#the connection

1/16。My last day in NYC 🥲

🐋 Cries!! Noooo I’m not ready! 🫠 So much so that as I was still laying next to Aluka, I was under the covers looking at how much it would cost to stay an extra day LOLL LIKE I SERIOUSLY DIDNT WANNA LEAVE!! But time waits for no one 🥲

👘 Packed up all my things, had some tea with Crunchy, and off we went! Aluka had some work to do, so I decided to walk over to this bagel place I heard so much about! Whenever i think of New York, I think of pizza and bagel! 🍕🥯

🐱Stood in what I thought was the line for the bagels, until the girl at the counter yelled “the line is over here!!!” So we all moved. A lady with purple hair was actually before me, but ended up lining up behind me amongst all the chaos, so I let her go on ahead. I order and there’s so many people inside it’s hard to find a spot to eat! I manage to squeeze into a space and wait for my order. Grab my food and I notice the purple haired lady was also looking for a spot to have her bagel. We make eye contact and I scoot my things over and point LOL she goes “I guess I’m having lunch with you today!” I love human connection. 🧩 We talk for a bit. She tells me her name and how she’s from Brooklyn. Lived in NYC all her life, except for a few years where she was i think New Jersey? For work! Which she hated lol I mention I’m from Vegas and she told me how she catered at one of the events at the stadium! From what I gathered, she’s pretty high up in her profession. But she clocked me cause she said “where are you from originally cause you got a twang in your voice” BYE HAHAHAH I told her I’m from Memphis Tennessee 🤠 that made me LAUGHHH! She suggested some places for me to visit. I asked for a good coffee place around here, and she gave me one. She had to be off for work and that was the end of that! I finished my bagel and left to try the coffee place she recommended.

🦩 Which was ver good!! I got the “fall oat boy” drink and really liked it! And perfect timing! Cause bout time I got my coffee? Aluka was done with her client and ready for her next one… ME! 🤓 WOOHOOO!!!

🌾 I can’t believe it’s happening I can’t believe it! Been waiting for this moment!!! Tried some diff sizes of the soon-to-be tattoo and asked for Aluka’s professional opinion and ended up going for the bigger one!! Wanna be able to see all the tiny details in HD 👁️ her coworkers are so cool too I got to talk to one of them about Nitro+Chiral games and it’s rare I find people who play those games so I rambled away lol!!

⛄️ ITS TIME omg. Got the stencil and I sat down and stood up and looked at it a few times to make sure it was in a spot I wanted it to be in and yes!! This is it! I’m ready!!! Wasn’t ready for that pain though holy shit. It was okay until it wasn’t? I never knew thigh tattoos could hurt that bad? There were certain moments I had to stop talking mid sentence cause I just could not compute the pain I was feeling cause it was so bad LOLLL I WAS A SOLDIER THO!!! 🫡 Kept my leg perfectly still cause I’ll be god damned if my tattoo gets messed up cause I couldn’t keep it together! But there was a moment where I was like ? Am I bleeding? LOL CAUSE IT HURT SO BAD!

🥝 Aluka did such an amazing job! He looks so pretty! Bakugo has been a comfort character for me for YEARS. Many many years! I have always admired his resilience and perseverance. This scene means a lot to me, in more ways than one, and I am happy to have something meaningful to me ON me forever. I am so touched and immensely grateful to Aluka for indulging me in this.

🍥 We took some pictures together, shared a dessert, and off I went! NOOOO!! what do you MEAN! 🥹 Again, I am so grateful for Aluka. She went through the whole commute with me, just because I don’t know my way around a damn paper bag. We talked the whole way through and was in mid conversation before I realized it was time to part ways! MY HEART! We hugged and hugged and I thanked her again. (almost kissed her face cause I just felt so grateful) I just feel very fortunate to know that people that I do. Picking me up from the airport. Allowing me to stay at her home. Spoiling me with nice gifts LIKE THE UGGS I LOVE THEM!! The tattoo?? Dropping me back off at the airport!? I am so thankful for everything. 💞

🪂 Being with Aluka and perusing around New York was exactly what I needed. I have been so in my head since the death of my grandfather, and even more so with the events that have unfolded afterwards, this is the first time since then that I just… didn’t think about it. I was too busy having fun! I was too busy rambling away with Aluka about Sukuna and our lack of self control for the things that we love and growing old together lol! There was no time to be sad! Even when I laid in bed and was alone with my thoughts, I didn’t think of the bad things! I just thought of what we would do the next day. Or the fact that I’m HERE! I needed that. I really needed that.

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So I ask you, 'Demon King of Salvation'.