Trash Panda

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

I honestly love them cx
Cas is struggling a lot right now too haha

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

When Iris huffed, Cas braced himself for another round of protests, but luckily, she gave up after a moment and closed her lips around the end of the fork. He supposed it had taken feeding her himself for her to finally start listening to his advice. If she had just followed the directions the first time, he wouldn’t have had to resort to this, but at least something had worked to get her to stop being so stubborn. He couldn’t complain as long as she was eating and drinking. Besides, it would have been a lie for him to say that no part of him enjoyed sitting by her side, offering her mouthfuls of a meal he’d cooked for both of them. Even though he hadn’t meant it to be romantic, he wasn’t dull enough not to notice that they were acting like an infatuated couple.

Bringing the fork back down to the plate to collect another small bite of vegetables, he couldn’t help but think about the fact that it was the first time he’d ever played doctor for a woman he had feelings for. The thought brought another bout of color to his face. I’m never going to get over this stupid crush, am I? He wondered with a soft sigh. No matter what he did to move on from her, his heart always dragged him back down into the depths of puppy love. If he was honest, he wanted to take care of her as a boyfriend rather than just the man whom she was helping escape from the rebellion. Status and affiliations aside, she had all the traits he was looking for in a partner, and it killed him to know that they couldn’t be together—especially since she had told him she still had feelings for him too.

At first, he had denied the possibility that her feelings had been real at all, but as they spent more time together, he could see that she really was the same girl he’d fallen for in the capital. She had been manipulated and confused by the people closest to her, but she was still sweet and caring and impossibly beautiful. In a way, he almost wished she was a horrible person. At least then, it would have been easier for him to move on from her. Instead, he had to keep wrestling with emotions that shouldn’t have existed, all because she was exactly the same as the amnesiac he’d found in the woods that fateful night.

Lost in his thoughts, it took him a moment before he lifted the second forkful of food to her mouth, his dark eyes lingering on her lips that were flush with color because of the fever. He both loved and hated that he knew what those lips felt like when pressed against his own and that he wanted to remind himself of the experience again. He had to keep his promise to Maisie though, for her sake and for Iris’s. And even for his. So, taking a deep breath, he did his best to push the enticing thoughts aside and focus on making sure she ate her lunch.

“Just a couple more bites,” he beckoned her, his voice slightly softer than it had been before. “After that, you don’t have to eat any more. I just want to see how your stomach does with a little food in it.” And then I’m going to need to take a cold shower, he added to himself, swallowing as he tried to calm his still-racing heart. He hoped she got better quickly because he wasn’t sure how much longer his willpower could last if he had to spend many more days with her. The feverish blush on her cheeks was much more attractive to him than it should have been.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow’s smile brightened when Penelope said she loved the gift. He was well aware that she wasn’t the type of woman who drooled over fine clothes and jewelry, so it had been a bit of a gamble on his part to steal a necklace for her. However, he had liked the thought of giving her something she could wear, so she could keep it with her all the time if she wanted to. Hearing her say that she would wear it every day while they were apart made him sit up a little straighter, happy that she was planning to keep it close all the time.

“I’m glad you like it,” he said and then nodded when she reminded him that they should head back to the inn. As much as he enjoyed being alone with her in the woods, he knew she was right. He didn’t want to find out how long it would take before Otto became so impatient that he sent a search party after them. It was better to go back to the room before the baron did anything drastic. Although, he still wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable reprimanding they were going to have to face when they returned.

“I hope not,” he wrinkled his nose, standing up from the ground and taking Penelope’s outstretched hand. “Sometimes I wonder if he realizes I technically hold a higher rank than he does. It’s starting to get on my nerves how he treats me like an apprentice who doesn’t know anything.” He rolled his eyes. It was true that he hadn’t been a nobleman for very long, but he still felt like Otto was out of line for taking total charge of the group and behaving as if he was the most important person there. He and Naida were both above him. The only reason why they stepped back and let the older man lead them was because his sister didn’t seem to enjoy authoritative roles, and he preferred spending his time with Penelope instead of managing the party. As soon as the knight parted ways with them, however, he had half a mind to remind the baron who Albin had actually assigned to this mission in the first place.

As they walked back into the town, his eyes drifted up to the starry sky and then down to the woman beside him, lingering on the pendant that now hung around her neck. It looked good on her, and he was pleased that it seemed to have been a good choice after all. “You look beautiful,” he smiled at her affectionately. “I mean, you look beautiful all the time. I just felt like I should remind you again.” With a low chuckle, he leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek before he added in a whisper: “And I wanted to take partial credit, since I just gave you the necklace that looks so dazzling around your gorgeous neck.”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Nice! Artistic stuff is just fun in general ^^

And yeah, they're cute though xD

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

When Iris asked if it was the first time he had cooked, Cas felt warmth creep into his cheeks. “Um, yeah…” he admitted, shuffling his feet bashfully beneath the coffee table. “Back home, we had professional chefs to do this sort of thing, so I’ve never had to cook my own food before…” He trailed off with a wince, painfully aware of how privileged he sounded now that he knew what life was like for people outside the capital. Not only did commoners have to cook for themselves, they also rarely seemed to have the ingredients to make a well-balanced meal. It was no wonder every person they had come across in Tongsen had been on the thin side.

“I know I must seem like a spoiled brat now, huh?” he sighed, dropping his gaze to the plate in his lap. The worst part was that if he’d had the option to have someone else cook for him out here, he knew he would take it in a heartbeat. He was proud of himself for throwing together a simple lunch for them, but he missed the gourmet food he’d dined on in the capital. That was something he couldn’t replicate even if they miraculously found all the ingredients, because he had never properly learned how to do it. In contrast, the stale bread and canned vegetables were practically flavorless.

Just as he’d suspected, Iris didn’t even move to touch the food on her dish. For a few minutes, he left it alone, giving her time to change her mind on her own while he polished off his own plate. The food may have been bland, but it was the only option he had, so he swallowed every last bite of it. Once he was done, he set the empty dish back down on the table and picked up his bottle of water, downing a few large gulps to quench his thirst.

“Come on, Iris, you have to eat something,” he turned back to her with a frown as he placed his drink back down beside the plate. He could tell by the amount of water left in her container that she wasn’t having much of that either. If she continued to reject any and all nourishment, there was a strong possibility that she would have to be hospitalized for dehydration, and he didn’t have the faintest clue where the closest hospital was. With their luck, it had probably been blown up in the last battle.

“I don’t want to treat you like a six-year-old, but if you’re not going to do it on your own, I will stoop to that level,” he warned her, grabbing her full plate and collecting some of the vegetables on the fork, which he then held up near her mouth. In the back of his head, the part of him that was still smitten with her was reveling in how close they were on the sofa, but he ignored the thought. He was just doing what he had to do to keep her from making her condition worse. “Open up, stubborn,” he told her, poking her bottom lip with the forkful of food. “It’s for your own good.”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Cool cool :) and thanks! I had a little free time to do some photoshopping before I went to bed, so I threw a new avatar/sig set together, haha. I enjoy graphic design a lot, so I dabble

Luckily Cas is good at playing doctor because of his family's history of health issues, so he'll make sure she listens xD

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

“You should still try to eat something,” Cas shook his head when Iris objected to his offer to make them food. “If you don’t, you’ll take longer to get better, and I’m sure you don’t want that.” He didn’t either. The sooner she was on the mend, the sooner they could keep moving. Plus, selfishly, he wanted to keep his hands busy, so he could keep himself distracted from the fact that he’d found out whose apartment they were staying in. If their lifeless faces continued to appear in his head, it was going to drive him mad. He preferred to give himself at least a sliver of a chance to get a good night of sleep without any nightmares about the corpses in the plaza.

So, ignoring her request, he kept fiddling with the can opener until he figured out how to fit the grip on the edge of the can and twist it until the lid popped off. It was a simple task that most people knew how to do already, but he was still proud of himself for figuring it out without any help. Setting the can back down on the counter, he rummaged through the cupboards until he found a bowl, which he poured the canned vegetables into to heat up in the microwave. He’d never used a microwave either, but he was tech-savvy enough to know how to push a button, so it didn’t give him any trouble.

While the food was cooking, he took out the bread that Maisie had packed for them along with two plates and forks from the upper cabinet where he’d found the bowl. He laid out two slices of bread on each, and divided up the vegetables evenly between them once they were ready. Once he was done, he looked over the dishes with a pleased expression. It was a simple meal, but it was the first meal he’d made in his life, so he couldn’t help feeling like he’d accomplished something impressive. Members of the royal line rarely lowered themselves to taking on such meager tasks.

“Lunch is ready,” he announced, bringing the plates over to the sofa and setting them down on the coffee table. “Just eat slowly if your stomach is tender, but you have to have at least some of it. Trust me; you’ll feel better if you do.” Taking a seat beside her, he picked up his own plate and set it in his lap. Really, he didn’t have much of an appetite either—not after everything he’d seen in the plaza—but he still forced himself to follow his own advice and eat the bread and vegetables. Even though he wasn’t sick, he was going to need to keep his energy up too. Sacrificing his breakfast to the porcelain throne hadn’t helped him with that at all, so he needed to replenish the strength he’d lost.

While he started on his lunch, he kept an eye on Iris to make sure she wouldn’t leave her own meal untouched. He knew how unappetizing food could be when one was unwell, so he wouldn’t have put it past her not to eat.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Finally got a post up! I'll probably be on more than usual today, because I got my project just about completed last night ^^

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

To Caspian’s surprise, he didn’t make it back to the living room before he ran into Iris. She was standing on her feet and looked like she was about to keel over at any second. “What are you—” he started to ask and then stopped abruptly, mortified as he realized she must have heard him in the bathroom. He had been hoping she wouldn’t find out that he apparently didn’t have a strong enough stomach to handle everything they had encountered in Bel Bicis. He didn’t want her to think he was weak. It was kind of pathetic that all it had taken was a photograph for him to lose his breakfast though.

He was torn from his thoughts by the sound of her shaky voice. “Iris, you shouldn’t be up right now,” he said urgently, ignoring her question as he ushered her back over to the sofa. He didn’t want to answer her, but he was also genuinely concerned about her unwillingness to rest when she was so ill. At this rate, she was just going to get worse, which meant they were going to be stuck here even longer than they would have been if she’d taken care of herself. He was more than willing to delay his return to the capital in order to help her get better, but he didn’t want to be stuck in Bel Bicis for a whole week or more. The more time he spent away from his home, the more chances the rebels would have to track him down and kill him. He wouldn’t be safe until he was back in the care of the royal family’s security.

“Here,” helping her back down on the couch while she looked unstable, he held out the blanket he’d brought from the bedroom. “I couldn’t find any medicine, so we’ll have to let the fever run its course. Wrap this around you and leave it there even if you feel like you’re getting too hot. It’ll make it easier for your body to run a high temperature without working too hard to generate heat.” His father had caught fevers plenty of times because of his compromised immune system, so the prince could recite the instructions easily from memory. He could remember how much the king had complained when he sweated beneath layers of heavy blankets, while Dr. Emett had sternly encouraged him not to remove the coverings. Conserving as much energy as possible was important in breaking a fever quickly.

Leaving the blanket with her, he picked up one of the water bottles and opened the top, handing that to her as well. “Drink as much of this as you can stomach too, so you don’t get dehydrated,” he ordered. “I’ll throw together some food for you to eat.” Without waiting for her response, he picked up the backpack and brought it to the kitchen, where he’d left the canned stuff he’d found earlier. Truth be told, he had no idea how to cook. Ever since he was a kid, he’d had servants around to do the work of preparing his meals for him. So, looking over the options, he picked up one of the cans and squinted at the small-print instructions. Luckily, it seemed easy enough to make. All he had to do was heat the vegetables up in the microwave.

Deciding to go for it, he picked up the can opener and examined that next as he struggled to figure out how to use it to get inside the sealed container.

~Bonsoir~

I thought it was alright, but to be honest, I cant even remember why I had picked it in the first place, haha. I just felt like rebranding, so I did ^^ Now I have to make myself a new avatar/sig set though, so I'll be doing that when I find the time to throw something together.

And that depends heavily where you live in my state. I live in a city up in the mountains that's pretty isolated from everywhere else, so the job market is slim pickings to begin with. There are very few companies, most of them with small teams, and they rarely hire because the positions are so desirable, most people who snag them don't leave until they retire. I only had one sort-of lead for a job that technically doesn't even exist right now, and I'm not sure if that's still up for grabs or not. I'm planning to email the guy who told me about it, but if they've delayed hiring because of the virus, I have no other prospects because no other firms are hiring junior designers right now. It's a hyper competitive market

EDIT:
Side note: My husband and I were considering moving to a big city if neither of us could get jobs, but he got hired at a solar power company, so that's why this is the only place I can look for jobs. My backup plan is to teach myself some miscellaneous skills to make money on the side until I can hopefully get something in my field.