lean on. The tree easily managed the weight of 4 ten year olds. And our afternoons were spent mostly sitting on the tree and at other times playing marbles in the soft red soild in its shade. As we grew up while the sitting on the tree remained the same the tree changed. The small white flower bearing tree no longer could fit us and we had our sights on bigger things. Now we could climb the trunk of the mango tree. Not the one near my bedroom balcony but the one in our garden. Yes we had 6 mango trees in the colony and the seventh one had its trunk outside but the fruit bearing portion was inside our colony. So the teenage afternoons were spent on the mango tree in the garden. We used to pluck mangoes targetting the fruit with rubber balls or using a bamboo to pluck them. The mango fruit is also of different varieties as we all know. And the tree in our garden had a peculier variety. The fruit was round and slighly bigger in size. We used to call it 'Laddu keri' cause of the round shape. And we took pride in it as this was nothing of the ordinary. After plucking the raw mangoes we used to ask the society Gardner to slice them for us and give us a mixture of salt and red chilli powder to eat with it. Till date it's a pleasure to see the mango trees in full bloom with the fruits just before the arrival of the monsoon.

With so much greenary around the beautifully coloured butterflies and hyper active squirells were a common sight. But we have also spotted snakes in our garden while playing cricket and an owl twice or thrice at night. One thing i find silly now is the fact that we never stopped playing in the garden despite the snake sightings. We might have stopped a game a couple of times but we used to be back the next day or the same evening if we had stopped a game in the morning. Over the years I have seen many rare birds be it from my balcony or while studying for my CA on my terrace (cost me an attempt) [list below]. Nature, thus, was always an integral part of my growing up. No doubt it has a calming and soothing effect on me till date. This greenery around me is like a treasure in the midst of this hustling and bustling city.

Other notable bird visitors -

Magpie Robin it's a songster very melodious

Purple rumped sunbird - small and elegant

White spotted fantail - its got a name from its look, yes it has a fanned tail.

Eurasian golden oriole - this was a rare sighting. I have never seen a yellow bird before and it wasn't difficult to find a yellow bird native to Mumbai on Google.

#nature #birds #birdlover #Mumbaibirds #birdwatcher

-Bhavik

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dream-easy · 5 years

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Lindsay’s Complimentary Life Update

Hello!!! So my time spent on here has been dwindling down over the past few months for a few different reasons. The beginning of this year did not treat me very well, and I hit a very rough patch in February that sent me to a pretty bad place mentally.

For those who don’t know, I just graduated in December and I didn’t really have a specific plan set for myself aside from the fact that I knew I had a dream company that I desperately wanted to work for, but knew it was difficult to get hired into. Around the same time of graduation, I also fell hard for someone I thought had fallen for me as well. At the end of January basically everything went downhill within a week. I got turned down from my dream company in their Denver office, one of my best friends moved states away, and I got my heart absolutely broken in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Not to mention, I had also tried applying for a position with my dream company in their Boston office, and didn’t get a response after my first interview. I felt extremely lost and depressed and ultimately stuck in a place I didn’t want to be. Two weeks had passed since my first interview with Boston. Valentine’s Day marked the very last day I spoke with the girl I was broken over and things were not feeling great. I needed something to latch onto to keep me grounded, and I got exactly that the following day. I heard back from Boston and scheduled a second interview. Between then and the end of March was an absolute whirlwind. My mental health still wasn’t in great shape but I could feel myself healing from the heartbreak and getting more confident about my interviews. After the fourth interview, they asked to meet me in person in Boston. So I bought myself a plane ticket and made my way there and did something right because they called me a few days later with a “you’re hired!”. Which I’m still having trouble recognizing; I’m so grateful and I don’t take it for granted at all, but landing a job with my one, single dream company just three months after graduating is difficult to fathom.

I got the news about my hire towards the end of March, and had about three weeks to find a place to live and figure out my moving situation, as I’d be starting the new job in mid-April. So I packed up my whole life in Ohio/Michigan and made the big move to Massachusetts. Leaving the place you’ve called home your entire life isn’t easy by any means, and I miss all of my friends and my favorite restaurants and the places that hold memories for me. But I’ve never felt connected to my hometown and I’ve been wanting to relocate to a larger city for a few years now, and this new job was genuinely the perfect opportunity for me to finally take that leap. Starting fresh in a new city isn’t easy either though. I didn’t know a single person here. The place I moved into was filled with random roommates I met on Facebook. Driving here sucked (still does). I wasn’t familiar with any of the areas and it hit me pretty hard just how much I was going to miss the comfort of “home”. My first main goal after moving was to make one single friend before June. I wanted someone that I could enjoy summer with; preferably someone queer so I had someone to celebrate pride with. So where do you start when trying to meet people? Social media. Social media has always been huge for me and it’s connected me to so many amazing human beings. I began following locals on Instagram, one in particular who is a positivity and queer activist in Boston. She followed me back, and I remember sending her a message just asking for advice on how to meet people and make friends. And she recommended Bumble, which I had tried using in the past and wasn’t entirely impressed by it. But I had nothing else going for me, so I downloaded it. Mostly for Bumble BFF, but I started to use the dating portion again as well to try and figure out if I was ready to try dating again, or if I still needed time to heal.

Long story short, Bumble BFF made my transition here so much easier. In May, I connected with one person named Izzy, who I quickly became close with. She became my road trip buddy and we got tattoos together after knowing each other for less than a month. She was also queer, which meant that I also had someone to celebrate pride with, so my main goal of making one friend was successful. It turned out that both Izzy and I had connected with another person on BFF named Shannon. We all met in person at a pride event and the rest was such smooth sailing. We connected so easily, and Shan introduced Izzy and I to a friend she had also made on BFF. I got to celebrate my very first big city pride with a group of amazing people who have become very quick, amazing, and supportive friends. This group of friends has kept me sane and so, so busy this summer and I’m so extremely grateful and honestly so blessed to have them in my life. If I hadn’t met them at the time that I did, I’m afraid that my mental health would have started spiraling downwards again. I wanted a community so badly when I moved here, and that’s exactly what I found through BFF.

Just after pride, I came to a point where I felt ready to try dating again. I was still hurt over everything that had happened earlier in the year, but I was no longer crying over her, and I could think about our time together without getting sad. So I downloaded Tinder because what else is a queer introvert to do in a new city? Dating apps have always sucked and it’s damn near impossible to connect with people on them, let alone find people that are actually looking for a relationship. After some failed attempts, I hit a random low one night. When things initially ended between me and the girl, I thought a lot about how I would never meet anyone as good as her ever again. Which is stereotypical to think, but it’s genuinely something I was concerned about. It’s extremely difficult for me to find people that don’t drain me and connect with me well enough for feelings to form. Feelings are hard. I’ve only ever truly fallen for two people, and that night those thoughts of never meeting someone as perfect for me as her started to creep back in. And then, much like what happened the day after Valentine’s Day, I matched with a girl on Tinder the morning after those thoughts sunk in. Fast-forwarding to now, we’ve been on three official dates, are spending two nights together this week, and already have a kayaking trip planned for later this month. We’ve already established what we’re both looking for and I feel really good about things. And I’m really happy. Like..really happy.

On top of all of this, my dream company is absolutely living up to the expectations I had set for it. The company values are everything I could have asked for. I’m not afraid to be myself in the office. My coworkers, team and managers are all fantastic people and I honestly enjoy working with them. Our Boston office celebrated pride and marched in the parade this year. We have an LGBTQ+ club that meets monthly in order to continue celebrating pride year-round and creating a safe space for all queer employees. Things are going so well, you guys. It’s actually kinda overwhelming and I feel like I haven’t really taken the proper time to sit back and really think about how much my life has changed over these past three months. It’s wild. I’m the same person, but I’ve grown so much and I’ve accomplished so many of the goals I had for myself and my life after school. Life isn’t perfect by any means, and I do miss parts of my life back in Ohio/Michigan. I miss my friends still, and it’s weird not being able to take a quick hour drive back to my parent’s house. It doesn’t feel like I’m states away; sometimes it feels like I’m just on a long-term vacation here. I’m almost numb to it. But I’m adjusting really well, and I’ve had a few really eye-opening moments that have made me realize just how amazing being alive can be. If you asked me at the beginning of this year where I’d be right now, my answer would have been still in Michigan looking for a job that would pay me better than Home Depot. I could have never predicted that I’d snag a role with my dream company, relocate to an amazing city, gain a great group of friends that enjoy road trips and travel as much as me, open myself up to dating someone, and find my own way without the help of others. The truth is that you really never know what’s around the corner. Just don’t be afraid to keep trying and pursuing the things that make you happy. If you have a dream, don’t give it up. Approach it from different angles. Even if things are not going great. Even if you’re not doing well. Even if you haven’t been doing well for a long time. Things are not permanent. They’re constantly changing and sometimes you gotta go through all the rings to get there. Words can’t explain how happy I am here. I’m excited to go back to Ohio/Michigan soon to see people I’ve missed dearly. But I’m also proud to start calling Boston home. I’m conquering this city and all of New England one day at a time and I couldn’t have asked for it to happen any other way.

#WOW this is so long and i don't really expect anyone to read all of this #i could have listed more details on things that have happened but i feel like this is a good enough summary #like shit guys #i'm just...life is really good #and i still cant wrap my head around it

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elle-stevens · 4 years

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The Break Up Blog - Day One Hundred and Forty Nine

My VPN is acting up again, so I’m blogging using my laptop tonight instead.

It’s been nice doing lots of typing on my laptop in recent days. My Cat and Robbie story is taking shape in a delightfully romantic way.

Who knew that Ariana Grande could be such a useful muse? I feel like a large portion of the world population could’ve clued me in on this fact a long time ago, hee hee.

Today was my last official day at my old job.

I took some time to walk around the school running track track and roam the hallways first thing in the morning. It felt surreal poking my head in through the doors of the homerooms where I taught so many of my students English, or tried to teach them at least.

I felt a bit like a ghost in a haunted house since most of the students are officially on holiday now and the classrooms were eerily empty.

After that, the day whizzed by with me helping C prepare some materials for her Murder/Detective winter vacation class. Lol, she’s really stoked about getting ready for police training when she goes back to the States in a month, so she’s turning her old students into miniature police detectives investigating crime scenes.

It’s an unusual concept for a children’s class, but I’m sure they’re having a blast learning new life skills from C. Plus, filling mini ziplock bags with powdered sugar and pretending it was cocaine was priceless!

When it finally came down to leaving, I went around my whole office to greet my colleagues one last time. It felt good to do that, even with my colleagues I barely interacted with for two years. I wanted all of them to know in some way that any help or kindness they gave me has always been greatly appreciated.

It felt nice showing a bit of my emotions at work and hugging my colleagues and exchanging Wechat contacts with a few of them. I hope they won’t forget me; I hope I won’t forget them either.

CI walked me out of school too because he didn’t want me to walk outside alone after saying goodbye to everyone, which was very thoughtful of him. And then he even hugged me goodbye outside the bus station near our respective homes, which surprised me in a good way. CI’s even more reserved than me and not big on expressing affection through physical contact. So I wasn’t planning to hug him goodbye today because I wanted to respect his personal boundaries. So it was nice that he broke his usual rules with me. Even though we only worked together for a year, I’m glad I met him. He’s such a great guy and become a good friend over time. I hope that he’ll still reach out whenever he needs help with stuff or just wants to chat. I’ll do my best to look out for him this year, especially with C heading back to the States. I’ll do the same with AS too since PE and his wife will be moving to the States too at the end of his work contract in August.

I went to the bank afterwards to withdraw some cash and just walked around near my neighbourhood for a bit. I felt pretty sad and lost after leaving my workplace. This is a new chapter in my life and I’m still not quite sure how to feel about it.

I got home and opened a gift and read a letter that one of my colleagues gave me yesterday. I just broke down and cried a for a while after that. The letter itself was simple enough, but the sentiment just wrung my insides out like a wet sponge. I sent some voice messages to other colleagues I didn’t get a chance to see before I left.

CH, G and D messaged me throughout the day, which was good too. I avoided messaging my loved ones all day because I was feeling emotional about my last day at work and wasn’t ready to delve into it just yet. But I’m glad they broke down my emotional barriers to check in on me. It’s nice to know that I have so many people in my life who are constantly looking out for me.

I sent H a voice message too even though we saw each other before we both left the office today. She left earlier than me because she had to go home and pack, she’s going back permanently to Korea. She’ll come back to China briefly next month, so hopefully we can have a meal or coffee together before she departs for good. I finally told her that X and I broke up and she was very sweet and encouraging about it, telling me I deserved better and that I’ll be ok in the end.

Even if I let H confirm her strange ‘Columbo-esque’ suspicions about my breakup bordering on practicing witchcraft (H legit guessed at all the right reasons why X and I broke up months when she gossipped about it with C without me telling her anything, it was freaky!), I feel ok about it now. I don’t want to hold onto any more bad feelings that happened at work, in either a professional or personal sense. I’m also glad I told H that she did a great job as our manager last year, even if it wasn’t always the case. I don’t want her to go away from our school feeling like she failed at managing all of us. She has a lot of good points and overall, she was still a great colleague to work with the past two years.

I also told PE and AS more about what went down with X. We ended up at a bar after having a farewell dinner for all the teachers leaving my school last night. I was intoxicated at that point and the three of us were talking about sex and relationships. They were very sympathetic and it meant a lot to get some things off my chest. Maybe by telling more people about what happened with X, I’m slowly freeing myself from the burden of carrying her haunting memory with me everywhere I go.

She’s invading less of my thoughts these days, especially when I’m feeling horny. That’s been very helpful not having X’s face pop into my head at awkward moments. I still think of her from time to time. It’s mostly negative thoughts about how much she sucks as a person. Other times, they’re sweet memories about little things she did that made me smile or made me happy in general.

She was my first properly long-term relationship; of course I’m going to carry her with me for a little while longer.

At least till I meet someone new that I love for a lot longer than X.

A part of me thinks that I’m ready to fall in love again.

But then I have moments like last night where I’m wandering around drunk in my city for the umpteenth time in 6 months and I feel like just another lost soul who doesn’t want to let love into my heart again.

My birthday is coming up next week and I’ve decided to have a simple birthday dinner with my friends on Saturday instead of Wednesday, which is when my real birthday happens. I’m still not ready to acknowledge the day, as shitty as that sounds.

It is pretty bad considering I’m lucky to be alive. Not in the sense that something bad happened to me and I almost died, but in the sense that it’s a blessing to live out a new day every single day. Instead I’m treating my birthday like it’s something horrible and disgusting, like it wasn’t one of the few things that my parents actually did right together as a couple.

Ok, that sounded so much weirder out of my head and in written form, but you all know what I mean.

My point is that I should be happier I get to celebrate another birthday. I’m being an idiot just because I’m turning 35, I’m single and living away from home while celebrating my birthday.

Hence why I’ll still celebrate my birthday with my friends, but maybe just have a ‘me’ day on my real birthday. And I can still call my family on my birthday and celebrate with them.

So yeah, I’m taking baby steps on the road to happiness and finding newer and healthier ways to deal with my issues. My therapist is out of commission these days because she has Stage 0 breast cancer and had surgery recently. So she’s recuperating at home and not seeing her patients till February so her medical insurance pays out as promised. That’s ok with me, I’m putting on my ‘big girl pants’ and trying not to need her for anything till I see her in person in February when I go home to see my family.

So in the meantime, I’ll try not to indulge in self-destructive behaviour from now on. After my birthday, I’m going to stave off drinking for a while too. I need to take better care of my health in light of my gastritis. I just hope I can get better medication to help me with my acid reflux and dry mouth in the future.

I made spaghetti bolognaise for dinner and slept for a few hours. Now I’m up blogging and chatting to different people through SNS. I have to get up early tomorrow to do a health check for my new Chinese work visa for this year.I hope everything goes well at the hospital since my Mandarin is still pretty shite. I hope I can get enough rest and hopefully take another nap tomorrow when I get back from the hospital.

What?

I have a month to myself before I visit my family in South Africa. I’m definitely going to celebrate that fact by catching up on sleep, my ever elusive friend.

I’m a bit too tired to type up more of my new story now, but I broke my 7-year streak of not writing fanfics at work this week. So in-between cleaning out my work cupboard and cleaning my work desk, I typed up my Cat and Robbie romance, tee hee.

Alright, time for bed. Sleep and peaceful thoughts are coming to me more easily these days now that I’m moving on gradually from all the bad shit that happened in 2019.

For now, things are good :-)

#breakupblog #dayonehundredandfortynine

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ofmontys · 5 years

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“ ah, well. acceptable forms of payment include but are certainly not limited to : booze, food, arms, real estate, f a v o r s ... i’m not picky. but for this lot? ” monty shakes a small plastic bag between forefinger and thumb, lips decorated with an iced smirk. “ the price’ll be a bit... steep. ”

or, alternatively: hello, hello, hello! delighted to be here! the name’s linc ( she/her ) and i’m comin’ to you live from the ever so lovely est timezone with the one, the only, the absolute bloody douchecanoe, monty monroe !

( charles melton + 23 + muse 51 ) isn’t that ignatius “monty” monroe over there? i heard he joined faction: nomads after they got back to west ham. it’s funny, ‘cause they were only on the service trip because his fraternity received disciplinary community service hours & downtrodden greek lifers equaled eager customers. hopefully they fit in there – they’re VULPINE, but also PERFIDIOUS. oh, i’m sure they’ll be fine.

“road work ahead? uh, yeah, i sure hope it does!” ( alternatively: monty monroe, a roadmap. )

firstborn to two of the most powerful executives in the world in hong kong, heading alacritas, the world’s most cutting-edge pharmaceutical company to date. meaning “cheerfulness” and “life”, alacritas’ company mantra is based in life-giving –– “in vivacity, we shine.” lest we forget, though, these pharma high rollers definitely did more than dabble in delinquency. big pharma comes with big drugs: not always the legal kind. and while monty’s parents certainly generate an impressive gross income from respectable trades, they also outsource sketchy labor not listed in their tax reports... illegal substances. mercenaries. insider trading. the monroe’s exploited their industry to the fullest, securing their way to the top of hong kong’s sociopolitical ladder. and, when chinese authorities began questioning their records in 1998, neville and meihui did what any good parents would do to secure a promising future for their only progeny: they shipped two-year-old ignatius off to london, england to live with neville’s sister.

up until his thirteenth year, ignatius thrived: he grew up alongside his younger cousin, essentially as siblings. his aunt became more of a mother than a simple caretaker. the boy was bright. brilliant, really. in primary school, he distinguished himself with his sharp wit and indelible charm. a footballer and intellectual, he fostered many friendships and networked his way into london’s youthful elite. so, when his aunt uprooted their small family to marry an american she met during a layover in dublin, young ignatius was less than pleased.

his aunt’s husband happened to own property in a hole-in-the-wall town in kansas, west ham. ignatius despised the name –– and, upon arrival, his dislike only grew. its sleepy streets couldn’t compete with bustling south kensington. despite their opulent accommodations, he developed a sour taste in his mouth concerning west ham and its residents. some semblance of self-perceived superiority took hold –– and, as ignatius easily landed the role of striker on west ham’s varsity soccer team, his peers mostly enabled this attitude.

in high school, he earned the nickname monty: something a bit less posh than his birth name. it worked, and monty found that, by his senior year, he’d grown more comfortable in participating in west ham’s suburban traditions. still, he aimed to attend university far away. and, with an acceptance to stanford’s business school, nearly bloody succeeded. if it weren’t for his idiot step-uncle...

( tw: automobile accident, death, drugs ) the week before graduation, his aunt’s american buffoon of a husband decided it’d be wise to drive home during one of the worst rainstorms of the season. inebriated. he flipped their prized audi. totaled the damned thing. and totaled himself, too. monty’s graduation bash had to be postponed for funeral services. his aunt fell into a terrible depression and, in order to keep the household running properly, monty had no choice but to stay here. in west ham. it was the right thing to do.

so he began school at west ham’s local uni. and hated every moment of it. of course, seeing his high school friends was ideal –– but he wasn’t challenged. wasn’t stimulated. he began sneaking one or two of his aunt’s pills, here and there. the habit slowly grew, little by little. once he rushed omega nu, he began dealing a bit here and there. with the cash, he was able to acquire more lucrative inventory.

he started off in the greek faction but quickly became a nomad due to a little incident concerning a pocket knife and a bit too much alcohol. i imagine he’s still on good terms with some of the guys, but damn... this kid has turned into a loose canon.

personality tidbits! woop woop.

there’s no easy way to say this. he’s a fuckin’ ass. and, ever since their return to this shaken-up version of the world, it’s gotten worse. any moral compass this kid previously had has vacated the building.

while everyone else was panicked about their parents’ absence, monty raided the local pharmacies and practically cleaned them out. he inventoried his own stock and rummaged through the entire estate, broke into rooms his aunt and uncle hadn’t previously allowed him access to. and oh, did he like what he found: a considerable portion of alacritas’ inventory –– and not the entirely legal kind.

you want drugs? got an aching back? a throbbing heart? monty’s got something for that. but it’ll fuckin’ cost you, big. maybe a gun. maybe that pocket knife, or your toolkit. y’think he could have that antifreeze in exchange for this weed? four pills for tomorrow’s rations. think about it. you need this. he’s helping you. but this place’ll go to absolute shit without a market economy so, really? he’s keeping the peace.

business major. definite snake. slither slither, bitches. don’t trust him. he’ll charm your socks off. he’ll seduce you with his warm-honey voice and buttery smile.

have you... seen his little cousin....? no??? he’s worried but won’t admit it. good bloody riddance!! pah! he’s got his fuckin’ house to himself! don’t you even THINK about telling him otherwise, unless you’re there for business... but you’ll have to meet him at a neutral location to exchange goods. he’s not about to, like, orchestrate his own demise, thank you very much.

honestly? hasn’t had a sober moment since their return from the trip. he went with the intent to sell and, because of it, he’s got a heckin stash. so shut up and smoke this blunt with him, or so help him god.

will look you dead in the eye and describe, in detail, how he'll flay your skin strip by strip and use it to sew himself a new pair of boots, if you don't pay up now. cue a snort of cocaine off his key before he twiddles an outstretched palm “understood?”

a true businessman with no instinct for self-preservation. just profit. profit, profit, profit. though he wasn’t raised by his birth parents, they sure as hell passed on their ophidian genes.

honestly quite unhinged. doesn’t respect anyone else’s authority but his own. always armed in some capacity. likes playing with pocket knives. has an affinity for winking for no reason. eyeing you like you’re his next meal. maybe you are. better give him that last red gatorade before you have to find out.

heavily inspired by “bad guy” by billie eilish.

somebody break him. somebody make him break. because he’s a bloody cadbury egg, y’all. eventually, his shell’s gonna crumble.

bisexual as heck. mess as heck. not repressed about it, but will absolutely play about with the truth. not above faking genuine emotion to get you in his bed. or to steal your shit. his sleight of hand is uncanny. for a rich boy, he sure knows how to grift.

but yeah pls like? hmu for plots? i know this is a lot. and a bit half-baked. so i just.... yeah. message me and we can plot, y’all! i’m so hype for this and i can’t wait to write with y’all!! xoxo

#apogeeintro #* // karma police ; arrest this man ! isms.#drugs tw #alcohol tw #death tw #it's a mess but yeah

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