#icyh

The guest house was a mile out from the main house and barn. Between the house was a field containing whatever crop her dad was growing. The animals on the farm roamed on that piece of land as well. Parking the truck on the gravel outside of the house, Y/N rushed inside to grab the broom her mother ‘drastically needed.’

Y/N’s mouth dropped in shock as she walked into the open concept house seeing a large blanket fort covering the entirety of the living room. Hearing the door slam, Harry crawled out from the mass of blankets, a smile on his face seeing his girl's shock.

“Harry? What are you doing here? Oh my gosh what is this?” She was amazed by the large fort, shoving her wet jacket and shoes off her body. Harry grabbed her arm pulling her into the fort. The fort was being held up by the two couches and a few stools from the kitchen. Sheets were used as the ceiling and plush quilts and comforters were used to pad the hardwood floors. In the middle of the spacious fort was a collection of pillows, snacks, fuzzy blankets, and Harry’s macbook and charger. Twinkle lights encompassed the tops of the fort, wrapping around from stool to stool. Y/N sat on the pillows in the middle of the fort looking around shocked.

“I know you are really upset about our trip to Florida so I wanted to do this for you. Also our anniversary is coming up so...yeah.” Harry sat beside her rubbing her thigh as the girl took in her surroundings. Suddenly she leaped out of her seat tackling Harry down onto the blanketed floor.

“Harry, you are so sweet. I love it but how’d you even do this?” She layed on top of his chest chin resting on her hands as his hands rested on her lower back.

“I called your grandmother and asked her if there was anywhere in town to stay because I knew Florida would get cancelled and she told me to just set up here. She actually bought all of the snacks and found extra blankets and pillows. She knew how special I wanted this to be for you.” He softly spoke looking at her eyes filled with admiration.

“This is perfect bubs.” She kissed him, their lips moving together perfectly. She pulled herself further up his body. Leaning on her elbow beside his head, he turned his head to reach her for more kisses. She smiled into the kiss at his eagerness. He reluctantly pulled himself away from her.

“I actually bought you some new pajamas and fuzzy socks to wear tonight- they match mine.” He grinned cheekily. Pushing her off, he nudged her towards the small gift bag containing the clothes. She plucked the bag off of the floor crawling out of the fort to change.

She came back moments later in her matching pjs and socks as harry. The pjs had cute little puppies on it making Y/N giggle at the sight. She sat next to Harry as he scrolled through disney plus in search of the right movie.

“I think you're looking for Black Panther.” Y/N jokingly whispered in his ear. His laugh filled the fort.

“Oh am I, I could've sworn I was looking for tangled?” His eyebrow rose as he continued the banter. He clicked on Black Panther, setting the laptop on top of a stack of flat pillows. He started pulling the snacks over ready to chow down. “Your mom made us sandwiches to eat. I swear I would live with your mom and grandmother for the rest of my life if I could.” He moaned at the sight of the thick sandwiches.

They ate so much food from sandwiches, chips, and sweet tea, to pieces of cake and assortments of fruit. Harry laid back full of all of the junk he ate. Y/N rubbed his full stomach chuckling at his extraness. They laid together watching her favorite movie on top of those fluffy blankets and digesting their food. Eventually, as two horny adults do, they both started to get handsy. Harrys hands drifted down to hold her bum and her hands brushed the muscle that stretches into his goodies.

He turned his head to look down at her only to find her already staring at him. He closed the space making their lips touch. This kiss was sloppy and rushed. Tongues pushed and prodded each other as hands touched intimate places. And just like Y/N wanted...things happened.

The next morning, Harry woke up wrapped in the arms of his girl. Her bare chest warmed the side of his face as her arms cradled  his head- fingers interlocked with his hair. Their legs intertwined with each other. Harry never felt happier in his life being wrapped in his lover's arms having shared a night full of laughter and genuine love. He detached himself from the girl and reached into his backpack. He pulled out a small box- smaller than a bracelet box- and just stared at it. Opening the box, he pulled out the promise ring he had been saving up for since christmas. He used all of his Christmas money and did some extra paid tutoring on campus to buy the simple jewelry. Its band was a pretty gold color, two strands twisted with each other to come together making a knot. Sliding back over to Y/N he slowly lifted her left hand and slipped the ring on her finger watching it as ifit on her finger perfectly.

from this essay, which i like purely for its direct quotes from ainu historians:

Sermaka omare is an Ainu phrase that encompasses the main motif of their artwork, which is protection for one another. Visual elements of Ainu artwork found on garments consist of labyrinths, braces, nets or fences, thorns, and swirls that thwart and repel harmful spirits.

The word sermak means “back” or “shadow.” It was thought that evil spirits could more easily enter the body from behind, perhaps because it is a universal human blind spot. When an Ainu exited a home, their host would say, “sermaka omare,” translated to “put something on your back” (Dubreuil 293). In Songs of Gods, Songs of Humans, Philippi’s research uncovers a similar phrase; sermak orke, from the Ainu epics called yukar. Philippi claims that this term absolutely refers to supernatural protection and that the word sermak literally means “behind.” In the yukar, sermaka also refers to “any type of being or object which hovers behind a person and provides protection” (Philippi 350).

Through interviews with Japanese writer Shigeru Kayano, Dubreuil discusses the most important symbolism of Ainu designs: protection. In her essay, Ainu Art: The Beginnings of Tradition, she states that, “traditionally women embroidered a simple ’rope’ around the neck, front openings, sleeves, and hem on the earliest garments to keep evil spirits from entering the body” (296). Originally, the rope would have been a dark blue color, and Kayano stated that this likely began when “an Ainu mother working in the mountains or fields with her baby would encircle the infant with a rope to protect it while it slept. Any evil spirits in the area would not be able to enter inside the rope to harm the baby” (296). Kayano does not give Dubreuil details about a specific material or type of rope, other than that it would have been dark blue. The protection simply comes from the rope symbolizing a barrier. Protective patterns such as these covering the upper back are ubiquitous in Ainu garments.

here's an interview by chisato dubreuil, who is ainu and an art historian. there's a passage where she specifically talks about the patterns of ainu design:

Some people say traditional Ainu designs are so abstract, no one can detect what they represent, while others believe that they see animals such as owls or bears in them. Could you comment further?

Neither is true. First, there isn’t anything to detect in Ainu designs. As stated we believe that the evil gods (wen-kamuy) are so clever that if there was something ‘hidden’ in the design, they would know, and they could enter the image and cause great harm. The beautiful art on the clothes, platters, etc. is our way of honoring and respecting the gods, but the designs are not spiritual in any way. Importantly, tradition dictates that all designs be original. To make a ‘reproduction’ would be disrespectful to kamuy. When looking at a robe, the designs may look the same, but each is different, although admittedly the design differences may be subtle. Part of the problem is the subtle differences between design elements; for example, eight out of the nineteen design elements identified are variations of the whorl.

ALL THAT THAT BEING SAID. kizuna's favorite robe was sewn by her great-great-grandmother, but it somehow still looks new. the whorls and thorns cover the hem and back like so. on certain occasions when the wearers of the robe have confronted life-threatening danger, the abstract pattern on the back has been seen by their enemies to shift into the face of a grinning fox. but the veracity of this has never been confirmed, either because there have been no survivors to confirm it, or because those who've survived would not further tempt the gods.